Today we’d like to introduce you to Gates Marsden
Hi Gates, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
A little over a year ago I began an Instagram page called Ember & Azalea dedicated to the crafts and DIY projects I created. My goal is to inspire others to try a new hobby, work on a project that has been on their to-do list, or simply create something with their own hands. I think being creative and learning from trial and error is not only beneficial for mental health but can also help improve other aspects in life. I worked as a Mechanical Engineer for the last 7 years and designer’s block was extremely common. I found that often times the best way to get past designer’s block was to work on another project that flexed those creative muscles. Solving problems in my own DIYs gave me a stronger ability to look at the design problems at work from other points of view. I also believe crafts are a wonderful form of self care. Crafts allow you to focus your mind on a separate task and give your brain a break from other day to day tasks for a little while. Ember & Azalea remained a hobby until this last fall when the company I had been working for closed unexpectedly. I decided it was time to follow my dream of working on Ember & Azalea full time and create my own collection of handmade stuffed animals. I designed a sewing pattern for a bunny and named it Juniper. I also designed clothes for Juniper, ornaments, holly decorations, and bow decorations for a Holiday 2024 collection. Everything is made from second hand, vintage, and recycled materials so each item saves fabric from going to the landfill. Plus this gives each item a unique flair! There are so many gorgeous unused vintage fabrics out there just waiting to be made into something beautiful. I want to encourage others to reuse materials as much as possible and show that it is not as challenging as it seems. It even adds to the creative aspect of crafting. I am working towards releasing the sewing pattern for Juniper and the future patterns I design so everyone can hand make something unique and special!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I am still very new to everything involved in this career change so just getting my feet underneath me has been a challenge. I still have plenty to learn, including how to get the word out about our mission. Every day has been new and exciting!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Because I am a bit of a serial hobbyist, I have many interests and have worked on a variety of projects. The main type of craft I focus on are fiber arts; crafts made using fabric, yarn, thread, etc. for example: sewing, embroidery, and knitting. I also like to do house projects including painting, wood working, and gardening. I’ve seen many tips online that say to stick to one niche or speciality, but I can’t pick just one and I am hoping there are others out there that can relate and are also constantly looking for a variety of projects like I am.
I am most proud of my Juniper the Bunny design. Since I was little, I loved sewing with my mom and sister. We would make dolls from old bed sheets and use leftover yarn from my mom’s knitting projects for the doll’s hair. Juniper’s design took many many iterations and hours of online courses for designing stuffed animals but it was so worth it in the end! After I finalized Juniper’s design, I made 6 more bunnies for my first market and website. Part of the fun of stuffed animals is dressing them up so I also made dresses, sweaters, and pants for the bunnies. Since the market was during the holidays I also made ornaments, holly decorations, and bow decorations using the same vintage fabric used for the bunny clothes. As I mentioned before, a unique aspect that I strive to do is to use second hand, vintage, and recycled materials.
How do you define success?
This is a tough question to answer because I am still finding my definition of success. I am very much a numbers person so I always thought that I had to reach a certain income to be successful. But what the last year has taught me is that while being financially stable is important to me, how I feel about the work I do is also important. Living my dream life is success to me. Accomplishing my goals, even the little ones, is success. Being able to spend time with my friends and family is success. Doing a career I love and am passionate about is success. All this can be true even if I don’t reach a specific number. It just might call for some hard work and sacrifices in other aspects of life. But I don’t think having to make sacrifices means you’re not successful, it just means you’re willing to give up something you don’t need in your life in order to go after what brings you contentment in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://emberandazalea.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emberandazalea/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61570398181640
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmberAndAzalea
