We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Chelsea Dennis. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Chelsea below.

Chelsea, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

This year, I’m participating in my first installation style art show at a very popular coffee shop in the town where I live. The show will be up from December 1st thru the end of January. Beyond expanding my artist offerings to large scale pieces stretched over canvas, It’s also during my most popular time of year. The momentum has been building and somehow its almost here! Lots of finishing touches to complete , alongside some of the larger more 3 dimensional pieces needing assembly, all while preparing for gift giving season…deep breaths.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Whimsy Makes is a textile arts studio located in Sonoma County, California. With a background in events, floral design & organic farming, owner Chelsea Dennis has applied her experiences in these fields to create textile, houseware, and accessory offerings aligned with her passions. Whimsy Makes is focused on transforming fabric into practical magic through small batch dye methods. The studio uses eco-friendly fiber reactive dyes and custom-made plant-based natural pigments made with flowers, veggies, and herbs to transform the earth’s offerings. From ethically foraging for seasonal invasive plants to working with local flower farmers and restaurants to minimize waste, the process of natural dyeing is woven into the fiber of Whimsy Makes. Combining the ephemeral magic of nature with an intuitive dyeing practice, Whimsy Makes crafts one of a kind pieces, hand-dyed with you in mind.

Expanding upon traditional retail offerings Whimsy Makes also teaches natural dye workshops, introducing the magic of plant dyes to participants all around the bay area. Alongside the theme of how to think creatively about natural pigments, Chelsea also creates one of kind botanical keepsakes for her clients from their special occasion floral’s. This offering has lead to beautiful pieces of functional art imbued with the memories and magic of those events, like bridal bouquets bundle dyed onto silk pillowcases & anniversary petals steamed onto linen napkins. The possibilities are near endless leading to so much shared inspiration.

Whimsy Makes is all about making the mundane feel more magical.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The most important lesson I’ve learned thru the process of developing Whimsy Makes is non attachment. In many ways I think this lesson has permeated into my day to day and changed my life. I’ve also had a very tight grip on control, and scheduling and maintaining what I had perceived to be just the r i g h t amount of chaos but Whimsy has expanded my relationship to control in ways I never would have anticipated. The most obvious and perhaps the more relatable example is what it feels like to be a small business owner, especially one who is the maker, photographer, tech/social media manager, shipper and beyond all on their own. There are countless time when I’ve been tasked to slow down or adjust my expectations that otherwise would have left me too depleted and distracted to take stock of the beauty that i have the privilege to make. Without letting go of those pre-determined notions of how something “should” get executed, i would be in a constant battle with myself and nothing would ever get done. I’ve had to release.

Secondly, and more specific to makers, non attachment has helped me become a better artist. Working with natural dyes is an incredibly intuitive and ever shifting landscape of seasonality, environment, & materials. So many nuances and components to manage. Its only when I’m able to release my tight grip on the end result that the work can reveal itself to me. A skill I would not have acquired without this practice.

When I feel stuck and I’m caught up in a story about how things should get done, it’s been helpful for me to envision a beautiful and delicately petaled rose held in the palm of my hand. Holding onto that rose too tightly with bruise and damage it’s perfect imperfections, but a soft open hand can support the bloom and leave it room to grow and perfume the air with its sweetness. Let it bloom.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

It can feel exceedingly hard to be a human at times. Financial pressures, work stress, personal growth under the constraints of living in a productivity driven culture. That’s why the pieces I make are designed to feel like a reminder of the beauty and rest you so deserve. Weather that’s the moment before falling asleep on your silk pillowcase after a full day, or the caress of a Whimsy robe over your shoulders when the crispy autumn air greets us in the mornings. Even the simplicity of running your fingers over a silk scrunchie can be a glimmer of magic, if your’e needing it. We deserve to feel magical, even when things are hard.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.whimsymakes.com
• Instagram: @whimsy_makes

Image Credits
Tauni Western Gabrielle Greenburg Molly Decoudreaux