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

Diana, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I think I’ve always sort of known that I would end up doing something creative. Using my hands and creating art always came a lot easier to me than certain other subjects in school did, so I quickly accepted that fate for myself. I think the hard part was finding that one art form for me. The one that superseded the others. I don’t know if there will ever be just one for me though as they are all so beautiful in their unique ways.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Diana aka ‘One of One by Diana’ and I would consider myself to be a multimedia artist, but over the past few years, my chosen art form has been crochet. I was about 9 years old when my mom taught me the very basics of crochet along with the basics of macramé, sewing, and other arts and crafts. I remember making a few little projects here and there (some of which I still have) and they were all a bit wobbly and misshapen.

Fast forward to the year 2021, this is when I attended my first music festival. It was crazy and chaotic, yet beautiful and awe-inspiring. I felt so excited by the color, music, and art all around me, and the fire that was once burnt out from attending art school a few years prior was lit again. All I wanted to do was create art that I could give to others. At the time I lived in a very small apartment with roommates so I didn’t want to pick back up an art form that would create a messy and overbearing environment, like painting, for example, so I bought a crochet hook and one skein of yarn and started crocheting.

My first few pieces were not great. They were once again misshapen and odd-looking, as if it was my 9 year old self who made them, but I kept trying. I made an endless amount of hats. Hats of various sizes, colors, and textures. Hats with stripes, or polka dots, hearts or smiley faces. Anything you could think of. The first crochet piece I ever sold was a sunflower hat. It was white and had light yellow sunflowers all over it. I was so proud to sell that hat and I hand delivered it to my customers door.

With every piece I made, I saw improvement. I would watch YouTube tutorials, look at patterns on Pinterest and take in as much information as I possibly could about crocheting. Within 6 months I was making a variety of things and I started vending at weekend markets. This was a big deal to me as I have never sold my own product before and I worked hard to make sure that I always had inventory to sell. This was also the first time I could see people’s reactions to my work in real-time which is very rewarding. It also taught me how to toughen up my skin as some people will not hold back and will tell you anything that is on their minds. Vending at markets helped me build my following and rapport with many locals. A lot of the customers that I met at these markets would later order larger custom orders from me which really made it all come full circle.

Selling at markets really helped me in getting my business started, but as far as earnings, It was hit or miss. Some days my inventory would be cleared out, other days I would not sell a single thing. As I was continuing to vend at markets I started doing custom orders. These are made specifically for one person with their chosen colors, style, and all of their measurements. This is where I fully thrive. Many of my customers gave me a lot of creative freedom. They would usually just ask for one detail, like a color, style, or pattern and I could then create the rest of the set as I wanted. Vending at markets slowly phased out as I got more and more locked into creating custom orders. When I was able to link a set to a person, I gave it my all to make it feel like them and I would put so much love and effort in every step of the process. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t do that when crocheting items for my markets, but there is something different about having one person in mind. I wanted to create the best possible set or piece that I could.

I love crochet because there are truly an endless amount of possibilities. My niche would be festival clothing and formal garments.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I’m not sure if this will exactly help grow your social media accounts, but this is how I’ve learned to approach it.

1) Authenticity:
I think in the social media world, there is this ultimate goal to have as many views as possible, as many likes as possible, and as many followers as possible. Because of this it’s so easy to post content that is following trends that might not align with you or even putting on a persona that isn’t who you really are. Some people can get away with it. For me, I honestly struggle a bit with the thought of so many strangers looking at my posts and letting them into my life, even the little bit that they see social media. So I try my best to find the people who are following me because they genuinely appreciate my content and my work and vice versa. I do this by consistently posting my art which is very authentic to me. To me a following should be quality over quantity every time. I’ve paired this with trying to grow my following in the real world. For example; if a stranger compliments a crochet piece that I made I will usually say “thank you, I actually made it!” and if they say “really? Do you have social media or somewhere I can buy something from you?” I will gladly point them to my socials. I think authenticity and consistency has been a big help in growing my following.

2) Consistency:
It might be one of the biggest clichés in the book, but consistency really is key. When you are constantly working on your craft, you are constantly getting better and growing. It’s just an added bonus that you will have more content to share. I think it really helps when you have lots of work to show for yourself.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I think the most rewarding thing for me is finally being able to sit back and enjoy my work after months of working on one specific piece or set. I love the journey as well, but there is something so magical about stepping back and taking it all in. The cherry on top of that is when I can see my finished work on the person it’s destined for. How it fits their body perfectly and seeing the biggest smile on their faces in photos and videos is so special to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Oneofonebydiana
• Other: TikTok: Oneofonebydiana