We were lucky to catch up with Natalie Andrews recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalie, thanks for joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I remember picking up a crochet hook as a young kid. I learned from my grandma and my great aunt over the years. Life got busy and I graduated high school, and moved to Toledo to go to college. My whole life I have had anxiety and it wasn’t until college that I started to take it seriously. I really needed something to help manage my anxiety between working in college, studying, having a social life, etc. I used crocheting as an opportunity to unwind at the end of a long day. I picked up a crochet hook again one summer and haven’t really put it down since. I watched a lot of YouTube videos to learn certain stitches and really just bought patterns to continue improving my skills. Crocheting is probably my number one passion, but I also stumbled into the royal icing cookie realm by accident. I made royal icing cookies one year at Christmas time and posted them on Facebook. I had a lot of interest and began selling them. Again, it was something I could do to unwind after a long day. I watch lots of videos as I am more of a visual learner.

I really don’t think I would change anything about the speed of my learning process. I am striving everyday to learn new things about my crafts and improving is something that I continuously strive for. I love to learn new techniques, try new things, and I love a good challenge. I have learned using the “trial and error” method mostly and this has helped shape me into the person/artist that I am today. It has helped me discover what things I like to make, what I don’t and all of the in between.

I think that learning to adapt/change is one of the most essential skills. The way I made things 2 years ago wouldn’t necessarily be the way I would do things today and it’s really awesome to be able to see how I have improved or changed things over the years. Being open to new techniques/criticism is really important to me.

I have ALWAYS stood in my own way. I am my own worst critic and struggle even now with giving myself some grace to be human and not perfect 24/7. I also am a mom to two kiddos and a wife. I work a full-time job outside of crochet and cookies. This has really been a “side-gig” that I would love to turn into a full-time gig someday, but there are only so many hours in the day. It’s honestly hard to balance it all but I guess my business is my form of “self-care”. Every project gets me one step closer to being able to create full-time.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in Northern Michigan and moved to NW Ohio for college. I knew I wanted to go to college, but I didn’t know what for. I have a BS in Exercise Science and started graduate school to become a Physical Therapist. All through college, I felt like a piece was missing. College had been pushed on me my whole life, that I just thought it was what you did after high school. I lost my grandfather at the very beginning of my second semester of graduate school. This was during COVID as well and something in me shifted. I dropped out of graduate school and honestly didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I was completely lost..

My husband (boyfriend at the time) was always super supportive of me and gave me time/space to figure things out. We wanted to start our family and had a rough go at it. We have lost a few pregnancies and now have two beautiful children. But expressing myself through my work has always been a form of healing to me. I never took the full leap to become a business because I was scared of managing it all. I eventually took a leap of faith and sat down to do some research and I haven’t looked back since.

Right now, I create a lot of custom crochet projects. I really try to take on anything that is thrown at me. I love to continue to expand my portfolio. I started doing more craft shows in 2024 and really focus on baby/children’s items when I attend those. My favorite thing to create are baby items. I love making baby blankets, knotted loveys, baby booties, etc. There is something super special about creating something handmade for a tiny human, knowing that what I made might grow to be one of their favorite things. I also make royal icing sugar cookies. I am a “cottage baker” meaning that I produce in my home kitchen. I create a lot of cookies for birthday parties, bridal showers, baby showers, etc. There is something so great about sharing a cookie with a loved one on a special day.

I think that something that sets me apart from others is that I’m always willing to challenge myself. I want to be the best version of myself and that really comes from challenging yourself to do something better than the last time. My business name “A Handmade Wish” was really the first thing I thought of to describe what I wanted to do. Essentially a client comes to me with a wish and I bring it to life.

Everything that I do, I put 110% of myself into. I really take pride in knowing that I create something with my whole heart and that I can share that with the next person.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I really think that our society was built on supporting small businesses. I think that however many years ago, society shifted towards finding ways to mass produce and make more money. I think now, society is starting to shift more towards really taking pride in small businesses after seeing how much work individuals put into their craft/trade.

Because society really shifted towards mass production, individuals found that they could obtain goods/services for cheaper than they originally were handmade. Now that society is shifting more again to supporting artists, I think it’s important to really take a moment to appreciate how much time and effort people pour into their craft.

Something I really value is supporting other artists, buying new products, and making new connections.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding thing is really just seeing someone’s face after they see what you created. Knowing that you can be a part of that person’s story is honestly one of my favorite things.

I have gotten a lot of requests in the past few months for custom dogs. A lot of the time, it will be a dog that passed away. Being a part of their journey of grieving is really powerful. It heals parts of me knowing that I can help others.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @ahandmadewish
• Facebook: A Handmade Wish | @a.handmade.wish

Image Credits

Seagull – Lizzie Nelson