Some people are just so enterprising. If someone gives me a crafty gift, I often smile politely and put it away in a drawer, vowing to myself that I will one day build the craft. (I think we both know that never comes to fruition.)
But that wasn’t the case for one theatre designer in Russia who fashions adorable tiny toy creatures out of wool.
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It all started with a pack of wool that was gifted to her by her friends.
Moscow-based Nastasya Shuljak was working as a theatre artist and teacher when she received a serendipitous gift — a pack of wool —10 years ago.
“I made a bear and a rabbit from it,” she said to Bored Panda . “Immediately, I fell in love with wool for its flexibility and the endless possibilities you can achieve with it.”
She was immediately taken by the reaction people had to her wool toys.
They didn’t just appeal to children. She said that she was taken with the way adults would react to them, saying that she noticed a spark in their eye upon holding her creations.
Nature is her real muse.
Nastasya grew up in a small town near the sea and a forest, and the many wonders of nature are her muse. She often creates animal-plant hybrids that are so unbelievably cute they look like they just stepped out of a magical cartoon.
These are not museum pieces, but are meant to deliver joy through interaction.
She describes them as “little lumps of joy.” And when she isn’t creating them, she’s busy teaching others how to work with wool and make adorable little toys of their own.
