Author Spotlight: Lindarose92
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Linda Bellosi, aka lindarose92, is an Italian maker with a passion for reuse! She's only been on Instructables since last December, but she is quickly becoming one of our most active authors. She's already authored 28 instructables, and has recently confessed she might be addicted. I think that's something we can all relate to. :D I recently got to ask her some questions about crafting and makers in Italy and her projects. |
How did you first find the site and what inspired you to start posting instructables?
I must admit that I can’t remember exactly how I found it. I think I just googled something and ended up on this fabulous website. Looking back at it now, I can proudly say that that day was my lucky day! I always wanted to find a website like this, I knew there must have been one somewhere and here it is! I was looking for a site where I could learn new things, find the inspiration for my projects, “meet” other people who have my same passion and know their opinions about what I enjoyed making. So this is why I started to post on Instructables. I always thought that what I know is not much and what I did was not very good but thanks to this website I realized that I can still share my ideas and be able to teach something to somebody: that’s really very rewarding to me.
I saw on your twitter account that you live in Italy! How crafty are the people in Italy? Is there a maker movement there?
Ha! Now everybody knows my secret! :D …Just kidding!
Yes, I am Italian and I live in Italy. For this reason, I apologize for possible mistakes I make in my writing.
In the last few years the number of crafters has been growing a lot here even if I believe that we are still far from your country’s level! I think one of the problems is that this kind of things doesn’t even have a name here: a word that means “craft” doesn’t exist in Italian. You can use many other words but they don’t really express the same meaning in my opinion. For example, I tried to search websites like this one in Italian, but I didn’t even know what keywords I should have typed. I haven’t found any yet, but I am sure that it would be a great resource for all those crafters hidden in my country… I am sure there are many more than we think! I hope Instructables will be translated in Italian someday so that even Italian people who don’t know English have the opportunity to learn from each other and share what they do like I am doing.
Yes, I am Italian and I live in Italy. For this reason, I apologize for possible mistakes I make in my writing.
In the last few years the number of crafters has been growing a lot here even if I believe that we are still far from your country’s level! I think one of the problems is that this kind of things doesn’t even have a name here: a word that means “craft” doesn’t exist in Italian. You can use many other words but they don’t really express the same meaning in my opinion. For example, I tried to search websites like this one in Italian, but I didn’t even know what keywords I should have typed. I haven’t found any yet, but I am sure that it would be a great resource for all those crafters hidden in my country… I am sure there are many more than we think! I hope Instructables will be translated in Italian someday so that even Italian people who don’t know English have the opportunity to learn from each other and share what they do like I am doing.
Linda's father's basement, where she works on her upholstery projects
What is your dream project? If you had unlimited time, money and resources, what would you make?
Hard question here. I had never thought about it before because I mostly upcycle materials that I already have, so what I can make is always very limited. But I can tell you that I would love to make some original piece of furniture, always upcycling materials that would be thrown away otherwise. Reusing is very important to me plus one of my new passions is design so I’d like to match these two things together. That’s what I tried to do with some of the lamps I made. Since I made my first lamp, I now see possible lamps in everything!
What was the first thing you ever made?
I have to go back to when I was about 4 years old and honestly I can’t remember exactly what it was! I was in kindergarten and every once in a while we would create little gifts for our families. We used to do the same in elementary school, especially during Christmas and Easter. We did those things for a couple of hours a week and I wished those hours would never end. I still remember how excited I was when the teacher explained us what the project was and what we had to do! We created many things over the years but I can’t remember which one was the first one. One of the coolest thing I made during those years though, is mosaic around a mirror. That was REAL mosaic (not made with eggshells lol). I still have it here and I am still amazed by how good it turned out.
Is there anyone or anything that has been influential to the things you make?
I think it’s a mix of things. I’ve always had this passion since I was very little, maybe it has something to do with the fact that my father was an upholsterer but as I was growing up I abandoned it because I thought it was just a “childish” thing. Then I decided to start making something again about a year ago thanks to a DIY show! I couldn’t stop thinking about how great doing those things would have been. So I started with something easy and I realized how much I missed that good feeling I feel while I am creating. I was coming out of a bad period and making this kind of things was finally making me feel so much better. After a while I found Instructables, and that truly helped me too because sharing my projects was (and is) very rewarding. Plus contests are giving me reasons to try and make something that I never tried before. I have done more things since I am on this website than I had ever done in my life! Now I know that creating is what I want to do in my life, I can’t imagine my life without it and I will make sure I won’t make the mistake of abandoning it again!
Three tools you couldn't live without?
My dear glue gun, cutter and a staple gun (for upholstery).
this is the table where most of the magic happens!
What's the next big project you plan to make?
I was thinking about making a bed for my cat. It has been on my mind for quite a long time but I am not too sure about it yet. I am waiting for a better inspiration. Right now I am upholstering some old chairs and that’s a really big project to me… they are driving me crazy! :D Once I am done with them I will finally be able to concentrate more on a new project. I can’t wait!
a chair recovering work in progress