Hello, I am Vanessa Kirsch and I am Graphic Designer, handmade lover, creative, mastermind, bags-seamstress and master-commander behind Kirschbits.

After more than 14 years working on the Graphic Design field, waving between offset printing methods, advertising companies, merchandising business, a local newspaper and latest in webdesign (what I enjoy most), I moved with my son to Germany, after I met who is today my wonderful husband and amazing Nature Photographer, Matthias.

Since I’m here, I started to dedicate myself to what I’ve always loved: DIY, Creativity and Handmade. I always loved to create something with my own hands with materials I have around or easy to find.

There are few, very few things I enjoy so much as creating something with my hands, whether is with fabric and threads, wool and needle, or with modeling clay, or a brush and a canvas, or a pencil and a paper, and as well in the computer. Even when its time to eat, I try to create, both visually and with loads of taste, something great for everyone to enjoy at dinning time.

How I started into sewing? My mom is to blame! She is a truly seamstress. All my life I’ve seen her always making a dress, a shirt, a pair of pants, skirts, decoration like curtains, table cloths, and even all the covers of the sofa and chairs of her living room. So many years since and still in use!  Today and since several years now, she is in charge of the workshop in a big casual clothes chain stores in my homeland, adjusting and repairing from pants to difficult jackets. And in her free time she continues sewing clothes and more to the family and also selling some nice things.

I learnt watching her work through endless hours. Until I moved out and I bought my own machine. I learnt practice by trial and error, and though it was not my intention to dwell in these waters, and spent many years in the Graphic Design industry, I was from time to time coming back to the machine for smaller projects.

When I moved here to Germany, one of the first things was to buy a sewing machine for home projects, to repair clothes, and because it is always useful to have a sewing machine at hand. Useful? Proved so! One day I found a gorgeous fabric and ten thousand ideas flushed in my brain. The idea that remained was the shape of a bag, a crossbody handbag, messenger style that I loved since the first second I saw it in my mind. I bought the fabric and set pencil loose on the paper and draw my first handbags sketches. Some days after I had the handbag ready! Love it so much that is the one I use everyday I go out of home. It is my model Weseby, in the same fabric.

After the boom and everybody telling me to make more bags and sell them, though I was doubtful at first, I ventured into Etsy.com after a friend told me about it. I opened my shop and here I am! Swallowed totally into it, and started to build and grow my own handmade business.

This blog is a consequence from all this whirlpool of creativity and work. I decided to open a space where I can share not only my new found love with handbags, but also to share all the other ten thousand creative things I like and some I do. Here you will find from Tutorials and featured handbags, to interviews and features to other creative people from the craftsphere.

I hope you enjoy your stay and if you need any article or photo published here, please feel free to contact me about it or to share it linking to its original source (please respect the creator’s rights).

Thanks for visiting and for reading my story and welcome to Kirschbits creative world!

 

Van