Vanessa is behind craft business The Glittery Bat, and makes everything out of yarn or fabric found in charity shops or donated to her. On Bat Appreciation Day, she explains how she moved from France to Norwich ‘for a guy’ – and decided to stay!
What brought you from France to Norwich and how long have you been here? What do you love about the city?
I fell in love with English when learning at school. After graduating I took a year off and went to London as an au pair to improve my English. When I got back to France, I decided to save up money and move to the UK, so I worked as a cashier in a supermarket for two years to be able to fulfil my dream.
At first my plan was to move to London, but I met someone from Norwich so moved there to be with him. I am not with this person anymore but still in Norwich. I like to say that I moved for a guy and stayed for Norwich! It’s such a nice place to live in – creative and fun! I met so many amazing people and made so many friends during markets and other meetings.
When did you first have the idea for The Glittery Bat and what’s the ethos behind the business? And the thinking behind the name?
I first started back in France under the name “Miss Ness” I was making cute little brooches and keychains using felt but then grew out of the name. It felt silly. I had a gap where I didn’t do anything for a while until I wanted to be creative again. The Glittery Bat is kind of my Ying and Yang, my light side and my dark side, my emo side and girly side! Bats are one of my favourite animals and I love glitter so the perfect mix. My ethos is to show that recycling can be fun and cute!
How important is it to you to be as environmentally friendly as possible?
Our planet needs us. The world is going crazy with the chase of power and money but there won’t be anything to rule over if there’s nowhere to be. Our landfills are maxed out, the beaches are massive rubbish bins so if we don’t act soon our future generations won’t know what an elephant is or what a clean beach looks like. So, in my personal life, I went vegan a couple of years ago, and for The Glittery Bat I only use second hand materials that I find in charity shops or directly donated to me to help the waste going into landfill.
And you’ve collaborated with others for a large exhibition piece?
I have, yes! I was so happy to be part of this project. It was for Creative Minds. We were 28 fibre artists and had been given the theme of “Spring in Fibre” so we all made a piece in the theme of Spring out of crochet and got to have them exhibited in a London gallery for a week. I was so happy and emotional seeing my little frog on a wall.
Can you describe your range of products?
I mainly make accessories so you can find earrings, headbands, scrunchies, hats, scarves, bags, ornaments. Out of crochet mainly but as a seamstress I also use fabric (old bedsheets, curtains, tablecloths).
Where can people find them?
I have an Etsy shop but I’m working on my own website too which I will hopefully be able to launch sometime this year. You can also find me at makers’ markets. I post all my updates on my Instagram.
What are your hopes and dreams for 2024 and beyond?
To keep on growing The Glittery Bat. I have created a YouTube channel back in December so will try to grow on this platform by sharing what we can do with second hand materials as well as more markets hopefully to get my name out there a bit more. I’d like to learn new skills, too. I did a linocut workshop last year and fell in love with the craft so would like to explore a bit more of it.
Visit @theglitterybat on Instagram.
Featured image by Ett Photography
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