Mother-daughter artists come together at craft fair

Lions and zebras and moose, cows and horses and honeybees, that’s what you get when you let loose the creativity of a Prince George crocheter.

Leanne Blumers said her mom taught her how to crochet when she was little and more importantly taught her how to read a pattern.

“Pretty much from there you can make anything,” Leanne said.

She started off as you’d expect.

“With square things – well, what’s supposed to be square things but doesn’t always end up square,” Leanne smiled.

Scarves and blankets were just the beginning. Then she moved on to hats and sweaters and then she took up teddy bear making.

“That’s my specialty,” Leanne said. “I love the little bears.”

And the zebras, horses, and cows, all sassily standing on their hind legs came along about five years ago.

“And I just got better the more I did – if you’re getting worse, you’re doing it wrong!” Leanne laughed. “So it just kind of took off from there and people kept telling me I should sell my stuff so I got into the craft fair scene around 2017, took a little break during Covid and this is my first year back and I brought my daughter along as my partner – she doesn’t crochet, she paints.”

Daughter Destiny, 14, is a self-taught artist who started painting as a tiny child, Leanne said.

“From when I said don’t glob your paint on the paper, you’re going to make holes in it to now she globs paint intentionally to make intense colour and create texture,” Leanne said.

“I’ve had a lot of really good feedback,” Destiny said about being at a craft fair for the first time.

Destiny, who captures nature scenes and wildlife in her work, said she takes her inspiration from photos her parents bring back from their very long hikes.

She’s got paintings of Whiskers Point, Mount Robson, a bear in a wildflower meadow, railroad tracks, a butterfly and even a creative interpretation of the Aurora Borealis.

“I really like it when I can paint dark and then contrast with light,” Destiny said.