Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabelle Collerette.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I graduated high school in The Villages at 17 years old surrounded by an entire graduating class I never could connect with, right after I moved to Winter Park to start my path toward a Film Degree at Full Sail University where I finally connected with like-minded creative people. After almost a year of classes gone by, summer of 2022 I found videos of rug tufting online that looked like a very aggressive and satisfying craft, after convincing myself I finally purchased the entire kit and started on my rug-making journey.
My family and friends were very supportive when I started to sell the new items I had tufted, inspiring me to quit my job which allowed me to create more which led to getting more and more orders. Now here I am half of a year of tufting later after completing 4 successful markets, many custom orders, and meeting many creative artists and new friends. This rug business has been able to support my educational career within film production leaving me graduating this October.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Although I wouldn’t change anything that happened, I have endured some struggles through the years, starting young with having severe anxiety after my parents divorced in grade school accompanied by a school environment I was socially rejected from, which lead me to push through to graduation and make as many connections as possible in university and through the start of my tufting journey. After starting classes at Full Sail University I found myself swamped between work and classes, I was very burnt out for my first several months at college and found no time for myself, and started losing creativity. But when at my worst I then discovered tufting and there was this urge to take a leap that I haven’t had before.
This was the best decision made, I was able to leave my hourly job and start having a fulfilling hobby and at the same time a job so I could pay rent and continue my cinematic passion at Full Sail University. Although I was excited to start selling the rugs I made, for the first 2 months I did not get any orders whatsoever and this was discouraging when also saw the rest of the rug makers online sell out fast knowing I quit my job for this.
Although I wasn’t selling anything I made at first, I just kept making and making until I started meeting interested customers then soon I pushed past my anxiety and risked paying to be in my first big market “The Milk Mart.” These past obstacles allow me to challenge myself into taking on more risk and responsibility leading to learning more and creating as well as tufting more complicated designs.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a creator which I channel into two parts of my life: half of the time I am at Full Sail University pursuing my film degree and helping create short films, and the rest of my time is dedicated to tufting customized rugs for individuals as well as brainstorming different rugg-able creations. In my university film program, I strive to have a career in the entertainment industry to create with other creators, so far I have been able to work as an editor and with the art department on projects.
When I tuft, making rugs is not only fun and interesting but also a very time-consuming process involving frame and canvas set up, then choosing an image to draw on and tuft, finding the coordinating yarn colors, tufting with even lines, carving the yarn between every color, gluing and backing the piece, then add some last touches with detail trimming. I can put my hard work into achieving almost any image I want, although the process is complicated, I am still learning more techniques and skills so I can also continue to make more complex designs.
I am most proud of being able to use my different ideas to simultaneously produce two completely unalike and unique types of media. Having this variety of skills and experience helps me approach tasks with a different but vast mindset.
What does success mean to you?
Success to me is not as much of a result as it is a constant feeling of being accomplished with ongoing everyday progress.
Having the everyday ability to make a living for myself with my hobby while also being able to pursue my cinematic passion is what I call success because I am pursuing what I want to achieve. Even if my goal changes, as long as I am following my values and doing my best at what I want to do, I am succeeding. Free quotes at https://forms.gle/Km1ZoMixfwrqe1wL9
Contact Info:
- Website: therugcraft.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therugcraft/
