Face Behind the Brand: an interview with Charlingual

A few weeks ago, I had the most wonderful idea for a blog series. I don’t know about you, but I’ve met so many kind and gifted makers since I joined the Instagram knitting community! I would love to get to know them a little better, and introduce them to you as well. Therefore, I decided to start a “face behind the brand” blog series. I will be interviewing fellow creatives and small businesses, asking them to share more about their brands and personal interests.

First up is Charlie from Charlingual! I figured I might as well start close to home for this series, so Charlie was the perfect candidate. After all, she lives in The Netherlands like me. Charlie is an all-round creative soul who’s passionate about living a relaxed, natural and sustainable life.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your brand!  

Hi! My name is Charlie and I’m a content creator, crafter and homebody. I live in Limburg (the most southern province of the Netherlands) with my husband Bas and our dog Annabelle. I trained as a teacher and worked at a Waldorf school for a few years before getting very ill. It took me a few years to get better (chronic depression is a b*tch) and since then I’ve been thriving! I spend my days creating content in my home studio about how to live a relaxed, natural and sustainable life in the 21^st century. I write blogs and think pieces, film vlogs and organize a weekly Online Crafting Club.

How would you define the Online Crafting Club? 

The Online Crafting Club is the place to be for crafters that want to take time to relax, work on their latest W.I.P. and listen to fun and inspiring interviews with fellow crafters.

How did you get the idea for the Online Crafting Club? 

I started live streaming the Online Crafting Club at the beginning of lockdown in march 2020. After being ill for 2 years I was supposed to start a new job in a new sector and that got postponed. I knew how horrible it could feel to be isolated and wanted to spend my excess energy and motivation on doing something for someone else. That most definitely worked out well!

Do you have any plans for an international Online Crafting Club? 

It’s on my (very long) to do list! I used to do all of my social media in English, English being my first language, but when I decided to start focussing on specific subjects I switched to Dutch. I’m glad I did because it means that I can shine a light on local crafting heroes. But there’s also a ton of international crafters that I want to speak to. As I’m on hiatus at the moment (don’t worry, there’s a weekly special on my YouTube channel whilst I’m on holiday) I could actually spend some time brainstorming the idea.

What was your favourite Online Crafting Club episode? 

I don’t know if I can name a favourite episode. I could tell you which one I’m especially proud of! In July I decided to do an extra livestream quite spontaneously because of the massive floods we were having in our province. A bunch of wonderful crafters offered to donate some of their work and in the end we raised €500 in 24 hours. It was a dream come true to be able to lend a helping hand. People were getting their parents, aunts, cousins and neighbours to donate. Everyone really gave all they could. It didn’t matter if it was €1 of €50. Every little bit helped!

If you could interview absolutely anyone for the Online Crafting Club, who would be your 5 dream guests? 

Absolutely anyone you say? I’m a massive geek so my number one would have to be a guy I look up to massively which is Matthew Mercer. He’s a table top game streamer who is so very inclusive and kind and I’d love to be able to chat with him about how he does it all. When it comes to crafters I’d love to speak to Mette, better known as PetiteKnit. Her patterns are to die for. Another artist I love is Esther Bennink. She has her own way of doing things and she can always motivate me to take things slow. I really should ask her to join in once! Neil Gaiman has to be on this list as well. That man’s brain is something to marvel at! The last person would have to be my husband. I just love talking to him and hearing his take on things. It never gets old. And I’d really love to get him to craft something live during the stream hahaha.

Where do you see the Online Crafting Club in 5 years? 

Okay now this one is difficult. Five years is so very far away! When I started 1,5 years ago my goal was to be able to help at least one person be less lonely during lockdown. At the end of that lockdown I got a postcard from one of the viewers thanking me for doing just that. It was amazing. Trying to think of a goal for over 5 years is maddening. But I’m going to give it a try. In 5 years I’d like to have met all of the wonderful people that have participated in the Online Crafting Club in real life. Maybe not in one go (I am a massive introvert) but maybe one by one. To say thank you to them for the joy they’ve brought me.

What’s your ultimate dream for the Online Crafting Club? 

I’d love for my platform to grow so much that young homebodies from all over the world know where to find me online. It would be wonderful if the Online Crafting Club could be a place where all of these young women come together to spend time listening to music, to chat and to work on their own crafting projects. That’s the ultimate dream to me.

How and when did you get into crafting? 

I’ve always been crafty. My dad’s a very handy person and MacGyvers most things in life. Copying what he does has made me very creative. My mum enjoys pretty, handmade things so I spent a lot of my childhood making pretty things. As an adult I make pretty things because I like to, and because it’s sustainable, and I DIY a lot of things because I enjoy getting stuff done with my own two hands.

What’s your favorite craft? 

I’m in the middle of a lovely crochet scarf. So today I’m going to answer with crochet! But honestly, I just go with whatever I fancy. I even bought myself a lovely palette of water paint the other day. So maybe all of august I’ll be a water painting gall.

Favourite thing you’ve ever made? 

I love making little gifts for friends. So anything I can gift to a friend makes me happy.

Favorite yarn(s)?

I love a nice hand dyed yarn. It’s always fun to get into contact with yarn dyers and getting to know them. If they have the perfect shade of terracotta laying about I’ll probably end up buying it!

What are your other hobbies – besides crafting?

I love to sing, in the winter I love to cook a good soup, I enjoy debating with friends, I spend many evening reading or listening to fantasy books and if I have some time left over I love playing ttrpg games.

Thank you so much taking the time to answer my questions, Charlie! I loved getting to know you a little better.

Thanks so much for this lovely interview, Sanne. It was great to take some time to reflect on the last year and a half thanks to your questions.

That’s it for the first part of the Face Behind the Brand series! You can find Charlie on Instagram, Youtube, and Facebook. She also has her own website. I will soon be interviewing the next maker for this series, so stay tuned!