Wagga woman injects joy back into life with needlecraft

When Bel Johns lost her job to COVID the Wagga woman discovered a new passion that has turned into a thriving small business.

Her Facebook page Tiny Creatures by Bel is precisely what it sounds like – where customers can purchase pre-made or commission miniature figurines of their fur babies handmade from felt.

Having been a Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon producer, Foxtel creative director, stand-up comic and comedy writer for 2Day FM, Bel was used to sparking joy in people’s lives and said losing her soul-destroying admin job was a blessing in disguise.

“I sat on the lounge and thought about how I wanted a little bit more happiness in the world and something simple to make people happy,” she said.

Born in Sydney and brought up in Broken Hill, Bel had spent most of her adult life travelling worldwide, working in the creative world of television, film and radio.

The single mother of one moved back to Wagga when her son started going to school.

Her family was snowballed into five years of painful events and the self-taught dry felter said she was stumbling around in the dark, deep in depression after losing many of her loved ones.

“I lost my dad, my job, my partner and my great-nephew,” she said.

Learning to create the miniature animals gave her the fortitude to carry on as she learned to celebrate little victories – from finding suitable needles to receiving seven bags of alpaca wool.

“Every little step of the way has brought me joy,” she said.

At 12, one of her mother’s friends taught Bel to make tiny mice by sewing together pieces of felt.

Later in life one of her friends showed her dry felting (needle felting).

But Bel’s creative and industrious mother was her greatest inspiration.

“Once a year, my mother would pile up the dining table with materials and a sewing machine and within three weeks, she would create beautifully-detailed ballet costumes,” Bel said.

“I thought, ‘I have nothing, so maybe I can magic up something like mum’.”

Bel said it took her a lot of searching to get the right gear. Dry felting requires 100 per cent wool, whether alpaca or merino, and barbed needles, which were difficult to track down in Wagga.

Once she had gathered all the correct materials and tools, she started creating little circles just as her friend had demonstrated.

At first, it didn’t turn out the way she had hoped.

“It turned into this blobby thing and resembled a rabbit and I went with that,” she said.

“I worked the wool with the barbed needle to create a firmer shape within the wool and sculpted the wool into a cute little bunny.”

She gifted the bunny to her best friend and soon after, crafted three little birds sitting on a twig, which she gave to her mum for Mother’s Day. She was hooked.

Bel’s tiny felt creatures started to generate interest after she had created two little dogs for a friend that resembled her poodles and shared the photos online.

“People with pets love them and want little keepsakes of their pets,” she said.

“It is the perfect present for somebody who has everything.”

It takes the needle felter up to three weeks to create each creature, depending on the intricacies of the animals.

“Thank god I have very patient customers,” she said.

As a somewhat anxious person, Bel said the process of making her animals is like therapy.

“It is wonderful,” she said. “The best activity I’ve found for myself; to sit still, focus and think of cute animals.”

Since the inception of her small business the miniaturist believes she has created more than 100 tiny animals, which have been sold worldwide.

The entrepreneur said the response from her clients has been overwhelmingly positive.

“It brings the customers joy how much their tiny creatures look like their actual pets,” she said.

Bel will be conducting workshops at The Little Yellow House Gallery and Studio on how to create tiny creatures through dry felting.

The self-titled eccentric said it would be rewarding to pass on her skills and knowledge in the pursuit of bringing others joy.

“The world needs a bit more happiness,” she said.

Bel’s Tiny Creatures are on display at The Little Yellow House Gallery and Studio and custom-made tiny creatures can be commissioned via the Tiny Creatures by Bel Facebook page.