Today I'd like to introduce you all to one of my favorite geek crafting buddies: Kelly from Freak and Pocky!
Kelly and I met a few years ago in a Geek Girl Bloggers group and have been friends ever since! She and her mom built a really awesome company called De Boop Shop that sells felt toys, hair accessories, keychains, masks and much more! And now she's opened her own store with her husband that sells adorable crochet poppets of some of the best geeky characters!
Aren't they so cute???
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?
Hi there! I'm Kelly aka Pocky, the pocket healer to my tanking husband and proud momma to a couple of sweet rescue dogs, Pixel & Skylar.
In August I followed my creative dreams and opened an online shop, Freak + Pocky, handcrafting geeky accessories and collectibles. My most popular items are the adorable crochet dolls, called Poppets, that are inspired by some of our favorite fandoms & fellow geeks.
What/who inspires you?
I do most of my crocheting while binge watching some of my favorite fandoms or Twitch streams, so it's no surprise that those are my biggest inspirations for our poppets.
But if we are talking about who inspires me, personally, I would say the two biggest ones are Felicia Day & Kevin Smith. They are both huge geeks that, despite their awkwardness, figured out a way to do something they love all while encouraging others to do it too!
What was the process like of finding your niche? Do you have any advice for those still searching for theirs?
That's the funny thing. I always wanted to make geeky things, but if you had asked me a year ago if I thought I would be making Poppets I would've asked "What's a poppet?".
Back in March 2017 I was working on some geeky hats to put in a booth I was sharing with my mom at our local Comic Con. But I also scored tickets to the Jay & Silent Bob Get Old podcast for my husband and me, so he gave me the wild idea of making Jay & Silent Bob amigurumi to give to the guys that inspired us to pursue our geeky dreams.
I almost didn't make them because I was afraid I wouldn't have the time, but somehow I gave in and ended up finishing them minutes before grabbing our seats. Well, they loved them so much that they shared a picture on Instagram of them posing with the dolls (and calling them Poppets) and instantly my phone was blowing up with messages from strangers asking about these dolls and what else I could make. Of course it took me a couple of more months before I finally took Kevin Smith's advice and pursued my dreams, and that's when the Freak + Pocky shop started.
My best advice for someone looking for their niche is this: just be open to anything! Although I have loved making amigurumi for years, I fought the idea of that being my creative pursuit. But once I gave in to the idea (thanks to the nudge from Kevin Smith) the ideas started flowing and things started happening.
What are some of your favorite finished projects?
The Jay & Silent Bob Poppets will forever be a top favorite of mine. They were a challenging project and also changed my life! And let's face it, they are pretty stinkin' cute too!
And besides some of the custom pieces I've done recently, I'm pretty stinkin' in love with the Sock Elf & Galaxy Master Poppets. It's just something about those ears!
Who are some of your favorite female creators?
Well it should go without saying that two of my top favorites are Felicia Day & Zooey Deschanel. But let me tell you about a few of my not-quite-as-well-known favorites.
If you don't know Cody from Lu & Ed, you're missing out! She's an amazing momma to a couple of incredible geeklings, and makes the most adorable monsters for her shop. I'm definitely wanting to get one of her large Mon-stors to store some of my yarn stash.
A more recent favorite is Evelyn from Stitchy Geeks. She's so stinkin' adorable and makes the cutest plushies and geeky ears. And a little known fact, she's in the running for biggest Poppet collector.
You can find Kelly and follow all of her and her husband's geeky endeavors @FreakandPocky on Twitter and Instagram or like Freak & Pocky on Facebook
Then buy yourself a Poppet (or 3!) from Freak & Pocky on Etsy and Storenvy! She also makes custom and mini poppets and has a few really cute hats that I love!
A humongous thanks to Kelly for the interview! It's been wonderful watching her grow as an artist over the past several years of our friendship and see her make some really awesome things! Also her puppers are super cute if you need another incentive to why you should follow her! But seriously Kelly is just the sweetest and I'm so happy she's part of my geek gang!
Which Poppet is your favorite?
I'd have to say mine is Dobby! Like Kelly said, there's just something about those ears!
Let me know yours in the comments!
❤❤❤Kelsey❤❤❤
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