¡Hola! I’m Claudia, the face behind The Invisible Friend.
I’m originally from Spain but I have been living in the UK for more than 8 years. I’m also the mummy of one beautiful, happy and cheeky toddler, and she is the reason why I started all of this.
Discovering a world of crafting
When I went onto maternity leave I learned how to knit with my hands, and it was like magic, a few yarn movements here and there and bam! A hat, a scarf… I couldn’t believe it and I wanted more, so my wonderful partner gifted me my first loom set, and more options opened up for my creativity.
But again, I wanted more so I taught myself how to crochet, and here I am making hats, cowls, key rings and bookmarks!
But knitting is not the only thing I do. I also make kumihimo jewellery. Kumihimo is an ancient Japanese art, once used by the Samurai as laces for their armour. Using a disk you can make beautiful cords and every time I make a bracelet I want to keep it, and sometimes I do!
I guess I need to show my creations to the world!
Coming up with a name – The Spanish ‘Secret Santa’!
So why the name The Invisible Friend?
It wasn’t even my idea! When I was thinking about names, my boyfriend said “it seems like you are selling the perfect gifts for the invisible friend” and I loved the sound of it.
So basically, in Spain we don’t have a Secret Santa, we have the Invisible Friend. But it’s the same idea. Participants are randomly assigned a person to whom they will purchase a gift. It has become quite a popular practice in Spain, happening among co-workers, friends and even families who have decided to replace the traditional “everybody gets everybody else gifts” with this simpler, more affordable solution.
Outside crafting
When I’m not crafting, I’m teaching. I love education. I’m a teaching assistant and I have spent the past years working in a nursery.
I’m now taking a little break from normal working hours to be with my little super hero. But I missed teaching so I went back to being a tutor. Spanish is my mother tongue, and I’m “Spanish as foreign language” qualified. I teach children and grown ups to learn the world’s second-most spoken native language, after Chinese.
And when I’m not working I’m probably playing with my daughter, reading or on a family day out visiting a farm, a national park, a castle, the zoo, an aquarium…