Who is The Giraffical Embroiderer?
Here is some information about our founder, and how The Giraffical Embroiderer came to be!
Hi, my name is Janine Henderson, I have grown up in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland and I am proud of my wee country.
I came through school being a creative kind of person, always doodling on everything and anything and I love colour.
Although I done reasonably well in school I was not a very scholarly type of person, I just couldn't tie myself down to books - I would rather be a practical, hands-on type of person, making things with my hands.
Therefore after sitting my GCSE's I decided not to study for A-Levels but to move on and do a B-Tec Level 3 Advanced course in Art & Design.
I got a Grade 'B' in my GCSE Art and a 'C' in GCSE Textiles so I knew this was the best route forward for me at a time when all of my friends stayed on to do their A-Levels. Here I covered artistic subjects such
as Life Drawing, Ceramics, Print-making, Photography, Woodwork, Metal Work, Graphic Design and Textiles.
I really enjoyed the course and worked hard enough to achieve a Distinction which got me straight unto a BA Hons Course in the University of Ulster studying Visual Communication. Here I studied subjects such as animation, illustration, graphic design, photography, film making.
After graduating in the year 2000 I have worked in a magazine, for newspapers and in packaging design.
To take my mind of the long commute each day I took up an old hobby of embroidery and was making presents for friends and family. It wasn't long before word spread and other people outside of my family were commissioning me to do work for them also so here I
am! The name is a play on words, I love giraffes and being precise and graphical I'm a bit of a perfectionist.
Knowing about different kinds of print throughout my career I have also decided to branch out into Sublimation Printing and all ideas are welcome.
Please feel free to drop me a mail if there is something you would like but you maybe don't see it here on the site.
I will look into it for you and try to accommodate wherever feasible.
