Özge was born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey. She met her husband, Colin, in 2007 as he was travelling through Europe. It’s after moving to Quebec in 2009 that she started improving her sewing skills. She did so by creating small projects, which eventually led her to sew her own wedding dress!
Özge has worked in production and promotion of visual arts for several years. She has always had a love for handmade objects and crafts. She remembers, as a child, travelling with her family to different regions of Turkey and seeing her parents buying handmade items from the local craftspeople of that region; dolls, stone trinkets, marble sculptures, wooden accessories, porcelains, kilims, rugs and so much more!
As she and her husband travelled back and forth to Turkey for vacation and to see her family, they visited less travelled places where they met local people and fell in love with authentic foods and crafts. Özge rediscovered the crafts traditions of her own country through Colin’s eyes as he admired these objects that he couldn’t find in Canada. They first bought these objects for their own enjoyment. But, with time and use, they realized the quality behind these objects, and this led them to be even more critical in their selection. This is why our kitchen accessories are in linen, a natural fibre, strong and heat resistant, getting just softer and better with time! The production of flax contributes to sustainable agriculture as it requires little fertilizer and pesticides.
That’s how confetti mill started, with a simple suitcase, Özge bringing goods in small batches to offer to friends and family. Slowly, the demand increased, and she realized that Turkish craftspeople and manufacturers, unfortunately, don’t promote their works as they are too busy with production. And sometimes, this was simply because they didn’t know the value of their own creations! For her, it is a way to support the local economy of her own country, keeping the traditional craftsmanship, that is in peril in some regions due to modernisation and mass consumption, alive and well.
