Meet the Makers

Tanya:

My name is Tanya and I am Heather’s older sister.  Crafting and making things is my stress relief, it is my zen and my calm, it is where I can let my creative juices flow while filling my ears with all my favourite tunes or watching Netflix and catching up on the current season I am binging.  I love coffee, music, nature, shopping, traveling (specifically Hawaii), finding the gems in the rough whether it be a cool sight while travelling or a new favourite restaurant.  I find my happy in the kitchen trying new recipes to cook and bake.  My most recent DIY adventure was learning the art of making a starter and baking with sourdough.  

 

My husband and I have been married since 2008.  One fun fact - we met on an online dating site in 2006 and here we are, married almost 14 years already!!  He is an electrical superintendent for an international company and works throughout Canada keeping him away from home for up to a month at a time, so I solo parent a lot of the time.  Together we have two lovely children, A & B.  A is a teenager - he is a mamma’s boy and our personalities are exactly the same - he is soft hearted and friendly and loves history and learning new languages.  He keeps himself busy with Scouts, martial arts and is working toward his blue karate belt and on his first stripe on his first blue Combatives Jiu Jitsu belt.  He has a few diagnosed medical issues and disabilities and is always having to work extra hard no matter where he is in life, and I am incredibly proud how far he has come!  B is 7 years younger than her brother- and she is a daddy’s girl with his personality - she is an adrenaline junkie and full of sass.  She keeps herself busy trying every single sport in the book.  Currently she is in competitive gymnastics, baton, jazz and ballet.  Apparently I am in the "Mom Taxi Era now."

I am a journeyperson cosmetologist and esthetician by trade.  I worked in that industry for almost 10 years before ending that career because of the tendon & skin issues I developed from repetitive movements and chemicals/products used in that industry.  In 2011 I decided to go back to school.  I considered nursing but with hubby’s schedule and a 2-year-old son, the school and shiftwork afterward wouldn’t work for our schedule.  Instead I started Saskatoon Business College and finished the late spring of 2012.  I started working for an interventional cardiologist in June 2012, thanks to my sister for finding me this job (she works for another interventional cardiologist as well - the apples don’t fall far from the tree LOL) and currently still work full time in this same office for almost 12 years.  *insert surprised face here* 

While on maternity leave with B I needed something for my creative brain.  My cousin was selling her hair bow business and this became the perfect opportunity for me!  I dug into my savings, purchased the business and renamed it Prairie Princess Bowtique.  This new little side business was perfect for the long days at home with a new baby, it allowed me time to create during naptimes and early bedtimes.  I went back to my day job only part time because of hubby’s work schedule, so PPB continued to keep me busy on the days I was not at work.  As of the summer of 2021 I decided to go back full time because the kids are now older and more independent.  With working full time, it became a little harder to manage and juggle PPB, work, and life.  I enjoy creating so much and didn’t want to give up my baby, this business, but something needed to change, so this is how Little Prairie Kids was born…a joint venture with my sister!  How perfect!  I can’t wait to see what this change in business will bring but I can say I am super excited to bring you along!

Heather:

My name is Heather and I am Tanya’s younger sister.  I’m an Administrative Assistant by day and a hobbyist by night.  I love fabric, stationery, books and red wine.  I also love to travel, there’s something special about being exactly where you want to be and doing life on your own terms; traveling does that for me and I love everything about it, not just the destination, because for me there is never just one.  I love the planning, researching and packing prior to the journey itself!

My husband and I have two beautiful daughters, S & H.  As a family, we also enjoy traveling, exploring new and old places, building forts, playing outside and Disney+ (you can never have enough Disney).  Both of our girls are unique in their own way.  S is three and H is two.

 

Hubby and I met February 2012 and were married August 2016.  He is the gravy to my mashed potatoes, we do everything together.  Our top three favourite things to do is grabbing a coffee and driving around, golfing and travelling while trying any new activity that we can!

As for me, I love creating, trying new hobbies, crafts, arts, you name it!  I’ve always been more of a right-brain thinker and out of all the arts I’ve tried my favourites are sewing and quilling.  I get most of my inspiration from around me, whether that be the season, the weather that day or simply something I can whip up to make tidying up the toys more functional for my family and our kids.  I’ve been involved in trade shows, craft shows of all kinds, and I’ve even hosted a few, but consistency was lacking along with the excitement as I always wanted a maker friend to sit next to.  Some years have been more productive than others, of course daily life and earning a living takes over from making the fun stuff.  This is what makes me most excited to have been invited to join Tanya’s platform!  I have a new zest and excitement towards creating and sharing ideas with you and your families!  Can’t wait to join in on the ride!

Together we are Little Prairie Kids:

A warm welcome to everyone, we are glad you’re here!  We are Tanya and Heather, a sister duo handcrafting fashion and fun for your prairie home!  What started as a small idea from an everyday telephone call with each other, ignited into Little Prairie Kids!  We are born and raised on the Canadian Prairies; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada to be exact!  We grew up in the city of Saskatoon and moved to an acreage in our early childhood.  

We grew up with crafting in our blood and the love of it started with our mom.  Our mother is very crafty and we spent numerous weekends with her at craft sales and tradeshows.  She always had something on the go whether it was decorating a cake for someone's birthday or wedding, or arranging flowers into a pretty arrangement, or whatever else she was working on, crafting was always around us.  Our mom knew the importance of knowing how to do basic stitching whether it be to hem or mend a pair of pants or replace a button so she signed us up for sewing lessons at a young age. 

 

 

Our grandmother was largely into quilting, sewing, leatherwork/beading, and so much more.  We would spend a week with our grandparents each summer so naturally we grew up watching our Grandmother’s hands at the sewing machine feeding fabric, refilling bobbins, replacing thread, and we were the lucky kids who got to play with her fabric paints or knot her homemade blankets as she sewed.  She had the trust to let us sew her scrap fabrics on her machine so we could make all the creations we wanted!  She was the one who stitched the love for the art of sewing in our hearts.  Our learning continued throughout Home Economics class in school and eventually became second nature.

 

As everyone grows and builds their careers, gets married and/or has kids, the time to create and sew fell to the wayside for both of us, but much like riding a bike, the talent comes back quite quickly.

When Heather decided to pick up her sewing machine again and wanted to start a business of her own, our daily phone conversation morphed into the idea of us working together!  Little Prairie Kids was born based off a conversation between us and our mom.  The name incorporates our prairie roots along with the fact that we grew up and enjoyed our childhood outside of the city.  We want our kids to enjoy prairie life and some of the things that we did for fun.  

So this is us!  Tanya & Heather, two sisters who laugh until we cry, finish each other’s sentences, and drink way too much coffee.

We are so grateful to wake up and share what we love to do with this amazing community!  We hope you love the items we’ve created as much as we do.  Every time we have the opportunity of sending one of these items away to a new owner, a piece of our heart goes with it, as all of these items are made with much thought and love.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for stopping here and shopping handmade.  We appreciate it more than you know.  <3