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Hello! We are the team at Hive & Gobbler!

Pop in and say hi, or connect with us online.  We'd love to make your visit special and help you build confidence in your next project, irrespective of where you are on your creative slow-living journey.  There is always something new to learn and share!

Meet the team1
Meet Suzie!
Hi, call me Suz. I love working at Hive and Gobbler for many reasons. I love seeing peoples faces light up at the appreciation of the amazing textiles and yarns in supply.
I am a sewer. I had a clothing label for 10 years called Once Was. Mostly it was using vintage fabrics that had never been used. Turning unused items into something else is what I love to do. You may notice this in some of the displays. 
I am part of an artist collective called Make Space Newcastle, where I am the poster girl for the make-do-and-mend movement. In my spare time I love time with family and enjoy surfing.
We get so many people coming into the shop that say “I have never been creative”. I believe we are all creative, every day, in every way and wish to encourage people to tell themselves this.  Every Monday I run the "Make-it-Monday" sessions - free creative demos the run instore all day!  Come and say hi.  

 

Meet the Team2
Meet Jade!
Hey, I’m Jade. At Hive and Gobbler, I greet people with my bubbly and friendly nature and inspire customers to develop their creative potential.
I’ve always been interested in clothes and art. I have completed an Advanced Diploma of Fashion Design. I have had my hand as a fashion retail assistant and seamstress in the bridal industry before arriving at Hive and Gobbler.
When not at work, I’m busy helping out on the farm that's been in our family for six generations OR you’ll find me hard at the sewing machine mending and sometimes creating new designs.
Hive and Gobbler is so much like home. A little hive of a community. Warm, buzzing and full of life.
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Michelle Dado
Meet Michelle!

Hi, I'm Michelle. I’m an artist/designer, teacher, animal nurse/carer and lifelong advocate for the natural world. I studied Art at The School of Art and Design in Sydney before graduating from The National Institute of Dramatic Art, NIDA in Design in 1988. I have had an extensive career as a production & costume designer and teacher/lecturer in theatre, film, television and special events and am currently producing an environmental documentary due for release later this year.

I am committed to engaging and inspiring positive proactive change for environmental sustainability across a wide range of interconnected issues. I brought the Boomerang Bags initiative to Dungog in 2016 and subsequently in 2019 Single Use Plastic Free Dungog, Blue Planet Status and Dungog Cup Rescue were launched. I’m very proud to be part of a community that continues to grow and lead as a shining example for living locally and lightly. Keep Australia Beautiful NSW Sustainable Communities Tidy Towns Awards 2019 awarded Dungog with 6 awards for our work as a community in action for environmental sustainability.

Art & Nature are in my DNA so helping to build a fun, educational workshop program and teach what I know and have experienced is a pleasure. I love teaching art and design and the value of connecting with community and Nature. Hive and Gobbler is a destination hub for sustainability, creativity and slow living and I’m thrilled to be part of the Team.

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Meet Petra!
Hello!  I'm Petra Hilsen, a felt-maker working in Newcastle, Australia. I love the design and structural abilities wool offers. The therapeutic benefits are awesome.
I was born in Germany and came to Australia in 1982.  I was always interested in textiles, first watching my grandmother who was a talented seamstress making our clothes and my mother knitting socks and vests for us. I made clothes for my dolls and dabbled in dress making. During Uni I took up spinning, weaving and dyeing of wool.  Wool became my favourite medium. I took up felt-making in late 2014 and today I am working as a felt-maker and couldn't be happier.