Hellooo
THE ORIGIN STORY
(OR SOMETHING)
Kia ora! I’m Sammy 🤍
I’m 37, living in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa NZ, with my husband and our two cats.
By day, I work as an events manager in the not-for-profit world, helping organisations bring their fundraising campaigns to life. By night and basically any spare moment (where I’m not playing mermaid), I make things.
In 2025, I was deep in a winter-blues, burnout-y season. My water baby heart was missing the ocean, and during a therapy session using IFS, a part of me very clearly said: work with your hands.
Around the same time, TikTok started feeding me ClayTok, Kmart did what Kmart does best, and suddenly I had two giant boxes of clay supplies delivered and was teaching myself how to make things. I started sharing my clay journey on TikTok as I learned, experimented, and figured it out as I went.
I’ve always loved creating content. I used to be a video producer, but that’s another story for another time.
On TikTok, I share a mix of theatre life, snorkelling slash mermaid moments, blind box openings, and a series called “Sammy spending money but that’s ok because she’s supporting a small business”.
Lucky for me, the algorithm gods were kind, and I fell into the most generous, encouraging little creative community. The creatives and small business owners I met there inspired me so much, and gently encouraged me, that I finally launched my own side quest and started selling my creations.
Sparkle Studio officially launched on 11 December 2025.
The name Sparkle Studio also came from therapy, just before my 37th birthday. After a long stretch of burnout and a general disenchantment with life, I told my therapist I didn’t want to lose my sparkle. So sparkle became my word and intention for the year ahead, and it only felt right that this space carry that name too.
I know it might sound a little unhinged that my response to burnout was to start a small business, and honestly, it probably is. But so far, it’s been a surprisingly grounding antidote. It pulls me out of numbing scrolls and stress spirals from my big girl job, keeps me accountable to keep creating, connects me to the most incredible online community, and gives my ideas a place to land in the real world.
Anywhooo, I make clay creations, design stickers because I love to draw, and create whatever feels fun and exciting in the moment. Cute things, jewellery, little treasures. Sparkle Studio is intentionally open-ended, a place that can hold whatever sparks my interest next. Who knows where it’ll go, but that’s half the fun.
Wow, this is long. Thanks for being here and reading this - and if you got this far - why not use code IREADTHELONGASSABOUTSECTION for 5% off your order. Hah ok love you bye!