Our Story
Welcome to my creative world!
My name is Mónika, and I am the founder and maker behind Monika & Makers.
For most of my working life, I was part of a completely different, physically demanding world. After turning 50, however, life changed direction rather suddenly when I was diagnosed with cancer. Continuing heavy physical work was no longer realistic, and I had to rethink what the next chapter of my life could look like.
Rather than allowing that change to take everything away, I returned to something that had always been part of me: creating things with my hands.
Arts and crafts had been a lifelong passion, but until then they had mostly been something I did in my spare time. Slowly, that passion became something much more important. Creating gave me something positive to focus on beyond appointments, treatments and illness — and eventually, it became the beginning of Monika & Makers.
Today, I work from my home studio in Newport, Wales, creating small-batch handmade pieces for the home, gifts and jewellery. I love experimenting with different materials, techniques and finishes, which means my collections are often varied — but every piece has one thing in common: it has been made by hand, with care, curiosity and a genuine love of creating.
Some designs begin exactly as I imagined them. Others take an unexpected turn along the way and become something even more interesting. That freedom to experiment is one of the things I love most about handmade work.
Monika & Makers is not a story about cancer — but cancer is part of the story of how I arrived here. What began as a necessary change in my life grew into a new creative chapter, a small business, and something that brings me enormous joy.
When you choose something from Monika & Makers, you are buying an individually handmade piece from a very small business — not something produced by the thousand. Thank you for visiting, for taking the time to look around, and for supporting handmade work.
I’m very happy you’re here. ❤️