Michael was born and raised in West Yorkshire, and he showed an interest in making (and dismantling) things from an early age. He remembers taking his computer joystick apart at age 8 or 9 (which was successfully rebuilt, by the way), and soldering components for circuit boards with his dad. Woodworking is also a family skill, with Michael’s dad being skilled at all things from furniture making to bespoke wooden toys – although these skills have been passed on, he is still on hand to offer help and advice when needed! Michael has worked in the entertainment industry for nearly 20 years, and enjoys all things technical, musical and creative. The wide variety of his jobs is mirrored in the variety of projects he carries out for Crafted By Bell.

Alli is by trade a Music Teacher in secondary school. She moved to Yorkshire in 2001 from South London, where she grew up in a very creative household. There was always some sort of sewing, baking, music, set design or general craft taking place. Her mum is a skilled seamstress (even making Alli’s wedding dress), her dad has a long history of working in the technical side of theatre, her sister is a stage manager, and her brother is a professional guitarist and, more recently, furniture maker.  Alli has many years of experience with sewing, cross stitch and embroidery, and Crafted By Bell hopes to utilise these in more projects in the future.

Crafted By Bell began life as a way to share personal projects that Michael and Alli were doing, either for themselves or as gifts for friends and family.  A lot of these were one-off pieces, including house signs, name plaques, a 3D printed Christmas tree topper, a 3D printed Iron Man helmet… the list goes on!  The plan was never to create a business from these hobbies, but gradually they began to receive commissions from friends and family for personalised items.  As people showed interest in their Instagram and Facebook posts, they began to sell some of their creations, mainly Christmas decorations and gifts.  These have included wooden Christmas trees, tree ornaments, personalised ornaments, orders for local businesses, and even an order for a local primary school PTA to provide a gift for every pupil in the school.  As people seem to enjoy and appreciate their work, Michael and Alli would like to continue to develop new and exciting products for even more people to enjoy!