“Craft on!” That’s the closing tagline used by Cemprut, an indie craft label, which is owned by Sri Rahadiyanti Aphrodita, better known as Dita, and her husband Agung Nuzul Wibowo. The line represents the spirit of the young couple: to keep crafting and creating no matter what.

Dita’s childhood love of crafting has grown into making everything from personalized pins to photo frames, denim bags to cute plushy dolls, or plushies.

She inherited her skills from her art-loving parents, but she never thought of making her hobby into a business.

“At first, I made things just for myself, not business. But after they knew that I made the crafts myself, my classmates started to put in orders,” she explained.

Her friendship-based “business” continued when Dita studied international relations at Muhammadiyah University Yogyakarta, where she met Agung. They wed in January 2007 and moved to Tangerang for Agung’s job in a shoe factory.

Agung soon realized his wife would function better working from home instead of in an office.

“She’s a creative person. She works according to her moods. I can’t imagine her being stuck in an office and doing the same things every day,” he explained.

Dita focused on craft-making and sold the products at events such as Sunday markets and bazaars. Her inspiration came from books, blogs and other crafters, and she handled the entire process by herself.

As the orders increased, Dita decided to establish her own label and opened an online shop in 2008. She chose the name Cemprut from her childhood nickname, and detailed her creative process and tutorials in a blog on Multiply, before moving it to BlogSpot (cemprut.cc).

Cemprut became better known, with invitations from the crafter community and craft sellers, and increasing attention from the media. After nine years in business, the brand has penetrated national and international markets and is one of the sought-after crafts in Indonesia, with sizable followings on Facebook and Instagram.

It has won fans thanks to its uniqueness and limited availability. Its crafts are not only for kids; its unusual characters, such as of the artist Frida Kahlo and The Beatles, also attract adult fans.

Most of the products’ names are in Javanese or related to javanese culture: Bledug is used for the elephant-shaped doll series, Kirwo for the dog-shaped dolls and Satriyo & Srikandhi for the superheroes series.

GIVING BIRTH

Cemprut also has a unique way to market its products. They are not sold, but “adopted” through what is known as a lahiran (literally “to give birth”) process. Once the products’ pictures have been uploaded to the brand’s Facebook page, people can leave an “adopt” comment, with the first person to comment receiving priority to bid.

Dita said the approach was no marketing strategy, but to show the products were made with love.

“They’re like my children. I made them with all my heart. Sometimes I even cry when people adopt my plushies,” Dita said.

She does not make products to order anymore. She chooses which products may be adopted, and there is no fixed scheduled for when their image is posted on social media.

For every lahiran, Cemprut makes up to 200 products that can be adopted for Rp 50,000 to Rp 300,000 each. Although Dita now has five assistants to help her, she still has her hands full with the creative process.

Agung left his job to help her with the administrative demands, including all the marketing and social media accounts.

“He is also balancing me. I tend to follow my mood when creating something, but mas Agung tells me which products are quickly adopted and which products aren’t. I need someone to keep me on track because we also make money from Cemprut now,” Dita said.

Some have termed them a “couplepreneur”, for a couple who does business together. Of course, problems can arise.

“Sometimes we argue because we have different ideas on her crafts and we haven’t resolved the differences before we wind up in bed at the end of the day,” Agung said, adding that he had also found his passion for photography through the business.

Even with the occasional occupational spat, the couple is continuing to follow their dreams — and craft on.

Twitter & Instagram: @cemprutindiecraft

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