Carmen
Founding artisan
Hello, I'm Carmen
From Taramundi to the world
The spark my mother gave me
All of this started with my mother. From when I was tiny I watched her sew, knit and mend whatever had broken, and I would stay beside her just watching her hands. She never told me to learn. She simply made room for me at the table.
One day she handed me a needle and let me get on with it. I remember my first crooked stitch, and I remember that she did not undo it: she told me to keep going and see how it turned out. I think that was the spark, and I have kept it lit ever since.
Now, every time I sit down to shape a little face or stitch a little body, I know I am doing exactly what she used to do. That is where the Magikitos come from, from that table and those hands.
"Let it be neat"
I'll never forget that she always used to say: "Let it be neat, because what matters is not the time you need to finish it, but the final result." And she was right. Nobody asked me how long it had taken, they just said: "How beautiful!"
That's how I grew fond of it and kept learning. Patience became my ally, and creating with my hands became my refuge.
My free time
Once my children grew up and didn't need me as much, I devoted my free time, among other things, to knitting jumpers and blankets. When there was no more room in the wardrobes, I took up crocheting amigurumis and then learned to make Waldorf-style dolls.
Over the years, I enjoy my creations more and more. Each piece carries a little bit of me, of my time, of my calm.
How this madness began
One day I had the idea of creating a brownie. I had no clue how to do it, but I started modelling a piece of porcelain and my first face emerged. With some bits of wire and old fabric scraps, I made the first little body and Pau was born, my inseparable friend who comes with me on every journey.
From that point on, it became a need, and little by little my life has been filling up with porcelain brownies and wool fairies.
My magical world
It makes me happy to bring my little creatures to life and write them letters that they faithfully answer. That is my world, and that is how I discovered the Magikitos.
Each one has its own personality, its own story. And when they find their home, I know they carry with them a little piece of that calm and that magic I found creating with my hands.
How I met the Magikitos
The forests of Taramundi are the ancestral home of the Magikitos. It is a place where magic still lives, where every tree whispers ancient stories and where it all began.
This is a short video I recorded in the forests of Taramundi, where I discovered these magical creatures for the very first time.
My digital partner
None of what you see here would exist without my son Alvaro Franz. When the Magikitos still lived in cardboard boxes and small village fairs, he was the one who proposed building a website so they could travel further. And he got to work.
Today he is the one who builds every corner of this site, tends to the words, edits the stories and keeps this digital home alive. I model in the workshop, he weaves from the computer. That is how we work.
Behind the Magikitos
Crafts workshop in Taramundi, Asturias. Active since 2024.
Alvaro Franz
Co-founder, web and content