MY STORY

Ever since I could remember, I have always been a creative person, whether it was making small craft projects with my dad or at school, or simply building LEGOs. Being a huge film buff, I became very interested with what goes on behind the scene of movies, and so I found myself watching all the documentaries, vlogs and interviews filmed while filming New Line Cinema's the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

These 2 passions combined together sparked my interest in prop replicas.

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In 2013 I launched a Facebook page with a name along the lines of "Getting Creative with Craft Projects". It's been so long that I can't even remember its name! Here I started following Youtube tutorials on how to make swords, shields and prop replicas. The first channel I ever followed religiously was 'epicfantasy'. At the ages of 13 and 14 I was still discovering my talents, and so, my prop replicas were nowhere near perfect, but they were an important stepping stone for what I can do today. Around 2015, I lost interest in making more props, mainly because of increasing school work, but my love for movies and TV shows never diminished, but rather increased.

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Around 2017 I started watching another Youtube channel by the name of 'Odin Makes', which inspired me to venture further into prop-making, while also influencing my design process when I make props out of foam. Eventually, I launched my own Youtube channel in June of 2018 under the name of 'The Real Stark', a combination of my love for Game of Thrones and Marvel. Fast-forward to 2019 and I discovered my all-time favourite youtuber - Jazza - with a channel of the same name. He has greatly influenced my video styles and inspired me to try out new things including challenges and art. When COVID-19 hit Malta, I had a lot of time on my hands, and had gotten to the schedule of uploading a video every week. With a new direction of where I wanted my channel to head, I altered its name to 'The Craft Mansion' in March 2020 as I decided that The Craft Mansion was no longer a part of The Real Stark channel, but the channel itself.

As of October 2020, I have started university, and so my time had to be split, with me uploading fewer videos, but nevertheless, this is a hobby I quite enjoy, and I hope to make a steadier source of income by doing the things I love and by being as creative as I can be.