Youngest Canterbury Manufacturer

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31123, 28 July 1966, Page 2

Youngest Canterbury Manufacturer

Creative ability and the desire to be her own boss have led 19-year-old Elizabeth Turnbull to turn her hobby of creating felted applique pictures into a full-time job which also gives employment to four other women.

A small blonde, Miss Turnbull is now the youngest member of the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association. She joined on Tuesday. Miss Turnbull, who was bom 20 miles north of Invercargill, came to Christchurch at the beginning of last year tn attend the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts. She has now given this up as she feels she cannot be

a full-time student and businesswoman at the same time. Some of the advice that helped Miss Turnbull start her own business came from a friend who has her own toy manufacturing firm and exports to Australia, Julienne Crowder, aged 24. Recently Miss Crowder went to Australia to promote her products. Before she left, she asked Miss Turner for some of her work to show the Australians. Miss Turnbull’s felt pictures attracted favourable atten-

Hon. One thing led to another, and now she is in the throes : of all the technicalities of setHng up a business and keeping up production. Miss Turnbull said she had been making these pictures all her life. “My mother is an expert needle woman and she ; taught me her skill,” she said. Framed By Father At the moment the business can produce about seven ' dozen pictures a week. When completed, Miss Turnbull sends them to her father for framing.

She creates her designs from her own ideas but said that for the nursery pictures, children's colouring books were a good source of ideas. But Miss Turnbull’s designs are not confined to nursery pictures—they are made to appeal to all tastes from the very young through to adults. Although Miss Turnbull is producing pictures for export, she will also supply the New Zealand market, particularly in Wellington and Auckland. She is going to the North Island on a sales promotion trip early next month.