Author Toyoko Sugiwaka was born in Osaka, Japan, and studied graphic design at the Osaka College of Design. She comes from a family of craftspeople - as a small girl Toyoko, with her sister, spent many hours learning craft techniques from her aunt, a skilled expert in crochet. As a teenager Toyoko developed great enthusiasm for original interior design, which she applied in her own room, transforming it into a unique, personalised nest. In 1993 she moved to Australia as the art director for a printing company in Sydney, before going freelance as a graphic designer. Toyoko received training in felting techniques from internationally renowned South Australian artist, felter and dyer India Flint, with whom she co-wrote Handmade Style: Felt for Murdoch Books. Toyoko says, 'I was impressed by India's large-hearted human nature, and now, since I've been given this experience myself, I want to share it with other people in my book.'