An artistically inclined mother and a keen interest in all things beautiful got Di van Nierkerk off to an early start as an embroiderer. Her love for this discipline soon became her livelihood and starting an embroidery business was just another natural progression for this talented crafter. She opened her first shop in the Natal Midlands and when the family decided to uproot and move to Johannesburg, along went the business. After four years of running one of Johannesburg's most successful embroidery shops, the family's urge to settle in Cape Town became too strong to ignore. Di now lives in the Mother City where she runs two successful embroidery shops. The end product of her latest interest, hand painting her own range of silk and organza ribbons for embroidery, is marketed to retail outlets worldwide. She is the author of 5 currrent titles with Search Press.

One of the founder members of the Cape Embroiderers' Guild, Toody Cassidy is an avid felter and creative embroiderer who loves to share her passion for fabric, fiber and thread, patterns, colors and design with others. She has hand-dyed and sold different types of threads and fibers, including cotton, silk and wool, and mastered the art of silk paper making. Toody and Di have worked together over more than 15 years.