In 2013, while on maternity leave after giving birth to her third child, lawyer Helen Bayley finally heeded the nagging call of her creative self. She left her law practice and instead created heart-shaped vases inspired by the old-fashioned ceramic wall decors.
In just few months, she received thousand of orders from across the world. By then she decided to formally set up the company Lovestar with the support of her husband, Cris Bayley.
Credit: Lovestar Facebook
By 2014, the lawyer turned artist transformed a section of their Queenslander in Norman Park to a workshop place for her creations. A few months after, Lovestar had set up its headquarters in Moggill.
More orders piled up which eventually led to Lovestar opening a studio in Morningside, where the designing was being done.
On the 26th of February 2018, sadly, a fire broke at Lovestar’s headquarters in Moggill. The fire destroyed everything inside the warehouse.
Ms Bayley described the incident as awful but her husband remained optimistic. In media interviews, Mr Bayley said that they still have stocks left at their studio in Morningside. The products in safekeeping in Morningside would allow them to get by for the next six to eight months whilst they recover from the aftermath of the fire.
Mr and Mrs Bayley recalled how they started the now globally popular heart-shaped vases by selling no more than 10 pieces in a local market. They only expected to sell a piece but all 10 were sold in a matter of minutes. A friend who used one of the vases for her online store posted a photo of it in Instagram. Hours after the post, emails and orders for the vase came pouring in.
Ms Bayley’s creations had since been featured in magazines like House & Garden, Elle, Instyle, Marie-Claire, Cosmopolitan, Yen, Frankie, Inside-Out, Real Living, and leading Australian design blog, The Design Files.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Service Pullenvale station officer Craig Meade estimated that the couple lost $45,000 to $75,000 due to the fire. But, whilst the loss of ten thousands of dollars will no doubt impact Lovestar, Mr Bayley saw a glimmer of hope as long as the finished products were safeguarded at their Morningside studio.