My husband and I work together on Perfect Peace Pillows. He is a retired Engineer and I am a semi-retired licensed social worker.
We want to be a blessing to others.
Meet Kelsey Snyder from The Small Village...
I was born and raised in Ohio. When I got married, my husband (Chris) and I travelled a lot for his career. We started our married life living on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona for three years and then moved to Iowa for two years. After being away from home for five years, and having two children, we decided to move back to our home state of Ohio. I am now the mother of three children, who are my greatest blessings.
My business, The Small Village is fairly new. I have always loved crafting and decorating, but not until recently did I decide to take the plunge and turn my hobby into a business. I started selling my items in December of 2016.
This will be my first Avant-Garde craft show. This is actually my very first craft show that I will be attending as a vendor!
Being a mother inspires me to create. I love the "sisterhood" of motherhood, and that kind of community is what inspires me to make the signs and tees that I do.
I fell in love with crafting when I fell in love with decorating my home. We couldn't always afford home decor at the stores, so I always made my own. I love restoring an old piece of furniture or hanging a freshly painted sign above my sink. It honestly brings me so much joy to see my house turn into a home, because of my own two hands.
I discovered my talent after a lot of trial and error. I worked hard to find out what works and what doesn't. Many times, that meant learning from my mistakes. It wasn't something that came natural, but something that I worked for.
My creative process is a learning experience. I'm always finding new things to try and new materials to use. Having products that have the very best quality is very important to me. I put a lot of time and effort perfecting my skill.
In five years, I would love to have my own storefront! I'd love to have my own store that focused on home decor and clothing, with my main audience being women and mothers. I want to create a special place where women can come together and fellowship over a cup of coffee.
The message behind The Small Village is that everyone needs a village. It takes a village to raise a child right? Whether it be scripture on a sign, a funny graphic on a tee, or a relationship built with my customers...something small can be an encouragement to fellow women and mothers.
Meet Linda Carpenter from Tole Antiques...
Hi! I'm Linda Carpenter. This is my first avant-garde show. I am a decorative painter. I paint on wood, metal, glass, etc. I started taking painting classes when my children were toddlers and have been painting ever since. My daughter just turned 40 last December, so that gives you an idea how long it has been! My first career was as a registered nurse working in Cardiac Intensive Care. I stopped working as a nurse when my children were born and looked for something less stressful to do!
I also taught decorative painting for about 15 years and began doing shows. You can only have so many painted things at home! About 7 years ago a friend talked me into making a beaded bracelet and I loved that too! I didn't want to give up either one.--So I began selling both.
I decided last year that maybe it was time for me to stop all my art work and do other things. That lasted one year and I really missed it. I was talking to a friend of mine who said to me "If God gave you a gift, then you should never give it up unless you have to."
So here I am, back painting and making jewelry. I love making people happy when they find something of mine that they love, and it is also therapy for me. It is easy to get lost in your art work and leave any other problems behind for a little while!
I am very much looking forward to May 13th in Fairlawn!
Meet Christine Hespen from The Chris Co...
I'm 34 years old, born and raised in CLE on the eastside. I obtained a Fine Arts degree from BGSU in 2004, with a focus in photography. Since college I've been working in Corporate America and working in the arts as a hobby. I've been creating jewelry for about 10+ or so years now.
This will be my third Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show!
What inspires me to create.. color! Bright, vivid color that surrounds us in this world truly is what inspires me.
How I got into my craft.. My very first job was at a bead store in Beachwood Place back when I was 14 years old. My love for jewelry kicked off from that job. I found out I had talent when it came to making jewelry when I watched what others created and tried to copy their pieces. Once I started making variations of what I saw others doing, I realized it came easy to me.
My creative process.. I try not to over think a piece....when that happens I get restless and end up overthinking it to death. I just start working on a piece, and let it flow.
Where I see myself in 5 years.. I really enjoy selling at the spring and fall craft shows in Cleveland, someday I would like to sell in local boutiques.
The message behind my work.. Sometimes simplicity is best. Sometimes there simply isn't a message, and that's okay!
Meet Marti McHugh-Curtis from ArtyMarti Designs...
Hello all! I am Marti
of ArtyMarti Designs. I live in Chagrin
Falls, OH with my husband, Keith, who is endlessly patient with all the clutter than goes hand
in hand with creativity! I have been
greatly interested in art, photography, lettering, writing, and just about any
other creative field, since I was a very young child. I remember the frustration at age 9, of lying
in the grass, trying to focus close-up on a flower, with an Instamatic Kodak
that took flash cubes…anyone remember those??
Anyway, as the years passed, I spent time studying at both Miami
University and Kent State University in the art departments. My studies ranged from wallpaper and fabric
design, to calligraphy, jewelry & metals, & photography. However, once I was married and had the first
two of my four children, photography seemed the best fit, both as a creative
outlet, and also a way that I could work part time. I began entering contests, became an active
member of the Chagrin Valley Camera Club, and was eventually recruited as a
free-lance photographer for the Chagrin Valley Times. This worked perfectly with the demands of an
active family; as by then I had one daughter and three sons. I continued this work for about nine years,
and felt the urge to try something different at that point. As I had already been making many of my own
greeting cards for years, by applying photos I had taken to card stock, it
seemed like a perfectly natural transition for me to attempt to make this
endeavor into a small business, and find a way to “update” the card style.
I registered the name ArtyMarti Designs in
August of 2015, and have been busy building the business and learning the ups
and downs of marketing one’s own product.
I have had Open Houses, have some cards in local shops, as well as in a
store in the Chautauqua Institution in New York state. I participated in my first “tent event” at
the end of last summer, and just recently discovered the Avant-Garde Craft
Shows. The Fairlawn show will be my second
Avant-Garde Show, and I have been busy planning the best ways to display my
product. Being the day before Mother’s
Day, I will have some great gift baskets made up, and I hope you will check
them out!
Many things have inspired me to create. I have always been drawn to beautiful details
of things that I see. I love traveling,
and have amassed a huge collection of photos from those travels, that I now
find to be a virtual catalog for me to draw from for my card designs. I sometimes use “straight” photography, and
at other times implement “effects” on my photographs to change their appearance
to a more graphic or painterly style. I
have approximately 175 different card designs currently, ranging from old cars
and trucks, animals, botanicals, barns, antiques & architecture, to
anything interesting that catches my eye!
At first I made all of my cards blank inside, and found that many people
were requesting cards with verses. As I
enjoy writing as well, I embraced the challenge of creating verses that
connected well with the photos on the cards. I now offer many cards with verses
for varied occasions, as well as a large stock of blank cards for the customers
that enjoy writing their own.
At the Fairlawn show, I will have some interesting gift
“baskets” made up of assortments of custom greeting cards, pens, and postage
stamps in pretty containers of some kind, perfect for a Mother’s Day gift or
birthday gift. This may be an especially
nice present for an older mom, aunt or grandma, who can’t easily get out the way
they used to, but still enjoys writing notes and cards to people they know
& love. I hope you’ll check them
out! I will also have some enlargements,
framed or matted, of several of the photos featured on my cards.
I do want to let people know that at this time I am only
able to accept checks and cash. Haven’t
made the big move to accepting credit cards yet, but probably will need to
check that option out soon!
I am in a constant state of learning, as I go through this
process of creating and selling my art.
I am always open to hearing suggestions of what particular items people
would like to see on a card, that I have not yet made. My greatest satisfaction comes when a
customer truly connects with a particular photo, and tells me the memories it
brings to them, or when they tell me the verse I wrote perfectly conveys what
they would like to say to someone. I am
very much looking forward to this new adventure, and hope that I will meet many
of you soon!
Meet Bethany Wilson from Family 365...
Bethany, owner of Family 365. Family 365 is a small business dedicated to the importance of family time through creative outlets. We utilize multimedia art, photography, and books to inspire artistic time spent with family.
I've written, drawn pictures, and taken photo's since I was a child but never did anything with it until the last few years. This will be my first show with Avant-Garde.
What inspires me to create is almost everything in nature, family, friends...
How I discovered my talent.. I feel like I was always creative but never fully used it until the last few years. Painting has become a favorite hobby.
My creative process... I kind of just look at different material and can creatively see how they piece together to form something awesome. I like to mix as much media as I can.
My five year plan.. This will probably always be a small side business. I enjoy making personalized pieces for families.
The message behind my work is that I want people to enjoy the beauty of the world and see how they can interpret it into their own families.
For more info on me and my work visit my website (which is still in the beginning stages) is familyfaithart.com. My books (which I illustrate with my photography and paintings are) www.lulu.com/spotlight/
My spring and summer shows will include: Photography, greeting cards, my books, birdhouses, flower pots, button art and some paintings.My fall and winter shows will include: photography, greeting cards, my books, wine glasses, ornaments, fall and winter personalized paintings (with family names).
