Vibrant Colors and Designs Inspire these Fall Summit 2013 Vendors!

Meet Colette Patty from Wolf Creek Creations...
My name is Colette Patty and I have a passion for crafting.  I spend my time crafting beautiful jewelry and I love to share my work with others.  My creativity comes from all things beautiful.  When I see something truly beautiful it inspires me to create.  My goal is to one day have my jewelry featured in magazines, sold in New York boutiques, and worn by celebrities.

I started making jewelry when I was very young.  When I started working my hobby was put on hold until I retired a few years ago.  When I go bead shopping I pick the beads that inspire me the most.  When I sit down to make a piece of jewelry I have no plan.  I let the beauty of the beads dictate how the jewelry will turn out.

After I retired I found myself with a lot of time.  Instead of buying gifts for people’s birthdays or Christmas I would make them.  So many of my friends ranted and raved about how great my jewelry was.  Everyone told me I should sell all the wonderful things I had been making, so I did!

I specialize in jewelry hand tailored to your style. I take your vision and turn it into something truly fabulous! I can use your beads or I can use my own. In the past, I have even made old heirloom jewelry into something fresh and new. The custom jewelry I make is very affordable and I keep my customers involved in the making of their unique pieces. Additionally, I can take a picture of a celebrity wearing an expensive piece of jewelry and replicate it for you at an affordable price.  

Meet Rachael Griffiths from Handcrafted by Rachel...
Hello everyone! I am married to my husband Matt, and we have two wonderful boys, Jackson and Rowan. At this point I am a stay at home mom, other than having my sewing business. I first started out making jewelry, and had a business doing that for about 5 years, and then The Lord opened he door to sewing for me.I have been sewing for almost a year now; this is my first Avant Garde Show and am very excited about it!

I love being able to make something from scratch, and see it come together. It is so fun for me to mix and match colors, and see ideas just come to life! I know that The Lord gave me this opportunity and He has given me he ideas, creativity, and inspiration to do this, to do it well, and to love what I do!

I have always loved arts and crafts since I was a little girl. I have always wanted to sew ever since I could remember. My husbands grandmother was a seamstress almost all her life, and when she passed away, it really ignited that passion again to learn. I wanted to keep the legacy going. I sought The Lord about wanting to learn, and I asked him to provide everything I needed. I bought my first sewing machine in Feb of this year and the rest is history! I began to learn and grow, and people started asking me to make them things from clothing, to bags and accessories. I began to pray about starting a business because the response was overwhelming! I told The Lord that if this was His will for my life, that He would have to supply all the supplies and finances to get started, and He did. People started donating fabric and thread, and more. I am so thankful for all that The Lord is doing.

My creative process is simple; I see colors or things that I like and just run with it!  

In 5 years, I will be wherever The Lord sees fit. At this point it is just me that works my business, but I pray that my business would grow to be able to add employees.  I also hope to have a thriving website as well. I am in the process of getting that together in the near future.

I just want to honor The Lord with my life, and all that He sees fit for my hands to do.  I want to be His hands extended to a lost and hurting world.  I'll never know who The Lord will put in my path through this business, and I always want to share the hope that is within me.

Meet Angela and Karen from WiSe Soap Studio...

WiSe Soap Studio is a business partnership Karen and Angela started just under a year ago. We love making soaps and beauty products where the creative possibilities are endless. We get to play and you get a beautiful natural product at a great price - an everyday splurge!

Our handmade products contain no detergents or chemicals. The combination of skin loving oils, colors and fragrances create art with utilitarian function. It’s a product you can feel good about. In addition to our soap line, we have added lip soothers, Aromatherapy shower soothers and whipped shea lotion. We’re always in search of new and exciting products to create.

2013 Summit County Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday & Sunday October 19 & 20, 2013 11:00am-5:00pm

St. George's Fellowship Centre

3204 Ridgewood Rd.

Fairlawn, OH 44333

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator

at info@avantgardeshows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

LINKEDIN 

Crafters Inspired By Color

Meet Marie McGlathery from Paper Planet Wearables...
I have always loved jewelry, but felt that there just was not enough affordable handmade jewelry out there. My definition of handmade is jewelry that includes elements that are created by the hands of the artist such as glass beads, clay beads, or in my case, PAPER BEADS!

Making jewelry out of paper allows me to recycle and keep my prices low so that everyone can enjoy multiple pieces from Paper Planet! My jewelry is made from recycled paper beads that are hand-rolled from various sources of paper including: junk mail, abandoned posters, flyers, magazine pages, postcards, scrapbook paper scraps and yes…even cardboard cup warmers. 

After their transformation, my beads are sealed with two coats of acrylic. This creates a water-resistant shell and increases the longevity of each piece. After the acrylic processing, the recycled paper beads are combined with various types of accent beads and pendants to create the Paper Planet Wearables jewelry collection. 

I take great pride in my work and see each necklace, bracelet, and pair of earrings as having its own unique personality. A piece from Paper Planet Wearables can make the perfect eco-friendly accent to any outfit and is sure to elicit comments from friends, family, coworkers, your dental hygienist, or even friendly strangers passing by.

Meet Brittany Christmas from Punchdrunkstars...
I'm Brittany. I graduated from Kent State a few years ago with a degree in English. I started crafting as a kid, but have become more involved in the last few years. In the last year and a half, I put together my own little business, Punchdrunkstars. When I'm not working on creations for Punchdrunkstars you can usually find me at my day job, going on random adventures with my husband, or playing with my two pet rabbits. This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. I'm really looking forward to it! 

Everything inspires me to create. I'll see things that will give me ideas all the time and then just kind of file them for later. My grandma taught me how to crochet when I was in elementary school. For a good duration of time that was what I mainly did as far as crafting. In the last few years I have branched out into other crafts, but I still do like crocheting and still do it quite a bit. 

My creative process, more often than not, is organized chaos. I know that sounds strange, but I learned pretty early on in my life that I work the best under pressure. Organized chaos has proven to provide me with just enough pressure to be productive and have good results.

The message behind my work is happiness. I tend to use a lot of bright colors. I also try to make things that will appeal to people in the sense that they will get some sort of enjoyment or happiness from the creation. I've always done a lot of handmade gifts for birthdays, Christmas and so forth. Throughout the years I've gotten a lot of positive feedback, which encouraged me to pursue crafting as more than just a "seasonal" activity. Ideally in five years I will still be doing what I'm currently doing (selling at shows, stores, online, etc), but with some growth and perhaps a bit more establishment. 

2012 Summit County Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, April 28, 2013, 11:00am-5:00pm

The Tangier

532 West Market St.

Akron, OH 44303

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

LINKEDIN

It's Show Week!

Meet Shaina Dampier from Aliana's Jumble Shop...

My name is Shaina Dampier. I am 24 years old and I run my business with my mom Kathy Calfee. I am based in Erie, PA and she is in Southaven, MS but we both moved from Akron, OH. I am a senior at Edinboro University in PA for Earth Science. Aliana's Jumble Shop is a name my mom came up with. Aliana is my middle name! 

I have been running Aliana's Jumble Shop for about 2 years now. My mom and I both have done crafts our whole lives. We love to make gifts for people and unique things to enjoy. Creativity is in my bones! My entire family is made up of very creative people from music to art to dance and back to art!

I got heavily into crafting when I made both my mom and my mother-in-law scrapbooks for my wedding as gifts to them. I took up scrapbooking heavily and when I wanted a change, I started making jewelry. Now I continue with both. However, I went to a performing arts school when I was younger and that really sparked my interest in arts.

I don't have much of a creative process. Some days I wake up feeling really "crafty" and I will sit and work on different projects all day. Other times I don't feel it at all. But I will usually sit down and lay all my materials out in front of me and just see them come together!

I love being able to create something beautiful. I love things with interesting stories behind them or that can be neat conversation starters. like to think my projects and crafts can bring some happiness to people :)

Meet Nancy Zunic from Blue Room Ink...

Hi! My name is Nancy Zunic. I have a wonderful husband and four wonderful adult children. My three daughters live in the Cleveland area and my son and daughter-in-law recently moved to Columbus and blessed me with my first grandchild, Calvin Bales this past July! My oldest daughter is planning a summer wedding that will take place in Arkon, Ohio. I also have two adorable cats (Jasper and Mooch) that love to get into all of my stash in my crafting room!

Besides crafting, I love to run and bike. I have run many a race in the Cleveland area with my second oldest daughter. I ran in the 10K race with her that was held during the Cleveland marathon in 2010. It was a huge accomplishment for me! The reason being, five years ago I was diagnosed with a rare heart condition that required a pacemaker be placed and this was my way of overcoming the mental part of receiving it at such a relatively young age. It was such a liberating feeling having run the entire 10K!

I have been working with my hands all my life. I have been a dental hygienist for the past 32 years and recently lost my job due to my boss retiring. Fortunately, my boss was my brother and he had a wonderful practice in which I was blessed to work in for all those years. The retirement was a bit of a shock and I was suddenly in a position to make some major changes in my life. I have crafted throughout my life whether it was cross-stitch, making hats and scarves from fleece to knitting but most recently I have become an avid scrapbooker. From the years 2003 through 2009 my children were all involved in music and sports throughout high school as well as college so I had made many of a scrapbook for them all.  I have a blog that I started in April 2010. (http://www.blueroomink.blogspot.com/) Since then, I have gone beyond just making scrapbooks. I enjoy creating art with different scrapbook/art methods that I have learned over the years. Through some gentle nudging by my daughters I have recently opened an Etsy shop.  (http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueRoomInk) I was excited to do my first show this past July for the Avant-Garde West Side NEO 2012 art and craft show.  I am just as excited to do the Summit/Akron show at The Tangier on Dec. 2.

I get my creativity from my feelings about life. I express different thoughts and feeling within most of my work. I lay in bed at night and an idea will come to me and then I find that I cannot get to sleep because I want to work on it. I love color and working with blending the right colors together to create a sensation or mood. Many times I start in one path but end up taking the fork in the road to another place and I become pleasantly surprised at the outcome. There really is no concrete process to my creative madness. I go with my gut and my eye for the not so obvious. I feel that some of my pieces speak to certain individuals.  It is fun to find the person that is attracted to it. It's always just a matter of time.

My favorite item that I have produced would be my Butterfly canvas easel art.  It happened to be the first item that I sold in my Etsy store. The piece spoke to the person who bought it. The butterflies are the symbol of her Grandfather and she is having a feather themed wedding so she said it brought tears to her eyes. That is why I like to create. To be able to evoke that kind of emotion in someone else makes it all worthwhile. Then there are times that  some of the art  is just "fun" in someone’s eyes. Who wouldn't want to sell some "fun!?" I know I sure do!

I love working in my vibrant turquoise craft room. That is where my name BlueRoomInk originated from. I hope to achieve a successful Etsy store and venture out to do many more craft shows. I would love for this to be my new full time job. I think with a lot of dedication and patience that could become a reality. I love being able to get out there and show my crafts in person instead of just online. I am looking forward to meeting and seeing other artisans at the show.  I love original artwork that grabs you and draws you in at first sight. 

I have attached several pictures of my work and several pieces are currently for sale in my Etsy shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlueRoomInk. Come by and shop at any time as I will be adding new items frequently.

Meet Gretchen Meyers from Peg's Hardware...

I'm an Indy jewelry designer from Buffalo, NY. Actually a graphic designer by trade, but have always had a deep love and fascination with jewelry. I have been making jewelry on and off since I was about 14. My grandmother actually was my first investor, giving me $100 because she believed in my passion. I actually use the same tools today that were purchased with part of that $100. The company name, Peg's Hardware is named for her, Margaret "Peg" Criqui. 

I get my creativity from all over. The standard answer would probably be Google images, but also hardware stores, antique shops, I love mixing media and making something stunning out of the usual.
How I got started with my business.. With every end there is always a beginning….I had lost my job at an advertising agency and thought, why not try this out.

I would describe my creative process as unruly! I wish it was like a switch I could turn on and off at my convenience. Sometimes I'll sit at my desk for hours and get only a single pair of earring done. While other times it's like Niagara Falls, and my hands won't work fast enough!

My favorite thing about doing this is that similar to graphic design, it's a little piece of you or your work that goes floating out into the world. The message behind my work is make something stunning or different out of the usual.

Meet Haley Herman from The Crying Wolf Designs...

My name is Haley Herman. I am a recent graduate of the University of Akron's Interior Design program and I currently work as a freelance architectural illustrator. Although I grew up near Akron, I am currently living in Findlay, Ohio with my awesome husband and two adorable and ornery kitties. I have always been a crafter, an obsession that grew from Play-Dough, through friendship bracelets, and straight into my calling... crochet. 

I have been crocheting for about five years, but this is only my second year participating in craft shows. This will be my first time at an Avant-Garde event, and I am very excited to share my designs with everyone attending! 

I'm not sure where my creativity comes from, usually it is just a spark of an idea. I get a lot of suggestions from friends and family. And of course, living in the age of Pinterest, I see a lot of things online that give me ideas on how to modify and make things my own. 

I have always been a do-it-yourself-er. I would rather find out how to make something, rather than go out and buy it. Living in Ohio, with the winters we have, led to a need for warmer accessories, and a discovery of crochet. I love to crochet. It relaxes me. I crochet in my spare time, which led to sharing my designs on my Facebook page, which grew into selling them through the page, as well as at craft shows, and creating custom orders.  

The idea of owning my own business started with my amazing friends and family, who loved my designs, and wanted to purchase their own. Also, crocheting away in the off seasons (spring and summer), left me with so many hats and scarves that I couldn't possibly wear them all myself without going out in public everyday looking like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story". That's when I started selling at craft shows It’s exciting to see people loving your designs and wanting their own. 

When I am working, I have a list of items and ideas of things I want to create. Usually, while in the middle of making something, I will have an idea for something else to make, which goes on the list. Sometimes I'm just inspired by the yarn I see and its feel, and a project is born from that. 

The thing I enjoy most about creating handmade items is the fact that they are unique. They aren't items that are seen everywhere, when I make a hat or scarf, it may be one of a kind. Even with some of my best selling items, no two are exactly alike. 

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Summit County Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This show will feature a large selection of talented handmade artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Jade's No Kill Rescue for animal rescue.

2012 Summit County Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, December 2, 2012 11:00am-6:00pm

The Tangier

532 West Market St.

Akron, OH 44303

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

LINKEDIN