Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label crafts. Show all posts

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Craftiness is Happiness for These Three Creative Summit Vendors!

Meet Brittany Fechko from FetchCrafts...
I moved to Ohio about 3 years ago after graduating with a degree in Nutrition from the University at Buffalo and getting married to a Cleveland boy.
I am a running enthusiast, who loves to travel everywhere. Last year I got to go to Glacier NP in Montana and this year I am excited to go to Yosemite NP in California.
I am trying to make this my best year yet (which is hard because I had a season pass to Cedar Point last year) and that is one of the reasons I want to do this craft show. 
                         
I have been crafting for about 3 year now. It all started because I wanted my friends and family to have unique presents. I felt like they had everything already and I did not just want to buy a gift card. After a little time of doing this, I figured out, I'm not too shabby.   
                        
My process usually starts while running, it really easy for your mind to wonder when you are on a 20 mile run by yourself! There have been so many time when I am on the towpath and I go "I got it!" or "Great idea" and then hope no one is around to see me talking to myself. I also have a great group of running friends who I can bounce ideas off. And a few times when I am substitute teaching I ask the kids what they think because most of my items are for their age and it is nice having their input.

My crafts are all about fun and finding the perfect item for yourself or someone special in your life. I hope you enjoy Fetchcrafts!

Meet James WeckBacher from Let's Face It Caricatures...
This is my first Avante-Garde show. I have been drawing since I was 2 years old.  My Father is an artist so I grew up in a creative atmosphere.
                                               
I have been doing caricatures professionally for ten years.  I fell into it accidently on purpose.  A friend of mine got me started filling in for her when I lived in California.  Since I've moved back to my home state here in blustery Ohio,  I decided to start my own business and thus,  Lets Face It Caricatures was born. 
My company, J W Visual Arts encompasses various types of my work including caricatures, photography, illustration, graphics and eventually film and video. My slogan is "A picture is worth a thousand words but a caricature is worth a million laughs."    


Meet Kathy Garber from Birdie Girls Treasures...
My name is Kathy Garber and I currently live in Hudson, Ohio. I enjoy bird watching, gardening, hiking, metaphysics and crafting. I have been creating and crafting all of my life, but have just recently started selling my creations online on Ebay and Etsy (BirdieGirlsTreasures).

                             
My love of nature and animals inspire my creations.
My picture collage creations were born from a frustration of searching for, and being unable to find specific animal and nature themed home décor and gifts in the past. My luminaries have developed from my past volunteer experience in creating centerpieces for parties and special events and the realization that there is a great interest in custom made items.
This is actually my first craft show, so I will be testing the waters to see if there is a greater interest in my items and hopefully that will help determine which direction to head in the future regarding my crafting business.  I am looking forward to becoming part of the craft vendor community and hope to be part of many more shows in the future!



2014 Summit County Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday April 12th- 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday April 13th- 11:00am-5:00pm
St. George's Fellowship Centre
3204 Ridgewood Rd.
Fairlawn, OH 44333
For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator
Visit us on:

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Fashion, Art, and Something Sweet for Spring!

Meet Kelly Kemp from Kemp Custom Confections…
First of all my name is Kelly Kemp. I have been happily married for 18 years and have three  teenage children. I have recently left my everyday  job to pursue Kemp Custom Confections full- time, which is very scary. I have always worked in bakeries and loved to try new things out in decorating and candy. I loved making treats for my children's classrooms and birthdays,so I decided to try and make a business out of it. This is my first year of business,so wish me luck!

I have never participated in the Avant -Garde arts and craft shows,but look forward to meeting everyone and working with all of the venders and customers.

My inspiration comes from  mostly seasonal flavors and colors. I love celebrating the holidays no matter how small. Additionally,the  customers
inspire meet to create new items every show.  For example, I recently added a sugar free line of products to my line.

My creative process occurs in two  ways. First I love growing local confectionary stores looking for new products.  Molds for suckers, new sprinkles,flavor gels, cupcake papers,and  the like send me in to fits of excitement. Secondly, I like to challenge myself to create at least one new product every show I attend.  This process has helped me to build my repertoire  for custom orders.

In five years I hope to have purchased a store front to sell my products.  I would also like to create a mail order system for my products as well.
The main message behind my work is celebrate with fun yummy treats!

Meet Margot from Memories by Margot…
I am a newlywed to an amazing husband that is so supportive of my business! I work full-time as a high school Spanish teacher, and spend much of my time outside of work in my studio working on my personal scrapbooking, but also on developing pre-made and custom made scrapbook pages and albums for Memories by Margot.  


Memories by Margot is the scrapbooking business born out of my love for creating unique scrapbook pages that capture life's many exciting moments.  After gifting scrapbooks to friends and family, and having produced scrapbooks of my own for over 12 years, I finally decided to share the opportunity with others to have creative, unique, and personalized pages that capture life's special moments. 

I am relatively new to the craft-show circuit, so this will be my 1st Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. I am very excited to be part of such a great show, and am very much looking forward to participating in shows down the road!
 I am most inspired by the events in my life that I get to share with my family and friends! Attending weddings, family vacations, new babies, holidays together, and the everyday fun we have together brings me so much joy, and I love capturing these memories in my scrapbooks!  It’s my mission to provide this opportunity to others!

Though I have always been a scrapbooker, it wasn’t until my husband and my close friends encouraged me to sell my work! When the people closest to you are your biggest cheerleaders, it builds a confidence to launch your own business!

The majority of my “creative process” is driven by the joy that others get from the Memories by Margot pages and completed albums. My favorite moments are getting a thank you e-mail or a message that somebody was moved to tears by the gift of my work! It very much validates the time and thought that goes into each page, and drives me to want to bring Memories by Margot to more customers! 
In five years, I would like to see my business have a presence at even more craft shows, and I hope to find myself OVERWHELMED with online orders. Though this business was started with the goal of supporting my own hobby of scrapbooking, who wouldn’t want to have a successful and profitable business?!?!

The message behind Memories by Margot pre-made and custom made pages is to provide creative, unique, and personalized pages to capture life’s precious moments at an affordable price. These pages make great gifts when added to picture frames and shadow boxes!
Visit my website at: www.memoriesbymargot.com

Yvonne Davis from Grasshoppin by Yvonne…
 My name is Yvonne Davis and I am 37 yrs old. I grew up between Thompson and Perry and currently live in Rock Creek.  I enjoy activities outside with nature like bike riding, canoeing creek hiking and walking the beach.  I love family/friend gatherings where we gather to eat, share stories, laugh and play games.

This summer will be my second full year of vending shows but this is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show.

What inspires me to create is not always the same. Sometimes ideas will just come to me and sometimes I will see something that will inspire me to tweek it and make it my own. I have always been somewhat creative, it’s just been hiding for awhile. What brought it out has been a conglomeration of things. The big push to vend my creations was getting let go of my job...A Blessing in disguise! My creative process is simply a Blessing from The Higher Power.

 I think my wood burning and paintings are my talents. How I discovered wood burning is my ex-boyfriends mother gave me hers and said “here, you do something with this". I found some wood, borrowed my step dad’s sander and thought ok, now what do I burn on this? I have always thought henna designs were so pretty so I went on line and found some inspiration and away we went! The fairy paintings came from an old Time magazine add from the 50's or so. This beautiful lady standing on the edge of a cliff just taking in the glories of the universe (well, that's how I interpreted it). I love fairly pictures so I thought how cool would it be to get a tattoo of a fairy on a cliff side. I had a tattoo artist draw me up one on paper (because I could not draw people) but I didn't like it. Needless to say I didn't get the tattoo.

Years later, when I bought my house my friends threw me a house warming party and brought a very large canvas and paints for all that came to paint me an abstract. Each person was to do one stroke and then I would have my friends and family's love with me in my home with this picture. It turned out obnoxious! I felt bad to not have it hanging so I thought I would use it to paint this fairy picture on. That is how I got started painting. 

In five years, I am seeing myself having a store, possibly like a local art co-op. The message behind my work is inspiration, beauty within yourself, peace, love, caring, sharing...anything positive! Whatever kind of good it makes you feel.

Meet Lindsay Jean-Marie from LJM…
I’ve been designing and studying the art of crochet and knit for over 10 years thanks to my artistic grandmother and mother.

 My goal is to design my knitwear collection to encourage women to express themselves with one of-a-kind wearable art accessories. 
With my unique open weave design, each piece has been created to bring sophistication and sex appeal to all of the confident professional women in the world.
My motto:
Beauty = Confidence
Confidence = Success

Women who are Confident wear Wearable Art Pieces


2014 Summit County Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday April 12th- 10:00am-5:00pm
Sunday April 13th- 11:00am-5:00pm
St. George's Fellowship Centre
3204 Ridgewood Rd.
Fairlawn, OH 44333
For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator
Visit us on:

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Natural Elements Make the Best Crafts!

Meet Jim Steiner...
I'm a retired city employee and have done woodworking and remodeling since the '70s. My wood turning was an off and on thing until I retired 8 years ago when I got more serious about it. 
Having accumulated a good many turnings, I decided I would "test the waters" and sell some of my work. This show will be my first attempt to do so.
  
The creativity of wood turning and bringing out the natural beauty of a piece of wood is what makes the hobby so enjoyable. Sometimes I put a piece of wood on the lathe and start cutting with a shape in mind but change it as I see a different shape emerging and end up with something quite different. 
I never thought of my work as having a message, I just want to bring out the beauty of wood's color and grain patterns.

Meet Shana Ericson of 1Love Candles, LLC...
Hi, my name is Shana, and I am the creator of 1Love Candles LLC! I live in Chardon, Ohio with my boyfriend and two daughters, who are the light of my life! We have two fur babies-one is a Dalmatian, and a champion show dog! In our family, we believe in living an environmentally conscious lifestyle, helping the earth, so it can help us.
I have been making candles as a hobby for years, and about 6 months ago I decided to create a business! This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft show, and I am extremely excited about it! We plan on doing more of them in the near future! 

As a crafter, I have always been drawn to the idea of creating light. Candles bring light to the dark, and to me that is an amazing and beautiful creation.
I have always loved candles, especially intense-scented candles! I started creating candles as a hobby, being something that could satisfy the creativity craving in my life. Being an environmentalist, I noticed a lot of left over wax being wasted, thrown into the landfill. I had an idea to recycle the leftover wax, and create new, beautifully scented candles of my own. We use hemp wicks, which are said to be the most eco-friendly, cleanest wick out there. We also use recycled packaging. Making candles is something that my daughters and I can do together. They help me weigh all of the wax and package the candles.

Currently, I make chunk candles. To make these candles, I put chunks of wax in either a jar or mold, and I pour white wax over them, creating a unique look and allowing the chunks of wax to provide a wonderful scent throw! I love lighting a candle and being taken to a special place within the scent!
In 5 years, I see myself making more candles than ever before, sharing my wonderful scents with as many people as possible!

The message behind my work is, sometimes this world can be a dark place, so by lighting candles, we not only bring light to the dark, but we also can remember loved ones, celebrate births, and celebrate peace and wholeness. Lighting candles provide an unlimited amount of meaning, and to me that is more beautiful than words can say. “I don’t make the candles, the candles make me.”

Visit our website for more information www.1lovecandles.com 


Meet Tracey Hlucky of Redesign on a Dime...
Science has a theory that a person is more geared towards the right brain or the left brain…right brain being related to science and logic, and left brain to creativity and artistic ability. So, do you have to be one or the other? No way!

With a degree in Biology/Chemistry, my right brain runs my daytime life with a successful career in the medical field. But my left brain gave me the inspiration to start my business, Redesign on a Dime. What started as an interior decorating business in 2010 has blossomed into a full line of custom-made home accessories.  
Over the years, I have helped people transform their spaces with wall treatments, one-of-a-kind furniture restorations, and finding that one unique accessory that will inspire the décor of an entire room. I hope that my jewelry organizers, memo boards, and hand-painted accessories will be that distinctive piece that will make your space shine. 

I have been interested in interior design for as long as I can remember. Instead of just playing with my Barbie dolls like most girls, I redecorated her townhouse every week! This will be my first Avant-Garde Arts & Craft Show, and I couldn’t be more excited! 
I’m inspired by everything around me, but I must admit that I’m a true HGTV and DIY Network junkie! I love trying to recreate what I’ve seen on home improvement shows, magazines, or from items displayed in home stores. 
Growing up as the daughter of an artist, it was a bit discouraging that I couldn’t even draw a decent stick figure. But, as I got older, I realized that my creative talent just came in a different form. I have a unique eye for color, space planning and design that I’ve used in my own home to create a comfortable space that tells you exactly who I am when you walk through the door.
 My creative process is very meticulous (there’s that right brain again)! Once I get an idea in my head, I can’t sleep until I get it out there and completed. I love seeing the finished product of something I’ve created. But, most of all, I love the excitement I see in my clients when I make their vision come to life!  

I would love to make this my full-time business and eventually open a small shop here in Akron. My dream is to combine my living and working spaces so that my clients feel right at home when they come to me to create their custom home accessories or redesign their space. 
It just takes one special item to inspire the décor of an entire room. Your goal in decorating should not be to make your space look exactly like someone else’s, but to make it uniquely YOU!

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: