Meet Rachel King from OneCraftyKing...
I am currently a music teacher by day, and a crafter by night! I started making gifts for family and friends, and discovered how much I truly enjoy sewing, knitting and crocheting. I couldn't stop making things and started running out of people to gift them to, so I decided to begin selling items that I have handmade at craft shows and on Etsy.
I have been sewing, knitting and crocheting as long as I can remember. I opened my Etsy shop several years ago and have been doing craft shows for about three years. This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, and I am very much looking forward to it!
I am inspired by history, and love old photographs. I have my craft room covered in old photos of family because I love being surrounded by the styles and characters of past generations. I am inspired by friends and family, and most of the things I make started out as a gift idea for someone special or for a special occasion. I like giving homemade gifts the best because I can really put my heart into making them!
My grandmother and mother taught me everything I know about yarn crafts from a very young age. While I tend to steer clear of sewing garments, my mother is a great seamstress and used to make a lot of my clothing when I was younger and taught me how to sew along the way. My aunt saw that I liked to sew but not make clothes, so she introduced me to the world of piecing and quilting and that has been one of my most recent loves. Learning these crafts has really been a way for me to connect with my family and my heritage.
I picked up learning my crafts very quickly and was soon making up my own ideas and always trying to modify patterns to make them fit with my vision. This drove my mother nuts, as she is a stickler for following a pattern, but made me realize that I had my own creative ideas and that I could make them become a reality.
The creative process starts when I get an idea in my head of what I want to make and I usually just go with it and sort of make things up as I go. If I try something and it doesn't come out right, I re-think and try again. I am a very visual person, so I usually have a picture in my head of what I want. If I am designing a sewn bag, I also like to sketch on graph paper to help me get measurements figured out before I start cutting so I don't make too many mistakes!
I expect my crafts will change to reflect the stages and changes in my own life, but I cannot imagine a world in which I am not creating so I anticipate continuing to grow my business in years to come.There is something special about handmade things, and I want to share that with others.
Meet Michelle Swiniarski from Freya's Garden Of Earthly Delights...
Hi, I'm Michelle Swiniarski and I make delights for mind, body and soul. I create novelty soaps, scented soaps, massage oil, body scrubs, body butter, candles and herbal dream pillows.
My husband and I own a small farm in Solon where we have my horse, 3 sheep, 6 chickens, 2 dogs and 3 cats. We have a pretty good sized garden of vegetables and do our own canning. I also have several flower gardens, but my true gardening love is my large herb garden, where I grow too many herbs to list here. I started incorporating my herbs into my products and now I grow even more esoteric herbs for my dream pillows, like mugwort. In my spare time, I also play trumpet with the Cleveland Women's Orchestra, the Freedom Brass Band and flugelhorn with the Deutscher Musik Verein (German Music Society of Cleveland).
I started my business at the beginning of 2013. I sell on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/people/Freyasgardendelights?ref=si_pr) as well as my own website (www.freyasgardenofearthlydelights.com). I also have a Facebook page where, in addition to pictures of my products, I also try to include recipes and gardening tips from time to time (https://www.facebook.com/freyasGardenofEarthlyDelights?fref=ts).
This is my first time at the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. In fact, it will be only my second show and my first "real" craft show. In June I set up a booth at the German-American Festival in Parma. I look forward to regularly attending area craft shows. I also have just started selling my products to area stores. At the moment, Kirtland Feed on Route 6 has started carrying a few of my products.
The idea for my business was inspired partly from my extensive herb garden and partly because I love to cook and create in the kitchen. Although my products are not intended to be edible (although some of the sugar scrubs could be) the process is very similar to cooking, with even many of the same ingredients. I find creating my products very satisfying and the process instills a wonderful sense of peace and calmness.
I hope to grow my business into a full-time job, selling my products online, at craft shows, to wedding and event planners and in area independent retailers. Thank you for reading about my business!
Meet Elizabeth Brandt from Paw Kids...
I have been a stay-at-home mom all of my life until our daughters took off to live on their own. They are great, accomplished young ladies and are very talented.
Two years ago I was not feeling well. I lost a ton of weight very fast and by the time I left the doctor's office, I needed a transplant. Six months later I had the transplant. It was a very dramatic time in our lives, but within a year of the surgery I was still working on getting better.
I asked my husband for a sewing machine, witch I had never used before. I loved it and became a quilter, started my hand crafted greetings cards and than came up with the idea of a better bandana for our dogs.
To make a long story short, quilting has taken the back seat and cards and doggie bandanas have taken over my life. I love making them, and I have over 150 at all times. I have them in 4 shops, on Facebook, and in Farmer's Markets.
God has been very generous with me and my talents and there is nothing I would change - other than making more and more doggie bandanas!
In 5 years I see myself producing many more styles and expanding as much as my health allows me. I see any dog walking and I put a bandana on them in my mind.
What makes my bandanas unique is that they do not tie! They go through the collar and there are no knots to fuss with. Best of all they don't bother the dogs, and there is no hair pulling because there are no knots. They are very welcome in the shows I have been in.
Thank you for accepting me on your fabulous show!
Meet Maria Amador from M Space...
By day I work as a compositor for a small publishing company, but I am first and foremost a designer and illustrator. My areas of specific interest are in Hand Lettering and Type Design, I doodle on just about any piece of paper I can get my hands on. I've been studying and designing since 2006 but as far as actually making my own goods to sell, I'm a total novice!
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I have always been crafting handmade things—wrapping paper, cards, prints, gift tags, paper flowers, etc.—but this will be the first time I’m creating for a wider audience other than friends and family.
I discovered my talent in illustration class with Professor Doug Goldsmith. I was doodling letters and doing different sort of hand type design. He happened to see some of my sketches in my book and encouraged me to keep incorporating handwriting into my illustrations.
As soon as I get an idea in my head I immediately try to get it down on paper, whether it be on a post-it at work or on a receipt in my purse. When it comes to pieces that are personal projects, I tend to go with my first draft without much revision, if any at all. It's the most honest form of the original idea.
I will probably never stop making handmade items and putting ink to paper to create different hand type, but I do want to go to grad school for Animation and Special Effects. Ideally I would love to carry the world of typography and animation together in my career.
I just want to keep the art of hand lettering and handwriting alive. Yes, I consider it an art.
Check out these featured vendors at the 2013 East Side Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature over 100 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to the Cleveland Animal Protection League.
2013 East Side Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Sunday, July 21, 2013, 12:00pm-5:30pm
Terry Macklin Entertainment & Event Centre
6200 Enterprise Parkway
Solon, OH 44139
For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com
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