Friday, March 20, 2015

Happy Spring! Color from Columbus!


Meet the Ladies from Three Mommies Made It...
Our company consists of three working mamas who stitch for fun. We are each responsible for a different part of the process. Our children are very involved in our creative and production processes, and enjoy helping! This is our second year in business.

Our inspiration comes from many sources. We get ideas from our kids, our customers, and even from the materials we use to create. Sometimes we see a sweater and the texture or color seems to speak to us about what it wants to be.

Our first cashmere project was a small quilt for the youngest of our children. As we were working, we noticed all our kids, regardless of age, liked to to burrow their hands in the cashmere sweaters. The idea struck us then that cashmere was the perfect material for plush animals.  From this, our first critter, Mr. Fox, was born.

Our sewing mama has been sewing since childhood (her mom taught her), and has amassed almost 30 years of sewing experience. Our acquisitions mama loves to thrift shop, and has a knack for finding sweaters with great texture and feel. Our production mama just likes to cut things into pieces ;) 
Our first designs started with a basic commercial pattern. Once we got a feel for how the animals went together and how the materials responded to the construction process, we started to branch out into other animals and variations on existing themes. Each animal is one of a kind, and we love seeing their personalities emerge when they come out from under the sewing machine needle.
In five years it is our hope that we are still doing shows and having a good time with our families. We’d like to be able to do some larger shows and have a wider variety of animals in our menagerie.  

The message behind our work is that we believe that everyone needs something warm and snuggly in their lives, and that you're never too old to have a stuffed animal!

Meet Mary Bridges from Card Design by Mary Bridges...
My name is Mary, I move to Ohio after my husband of 58 years passed away.  I’ve always enjoyed visiting my son through the years and loved visiting here. In my spare time I enjoy reading mysteries, exercising, and walking my dogs Samson and Snooky. I also love going to church and Bible studies, going to the movies and traveling! I also have five children, thirteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren!
How I got into my craft.. I started making cards five years ago. My sister gave me a card that she made and I enjoyed getting it, the card was lovely. I decided I would try but I just was not a stamping person. I stopped for a while and heard about the cricket expression. It was then I started to design. My family enjoyed receiving my cards for holidays and birthdays and told me to start selling at craft shows. They are my inspiration.
I design my card on a tool I use called the gypsy; this allows me to use different cartridges at one time to make my designs. My machine cuts all the layers and I put it all together on a card. Most of my cards take hours, even days to design! I’ve never looked at a book on how to make cards. Everything comes out of my imagination! I’m very proud of my cards. I just can’t stop adding more information on the card. My husband was my best critic; he loved getting my cards and encouraged me.


This is my first time doing Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows.  I’m very excited to start sharing my gift with Ohio. I will be able to design spring, Easter, Mother’s Day, all new designs!
In the past, I’ve painted with oils and some free hand drawing, but my cards are just what I like to do. I love getting the details the way I like them to be.  If I don’t like the way the card looks I start all over again.  If I don’t like the card I won’t make it!

My cards are a hobby for me, I love knowing when a person chooses to buy my cards, I’m giving someone else joy when the card is sent to them. I’ve even had cards sent overseas to members of the military! I've sent over cards to my granddaughter to give to her teammates and her team would order cards of a certain kind and send them back home to their family! This is why I love making greeting cards!

Meet Chip McCain from Studio60six...
I'm a recent transplant from Tucson Arizona where I was a fused glass artist.  Before that, I lived in Memphis Tennessee where I was an Assistant Principal for a Middle School. I've been doing my craft for three years.

The act of creation comes to me from inside. I am a very visual person who loves color, patterns and texture. I see my creations in my mind before I start them and it stays with me until it has been created. I have been into this field since I was a small boy. My High School art teacher inspired me to live the life of an artist. I was always creative, loved to paint and to sculpt. The art teacher at the school where I worked wanted to learn how to fuse glass, but did not have the time to learn. I decided to learn and from there, it has been a passion.

My creative process is very visually inspired. I love to create, playing with different colors, textures and patterns until I get this feeling inside telling me, "This is IT!"
In five years I'd love to own my own shop selling not only my creations, but others crafters as well! The message I want to convey about my work is simple... Art is an important part of ones life. The pieces of art that one has in their collection should reflect who they are, what makes them happy and how they feel. Art should create a reaction in your body, soul and mind!

Meet Jennifer Haines from LivyLynn...
I am a stay at home mother of a very active 5 year old and almost 2 year old pup.  I live in Westerville when we moved back to central Ohio after living in Austin, TX. I have been making jewelry since I was about 12 years old.  However, I started LivyLynn in January 2014.  I just love making jewelry, and LivyLynn was an idea I had when looking at vintage pieces that were old and not being used anymore.  I thought they just needed a bit of a face lift and they could be worn and loved once more!

I have been part of one other Avant-Garde craft show in February 2014.  It was a great show, and really gave me the confidence to get moving on making more jewelry!

I am inspired by all of the lovely things that I see that aren't being used.  I fall in love with items in my pieces based on the colors or the quality of the workmanship. From there, I am inspired by current trends, my daughter, and even the colors that are around outside.
How I got started in my craft.. I have always loved making things for the house, for friends, and for my daughter.  However, I thought that making other vintage pieces that would be loved by other people would be so much fun and really rewarding!

I really discovered my talent by just experimenting with different mediums and things to make jewelry with.  At first (when I was young) I started with just basic hemp string and beads.  It was fun, but I didn't want to do the usual thing anymore.  Instead, I turned to finding vintage cabachons, stones, settings, and chains.  I worked with them and watched alot of videos online teaching myself how to create wonderful and wearable pieces!
My creative process... I start with sourcing, because this is the challenge when working with vintage materials.  Once I find something I like, I search and search for more items that are similar (in different colors etc).  From there, I do a lot of searching on pinterest or online to find what the style trends are going to be for the coming season.  Once I have those things in mind, I start creating my pieces using my own methods and style ideas.

In five years I would love for everyone in the world to just have one vintage piece from me!  I truly try to make my pieces unique but basic, so they can be worn with virtually anything you can imagine.  I would love to see my pieces in shops all over central Ohio and even in some other cities in Ohio!
The message behind my work is Upcycle.  Plain and simple.  Take something old and make it new!

I am a big believer in making jewelry affordable!  My jewelry is vintage, upcycled, AND affordable!  I have pieces that start at $10 and go all the way up to $50. However, the pieces that are $50 can be worn in multiple ways. For example, a necklace can be worn long, short, long/short together, and even as a bracelet. So, you might spend $50 on a piece, but you can wear it atleast 8 different ways!!
2015 Columbus Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Saturday, March 28, 2015, 10:00am-4:00pm
St. Agatha's Parish Hall
1860 Northam Rd
Columbus, OH 43221
For more information, contact Becki@ag-shows.com
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