My business partner, Nancy, is a wife, mom of 2 daughters and grandma of 2 young boys. Nancy is a florist and still works in the industry. Marsha is a wife, mom of 2 daughters and gram to 2 young boys, as well. Marsha is a retired dental professional..... Yes, she really does make candy!
Our business, Your Granny's Candy started in January 2014. This is our first Avant-Garde show. We're so excited to be a part of this organization!
The thing that inspires us is the appreciation of all things handmade. To offer a gift made from your heart is so satisfying. Nancy and Marsha, besides being business partners, are sisters-in-law. Making old fashioned hard tack candy was a Christmas tradition we did as a family with our mom and daughters.
How we got started in our business.. More than discovering hard tack candy-making as a talent, we missed the tradition when our mother passed away. We found this type of candy impossible to purchase. We wanted to fill the void of enjoying hard tack for all who had the fond memories without time to make it themselves.
We are always thinking of ways to streamline the process, introduce new flavors and best ways to market our product. Nancy always has the creative juices flowing; Marsha's forte is more towards the business aspects.
In five years our goal.... We would love to be a part of a large gourmet gift basket business.
The message behind our work is to stop and enjoy the sweetness of life. It is our hope that while you are enjoying our delicious candy, you experience fond memories of your past and pay tribute to those who showed love by the gifts of their hands.
Meet Becky Rodriguez from Wreath Envy...
I’ve always liked textiles, and have enjoyed sewing, doing macramé when that was trendy, weaving, and making yarn from my own Angora rabbits. In my twenties, I was working toward the Mother Earth self-sufficiency homesteading, and made as much as I could by hand, from clothing to goat cheese.
Burlap ribbon has the natural feel and look I like. I enjoy searching for just the right combination of design and accents to create a unique wreath that will compliment someone’s home decor. I listen carefully to people’s comments when they’re choosing one of my wreaths for their door or inside their home, so that I can continually improve my craft. I try to make wreaths that are exactly what someone was looking for, and if that means swapping out one ornament for another I’ll do that. I come prepared with tools! I’ll do custom orders, too. It is important to me that my wreaths have the right balance of fun and elegance without becoming gaudy.
I recently retired from 23 years of public school teaching as a bilingual and ESL teacher and now have more time to spend on making wreaths. I had been making spring and summer floral grapevine wreaths for friends and family. I still add floral components to some burlap wreaths.
My plan is to offer additional specialized themed wreaths in the future-dogs, cats, weddings, babies, OSU, etc. I have been collecting materials to hand stamp and stencil burlap for a Golden Retriever wreath and a “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs.!” wreath. In the summer I hope to have my inventory of hand stamped and stenciled burlap tote bags ready!
This is my first holiday season participating in craft shows and my first Avant-Garde show. I am very excited to be a part of this event! I am making new friends and seeing some wonderful church venues.
Meet Cathy Baker from Baker's Buttons and Bows...
I am a retired executive administrative assistant. Worked for Nationwide Insurance for 36 years and retired in January 2015. I have been married for 36 years, have two children and three grandchildren. Love to read, scrapbook and, of course, craft making.
I have even making crafts for 20 years for family and friends. Decided to make it a part-time hobby/career after I retired.
About my crafting style.. I love the primitive look and feel. My motto is if I create it, would it fit into the theme and look of my home and will others who love the primitives love them!! I like creating and designing items. Makes me feel challenged and a sense of accomplishment when I see the finished product.
When it comes to my creative process if I see something I like, I tweak it to fit my decor and colors. That may mean changing the entire design!
My five year goal is to continue to do shows, as I enjoy meeting and talking to people.
The message behind my work is love what you do, and do what you love.
Meet Michael Lutz from Handcrafted by Michael Lutz...
I was born and grew up mostly in Ohio, graduating from Ohio State with a degree in Psychology. So I spent 25 years in construction. I've always had a creative, hands on side. I've only been serious about making stuff to make stuff for the last 7 years.
I enjoy the creative process as much as the final result. Most of the things I make are spontaneous, with very few drawings, which can lead to unexpected results, both good and bad! I'm OK with that.
Every piece is practice and a learning experience for the next piece, so its hard to see where that may lead me in the future. I have so many untapped ideas currently, I had to quit my day job to explore them, and I have just been getting into CNC and 3D printing.
As for future goals with the business... my intent is to begin to merge the many media that I work in into larger scale multi-media projects! I'm just so excited to see what comes next!
Meet Jesse Potts from Houndstooth Maille...
My name is Jesse Potts, I'm 26 and I was born and raised in Ohio. I moved to Columbus in 2009 and currently work for a company that has me travel around to other cities in Ohio as well as other states. I went to CCAD for a couple of years in the illustration program. I make chainmaille jewelry and accessories in my spare time. I've been making chainmaille for about 2 and a half years now.
What inspires me.. I follow a bunch of other artists on social networking sites and am a member of a few groups that specialize in chainmaille. Seeing others trying new things and posting their works in progress as well as their finished products really helps me to keep going and trying new things. I like surrounding myself will all kinds of art and drawing inspiration from the world around me.
How I got into my hobby... Honestly, I don't remember. I think I saw a blog post where someone posted some pictures of some chainmaille items they made and I thought to myself that it was a really interesting hobby that you don't see very often. The fact that you could make almost anything with it, including clothing/armor and even intricate pieces of art was interesting to me as well. I picked up some cheap supplies to see what it was like and fell in love with learning all the different ways to link my metal rings together.
I have always loved making things with my hands. I have tried knitting, crochet, sewing, sculpting, painting, drawing, and many many other crafts and arts. I still come back to these other things every once in a while but I think I found my niche in chainmaille, it is definitely the thing I have stuck with the longest.
My creative process... When I'm trying new weaves I like to research the one I'm learning thoroughly and try it out a few times before committing it to memory. I use leftover materials that might not necessarily be used or sold later for practice, and then when I have the hang of it I work on making finished, polished pieces.
My five year plan... I would really like to be able to attend more shows in a year. Currently I'm busy with other things so I don't get to create nearly as much as I would like. So I think being able to focus more on my craft and getting out and seeing others at shows would be my goal.
The message behind my work.. My aesthetic has always be casual but almost elegant. I like things that look intricate but are fun or deceptively plain enough to be worn casually. Sort of like a paradox, I suppose. It's the opposite of what you might expect.
I work typically in a light weight but strong aluminum alloy. I also have access to other metals and often used anodized metals to add color to my pieces. I try hard to limit my pieces to metals that are non-reactive and hypoallergenic. This includes all my earrings, the ear hooks are all hypoallergenic stainless steel or niobium. You can find some of my jewelry on my etsy!http://www.etsy.com/shop/
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