Meet Katie Runyon from Nuthatch Yarn Studio...
Hello! My name is Katie Runyon, and I’m the face behind Nuthatch Yarn Studio. During the day I work as a pharmacy technician, but what I really love to do is crochet! I share my home with my wonderful husband (Alex) who is so supportive of me, and a grumpy old man cat (Jake) who thankfully doesn’t really like yarn. I’ve been crocheting for about 5 years.
This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show, and I’m so excited to share my work with everyone!
I’m inspired to create because of the joy it gives me. Although I do sell my items, crochet is primarily a hobby for me. After a stressful day at work, spending time making something adorable out of soft yarn is the perfect way to relax. The process is more important than the finished product. If I can bring others joy when they see my creations, that’s wonderful, but I would still crochet even if nobody ever saw it.
I became inspired to create, about 5 years ago I happened to see an image online of amigurumi. My grandma had tried to teach me to crochet when I was a child, but at the time I wasn’t interested in making scarfs and blankets. When I learned that crochet could be used to make cuddly animals, I was amazed! I remembered the basics, and I watched YouTube videos to learn the rest.
I discovered my talent when my first piece was a small fox made with turquoise yarn (because that’s all I could find lying around the house) and stuffed with tissues. I winged it, watching videos each time I came across part of the pattern I didn’t understand. I was sure my first attempt would be a disaster, but the fox came out cute in all its imperfection! I was hooked! (pun intended)I like to make new things. I’m constantly looking for new patterns and I don’t typically make the same thing more than a few times. I do most of my crocheting in the evenings after work and on weekends—even when I have other activities, I often bring along a small crochet project…just in case.
In 5 years I’d like to see myself participating in several craft shows throughout the year, as well as having a successful online presence where I can share my work with a broader audience.
Through my work, I want to bring joy and make people smile. You don’t have to be a kid to enjoy cute plushies! I want to encourage people to do what makes you happy, regardless of what others might think about it.
Meet Amber Fosler from A Crafty B...
Hi! I'm Amber Fosler. I've been an artist since my first box of Crayola crayons was given to me! I'm happiest when I'm creating. It's always been my go-to for when I'm stressed, anxious or just trying to process heavy stuff that life throws out on occasion. I was an event planner for many years and loved incorporating my creativity into events from weddings to business meetings. My career path took a very sharp turn when I became a mom. My amazing kiddo has been medically complex since birth. By the time he was 5 months old, my husband and I realized that one of us needed to be home full time to care for our son. After a quick round of rock, paper, scissors (kidding. Sort of.), I was the chosen parent to leave my job. That was 10 years ago. While still very medically complex, my son is healthy and thriving. It took a lot of years in the weeds of parenting before I could really come back to one of my first loves: art. And then the pandemic started.
Because I had more time at home, I started teaching myself new skills: Paper flowers, watercolor, quilting and hand embroidery. It was the last one though that really lit me up though. I loved how calming it felt. I really fell in love with how portable it is. I almost always have a work in progress with me. It gives my hands something to do while waiting with my son for doctor appointments, during trips to the hospital, while in OR waiting rooms or just the school pickup line. It became a very calming way to sooth my nerves and make extra stressful days go by faster.
I loved that it challenges me but it also gives me a creative outlet. I went from buying one beginner kit and pattern to diving right in to making my own patterns. I honed my skills (thanks to YouTube) and used my friends and family as my test subjects. LOTS of people in my inner circle received my first projects. And I still love to give to people I know, a finished piece that I used as practice for a new skill.
Hand embroidery has also become a sensory activity for me. I was diagnosed as autistic when I was 41. In learning more about autism from other autistic adults, I realized that my sensory needs are probably different that those of a neurotypical person. Creating art in just about any medium gives me a sense of peace, calm and event control when the rest of the world seems confusing, chaotic and out of my control. I started hand embroidery just over 18 months ago.
This is my first show and I am so excited to participate! For me, creativity is ultimately a need. When life gets in the way (like it does) and I'm not using my creativity regularly, life gets exponentially harder. I'm grumpy and impatient. I have a harder time understanding and processing the world around me. I have a general feeling of being unwell. But when I'm happy and making time for creativity, my entire world is a source of inspiration. I get excited to think about all the possibilities, all the colors and mediums available to me. I'm inspired simply by wanting to feel whole. I'm inspired by continuously learning, playing and becoming my favorite version of myself. I started crafting because of Social media! Knowing I need art in my life to feel whole, I started following more and more artists on social media platforms. For me, looking at art is almost as grounding and soothing as actually creating art. Then I stumbled upon hand embroidery. I was quickly inspired by the embroidery artists who were putting a really modern spin on an art form that has been around for centuries. I quickly fell in love with what a tactile art form it is. As an autistic artist, the sensory experience is important. I knew just from seeing other artists' work, that it would be a good fit for me.
I've always loved trying new mediums in art. I randomly ordered an embroidery kit online. I learned some of the basic stitches pretty easily. It was when I started learning some of the more challenging techniques that I realized I had a knack for it. I discovered that hand embroidery is a much more forgiving form of needle arts (I'm AWFUL at counted cross stitch) and it gives me freedom to simply pull ideas from my head and sew them down to fabric. 
For my creative process, I get ideas from everywhere but those ideas frequently start as an encounter with something that makes me laugh or smile or is a color that I seem to have a physical response to I'll see a color that lights up my brain and then I will start visualizing what I can make using that particular color. From there I will just start stitching without a real defined outcome in mind. Other times I will come up with a concept, using color as my jumping off point and then create an actual pattern to transfer to fabric.
In five years, I hope that I still have the luxury of making what speaks to me, what lights me up inside. I also hope to grow my custom business. I love taking an idea from a client and running with it. The collaboration of taking someone else's vision and interpreting it in my own way and then getting that out onto fabric is such a fun process.I like to think of myself as an inclusive artist. I really hope to create items that just about anyone can enjoy. I try to make sure I have a lot of representation in my pieces. My goal is to bring smiles to people from all walks of life.
Meet Rachel Hanger from Mae Designs...
I am super passionate about creating one of a kind bracelets to add to your style that no one has created before, each piece comes from my creative brain work. I've been doing this for a very long time! But officially started my business in 2016! I've participated in one Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show previously.
What inspires me to create is knowing I put a smile on everyone’s face! I mean tears, happy smiles, and shocked faces! I started crafting because I started creating my own unique bracelets since about 11 years old. I went to craft shows with my mamaw, then started in 2016, my own brand- I fell off of it and got lost but found myself again in 2019! Full force! I discovered my talent when I looked at a bracelet that cost about $500 at macys and said I can do that- so I did only better :) I just create! I don’t have a lot of inspiration through artists, very few, but I’m an artist through and through.My goal.. I am already in shops downtown Columbus the main ,but a absolute goal would be to be in more shops all around US & just make people feel good and complete their looks 
The message behind my jewelry is stack em! Get what calls to you! There’s only one of you & many stacks to compete your outfit 
2023 Columbus Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Sunday December 10, 2023 - 10:00am-4:00pm
Makoy Event Center
5461 Center St.
Hilliard, OH
For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com
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