Meet Hedi Clous from Sokaua Designs LLC...
I have always had a passion for creating visually compelling objects with unique shapes and colors. Lampworking has given me an outlet for fulfilling that passion by producing pieces that are complex and unique. In life, we never really know how things will turn out or where the next choice will take us, just like each decision in one of my designs. I am striving to create that one piece that will have you asking questions, always wanting to see more.
Working in my studio is both exhilarating and relaxing, it’s peaceful. With a gas-fueled torch, I melt rods of glass to a molten state and then mold and manipulate the honey-like glass into shapes. I then sculpt them into beads through manipulating dots, lines, and layers with special tools to create a unique, finished object. My beads are then used in an original and handcrafted piece of jewelry created by myself, typically using sterling silver and metal to accent them. I hope you enjoy my creations.
Meet Addie Ashworth of AddieAsh Collection...
I am from Columbus but spent roughly 18 years in Southern California working in Visual Merchandising for a large retailer. My family moved back home in 2015. I am a wife, mom (to a human and three dachshunds), jewelry designer and realtor.
While I was living in Los Angeles in 2008 I started making harnesses and collars for my dachshunds. After receiving many custom requests, I eventually started participating in craft shows and selling in stores. That love of making grew into jewelry but it was always just as a hobby. I officially started AddieAsh Collection in 2016 after I moved back to Ohio. I have participated in two other Avant-Garde shows since!
Since I was seven, I have been making and creating! I am inspired by the beauty of natural elements and the ability to turn that into wearable pieces.
I will see a piece in my head and will need to make it immediately. I attempt to “plan it out,” but I normally just go for it and see where it takes me! And many times it turns out differently than I had imagined. I currently sell in a few stores and hope to see it in more stores. My other goal is to just have fun!
Meet Kelly Crosby from Intended...
I honestly never envisioned myself making skincare. I planned on using my degrees in zoology and chemistry to be an aquatic biologist. I was always interested in the ways we impact our environment, both positively and negatively. After my youngest son was born and had a particularly bad diaper rash that wouldn't go away, I was perusing the internet for ways that people helped their children, and the connection just kind of clicked. Just like our more efficient ways of doing things can be harmful to our environment, it can also be harmful to our skin. And so, countless hours of research and experimentation began.
Many products have been created as a need for them has been expressed. My friends and family have been my sounding boards, my testers, and my encouragers for about eight years now, and it is because of them that I took the step three years ago from doing this as a hobby to a career. I truly believe that nature gives us the tools to take care of ourselves, and taking care of our skin is just as important as the food we put in our bodies. I plan to continue growing my knowledge of plants and how they can be used to help us as I make my small batch natural skincare products. Shows are my favorite ways to meet people and talk about what they are interested in, and I am so excited for my first Avant-Garde Art and Craft Show!
Meet Katy Espenschied from Espy Designs...
Hi, I’m Katy! Although, most people just refer to me as their “cup lady”! I have been creating tumblers for just shy of a year now, and have grown and expanded so much in just a year! I started out with the capability of creating one cup at a time, to now, where I don’t have many limits! What started out as a simple hobby, and wanting to create a glittered sippy cup for my daughter, quickly turned into a full-blown business. Friends and family started requesting cups, and before I knew it, all of their friends. I finally created a Facebook business page, and it really took off from there.
I love customers who have new ideas, and trust me to create for them. When people give me the freedom to take their ideas and mix it with my own ideas, I think that is where my best products come from. I love to create, I love to try new things and push my own limits. Often times I surprise myself with what I can do.
Where I see myself in five years, is a tough one. I’m not sure, at this point, if I will ever “expand” enough to recruit the help of any “employees.” I have already reached my goal of being able to quit my day job and stay home, and after this, I’m not really sure. I do know that in five years I will still be creating, though. And that is what is important to me, I will be doing something that I love.
Meet Josh and Kaitlin White of ?...
We are Josh and Kaitlin White, a husband and wife team. For four years, he’s been doing all the woodwork and I do all the hand painting. This will be our first Avant-Garde show! What inspires us to create is seeing the positivity coming from a customer seeing their vision come to life or the joy and happiness that comes from someone finding a piece they love. It all started because Josh is a carpenter and wanted to start making furniture. I wanted to start getting into signs for our home and it turned into making signs for others.
We just started by getting ideas, putting them together and we saw how good they turned out. Our creative process is pretty much seeing things in our everyday life and twisting it up to make it our own with our hints of metal. Our five-year goal is to hopefully have a store or shop and doing classes for others. Our work is for family and love and support for service members and first responders.
Meet Bethany Small from Red Button Boutique...
Meet Bethany Small from Red Button Boutique...
Hi, I’m Bethany Small. Red Button Boutique, composed of my mother, my sister and I, was created to give my family's artistic side an outlet. We are new to the craft show atmosphere but we have been sewing for quite a while. My mother first taught my sister and me how to sew when we were nine years old. This will be our first Avant-garde show.
As a kid, I was involved in sewing throughout high school and college. I have a Bachelors of Art in Theatre and was involved with acting and costumes. It is rewarding to see projects take shape when you have just a drawing to go from and beautiful fabric. It's quite an honor when someone compliments on your creations and to be able to say "Thanks I made it!" is satisfaction.
To get inspirations, I have a seeing room that I sometimes sit and look at the fabric I am using and create from that or world experiences like shopping I see it on a store rack and think I can make that only better. In five years, I hope to be selling at future craft shows creating items that take me back to my happy place and appreciation for my upbringing. Red Button Boutique reminds me of that. We used to play "Find the red button" game, a hide and seek game that one hides a red button somewhere and another tries to find it. All creations are done in remembrance of my Loving Grandmother who passed away last year.
