Three Artists with Flair!

Meet Jerrica Fields from Booop….

Booop is a childhood pet name given to me by my Poppi (my grandfather). I grew up in Lima, Ohio and moved to Columbus in 2007. I earned my BFA from the Columbus College of Art & Design in 2011. Along with Booop, I own Jerrica Fields Jewelry Design, my own line of handcrafted and crocheted jewelry (available at www.jerricafields.etsy.com). I live in Clintonville with my boyfriend Andrew, our turtle Toby, and our year old boxer pup Tulip. I love Red Lobster, Disney World, Godiva white chocolate raspberry starfish, and skateboarding.

I recently opened my Booop shop on Etsy but have been selling my handmade books at local shows for 3 years.

As for what inspires me…seeing all the beautiful things people are creating everyday is enough to get my creative juices flowing.

I don’t think anything got me into crafts. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t working on at least one (usually more than one) project. I was lucky enough to be raised in a family that supported and encouraged creativity, so I’ve always been creating. My house is always covered with beads, paper bits, and art projects. I can’t imagine living life without art. I’m always making something.

I discovered my talent at a fairly young age. I remember back in grade school, ripping the covers off 3-hole punched notebooks and binding the pages together with ribbons to make sketchbooks. I loved making fresh book covers out of brown paper grocery bags, and covering everything (including myself) with stickers. I feel as if I’m doing these same things as an adult, just with much better craftsmanship.

My creative process is pretty simple. I think of things that I need or wish I had, things that will make my life more beautiful, organized, and ultimately more fun. Then I make them!

In five years I see my business growing into a larger brand, having a huge online presence, and having more products available in boutiques worldwide. The most important thing for me is keeping it fun and having fun doing it.

What's the message behind my work? Booop is a carefully curated line of handmade books, planners, magnets, stationary, stickers and more, designed to make life a little more personal and a whole lot simpler. We live in a fast paced world. I want my work to encourage people to slow down. Take some time to do things the old fashioned way, by hand. Use a planner instead of an Ipad. Stop typing and pick up a pencil. Send more letters instead of just emails. Write love notes, give gifts, draw, throw parties. Have fun!

Be sure to find us on Twitter @Boooptique and our Facebook page!

Meet Allyson Stevens from Scrabble Chick…

I grew up immersed the artisan crafts community and, in fact, participated in arts show organization with my family for over 20 years. It was only natural that I graduated with a degree in Fine Arts from the Ohio State University.  

Years later, I was drawn back to the world of arts and crafts and began exhibiting my own crafts in 2008. My lifelong love of board games led me to focus my craft on re-purposing used game boards and boardgame pieces to reuse and restyle them into functional art.

Be sure to visit us at our website www.scrabblechick.com and our Facebook page!

Meet Kristie Madden from Tinseltown Candles…

Tinseltown Candles was masterminded by me and my husband, Jay. We are natives of Columbus, Ohio who shared a dream of owning our own business. Jay has worked as a Producer and Director of independent film for over a decade, and has always possessed a love for all that is movie related. I have worked as a Registered Nurse in geriatric nursing for over 15 years. It is because of my career in nursing that I insist the air we breathe should always be aromatically pleasing. 

My husband and I combined our love for fabulous fragrance with our passion for fantastic films and thus, Tinseltown Candles was born. We are movie enthusiasts, and our goal is to produce scented products that will evoke emotion and captivate an audience just like a memorable film. If we see a movie that we love, we have to make it a Tinseltown Candles creation. Simple as that. 

Tinseltown Candles was created in 2012, although my candle crafting began long before. I started making candles 8 years ago and found the activity to be therapeutic and relaxing. After meeting my husband and learning that we share the same passion for film and creativity, I began searching for a way in which to combine film and fragrance. I wanted to create a candle company that provides a unique spin on traditional candles and scented products while paying homage to the amazing art of filmmaking. 

Several things contribute to the creative naming and selection of fragrances Tinseltown Candles produces, but our biggest inspiration is movies! Audiences watch a movie for entertainment, but fall in love with the movies that allow the viewer to relate and become emotionally invested in the characters. Fragrances and our sense of smell works in a similar way. For example, each time I produce a candle using our Million Dollar Baby Powder scent, I am taken back to a time when my children were babies and I could still cradle and love on them without them asking if they could go play the Xbox!

I started creating candles when I was a single mother in nursing school. I wanted a craft I could do with my children for fun and a relaxing way to earn a few extra dollars to help pay for my tuition. I enjoyed candle making and producing other scented products so much, that I continued with the hobby long after I had graduated. 

The future of Tinseltown Candles is as bright as Hollywood stars. We hope to still be creating our fabulous movie-inspired creations in the years to come, and adding more and more blockbuster fragrance hits!

2013 Columbus February Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, February 16th 2013, 11:00am-5:00pm

St. Agatha's Parish Hall

1860 Northam Rd

Columbus, OH 43221

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

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Creating Beauty from The Unusual!

Meet Sandra Sutherlin from Sandrandan...

My husband and I live in a 100+ year old house in a small village at the geographical center of Ohio. My neighbors are lovely people and we enjoy the small town life very much. Last year my mother and sister came to live with us, essentially doubling our household - we went from 2 humans, 2 dogs, and a cat to 4 humans, 3 dogs, and 3 cats overnight.

I believe I get my creativity from my mother. She has always done arts and crafts and has tried just about every craft you can think of. Her greatest love is quilting and she is quite an expert.

I got into my craft about 10 years ago, a friend showed me some beaded bracelets that she made and I was immediately smitten. She no longer makes jewelry, but it has pretty much taken over my life.

I always made far more jewelry than I could wear (oddly enough, I seldom wear jewelry) or give away. A friend told me about Etsy and once I got started building my shop I found that I really enjoyed it. It's great to be able to support my jewelry-making habit.

I think about jewelry designs as I go to sleep most nights and often wake up with a piece designed in my head. My work desk is usually a mess, covered with different jewelry components that I want to use, and so a lot of my designs come from seeing a couple of pieces I like and going from there. 

My overall goal is to spend my free time doing something I enjoy and creating pieces that make others happy.

Meet Becky Brisker from Objet Adapte...

We're a mother-daughter team from Columbus, OH specializing in handbags made from vintage materials, specifically feed bags. I developed a love for these bags long ago when I started tagging along to the flea markets and antique shows with my mom, and I am so happy to be working with these materials- making something so practical and usable.

For my 'real job', I'm a graphic designer, and Mom teaches. I got into my craft through my love of vintage, textiles, and the need for another creative outlet. I also wanted to leave a retail clothing corporate for electronics corporate- I missed textiles!

We have been doing our craft for about three years now. For my personal creative process, I start by creating a story board. This starts with the bag material, again, usually a feed sack. The design on it, the genre, and what materials I have available at the time,  are usually what dictates our creative process. 

My overall goal with my business is to eventually to make the bags full time. 

The message behind our work is to reuse, reuse, reuse! We don't waste anything and love using recycled, preferably vintage, materials.

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Columbus Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature over 125 of the area's most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Columbus Ohio's Local Matters, a non-profit that teaches kids and families about healthy Ohio-grown foods, provides access to wholesome foods in local area communities, and advocates for fair food policies.

2012 Columbus Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, August 19, 2012, 1:30pm-6:30pm

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral

555 N. High St 

Columbus, OH 43215

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

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Meet Some of our Columbus Jewelers!

Meet Ally McCarley from MC Jewelry...
I am Columbus born and raised. I went to O.U. for Commercial Photography and have always been into creating things. I am 24 and still have no idea what I want to do when I "grow up" but for now I'm enjoying life and happy to be making a living doing things that I love! I have been doing my craft for over a year now.

Full time, I work for a local Columbus magazine taking pictures of food and events, I bartend, and I also love to exercise, be outdoors, and snowboard. I enjoy going out and being around people, and spending time with my friends and family. Most of all, as long as I am out and about, being creative and at least sometimes getting paid for it, I'm happy!

I'm not really sure where I get my creativity from. It's just kind of always been there. I have always loved making things but have never really been into the "art" scene. I could always appreciate the meaning and thoughts behind people's artwork, but I chose photography and jewelry making because they are both things that can just kind of happen and be beautiful without having to have any other meaning then to just be nice to look at. I think about things way too much most of the time and for me, art and the things I create are a way for me to let go and stop thinking and just enjoy something beautiful

How I got into my craft.. My friend and I were bored one day and decided to have a "craft day". Like I said earlier, I have always enjoyed creating things but had not felt inspired in a long time. We went to Michael's (craft store) and bought a bunch of chains and beads, and I just started making jewelry. At first, I simply started making it for myself because it was fun, and it was something to be proud of, and I began getting requests from friends and strangers alike to create pieces for them as well.

My creative process varies. Sometimes I will see something in a store or that someone else has on and use that for inspiration. My favorite thing to do however is go to thrift or antique stores and buy random items that seem interesting to me. I usually don't know what to do with them until I'm in the middle of a piece and it all just comes together!

One of my favorites that I wear all the time was the first necklace I made- it's am asymmetrical gold layered chain necklace. It is so much fun and it goes with almost everything!

My overall goal is to enjoy myself and create pieces I can be proud of and that others are excited to wear. Of course, it would be nice to make some extra money off it all, but that's just icing on the cake!

I always want to keep my pieces affordable and I love to reuse old things (keeps my pieces unique, it's fun, and it's always helpful for our environment to reuse things that have already been made!) And like I said earlier, for me, creating these pieces is kind of a "time-out" from thinking about all the messages and things that we have to constantly think about and just enjoy something beautiful.

Meet Nancy Lacke from Adore Jules...

I was born and raised in the City of Chicago moved out to the burbs when I was in High School. I've always been interested in fashion, design, and interior decorating. I went to the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater graduated with a degree in Education. I've taught school. I also went to school for Esthetics in 2005. I'm a licensed esthetician in Ohio, but I do not currently work in the field. I'm the mother of two grown sons, one a graphic designer the other a storyboard artist. I loved being a mom and being able to bring to my kids all kinds of experiences in art, music, life, entertainment. I'm the most proud of that.

I believe I get my creativity from my father. Outside of his job he was always doing something creative; painting on canvas, metal work, jewelry, building things, etc., he's very talented.

I LOVE jewelry and have been collecting it (whether as a gift or purchases) since I was a little girl. This isn't the only craft I've done, but it's what I'm doing now and I am passionate about it. In 2003 I took my first class in the art of jewelry. I began making jewelry as gifts for friends and family. I went to school in Esthetics and shelved the jewelry since I could not do both successfully. I began taking classes again in 2008. 

My business took off when my niece saw my jewelry photos on Facebook and told me about Etsy. She suggested I open a shop. From there I began to set new goals each year for my business. It all started with posting photos of my work on Facebook and getting request to make jewelry, from there the rest is history!

As a jewelry artist, I'm inspired by the materials I find. I love gemstones and unique findings and am inspired to bring them together in a piece of jewelry. Everything I make is something I would wear and/or love to own!

As for goals, I would love for my jewelry business to grow so that it is self-sustaining and I would not need my day job. I also want to continue to take classes to grow in this medium. It is very important to me.

My jewelry is all about wearablity and it's about feeling good when you wear it. My tagline is "it goes with anything and everything." I own fine pieces of jewelry and whether it's fine or for every day wear, the mark up in stores are huge. I want to offer a product at a fair price.

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Columbus Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature over 125 of the area's most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Columbus Ohio's Local Matters, a non-profit that teaches kids and families about healthy Ohio-grown foods, provides access to wholesome foods in local area communities, and advocates for fair food policies.

2012 Columbus Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, August 19, 2012, 1:30pm-6:30pm

The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Cathedral

555 N. High St 

Columbus, OH 43215

For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

LINKEDIN

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