Meet the artists of Coffee + Crafts

The first ever Coffee + Crafts trunk show at the Root Cafe is only about a month away, so I’d like to take this opportunity to share with you who will be there and the sorts of crafty awesomeness that they will be bringing!  For more information about the show, check out the event page on Facebook and while you are there go ahead and RSVP!

Thursday December 15

Chris Sorensen
Crafty and creative in her own right, Chris is also the owner of the awesome Lakewood brick-and-mortar shop called Crafty Goodness.  Chris works in a variety of media and will be showcasing both her own work as well as work from her shop.  You can check out her website, craftygoodnesscle.com to see more!

Photo curtsy of Chris Sorensen

Kat Remick
Kat makes fun and festive headbands, hair clips, fascinators, ornaments and more!  Learn more about Kat on her website; kittenkaboom.wordpress.com

Photo via HausOfKaboom on Etsy

Amy Annico

The Cleaner Wiener Dog Soap Company specializes in sulfate-free dog soaps derived from organic ingredients which are simple and clean. Liquid and bar soaps are available for your dog’s bathing enjoyment. Amy will also be selling glass-block and upcycled bottlecap jewelry in dog and holiday prints.  To see more of Amy’s products, check out her website or Etsy shop.

Photo curtsy of Amy Annico

Friday December 16

Arooj Ashraf
Handwoven scarves, hand-stitched purses, pressed flower greeting cards and hair accessories.  Learn more about Arooj on her website; arooja.com

Photo curtsy of Arooj Ashraf

Katherine Johnson
Quilted mug rugs and coasters using some repurposed fabrics or embellishments, and greeting cards using some recycled papers/cards/embellishments.  Find out more about Katherine on her website; theartfulhausfrau.blogspot.com

photo curtsy of Katherine Johnson

Saturday, December 17

Meagan Shuttleworth
Lovely trendy, retro aprons for those who want to add a little style to their everyday chores in the kitchen or entertaining guests! Handmade flowers are added to each apron as a reminder to stop and smell the roses!  See more from Meagan on her website; The Witty Tales of Trendy Meg and see more aprons in her Etsy shop

Photo via Trendy Meg on Etsy

Ingrid Nolan
Fused plastic bags/accessories, coffee take-out cozies, crochet/knit hats, scarves, and fingerless gloves.

Photo curtsy of Ingrid Nolan

Emily Lindberg
Upcycled items such as crocheted owls made from plastic grocery bags and recycled fabric collages, as well as some coffee related stuff and maybe a few things to keep you warm as well!

Sunday, December 18

Brittany Charek

Fun, funky and useful novelty guitar picks made from recycled scrap plastic (recycled gift cards, ID cards, advertising, etc).  Grab a pack of assorted picks or just “pick” out your own.  Check out all of Brittany’s great stuff over on her Etsy shop.

Photo via holdenallen on Etsy

Joanna Wilson
Beautiful hand-embroidered greeting cards.  See more in Joanna’s Etsy shop.

photo curtsey of Joanna Wilson

Denise Kareliski
Fleece scarves, headbands and matching purses.

photo curtsey of Denise Kareliski

Car Kulture and Hell on Wheels Craft Extravaganza

I love old cars! I don’t know a lot about cars, of any age, but there is something about old cars that’s just cool. When it comes to cars in general, all I really care about is reliability, gas efficiency, and safety. But when it comes to classic cars, it’s all about the style! Most of all, I love rounded corners and cute, small frames (like the cute blue one above parked outside of Crafty Goodness. The lovely lady in polka dots is none other than Chris Sorenson, the owner of Crafty Goodness). I love to see restored classic cars, but even the ones that own their oldness are fun too…

Wendy and I were in awe at this VW pop-up. Believe it or not, their were at least two of these (that I saw) at yesterday’s car show but I really liked the paint job and pop of yellow canvas on this one…

But enough about the cars.

To take advantage of the heavy foot traffic up and down Madison Ave, Crafty Goodness participated in the Hell On Wheels Craft Extravaganza along with several other local businesses (Spitfire Saloon, Goddess Blessed, Breakneck Gallery, and Keyhole Gallery). Chris invited several crafty businesses to set up table displays in front of and inside Crafty Goodness which included Artables and Buza Bags…

Beethings Studio (background) and pottery by Cindy (foreground)…

By the way, how cool is this shirt (and henna)?!

The lovely and talented Arooj was producing the most amazing and intricate henna designs and teaches henna classes at Crafty Goodness.

I had a table for zween set up indoors, but spent most of my time working on a new plarn owl purse outside to take advantage of the lovely weather.

The best thing to come out of this show was all the great contacts and connections made both between us makers and between Crafty Goodness and the general public. Because the shop is still fairly new, there are still many people in the Lakewood area discovering Crafty Goodness for the first time. I spoke with one local Lakewood gentleman who said that if it weren’t for the cars, he would have never known that Crafty Goodness was here, but how glad he is to know it exists now.

The truth is, this happens a lot. Most people, even if they really appreciate handmade and locally produced items, don’t actively seek out shops like CG or even craft shows (except maybe during the holidays). That’s why I think these types of events are so important and have the potential to be such a success. These people didn’t come out to shop for handmade items; they came to look a cool cars, listen to some live music, and maybe grab a bite to eat and a cold beer. But in addition to these things, they got to see some pretty cool handmade items and meet the people who make them. Now their experience of the event was that much fuller and hopefully a seed was planted so that they may return the next time they’re looking for that extra special gift or unique item for their home or wardrobe.

If you missed this event never fear. The car show is an annual event in Lakewood, and I’m sure that it only gets better each year, as more people with classic cars become aware of it. But remember that Crafty Goodness and the other brick and mortar shops on Madison Ave are their year round and always appreciate your support. So buy local; it’s good for you, your community, and your dog.

The First Cardinal Sin of Art School

The art professor asks, “why did you pick these materials?”  and your response is, “these are the materials I had.”

If you have ever said this to your professor, you have committed the first Cardinal Sin in art school.  This unforgivable laps in judgement happened to me often in my early art school days, but I soon learned to hear the response only in my head while my mouth wove a very different tale about the intent and meaning that these materials bring to whatever piece I happened to be making.  Did they buy it?  Most of the time, probably not.  Did I buy it?  No.

Now to be fair, this question was almost never raised unless the outcome of whatever project I was working on happened to fail miserably.  And so, I found the loop-hole in the system; I could use whatever materials I wanted (i.e. materials that were cheep, free, or lying around) as long as I made them work in my favor.  Hmm… now I was getting somewhere.

My very first project in my very first design class was called a transformation project.  In a nutshell, each week we had to make something using 12 (or a multiple of 12) of something to create something else, transforming it in such a way as to make it either extremely interesting or completely unrecognizable (or both).  The object that I chose to transform was a humble paper bag and for my first project from this series I made a teddy bear.  Though I had never really had any particular interest in sewing up until that point (I had gone into art school loving to paint), I somehow ended up making this bear using nothing more than the travel sewing kit my mom packed in my college dorm supplies*.  To my relief the teacher loved it.  I had discovered Fiber and a whole other side of craft that I never knew existed.

Though this first project was a success, I had many, many more failures in turning humble materials into artistic and academic gold, but that didn’t stop me from trying.

Now, nearly eleven years removed from my first day of art school, I am reminded of this “Cardinal Sin” because of what I find myself doing on a daily basis; I make things out of the materials that I have.  If I don’t have it, I don’t make it.  Period.  It’s kind of worked into my newly found business model of using primarily recycled/repurposed/reused materials.  To me, it’s a challenge of having a material and then finding a new use for it.  It’s exciting.  It’s fun.  It’s me.

I’ve recently realized that I’m an adult now and I live in that place that adults used to talk about incessantly while I was in college called “the real world.”  And, in the real world, one does not need to follow the rules of the “art world.”  That said, I very much enjoyed my time in art school and I really did learn a lot from my professors.  Namely, I learned about construction, craftsmanship, and intent and how these elements are important to think about when creating something.

My intent is to use materials in such a way as to give them new life.  In the most basic and conventional sense I am making these objects useful again, but really I’m trying to take this work to the next step and move beyond recycling or upcycling.  What this means, I’m not really sure.  (Transforming maybe?)

Throughout this post are photos of some projects that I’ve been working on recently.  There’s origami gift boxes made from junk mail, old calendars, and magazines.  There’s earrings made from recycled buttons (yes, every one).  There’s greeting cards with funny sayings made from cereal boxes.  These objects are where I am right now in my quest to figure out where I’m going.  To see them (or better yet, buy them!) and me in person, I invite you to come out to the Rowdy Indie Craft Fair this Sunday.  I’d love to chat with you!

*If you look closely at the bears eyes you can see that they are buttons, but since my cheep sewing kit didn’t include black buttons I just painted them.

**this post was just added to Made By You Mondays on Skip to My Lou, and The Inspiration Link Party 12 on Homework.

Shop Crafty Goodness Online!

For those of you who don’t live in the Cleveland area but are still itching for some unique, well-made, hand-crafted items, then you can now check out the Crafty Goodness Online Shop!  The online shop offers a variety of products for many occasions such as wedding showers, baby showers, house warming, birthdays… the list goes on and on!  Just check out the shop and browse the different categories and items from a variety of artists!

Here are some of the zween products offered on the Crafty Goodness Online Shop;

Owl Fabric Collage $30

Flamingo Fabric Collage $30

Rainy Day Bird Collage $30

Also available is a set of four child/parent inspired bird cards for $7

New Page

I would like to point out the new page, located at the top of my banner and in the right side-bar titled “Shop.”  Here, you will see photos of items that are for sale and learn where to purchase them.   Currently, you can find my work, along with the work of over 60 other local artists, at the very cute brick-and-mortar shop, Crafty Goodness!