Entrepreneurs - A Path from a Previous Career Leads to a Passion

Meet Brad Fast from Grandpa's Nuts LLC...

In the summer of 2011, I found myself un-employed after 20 years of dedicated service. Like so many others during the hard times of the past 3 years, I was devastated. Several family members and friends almost immediately suggested that this was my opportunity to pursue what had been recommended to me many times over the years. The suggestion was that I market a product that I had been making for the better part of two decades. The product, peanut and cashew brittle. Because of the entrepreneurial desire that I had maintained for as long as I can remember, I was excited with the idea, and overwhelmed with the confidence that came from my family and friends.

It took most of the summer to take the necessary steps to form a company, get all the permits, labeling, bagging, insurance as well as attending several business seminars. Finally in the first week of November 2011 everything was assembled and I was ready to fill my first bag of brittle. My wife reminded me that I had originally said back in July that I needed to be ready to go the first of November. Being so caught up in the day-to-day efforts to make sure that everything was accounted for, I hadn't even considered that I was right on schedule.  

The foundation of my company and the most important commitment that I have made is to offer only the best quality product that I can produce. With the exception of artificial vanilla the rest of the ingredients are natural.  I am not interested in making a cheaper product that is less than my best for the sake of making a dollar. I package my brittle in top quality air tight re-sealable bags that will extend the shelf life to several months. Air and particularly moisture will degrade the quality quickly if left un-sealed.

Currently I am home producing and packaging my brittle in Seville, OH. Beginning Nov.17^th I will be making my brittle at a beautiful Café in Medina, OH named “Cool Beans”. I invite anyone wanting to watch as I make my product to come and visit. The kitchen in the Café is absolutely wonderful and very accommodating to those who would like to watch. I will be there on Nov. 17^th and then every Friday thereafter. I will also be introducing two new products to the line up soon. Watch for “Almond Delight” and “Pecan Paradise” to be available in the coming weeks. 

Meet Beth Vilkas from Elizabeth Vilka's Designs...

I am a jewelry designer who has a background as an antique dealer and dressmaker. I have been making jewelry for about five years. I learned to repair jewelry during the many years I worked as an antique dealer. I started to design my own after "all the good stuff" was gone. My love of fashion and background as a dressmaker helps to choose colors. I also watch fashion trends.

I have been creating things my entire life.  I used to sew as a child, I was making my own clothes by sixth grade! 

My inspiration comes from nature, and the colors all around me.  I am visual, so I am always drawing from what I see all day. I carry a book that I make notations in as I get ideas.


How I got started.. I used to sell on Ebay and listed some of the pieces I made.  They sold right away! The ladies I work with bought a lot of my work, too. I make jewelry at lunch every day!

The message behind my work is that I hope that my audience can see the joy I feel in the changing seasons, the holidays, and life in general.

Meet Grace Caplan from Quilts By Grace...

My name is Grace. I began sewing with my mother in law about 7 months ago.  I started making quilts for a few of my friends for their baby showers. I did my first craft show in November 2011. Doing the craft show was a great experience. I got to meet a lot of people with many other talents, as well as gain some new business. I started with quilts and now make crayon bags, purses, pillows and sew much more! I absolutely love it and can't stop.

I know I got my creativity from both my parents. They always made sure to have my two brothers and I involved in any activity we could. We were always doing something, whether it was sports, going to the metro parks or making place mats out of the fall leaves.

My husbands Grandmother was an avid quilter and knitter. She sat me down and taught me how to knit but never got the chance to teach me how to sew. She passed away in December of 2010 and I knew I had to learn, because she would've loved that. Thankfully his grandmother passed the quilting gene onto his mother. When my best friend was pregnant with her first child, I knew I had to make a quilt for her. I had my husband’s mom show me how to thread the machine and that was the start to a wonderful hobby.

I absolutely love everything that I have made. I put my heart into every project, so it is hard to pick a favorite. I would have to say it's a tie between the memory quilt that I made my mom for her 60th birthday. I say this only because it had pictures from her growing up to all the pictures of her children growing up. And the quilt for my best friend’s baby is right up there with it. It was the first quilt I have ever made and that is so special to me. She has a baby blanket that she still carries around with her and she is 27 years old, I wanted her child to have the same thing.

How I got started.. I actually lost my job in October of last year. While applying to numerous jobs I had more time to focus on my sewing. That's when I decided to do the craft show. I took special orders for quilts, crayon bags and even a memory pillow cases. That's when I knew I would love to do this all the time. Why not do what you love and make money doing it :)  

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature over 135 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Project Night Night, an organization that provide care packages and support for children during times of home displacement.

2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 10:00am-5:00pm

Wagner's Country Inn

30855 Center Ridge Rd. 

Westlake, OH 44145

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

Nature's Inspiration Fuels a Passion for Art

Meet Amanda Sills...
I was born in Cleveland Ohio, I moved to Columbus in 2000 to attend Columbus College of Art and Design where I obtained a BFA in Fashion Design. I have a 2 year old shih tzu who LOVES to make her bed on my crafts! 

I work full time as an Accounting Assistant, and part time at a Italian Restaurant were I have worked since college. I enjoy going back to Cleveland and going to flea markets/thrift stores with my mom to find fabrics and miscellaneous items for my crafts. I also enjoy photography, I can't get enough pictures! Most of all I enjoy spending time with my Shih tzu, Addyson.

I get my creativity from MY FAMILY!!!! I remember being a little girl and going to my grandparents house and always doing something crafty, one year for Christmas my grandma got me an art box, I was so excited! As I grew older, the creativity never stopped.

Right now, I'm into the vintage look, I will see something and think to myself how is that made? I will break it down and try to make it my own. I try to make an old fashioned idea into a hip current look.

I love making things, I have the hardest time when some someone says, "Oh I'm not creative." I believe everyone has creativity we all just show it differently. Some show it through paintings, music, clothes, writing. Whatever it is, I just want people to appreciate other people's hard work.

Meet Regan and Elise from Lake Erie Jewelry..

Regan, my partner, and I (Elise) both attend Westlake high school. We are both straight A students who strive to to do great in everything we do. Of course, we both have a passion for all kinds of art.

Besides making jewelry, Regan enjoys playing the bass guitar and doing anything that has to do with art whether it is drawing, painting or photography. I play soccer, do ballet, travel frequently, and love to ski with a passion. I also love to draw, paint and (obviously) make jewelry.

What made us start this hobby is when we wanted more jewelry, we noticed that jewelry retail prices could be so expensive for such cheap material. So we decided that we would make our own reliable jewelry that would please our own styles.

Regan enjoys making pendents the most because they are not all the same shape, size or color, and they each have their own personality. I enjoy making rings the most, and try to make each one unique. 

How our business started.. Once we made all the jewelry we wanted for ourselves, we began to overload on all the extra jewelry! Our friends were also noticing our jewelry, many said they liked it and wondered if we would make them some. So that's how the business began!

We have planned this buisness for about 6 months, which isn't really a long time but we have been making jewelry a long time. We are very determined to keep doing this! As long as we have our creativity, this buisness is easy and fun.

The sea glass we collect is from Huntington Beach in Bay Village. Collecting the glass is one of our most favorite things to do. It's an adventure for us to find the sea glass blending in with the sand, and then realize we can make something beautiful out of it. We think its amazing that the lake can turn a hideous shard of glass into a gorgeous smooth stone! 

The message behind our work is that the sea glass that most people collect in jars, doesn't just look pretty in a jar. You can reuse materials like sea glass that comes from anywhere, and make it into something beautiful to wear!

Meet Susie Lowder from Susie Lowder Art...

My name Susie Lowder, I've been married for 25 years, am the mother of 3 teenagers! I'm very happy and blessed that my artwork has now become my “full time” thing…I won’t call it a job..but being organized and on top of the 44 or so Art Shows (2 year-round) and 1 summer retail outlet, keeps me very busy.

How I got started... After I graduated, I enjoyed a career in floral design, but took some time off for my family after my third child was born. I now fuse my passion for flowers and their ability to make people happy, with my work experience and my education.

My work includes a wonderful array of seasonal paintings and holiday decor using acrylic mixed media. As I mentioned, I've spent years working with real flowers and I know the joy they bring to people, so I seek to bring this joy to life on canvas. All my canvases are painted around the edge, so they are very lightweight and do not require framing.

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature over 135 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Project Night Night, an organization that provide care packages and support for children during times of home displacement.

2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 10:00am-5:00pm

Wagner's Country Inn

30855 Center Ridge Rd. 

Westlake, OH 44145

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

Introducing the First Line Up of Vendors for the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Meet Kerri O'Connor From Les Trois Fleurs...

I live in Chesterland, Ohio and have been creating since I was very young. My grandmother would bring me home scraps of fabric from her travels and I would make Christian Dior look-a-like suits for my Barbie dolls. I made my own clothes in junior and senior high school.

How it all got started... Growing up, I was in awe of my grandmother – she was a seamstress and milliner. My father was a sign painter and my mother also a decorator… it is a “family” thing. I had a small business making slip covers. I also make porcelain dolls. For jewelry, I was on vacation attending a fiddlers convention and saw some ocean jasper stones at a shop and I could not walk away from them. They were “talking to me”… a month later I was on a weekend trip near Washington DC and found a bead store…. Several hours later I walked out with a rather large bag of supplies and several starting projects. And that started it for me formally as a business.

In terms of inspiration, often it is an idea that comes to me (I carry a small sketch book with me) or it can be a color, a texture, a movie, music… typically it is something that lifts me into a higher consciousness and I become very open and inspired.

As a Reiki Master and an energy worker, I design each piece with the specific intent to draw and invoke positive and loving thoughts that amplify the beauty and qualities of the materials. I especially love embracing beautiful semi-precious and other stones with sterling or fine silver, copper, gold-filled, and natural brass. This is my passion and brings me happiness which, in turn, enhances the natural qualities of each stone with the feelings of love, happiness, and good will. It is my intent that this will be passed on to the eventual wearer. Why? The chances are that if you are happy, you will naturally spread it like wild fire to everyone around you too.

Meet Don From Art Cellar Studio Inc...

I've been working with glass for about 30 years. I started with stained glass projects for my home, and later advanced into fused glass. I just moved to Chagrin Falls, Ohio from Chicago. I'm a graduate of the University of Alabama and have lived in 8 States.

I work more than full time in the Human Resources field. All my glass projects are completed during nights, weekends and holidays, during my spare time.  

My creativity comes from my mother who was an excellent painter, needleworker and chef. She taught me to cook, and encouraged the development of my creative spirit through the arts.

I got started in my craft when I was looking for a stained glass window for my home, at the time, in Columbia, TN. I visited a local stained glass gallery to inquire about them making it for me. They gave me a price, and then said, for about a fraction of that, you could design and build it yourself. They taught classes and sold stained glass supplies. That lead to a life-long love of glass. I'm absolutely fascinated by the opportunity glass provides to play with color, and watch its fluid and translucent qualities form an object of beauty. I enjoy letting my imagination run wild in my designs. It's a pleasure for me to share what I do, and I find it all great fun and an endless challenge.

Each piece has two or three layers of glass. The design is developed in my head, and often sketched in advance, matching colors, textures and irridescence. During the fusing process, the glass is heated to approximately 1600F degrees in a kiln. Once the glass is in the kiln, it's like choreographing a free-flowing dance that cannot be stopped. It is cooled overnight, and once it reaches room temperature each piece is removed from the kiln and inspected for perfection.  Almost all pieces require grinding irregular edges with a diamond bit grinder, to smooth out any rough edges and create the final form. The glass is then reheated in the kiln to about 1400F degrees to fire polish and smooth the edges. Each piece takes about 16 hours to produce. Obviously, multiple pendants are placed in the kiln at the same time. A large piece, such as a bowl, will occupy the kiln alone for the same timeframe outlined above.

My most favorite piece is a glass panel made using a process called Verre' Eglomise, which involves designing a pattern, cutting it out and placing it on the glass, then sandblasting the exposed areas to create a rough texture in the glass. The glass can then be painted by rubbing a special oil paint into the rough areas. The entire back of the piece is then covered in copper foil and sealed.

The message behind my work is, life has difficult moments, but within it there's beauty to behold and satisfaction to be achieved. Enjoy it to the fullest, and look for ways to increase the fulfillment life has to offer.  

Meet Rita Spear From Everlasting Elegance Jewelry Desing LLC...

Where do I start…  Well, I’m a Jersey Girl, I have lived here in Ohio for 25 years now and I still miss the food and the ocean. I’m married, with two grown sons and a very handsome 4 yr. old grandson. I graduated with my degree in fashion design. Soon after getting married, I turned my energy towards nursing and became a Medical Assistant which I pursued for the last 20+ years.

Due to illness, I was no longer able to continue in my nursing career, so for two reasons, out of total boredom and necessity, I started to dabble in jewelry… I needed a special piece for an outfit, which I had searched all of the retail stores, just to find out that they didn’t have the color, style nor quality I was looking for!  So, I couldn’t help but think I could just do it myself with better results… SO I DID… I am self-taught, and I must say it has been a learning experience.

After many of my friends and family enjoyed my gifts of jewelry, I received excellent encouragement to pursue jewelry making seriously,

hence the birth of my company EEJDesign.com

My husband nudged me into doing Arts and Craft Shows, which I have found to be a wonderful experience, no two shows are ever alike, it allows me to meet new and interesting people and cultivate new contacts. If it weren’t for my husband, none of it would be possible, he helps me with all of the set-up and tear-down, and he is quite the salesman.

I would have to say my creativity comes from my mother. Her stories and life experiences had always been an inspiration to me. She was a seamstress, and her specialty was designing and making beautiful ballroom gowns. Many of them can be seen in pictures from the 30’s and 40’s from the “Astoria, Roseland and Savoy Ballrooms” in New York City. She was, I believe very crafty out of necessity, in those times you had to be.

As far as my creative process goes, anything and everything can trigger it, listing to “Yanni” while in my workshop, or just seeing a beautifully colored flower.  I average about 3 hours of sleep a night, so I often times wake up and go directly to my workshop with coffee in hand, Diezel my dog behind me, and an idea just waiting to be realized. Style wise, I steer towards simple, elegant, and timeless designs.  I’m drawn to subtle forms in my work.  I love the natural shapes and textures of components like freshwater pearls or beach glass. I’m drawn to the colors and richness of precious and semi-precious stones.

My goal is to someday open a small studio. Much like my mother, I love to design pieces for Bridal Parties, and Special Occasion pieces. I think it’s just the satisfaction of knowing that what I created truly made someone happy…

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature 135 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Project Night Night, an organization that provide care packages and support for children during times of home displacement.

2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 10:00am-5:00pm

Wagner's Country Inn

30855 Center Ridge Rd. 

Westlake, OH 44145

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

A Show in Review- 2012 Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show Summary

Well the 2012 Winter Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show has come and gone and what an event! We had a great turn out this past Sunday with over 1,050 people passing through Wagner's Country Inn! The event featured some of the area's most talented artists and crafters. 

At this time, I wanted to take a moment and tell everyone how proud I am to be a part of this movement, and the continuing momentum surrounding the shows. The feedback I heard about the show has been fantastic from both the community and vendors, so thank you to all! 

This was a large show for the Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show brand. In fact, this was the largest show to date, with 103 vendors in total. The show has come a long way since it was first introduced. For instance, the first Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show was held last June with 45 vendors, the second show grew to 65 vendors and this past show reached as we mentioned, 103 vendors. It has more than doubled in size, in less than a year! 

In addition to this being a large show that had a great turn out, it was our biggest publicized show to date. The show was featured in the following publications. Again, another special thank you to these particular pubs for supporting the event and local artists and crafters:
- Art Business News
- The Chronicle Telegram
- Cleveland Scene Magazine
- The Cleveland State Cauldron
- The Observer
- The Plain Dealer
- Stacy Coleman- Blue Bay Cottage
- Sun News
- West Life

All-in-all, we cannot wait to see what the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show holds! With over 135 art and craft vendors at Wagner's Country Inn (Sun. April 29th), it's sure to be fantastic! 

A big thanks again to everyone who made this possible, including but not limited to: vendors, friends, family and the art community!

I cannot say it enough, so I will say it again... I am so proud to be affiliated with such a great group, and I look forward to growing the show and our relationships! Thank you to all!

Best Regards,

Becki Cooper, Founder

Avant-Garde Art & Craft Shows (Rebecca Adele Events)

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature 135 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Project Night Night, an organization that provide care packages and support for children during times of home displacement.

2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, April 29, 2012, 10:00am-5:00pm

Wagner's Country Inn

30855 Center Ridge Rd. 

Westlake, OH 44145

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