Beautiful and Fun Creations for Every Woman and Girl!

Meet Ellen Jacob from OHnaturElle...

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by accessories, particularly jewelry. My passions for accessories, art, and jewelry have served me well throughout my life, from creating pins and bracelets with vintage button pins to silversmithing, designing and exhibiting sterling silver pins in galleries and boutiques, to the gemstone creations I design today. I’ve made jewelry for many years in many varieties.  I have used gemstones in my designs for nearly five years.

Most recently, I’ve become inspired by nature. Nature’s stones, the “bones of Mother Earth”, have been used as ornament and currency for over 5000 years and my jewelry features a myriad of genuine natural gemstones and semi precious beads from Mother Nature’s brilliant palette -- rich, radiant, spectacular, luscious. I get mesmerized by the unique colors and shapes.  

Beyond their obvious beauty, each stone generates an energy and power of its own and I find that I become very relaxed and mellow while working with them. Each new creation becomes my favorite…until the next!

I believe that while creativity can certainly be learned, it is something I was born with. I believe it to be hereditary, as my dad was a wonderful craftsman and my children, nieces and nephews are all innately creative, many working in the arts.

How I got started.. I studied crystals and gemstones for their unique energy and powers and became so intrigued and and inspired by them that I just naturally began using natural gemstones in my jewelry designs.

My creative process is 99% inspiration, 1% perspiration. I start by randomly selecting a variety of stones and charms and pendants, and then the inspiration starts to take on a life of its own. The gemstones “sing” to me. Each stone has a color story, and like music, I start with one note, add a few more, build in some harmony, and voila. The necklace or bracelet is a beautiful composition.  I write up the meaning of the gemstones used in the necklace, and this completes the process. 

Like many artisans, creating beautiful gifts was the impetus to selling my art.  From gifts to fulfilling personal requests with custom designs, and at the urging of friends and co-workers, I began selling my jewelry at local boutiques and galleries and online.

I particularly love helping to make people feel beautiful – inside and out. The right piece of jewelry can dress up any outfit, day or night, and there’s none more beautiful and magical than those created using natural gemstones. Not only are they beautiful to wear, but their unique energies can be healing and bring love, harmony, and joy to the wearer’s life. 

My jewelry design business is called OHnaturElle, Natural Gemstone Jewelry designs by Ellen Jacob (with a little help from Mother Nature) because of the combination of several elements:

- OH = OHIO as well as the statement of joy, "Oh!"

- Nature = of course

- Elle = my name is Ellen

Plus, au naturelle in French means "naturally" (It also means naked, and if you wish to be well-dressed, you nead wear nothing more than one of my spectacular necklaces!)

Meet Colette Patty from Wolfcreek Creations...

My name is Colette Patty and I’m a retired buyer/dental technician. I’ve been married to my husband, Doug, for 25 wonderful years. We have a 21 year old daughter, Renee, who goes to The University of Toledo. I love to craft and design necklaces, bracelets, earrings and more!

I started making jewelry when I was very young. When I started working, my hobby was put on hold until I retired a few years ago.

We live on a farm that has been in our family for 70 years. In my free time aside from jewelry making, I have a very large garden that I grow lots of vegetables and herbs. I take the herbs from my garden and make different seasonings. I also enjoy canning different fruits and vegetables from our farm. We have trails in our woods that we like to ride our golf carts on.  After a long day out in the woods I like to cook different cuisines for my family. 

My creativity comes from all things beautiful.  When I see something truly beautiful it inspires me to create.

After I retired I found myself with a lot of time. Instead of buying gifts for people’s birthdays or Christmas I would make them. So many of my friends ranted and raved about how great my jewelry was. Everyone told me I should sell all the wonderful things I had been making, so I did!

        

When I go bead shopping I pick the beads that inspire me the most. When I sit down to make a piece of jewelry I have no plan. I let the beauty of the beads dictate how the jewelry will turn out. 

My goal is to one day have my jewelry featured in magazines, sold in New York boutiques, and worn by celebrities. The message behind my work is that beautiful jewelry can be affordable and unique.

Meet Stephanie Edinger from Precious Pretties...

First and foremost, I am wife to a wonderful man named Derrick and mother of three beautiful, awesome girls. My oldest daughter is 10 and my identical twins are 5. All are the light of my life! I am currently pursuing a college degree in early childhood education. I am close to obtaining my associate's degree and from there I plan to get my bachelor's degree.

I am not sure where I get my creativity from, I just know I love to create! A lot of my inspiration comes from my daughters.

I have always loved crafts and creating. For my business, I was constantly looking for cute hair accessories for my girls but could never find just what I was looking for. That inspired me to create my own! I started out just making bows and as time went on I branched out by making tutus and hats amongst other things.

My creative process is simple. It begins with an idea of something that I feel would be fun to create. I make it and if it turns out to be something I like and that I feel others would like, I list it on my website and take it to shows.

While I have a fondness for all things I create, I would have to say that the korker bows are my favorite. They are what I started my business on and the main accessory I wanted my daughters to have. They are really cute and add a little something special to every outfit. I've been creating for over three years.

I would like to someday grow enough to make my business my full time job. There's nothing I like more than creating!

I started out just making hair bows for my daughters. Once friends and family saw them, they wanted some for their daughters, too. I thought if they were interested, others may be as well. I attended my first craft show as a vendor and sold many items. I continued to participate in craft shows and created my website. I've been selling ever since!

Almost every mother wants her daughter to be a frilly girly girl. Dress them up as most of us have since dressing up our dolls in childhood. I want to give mothers (or other caregivers) an affordable way to do just that. 

Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 West Side Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature over 170 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to the Cleveland Animal Protective League, for animal rescue.

2012 West Side Summer Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Sunday, July 29, 2012, 11:00am-6:00pm

Wagner's Country Inn

30855 Center Ridge Rd. 

Westlake, OH 44145

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

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One More Vendor Preview Before Tomorrow's Show!

Meet Karen Bush from Aviron Jewelry... 

I am largely self-taught in the arts. I come from a background of science and healthcare but have always had a keen interest in the arts. My interest in jewelry has been longstanding and my education varied. I have always been one to seek out knowledge in every nook and cranny that I can and this is what I have done to further my education in the art of jewelry.

I have a very eclectic personality and truly enjoy challenging myself and seeking knowledge. My professional career for the last 20 years has been in medical speech pathology primarily in hospital setting. My interests outside of work include traveling, rowing, running, biking, xc skiing, attending lectures and art shows. I’m also quite a foodie and love to cook. I told you I was eclectic! A shorter answer would have been what do I not like to do!

My creativity comes from somewhere deep in my soul I am certain. No one else in my family really “creates” but my brother was a budding artist in his late teens and early 20’s. I think for me, a part of my need to create comes from the challenge. I have always been driven to achieve something, such as creating a new design, to gain the knowledge and conquer the challenge. The challenge of getting something from my head to a piece of wearable art… fascinating.

“What got me into actually selling my work?” I would be out and about, literally, anywhere (the grocery, work, dining out), wearing one of my necklaces, earrings, or rings and inevitably more than one person would comment on how unique it was and ask where I had purchased it from. What followed was something like this…. “you made it? Are you selling your work anywhere?” Me:  “No, I just make it for myself” Admirer: “Oh, no, you should really be selling it!”… and Aviron Jewelry was born about 2 years ago. I chose the name Aviron because it means, “rowing or oar” in French which is my second biggest passion next to jewelry design, rowing!

My creative process….It’s really an iterative process. I am really a self-taught jewelry designer and very instinctual with my designs. I have been drawn to jewelry ever since I was a young child at my great grandmothers house, rooting around her drawers of jewelry from Bohemia, her native country. I am a gypsy at heart.

I always think that I should be one of those artists’s who sketches out designs as I’m sitting by the fire or enjoying a day at the beach but it just doesn’t happen that way for me. I go down into my studio, I start with either copper, silver, brass or stones and it just happens. My pieces are very earthy and raw, so glittery and perfectly shaped does not typically come out of my studio. My dog Jackson usually accompanies me as well, which makes my studio space very homey.  Some music, the dog and sunshine make for a creative day.

It is extremely hard for me to pick my favorite item. It seems like the latest design is always my favorite!  I tend to make each piece slightly different than the next, which means each item is really one of a kind. I’m easily bored and crave new and different.

My goal with Aviron Jewelry is to inspire and create pieces that people love to wear. In the process of doing that I would love to eventually have my designs in small, independent boutiques all over the country and the world some day. Aviron jewelry is new endeavor for me over the last 2 years but my interest in jewelry and dabbling in creating has been a lifetime interest.

Meet Nicole Bloch from Erra Creations...

It all re-started from a few funky antique shop finds that re-sparked Nicole Y. Bloch’s love of visual art. Growing up in an artistic family was a huge inspiration for creativity from the beginning. Bloch's family owned an art and craft store in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. Fittingly, her father was a master framer, her grandmother was a nationally known decoupage artist, and her grandfather was a high school art teacher and amateur architect. Bloch pursued schooling as a classical flutist, and for a while her passion for visual art was set aside. Today, both audio and visual art are share the spotlight in her life. Erra Creations was born with the belief that almost anything that might ordinarily be discarded could be transformed into beautiful and wearable works of art. Everything from used bicycle parts to broken vintage jewelry to machine shop scraps is given new life as fun and funky household accessories and jewelry. 

A personal insight:

I love to keep busy with good things: Destructing and reconstructing!

I get my creativity from my father and his family. Architects, visual art, and my family owned an art and craft supply store- so that helped a bunch!

I presume that fate got me into my business craft. I grew up with it. But as an adult, it was a mixture of thrifting and antiquing, a friend pushing me to open a vintage storefront, and my best friend moving to Vermont- purging his old bicycle components.

How I officially got started.. I made a bet with a friend, who makes beautiful, wire wrapped gold and gemstone jewelry, to open an Etsy shop.  She was in a creative slump and I thought if opening a shop could help her out of it- yea! We were going to each list 20 things by Labor Day (it was Memorial Day) and have a girl’s night out on the town with our earnings. Alas, she never opened a shop, but I did!!!

My favorite items- well, that would be a triple tie between my bicycle chain and soda can tea light holders, vintage papered light switch plates, and the original Bicycle Gear Necklace. I guess my favorite would be my gear necklaces!

In five years from now, I would love to do everything I am now - I actually like my accounting job too. However if I could do part time "real job" and full time Erra Creations, that would be good for me.

My advice for those looking to start a business, take it slow. It is really exciting and lots of work. The worst thing you can do is get overwhelmed. 

My newest projects… I've been having a lot of fun with custom orders lately. Half of them using parts I already have in my workshop, the other half I have been using customer's prized bicycle parts from the loved bike and making whole collections for them: clocks, trivets, coasters, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, cuff links, frames, etc etc... It's a fantastic way for any enthusiast to keep their memories of great rides and be green at the same time.

Meet Shannon Dennis from The Nina Line...

I'm now a work at home mom after over 5 years of traveling for the sewing industry teaching sewing around the country. I've written and had published three books on sewing including: 

Make It You: Sew Hip

Make It You: Your Space

The Basics and Beyond: Sewing Home Decor. 

I currently write regularly for some very fun sewing publications like Sew News, Creative Machine Embroidery and Sew It All. Since my son was born in 2010, I've had the amazing opportunity to stay home with him and continue my creative career with Nina, my own company. While I make things to sell I also enjoy sharing my passion for sewing by helping others learn "how-to" DIY!

Where I get my creativity.. I got my skills from my mom and I think my creativity too. She was always a pattern and directions sewer, but when I started showing signs of cutting out my own designs and changing patterns around. she always encouraged me. She never made me feel bad if it didn't work out the way I thought it would. I think sometimes my creativity comes out of necessity too. I have to make a living at what I do now so sometimes you just have to buckle down (mostly during that wonderful two hour nap time!) and create!

I got into my craft through my mom. It was part of our homeschooling curriculum to learn basic sewing skills. She was always amazing about crafting for other people, making handmade cards for birthdays, it was just in our blood as a family!

My creative process is through visual inspiration. This can come from anywhere. Then finding the fabrics to create and making it happen. Sometimes this takes trial and error, but I also set up an inspiration board for bigger projects so they don't get too far away from my original intent. This allows me to take out some of the possibility of error.

Some of my favorite items... A custom made toddler quilt and a bib necklace. Totally fun to make and working with my client on the quilt made her feel like part of the creation for her daughter even though she doesn't sew!

My goals.. I'm about to launch a new website for my business www.theninaline.com and it includes a shop! I'm hoping this will be profitable and allow me to make more the how-to videos people have come to love. I hope that 5 years from now I can be teaching sewing again on a regular basis and creating more one-of-a-kind items that people will love!

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.

Lisle & Locks- Vintage Inspired Hair Adornments and Fabric Wreaths

Tell us a bit about yourself..
My name is Michelle Koelliker. I am 32 years old. I was born and raised in Cleveland. I currently live in independence with my wonderful husband and my 2 and a half year old son. I love to create new things, as I continuously am trying to learn more and do more.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I am a hair stylist in Twinsburg at the Nina/Michelle Salon. I have been there for 8 years now. I am so passionate about my career and I love to make all of my guests at the salon feel beautiful inside and out.

Where do you get your creativity from?
I can say that I truly think I get my creativity from my mom. As I was a child she was always very crafty. As far as making hair accessories, I have always been a love of any type of accessories. I am so inspired by anything that looks feminine, romantic, and has a vintage twist added to it.

What got you into the craft hobby?
I am just always at stores such as Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters, and I have always noticed and loved their accessories. I have also always thought how easy it must be to make these accessories myself. I started to experiment with fabric and sewing and found that I had a talent for it. I also starting making wreaths out of fabric. I used different textures and colors to create a wreath that can go with any decor.

How would you describe your creative process?
I would say that I just always have new and different ideas in my mind all the time. By making my accessories, it gives me a chance to express my thoughts and ideas. To be honest, most of the time I just sit down at my desk, look at fabric and start to make a certain piece without even having an idea of what the finished product is going to look like. It just comes natural to me to give it a finished look. I use a lot of different fabrics, old buttons, old clothing I may come across and recycle it. It's amazing what you can make out of an old article of clothing that you never thought you would see or wear again!

What is your most favorite item you have ever produced? 
I absolutely love making the wreaths. I have had an overwhelming response towards these. Also, the accessories I make, can be worn as a hair clip on a headband, or as a pin on an item of clothing. All of my pieces are versatile.

How did you get your business off the ground?
I actually started selling my pieces at my salon in Twinsburg, the Nina/Michelle salon. I then noticed that people liked them and were requesting for me to start to make more. I then made and Etsy account and begun to sell them on Etsy.

What are your goals as a business?
my goals are to continue to make creative and different accessories as well as wreaths. I would like to present them to local boutiques in Cleveland as well. I would love for them to be available in stores to purchase.

What do you do in your free time? 
In my free time (the little that I have) I enjoy going to the gym. I also love to refinish furniture. I go to many second hand stores and flea markets and purchase pieces of wooden furniture and refinish them.

What is the message behind your work?
I want to make unique, feminine pieces that make people who wear them feel great about themselves. I love vintage inspired accessoreis. Each piece or wreath that I make, I absolutely love. I take so much time to hand sew and create them as individual looks. I want people to be able to express their individuality and their creative side, so that it reflects in the their everyday lives and how they feel about themselves!

Check out Lisle & Lcoks this fall at the Avant-Garde Fall Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature 67 of the areas most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to the North East Ohio Make-a-Wish Foundation.

Avant-Garde Fall Art & Craft Show

Sunday, October 23, 2011, 10:00am-5:00pm

Holy Spirit Byzantine Catholic Church 

5500 West 54th St. 

Parma, OH 44129. 

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