'Twas the Night Before Chagrin Falls!

Meet Barbara Stiebeling from BGS Designs...

My love of drawing, especially portraits, started at an early age. Over the years I have taken coursework and workshops to advance my knowledge and skills and have produced most of my work in the medium of chalk pastel.  Formally educated as a nurse with a Master’s Degree in my field, I began early retirement in 2014 in order to concentrate on those things I love: my dogs, my art, my writing.  Over the past ten years or so, I discovered the joys of beading and now spend much of my time looking for unique beads and combining them in creative ways.  I absolutely love designing jewelry!

I have been “doodling” since childhood.  Whenever I had a pencil or pen in my hand, it would not be long before I had produced a profile portrait or some other work of “art”.  Jewelry designing came much later, but it is an enormously creative process that I thoroughly enjoy, while still working in pastel and other media to paint and draw.

Many things inspire me to create….an interesting face, nature, someone else’s work of art or a unique perspective or thought. I have always looked for ways to be creative and have simply tried different things over the years.  So, I would say that the desire was innate and ever evolving.

I believe people are born with different talents.  Creative talents are enhanced through skill development and therefore as I improved my skills, I became more confident in my talents.

How I describe my creative process.. I begin with a vision…something I have seen or something I have imagined.  The process moves on from there, whether it is carried out with chalk, paint, beads or words….a transformation takes place that is guided by intuitive energy rather than a step-by-step process.

Where I see myself in five years... I believe I will continue to travel along this creative journey for many years to come.  Most probably I will continue with my current passions, but may have found new creative outlets as well.

There are no hidden messages in my work.  I strive to create something that satisfies my vision.  If I’m lucky, that end product will resonate with others, although, it is the accomplishment that brings satisfaction, first and foremost.

Meet John Richards from Northcoast Bottle Openers...

I'm a husband, father and grandfather who has a Associates degree in Electronic Engineering Technology and I like to build things!  I've been doing the bottle openers for about 3 years.

What inspires me to create.. I like the challenge to create something that is cool and people would like. I got started on my craft when I saw a similar item and thought I could do that! After trial and error, and trying out a few pieces, the business took off from there!

My creativity in inspired from just about anything that can be repurposed into my product! 

My goal in five years? Hopefully still having fun and getting paid to do it! There is no big message behind our work, just that our products are for people to use and have fun with!

Meet Lee Ann Young from Fantastic Bows...

 I am a married working mom of two beautiful girls who mean everything to me. I started crafting to create something for my oldest daughter that I couldn't find in stores or anywhere else. I work at my business each evening and on the weekends when I am not at work! I have now been doing it for eight years!   

I discovered my craft when I couldn't find something for my daughters that I envisioned. It was then that  I decided to try it myself and was surprised I could make what I wanted for them! My creative process is inspired by when i get new supplies so i find myself envisioning pieces and want to start creating right away!      

In five years my goal is to make this my full time work. I love my current job, but I want to be able to create something and have it be mine and stand behind that work full time!

The message behind my work is that all girls are beautiful and that my bows reflect their individual style!

2015 Chagrin Falls Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, September 12th and Sunday, September 13th 2015

Saturday - 10:00am-5:00pm

Sunday- 11:00am-5:00pm

Federated Church Family Life Center

16349 Chillicothe Rd.

Chagrin Falls, OH 44023

For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

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INSTAGRAM

Fall Means Color for these Chagrin Vendors!

Meet Miechelle Weber from Miechelle Photography...

I am a self-taught photographer utilizing the skills and fundamental elements from several photography classes I have attended. I also continue to study books and online sources, and gain knowledge from the ever-so-fun experimentation of my lovely little camera. I hold a Bachelor’s from the University of Akron in Interdisciplinary Anthropology, along with a certificate in Asian Studies. I also have studied abroad in Japan with Temple University Japan in the fall semester of 2006.

"Miechelle Photography became official and launched on May 9, 2014. In August of 2014, I photographed my first wedding and have also have conducted unique photo-sessions locally for couples, families, individuals, and pets since then. Along with sessions, I love taking pictures of everything found in nature. I very much enjoy this hobby and in hopes to one day make it into a full-time business."

I attended an Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show last year and loved the atmosphere; the Fairlawn show this past April was my first time as a vendor and had a blast! I'm excited to be art vendor here in Chagrin Falls!

Meet Kayleigh Zaharias from My Little Ladies' BoutiqueMy name is Kayleigh and I am a stay at home mom. I have three amazing daughters and they keep me busy! In my free time I make tutus, headbands, bows, infinity scarves and necklaces.

I have been making accessories for my daughters for a while but started my own business earlier this year.

My girls are my inspiration for everything I do. I love being apart of a little girls milestones from there first picture to their first birthday and everything after.

I got into this craft by making my girls accessories to save money, and I needed a hobby of my own. I tried a lot of different items but found that I love making tutus and headbands the most!

Where I see myself in five years... I like to make accessories for fun. I love doing the shows and talking to people! I would like to continue doing shows and maybe grow the business once my babies are older!

The message behind my work is that every girl deserves to feel like a princess! With the right accessories and tutu for birthday parties, first year and newborn photo shoots, dress-up or holiday parties, my items are sure to make your little one feel special!

Meet Vicki Prussak from Carry Your Message...

 I'm a Midwestern woman who has lived many lives. I'm an animal lover, jewelry artist, 20+years visual marketing professional, retired belly dancer and most of all, I love to laugh.

In my 20's I wanted to be a tattoo artist but could not find an apprentice program, thank goodness...haha. Instead I created a "Beautymarks" Delicate designs in body art; a temporary tattoo business where I hand painted designs. Didn't do that for too long. Soon I became a professional bellydancer and danced for 12 years. 

In 1992 I started at the University of Akron for Graphic Design. My definition of Fine Art vs. Graphic Art is Fine Art creates questions, Graphic Art answers business questions visually.

I got into my current jewelry business because I have been making jewelry all my life! However, only in the past couple of years has Carry Your Message been born. I have always been creative and somewhat of an artist.

I got into my craft because I had a desire and dire need to change my life as a teen; this lead me to carry poems, stories, words, or pictures as reminders of the drastic changes I wanted to make in my life. While reading inspirational materials I felt confident and inspired for change. However, once out in the world and active in my day, I would forget my intentions, the inspirational materials and the desires I had for improving my life. Wearing the jewelry I made, I would glance at my bracelet or necklace and remind myself to take a different action thus a different result would take me towards the life I desired!

Carry Your Message™ is about the thoughts and stories we carry about ourselves, others and life in general. Life struggles are common and not usually the result of outside foes, but rather our own internal thoughts.

As someone who wanted change in their life I found that others truly loved receiving my jewelry. I would place a personal note for someone struggling or needing an extra bit of support. They could wear the jewelry and know they are not alone. As I started going to shows, I have talked to so many women buying Carry Your Message™ for friends and family facing cancer, divorce, loss of a job. It was their way of showing you don't have to go through trials alone. 

I describe my creative process as intuition. When I find something that intrigues me or comes to me out of the blue I work the ideas until they come to fruition.

Carry Your Message™ is about CONNECTION, meaningful connections of the heart. Whether connecting to yourself in the form of a lifestyle change or connecting with friends and family, Carry Your Message™  jewelry, provides a tangible tool of love. Wear a piece of Carry Your Message™ jewelry as a mindful reminder of what is truly important or inspirational to you or the ones you love. 

Meet Nikki Hall from Fantastically Floral...

My name is Nikki Hall and I am 23 years old.  I make handmade fabric hair accessories including flowers and butterflies at the moment.  They are all hand-sewn and can be put on other accessories such as pins and headbands, or can come with no backing attached if custom ordered.

I have been making hair flowers for about 4 years, but have just recently started to sell them within the past few months. I have always enjoyed making things, but the flowers I made seemed to be popular (Everyone loved them!).  I am hoping that my butterflies will be successful as well!

How I got into my craft.. I just loved fabric growing up and I am not good with a sewing machine, so I figured why not make accessories to match?

A lot of people make hair flowers, but I put so much work and dedication into anything I do.  All of my products are triple checked for quality.  My butterflies are very unique though as I had come up with the design.

My creative process?  I wouldn't say I have a process.  I find a fabric that I love and see what I can do with it!  I love making my flowers and butterflies so much I do them at my lunch and breaks at work.

In 5 years, I would love to have a successful Etsy shop, my own website, and possibly even sell my items in local boutiques.

The message behind my work is that my flowers aren't flashy because I am a very simplistic type of person.  I wanted my flowers to say that simple can be beautiful too!

2015 Chagrin Falls Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, September 12th and Sunday, September 13th 2015

Saturday - 10:00am-5:00pm

Sunday- 11:00am-5:00pm

Federated Church Family Life Center

16349 Chillicothe Rd.

Chagrin Falls, OH 44023

For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

INSTAGRAM

It's Show Time! Chagrin Falls Vendors Shine!

Meet Robyn Peterson Durlin from NARFdesign...

NARFdesign stands for “Nearly All Robyn’s Fantastic Design” which represents nearly everything I create outside of working as a web graphic designer. Much of the creative inspiration for NARFdesign comes from my love of the ocean and the beach having grown up near the coast of Maine. Northeast Ohio has been my home for the last 7 years; the Western Reserve and proximity to Lake Erie remind me a lot of New England!

My craft hobby really took off while planning my wedding on Pensacola Beach, I handmade our wedding invitations, most of the decorations, and my starfish hairpiece which got me hooked on making beach themed accessories.  A year ago I finally decided to follow everyone’s advice saying “you should sell that on Etsy!”, and it just grew from there! Recently I’ve been making nautical rope belts, jewelry using sea/beach glass, recycled glass bottle crafts, and stained glass. I try to upcycle materials as much as possible to give them a second life.

New England has such a vibrant and strong local handmade culture with a true appreciation for genuine handcrafted works by local people, and I am trying to incorporate as much of that influence as I can into my designs here in Ohio. The sea/beach glass in each one of my jewelry designs can be traced to a specific coastal region, and primarily features glass that I have either hand-picked or sourced myself (thanks to my friends and family who also enjoy beach combing).

This is my first Avant-Garde Art & Craft show, also my first craft show ever! I’m very excited to meet everyone and display my designs in person! My craft business has continued to surprise and amaze me over the course of the last year, and I hope to be able to continue and expand on my product lines, I have quite a few ideas I would like to explore!

Meet Keni Scherbinski from Keni Scherbinski Lettering and Design...

My name is Keni Scherbinski, I live in Medina, Ohio with my rad husband. I love reading, yoga, bicycling, backpacking, & camping (basically anything outdoors!) I moved to Ohio 10 years ago, and it is home. I LOVE my small town and take a great deal of pride in supporting it.

I have been drawing since I could hold a pencil. When I was a kid I always told my mom I wanted to grow up to be an artist, which she fully supported. This will be my 2nd Avante-Garde show. I participated in the Columbus show and had a great time meeting other artists, I enjoyed it so much I wanted to do another!

My creativity is inspired by flowers, trees, weeds...everything is an inspiration! I love feathers, dream catchers, & bones... As a kid, my mom would create beautiful jewelry from porcupine quills we'd find, or homemade beads we'd make and bake to sell at native American pow wows. she always encouraged my sisters and I to help, that's always stayed with me!

In 5 years I hope to still be an independent artist, and to be continually inspired to create new pieces that inspire others to love their roots, & to go for their dreams.

Meet Lynn Rogers Vail from LRVdesigns...

I left the corporate world in 2005.  Thinking my right brain attributes were lost forever, I searched for a creative path that would lead me to discover an artistic activity that  I could be passionate about.  I found it in polymer clay.  

Polymer is a versatile art medium used to create jewelry, sculptures, cane work and mixed media art pieces.  It is a man-made modeling material and remains soft and malleable until it is cured in a low temperature oven.  

Polymer comes in a plethora of colors and can be blended into gorgeous palettes with the use of a pasta machine.  The clay can be sculpted, extruded, shaved, carved, stamped, painted or silk screened. There are many methods used to create detailed, repetitive patterns into a cane that is then sliced and made into a piece of art.  

Imitative techniques can also be used to create the look of stone, wood, leather and an unlimited array of items found in nature.  Finishing can be done by sanding and buffing the item to an brilliant shine.

Each piece is unique. One of a kind.  Truly original. That's what I LOVE about polymer clay.

Meet Bob and Kristin Barnes from Sweet Bean Candies...

‘Sweet Bean’ candies is husband + wife team, Bob + Kristin Barnes.

At Sweet Bean we focus on handmade filled chocolates and bean to bar chocolate, with the occasional marshmallow or other baked confection thrown in. We create the treats we love to eat. We hope you’ll love ‘em too.

Kristin is responsible for the hand-painted molded chocolates and other treats. Bob is the primary craft chocolate maker, roasting and grinding cacao beans into scratch-made chocolate bars.

(Kristin) I’ve been making chocolates for friends and family since 2011, but we started Sweet Bean in FEB 2013. A member of the inaugural class of ECDI and CCLK’s Food Business Incubator, we made our public debut at the Cleveland Flea in SEP 2013. We recently began making our own chocolate, from the bean, and sold our first scratch-made bar in April of 2015. (Bob)

To us, working with chocolate is therapeutic. My husband Bob and I both currently have full time jobs… we come home at night and work with chocolate – who can complain about that? Creating something that brings a smile to someone’s face – first when they see it, and then when they taste it, is the real treat.

How we got into our craft.. (Kristin) Though we're originally from Cleveland, we were living in Boston in 2011, and it was actually a Groupon – to visit a local chocolate shop and make candies for Christmas - that got me really excited about chocolate. I spent the afternoon with a chocolatier learning how to temper and mold chocolate. I brought my creations home that night and told my husband about how much fun I had had… that Christmas he bought me some molds and a tempering machine. Any excuse to make candies, I did - holidays, co-workers birthdays, Fridays…lol.

Once Sweet Bean started gaining some momentum, Bob started researching making our own chocolate from scratch… he’d had an interest in roasting coffee and saw the similarities there – selecting beans by region and developing flavors through the roasting process… it was a natural fit.

(Kristin) I’ve always enjoyed baking and eating sweets, and I’ve always enjoyed art. I studied fine arts in college, dabbling in sculpture, ceramics and painting… marrying the two together was literally the sweet spot. I enjoy the creative outlet that painting and molding the chocolates provides, creating something from scratch - and there’s satisfaction when someone tastes our creation as well.

Our creative process... Hand-crafted chocolate molding is truly an art. It’s a multi-step process, with many variables, and is an exact science. We usually begin by determining the flavors we’ll be making, and then assigning each flavor a color palette. We prepare the molds by buffing and hand-painting them with colored cocoa butter – this is how we achieve our signature marbled appearance. Chocolate needs to be tempered, a series of heating and cooling steps while melting the chocolate to achieve the shiny, and stable consistency required to hold its shape without melting in your fingers. We temper by hand, and once the perfect temperature is reached – we keep the chocolate in temper while working quickly to mold and fill the candies.

Chocolate making is just as disciplined. Starting with raw cacao, beans are selected, sorted then roasted, similar to coffee - paying careful attention to time and temperature to achieve the desired results and flavors. Once cooled, beans are cracked and winnowed to remove the shells – leaving behind the cocoa nibs. Nibs are then ground in a melanger (stone grinder) with cocoa butter, and/or milk and flavorings to create different varieties or milk or dark chocolate. This process can take from 10 – 24 hours! Finally the chocolate is tempered and molded into bars, similar to the bon-bon process. Lastly, we hand-wrap our bars, and package our bon-bons in our signature wrap and clear boxes.

In five years our goals... We hope to have a brick + mortar sweet shop, a small-batch chocolate factory – where we make and mold our chocolate and serve other sweets and coffee. A spot where you can come and enjoy a little luxury, and see how the chocolate is made. I’d also like to teach others how to work with chocolate, just like I was introduced back in Boston…

The message behind our work is enjoy! We’ve always thought about our candies as an affordable luxury… we think you deserve to take some time out of your day, to relax, admire and enjoy one perfect bite... (or two).

  

Website: sweetbeancandies.com

Facebook: sweetbeancandies

Instagram: sweetbeancandies

Buy locally online: http://frekol.com/sweet-bean

Meet Lana Myers from Absinthe and Laudanum Apothecary LLC...

By profession, I am an English teacher (I have taught on the collegiate level and most recently, on the high school level).  However, I have a diverse background in that I majored in Japanese linguistics and Art History.  I also possess my MA in Modern British Literature.  

I love design and fashion--these loves began at a young age when I was a high school student in Japan and subsequently developed after spending three more years in Japan, lived in Jerusalem and have traveled extensively throughout the UK and Europe.  

I have been designing and creating my own hair accessories for years.  At the New York Comic Con last year, while helping a friend who was a vendor, I was dressed in various Lolita fashion outfits (generally Late Victorian Period) when it was suggested to me that I open my own business. 

My biggest inspirations are poetry, literature, nature, my travels, and my loved ones all inspire me to create! My creative process is organic and fluid.   

My goal in five years is I'd love to go back to teaching while at the same time, maintain my business through my Etsy shop, Arts and Crafts events and Comic Cons and Anime Conventions!

The message behind my work is: Live.  Experience all that this world has to offer.  Dream. 

2015 Chagrin Falls Fall Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show

Saturday, September 12th and Sunday, September 13th 2015

Saturday - 10:00am-5:00pm

Sunday- 11:00am-5:00pm

Federated Church Family Life Center

16349 Chillicothe Rd.

Chagrin Falls, OH 44023

For more information, contact Becki Silverstein, Event Coordinator at Becki@ag-shows.com

Visit us on:

FACEBOOK

TWITTER

PINTEREST

INSTAGRAM

LINKEDIN