Sarah Duede (Edwards)

Name: Sarah Duede (Edwards)

Age: 30

Location: Cape Coral, Florida

Profession: Full time Artist/Indie Crafter/Etsian

Craft(s) of Choice: Embroidery, Drawing, Sewing

Blog: www.facebook.com/sewZinski

I remember the first time I took my handmade goods around to local stores for consignment to see if people would be interested. I was so unprepared and clueless about the biz. Luckily, I ran into many helpful and supportive biz owners and crafters that have given me great advice and insight. The crafting community in Des Moines, IA is fantastic. Wish it could be replicated everywhere. (my home town)

Laura Bray

Name: Laura Bray

Age: 40

Location: Aliso Viejo, CA

Profession: Professional Designer

Craft(s) of Choice: Sewing, Embroidery, Paper Crafts

Blog: http://www.katydiddys.blogspot.com

I wanted to be a hairdresser and drive a Trans Am. That was my first childhood dream. After receiving a set of Fashion Plates ® for my tenth birthday, I changed my mind and wanted to be a fashion designer. That dream stuck with me until a very mean high school teacher informed me that I had no artistic talent. I ended up getting an MBA and owning a Human Resources firm instead.

In 2005, I had my daughter and my life completely changed. At 35, I was forced to take a hard look at what I was doing with my life and realized that I still wanted to do something artistic. I worked through the damage that was done by my wicked art teacher (and my own misconceptions about what I was capable of) and have been painting and crafting ever since.

Since embarking on my career as an artist, I’ve been published in several magazines, sell my artwork online and in retail stores, and have won awards for my artwork. My artwork is collected worldwide. Since I am an “artist with an MBA” I also publish a free, monthly electronic newsletter geared towards helping other artists make money from their work.

Rhonda Keele

Age: 47

Location: Dayton, Ohio

Profession: brain tumor survivor since 2006–disabled

Craft(s) of Choice: embroidery

I started embroidering in 2001 and I really never seen it done so I just hand drew my own picture’s and embroidered them in. I find it to be very relaxing. I can no longer do the same kind of work but I can still embroider.

Diana Gonzalez

Name: Diana Gonzalez

Age: 32

Location: Brooklyn, NY

Profession: Work at home Mother, baby wrangler, crafter

Craft(s) of Choice: knitting, crocheting, paper crafting, mixed media collage, altered art, embroidery

Blog: http://www.confessionsofacraftaholic.blogspot.com

I started making art and working with paper and such, some time ago, around the time I met my husband. I had a hard time growing up; things don’t always work out as they seem. I started writing, because somehow I always knew I’m a writer. I just knew. And so, I began writing poetry, and keeping a journal about my life, and moods and such.

It started me on a long journey of self expression and self examination. I love writing, and love to be creative.

As years went on, I experimented with other forms of self expression, such as needlepoint, baking, and collage work. At this point, I met my husband.

When I met my husband, I knew that he was meant to be mine. I mean, I knew that I would marry him, from the first conversation I ever had with him. His eyes, his smile….he charmed me. He attended the “Fame” school, and is an amazing artist himself. So I wanted that. I have always wanted to say that I can paint amazing pictures like the ones I see in my mind. Amazing, how that would be. Years went by, and I realized I paint pictures in MY way. In my own unique manner, I do paint pictures. Through my collage work and my poetry, I paint pictures. So for this I am grateful.

I started a few years ago, a spiritual quest to find my own version of Nirvana. Through symbolism and creativity, I find myself melding my spiritual quest and my superstitions with my craft quite a bit.

Most of my projects are inspired by my belief in fairies, or my superstitious belief in cats being lucky.

So I’m crafting, selling my art, and writing about my brand of art, and about my quest for Nirvana through my creative process.

Shelley McElhiney

Name: Shelley McElhiney

Age: 49

Location: Tacoma, WA

Profession: “store worker” & owner of 2 stores, one on Etsy & one on ArtFire, both samsstuff

Craft(s) of Choice: jewelry making, embroidery, crochet, sewing, photography…

Blog: http://samsstuf-samsstuff.blogspot.com

I have been making things ever since I can remember, taught by my grandmother, parents & some very creative teachers! I love taking vintage & found items, combining them with new ‘stuff’ to give them a new life. I have been inspired by those grade school craft classes (gotta love those collages) & stories of the past, how people ‘made do’ & re-used things instead of buying not so available new things.

Krysten G

Name: Krysten G

Age: 24

Location: Colorado

Profession: College studen

Craft(s) of Choice: Knitting, Crochet, Sewing, Embroidery, Quilting, Jewlery, Drawing, Painting, Scrapbooking

Blog: http://littledevil-666.blogspot.com/

My Grandmother taught me to knit and crochet when I was 10 as another craft to try. I was always a crafty child and loved to try new things and she never said no. The first major thing that I made was at her house it was a cross made of burned matches, i think it was about 200 of them.

Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll

Name: Future Craft Collective – Kathie Sever and Bernadette Noll

Age: The collective itself is about 10 mos. old. Kathie is 36 and I’m 43

Location: Ramonster World Headquarters, Austin, TX

Profession: Mothers, sewers, teachers

Craft(s) of Choice:We do sewing classes with 8-12 year old kids using all reclaimed materials. For example this month we made cycling caps out of old pants/sheets We made winter gnome hats out of felted wool sweaters and today we’re making bags out of old curtains.

Blog (if applicable): www.futurecraftcollective.com

The creation of FCC came about first of all because we are mothers. We saw our kids being bombarded with messages to generically consume. We wanted to give them a different and more creative outlet than just going out and shopping. So we started the classes that are FCC. In the classes we are striving to teach kids the beauty of not just making it themselves but making it with what’s around them. We are getting kids back to the basics of “scrape, scrounge, dig, build, create” mode that comes with salvaging and upcycling. From there we inject the projects with the hip factor that appeals to their sense of and desire for style. It combines environmental friendliness, fashion and a creative challenge. Plus it’s fun and it looks totally good and they learn the power of that amazing phrase, “thanks, I made it myself”.

Curln Reed Sullivan

Name: Curln Reed Sullivan

Age:
Location: austin

Profession: artist/writer

Craft(s) of Choice: botanical character studies, illustration, cermaics, collage, embroidery

Blog: http://www.curlinreedsullivan.com/blog

one day, while photographing my new flowergal embroidery kit, my son brought a praying mantis into my studio to serve as model and spokesbug for my art. (see picture!)

Eydie Liebelt

Name: Eydie Liebelt

Age: 57

Location: Fond du Lac Wisconsin USA

Profession: Free Lance Artist/Crafter

Craft(s) of Choice: Mixed Media Collage, Embroidery, Watercolor, Calligraphy, Crochet, Sewing

Blog: http://shebrews.com

Someone said that whatever you were doing for fun between the ages of 11-15 would probably make a good life employment for you. I remember doing a lot of embroidering and drawing and handwriting. I love paper and various containers and am hypnotized by smart packaging. Packaging gets me all the time! I love bringing elements together to create one theme, thus, crazy quilting and fabric collage are my first loves. I do 40+ art/craft shows a year.

Leigh Ann Tennant

Name: Leigh Ann Tennant

Age: 29

Location: Morgantown, WV

Profession: former make-up artist, current sew-at-home mom and wannabe writer

Craft(s) of Choice: sewing, embroidery, crochet

Blog: http://www.theobjectproject.typepad.com

I’ve always had more success using patterns that I make myself. When my children were born, I no longer had the time to draft complicated patterns, so I began coming up with projects that could be made using common household items (DVDs, CDs, plates, etc.) as templates! Now I share these sewing adventures on my blog!