Allison C • September 2022
Greeting Cards
Allison comes from a creative family, having tried all kinds of crafts like painting, quilting, jewelry making, ceramics, pottery, and stained glass. But her true love has always been paper. She feels the hardest part of getting started on her new idea is choosing which papers to use!
Many of her early working years were spent in graphic design, so she has an appreciation for white space. Her favorite cards tend to be clean with simple designs. Not everyone has the same eye though, so she tries to vary her cards to include layered elements and interesting folds. Allison does not print out her cards or make them on the computer, they are all made by hand. The use of stamps, dies, punches and various cutting tools to create the elements are then assembled into the finished cards. When she hits on a favorite design, she makes a handful, since it’s just as easy to make four cards as it is to make one. Please visit Allison's listing on the GIFTS Page.
Cyndi C • October 2022
Custom Embroidery
Cyndi started crafting at an early age as her mother taught her how to sew and crochet, including enrolling her in local ceramic classes, which brought out her creative side. It snowballed years later into making curtains, draperies, duvet covers, pillows, baby blankets, and quilts.
Several years ago Cyndi began dabbling in machine embroidery and purchased a six needle Baby Lock embroidery machine. Having taken many embroidery classes as well as for her Brother ScanNCut which uses vinyl transfers, she enjoys making cards, invitations, and even cutting out fabric and marine vinyl pieces to use as appliques on embroidery projects. She is addicted to “in the hoop” projects which are embroidered and sewn together in the embroidery hoop and include such items as her wristlets, dog poo bag holders, key fobs, and hand sanitizer holders. One day soon she wants to learn end-to-end quilting and jewelry making using her embroidery machine. Cyndi welcomes the delightful challenge to do special orders with only a general theme or idea from the customer. Please visit Cyndi’s listing on the GIFTS Page.
Mary Jo L • November 2022
Stained Glass
After Mary Jo attended Michigan’s Ann Arbor Art Fair and saw some of the beautiful stained glass artwork, she felt inspired to start in this direction. Now she was hooked and challenged to make her own beautiful pieces.
After making several little trinkets, she was ready to move on to something else a little more challenging, and took some more detailed classes at Design by Daniel in Ocala. Over the next few years, she was able to hone her craft, branching out to make glass mosaic pictures, wind chimes, bird houses, candle holders, and also a couple of 20x30 wall hangings.
Mary Jo finally found her niche making pet and animal faces. Just give her a photo of your pet, and she will make it into a stained glass portrait. Her repetoire includes dogs, cats, birds, horses or any other pets. What is exciting to her, is that each project is a little different.
She uses a Weller soldering iron and quality glass purchased from a supplier and artisan in town. With the copper foil and solder, she can patina in black, copper finish, or leave it in a silver finish, where customers can choose their preference. Please visit Mary Jo’s listing on the ARTS Page.
Sherry L • December 2022
Mini Scrapbooks
Sherry has been involved in all types of crafting for over thirty years, especially paper crafting. Her love of paper crafting and card making evolved into scrapbooking. After several years of making traditional large scrapbooks and lack of space in the RV, the idea of making a mini scrapbook took hold. When her son was getting married, she made his save the date cards, wedding invitations, and a mini book for his wedding album. Her love of making these books grew from there. After watching many videos, she learned to make these books from scratch. Sherry's books are made with lots of pages that have extra flips, pockets and many places for photos and memorabilia. Custom orders are welcome to include your particular interests or needs, like weddings, babies, or sports.
Rediscovering her love of using a Cricut electronic cutting machine, she is a member of the Cricuteers, making characters for the different holidays, and numerous paper engineering projects. Her membership here also includes the Rubber Stamping and Card Making Club, highlighting the creativity to take a plain piece of paper or card stock and make it into something beautiful. Please visit Sherry’s listing on the GIFTS Page.
Shirley J • January 2023
Pouring or Fluid Abstract Art
Shirley started with making all her own jewelry and began selling her designs. Then she ventured into crocheting, learning these skills by watching tutorials.
One day while online, Shirley ran across a video of an artist using a technique called Pouring or Fluid Art. It was both beautiful and very interesting. So she bought acrylic paint and canvases and tried it. Needing to research and study this form of acrylic abstract art, she learned that it included both chemistry and a lot of planning. It took her almost two years to find the paint recipes needed to get the correct results. Now she can get the cell reactions and lacing affects in her paintings which are very satisfying.
Shirley enjoys commissioned orders, working with clients’ color schemes and canvas or frame sizes to match their décor. Whether selling existing or commissioned art, Shirley’s goal is always to give the best product and service experience possible. Please visit Shirley’s listing on the CANVAS Page.
Becky T • February 2023
Pottery
Becky found a pottery class as she learned to throw on the wheel and the basic rules of handbuilding. As a bonus, she gained many friends who were also still working and looking for a hobby.
After moving here in 2020, and retiring in 2022, she started her company Color Your World Pottery. In her two-car garage, she houses her pottery studio consisting of a wheel, a slab roller, and kiln. With hundreds of commercial glazes in stock, she applies the glaze to enable the pottery to be food safe.
Becky’s love for pottery gives her a chance to meet new people, and sell throughout the year at venues like the Lutz Arts and Crafts, Altamonte Springs Wine and Art Show, Temple Terrace Art Show and others. Please visit Becky’s listing on the ARTS Page.
Sherry T • March 2023
Acrylic Painting
Sherry has been a lover of fine arts since her youth. Singing, acting, but especially drawing, sculpting, and painting were inspired by her “muse” and older brother Mickey. She was happily relegated to painting murals in the kids’ bedrooms and decorating for the holidays and special occasions. As others noticed her creativity, opportunities to do commissioned work arrived on the scene. Church, school, friends’ homes, and even the local government asked for her help with many kinds of projects. Painting what she really liked, flowers and butterflies, first on smaller canvases for gifts, gave rise to visions of a broader application of these activities and projects. Hosting paint parties, illustrating books, and taking part at craft and holiday fairs provided the perfect ways to hone her craft – and learning from others. Paint parties have been especially rewarding, providing a lot of good times to many wonderful people at churches, schools, neighborhoods, and offices.
Sherry works mainly with acrylic paint on canvas, and branches out at times with some clay projects. She is available for custom work if you have your own project in mind. Please visit Sherry’s listing on the CANVAS Page.
Kelly H • April 2023
Custom Decals and Iron-Ons
Kelly’s husband bought her a Cricut machine for Christmas one year, and she loves making things with it and being creative. She had no formal training on how to use the device except for hundreds of YouTube videos and skills learned from websites.
After labeling everything in the house and making gifts and cards for family and friends, she now makes custom products like car decals, wall plaques, and iron-ons. One of her projects for a client involved a custom pet memorial plaque that held pictures, and for another, she personalized holiday ornaments. One big seller is making items with your home state on it, to always remind you of your roots. Please visit Kelly’s listing on the GIFTS Page.
Lori S • May 2023
Author of 3 Books
Lori, who as a reporter for more than thirty years in Western Massachusetts, relished her daily newspaper assignments, always shining a positive light on the people in the communities she covered.
She says that her spiritual journey “kicked into high gear” the day after her mother’s funeral. She was on a hike in the Berkshires and took a lot of photos of nature. When she examined her photos that night, she noticed a blue aura high in the trees in one photo, and upon zooming in on the image — she saw her mother’s face. That photo changed the trajectory of her life and how she viewed the “other side.” Her mom always said she would find a way to let her know she made it ok, but Lori never imagined it would be in a photograph.
After several interactions with angel messages and additional photographs that Lori captured with her camera, she felt compelled to self-publish “An Angel on My Shoulder” in 2010. Ultimately, she also penned Floors of the Forest and Visits with Mom: A Journey Through Time and Beyond. Lori feels blessed whenever she can share the messages from the angels and her mom — especially chatting with people about their own spiritual experiences.
Lori continues to offer free lectures to book clubs, church groups, and social gatherings — to whoever is open to hearing an uplifting message of faith, hope, love, and, of course, angels. Please visit Lori’s listing on the GIFTS Page.