If you could peek inside the studio of any artist, designer or crafts man (dead or alive), who would it be?
Marion Smith from Prima Flowers would be the artist/designer of choice. She creates beautiful embellishments such as flowers, butterflies, and accent elements that can easily be used for any paper crafting design. Sandy and Sue agree that a day spent in Marion's studio watching her create would be a dream come true.
How did you originally get into the business of making things?
Our mom has always been a huge crafter and DIY gal, so growing up we learned how to make creative projects such as doll furniture out of Kleenex boxes at a very early age. As we got older, our crafting moved into scrapbooking, cardmaking, sewing, paper crafting, and then making trash to treasure items. As our talents grew, so did our collection of craft supplies. Since we were already making crafts as gifts for teachers, friends, etc. we decided to try our hand at a small business.
What handmade possession do you most cherish?
Sandy cherishes everything handmade she receives including the handmade baby blanket her mother crocheted for her daughter, the handmade quilts by her Mother in Law made for her daughter, and all the scrapbook pages her sister (Sue) has made for her.
Sue cherishes the Thanksgiving plate that she and her now 8 year old niece made together. They created turkeys using their hands and finger tips. The plate comes out every year and they serve desserts on it.
How would you describe your creative process?
Sandy loves to see other projects that people create and try to recreate them with her own special twist. Sometimes an idea will be sparked out of a crafting magazine. Other times, she will see an item at a thrift store and come up with an unusual way to reuse the item or even how to trash to treasure it up. Some ideas come right from her daughter Catie "mom, why can’t you make that clothes pin that holds the chips closed pretty?".
Sue finds ideas from blogs and magazines, researches how they are made, does a few trial and error run throughs, and then finally completes a project. Being a true Virgo, everything must be perfect!
What does handmade mean to you?
Lovingly creating something with your own hands to share with others. Being that it is handmade, no two items are the same and the artists originality and personality shines through.
