I love to create things! I blow, fuse and melt glass. I also metalsmith - primarily with sterling silver.
My start came from wanting an ankle bracelet probably 20 years ago. As they weren't readily available at the time, my instinct was to make my own. And I never looked back. My family recognized my passion and, for a mother's day gift, sent me to a glass bead (called "lampwork") class.
Over the years my creative side has branched out into different ways to use my kiln. My glasswork passion was born and my studio was expanded to included two more glass firing kilns. The Covid lockdown allowed me the opportunity to expand my skill set with creating silver jewelry via metalsmithing. I also teach online with an international following and have been published in jewelry magazines.
What makes me unique is my high quality at reasonable prices. My creations sparkle with fine silver and Swarovski crystals. Come and see me in our Erin house with beautiful views of Holy Hill for the last time. Next year you will have to come and see me at a Pike Lake location! Thank you!
I make hand dipped chocolates; Fan favorites are my turtles, dark chocolate sea salt caramels and toffee. But I also make barks, truffles, and more. I make my own caramel, roast the nuts to perfection and hand dip each piece.
I started making turtles just for my friends. They were the size of the palm of my hand! Which is how the company name came to be. My friends convinced me to sell them. I have good friends! I now make them a more giftable size.
I started making chocolates about 15 years ago.
Freshness is what sets my chocolates apart from what you can find in any store. I put great care into making my own caramel, roasting the nuts and ensuring each bite has all the flavors of caramel, pecans and chocolate.
When you come to the Center Oak location you will be greeted by me and offered a sample to see for yourself how good and fresh my chocolates are.
It has been a pleasure discovering the beauty hidden in logs, stumps, & woodpiles. As a result I have been blessed to be given the time and materials to be creative.
My experience has been creating rustic furniture with each piece being one of a kind.
Wood turning has become a passion, and I typically use local wood that have character and show their natural beauty.
I also make custom ordered furniture and am available to turn wood to the customer's specifications.
The Artist
I was born and raised in Racine where I worked at a local company for forty years. Upon retirement I discovered that I now had time to do something creative and discovered a whole new world of enjoyment.
Shortly after retiring I began making rustic furniture and in 2009 I began turning wood.
I have enjoyed bringing the natural beauty to each piece and to let the wood speak for itself. I hope you enjoy it as well.
My medium is Watercolor
I always loved to paint. My interest started when I was around 10.
I started my career doing art shows. And my medium changed as I figured out what the customer was looking for. I started with stitchery then stained glass and found they liked paintings. So that is when my career took off.
Every painter has their special way of expressing themselves. I like to paint nature, whimsical animals, funny insects,………. You will find my paintings on prints, cards, stone tiles, canvas and originals. and history alive. My passion is to share this amazing folk art with others.
Suzy will be located at the Center Oak location.
About Whisked away- I use fiber from natural broom corn to make all brooms and brushes. Combinations of colors reflect hand dyed natural broom corn. Broom handles are often foraged locally. All pieces are hand tied, functional and uniquely decorative. After taking a broom tying class at the Wisconsin Wool and Sheep Festival, my fascination for this Folk Art led me to study with a lifelong broom making couple in Alabama.Their guidance enhanced my skills and gave me the desire to share this somewhat lost art with "us northern folk"! I've been sharing my craft for 8 years. The inspiration for my work is from the skill, craft and cultural traditions of Appalachian style broom making, While I enjoy creating pieces that are beautiful, everything is designed for use, believing that art is expressed by a combination of appeal and purpose. My goal is to create high quality, functional art, while keeping tradition and history alive. My passion is to share this amazing folk art with others.
St Teresa of Calcutta church in Monches hosts a variety of artists on Saturday only.
There are over 20 artists/crafters at St Therese...providing arts and crafts from quilts and cutting boards to mittens, wool socks and wreaths.
The church offers a homemade chili lunch, with pulled pork and hotdogs as alternate options!
The 100+ year old church is right in the heart of the Monches community.
One of the featured artists at the church is Jane Bremmer who offers quilted items. Special shout-out to Jane for steeping up to be our Artist of the Journal/sentinel. See her description below:
I am a quilter at heart, but love all kinds of stitching and creating. My specialty is table runners. In recent years, I've been expanding to make more wall hangings, home decor and gift items. My favorite new items this year are crazy quilted pin cushions made with bits of vintage linen, lace, reproduction 1930's fabric and beads.
2. How long have you been doing your craft?I began sewing in 1987 (37 years!).
3. How did you get started?I was an independent sales consultant for Tupperware in 1986. As part of a sales challenge, I earned points to choose a gift out of a catalog. I had enough points for a vacuum and a sewing machine.
I began by sewing clothes. One day at Minnesota Fabrics (before JoAnn Fabrics time!) I saw a free pattern on the counter for a log cabin pattern quilt. I picked it up, purchased the needed supplies and fabrics, and I was hooked! I began to make and gift many smaller quilts and table runners. Friends and family encouraged me to start selling. I started an Etsy page in 2009 and exhibited at my first craft fair not long after that.
I retired this year and am focusing more than ever on my creative endeavors. I had left my Etsy page "closed" due to being unable to keep up with it. I am committed to reactivating it by the first of the year. Visit www.pinkgeranium.etsy.com
4. What sets your 'art/craft' apart?I use only quilt store quality fabric in my quilted items. The fabric is a higher thread count giving it a softer, almost silky feel. It makes the quilts stronger and they will last longer. The colors of this high quality fabric are much more saturated and vivid.
In addition to high quality supplies, I turn and hand stitch all of the bindings on my quilted items. It's a way for me to pour a little more of myself into my creations!
I make handmade custom knives. I work with a variety of metals and unique handle materials.
I made my first knife in 1981 and it was pretty ugly to be honest but I enjoyed the process and have made over 1700.
I had processed deer for people to make some extra cash so I learned what a comfortable knife felt like and how to put an excellent edge on it.
I love to recycle material and many of my blades are repurposed steel such as files, rasps and leaf springs. I use wooly mammoth, armadillo, 50 kinds of wood and often resin inlays on my handles. Each knife is one of a kind and each has a story I love to share.
Diane Evans of Dee Evans Pottery
Diane Evans - (Dee Evans Pottery)
Pottery has been a life long dream of Diane’s. It started with collecting pottery over the years with her husband, Dave. When she retired from her career of fundraising for public television, her bucket list was long. At the top of the list was learning how to create her own pottery. Diane discovered Cream City Clay during a Doors Open event in 2015 and has been affiliated with Cream City Clay since that event eight years ago.
Diane creates functional and decorative pottery through the use of contrasting colors, patterns and textures. While many potters use earth tones in their pottery, Diane uses brightly colored glazes combined with texture to create interesting designs. Her pottery can be used in the kitchen, dining room and on your Christmas tree.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deeevanspottery
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dbevans2
Jane's and Aubrie's candles will be at the Hwy K location with Janet's Jewels.
Murray Lane Candles are made with 100 percent non-toxic soy wax.
"We love candles and we thought it would be fun to make some as gifts. Once we started to research how to do this, we, like many people, did not realize how toxic most candles are! So we made a few using soy wax which smoke less when burned than paraffin wax candles leaving less soot residue in your home. We gave them as gifts and people loved them!"
We expanded and discovered how fun it is to experiment with the scents . . . . and now we hope to share that with everyone!
I have been in the food industry since I was a teenager. Until about 10-12 years ago I was actually terrified of baking because of the precision that's involved with baking recipes. So, I decided to teach myself to bake and I fell in love with it.
Jennie is the owner of Mill Street Cafe in North Lake. This is a NEW stop offering a little bit of everything from Coffee to Ice Cream.
Mill Street Cafe offers a full menu of coffee and espresso drinks as well as teas and fresh fruit smoothies. Our full menu is available all day everyday and includes things like baked oatmeal, breakfast sandwiches, creative lunch sandwiches, salads, and soup from The Soup Market. Our bakery is baked fresh in house daily. The bakery case is stocked with cookies, scones, muffins, and much more! Check out Facebook for more details: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=61556658428020
I absolutely love creating with all aspects of food. From growing it, cooking, or baking with it. Creating unique but familiar recipes is so exciting for me.
How long have you been in the food business? I have been in the food industry since I was a teenager. Until about 10-12 years ago I was actually terrified of baking because of the precision that's involved with baking recipes. So, I decided to teach myself to bake and I fell in love with it.
How did you get started in your craft/art? I have always had an interest in cooking and sharing food with people. I started cooking at a young age and my passion grew from there.
What sets Mill Street Cafe apart? When I came up with the concept of Mill Street cafe I wanted to create a space where people could gather for wholesome scratch made food and drinks. While also creating an inviting homey feel. A place where you feel like you’re visiting family everytime you stop in.
Antler baskets plus Elk and Moose sculptures
Ten Years.
I took a class from an Oneida artist who in turn, gave me the complete secret to antler basketry.
My son and I comprise the team of Antlerbasketry.com. We creatively advanced the basketry art to include elk and moose sculptures. This includes designing and executing unique art work not seen in typical art shows and juried events. Art buyers have a wide selection to consider for purchase. Most responses from buyers are, "I have never seen anything like this!"
I make honey.
I started in 1979
In 1979 I was having a conversation with my father when he retired and he said to me, "I am thinking about setting up a beehive.". I thought to myself, "Where did that idea come from?" I couldn't afford a greenhouse but I could afford a beehive and wanted to encourage him in his plans for retirement. So in preparation for Christmas I ordered through the mail the components for a beehive, a smoker, a hive tool, and a protective jacket. I assembled the components and painted the hive. In the Spring I ordered 3 pounds of bees. As soon as the bees arrived at the local post office I immediately received a phone call. "Would please come immediately and pick up your package of bees!" I did. I installed them the same day into the hive. My father was quite taken with the whole set up and would visit the hive every day. Until,... the day a bee flew out of the hive and stung my father right between the eyes. He still had a temper and told me in no uncertain words he was done with the bees, "Take the hive back!" So I did and that Fall I harvested 55 pounds of surplus honey. And I wondered, "What do I do with all this honey?" I gave it to family, friends, and neighbors. I was hooked on honey bees. Since 1979, depending on where we have lived, I have not always kept honey bees, but have done so for a number of years and this Fall I harvested over a half ton of surplus honey from my hives. This is my spectacular story of how I became a keeper of honey bees.
I draw with pen and color with markers on sketch paper.
3 years
During the pandemic, I heard a voice in my heart that told me to draw again, which is something I haven't done since middle school....so I bought a sketchbook and pens, and the first thing I drew was a chubby chickadee. My grandpa nicknamed me Heather Feather a very long time ago, and birds have always been my favorite animal. That was the start of Little Birdie Buddies.
I am not a trained artist and did not study art beyond classes in elementary school. I believe these birds have been trapped inside me (for who knows how long!) and I know that part of my purpose is to spread joy one bird at a time.
I am a blacksmith and proprietor of Rustic Anvil Forge LLC in Hartford, WI. My main medium is hot rolled steel forging in both bituminous coal and natural gas.
I have been learning the craft of blacksmithing since October 16th, 2016. First through class instructions, You Tube videos, and finally mentorship with a master blacksmith from Sun Prairie, WI. I work out of a shop in Hartford and spend much of the summer doing pro bono work to share my craft with other people. It turned from a fascination to a hobby to a financial livelihood.
I love hobbies that are a bit out of the ordinary and somewhat expensive. If I am not designing model railroad sets, then I am saving the planet raising bees, and now I have become the local blacksmith in an art that transcends the imagination and makes things that are useful.
My craft transcends time itself. I can hammer out crosses from the 12th century crusades or make useful items for everyday household wares. Metal, like many other mediums is only governed by one's imagination and creativity. Inside each bar of steel is something useful waiting to come out, and it is not always what you first intended it to be.