Artist Showcae - Jaken Williams

Meet Jaken! She is the masterful artist behind The Marker Maiden. A Missouri native wood and paint artist, you can find her puzzles, wooden play food, and chunky wooden jewelry at Daft Crafts!

Jaken, and her husband, Josh

Jaken is 33 years old, and has been painting wooden cut-outs with paint pens and Sharpies since 2000. Her husband Josh is a carpenter, and they have been working together creating art for many years. They started by making wall art, and together they have made kitchen sets, doll houses, puzzles, play food, and even yard art! He cuts the shapes for her and she paints them with paint pens and Sharpies. They enjoy creating together, and even made the gazebo for their wedding!

Jaken and Josh built and painted this gazebo together for their wedding! ♥

Jaken and Josh have three children, and used their love of art to make them play furniture, wooden food, puzzles, doll houses, and matching games. At holidays and birthdays, the wooden heirloom toys were always a big hit, so Jaken decided to spread her art love even further.

And that's how The Marker Maiden was born. Jaken told me the gifted toys created such a buzz, they decided to build a small business on their whimsical wooden art toys. Jaken draws a lot of inspiration from bright color, funky and vivid designs, and anything that isn't too realistic looking. And that reflects in her fun art toys for children, as well as in her fun wall art!

 The name, The Marker Maiden, is from Jaken's obsession with paint pens and Sharpie markers. She says since she began painting she outlines everything in black paint pen or marker! Jaken's favorite pieces to make are large wall art and paintings, but she also makes smaller things, like chunky wooden necklaces, candy rings, and chalkboard jewelry!

Jaken is very appreciative of her fans, and her opportunity to pursue a creative lifestyle doing what she loves. "I am so grateful to God that I get to use my talents to do what I love and actually make money doing it! I am blessed to have such a talented husband to work with who patiently supports all the new mediums I want to try:-). We love what we do and are grateful that others do to!"

Check out and "Like" The Marker Maiden on Facebook, and follow Jaken on Twitter. Feel free to email Jaken at markermaiden123@gmail.com to place a custom order or outfit your tyke's play kitchen with a stocked pantry!

Rainbow Bead Making Workshop!

 Saturday, March 3rd, we had a polymer clay rainbow bead making workshop! It was a LOT of fun! We used the skinner method to blend clay in a pasta maker. Then we rolled them with a solid color into what is called a cane, and sliced little sections from the tube, making beads! It was a really fun learning experience!

The class was taught by Debbie of Night and Day Polymer Clay. She has been sculpting and working with polymer clay for years. Check out her Facebook page to learn more about her art and see some of her amazing sculptures!

Here are some pictures from the class with a walk through of the process we used!

First we softened then rolled out the clay

Then we cut each color into triangles.

Here is the class busy at work!

Then we smooshed the triangles together...

Here is Debbie explaining how to feed the clay to the pasta machine

First you fold it in half on itself then run it through the pasta machine

Several times...

It starts to get a little repetitive

But then you have a perfectly blended sheet of clay!

Which you then lay on a solid rolled out piece of clay, and roll into a tight tube called a cane.

Which you slice into crazy cool beads!

And here they are just out of the oven, baked and ready to be turned into jewelry!

Check out classes and events page for upcoming workshops!

Busy Week at Daft!

Last week was a busy, fun week at Daft Crafts! We added two new artists - Cheryl Zahner and Cynthia Gillespie.

Cheryl is from the East Coast originally, relocating to Kansas City 27 years ago with her son. She actually did not start dabbling with her creative side until about 2 years ago. Then, in May 2011 Cheryl lost her job due to a corporate takeover.  She says this allowed time for her right brain to work for a change rather than having to be so analytical and a 'workaholic". She loves to find pre-loved "treasures" and re-purpose them. She creates multi-media art and frames it in repurposed frames, glass block home decor, reused tile art, up-cycled suitcases and martini cases, and more!

Any of Cheryl's items that have a red ribbon on them will have a portion of the proceeds will go to to the KC HIV/Aids awareness fund raisers. 

 

 

You can find Cheryl on Facebook, and you can browse her online store here.

Cynthia was born and raised in Kansas City, except for a 16 year spell when she moved out of the state. She has been fusing glass into beautiful pieces of jewelry for 12 years, and teaching others the skill for 10 years. Outside of fused glass art, home decor and jewelry, she also paints ceramics and dyes silk scarves. She says she loves to teach because she thinks that all talent and knowledge should be passed on to others! You can find her website here to see more of her amazing work!

We also had a hemp class on Wednesday and wire wrapping class last Saturday that was a ton of fun! Unfortunately, no pictures from Wednesday's class but here are a few pictures from the Saturday wire wrapping class and some of the finished projects!

 

  

  

Pictures From Our First Soap Making Class!

Wow! We had our very first soap making class at Daft Crafts Saturday, February 18th - and it was awesome! The class was taught by Chandra Robinson of Black Irish Blue Lily. Chandra works full time in an office job, and at the end of the day, making delectably scented soaps is her way of relaxing!

We had a fantastic turn out at this class, and stayed late making soap until almost 11:30! What a blast. Here are some pictures from the session. Don't miss the next one, this one was a total blast!

About 1/4 of the scents available at the session!

Class instructor, Chandra

Hard at work shaving soap base

Haha, glitter and sparkles were everywhere!

 

Various molds to use.

Artist Showcase - Allysha Woodson

21 Year old Allysha Woodson is the owner/creator of Almond Eye Creations - she makes jewelry, reverse tie dyed clothing, ceramics, and other things in various mixed mediums, including wire wrapping healing stones. Here is a little bit more about Allysha, in her own words.

Allysha's inspiration is drawn primarily from her family, who instilled creativity in her a very young age, and her wonderful supporting friends and co-workers.


"My family.. They have built SO much out of very little; and to see, let alone be a part of that growth gives me enough courage to conquer the world. I’ve always created things throughout my life, for myself or friends and family. But in May of 2011 I was asked to create just a simple necklace for a co-worker. One thing lead to another and next thing you know other coworkers wanted necklaces custom made for them. So I decided to make an art page to keep track of my creations.. I continued to create for people I knew or who showed interest and then I had my first art vending booth in October of 2011. Where I met Cody from Daft Crafts and Debbie of Night and Day Polymer Clay.. Next thing I knew, I started selling at It’s a Beautiful day, had a few more art booths in-between. Then in November, I started selling my arts and crafts at Daft Crafts! That December I taught my first art class and knew that working for someone else just wasn’t in the cards for me.. Here we are, 9 months later and I’d say I’ve created a pretty awesome baby to call my own."

So, yeah. You read that right. She dropped her corporate job to pursue art.


"I contemplated it for a few months.. Kept giving myself reasons to hold onto my job; “just make it through March”, “at least till February”, and then one day I just decided.. Why keep waiting?! I went to work that day and put my two weeks in. I just had this gut feeling that 2012 didn’t include anything but focusing on me and my art. So here we are a little over a month later without a corporate job.. and I am happy. Just now getting used to the freedom, but I most definitely am happy."

What does Almond Eye Creations, the name of your company, mean to you?



"Well.. as most can see when they meet me, I do have almond brown eyes. But the idea mostly came from the fact I had noticed I had my grandpas eyes. My grandpa means a whole lot to me, since I had lost my father young, my grandpa was that manly role in my life. When my brother came along in May of 2011, I found he had the same eyes. So it just.. fit. Through my art you can see my family, my friends and the things I love most about life."


Allysha's beautiful wire wrapped stones are enchanting and magical. Each stone is meaningful to her and that shows through in her art and jewelry.

"I wanted to turn the stones I found or rocks I collected into some kind of centerpiece. I found that securing them with wire was the easiest and cleanest way to showcase a stone. Teaching myself how to wire-wrap has got to be one of the best things I’ve ever done. Working with metal has to be my favorite medium to work with, besides clay."

Allysha shared photos and a absolutely heartwarming story about her favorite piece she has created.

"The one that is most special to me is this coil pot I built and turned into an urn. It now holds all my dad’s little memories, trinkets and photos.. Like a little hope jar. If I’m every feeling down or missing him, I just open this.."

If you enjoyed getting to know Allysha, come visit her at Daft Crafts! She is one of our class instructors on Wednesdays and Saturdays and also volunteers at the shop occasionally!
Like Allysha's Facebook page & visit her online store!

Artist Showcase - Sarah Goins

Sarah Goins is a 22 year old fiber artist from Missouri. She was introduced to fiber arts at ten years old, when her parents first began their alpaca farm, and they would go to various expos and shows. She didn't begin actually experiment in fiber arts until about a year ago.

 "I decided that I wanted to start working with our fiber, and I just sat at my computer one night and read about different fiber arts like spinning, weaving, crochet, knit, etc. I eventually ran across a picture of these furry little spheres. I read about them and found out that they were beads for jewelry making or other crafts and that they were felted from sheep’s wool. It said they could be made by traditional felting (wet) or by needle felting. Instructions for the wet felting were given so I found some old yarn scraps and I separated the strands to form a little pile of fur. I then proceeded to make my very first felted object there in my dorm room sink! I was hooked from there I’d say. I Googled the other form, needle felting, and was even more intrigued! I found a video of a lady needle felting a wool pumpkin, and I knew that THAT was what I wanted to do. It just clicked as being perfect for me. I could work in 3D; which I had always loved, and I could use our alpaca fiber. I think the next day I went to Hobby Lobby and got my first set of felting needles and made my first needle felted alpaca snowman that night"


Traditional “wet” felting is done by applying water, heat and pressure to a collection of individual natural fibers to work them into a solid piece of fabric. You can make sheets of felt, beads, balls, scarves, hats, shoes, just about anything using this method.

Needle felting requires no water, heat or pressure. A special needle, with barbs around the edges, is used to poke into and grab individual fibers and tangle them up with each other to form your fabric. You are essentially creating a big hairy knot of fibers when you needle felt! This is great for doing any appliqué work onto other fabrics like clothing. With this method you can create 3-dimensional sculptures.

"Needle felting, to me, is more relaxing and personable I guess. I can really control what each piece will look like. It’s fascinating being able to sculpt something from a pile of loose fibers into a work of art with just my fingers and that needle. Wet felting I find more frustrating. There are so many variables you have to control. Needle felting may be more dangerous with the extremely sharp needles that I’ve repeatedly stabbed my fingers with, but I think it’s worth it in the end"

On the whimsy look of her art...

"Anything made from alpaca is a little whimsical. Not everyone can get their hands on one or has ever even seen an alpaca, however, people are becoming more aware and very intrigued with this sort of exotic animal. Alpaca fiber, especially suri, is actually a more difficult fiber to felt as opposed to wool or other natural fibers. It creates a more “hairy” felt, so I always tend to have these little wispy pieces of fiber floating around each piece like a little halo, and against the light, it does convey a rather whimsical, dreamy feel. I guess I could snip them off to perhaps make it look more polished, but, I’m into it, I think it looks great.

I still love a lot of the same movies, TV shows, books, etc. that I enjoyed when I was younger. I suppose all of those inspire me to create things that have a sort of child-like, whimsy feel. Every piece of work that I make must be approved by my six year old little brother. Children have this sense of wonder and they are so honest about what they feel. If he doesn’t like it, then no one else will ever see it. I think that my work, being judged in this manner, allows me to reach the kid in all of us. Especially since I do mostly miniatures; because whether secretly or not, I believe that everyone has a weak spot for all things cute and tiny"

So how did Sarah decide to make these whimsy little critters into a creative business?

 "In November 2010, I was still going to college and I received an email from the university that they were hosting a craft fair in December and it was free to reserve a spot to any students/alumni who had anything to sell. So, without much of a plan, I was like, “Totally! I’ll sell something.”

All I knew was that I wanted to incorporate our alpaca fiber in some way. So, like I said before, I researched a bit, ran across that felted pumpkin video, and in about two weeks I had basically taught myself how to needle felt, created a pretty solid design for my snowmen and brooches, made up an adequate inventory for the show and came up with a look and style for my work that people would respond exceptionally well to.
After that I started getting custom orders and decided to do more shows. Then I opened up my etsy shop online and not long after that, started selling at Daft Crafts!
As of now, I also sell on storenvy.com as well as another brick and mortar shop called the Quilter’s Harvest!



My absolute favorite part about this whole venture is all the people I have met. I have been so overwhelmed with all the positive feedback and loving words from people who admire what I do! When I receive a message from someone telling me that what I’m doing is so great and that I have a real talent; that really makes it all worthwhile. It’s so heart warming being appreciated for what you do! I never could have imagined last year, watching that pumpkin video that this is where I’d be today. I’m so grateful for all the people in my life who made it happen. Family, new friends, customers, students, fans and acquaintances, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this without them supporting me."

And here are some fun tidbits from Sarah..



Alpacas have the most gorgeous eyes! They are so big and pretty! Their eyelids have a beautifully dark ring around them that makes it look like they are wearing eyeliner, and are extenuated by mile-long eyelashes! They are sort of famous for those. That’s why I made sure to incorporate them into my logo!

They also make a humming sound that is so adorable. They always sound like they’re so curious. “Hmmm?” Thus, they are fun to talk to because they always answer you with another question.

You can see Sarah's amazing felted creations at Daft Crafts, by visiting her online store, or by liking her Facebook page!

To learn more about their Alpaca farm, My Sky Alpaca Farm, you can visit them here or on Facebook.