#Nevadacityfirstfridayartwalk

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Tracey Wondered if Other Mom’s Out There Were Also Looking for Modern Baby Items. 

While decorating the nursery for her baby last year, Tracey Walters Heard began sewing again. She couldn't find the perfect details to add the finishing touches to her baby’s nursery which had a more modern style. She wondered if other mom’s out there were looking for such modern baby items. 

The idea for the Paisley Pandas was born! Tracey began with bibs and quilts using 100% and organic cottons. Paisly Pandas’ aesthetic lies in it’s simple design using a carefully selected palette of textiles that is easy on the eyes and stylish with a high end quality. There are a few new items coming out this year including mobiles, large shoulder bibs and fabric gift bags. Tracey takes personal custom orders on Paisley Panda’s Etsy page offering a selection of textiles to choose from that can be mixed and matched. 

This emerging Grass Valley designer is wasting no time in getting her business up and running! We are excited to have her debut her collection in person for the first time at Nevada City Craft Fair’s 2017 Spring Show at Miners Foundry Cultural Center on May 5th! 12-8 PM. Kids under 12 are free. Come enjoy a day of Nevada City arts, music, and handmade culture. It’s the season open for First Friday Art Walks and NCCF is in the middle of all of it. See you there everyone! 

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Be Bold and Beautiful with Be Bold Jewelry by Sarah Bradeen. 

Sarah Bradeen began silver smithing about three years ago, which is a short time considering her advanced craftsmanship. Her selection of stones and bold silver designs are inspiring to say the least. 

Sarah uses sterling silver in all of her pieces, cut from sheet metal and different gauge wires to add texture and depth to her jewelry. “I love the process and enjoy creating one of a kind pieces for people. I’m inspired by Native American jewelers and like to include turquoise and hand stamping into my work,” says Sarah. 

Sarah is a local jewelry designer who we will be seeing more of.  She’s due to have a booth at Nevada City Craft Fair next May 5th with over 65 of the best DIY makers in the region. It’s all happening at Miners Foundry from 12-8 PM. Check out First Friday Art Walk happening on the same day in Downtown Nevada City. 

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Q&A With Lisa Sperling of Sparrows Jewels

One of our favorite local jewelry designers is back with us for Nevada City Craft Fair’s 7th Annual Spring Show. Lisa Sperling of Sparrows Jewels is well known for her signature elegant wire wrap technique and playful use of colorful gemstones. 

I was lucky to get some really cool insights from Lisa for our Interview Series. Enjoy! 

Q. What do you enjoy most about living in Nevada County and how many Nevada City Craft Fairs have you been in so far?  A. I love our small town, no hussel and bussel of a big city. It’s a wonderful place where I raised my children and it’s a great artist community! I've been living in Nevada County for 33 years. I’ve done 8 shows for Nevada City Craft Fair (and many other craft fairs in Grass Valley).

Q. What does an average creative day in the life of Sparrows Jewels look like? A.��A creative day for me starts early in the morning. I love putting together different kinds of gemstones and colors into my pieces. For me it is all about the color and flow of the jewelry. I let the gemstones talk to me and it flows from there.

Q. Which is your personal favorite gemstone and why? A. I have so many favorite stones. But if I had to choose it would be Tourmaline ; so many gorgeous colors and tones in Tourmaline.

Q. Your wire wrapping talent is quite impressive. What kind of advice do you have for budding jewelry designers out there in such a competitive field? A. Jewelry is a competitive field. I guess the best advice to new designers would be, make it your own. Let it start from your personal loves.... your favorite colors, shapes and sizes. And never be afraid to make mistakes !!!!

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Burly Beverages Provides a Healthful Alternative to the Modern Soft Drink and Cocktail Mixer.

Gabriel Aiello, owner of Burly Beverages created his small batch natural sodas, soft drinks, shrubs and old-timey switchels with locally-sourced ingredients and natural sweeteners like turbinado sugar, apple cider vinegar and the highest quality herbs and spices available. 

“Our mission here is to create an all-natural product that is an alternative to the status quo of today's soft drinks and beverages. These tonics, are made with REAL sweeteners. While sugar is sugar, and should always be consumed in moderation, the sugars and sweeteners used in these elixirs are in their rawest forms and retain all of their nutritional elements,” says Gabriel. 

Not just your every day sodas, Burlly Beverages aligns itself as being a soft drink that has health benefits as well as thirst quenching. Find your favorite flavors at the Nevada City Craft Fair Spring show, such as Blood Orange Shrub Syrup, Black Plum-Elderberry Shrub Syrup, Ginger Beer, Chai Root Beer, and Lemon-Jalapeño Shrub Syrup to name a few. I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it! 

Come out to Downtown Nevada City on May 5th for the 7th Annual Spring Show. We’ll have over 70 of the best handmade indie makers in the region and live music from Wolf Creek Boys and Sunday Iris. Don’t forget to stick around for the Downtown Nevada City First Friday Artwalk! 12-8 PM @ Miners Foundry Cultural Center 325 Spring Street, Nevada City, CA. Kids are free. 

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

The Weekend Store Makes Jewelry and Accessories For Writers, Travelers, and Other Interesting People.

The Weekend Store specializes in jewelry that uses mid-20th century maps, vintage travel tokens, watch parts and other ephemera, using jewelry components designed and manufactured by hand in the Bay Area by Adjowah Keilman who says, “I've always been crafty. Although my family encouraged me to be scholarly, I was attracted to the arts, to thinking, dreaming, creating.” She found inspiration to open her shop through the various beautiful and creative places she has lived like Burlington, Vermont. Then later she moved to San Francisco, Ca. Now she has her own little storefront/studio in Berkeley doing what she loves. 

Some of the highlights of The Weekend Store collection Adjowah will bring on May 5th for Nevada City Craft Fair are the darling map lockets like the one above. Among the many different accessories are decorative drawer pulls that have small map corners of unique faraway locations on them. For the inner crafter in those who would like to build their own repurposed vintage jewelry, a bracelet kit is offered as well. 

Check out Adjowha’s refined vintage map accessories and other nostalgic pieces at the next Nevada City Craft Fair on May 5th, 2017 12pm-8pm at Miners Foundry Cultural Center! Downtown Nevada City's First Friday Art Walk Season opener is on this day as well so make sure you mark your calendars and see you there! 

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Seth Nickell 

Seth Nickell is a composer/pianist and student of Indian Classical Music with a fascination for alternate tuning systems. He lives off-grid near Nevada City, CA.

For our next show this Friday, May 5th Seth will play at 2 PM inside the Miners Foundry for one hour. Come early and zen out to Seth’s live tunes while enjoying beautiful handmade crafts. 

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Q&A With Kelly & Janis Quinn of Other People’s Junk

I’m happy to introduce a new round of Q&A from a local favorite in our art’s community, Other People’s Junk. This husband and wife team forages high and low for discarded metal pieces that are transformed into fantastic works of art for the garden and home. The creative Colfax couple is busy gearing up for our next show on May 5th. Check out what they have to say about their art and community in this week’s local maker Q&A:

1. Q. What do you enjoy most about living in the Foothills and how many Nevada City Craft Fairs have you participated in? A. Living in the foothills allows us to enjoy so many wonderful things. The rivers, mountains, snow. We have such a wonderful climate here and we  make the most of it. Love having actual seasons and the opportunity to anticipate them as they unfold each year.  We also love the sense of community and the many friends. People live a slower paced life here and they welcome the chance to get to know each other in a more relaxed way.  We are very long time residents (60 and 45 years) and though we’ve seen a lot of change we also know we wouldn’t want to be anymore else. This is probably our 7th NCCF show.

2. Q. What latest creations are you enjoying working with most? A. We are making animals!  Our customers are always asking for animal sculptures and this year we will deliver their request!

3. Q. What is the weirdest piece of recycled material you have used in a sculpture? A. Everything we use is weird, that’s the point!

4. Q. What's in store for Other People's Junk? A. We always task ourselves to come up with new ideas. No one wants to keep looking at the same old thing, nor do we want to continue making something over and over. So we work hard to come up with new things and are always pleased how, as we get further and further into our craft, the ideas keep flooding in.

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Q&A With Cabrina Channing of Cabrina Channing Silverworks

I’m happy to introduce this talented local designer for our Maker Q&A this week: Cabrina Channing Silverworks. CCS Jewelry is inspired by a myriad of cultural influences with a mythical and fairytale quality that is unique to Channing’s work. She kindly shared some of her thoughts on design and travel, below. Enjoy! 

1. Q. What do you love most about living in Nevada City and how many NCCF's have you participated in? A. I love that Nevada City is a thriving haven for all types of artistic people as well as those that appreciate handmade art. Nevada City is welcoming, quaint, and the perfect place to remain inspired to make all types of interesting jewelry. I have been participating in the NCCF since the very first one. Ive actually lost count at how many that is but I always try to be a part of this gem of an event both in the winter and the summer.

2. Q. What does a creative day in the life of Cabrina Channing Silverworks look like? A. A creative day for me starts bright and early in the studio designing and sketching jewelry pieces for the day while listening to music and drinking a hot cup of tea. My days build up in the studio like a crescendo starting slow as I work up into an intense creative flow. My ideas usually start with a specific stone i’m excited to work with or an inspiring image or a tiny little idea that blossoms into a finished piece. My studio is my ultimate happy place and I spend as much time there as I can.

3. Q. You've mentioned you love traveling. Which place have you enjoyed most and why? A.  I love traveling to places that are the most unlike the US. I am a fan of extreme culture shock. I am so fascinated by the middle east and Asia. Lately I’ve made 2 trips to the UAE and have fallen in love with the people, architecture, and culture there. Each time I travel, I bring home another facet to my artwork, new inspirations, and directions with my work. I try to dedicate bits of time to focus on the metalworkers and jewelers in other countries to witness how truly vast this craft is. Jewelry- making is an ancient craft that has branched and changed vastly over thousands of years and it’s so fascinating to see how varied the techniques are.

4. Q. Which designs are you most excited about making recently? A. My jeweler’s saw is my favorite tool in the studio and sawing the most intricate cutouts is my zen. The more silver dust I collect, the more detailed the piece becomes, and I seem to fall deeper in love with the individual piece as well as my craft. I love working with stones that have colors that shift with the light like moonstone, labradorite, and rainbow obsidian. I also have been integrating imagery from european gothic architecture and cathedral window designs into the piece. The powerful imagery of those long standing buildings is an inspiration to me.

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

La Femme Boheme Jewelry is for Free Spirits Who Follow Their Bliss.

Each piece of La Femme Boheme Jewelry is handmade by Vivian Malka in Grass Valley, CA into unique designs inspired by nature, earth and the cosmos. “Jewelry is an expression of the self. It is a means through which we convey our message to the world around us. My jewelry is for those want to stand out and aren’t afraid to swim against the current,” says Vivian. 

LFB’s goal is to make unique jewelry that is affordable yet maintains a high level of quality. Vivian mainly work in brass, silver, and copper, and also offers gold-plating options. Her poetic stone and metal combinations are not only beautiful and stylish but worthy talismans for any crystal enthusiast. Check out her creations for the first time at Nevada City Craft Fair @ Miners Foundry! 325 Spring Street Downtown Nevada City, California Friday May 5th, 2017 12-8 PM. 

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Ragged Thistle is a Fusion of Coastal Bohemian Charm and Contemporary Function.

Ragged Thistle is a home based clothing line of 20 years based out of Santa Rosa, CA operated by Amber Young.  Amber began selling her designs as a young woman traveling through the US as a way to support herself through her craft. As a mom in her 20's she wanted to stay at home with her kids, so she grew her business and clothing line to work from home. “I am currently a full time artist/designer vending and showing my work at a wide variety of events throughout California year round and feeling grateful for the creative life,” says Amber.

Ragged Thistle is a fusion of coastal bohemian charm and contemporary function with attention to resource conservation and textile reconstruction. All designs are made with post consumer clothing components coupled with vintage, as well as some new textiles, trims, and findings. Great attention to texture, color, and design detail is given to each piece. Due to the nature of the raw materials used, many of the garments are one of a kind while still maintaining overall continuity and design integration. 

Come see Ragged Thistle for the first time at Miners Foundry Cultural Center for Nevada City Craft Fair on May 5th for our 7th Annual Spring Show! Ragged Thistle will be exhibiting dresses, skirts, vests, jackets, and pants all handmade at their home studio in Northern California. We can’t wait to see you there. 325 Spring Street, Nevada City CA. Kiddos are free. Friday 12-8 PM

[nevadacitycraftfairlove]

Artisticle’s Illustrations Are Created With a Few Drawing Tools and an Insane Number of Dots!  

Aimee Alexander can't stop coloring. Her work is created with a circle template, a ruler, a handful of markers, and dots- lots of them! Her business Artisticle encompasses her imaginative drawings in a number prints, greeting cards, note cards, coloring books, pillows and more! 

The level of detail in her images is quite remarkable, depicting psychedelic sceneries like cool animals or beautiful girls in textured colorful backgrounds, intricately composed of thousands of dots. 

Artisticle will be at Nevada City Craft Fair on May 5th at Miners Foundry for our 7th Annual Spring Show. Nevada City First Friday Art Walks is also happening in Downtown Nevada City. Come out for the day and have fun!