With experience on both ends of PA, Allison – of strawberryluna – has “a lot of practice correctly spelling “Pennsylvania”.”

She also has a colorful portfolio of amazing posters, prints, and other design material for musicians, concerts, organizations… Each poster is screen-printed by hand in her studio at Artists Image Resource in Pittsburgh.

I find the whole process of screen-printing both fascinating and frightening. (I also like alliteration.) If you’re interested in seeing Allison at work, step-by-step, check out this Flickr collection of a project from start to finish.

Reading-Berks Guild of Craftsmen Spring Juried Show

at Kutztown University

The spring craft show circuit is already starting to heat up. If you’re looking to see the traditional craft of our Pennsylvania heritage next to up-and-coming fine craft students, Kutztown is the place you’ll want to be this weekend.

On Saturday & Sunday, March 28-29, the Reading-Berks chapter of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen will be hosting their annual spring juried show at Kutztown University. This is an excellent opportunity to see craftspeople manipulating raw material, be inspired by the past, and look to the future of craft in Pennsylvania.

Kutztown University has a thriving fine craft department and, this year, seniors from the department will be showing their work at the spring show as part of their senior project.

You can find out more information, as well as a coupon for admission, at the web home of the chapter. I’ll be attending on Sunday afternoon. Please let me know if you’ll be there, showing or gawking, so that I can say “hi!”

I am so excited to introduce you to Melanie from Love Your Invite & SpreadtheLove! I first met Melanie when I found out about the Z-town Made folks. She is so personable and obviously a very inspired woman!

Melanie is graciously giving away one her ridiculously cute wooden postcards. Keep reading for more about Melanie & how to win!

When did you begin crafting/creating in general? When did you begin your current passion?

I remember painting my driveway in the summer with a bucket of water as a kid – I think that was my first spark of interest in creating personally pleasurable art. It kept me there for hours because I could make huge, trailing “paintings” over and over again. It would all evaporate away and I would start again – it was my favorite thing to do besides collecting rocks. However ridiculous it was, I think it really helped me learn and practice in the future to let go of the individual work and hold on to and love the process. Mess up, try again and never hold on too tightly.

I graduated from Kutztown University with a degree in Communication Design and a concentration in Illustration. I didn’t want to move to any kind of “big city” and my husband (then boyfriend of 4 years) was working in K-town so we stayed here for a while. I started painting freshwater fish on wood planks, worked at a coffee shop, and mentored with a sign maker named Jack Murray until the owners of Sorrelli Jewelry offered me a job as a designer in 2002. It was an awesome experience! I got to go to accessory shows in NY and design pieces that were sold in Nordstrom but, after 2 years, I got married and, upon return from my honeymoon, I had the overwhelming urge to quit and start my own thing. Without much planning I did exactly that and scrambled to create Love Your Invite pretty much in a matter of weeks. It’s all been a roller-coaster of the best/scariest times in my life…

Where do you find inspiration for new items? Tell me about your creative process for designing a new piece.

For Love Your Invite, it’s mostly inspired by the client. Sometimes they let me run wild and then I’ll get my best inspiration from the materials. I play with paper and sparkly things all day until I love what I see… it can be so much fun. I am also inspired by clothing and cool craft concepts from around the introweb. :)

For Spread The Love, it’s like a build up of things I store away in my mind. I watch a lot of documentaries and get inspired by random things. Sometimes one phrase can give me a great “head-movie” which gets shaped, spun and filtered and a week later comes out like laying an egg. Illustration Friday is also a fantastic source inspiration and practice. Mostly I like to play with humor and naivety.

What are you business goals for the coming year?

Love Your Invite will be in it’s 3rd year and I’d like to keep on truckin’. I hope to create a line of wholesale items this year and update my website a bit. My goal is to put 1/2 the money I make back in to the business and after that… pay for my car, vacations, dinners out and all things creative. Not very businessy is it?

Spread the Love will be in it’s first, fledgling year. I plan to wholesale to more stores around the area, and work really hard for the goal of eventually getting representation with someone like Lilla Rodgers. Cross your fingers for me!

So how can you win one of Melanie’s wooden postcards? You need to:

• be a resident of the US.
• visit Love Your Invite and check out Melanie’s custom invitations. Pick a favorite design feature or two. Come back here & leave a comment to let me know what your favorites are and what event (real or not!) you’d like to send out your invites for.
• for a second entry, click the “Share/Save” button below and add this post to your favorite social bookmarking site. HiP’s favorites are Twitter, Facebook, and Stumble Upon.

This giveaway ends March 6 at noon. A winner will be choosen at random.

Mary from Collier Leeds was kind enough to share this video of her fabricating the brass pieces she uses on her handmade dog collars.

Mary was inspired to create her elaborate collars during a trip to England & Leeds Castle. She explains, “Although I found the castle and the grounds spectacular, its dog collar museum was the feature that left a lasting impression on me. I had never seen anything of its kind and being a lifelong dog lover I was genuinely thrilled to view these little historic pieces of canine art.”

When she wasn’t able to find suitable facsimiles for her own dogs, Mary set about crafting her own.

Please visit Collier Leeds to find out more about Mary, her collars, and her inspiration.

Z-Town Made is a new indie craft collective in Kutztown. The group meets every Thursday at the Kutztown Fire Company and new members are always welcome. The group is currently working on the early stages of promotion through their blog and Facebook.

These ladies sure can craft!

Mary runs Collier Leeds, a boutique site for exquisite, handmade dog collars. These collars are constructed from quality leather, brass findings, and semi-precious stones. They are designed to be both useful and heirlooms that last.

Kimberly is the proprietress of Chez Sucre Chez. Her embroidery & cross-stitch is both hip and timeless. Her designs have won the praise of the editors at Etsy and she was recently featured in ReadyMade & Country Living magazines.

Karen, who first contacted me about Z-Town Made, creates amazing sterling silver jewelry available at Skylark Studio on Etsy.

Melanie runs an amazing custom invitation business – loveyourinvite.com – and a fabulous illustration shop on Etsy – Spread the Love – AND organizes a group of Emerging Female Entrepreneurs in the Berks County area.

Having seen Melanie, Karen, and Kimberly’s work in person, I can tell you that this is modern crafting at its best. There are more Z-Town Made artisans waiting to be discovered as well. Check out their blog, get in touch, and stop by a meeting. You’ll be glad you did!