My Name is Géraldine Adams. I’m from Brittany in France. I’ve lived in Paris and in Brussels, Belgium. Since March, I’ve lived in San Francisco. I’m an artist & illustrator. I create handmade archival art prints and stationary, mostly about French kitchen art like illustrated recipes, food, vegetables, meat & wine, but also some unique designs inspired by traditional French folk art.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? Becoming an illustrator has been a long path! To make the story short, I always wanted to become an illustrator, but I ended up studying languages and information technology. Then I worked as a software designer… I would design complicated process diagrams describing interacting programs. I was also pursuing a photographer activity on the side, taking portraits and shooting events.
But finally I quit my job and went back to school and learned to do graphic design work, photo retouching, and designs for websites. Finally, when I moved to San Francisco, I opened the GeraldineAdams shop on Etsy. http://www.etsy.com/shop/geraldineadams

My inspiration comes from my daily life – the food I cook, the people I meet, all the places I see, and my experience being French yet becoming an American. For example, illustrating recipes was the best way to entice my sister to cook French, easy, simple and gourmet recipes. Oh! Did I mention that my father is a French chef? My passion for food comes from them for sure! I started the cooking unit conversion prints because the first time I read an American recipe asking for a cup of flour – I actually wondered which cup from the cupboard I should use.

Regarding my creative process, I always sketch my ideas first. Then I finalize a drawing and I scan it. I rearrange it on the computer, adding colors and text. I make my original art prints at my house in San Francisco. I use archival acid-free paper, manufactured with wind power.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I love to be able to express myself & develop my art & finally creating something amazing that someone else will adore! I really like the freedom of the handmade production and being able to choose the quality of the materials: local and sustainable. The worst is probably the huge amount of work that I didn’t expect!

I recently released cute handmade greeting cards for the Holidays with red silhouettes of a snowflake, a heart and animals like an owl, a bird and a reindeer. I hand drew them, inspired by traditional French embroidery, vintage lace and doilies from France. The design features multiple delicate woodland motifs from nature like flowers, branches, leaves and birds while incorporating abstract and geometrical shapes like hearts.

These cards are a perfect way to send your special messages during the holidays. Great for Thanksgiving, Christmas, for the New Year! Your loved ones will appreciate these beautiful patterns inspired by nature and France. They can even frame the cards. What a great gift!

http://www.facebook.com/geraldineadamsart Like me on Facebook!
http://www.geraldineadams.etsy.com/ GeraldineAdams on Etsy
http://twitter.com/Geraldine_Adams Geraldine_Adams
http://www.sheisinsf.geraldineadams.com/ She is in SF: a daily illustrated project

I am Jennifer Fisher the founder of JFish Designs, a ceramic tableware and gardenware company. I love working with clay and creating objects that people can connect with emotionally. That means making pieces that are beautiful, touchable, and make people want to interact with them. I started JFish Designs about 3 years ago in New York but have expanded enormously since moving out the the Bay Area.

I was inspired to get into the craft business because I love making things. I have always worked in the design world, but never felt totally satisfied designing products for other people. Having my own business allows me to design and produce things I love and to have a hand in everything. I do pick up freelance Industrial Design work here and there when I have to, but my primary occupation is running my ceramic tableware company and I love it!

My process begins with a sketch and series of sketch models that evolve into a final design. I find inspiration in nature and the world around me and am always thinking about ways to turn a cool shape into a usable product. I go through numerous iterations of a design, sculpting different forms and evaluating each one, before I settle in on a shape and purpose. And then from there I start working with plaster and clay! I make molds of my sculptures and then cast those pieces in clay. Those clay pieces turn into my final products.

The best thing about what I do is that I get to make things with my hands every day. The worst thing is that I have very dry hands! And that the handmade ceramics market is totally unpredictable and keeps me constantly on my toes wondering what is going to happen next…

I’ve been running JFish Designs as my primary job for the past year and it’s been a roller coaster but it seems to be working out! But the only way to keep it going is with customer support! I hope lots of people will check out my booth at San Francisco Bazaar and online at www.jfishdesigns.com

Lisa Spinella, is the face behind Tickle and Smash. New England born but a long time transplant to the Bay Area – I opened up a shop on Etsy and happily joined a world of handmade, DIY, crafters with vision and voice.

From a family of seamstresses and designers in a textile driven community, I grew up surrounded by design and sewing. It wasn’t till years later after exploring acrylic painting and a fine art discipline that sewing and the fiber arts became a staple in my life again.

After having spent years working and volunteering within the Bay Area art community, I began in 2011 my new business as Tickle and Smash.

Originally an artist and large scale figurative painter; I reveled in my newly unexplored venue of texture, fabric and line. Self trained – I studied couture sewing technique, silk screening practices and pattern design. I then fell in love with the possibilities that only ribbon and string could give me.

I allow my materials to dictate how the fabrics, patterns and colors work together. The reveal and wonder of a completed project is the reward I seek. Its difficult learning the skills and practices necessary to start a business but becoming more involved in the arts community in San Francisco has been a gift. The support and encouragement of the artists and craftsmen whom have shared their experiences and personal growth with me, continue to inspire.

etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/TickleandSmash

My name Tomoko Maruyama and I am a San Francisco based artist. I have a design line that is focused on San Francisco but my line also include New York and Hawaii. These product lines range from greeting cards, art prints, calendars to t-shirts.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? I was always attracted to the craft business since I was a small kid. I always liked creating things with my hands with my dad who also loved crafts. So that is where my love for the craft arts came. Each season, I create new products every year depending on the source of inspiration at the time. I have a day job as an independent designer. I like to have a job where I can start the day thinking about my new design and end my day working on my craft business. I am happy to have my job as an artist and designer.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. I use a palette of natural colors and shades that reflect my daily experience in San Francisco. I get inspiration from my daily walks in the streets and the array of events San Francisco has to offer. It is a great city! After that, I create several sketches to reflect my ideas on paper. I then select my preferred ones and start working on the final art using the palette of colors I mentioned earlier.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I like spending time with my friends with good wine and foods. My favorite food is oysters. Sometimes, I tend to work until late and my eyes get so tired. Even though I love design, sometimes I become so focused that I tend to forget the balance between work and leisure.

Sometimes I have art exhibitions in different venues around the bay area and I would like to invite everyone to come. For events information, please visit www.tomokomaruyama.com. You can also find me in Facebook and become my fan. I am also open to new design opportunities; please feel free to contact me.

My name is Amy Wing and my business is Amy Wing Designs. I’ve been making jewelry since I was a little girl but in 2006 having just moved to Portland, OR and feeling a bit lost about what I wanted to DO for a living led me to take a variety of classes based on creative occupations. The first meeting of my metalsmithing class was so engaging and I was hooked.

I decided that this art and process that I loved so much could be a business and I delved into making it happen. I had a day job at that point and juggled working at a paper store with starting my own business. After my business started taking off, doing both got to be too much and I decided to focus solely on my own work.

My creative process is a fluid one. I am inspired by nature, by travels, by fashion. I am not much of a skilled 2D artist so frequently I will sit down to create with my hands something in metal that has just popped into my head as an idea. But other times the things I see will sit with me for a time slowly being refined. My latest work, the Venetian Shadow Collection, is based on the iron work of Venice. Along the canals and passeggiatas of Venice one can find beautiful examples of decorative iron work gates, grates, doors and windows. I was inspired by these centuries old designs while I was there a year ago, and these beautiful shapes stood out for me but it was over the course of a year that I played with what forms I wanted to use, how I would make them, and what the color palette would be. I’m so glad I took that time because I absolutely love how they came out.

I love so much about what I do. I love creating with my hands, I love interacting with customers at shows, I love putting together photo shoots and look books, I love coming up with concepts for new lines. I even love trade shows, although I would love to find a rep to work with so I could expand the number of stores that carry my work. I think the only thing that is hard is that there is just so much to do as a small business owner and not so much time to do it in!

www.amywing.com

Becoming a full-time crafter and artist was the last thing I ever thought  possible, but after returning to the U.S. from Amsterdam in 2008 – necessity was a great inspiration. While looking for a job and making a jewelry collection for my wedding party, I began to get more requests for necklaces and earring sets. I studied environmental science and politics, but after working a decade in environmental non-profits, public relations  and a few years abroad in the Netherlands, I have just followed the passion and the requests. I truly love the combination of skills that make this work possible.

What  kind of artist are you? And what first drew you to that particular  medium? I’ve been making stained glass and jewelry for the last ten years with vintage and found treasures. My tendency both for collecting as well as reassembling has been a lifelong project. I took apart my first stereo at age seven and disassembled my first broken pocket watch at nine. In both cases, my goal was to repair the items, but upon realizing the parts were so beautiful, I began constructing art. After almost a decade of work in non-profits and then some marketing, I’ve taken the plunge to become a full time crafter maker metal alchemist.  I also weave, mostly Navajo style, but this is a much more personal art form. I learned to weave while herding sheep in Arizona in 1999, and experience great parallels in working with glass, metal, and wool – all textiles of a sort, with their own behaviors, inclinations and tendencies.

Apart  from creating things, what do you do? When I’m not making jewelry, I am working on founding a small beer company with my husband. Keeping as much of the work in-house for both companies takes most of my time and covers most of what I love. In addition to the making of real things, I get to stay up on web design to social  media to marketing and bookkeeping.

Who  is your greatest creative influence? My dad, who showed me that unexpectedly marvelous possibilities are worth pursuit. After being a dentist for 20 years, he followed his skill and passion – and invented swim fins as well as an exercise wheel for small rodents. Both sell internationally. He showed me it is possible to make your own life way.

I love what I do. From scouring antique fairs and flea markets, to web design and soldering and art shows, I adore working hard and making things. Especially at a time when watch makers rarely repair mechanical watches, I feel great purpose in giving a new life to these precious items from the junk pile.

What  handmade possession do you most cherish? My Dutch grandmother, who died when I was 8, made me a crocheted lace table cloth. It reminds me of the world of textiles and skills and stories that connect us all, and the world of fiber and home-based arts that only recently left the bounds of the kitchen, pantry and courtyard.

Website: www.compassrosedesignjewelry.com

Hi there, I’m Lisa Anderson Shaffer, designer and owner of Zelma Rose, creating meticulously handcrafted classic jewelry and accessories for modern living. I’m crafty to the core, a perfectionist of sorts, and believe that a great accessory honors the past and winks at the future.

About a year and a half ago, while pregnant with my daughter I experienced a major creative awakening. I had not worked as a fine artist for about 5 years, since pursuing my psychotherapy license. It was the first time in my life I had ever worked as something other than an artist. I loved it, but I could always feel my passion and drive to be creative burning within. The prospect of becoming a mom encouraged me to be true to myself and fully engage with my creativity once again. I am now a full time stay at home mom, which is definitely the most creative job I’ve ever had, and in between all of the excitement of daily life with my daughter I design for Zelma Rose.

When I sit down in my studio to design for Zelma Rose, I reference a kaleidoscope of ideas and images. As an artist, I am a hunter and a gatherer. A visual editor, a collector, a cultivator, and a farmer of ideas and design.  Sometimes a design will come to fruition in a single afternoon, other times it is the careful cultivation of successes and failures over the span of a year. My signature chalkboard lockets were a year in the making, when one day everything just clicked. Moments like that feel magical and remind me how much I love the mystery of the artistic process.

Collaborating with other artists and my customers is the best! I am constantly inspired by the passion and creativity of my fellow Bay Area crafters. I love collaborating with other artists on projects. There is always something new to learn in this business, whether it is a new creative skill, or playing around with a fun new photography application, and who better to learn it from than a crafty friend. I am also really inspired by my customers. It is fascinating to see how customers make Zelma Rose their own. I really enjoy opportunities like craft shows where I can speak with my customers face to face, get their feedback on new designs and hear how they are enjoying their favorite Zelma Rose pieces.

Making peace with the fact that just like I will never have the time to read all the books ever written, I will also never have to time to create every single idea that I sketch or dream about. The simple fact that there has to be an editing process of what gets cultivated to a final design and what doesn’t, can feel like the worst part. Putting the breaks on inspiration is difficult, but with a business to nurture, it is a necessary part of the process.

I really enjoy creating personalized pieces for my customers. I encourage the curious to contact me to discuss ideas for custom pieces for weddings, birthdays, and that special handcrafted gift. There is nothing like sending handmade love from San Francisco!

http://www.zelmarose.com Zelma Rose Vintage Inspired Curiosities
http://www.etsy.com/shop/zelmarose] Etsy
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zelma-Rose-Vintage-Inspired-Curiosities/154597811217919 Facebook
HTTP://ZELMAROSE.BLOGSPOT.COM/ BLOG

A Simple Body’s philosophy is to make products with only the ingredients that your body can use, ingredients that make sense like cocoa butter, olive oil and vitamin e. We’ve left out all the artificial ingredients, fillers and harmful chemicals, leaving only what what’s good for you and your skin. These moisturizers are made with the simplest, high quality ingredients, and the simplest formulas so you can enjoy the long lasting softness that comes straight from nature.

I, Laura Dahl, am a fine artists with a degree in Photography. My photography focuses on making my own papers by mixing various light sensitive chemicals, and I took intense ceramics courses that involved mixing my own clay bodies and glazes. This understanding of chemistry and formulation lead me to developing my skin care products. I first made lotion bars and lip balm with my homeschool friends as a craft and we instantly fell in love with what we made. The lip balm was far better than anything I had bought in the stores, and the lotion bar soothed my itchy skin. I have spent the last year perfecting and testing my recipes, researching skin care and skin products, and loving the products that I’ve been making. I know that my product is ready for market when it has become my favorite. My challenge is to make products that use only the ingredients that your skin uses (plus fragrance because we love it), avoiding fillers and weird complicated ingredients that do nothing for your skin.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job? My friend said, “we should go into business selling these things.” I said, “Yes!” She eventually decided that this wasn’t what she wanted to do, but I loved what I was making and became more and more committed to my philosophy of making products with ingredients that make sense. I have found new partners that are as enthusiastic about our products as I am; we love how well they work and how healthy they are. Combining our inspirations, we have worked through formulas, new products, packaging, promotion.

I still home school my children, one who’s in college, one in 4th grade, and one learning to crawl. I am committed to giving my kids the best education they can have and teaching them the things that make sense for them and their particular talents. My oldest son is a musician, my middle son is an amazing gymnast, and the baby is a terrible flirt and charms everyone who meets her. And I do have a wonderful husband who is very supportive of my new business venture.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line. Starting with two basic products that made my skin feel so much better then anything else I had, I wanted to continue the search for other products that worked as well to replace the things I buy at the store. I am disturbed by the ingredient lists on skin and hair care products from the store. I don’t know, nor do I want to know what half of these things are. I want to make products that work, with ingredients are understandable. Where do I start? With my own needs first. I need a better face wash, so we research the best way to care for skin and try different ways to wash. Many times we find that the best way to take care of your skin are ancient ways. Washing with oil is something the Roman’s did; they would soak in their warm baths, then cover themselves with oil to release the dirt. A Simple Body Face and Body Wash simplifies this process–no slaves or bath fees needed.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst? I love the fact that I use very simple ingredients, and that by doing this the products work so well and have only what your skin needs. This is challenging to make formulas, and the way the product is used is often different than the lotions and washes that most people are used to using. So education is a huge part of what I do.

I am committed to clear language in how I promote my business. I want my ingredient list to be readable and understandable. I also avoid using meaningless buzz words like “all natural”, “non-comedogenic”, “bimolecular”, “nourishing”. Take a word like “microlift”: what does it mean? Does it mean that the lift that it gives your skin is microscopic? Nothing out there can truly promise that it’s take care of all your acne, make you look younger, or help you catch that man. But it is important to gently take care of your skin, to clean it twice daily and protect it from the elements and too much sun. It’s just that simple.

www.asimplebody.com

My Name is Torsten and I make fun and ethically sound clothes for men and women. I love to draw up my own mash-ups from pop culture and create designs that carry an emotional content and have some spirit to them. Images that make people smile is really what its about.

I find street art the most inspiring but I didn’t start out as a designer/printer. I started sewing men’s wear years ago but was non plussed at how long it takes to make one quality garment so I decided to move into a more graphical and efficient medium, screen printing. I still love to sew but these days I don’t sew more than the occasional hem on pair of my yoga pants, I’m printing full time.

I still teach science on a very part time basis but I am fully supporting myself with my business, I just teach for fun. I love the autonomy of self-employment, for an independent person like myself it can’t be beat. I love every part of my business except when I have to coordinate something like a photo shoot with several other people. I really just like being able to get it all done myself and photography isn’t possible that way because it takes at least two so I feel a bit tied to others at that point. Otherwise I love all aspects of being a small business owner, success doesn’t hurt either.

Have a look here and see what I’m taking about missionthread.com , if you see anything you like please know I can customize not only shirt colors for you but the ink color as well. No one else out there will give you a completely custom print like that, ink and all. I also offer free shipping if you enter “freeshipping” as a discount code at checkout.

I moved to US 20+ years ago from Japan. I was born and grew up in  Tokyo. I began to design jewelry and accessories in New York City, but now I live in the Bay Area.

I’ve always made pretty things as a graphic designer. Several years ago I lost my many of my major clients. I was very upset, to lose my job, but was happy to have more time for myself. I started to make more. I still have a graphic design business to make real money though.

I find inspiration during my yoga class a lot. The best thing is assembling to the final piece. The worst is rubbing  wool in warm soapy water for 3 hours. I use locally produced wool only and natural or plant dye as much as possible. All glass beads are hand made by me. The only purchased parts within my work are semi precious beads, pearls and findings.

www.naokonojiri.com