Valerie Williams - Try Handmade

Mann Made in Washington, DC

August 13, 2019 by Valerie Williams Leave a Comment

Eastern Market, the legendary open-air arts, crafts, and antiques market on Capitol Hill, is absolutely full of gems. The market is huge, and visitors will find something a little different every weekend, but there are also some pretty amazing regulars. One of those delightful fixtures is Mann Made Designs, an eighteen year veteran of the Market.

Mann Made Designs is the brainchild of full time artist Jimmy Mann, a Florida native who has been making things out of silver, aluminum, glass, and whatever else strikes his fancy since 1989. The Mann Made line is brimming with pop culture references, bold color, and clean, modern lines.

While I was browsing the booths at Eastern Market, Jimmy’s colorful jewelry for women is what caught my eye. Bright, apple green on just about anything is like a magnet for my eyes, but combined with sleek sterling silver? In such an elegant, yet still playful setting? It was like he made this pendant just for me!

The designs at Mann Made go far beyond pretty things for ladies. Jimmy creates an extensive line of cuff links, ranging from the whimsical and irreverent to the elegant and classic. How to categorize the cuff links made from Pabst Blue Ribbon beer bottle caps is probably up for debate in some circles, but there’s no doubt they are popular.

In addition to his collection of cuff links and ladies’ jewelry (including pendants, earrings, rings, bracelets and watches), Jimmy also directs his considerable talent with metal smithing and his eye for color towards creating wall art.

He combines recycled aluminum and stainless steel and patches of bright color to create three dimensional works that are simple and modern, but quite dramatic. All the wall art is made to order, so that means you can request custom colors to match your decor!

You can find Jimmy with his Mann Made Designs at Eastern Market on the weekends, or you can shop online anytime.

Herban Lifestyle

August 9, 2019 by Valerie Williams 5 Comments

Mary Kearns grew up in a very environmentally conscious household. Her mother was into organic cooking and being “green” long before it was the latest and the coolest. “I was so embarrassed,” Mary says, recalling her school lunches wrapped in waxed paper, instead of plastic bags like the other kids had. “But now I’m thankful that I was made aware of these issues so early.”

Her mother’s awareness and activism has paid off. Mary Kearns is now the owner and founder of Herban Lifestyle, an all-natural bath and body product line made in Falls Church, Virginia. Herban Lifestyle is certified member of Green America, a signer of the Compact for Safe Cosmetics, and an Environmental Protection Agency Green Power Partner. Herban Lifestyle products are all handcrafted by Mary, using only organic, fair trade and/or ethically wildcrafted herbs and essential oils. Additionally, Herban Lifestyle labels are all printed on recycled paper with vegetable inks, and Mary only uses packing and shipping materials that are recycled, recyclable or biodegradable.

When I met with Mary to talk with her about her business and her inspirations for creating green and sustainable body products, I was thrilled when she offered to show me how one of her most popular products was made. I even got to choose the scent! My love for all things citrus led me to pick the tangerine dreamsicle lip balm.

Using one of her own recipes, Mary led me through the process of making her lip balms. The process was surprisingly simple, but definitely an exercise in patience and precision. After I decided on tangerine, Mary showed me her (extremely well organized) storage room, where we gathered all the necessary ingredients. The first step was melting the beeswax, which comes from Mary’s all-natural supplier in a big, honeycomb-shaped slab.

After the beeswax is melted, the other ingredients are added, including jojoba oil, organic shea butter and organic olive oil, which all play the role of moisturizer. To achieve the delicious tangerine dreamsicle scent, organic tangerine essential oil and organic vanilla extract are added to the mix. Mary uses a ceramic double boiler to melt her ingredients, because certain types of metal react poorly with certain oils. When everything is completely blended, the mixture is ready to be poured into the lip balm containers, which have been cleaned, sterilized and dried.

The jojoba oil and shea butter give the mixture it’s soft golden color, not the tangerine essential oil. While the lip balms cooled, a dreamy and sweet citrus-y scent filled the entire room. It was easy for me to understand why Mary finds making her delightful goodies so relaxing!

An interest in aromatherapy is what first prompted Mary to make her own body products. Back in the late ’90s, she subscribed to a body product of-the-month club, and soon became interested in experimenting beyond the simple recipes that were sent to her. She also became intrigued by the therapeutic and healing properties of essential oils and herbs, and how to combine them to achieve the greatest result.

Life eventually led her away from her initial endeavor to make and sell natural body products, but her interest in herbalism and making skin care products had not diminished. When she found herself living in the DC area and beginning formal herbalism studies, she knew the time was right.

Mary opened her Herban Lifestyle Etsy shop in May of 2008, and now has nearly thirty different products, all made from the highest quality natural and organic ingredients. Her favorite items to make are the body balms, and her favorite scent to use is lavender, although her line includes a variety of mild essential oils.

One of her most popular items is her Fuzzy Soap, which is handmade, organic soap wrapped up in vegetable-dyed, hand-carded wool. The wool is wet-felted to cling to the bar of soap, creating a built-in holder that is exfoliating as well as naturally anti-bacterial. The day I visited Mary, she had several that were nearly ready for packaging, after laying out to dry for several days.

Mary’s product line also includes natural and organic products for men. The Herban Lifestyle MAN grooming kit was featured in Etsy’s Valentine’s Day gift guide for LXTV in New York, and continues to be a popular item with new and returning customers.

Although green business practices and using all-natural and organic ingredients are major priorities for Mary, she has found that not all her customers are drawn to Herban Lifestyle for those reasons. “Some people just like quality body products that smell nice.” She certainly has that market cornered.

You can find Herban Lifestyle products at a handful of DC area stores and at several online locations, including the Herban Lifestyle web site, the Etsy shop, and the World of Good web site.

Photography by Alan Todd

July 19, 2019 by Valerie Williams 1 Comment

Alan Todd is a Washington, DC based architect whose creative life and professional life are one in the same. His “day job” and hobby-turned-business are both about creating, and both about his interest in the built environment. Although his photographs cover a variety of subjects, his favorite and most successful works are about abstract architecture.

Alan fell in love with both the artistry and practicality of photography while he was still in school, studying to be an architect. On a trip to Europe, he and his classmates were charged with recording individual design elements they felt were successful, while studying structures in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France.

While studying the Roman Forum, Alan found himself relying more on his digital point-and-shoot camera than his sketch pad and pencil, and the photographer in him was born. He knew he could use his camera for more than just logging details for a class assignment. “For me,” he says, “the camera turned into a tool for creating, not just capturing.”

Although Alan continued his education in architecture, he remains mostly self-taught in photography. However, looking at the images he captures, it is easy to see how his education, training, and experience in architecture has influenced his eye as a photographer.

Alan had been taking photographs for fun for a while, without any intention to share them with the world, or sell them to anybody. At the suggestion of his brother-in-law, he began to consider the possibilities of online marketplaces like Etsy. Alan’s brother-in-law is an accomplished painter with a thriving online business, and with his encouragement, Alan opened his Etsy shop in December 2009.

Images from Alan’s Abstract Architecture collection are definitely his customers’ favorites. Likewise, Alan’s favorite approach to his photography is primarily isolating elements from successful structures, and defining them with light and texture.

Despite his professional interest in architecture and built structures, Alan finds his approach to photography evolving to include natural elements. Rather than focusing solely on chronicling existing conditions, Alan creates his own “spatial composition through the specific qualities of each scene.”

Specifically, he has recently become inspired to focus on trees and their root systems, and his portfolio also includes other scenes of natural beauty. This shift was not at all intentional, which only means that Alan’s photography will continue to evolve and change. Who knows what’s next?

Alan’s work is available in his Etsy shop, where he regularly adds new images from his travels and from his favorite neighborhoods of Washington, DC.

Combining Jewelry and Culture

July 3, 2019 by Valerie Williams 10 Comments

Season Smith-Wesley began her journey towards becoming a professional maker the way so many have…she started out making jewelry as a hobby. After taking a class on a whim at a local craft store, she found making pretty necklaces to wear to be a great outlet in more than one way. It helped clear her mind and relieve stress after her young son was diagnosed with autism, but it also turned out to be a wonderful way to express her creativity, which didn’t get much attention at her office job.

Season followed the family tradition and went in to the criminal justice field upon completing college. Her father was a sheriff, and her sister was a corrections officer. Although she really enjoyed her job, she had always harbored an interest in fashion, and once she started making jewelry for fun, it quickly became an obsession.

Her family and friends were very impressed with her early efforts, and encouraged her to try and sell her work. Upon giving her handmade jewelry as gifts, she regularly heard that phrase that so many crafters get: the incredulous and impressed “you made this!?”

After several years of this kind of exchange, finally a friend helped create her website and convinced her to sell her work online, and AdAl Jewelry Designs was born. After a year in another location, Season opened her current brick-and-mortar storefront in Alexandria, Virginia in June of 2010. She knew Old Town was the perfect environment for her handmade jewelry. Not only is the neighborhood known for independent shops, but there wasn’t anything quite like her jewelry available there.

Season creates bold, colorful necklaces and bracelets that she acknowledges are not for everyone. Her best customers are ladies who “don’t like to play it safe,” she says. “They want to make a bold statement.”

Every necklace and bracelet from AdAl Jewelry Designs is handmade by Season, and always in limited editions. Many are one-of-a-kind. Preserving the connection between a customer and a unique piece of jewelry is very important to her, and AdAl Jewelry will never be mass produced.

She is inspired by the colors, textures, and details of traditional African clothing. Growing up in her Liberian-American family, she always loved and was attracted to traditional African fabrics, but never wanted to wear them. Now, her jewelry creations are a wonderful way to translate her cultural background into wearable art.

Season loves to do custom work, especially for brides and their attendants. After meeting and talking with a client, Season creates three one-of-a-kind options for the client to choose from. Usually one of those options is exactly what the client asked for, and the other two are slightly wilder alternatives. Season has found that her clients almost always pick one of the alternatives! She finds translating her client’s personal style into unique jewelry to be incredibly rewarding.

Season donates a portion of her proceeds annually to Autism Speaks, a non-profit organization dedicated to understanding the science of autism, and advocacy on behalf of families affected by the condition. She also creates a special line of awareness jewelry every October to raise funds for the cause.

Season’s jewelry can be purchased at her Old Town storefront at 1003 King Street, Alexandria, Virginia and online at www.adaljdesigns.com.

Andrea D'Ambrosia Designs

June 17, 2019 by Valerie Williams 7 Comments

Andrea D’Ambrosia knows what she likes. As the designer behind her ever-evolving creative business, she knows that Washington, DC is the right place for her, and the right place for her designs. “DC style works for me,” she says. “Understated elegance, but with an element of drama.”

Andrea has always been creative, and grew up in a family of makers. Her father built motorcycles, her brother built radios, and she started sewing and knitting with her grandmother at age five. She was the “weird dresser” in high school who made her own clothes instead of flocking to the mall spots the other girls liked.

So when she decided to start her jewelry business full-time in 2006, she knew exactly the type of pieces she wanted to make: elegant items that were versatile and beautiful, but also completely functional.

Andrea’s favorite materials are semi-precious stones like jade, onyx, lapis, and turquoise. She especially loves to combine pearls with turquoise. She uses her favorites, along with whatever she finds that inspires her, to create jewelry that is timeless and sophisticated, never “crafty-craft” or trendy.

Her line is always evolving, because when inspiration strikes, she just goes with it. Andrea finds herself being inspired by fashion, art, music, and the personal style of her own customers. A customer once came to Andrea with a problem. She had an unusual, vintage jaguar pin that she loved, but didn’t want to just stick it on her lapel. She wanted a more modern way to wear it, and Andrea was struck with an idea.

Andrea created a necklace, using the jaguar pin as inspiration for its color and style…but also as the removable clasp of the necklace. This created a one-of-a-kind, versatile look that was really three looks in one! Her customer was delighted, and Andrea was inspired.

In addition to her usual favorite sources for new and vintage beads and stones, Andrea began collecting vintage brooches as well. This is the style that caught my eye and made me pay attention to Andrea’s work. I love the combination of new and old, and that such a simple piece can still be so dramatic, and so versatile.

The vintage brooch items are especially popular with brides, who are often looking for ways to incorporate family jewelry into their wedding looks. Andrea loves the fact that her necklace or bracelet is often the only item from the bride’s wedding day outfit that ever gets worn again!

Andrea loves to work with individual customers on unique looks for them. She has found that she is particularly good at understanding a client’s personal style, and translating that into wearable jewelry that is dramatic and elegant. One of her current projects really intrigued me: combining a customer’s antique cameo collection and a copper chain to create a one-of-a-kind necklace.

Necklaces and bracelets aren’t the only accessories that Andrea likes to make. She credits her professional background in engineering with her emphasis on functionality. Placing function on the same level as form and style naturally translates into a love of all accessories. What other way to make practical dressing exciting and interesting, if not with unusual accessories?

Her obi belts made from men’s neckties were born when she found a particular tie that she liked so much she wanted to wear it herself. She played with the concept for a while until she came up with the current design, just in time for wide belts to come back in style.

Will she continue to branch out into fabric accessories, or make more jewelry? “Who can say what will inspire me next?” she says. There are always ideas for elegant and versatile accessories floating around in her head. You can find Andrea’s work in her Etsy store and at local juried craft shows. You can also contact her for a private appointment or consulation.