Crafty Bastards Vendor Q&A with Kim’s World of Art!
Last year, we didn’t get to post all the Q&As of vendors who participated in the 2007 Crafty Bastards fair, so here they are now!
As we enter Kim’s World of Art, we are greeted by a true renaissance woman of the arts. Kim has singlehandedly created her own self-sufficient realm of jewelry making, doll rehabilitation, clothes designing, photography, sculpting and more recently magnet making! (Though perhaps most awe-inspiring is her talent for manipulating clay polymer into delicate fairy wings for her dolls - see pictures below.)
Always on the prowl for creative uses of throwaway items, Kim took a moment to share bits of her world of refurbished fairies and designer doll clothes.
1. How long have you been making things?
My earliest memory was when I was given a simple embroidery kit when I was six or seven. I had to do some relatively simple stitches on a pillowcase.
2. What is your earliest/favorite crafting memory?
There was a time when I made this tiny chalky pelican statue (which came from this kit where you mixed sand-like goop, put it in a mold for a while, then remove it from the mold while it was still wet and you had to wait until it dried and it shrunk to half its size when it was wet) as a present for my mother.
3. Why do you make things?
Because I find it fun and relaxing and I somehow have this innate desire to create. If I don’t do anything creative for a few weeks I start to feel out of sorts. Once I go back to doing something creative, I get a sort of peace of mind.
4. What sort of things do you make?
I originally started out making polymer clay jewelry, which I discovered I had the knack for when I took a polymer clay class at a local community center.
I have discovered this specialty by accident where I go to thrift stores, purchase used naked Barbie dolls in the most dissheveled state, and re-make them into fairy dolls. I originally purchased Barbie dresses cheaply from discount stores (like Target and K-B Toys) and glued fairy wings made out of polymer clay on the back. I did it on a lark and tried selling them at the 2006 Greenbelt Green Man Festival and they were a surprise hit. Last year I came across a book on how to make Barbie dresses from scratch in 30 minutes without using patterns while using a variety of materials (like socks, ties, felt, and feathers) and a hot glue gun and I’ve been making the dresses from scratch ever since.
I’ve also been interested in photography for many years and I would take photos of each Barbie fairy doll I rehabilitated. I went to a knitting workshop sponsored by Crafty Bastards earlier this year and I showed a few photos on my iPod to other people and they were blown away that some of them advised me to sell photos. So I made a few postcards from the photos.
I also decided to branch out into photo-magnets when I discovered that the local Michael’s Arts & Crafts near my home had a sale on 2.25″ x 3.25″ photo frame magnets for 69 cents each. (The regular price is $1, which is still pretty cheap.) So I’m going to sell 20 magnets–10 of them will be the Barbie fairy dolls and 10 will be other photos of mostly plants and animals (which I took at the National Zoo, Clark’s Ellioak Farm in Ellicott City, and the Botanical Gardens in Tempe, Arizona).
I’ve recently re-discovered something from my childhood–Shrinky Dinks, the pieces of plastic where you draw on the surface, cut it out into whatever shape you want, bake it in the oven for three minutes, and it’ll shrink to 1/3 of its size. I came across special Shrinky Dinks for ink-jet printers and I’ve been printing some of my digital photos on them in order to convert into jewelry. I’ve sold a few of them at a local craft show last month at the New Deal Cafe in Greenbelt, Maryland and I hope to sell some more at other shows in the future. By the way, Shrinky Dinks has its own website (www.shrinkydinks.com) where you can not only order all kinds of Shrinky Dinks (I’m amazed at the number of Shrinky Dinks variations that site has) but it also offers free Shrinky Dinks patterns to download.
5. Any success stories you’d care to share?
I find that my best outdoor street festival sales come when the weather is sunny and warm (but not too hot), the humidity is low, and the festival is in a good location. One such example came on the second day of this year’s Greenbelt Green Man Festival because all those factors came into play and there were tons of people milling about. I sold a lot of stuff that day.
6. Inspirations?
For the Barbie fairy dolls I look at back issues of Faerie Magazine because each issue is full of fairy art. I also look at Cicely Mary Barker’s classic “Flower Fairies” book series. Believe it or not, there is actually an official site for these books.
For the jewelry lately I’ve been obsessed with taking something that would be thrown in the garbage can and see if I could make a necklace out of it. For example, I took a wine cork that had a lovely line drawing on it (which was the logo of Vynecrest Winery located in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania), drilled a hole through the middle of it, and strung it on a necklace. Then I took some polymer clay and a rubber stamp and I created grape-shaped large beads and I strung those on the same necklace along with some purple glass beads. My husband and I ended up giving that one to my sister-in-law as a Christmas present.
7. Craft supplies you can’t live without?
My hot glue gun. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish with a hot glue gun.
8. Describe your work area
I live in a small townhouse so I frequently have to work on the dining room table then discipline myself to stop work before mealtimes so I can remove my work items so my husband and I can actually eat meals there. After dinner I get a chance to use the dining room table again until bedtime.
9. Family? Pets? Plants?
I live with a very loving and patient husband with no children or pets. I used to have houseplants but they died. I do grow mints outside in the warm weather.
10. Favorite color or pattern?
My favorite color is red. I love checkerboard patterns, especially the ones that aren’t the usual red and black or black and white color schemes.
11. Have you been a Crafty Bastard before?
Yes. 2007 was my second appearance at the festival.
12. Tell us about other crafters you love and your favorite handmade purchases.
I purchased a couple of hand-made comic zines from Curls-Studio which I thought were entertaining to read. (I purchased them during the DC Counter Culture Festival earlier this year.)
I also have a friend who specializes in making gorgeous fused glass jewelry and she’s been reaping a profit wherever she sells her wares. I’ve purchased so much of her stuff as presents for family and friends. She sells under the name Profusions of Glass and she has recently been branching out into teaching workshops on how to make goodies out of fused glass.
There was also a guy whose name I have since forgotten who made incredibly funky jewelry using keys from old manual typewriters. I found his table at one of the outdoor street festivals in downtown DC and his stuff was amazing. I purchased a set of earrings as a present for my mother last year and she loved them. I’m kicking myself for losing his business card since I’ve completely forgotten his name.
13. What is one thing everyone should know how to do themselves?
How to shop around for the lowest prices of craft supplies. If you’re into fabric, the remainder table of your favorite fabric shop should be your best friend. For other supplies, wait until your favorite craft store has a sale before buying them. Many of the big box retailers like Michael’s and A.C. Moore’s have frequent sales so you won’t have to go through a drought inbetween sales.
Thrift shops, yard sales, and flea markets are also valuable resources for finding cheap craft materials. A vintage t-shirt with a great design in the front but is marred by a stain in the back can be converted into a purse or a giant quilt square. Old bedsheets and blankets can make great cheap fabric resources for making that dream outfit. Look what I was able to do with used Barbie dolls! 
