2008 Crafty Bastards Vendor Spotlight: Pic n Paint
Get to know this year’s Crafty Bastards vendors! We’re posting a series of interviews of crafters who will be at the CB festival Saturday, June 28, at the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center in Silver Spring, MD.
Pic n Paint knows how to make balloons come alive and paint fantasy right onto your skin. Using bodies and faces as a creative pallette, Ashley Pickin specializes in body art, having perfected her talent under leading makeup instructors. She’s ready to bring her craft to Silver Spring as a Crafty Bastard! Check out more of her designs at the Pic n Paint website.
1. Using just three words, how would you describe your work?
eclectic, fun, colorful
2. What are you doing to prepare for Crafty Bastards? Are there any new products or techniques that you will be trying out for this show?
Trying my best to come up with new designs for my ceramics and balloon jewelry. I’ve come up with several new techniques for the balloon jewelry and I’m really surprised at just how easily the ideas have been coming lately. I think the deadline is helping 
3. Is your craft widespread in the handmade community? What makes your stuff different from others in your craft genre?
There are tons and tons of jewelry artists, but balloon jewelry artists? Not at all… I don’t think that I’ve ever met someone else that does balloon jewelry. At the last balloon convention I attended, I wore one of my pieces to the opening night party and 100’s of balloon artists were stunned at the idea. I figure that if I can shock people that make a living with balloons, then there’s a good chance that those in the craft community have never seen it.
4. Starting an independent shop takes a lot of dedication, planning and hard work. At what point did you realize you had the chops to start your own indie craft business?
I’m still not sure that I do! There are times that I think, “Why am I doing this?!” Then one day I realized that I sell my work, not because I want to make money, but because I love to make stuff. And if I just kept making stuff, and I didn’t sell any of it, then my life would be overrun with all of my work. Unfortunately, thanks to the business, my life is still overrun with work, and files, and boxes, and supplies, and balloons, and work, and balloons…… lots of balloons.
5. Where are your favorite places to find your supplies?
My boyfriend! He’s the best supply store I know! He’s a balloon artist and brings home all of his leftover balloon scraps for me to use. It’s a lot of work to go through them to find the good pieces, sort them, clean them up, and trim them…. But it’s worth it in the end, because I’m using something that would normally be thrown away and that makes me very happy.
6. Crafting is a grassroots revolution of sorts. It’s catching on as people appreciate all things handmade, original, recycled and environmentally/socially conscious. Does this influence/inspire your work? If so, how do you incorporate it into your craft?
I am very influenced by the handmade revolution! I was always making things out of throw aways when I was a kid, but now everytime I’m about to put something in the trash or(more likely) the recycle bin, I often find myself thinking, “Can this become something new, can I avoid throwing it away?” It can get addictive.
7. After seeing your work, many would-be crafters are inspired to start their own creations. Will you have any DIY kits available for sale at Crafty this year?
Hmm.. To tell the truth, I hadn’t thought about making a how-to kit. But now that you mention it, it would be a fun thing to try and come up with… Though I’m not sure that I have enough time to get something together before Crafty gets here! Maybe next time 
