Meet CJ Nash from Front Porch Weaver.
Happy Holidays from the Front Porch Weaver, but you can call me CJ.
I started weaving in the 80’s while I was active duty with the Army and played around with it off and on until I retired. Then I transitioned to a new carrier in Chemistry and once again my weaving was relegated to “spare time”. Then I got to retire for good, real retirement, and the weaving door flew wide open! YAY FUN!
I’ve been a soldier and I’ve been a chemist, but now I’m an inkle weaver and I’m having a blast! But wait,…what’s an inkle? It’s a fancy dancy name for a strap. 😊 I suppose Inkle loom sounds better than strap loom, but there ya go, that’s what it is. 😊 For the past few years I’ve been weaving full time and loving every minute of it. If it’s a strap, I can weave it. Instrument straps, purse straps, hat bands, key fobs, book marks, camera straps, belts,… I even wove a strap for child’s golf clubs.
I named my business Front Porch Weaver, because that’s my favorite place to weave. On nice Spring, Summer, and Fall days you can find me on my front porch or my back porch happily weaving. In the winter when it’s too cold to weave outside and I want to get out of the house, I weave at the local library, a coffee shop, a local indoor garden or where ever my little truck takes me.
I have a number of looms and they all have names. My oldest loom is “Primus Luminus” and the loom I weave on the most is “Loomey #1” (Star Trek fan). Both are what you would refer to as standard size inkle looms. Then I have a big loom and a little loom. My largest loom is “Queen of the Looms”. She usually stays home,… she’s a bit much to transport. Last but not least, my smallest loom is “Loomey Tunes”. She’s super cute and can go anywhere.
I love weaving because I’m only limited to what my imagination can dream up. I’ve always loved art and weaving is my pallet.
I always have something on at least one loom and bring a loom to shows. It’s fun to weave in my booth, so come on in and say hello.
When you’re looking at the straps that I have with me and you don’t see that “ohh that’s just what I was looking for” strap, don’t settle on what I brought. If you see a strap you think you like, but aren’t sure, then it’s not the right strap for you. After all, everything I bring comes from my imagination, in the colors and patterns I like. Your strap should be exactly what YOU want. Your colors, your pattern, your size. Let’s design a strap just for you. A purse strap to match that beautiful dress, just the right belt for that new outfit, a guitar strap that compliments your style and music, a key chain that matches your car or celebrates your favorite team or something that I haven’t even tried before. That’s when I have the most fun.
If it’s a strap, I can weave it, but my best strap is the one I weave for you.
Meet Logan Carmichael
I am a medically retired veteran that has found passion and therapy in woodworking, following in the footsteps of both my grandpa and my dad...but with a little bit of my own flair thrown in with it. I have been making custom works of wooden art for about 8 or 9 years. I find that it is very therapeutic to my PTSD to go out into the garage and just start making sawdust and creating some very unique pieces of wooden art!! My creative process is simple, I imagine what I want to create, look at a pile of wood and just start making sawdust!! In 5 years, I see myself still woodworking and attending local events such as Avant-Garde, Yankee Peddler Festival, Christmas in the Woods and many others!! I have done quite a few of the Avant-Garde shows and really enjoy meeting new people, both customers and vendors alike!! The message I'd like to send with my wood works is that no matter what life throws at you, you can always find something to ease the pain, in my case with my PTSD, it's woodworking.
Meet Brenda Haas from Finding Sutton’s Choice
Brenda Haas, of Lakeside, Ohio, is the debut author of Finding Sutton’s Choice, a family
drama set in Lakeside Chautauqua on Lake Erie. A past Pittsburgh journalist, humor
essayist, and current magazine writer, Brenda’s vendor table will also feature Lake Erie
photography that ties to her novel about complicated relationships, mental illness
(Alzheimer’s), and the domino effect family choices have on who we become.
Jennifer Handler, author of KRISPR, received her PhD in Genetics from Case Western
Reserve University, where she is currently a faculty member in the Department of
Biology. Her novel is a gene editing-inspired story of a revolutionary technology that has
extraordinary promise for curing human disease, but also the potential for abuse.
Jennifer has published in scientific journals, but this is also her first foray into writing fiction.
Brenda and Jennifer have done a number of author book fairs since their novels
debuted. Additionally, Brenda participated in multiple arts festivals this past summer.
This will be Jennifer’s first vendor fair.This is our first.
As writers, we are surrounded… every day… by people, places, and experiences that
impact our creativity. Jennifer’s background in genetics leads her fiction writing. Brenda
is inspired most by Lake Erie and navigating interpersonal relationships.
For both Brenda and Jennifer, work led to writing fiction.
Brenda knows what her goals are from chapter #1 to the ending, but she doesn’t write her chapters in order. She focuses on a crucial scene and allows the story to branch out from there. In Jennifer’s case, the creative process is “all consuming.” The characters get into her mind and stay with her even after she’s completed the book.
Brenda’s novel is the first in a series. She is editing a second Sutton Family story, set 15 years in the future and tentatively entitled Sutton’s Second Chance. She has multiple other works in progress. In five years, Jennifer’s dream is to be consulting on a movie set (or maybe a Netflix series), for a project being made about her book(s).
Brenda’s message: “Our future is directly impacted by the domino effect of family choices made before us.” Jennifer’s message: The story includes themes of family, friendship, love, and doing the right thing (or wrong thing for the right reasons), but perhaps the most important message is “for good and for bad, CRISPR gene editing technology is here to stay! We need to be aware of its potential consequences and how to deal with them.”
