Featured Crafter- Joanie Loves
Just a little while ago I participated in the Toronto Indie Arts Market and had a blast meeting some pretty awesome crafters and artists! I finally got a chance to meet Maryanne from My Beaded Designs, who I might add is pretty awesome and creates very unique jewelry I have never seen before!
Another incredibly talented woman I met was Joanie from Joanie Loves! I knew from the moment I met her, I had to know a little bit more about her as well as why she started crafting what she did! Joanie makes the coolest kids costumes and dress up clothes from thrifted finds. Each cape, dress and more are one of a kind! I asked her a few more questions so you can get to know her a little bit more!
What Started her on her crafty journey? She’s always been a very crafty person usually doing crafts with kids she babysits or when she was a nanny. Then she started making gifts for friends, for birthdays and Christmas. Like every crafter out there, all it took was some gifts and a little push to start a business!
“I am an actor and always need a job (usually a serving job) to supplement my income and a couple years ago I thought what if I start my own business to supplement my acting business. So I did! However now I just have two businesses ha! But I love to do both things. Neither of them make me millions yet but if I keep plugging away I am sure one day they both will.”
Dress-up couture for kids of all ages!
She started making kids dress-up couture because she thought kids deserved high quality dress up clothes that were unique! Using thrifted and vintage clothing means your little ones get to imagine what kind of person owned the clothing last!
” They could have once belonged to a great magician, a knight of the round table or an Egyptian princess. Something a little girl can put on and think “wow this is what a princess really wears” not just another cookie cutter dress from the Disney store that falls apart 3 months later. Something that will be passed to another princess carrying the legend of the princess who wore it before.”
Joanie also makes some super cool “Sexy Aprons” using thrifted men’s shirts with fun prints on the bottom. She has a whole collection of items that go along with her dress up clothes too! She has crowns, fake mustaches and cool button earrings! She has something fun for everyone!
Thrift sexy apron for the fun women out there!
Another cool thing about Joanie is that she is the Director of Programming at Scribble Me Silly in Toronto, a non-profit organization that makes the creative arts accessible to children of all ages that have experienced abuse or neglect. The organization teams up with local artists, performers and volunteers to put together art programs that encourage fun, creativity and silliness to build their self-esteem!
“At Scribble Me Silly we take arts programming into women and family shelters and community centers across the GTA. We want to inspire self expression through the vehicle of art! Drama, music and visual arts are just a few of the ways we can express our feelings. At every program we invite a professional from the arts community (a song writer, a painter, a dancer) and they tell us all about who they are and what they do. Then we get to learn from the pro how to do what they do. We do this with Kids 5-11 and teens 12+ we aim to create a safe environment where children can feel free to be themselves and express who they are without judgement. The most important part is the children get a chance to be creative and silly and have fun!”
I was blown away to hear an organization exists like this and so close to home! If you want more information about the Scribble Me Silly Organization please check out their website: http://scribblemesilly.org/
I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about this awesome crafter I met! You can find Joanie on Facebook or her website. Be sure to tell her I sent you 🙂
How do I find my featured crafters? I search for unique and inspiring people! I don’t get paid for these posts, I do them because I love to share crafty love! I see so many creative people through craft shows and fellow creative friends that I don’t always get to purchase something so this is my way of sharing with the world handmade! If you would like to be featured on my blog, feel free to send me an email. Not everyone will/can be featured but I do love to do shout outs on Facebook and twitter as well!
Stay tuned for another featured crafter next month!
