ElleVee

Hi, I'm Lola, aka ElleVee, and the mad -person of average intelligence behind the Makers Guild.  I told you a little about my dream in the last blog, so I will not spend much time on it now.  I have been crafting for years and, because I could never find classes I could afford, am mostly self-taught.  I work wherever I can find the space usually a corner of my bedroom, once upon a time even my closet.  Yes, I kicked my clothes out of my walk-in closet to fit my craft supplies and a table in there.  I guess that is a good indicator of where my priorities lie.

My great-grandmother and my great-aunt,
 "Sister Rosie", aka the most patient
woman in the world.

My creative life started early.  I fondly recall summers at my great-aunt's and grandmother's playing with the old treadle sewing machine, learning to knit and crochet, and creating a publication with my sister using items we cut out of old magazines.  They were good times, and I have noticed in the past years I have returned to the skills learned then.  I am (with the help of my mother) learning to sew, crochet, and knit again.  The pride I have in knowing that I do not have to rely on a retail store for clothing or home decor is what inspired me to open a shop.  That and the need to fund my crafting obsession.  I loved the unique and creative items found on Etsy and the creative community.  Nothing is mass-produced and everything is unique, reflecting the artist who poured herself or himself into the making of the items.  It was just the kind of place I was looking for.

A Singer treadle sewing machine
similar to the one Sister had.

When, I first toyed with the idea of selling my pieces, I ran into the same roadblock many crafters and artists do: the business side.  I did not want to spend my time worrying about bookkeeping, shipping, marketing, and all the other administrative duties that come with a business.  I wanted to make pretty things that people would love.  When I realized I was not alone in this, I came of with the idea of bringing together group of makers of things to share the shop.  I would not have to worry about producing enough materials to keep the business going, and they would not have to get bogged down with the admin stuff.  Still, I was not brave enough to go it alone- enter Jenn.

Lola and Jenn

Jenn and I met in high school, not surprisingly, in an arts class (ceramics to be specific).  We became friends over mounds of clay we, after much hard labor, turned into misshapen, barely useful, and not very decorative objects (at least that is what my efforts produced).  We ran into each other over and over again in the decade following high school.  Once or twice on campus.  Then, we ended up working at the same bookstore together and attending the same bible study.  Still, it was not until Jenn organized a team for a local Autism walk that I ever thought of her as a potential business partner.  Suddenly, I wondered if God had not been throwing us together all of these years for a reason.  I approached Jenn with the idea at work one day, and to my surprise, she liked it and agreed to be my partner.  We soon found that others thought my idea was good as well, and the rest is history.  I confess I would still only be dreaming about the Guild if it had not been for Jenn's support, and I want to send a big THANK YOU out to her and all the others who have supported us.

Well, that's it for now, except for some goofy pictures of Jenn and me at the Hilltop Arboretum for our first product photo shoot.

Jenn playing guitar with the tree

Love,
Lola