FEATURED ARTIST

Here is an artist who is creating some very unique items. Come and meet

Here is our interview with the artist, Nikki -

Briefly describe what you make?

I make clutches and wallets of all different sizes, home decorations (clocks, various decorative stuff), and jewelry (earrings & bracelets for now. I'll do necklaces when I figure out a way of making or getting nice chains instead of just having to buy them at craft stores). I've also expanded my home decor line to include stuffed food men ("Food Friends"). Everything in my shop except for the stuffed food men is made from recycled materials. Right now, the items that seem to get the most views and sales are my big and small cassette tape clutches, kitchen utensil clocks and my Food Friends.

What mediums do you enjoy working in most?

Sewing and polymer clay modeling. When I was a kid I would watch Gumby and those claymation TV shows, and be like "I so want to do that with clay". Nowadays, I love working with polymer clay because I can make my own charms for my jewelry. Sewing is probably my #1 medium though, and it surprises me that it is because I had to teach myself how to sew. I was horrible with a sewing machine in Home Ec class-I couldn't even thread one. I got much better at sewing when I got a good machine--a vintage Singer 301A--and could relax while sewing.

How long have you been creating craft?

I always loved making things when I was a kid, but I didn't really get started full-time with crafting until about 2005 when I didn't have a whole lot of money to buy stuff and realized I could make what I wanted.

How did you get started?

I saw a girl in my acting class in college with a purse made out of Ramen Noodle soup bags, and I really wanted it, and by that I mean I REALLY wanted it. In fact, I wanted it so bad that I devised a way to sew that same bag by hand for myself. I worked at Wal-Mart at the time so I strolled through the craft section, found some vinyl material, and got to work. I had so much fun doing it and looking at the finished product, I knew that I wanted to keep doing it, so I came up with more and more ideas and my hobby grew from there. I knew I wanted to set up shop a couple years ago because I got to the point where I said to myself, "Why keep all this cool stuff just locked up in the house?"--I wanted to share my crafts with others.

Where does the name of your shop come from?

I wanted something that was original, but also sort of described the kind of crafting that I was aiming at. I describe my crafting as being done on sugar highs because I tend to like bright, happy designs in my work, and my work is also very youthful and kid-friendly. I remembered years ago when I would watch cartoons, that sugar cereal was called "Sugar Shox", so I thought that would be a great name for my business as it sort of describes the kind of designs I like. Plus it's short, catchy, & has a nice rhythm to it.

What would you most want people to know about your work?

I love creating new things out of old things. Some call it recycling, some call it upcycling, some call it garbage picking...:) To me, there's just nothing better that you can do than to give something old a new use. I'm also pretty much a big kid (I never really liked becoming an adult LOL), and I like to remember things from when I was younger--that is where my retro cassette tape line comes from. I know there's others who feel like I do too, and I also design things to remember those carefree summer vacation days where all you had to worry about was whether you'd go swimming that day.

What words of advice do you have for other artists?

Don't give up, even the smallest progress is better than nothing. You can build from even the tiniest step. Also, don't let anything stop you from doing what makes you happy--I know I'm certainly not happy just going about the old 9 to 5 workday, coming home and doing it all again the next day. That's no way to live--you have to find out what makes you happy and do it! Even if you only can do a few minutes a day of something. Doing what you love works wonders and actually works better than professional therapy!

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Nice interview. Head on over now to Nikki's shop and take a look. Come on back and then leave a comment!