Meet Monica Collins of TG Bears - Featured Artist

Who remembers their first Teddy Bear?  I got mine on my 18th birthday, paid for it myself with my first paycheque (which the payday happened to be right on my birthday).  My job was to call businesses up from the yellow pages and ask for their fax number so it can be added to a fax number directory...it was a boring job, didn't stay more than a month there, but it did give me my own spending money and I got my bear... named him Snuggle Bear because he looked like the bear in the laundry detergent commercials and after 23 years, still sits at my night stand.

The bears that Monica Collins of TG Bears makes are loveable and huggable.  Handmade from start to finish, each bear is slightly different, never identical.

Monica Collins

Monica is a fellow member of The Artisan Group and I had the pleasure to find out more about her and her bears.

How and when did you discover your love for your craft/art?
I have always loved teddy bears. There is something ageless about them. I enjoy sewing and doing things creative – so how much better than putting two loves together?

Do you remember the first piece you ever made?
Absolutely, it was a teddy bear that I thought looked a bit out of shape. But someone loved him and bought him and that is when I realized there is someone for everyone out there ?

"Angela"

Every Artist has a creative process, can you explain yours?
I don’t really have a process. I would say my creativeness comes as an a-ha moment – I like to call it inspiration. I then go about putting that moment into practice.

When people start doing their craft/art, they tend to try a lot of different things before settling down to something that resonates with them. How has your work changed since you began?
The process for me has not moved outside of teddy bears. But it has moved outside of the making being a hobby to it being a business and so I have changed how I think about going about the selling of my bears.

"Hernando"

What inspires you creatively?
I have many inspirations, but colors is a very definite one. I love going into fabric stores or other places where there are a kaleidoscope of colors in one place. It makes me feel like I am not able to keep up with the processes in my head

Can you tell us about some important goals you have achieved with your work?
I have, thanks to my exclusive membership in The Artisan Group, been able to gift some bears to celebrities. I was also chosen as Fox Small Business of the Day in November. But what I find a great goal that I have achieved is to be able to work with some charities to help support them. I am currently making bears for Angels4Epilepsy to deliver to children in hospital.

"Angels4Epilepsy"

Who are some of your favorite artists/crafters and why?
That would be hard to list here. I am a fan of many forms of arts and crafts and admire people who do their craft well. I have no ability to draw and so artists fall into a special category in my opinion.

Any goals for the future you would like to share?
TG Bears is destined for growth in the 2012. I have some goals in place. Keep watch at http://www.tgbears.com for news! But one thing that I have already implemented is flat rate shipping.

"Duty Bear"

What do you do in your spare time?
Being a wife and new business owner – what is spare time? But I do enjoy going out with my husband and taking time to explore places and sights around. I love travelling.

If you are displaying or selling your craft/art? Where?
I don’t display my bears anywhere at this stage.

"Nina"

If you sell online or at physical store. How many hours per week to you spend in the creative side versus the business side?
I sell online at http://www.tgbears.com. I don’t have fixed hours that I spend on any one thing. It goes with the flow. Some weeks I get to spend more time in my sewing room and sometimes business obligations seem to rule my life.

What advice would you give to someone who want to start out or start a business in their craft/art?
Go for it! I heard a good quote the other day: Businesses don’t fail, their owners just quit.

"Daisy"

If there is anything else you want to add, please feel free to do so.
I do a bi-monthly newsletter. Signing up for it on my website or on Facebook will give you a 25% off coupon to use on your first TG Bear order.

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Thank you Monica!!  Be sure to check out TG Bears at the following sites:

• http://www.tgbears.com
• http://www.facebook.com/tgbears
• http://www.twitter.com/tgbears
• http://pinterest.com/tgbears

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Before I go... Monica is having a wonderful Giveaway to celebrate a few milestones TG Bears have reached. The Giveaway starts February 16th and the prize... Well let's just say Monica, fellow Members of The Artisan Group and Myself (Jewelry by Saniki Creations) are donating to the prize which is a swag bag full of handmade goodness worth $1,015.00 USD.  Click HERE for more details about the prize and how to enter.

Meet Susan & Ashley White of Wicked Wench Soapworks - Featured Artists

Chemicals.... who really likes to put that stuff on your body... let alone bathe in it?  I know I certainly don't.  Most, if not all, commercially sold bath products contains ingredients that I, for one, can't even pronounce let alone know what it is really is.

Today we get to know Susan White and Ashley White, sisters, owners and creators of all natural bath products at Wicked Wench Soapworks. Fellow members of The Artisan Group, the White Sisters offer an alternative to commercially mass produced chemical-based products that for people with skin sensitivities, is a breath of fresh air.

How and when did you discover your love for your craft/art?
We’ve both always had a love of crafts and DIY in general. Ashley was encouraged to create art when she was small to refine her fine motor skills and I loved the process of putting things together to make something new. The love of creating bath & body products is fairly new (within the past two years), when we decided it was time to make our own soaps because of reactions we were both having to commercial soaps. I have seborrheic dermatitis on my face and it was made worse by both the harsh medications and commercial soaps. Ashley received horrible burns to her hands as a teenager and the commercial soaps aggravate the scar tissue and make the skin peel.

Do you remember the first piece you ever made?
The first bath & body product we made was our Hemp Seed Oil soap. I ordered all the ingredients online and we whipped up the batch in our kitchen. It wasn’t very pretty but it did its job. Immediately, I saw that my face was less red and burned looking.

Every Artist has a creative process, can you explain yours?
With our bar soaps, we make three different bases (Hemp, Honey and Goat’s Milk) so before scenting a new bar, we consider the underlying scent of the base along with the scent that we want to add. We have found that certain scents just do not work with the underlying chlorophyll scent of the Hemp bars.

Relaxing Rose Bath Tea

When people start doing their craft/art, they tend to try a lot of different things before settling down to something that resonates with them. How has your work changed since you began?
We used to make a few items that you won’t see on our website anymore. There were certain products that the entire process of making just didn’t work for us. They totally disturbed the flow of our processes and it was hard to get that easy flow restarted.

Can you tell us about some important goals you have achieved with your work?
Since we are a relatively new business, our first online sale was a huge success. In late 2011, we joined a local farmers market (North Scottsdale Farmers Market) and have been received very well. Some of the feedback we have received is leading us to our goal for 2012.

Gingerbread Cookie Bar Soap

Who are some of your favorite artists/crafters and why?
Our Mom. The whole time we were growing up, she would create things that were amazing. When Care Bears first came out, my parents couldn’t afford to buy one for me (because $30 in the very early 1980’s was a lot of money) so she made me one. The only difference was the heart shaped tag on its bottom. My tag was made of felt and a real one was embroidered. It’s 30 years later and I still have my hand-made Sleepy Time Bear. For Ashley, Mom has made multiple Halloween costumes with painstaking detail. She has been Belle that looked so real, little kids were running up to her shouting “Mom! Its Belle! They got Belle for Halloween!”, she has been Ariel (in a costume where the fins flapped as she walked) and she has been a belly-dancer where women that actually belly-dance asked where she got her outfit because it was so well made. And the birthday cakes! I could go on for days about the birthday cakes.

Any goals for the future you would like to share?
Many of our farmers market customers (around 70%) have asked us if we are vendors at the Arizona Renaissance Festival and/or they recommend that we look into becoming vendors. Our goal for 2012 is to be accepted into the Arizona Renaissance Festival for the 2013 season. We are also looking to join another online retailer later this year.

Tropical Vacation Bath Salts

What do you do in your spare time?
Ashley loves to crochet. Last year she made me a beautiful round blanket with cork-screw trim (I have named it Rotini). I love to cook, but I am a trained chef, so the cooking works out as a hobby and in the recipe creating process for our products.

If you are displaying or selling your craft/art? Where?
Right now we have two online stores, www.WickedWenchSoapworks.com and www.wickedwenchsoapworks.storenvy.com, we’re in the process of deciding which store we like better and which store our customers prefer. We can also be found at the North Scottsdale Farmers Market on most Saturdays.

Naked Castile Liquid Soap

If you sell online or at physical store. How many hours per week to you spend in the creative side versus the business side?
Since there are two of us, I think that makes it easier for us to divide the creative and business responsibilities. If I have a week where the business side needs more attention than usual, Ashley steps in so that we can still achieve our goals for that week.

What advice would you give to someone who want to start out or start a business in their craft/art?
Do it! For every person in your life that tells you that you are crazy to start your own business, you will find three people that will applaud you for doing it.

Orange Chocolate Truffle Lip Balm

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Thank you Susan and Ashley for letting us get to know you!  For more information be sure to visit Wicked Wench Soapworks at:

• Website
• Storenvy
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Blog

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