Locals Offer Handmade Arts and Crafts Through Online Site

Last week, we sent out a call for local crafters and artisans who sell their online treasures through Etsy.com, an e-commerce site with a focus on handmade items sold by the makers themselves.

The response from sellers in Barnegat and Stafford was so overwhelming that we decided to bring you profiles of a few artists at a time. Some have wrapped up their holiday work, but their online shops provide a great way to easily find beautiful, locally made and customizable gifts at any time of the year.

Seller: Charlene Scott

Shop: ChaCha’s Crochet

What it is: Custom crocheted hats

Barnegat mother of two Charlene Scott said she learned to crochet as a curious 11-year-old waiting with her mother for the family car to get an oil change at a Sears Auto Center. Sitting near them was a woman crocheting.

“I asked if I could watch her,” she said. “On the way home I made my mom stop at the rag shop to pick up exactly what she had.”

Through trial and error, she figured out the craft, and started making baby blankets. Much later, when her friends started having kids, she picked up her crochet hook again, this time with an eye on more complicated projects, like baby hats.

All of a sudden, everybody wanted them. Her Etsy shop was born.

Scott said she does all custom work, so she doesn’t have a big stock of items built up. Instead, customers explain the design they want and ask for specific colors. The dinosaur hat with Stegosaurus spikes – modeled here in blue and green by one of her boys – is particularly popular right now, she said.

 At the moment, she’s got orders backed up ahead of the holiday, but she’s looking forward to offering much more in 2012. “I The possibilities are really endless,” she said.

Seller: Candace Pascal

Shop: Sticky Boutique

What it is: Stick-on vinyl lettering and art for interior walls

Pascal, a mom who lives in Ocean Acres’ Manahawkin section, said she got inspired to start making her own custom vinyl wall art when she started seeing similar products selling in stores. She dragged out the vinyl cutter her husband had bought years ago for sign making, dusted it off and got started making cut-out stick-on quotes and art.

It was the perfect creative outlet for her, she said. “I hate painting, and I’m always changing my mind.” Vinyl wall art is great for decorating the rooms of kids’ whose interests are constantly changing, too. Toy story one week, Winnie-the-Pooh the next? No problem, she said.

Pascal said she’d long been an Etsy shopper, and when friends strted showing interest in her work and suggesting she market it, she signed up for her own online shop. The orders started coming in a week later. After just a couple of years, she said, she’s doing a brisk business, and even sending her art overseas.

“It’s so cool to think something I made is sitting on someone’s wall in Greece,” she said. And Etsy has become a place to meet like people and find support. “You become a part of these peoples’ lives, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Pascal said than half of the orders she fills are custom requests. “If you dream it, we can do it,” she said. The letters come stuck on plastic sheets rolled up in a tube, and she offers detailed instructions and a thorough how-to video.

“We’re really big on making sure everyone is 100 percent happy,” she said.

Seller: Denise Troy

Shop: Surfside Sea Glass

What it is: Sea glass jewelry

Sea glass collection started as a hobby for Barnegat resident Denise Troy, but she says it quickly grew into an obsession. Now that she’s learned the art and craft of turning the frosted shards into jewelry, it’s become a profession. She now travels all over the world collecting shards to make into a wide range of pendants and other designs, which she sells on her Etsy shop.

“I try to put as much variety on there as possible,” she said. “People have really diverse tastes with sea glass.”

She takes her cues from the material at the center of her work.

“I look at the pieces themselves, and think ‘What can I do with this?’” Troy said. “Each piece is so unique.”

One popular design has been her lockets and vials, clear glass pendants filled with tiny pieces of the more precious sea glass colors: reds, yellows, turquoises and more, some of which are too small to drill but look beautiful worn together.

“It’s a great way to preserve the sea glass and use it at the same time,” she said.

Like others, Troy said Etsy has provided a community of like-minded artists. It’s much more than a bunch of business contacts, she said.

“I’ve met some amazing people,” said Tory. “Between my customers and other collectors, it’s really opened me up to a whole different group of people that’s just been amazing.”