Get to Know Faded Leaves, A Talented Artisan who Offers Autism Awareness Pieces

Each month, an artisan will be featured here. The artisan will have some connection to either autism or the special needs community, in general. For the first in this series, I present to you Shannon, owner of Faded Leaves. I chose her not only for her unique, handmade, customizable Autism Awareness line of products, but also for her stellar reputation at ArtFire. I believe you will enjoy getting to know her as much as I have.

Welome, Shannon!

For those who may not be familiar with you and your studio, tell us a little bit about yourself and "Faded Leaves".

My name is Shannon and I am a very outgoing person who loves what I do. My 'other' job is being a nurse. I love working with people and helping them feel better. I am married to a man who is in the military and I love every second of my life with him. Our furbaby is a West Highland Terrier Mix dog named Icicle, who is a ball of energy! She keeps me busy on my days off. Faded Leaves is the name of my shop. I have always enjoyed making things so it was only natural that I would start selling eventually. My husband really encouraged me to start selling the things that I was making because he really thought people would enjoy them. With his encouragement, I went back to school and got a degree in Jewelry Design.

Beach Necklace by Faded Leaves

I just finished that program in March. It really helped me evolve my designs. While doing that, I started researching places online to sell my items. I initially looked into Etsy since I had heard of that venue in the past. After reading their TOS, I decided that venue just wasn’t for me. After more searching I found ArtFire. I stalked the forums for about 2 months and I read everything I could find about the site. I made my decision shortly after finding ArtFire to go with them. I was going to officially start my business in 2011 but after learning about ArtFire's awesome deal last fall, I took the plunge and that’s when Faded Leaves was born! I have loved every minute of it, and hope to make it my full-time career. Despite a HUGE learning curve when starting your own business, I feel that I am doing very well. I love seeing people so happy when they purchase an item of mine. :)

Your passion for what you do shines through. Personally, I absolutely love your Autism Awareness pieces! What is your inspiration for those?

Thank you! My inspiration comes from my past. When I was going to nursing school, I worked at a center for Developmentally Disabled individuals. One of my "favorite" clients was a young autistic boy.

Autism Awareness Necklace by Faded Leaves

He had made a lot of progress from what I understood and was now able to be in the same room with a bunch of other people. I loved working with him and seeing all the strides he made. When I graduated school, I got a job in a far away city and I find myself wondering often how he’s doing now. Making these pieces helps to honor his memory and to create awareness in the world around us. There is definitely a need to create awareness for Autism and help people understand what it is all about. :)

So many pieces out there are generic, “one size fits all”. For those who want that special, personal touch, do you offer custom work/personalization?

Yes I do custom work and personalization. I make a hand stamped Autism Awareness necklace that you can customize with the name/initials of the child you are supporting and I also make a necklacethat is a small picture frame. One side holds a picture of your child and the other has an Autism Awareness ribbon in it. Both come with cubed crystals that are red, blue, and yellow, adding a touch of sparkle to the necklace. I also willing to try anything your imagination can come up with. I love a challenge and love working with my clients to help them create that one of kind special piece.

As you know, my daughter is on the Autism Spectrum, which makes awareness and understanding very personal for me. Why is Autism Awareness special to you? Is there one thing about autism that you think is important for others to understand?
As I said before I support Autism Awareness because of my past of working with autistic children. I think the one thing people need to be aware of regarding Autism is that the child is still normal. They react differently to situations than we would, but that doesn’t make them different. So many people look at them like they are different and it’s so disheartening. The reactions I got from people when I would go out in public with my clients was just sad. I hope that by selling these pieces that awareness will be increased and the stigma will dissipate.

As I mention in my book, life consists of so many different things, and autism is just one part. Your work also consists of more than just Autism Awareness pieces - and jewelry! Would you mind sharing with us a little about your other handcrafted items?

Giraffe Bookmark by Faded Leaves

I like to make an eclectic array of items. I love love love to cross stitch  and I have incorporated that love into cards, gift tags, and ornaments. A lot of the items are soon to be seasonal only so you will only be able to get them closer to special occasions/holidays, like Christmas. I also make gift bows using colorful ribbon that I love and I hope everyone else does, too. I have ones for pretty much any occasion you can think of. I also make non autism awareness pieces as well. Earrings, bracelets, necklaces, etc. I love creating!

I share your passion for creating so many different types of things! In fact, I recently decided to streamline my own studio, and the transition is almost complete. I understand your studio is entering a new, exciting phase, too. Tell us all about it!

Yes, I am entering a new phase! I’m so excited about it! I am slowly transitioning out all my current designs and replacing the silver plated/gold plated chains etc with sterling silver, copper, and occasionally gold filled if anyone wants that. I, myself, do not care for gold so I tend to use silver mainly.  I have also switched over to mainly freshwater pearls, crystals, and gemstones. I will still use other types of beads on occasion if I believe they will fit better into my design or if requested in a custom design. I also am doing more hand stamping. I am widening my line and making more custom pieces. I love hand stamping and making custom pieces for my clients. For sneak peeks of my new lines and specials, find me on Facebook!

Where can readers connect with you, and see your wonderful work?

Readers can find me on Facebook (www.facebook.com/FadedLeaves), Twitter (@FadedLeaves), ArtFire (www.fadedleaves.artfire.com), email me at fadedleaves2010@yahoo.com requesting custom orders, or follow my pictures on Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/FadedLeaves)

For those who might be interested in purchasing any of your pieces, I understand jewelry can be tricky to mail overseas, due to various regulations, etc. Which countries outside the USA do you ship to right now?

Yes shipping overseas can be tricky.  I currently ship to the UK, Canada, Australia, and obviously the US. I will ship any of my items to any of those countries as long as it’s not restricted by that country. :)

Is there anything else you would like to say? :)

I just want to thank you for this opportunity to talk about my passion for Autism and my business Faded Leaves. It was such a delight talking to you and all your readers. <3 Shannon

Last question, just for fun! What is your favorite dessert? 

My favorite dessert of all time would have to be pumpkin pie! I could eat it every day, though of course then I would weigh a million pounds.

Thanks so much, Shannon! It is such a pleasure to have you here on Julie Clark Art – the blog!

My Blog, Your Voice, Your Choice

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I have an affinity for words. And I use them. Lots of them, all crammed together, spoken or in print. And many of you are kind enough to listen to them, to read them.

As I write in Asperger's in Pink, life consists of more than school, meetings and doctor visits. And this blog tends to reflect that, focusing on anything from Asperger's, to my studio, to that vegan-ish journey I've somehow landed on. In other words, my blog will never focus on just one topic. But sometimes an assortment of topics looks more like a jumbled closet than a tempting box of fine chocolates. (And everyone who knows me knows I'll take chocolates any and everyday!)

With that thought in mind, I'd love to know what you want to see here. What you would like to read more (or less) of. Which "chocolates" you'd like to see in this "box". More on Asperger's? Lighter on others? Add a new topic, such as a featured guest here and there?

To make it easy, I've positioned a poll up top ^  to the right --->. Can you see it? A few have told me it's been hard to find. But it's there. I'd love it if you would take a moment and do the talking. Let me know what you'd like to read, and I'll do my best to make it happen.

And if you've already voted? Thanks so much!

And thanks for stopping by. All this talking about chocolates is making me crave some. Drat.

Have a great week!

~Julie

What Started it All (My Studio)

It all started one cold and rainy fall morning about a year ago. My daughter’s school offered up a yard sale opportunity for parents to sell their stuff, putting all the proceeds toward a very expensive field trip to our nation’s capital. We couldn’t really swing the cost, so, as much as I am uncomfortable with these things, signed up for the tag sale.

We didn’t have a lot to offer up. We’re relatively simple people, and much of the excess we did have was donated during the move. But one thing I did have was plenty of fabric. Not one to give up easily, I decided to spend the previous day sewing fabric plastic bag holders. I made the pattern up as I went along, and found a way to eliminate elastic from them. Not only ingenious, so I thought, but cost and time effective as well.

The big day came, and the crowd was sparse. More came to sell than to buy, as the cool mist called for so many to sleep in that Saturday morning. We only sold a few things, one of which was a bag holder. It drew the most attention of anything we had, and seemed to pique a lot of interest. But at the end of the morning, we packed them all up, along with old jeans and a few baking dishes, and headed home. Not enough money to make a dent in the trip, but enough inspiration to wonder if I could sell the bags elsewhere.

Over the next few months I wondered how I could do just that. Jobs are hard to come by, and the longing to work consumed me. So, in true “Julie form”, I decided to make my own work. I opened up an artisan studio on ArtFire.com, listing the better made bags from the yard sale. Now I find myself several months later going in a new direction. The longing to make practical art pieces works well with totes and placemats, but not so well with the bag holders. And as of this morning, they are now being discontinued.

It’s a bittersweet thing, really. The piece that started it all is the first to “go”. But I’ve learned a lot, and continue to learn. Among other things, I’ve learned to narrow down my studio’s focus and create that which gives me energy – not saps it.

And as for the field trip? In true Asperger form, my daughter decided some of the stops would be too sensory for her to handle. We couldn’t argue with that. And neither could our checkbook.