Three times a year, the S.C. State Farmers Market in West Columbia highlights local artistans and crafters.
The Fall Arts and Craft Fair, held Sept. 17-18, is joined by similar two-day events in the spring and around Chistmas time.
Jamie Organ, lead event coordinator for the Midlands Crafters Association, emphasized to the Chronicle that these are great community events, with free admission and provided parking.
“If we can shop local and support local, then it helps everybody,” she said
The association has organized these craft fairs since 2009. A silent auction is held at each event to raise funds for a chosen charity, with the latest giving money to Harvest Hope Food Bank.
The Chronicle talked to some of the vendors at the fall fair.
Jonathan Rucker was constantly seeing bad news on his phone in April 2021 and wanted to bring some positivity to the world. Thus, Silliest Slogans was created, emblazoning fun and uplifting graphics and messages on T-shirts, hoodies and more.
Among these messages is the slogan "S.I.L.L.Y." — “Selfless Individuals Loving Life and Young at Heart.”
Rucker wants his company to bring a welcome distraction from the seriousness of the world and advises anyone who is chasing their hobbies and interests to just get out there and do it.
“If you get stuck along the way, somebody else has done it, Google or YouTube, somebodys got the advice out there," he said. "Don’t be intimidated, just get started. You won’t know what you don’t know until you get going”
A candle lover all her life, Giselle Morales decided to turn her love into a lifestyle and established her company G and J Candles in 2020.
Before she established her company, Morales was buying candles from other stores and then one day sahd she was like, “Why not make them myself?”
She prides her company on providing great-smelling candles and family-like customer service.
Jane Krasinski's two-year old business has transformed since she started it.
Handmade by Jane Noreen began as a macrame business where she created plant hangers and other products. What she didn’t expect, though, was for people to start asking her about plants.
She started learning about plants to answer the customers' questions. Now, she prides herself on her company's knowledge about plants and the healthy plants that they provide.
Jolene Bailey started baking during her daughter's All Star competitive cheer journey and then turned it into a full-fledged business.
She always loved baking, but it wasn't a straightforward path to doing it professionally. According to her website, Bailey has worked a variety of jobs including serving four years of active duty in the Army with a deployment in Bosnia.
She tells anyone looking to turn their hobby into a business to realize it's a lot of work.
“But it's rewarding, especially when you see the smiles on little kids faces when they pick up their cakes or when they are trying to tell me what they want on their cake,” she said.
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