etsycincinnati: peanut butter and yelly

It's that time again... time to feature a local Etsy seller. This week it's Amber of Peanut Butter and Yelly.

"I believe anything made by hand is special!" Amber says. "There is something so real and heartfelt about handmade that you just can't get with mass produced things." Yelling the Etsy handmade mantra, Amber makes a "little bit of everything" and sells it in her shop.

click to enlarge

Receiving her BFA in Printmaking from NKU in 2005, her emphasis was in printmaking, but she had a hard time choosing what area to pick. She loves to draw, sculpt, paint; pretty much anything that has a creative outlet. Her mother taught her to sew at an early age and she has just recently started again. She says, "Each item I create has a tremendous amount of time and care put into it. Every item I make is something I would be proud to own myself."

Amber sells her items at a NVISION (4577 Hamilton Avenue, next door to The Comet). She has also done local craft fairs and festivals in the past including Art off Pike in Covington, Ft. Thomas Fine Art Festival and Hyde Park Square Fine Art Festival.

captain's log... haha, i love it! | click to enlarge

She loves selling items to local people that have grown up in the same area that she has. Going to art school she dreamed of moving away and doing something "big". Amber says, "The truth is the biggest and most important thing you can do as an artist is make yourself happy doing what you love. If you are making things just to impress the masses it eventually catches up with you. I am making things that I love and therefore others love them too. The fact that I haven't had to move away from my hometown shows that you can be anything you want to be anywhere you want to be."

Amber adds, "I would just like to say that Etsy is an amazing place to shop, If you haven't tried it please do. I would also like to thank Drew for offering to feature me in his blog."

Thanks Amber! Visit her shop, Peanut Butter and Yelly, on Etsy and support a Cincinnati artist!

And, as always, don't forget my Etsy shop, Kitsch Café Vintage, and my newly opened shop, Kitsch Café Handmade.

Comments

[visualingual]

How awesome! The log shirt is great. I actually wrote something about Amber's work on my own blog about a year and a half ago:

http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/stopping-for-directions-by-peanutbutterandjelly/

I guess she moved more into apparel after that.

[D R E W]

yeah, that shirt cracks me up. i hope the OTR thing goes well and next year there can be a lot more craft vendors. there are a lot of good crafters in the area.