Your guide to shopping local.

Union LeaderneW HaMPSHire

Wednesday, November 30, 2016 • Page C1

KRM ChocolatesKRM Chocolates has wonderful barks, dipped cookies and truffles for your hliday gift needs. Featured are our wine truffles. We have many varieties, most made using local New Hampshire wines. We also have truffles made with pure maple cream, and truffles made with flavored balsamic vinegars. Please see our website, krmchocolates.com for the full description and ordering information.

Gibson PewterGibson Pewter’s 2016 annual Christmas ornaments include the Cardinal, the Holly Leaf and the Skier. Each pewter ornament is cast by artist Jon Gibson right here in New Hampshire. Cost is $16. Visit www.gibsonpewter.com to order.

Stitch It OutA reusable tote bag as unique as the person who carries it. Whether you are shopping at the mall, grocery store or going to work, these designer tote bags fill your needs perfectly. Handmade from repurposed fabric samples, each tote bag is reversible. Large assortment of handbags range from $18 to $66. To see this and other handmade items, visit our kiosk at The Mall of New Hampshire or visit www.stitchitoutnh.com.

Little River DesignsHandcrafted sterling silver and turquoise choker integrated with Swarovski crystal sterling connectors and finished with a handcrafted sterling silver slide clasp with a lock bar. Priced at $1,550, this piece and many others may be found on www.lilriverdesigns.com.

JJAbnormal Creations 2: Painting a moose and cottage on a piece of birch bark launched new business for mother-daughter team.

By MELANIE PLENDASpecial to the Union Leader

The nature of inspiration is that it can strike at any time. Luckily, Eva Ilg was ready for it

when it did.“One day while walking in the

woods, I came across a large piece of birch bark that had fallen off the tree and I took it home,” the Salem-based artist said. “I first tried to sell it as a supply for someone else. After it didn’t sell, I decided to paint a moose and cottage on it. I framed it and put it up in a store.

Their business idea fell off a tree

JJChristina’s Creations: Wine glasses are popular holiday gifts, and recycled beer bottles or platters work well as candy dishes or cheese trays for holiday parties.

By EMILY REILYSpecial to the Union Leader

The roots of Christina’s Creations began when owner and painter Christina Knightly was a teen.

“My mother, when I was going through those teenage years, signed me up for a class that she could bring me to so she could give us a little bonding time.”

Knightly’s first craft fair was when she was 17, and she’s never looked back.

About 10 years ago, Knightly turned her focus more toward handpainted glassware and recycled wine and beer bottles. She said the move was for the better.

“The glass has just been really been taking off. So I really turned it more into a business about three to four years ago as an LLC, really focusing in on my handpicked glasses and then keeping up the recycling bottles.”

Using an acrylic enamel paint that can be baked on, Knightly hand-paints layers of colors on the sides of wine glasses to create landscapes full of loons, deer, purple dragonflies or snowy landscapes. Sometimes she paints the design on the base of the

glass.“And then when I paint my pine-

cones, I try to do it in a watercolor style, so you can then turn the glass and then you can also see the design going through. So I really try to spend my time focusing on just not what it looks like when you’re looking straight at the glass, but when you turn the glass as well.”

Designs include friendly daisies, blue nautical anchors, a plethora of

paw prints and bright cherry blos-soms and colorful birch trees.

Knightly also likes to try new ideas to celebrate the changing seasons, and said she’s been working on a “funky” design.

“It’s not up on my website yet, but I’m going with a winter white theme,” she said.

Knightly said other new designs include a tree with a snowy design around the base of the glass, or a white tree with two moose.

Knightly creates one of her favorite designs when the weather gets a bit warmer.

“In the springtime, my other one that I love doing — it takes me a while, but it’s a dandelion glass, because I do all the different— I call them wishes, because you know when you pick up a dandelion and then you blow (away) the seedlings. So I always do that.”

How much she can create depends on the design and the item she’s painting, but Knightly said she can paint up to about a dozen glasses a day.

“My loons take me about two days because I double paint them, so I re-ally want to make sure I take my time and let the paint dry before I do the separate process.”

For Knightly, handpainting glasses is a type of stress relief. “It’s very relax-ing for me. It’s fun because I can do a single design on a variety of glasses or I can just do one design on just one

Glasses for all seasons and occasions

JJSilver and stones: Crafting since she was very young, Allisen Lemay turned her talent in “good gaud designs.”

By CLAUDETTE KNIERIEMSpecial to the Union Leader

Self-proclaimed “rock geek” Allisen Lemay started her “good gaud designs” business seven years ago

out of her Wilton home.She started making jewelry at a very

young age, stringing beads for earrings and necklaces. “I’ve been creating things since as far back as I can remem-ber,” she said. “My memere taught me how to knit, my mom taught me how to sew, my aunts taught me how to craft, and it stuck.”

Lemay took studio art classes in high school and college, and graduated with a degree in graphic design.

“Once I got a job, mostly behind a computer screen, I really missed the hands-on part of physically creating something,” she said. A few continu-ing education classes in metalsmithing later, she fell in love with silver and has

been working with it ever since.In the beginning, Lemay said she

played around with technique, and made lots of different styles of earrings, which she gave to friends and family for birthdays and holiday gifts.

“When I realized that there are only so many pairs of earrings that one person can graciously accept,” she laughed, “I decided I needed a larger audience, and a way to support my new hobby.”

Lemay took her experience with ma-nipulating silver wire from her earring designs, and put those techniques to work creating large focal pendants with stones, another one of her passions. The pendants quickly became her best-sellers, and she has created thousands to date. She says purple stones are the most popular, as are her turquoise and labradorite creations. Each pendant features her trademark silver squiggle, which she adds “for a touch of whimsy.” She said many of her customers are really getting into the metaphysical properties of the stones and gems.  

“People love pendants because they relate to them in a very personal way,

Wilton artisan leaves no stone unturned

CoURTESy

Mother-and-daughter team Eva and Sharon Ilg collect birch wood to make more items for their business, Abnormal Creations 2.

CoURTESy

For snowy landscapes, artist Christina Knightly uses an acrylic enamel paint.

CoURTESy

Allisen Lemay, owner of “good gaud designs,” arranges her products at a recent craft fair.

VSee Abnormal, Page C3

VSee Christina, Page C3

VSee Stones, Page C3

With the holiday shopping season now in full swing, the New Hampshire Union Leader helps you shop local. Today, and again on Dec. 7, we are featuring products made right here in the Granite State. Many of the items can be found at local retailers, and all of them can be found online at www.nhmade.com.