All throughout the month of November, strings of autumn-themed garland hung along the trees of North Main Street in Sebastopol. These were the works of local artist Megan Elizabeth Von Bima, founder of She’s Crafty by ME (ME stands for Megan Elizabeth). But before it was a business, crafting was simply a hobby of Von Bima’s, until her work was discovered by the event organizer for Sebastopol’s Downtown Association, Kathleen Escamilla, who thought Von Bima’s festive holiday garlands would be a fun way to spruce up the main street of Sebastopol.
Von Bima was selling her creations at the Sebastopol Makers Market, which occurs on the first Saturday of every month. After being asked to create 12 12-inch garlands for the street, she decided to take her passion to the next level.
Von Bima explained she’d always been a fine artist and enjoyed painting and creating long before making it her profession. But after she began working at Beverly’s Crafts in Rohnert Park before it closed last year, she was exposed to more fabric-related art. Von Bima stated
“I like to decorate and make my house festive, so I created this garland. For the first one I made, (it) was actually for Thanksgiving, then I made one for Halloween.”
Neighbors and house guests enjoyed her holiday art and encouraged her to try selling it at a market, so she debuted her garlands at the Sebastopol Makers Market in October.
Since then Von Bima has expanded her business, and is continuing to brainstorm new crafts and trinkets to sell at the makers market. Some of these include her handmade Christmas wreath decorations with dangling garland finishes, and various designs of hanging rag tie decorations. Von Bima and her husband also share an affinity for garden art and sell cactus and succulent plants at the She’s Crafty by ME Makers Market booth. She also is working toward launching a bohemian-style jewelry line, “My Roots.” Currently she is only selling her creations at the Sebastopol Makers Market, but she has hopes to eventually attend more makers markets in Sonoma County. Recently she worked on the staff of a crafting event called Patchwork, “a makers market that is put on by a couple of amazing women named Nicole Stevenson and Nicole Spaulding,” Von Bima said. They are part of a craft business called Dear Handmade Life that organizes events for small business owners in the form of festivals, workshops and spreads art business tips and advice through their website.
Von Bima hopes that through her business she can inspire others to find creative outlets and embrace art in their own lives. She would also like to encourage anyone who’s interested to attend a makers market.
“There’s this desire for makers markets these days. They’re full of all sorts of things people have created,” she said. Makers markets have booths for produce, beverages, vintage items and more. “My favorite part about the markets so far is seeing what other creative people have come up with and coming up with some new ideas with them.”
