Necklaces crafted by Vie Davis were displayed for sale during the 44th Mountain Heritage Day, Sept. 29, 2018. Photo by Hallie West.
Soulfully Salvaged Paper Arts crafter, Vie Davis, makes her jewelry from recycled magazines. She makes the beads by cutting out long triangle shaped strips of paper from magazines and tightly rolling them into a long bead shape and gluing the paper together.
Davis was one of the many crafters who came to the 44th annual Mountain Heritage Day on Sept. 29. The event attracted thousands of visitors who enjoyed good food, music, unique crafts and jewelry made of materials ranging from recycled magazines to buffalo horn.
“Taking something that’s going to get thrown out and turning it into something pretty is awesome,” explained Davis as she finished gluing a bead and tossed it into a bowl with the others.
What started as a unique Christmas gift idea for Davis soon grew into a business where she works craft shows and sells her work on Etsy. This is her sixth time working Mountain Heritage Day, but she has been making her jewelry for nine years.
Davis is just one of the 94 craftsman who participated in Mountain Heritage Day this year. In addition to jewelers, some other crafts include wood cravings, metal work, leather work, dog accessories, landscape paintings and more.
Other artists include Kristof Socha, of Genuine Baltic Amber Jewelry. The Baltic amber in his jewelry comes from Poland and claims the amber is 30 to 90 million years old. Socha claims that no other stone can compare.
“Amber is considered one of the most unique gemstones and I don’t know if any other gemstone in the world comes even close to its uniqueness and history,” said Socha.
Socha is from Columbus, Ohio and this is his second year coming to Mountain Heritage Day. He enjoys coming to events like this because he loves to interact with people. He does not have a website, but he is working on creating an Esty page.
Shoppers also visited Cherokee craftsman Bill Radford. Radford creates handmade Cherokee crafts from his own home. He lives in Cherokee, N.C. and is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. His jewelry is handcrafted with old Cherokee designs that are 800 to 1100 years old. He also makes knives with buffalo horn or coyote jaw handles.
“I think it was really neat seeing the variety of shops, the different crafts people had and what they brought to the event,” said shopper Stephanie Powell. After looking around at the many venders, Powell bought a small handmade obsidian blade knife with a handle made of animal bone from Radford.
“It makes it more interesting because even if you make similar knives, they’re all going to be slightly one of a kind,” explained Powell.
This is Radford’s first year at Mountain Heritage Day, but he has been crafting his artwork since the 1980s. Radford’s work is also available in stores in Cherokee, N.C.
