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Mini makers earn a little money and show off their art at Waterfront Farmers Market

Mini Makers made some major sales at the Waterfront Farmers Market on Thursday. 

The young entrepreneur-artists, students at Creative Little Studio on Pioneer Way, set up tables inside the Skansie Park pavilion and peddled everything from miniature rock sculptures to catnip-filled cat toys.  

A steady stream of customers wandered through, examining the goods, remarking on the moxie of the youthful makers, and making purchases. 

Less than two hours after the market opened, Cara Furman had already earned $38 selling her gravel sculptures. She makes them using a hot glue gun.  

“It takes a lot of patience,” the 14-year-old said. 

Cara Furman discusses her rock sculptures with a customer at the Waterfront Farmers Market on Thursday, July 23. Photo by Vince Dice

So how does one stumble onto the art of gravel sculpting? 

“One day, I was super bored and I just glued together a circle,” Furman said. “I thought, ‘Maybe this could be something.’ So I started to do animals.” 

Creative Little Studios 

Creative Little Studios — neé Stitch-o-roo & Art Too — helped cultivate Furman’s boredom-inspired creative thunderbolt. 

All of the Mini Makers credited “Miss Jenny” for developing their talents. 

“Miss Jenny” is Jenny Czyzewski, who has owned Creative Little Studio since 2019. The business offers art classes for kids and adults, especially in sewing and pottery. It hosts summer camps, birthday parties and more. 

In this case, it also inspires a certain entrepreneurial spirit that will be necessary for any youngsters who pursue careers in the arts. 

Young entrepreneurs sold their creations in the Mini Maker Marketplace during the Waterfront Farmers Market on Thursday. Jenny Czyzewski is on the right, doing an interview for social media with two of the makers. Photo by Vince Dice

“They can come in and sell their creations and have a try at running a small business,” Czyzewski said. “I get more and more kids that are excited about this every year.” 

So many kids were interested this year that she had to make two shifts. One group of Mini Makers was due to pack up around 3 p.m., to replaced by a whole other group for the late afternoon. 

“I applaud them for being willing to come out here and be brave enough to share their creative energy. They really learn a lot doing this,” Czyzewski said. 

Always be selling

Including salesmanship skills. Though some of the makers already had that. 

Sophia Davis, 11, sold 3D-printed trinkets and items she had sewn. She’d already made $46 after less than two hours on Thursday. 

Sophia said she got into the crafts after she won a 3D printer and a sewing machine for selling more than 2,200 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. So she already had the sales part down pat. 

“I like doing the coding for 3D printing,” Sophia said. “But sometimes it doesn’t work.” 

Jordyn Ross, 9, sold polymer clay creations with thin coats of resin. She estimated that she’d sold “five to seven” items, but she hadn’t yet totaled up how much she’d made. 

Jordyn Ross, 9, sold polymer clay creations at the Waterfront Farmers Market on Thursday. Photo by Vince Dice

The process for making her clay sculptures sounds complicated. She molds clay into her creation, then bakes it, coats it with UV resin and heats it under a lamp or in direct sunlight. 

“It’s fun and easy to make. And I like selling stuff at maker’s market,” Ross said. 

Theo the Rat 

Elsie Van Oordt, 14, had sold about $16 worth of felt bracelets, critters and other items. She owes her maker career to a rat, she explained. 

Her mother used to have a pet rat named Theo. But mom developed an allergy to rats, so Elie sewed her a felt rat for Christmas one year. 

“Theo the Rat started my sewing felt stuff,” Van Oordt said. “I just love to make things. I’ve been making stuff since forever.” 

Mini Makers wait for customers to stop by their tables during the Waterfront Farmers Market on Thursday, July 23. Photo by Vince Dice