Crafters, hobbyists and starter-uppers from across the Azle area and beyond gather for a vendor fair at Azle High School
“I actually heard about (the vendor fair) from a family friend, and I thought it was the best way to start my business,” Riley Hartwell of Hart Farms in Denton said. “I thought it was just the perfect little town. This is my first market. I'm 17 and so this is my way of hopefully paying off some college. When I was actually in seventh grade, my best friend taught me how to crochet. I fell in love with making plushies and how it made other people feel. I loved the smile on people's face. I thought it was kind of doing like a service to people. Then when someone wanted to purchase it, I thought it was like this amazing idea that people would actually want to, you know, support and grow alongside my business. I think the idea of following my dreams at such a young age was really the showstopper.”
ZACH FREEMAN
Lavonne Culbreth of Springtown stands in front of homemade sourdough bread and free samples at the vendor fair.
“What got me started,” Culbreth pondered. “Just my love of bread. I wanted something more nutritious than the store-bought stuff, so sourdough bread it was.”
ZACH FREEMAN
Kelli Limbaugh promotes her Azle-based yard sign business, Long Dog Yard Art, at the vendor fair.
ZACH FREEMAN
Left to right, Kim Garcia and Jeneice Annunziato of Annunziato Jiu Jitsu. “We’ve been open now for going on two years,” Jeneice Annunziato said of the Park Place business. “My husband (Benjamin) is ex-military and a world champion. He's our coach and teaches us how to protect ourselves.”
ZACH FREEMAN
Eighth grade Azle Junior High science teacher Amanda Russ has won the 2023 Firebird Book Award in Christian Fantasy and Outstanding Creator Award in Christian Fiction for her Christian fantasy novels, the “Sacred” series. “The first book is about a single mom who has to go through heaven and hell to save her only daughter with the help of her guardian angel and then the second book kind of just continues with the story and the fallout from book one,” Russ said. “A lot of different things went into the book. The first thing is, I was behind somebody at Jack in the Box who had a wing tattoo on their ankle, and I was like, ‘oh, that'd be interesting if his tattoo popped out and became wings’ and so that's kind of the premise for the wings of the angels. I have won several awards for book one and I was at “Readers Take Denver” in Colorado in April and I have another several book signings coming up throughout this year.”
ZACH FREEMAN
Crystal Schmitz promotes her Azle-based cottage bakery, Ampis Baked Creations, at the vendor fair.
ZACH FREEMAN
“I honestly just was a college student who was bored and learned how to crochet,” AHS Class of 2022 grad Elyse Atwell of Snug Stitch Studios said. “I started making stuffed animals and then people were like, ‘oh, I want to buy those.’ I started selling them so that I could fund my hobby, that isn't necessarily cheap. I ended up making a little bit of money and I didn't have 17,000 stuffed animals around my house. I have a lot of fun. I just go to markets, and I sell stuff on Instagram and do commissions for people. My mom saw (the vendor fair) advertised on Facebook. You can either (direct message) me on Instagram or email me (at snugstitchstudios@gmail.com) and I'll do pretty much whatever stuffed animal you want.”
