Jenny Gehlhar

Tell us about yourself.
My name is Jenny. I live downtown Minneapolis. I first started sewing at a young age with my grandmother. She continued to dream up ideas and sew with me up until college when I started to work for the school's theatre costume department. I then designed and sewed costumes for Donna Jean's Costume Emporium. Now I enjoy designing and creating all sorts of fashion, costume, and home interior products. Apart from sewing I play bass for a local band, volunteer for CAA, publish Atomic TC zine, and freelance editorial and print layout and design services. Over the past few years I've been searching for my skills and interests that could best inform people of animal rights issues while also helping animals and stopping unnecessary cruelty. For now I've found that my creative design work is achieving those goals‹be it designing a vegan vending machine label, an animal rights newsletter, a sweatshirt, or a brightly colored rug. I'm very happy to have found my talents that can best help promote a healthy, compassionate lifestyle in others while also promoting a positive and motivational cycle of compassion and awareness in myself.

What will you be selling at the Craftstravaganza?
I'll be selling my custom home decoration items and clothing. The focus is on animal rights, so each item has a "companion" animal, be it a tiger portrayed through faux fur or a duck patch on a hooded sweatshirt. 10% of each sale is given to a sanctuary or organization for the companion animal on the item. Of course, no animal products are used. And to the best of my knowledge none of the materials were tested on animals. I plan to continue searching for the most humane fabrics and materials that are used in my products.

Clothing:
Hooded sweatshirts with matching shorts
Fashion scarves
Tank tops
Buttons
Chef aprons

Home decorating:
Rugs
Pillows
Ottomans
Lamp Shades

Do you sell your stuff anywhere else?
No. I'm launching a website soon, though. Please check back!
www.sooosweet.com

Where do you find inspiration?
I find my positive inspiration in the stories of animals that have been rescued from abusive situations and the people that make such rescues possible. People that live compassionate day-today lives inspire me, too. This reminds me that every single choice I make every item I buy and every meal I eat‹can have a positive impact on my life, the life of others, and the world.

What's your favorite animal?
Today . . .bunny.

Featured 6/01/2006