Wooly Belle showcases local artisans
VINTON–Amanda Bishop gets to do for a living what most people do for fun: she makes and sells crafts. Whatever strikes her fancy and is affordable, she learns to create. Then she shares her creations and interests with others. The possibilities are endless.
Billi Falls (standing) teaches a class in beginning knitting at Wooly Belle craft shop in Vinton.
She and her mother, Pam Bishop, travelled the weekend craft show circuit for several years. Now Amanda Bishop has settled into a store in Vinton, while her mother continues to market their goods at craft shows and festivals from March to December. Last year the pair had only two free weekends during the entire craft fair season.
Their new craft store, the Wooly Belle, is located at 128 North Pollard Street. The Bishops live in Vinton and chose to locate their business here as well.
“We like Vinton. There’s a nice feel here. People connect well in a small community,” said Amanda Bishop.
According to Bishop, they literally opened the store on a shoestring. They rented the building from owner Stanley Pennington, came in to clean and paint the following day, brought in furniture they purchased at Goodwill, set up displays with the inventory originally made for their craft shows, and quickly opened for business.
Bishop admits that the prospect of opening a new business was a little frightening, leaving her wondering if there would be any customers, but the news of their opening has been spreading. So far advertising has been mainly word of mouth, and through their Facebook page.
“There is a community of wool felters and of other artisans who seem to be able to search each other out,” said Bishop.
Amanda Bishop has opened the Wooly Belle craft shop on South Pollard Street in Vinton. The store sells crafts made by local artisans and also offers a variety of craft classes.
Pam Bishop says her daughter has always been an artist and crafter. Her father taught her to draw when she was a young child.
Amanda Bishop graduated from William Fleming High School and attended Liberty University, and then worked in office jobs. Four years ago she bought a sewing machine and taught herself to sew. She now creates many of the items she sells on the road and in her shop—fabric flowers, aprons, clothing, tag blankets, and hair bows. She knits and felts. Both she and her mother crochet the hats and scarves that they sell. Her father, Bob Bishop, has taken up woodcarving, specializing in rooster motifs.
The Wooly Belle sells craft items on consignment from local artisans. Their intention is not to compete with the merchandise of other established shops in the area, but to set themselves apart with their own unique inventory of items local people create.
Not only do the Bishops want local artisans to sell their merchandise in the store; they want the artisans to teach others their skills.
While the store is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and on Sunday afternoons, after hours the Wooly Belle offers classes in a variety of crafts. Knitting and crocheting classes have already begun. Card-making and glass jewelry classes are scheduled, along with needle felting and silk scarf dyeing. Bishop is planning on adding classes in stained glass, yarn dyeing, rug hooking, beading, and whatever else catches her attention, crafts that she herself would like to learn.
Some of the artisans who display their crafts at the Wooly Belle and who have signed up to teach are individuals they met at craft shows. Bishop also searches online at www.etsy.com/ , an e-commerce website which focuses on handmade items, for unique crafts and people to teach them.
For now, Amanda’s interest is in teaching a wide variety of affordable fun crafts, including those that can be enjoyed by children and by seniors with limited dexterity, such as those who suffer from arthritis.
On February 8, she is offering Valentine craft classes for children at four different times during the day to accommodate both homeschooled and public school students.
Bishop runs the store and takes care of the business details, while her mother continues her job as an insurance agent with the K.C. Jones Agency in Roanoke, and travels to weekend craft shows.
The Bishops stay busy producing crafts to sell both in the store and on the road. The secret to their success at craft shows and festivals is selling inexpensive items that are mostly priced at $5.00 and under. They have become savvy in tailoring items to the particular market for each craft show and festival, determining what items, colors, schools, and themes are popular or featured in each locality. The Bishops will have a booth at the Dogwood Festival in Vinton this spring.
Bishop misses the socializing at crafts shows and festivals, but not the setting up and breaking down of the displays. She enjoyed traveling and seeing new places, the mini-vacations and girl’s weekends with her mother, but for now her dreams have come true, with the help of her mother, with the opening of the Wooly Belle.
Those interested in classes at the Wooly Belle can find the schedule on their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/woolybelle or may call the store at 540-400-6266.
By Debbie Adams
