Christina Alessi of Sparkletree Wearable Art
June 29, 2009 | By desertmaidenbathworks
Christina Alessi is part of the Jersey City Craft Mafia. She hangs out with the likes of Luca Cusolito, Kiva Ford and Chris Maguire. She's got this obsession with zombies, which I totally understand, because my two year old is doing his best impression of a zombie right this very moment.
She's also part of a band, and makes awesome felted items!
Hi Christina, tell me a little about yourself?
My name is Christina Alessi and I am the hook and fiber behind Sparkletree Wearable Art in Bloomfield, New Jersey
Do you have any interesting personal factoids?
I am totally not a zombie.
Tell me about your craft
Currently, my main focus is on fiber arts such as crocheting, felting and embroidery. I work in recycled materials whenever possible. I unravel previously loved sweaters and scarves which I acquire from friends or the local thrift store. I also use some store bought recycled or organic yarns. My pieces are often accented with upcycled fabric pieces and trimmings.
Why do you love your particular medium?
Working with earth-friendly materials gives me an opportunity to breathe life into items which might have otherwise wound up in a landfill or circling the ocean. Did you see that on Oprah? Holy crap - I was having nightmares about it.
Also, working with unraveled items presents the challenge of incorporating different fiber weights and textures than I would have used before. Often, I have no idea what I'm doing when I start a project. I just keep at it until I like the direction it's moving in.
Who are your influences?
My mom. She's always making new curtains, pillows or decorations around her house. I was lucky 
enough to have been encouraged to be crafty my entire life. I have fond memories of hand-made Halloween costumes and toys. She made me "color-forms" playsets out of felt, showed me how to fashion doll clothes out of clothing scraps and taught me that drawing my own pictures was way more fun than coloring in coloring books.
Wow... this is all making sense now. Thanks, Mom!
Tell me about your most enjoyable experience with a customer.
I enjoy craft fair vending as opposed to internet selling because it allows me to interact with customers. I think that when people have an opportunity to have a hands-on experience, especially with felt items, they can appreciate the time and effort that goes into making each piece. This does not always translate on the web.
I think making a personal connection helps not only with individual sales, but in getting an idea of your target demographic and which items generate the most interest.
Where can we find your work?
I've just started a website, www.christinaalessi.com, to act as a hub for my creative ventures.The site has links to my Etsy (mySparkletree.etsy.com) shop, my band site and my Flickr photos. I also have a blog at mySparkletree.blogspot.com.
Any advice to new or young sellers just getting their feet wet?
As someone who's fairly new myself, I can only offer what seems to be working for me at the moment. - Just be persistent and get your name and your work out to as many people as possible. It's sort of uncomfortable, but I'm learning that comfort gets you nowhere.
What do you do outside of your business?
I have a band called Hey Tiger. We're in the process of recording a new record to be released on July 24th at Maxwells in Hoboken. Woot! I also enjoy drawing, painting and digital photography.
What does the "handmade movement" mean to you?
On a purely personal level, the handmade movement is important because it has allowed me to feel like I'm part of something bigger. As someone who's been crafting in one form or another my entire life, I'm thankful to have found a supportive and inspiring community of crafters. On a more global level, the handmade movement put an emphasis the importance of buying direct. You can purchase a one-of-a-kind accessory directly from the person who happily created it. No mass production, no corporate politics - just one person who's really psyched that you'll be wearing their art. What a fantastic option to have!
If you could have lunch with and pick the brain of any artist living or dead, who would you choose and why?
Oh man. I have no idea how to even answer this one. I'm lucky enough to have so many living artists who are willing to let me pick their brains... and so many dead artists who are willing to let me eat their brains. I mean. UM. Whoooooa. I'm soooo kidding.
*cough*
Photos are courtesy of Christina Alessi
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