These Brockton Etsy artisans have one-of-a-kind gifts for you for the holidays
BROCKTON — You are a few clicks away from making holiday shopping a breeze while supporting local artisans in the Brockton area.
Local artists have found an e-commerce website to display their handcrafted goods, earth gems, vintage items and craft supplies. Etsy offers virtual shop owners the freedom to sell any craft that tickles their fancy.
The categories range from holiday shops, personalized items and spiritual items to jewelry, art, clothing, home décor and custom creations.
Here are three local Etsy shops that will transform holiday shopping.
Crafty Leo Art
The Etsy online shop Crafty Leo Art started in 2015 as Leonarda Vieira-Edwards' fun hobby.
During Vieira-Edwards' senior year at Brockton High School in 2015, she made and sold bracelets, but starting an online business was the last thing on her mind. She enjoyed creating arts and crafts and thought it was a good use of her free time and eventually opened Crafty Leo Art later on.
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The Etsy store didn't gain sales or traction until two years later in 2017. However, Vieira-Edwards became more serious about producing craft goods once the store sold its first item.
Vieira-Edwards handmakes each item customized in her Etsy shop. She sells drinkware, wall décor, cake toppers, spiritual pieces, key chains, ornaments, pillows and special occasion gifts, including for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Christmas.
The most popular item in her Etsy shop is resin trays embedded with real flowers. The second most popular item is the flower shadow boxes. A customer can request the shadow box to be filled with flowers or pictures of your loved one to add a sentimental touch.
Vieira-Edwards works a full-time job during the day and at night fulfills orders and creates art for her business. Some nights, she goes to bed at midnight but enjoys running her own business.
To shop personalized gifts from Crafty Leo Art, visit www.etsy.com/shop/CraftyLeoArt.
The Crystals Align
Joanna Valentin of Brockton found a new passion while amethyst mining in the unforgiving Georgia heat in September 2019.
Valentin carefully dug holes for six hours, looking for dark violet-colored gemstones.
"I knew I loved crystals and rocks my entire life, and I used them through my own healing, but mining a crystal that someone hasn't seen or touched in millions of years was an emotion that I had never felt. So at that moment, I knew I wanted my own crystal business," Valentin said.
Valentin opened her Etsy shop a month later in October 2019, selling crystals, rocks and other minerals.
"My vision is to help and educate people that through crystals, meditation and affirmations, we can heal ourselves from our own emotional wounds and learn to continue to live an aligned life by using methods daily," Valentin said.
"As a certified crystal healer and reiki specialist, I want to make people aware of the benefits of crystals and how they can help you heal through crystal work. Not only because they are beautiful specimens but because of the frequencies and benefits of having them around you and your home can be. My vision is to one day have my own shop and healing clinic," Valentin said.
Valentin's overall goal is to expand The Crystals Align Etsy shop into a physical store and attract customers who are into holistic and alternative healing or who want to give a beautiful gift.
"I ordered a few crystals as gifts. The gift wrap was the cutest, and the crystals more than met my expectations. I love them all — amazing service and products. Highly recommend," Nina Diggs, a customer of Crystals Align, said.
To browse the shop, type in "Crystals Align" on Etsy or visit www.etsy.com/shop/CrystalsAlign.
Jada M Art Shop
Jada M Art Shop of Brockton opened in April 2021 as a way for Jada Marie Adams to express her artistic vision through watercolor and acrylic paint on miniature canvases.
The online Etsy store sells canvas paintings and specialty art prints. The hand-painted canvases range from abstract art to cotton candy-colored sunset skies to white clouds floating in the blue sky.
The self-taught artist gets inspiration from the things around her. She draws people and paints landscapes, abstracts, flowers, fruit and other objects.
Once an idea pops up into her head, she starts sketching drafts and will use either graphite or colored pencils to bring the ideas to paper. The length of time to create a work of art depends on how large the canvas is.
Adams is a pianist and also plays the guitar in her free time. Art has been her life since she was 4 years old, and 20ty years later, the love for art continues to grow.
"Drawing helped me cope with anything that was going on with my life. It allowed me to escape any chaos around me and made me feel safe," Adams said.
The young artist struggles with perfectionism and wants all her pieces to satisfy and amaze her customers.
"I am my own biggest critic and can tend to have high expectations for myself when it comes to my work. Creating abstract pieces has helped me loosen up a bit and just allowed me to create and not worry about perfection," Adams said.
"Art is what you make it. It can be anything you want it to be. It can be intricate and realistic or incredibly simplistic. There's a lot of freedom in that because it literally allows anyone to be an artist and it allows the possibilities of what can be created to be endless," Adams said.
To shop original one-of-a-kind art from Jada M Art on Etsy visit https://www.etsy.com/shop/JadaMArtShop.
Enterprise staff reporter Alisha Saint-Ciel can be reached by email at stciela@gannett.com You can follow her on Twitter at @alishaspeakss. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Enterprise today.
This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton Etsy shops: Crafty Leo Art, Crystals Align, Jada M Art
