Artist Market Full of Favorite Vendors Next Weekend

by Jonathan Weaver

Dozens of handmade art work is available for sale at next weekend’s Fort Armstrong Folk Festival – including new and reoccurring glass, pottery and ornament vendors.

Recurring booths in the Artist Market this year are to include those such as Vlasic Glass, Angel Ann Bows and Yamali Naturals.

Bill Vlasic, of Ohio, has been attending the Fort Armstrong Folk Festival since one of the festival founders, Dr. William Martin, invited him to showcase his glass art.

“When I moved back to Ohio, I decided to try and learn how to do it. And I’ve been doing it ever since.

“I’m having fun – if I can see it in my head, I can make it,” Vlasic said.

Another reoccurring booth will include “Angel Anne Bows” – formed by former area residents Suzanne Ruggieri and her husband, John – both now of Greensburg.

The couple started their business in March 2014, and made their first local impression at Ford City Summerfest that summer.

“You always need a place to start so we started out with towns and locations that have significant meaning to us,” Ruggieri said.

The business is named after their children, Gabriel and Emily.

“Biblically-speaking, Gabriel is an angel, so we wanted to put his name into it – but considering these are hair bows for girls, we couldn’t really put ‘Gabriel.’ So we chose to do the ‘Angel’ and Emily’s middle name is ‘Anne’ so we made it ‘Angel Anne Bows,’” Ruggieri explained a few years ago. “It fit together – anything anymore you do is for your kids.

“We did this for fun because our daughter likes them, but also because it’s a neat thing to get into and make something for all personalities.”

One of ‘Angel Anne’s’ first bows was not girly at all, but represented the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

“There are so many other girls out there like that,” Ruggieri reflected. “We try to have a very wide range because no two kids are the same.”

In 2014, “Angel Anne Bows” made three styles - mini, large and pony tail holders – and had about 1,300 styles, with about 50 left to debut. High school sports fans – including of the Armstrong Riverhawks – can also find the perfect bow for them.

A Ford City soap maker has come a long way since her Folk Festival debut in 2011.

Emma Waugaman founded the company in January 2010 while only a teenager. Now 20 years old, she is still at the helm of the Ford City-based operation.

During her first folk festival, Waugaman brought more than 500 bars of soap – including ‘Solstice’ - for participants to smell and admire.

She said in 2011 that her favorite scents always change, and this year, she is looking forward to bringing back some fan favorites – such as a baby bar.

“I have a bar for every use, from the sink to the tub. Whatever’s in the shower is my favorite,” Waugaman said. “A lot of the soaps serve different purposes. I go through seasons where I go ‘I love this bar, no I like this bar’ usually being the batch I just made because at that point, it’s the most pungent and it fills the house and I go nuts over it.”

Waugaman was busy recently preparing Exotic Orange, Lemonhead-scented and Poochie Poo dog shampoo bars. She said instead of attending other local events, she devotes all of June and July to preparing her 25 scents for the Fort Armstrong Folk Festival.

Waugaman said the ‘scrap’ bar she uses now is her newest scent – Juniper Mist. That scent will also be for sale later this week.

Although Emma is the soap maker, she gets plenty of help from her eight brothers and sisters. Her youngest sister, Ilamay, was the idea for the namesake of the business (her name being spelled backwards).

Ilamay, now seven years old, will be at the festival this year, helping greet customers at Booth #14.

A full listing of all vendors is available at armstrongfestival.com

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