Our resident vendor specialist, JenniFear, once again takes us on a trip to the Art Side, this time to shine a light on some fresh meat - first time vendor and Renaissance woman extraordinaire, Steph Sweet of Myrcury's Toybox!

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Presented by: JenniFear

Myrcury's Toybox....WOW!  I don't even know where to start. Steph Sweet is, by far, one of the most creative people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Mixed media jewelry, day of the dead trinket boxes, costume caricatures, the list goes on. I am a firm believer that she could take over the world if she put her mind to it!



JenniFear: Give me a list of your interests in no particular order:

Steph Sweet: Space exploration, weird science, art, world cultures and traditions, particularly traditions having to do with death, afterlife, etc., animals in general, anything colorful, and of course anything pertaining to the eventuality of a zombie apocalypse!

JF: Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend will be your first vendor experience, are you nervous, excited?

SS: Oh man, all of the above! I've been planning for this since the first time Ivattended Spooky, back in 2008, so I am most definitely excited. I'm glad that I'm finally going to be able to make it happen. There are some nerves, but they mostly have to do with getting this show on the road finally, so to speak! I hope it all goes well!

JF: What are some things that we can expect to find you selling?

SS: I've kinda got a little bit of everything, really! I love creating wearable works of art, so you'll see a lot of hair accessories, assemblage art necklace pendants, and earrings of various sorts. I've also created trinket boxes, original hangable artworks, and even convention pass lanyards and holiday ornaments! One of my main inspirations is the Mexican cultural celebration known as Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, so you'll see a lot of sugar skulls and the like featured in my creations. I do love my zombies, though, and particularly enjoy mixing bright and happy with blood and gore, so you never know what you might find!

JF: Is there a method to your madness? Is there something you have to do to get into a crafty mood or is it with you always?

SS: I find my inspiration in all sorts of strange places. It can be something as simple as seeing a particular combination of colors, or going out shopping and seeing something that I could possibly enhance or make more interesting with a bit of paint or some random item in my craft arsenal. I tend to stay in a creative frame of mind most of the time. A lot of times I feel like the day is wasted if I haven't created something, drawn something, or at least taken the time to tinker with an idea. I like to infuse everything I do with a certain level of fun: If an idea makes me laugh, I'll probably do it. If the idea makes me laugh for five minutes straight, I'll create 300 of whatever it was! I realized just recently that pretty much everything I'll have with me at my table at Spooky this year, was inspired by my first time at the con, and also the people I met and the friends they've become since then. When it was all over that weekend in 2008, I couldn't wait to get home and get crafting! I was so inspired by the amazing costumes I saw, the fun of the zombie walk, the way that portrayals of death and horror and bloody murderous mayhem intermingled with huge smiles, tons of fun, and parties that lasted all night long! Ask me about anything you see on my table, and I can probably connect it with one of my experiences at Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend. So maybe going to this unconventional convention is what I have to do to get into a crafty mood. It sure seems to have helped anyway!!

JS: Since it's safe to assume that you won't be selling cakes at the convention, is this something that you plan to go forward with as a local business?

SS: I would really love that! Right now, I'm relying on word-of-mouth to get new orders for my custom cakes. I'm also learning as I go; I'm self-taught in all of the various artistic and creative things I do, from drawing and painting, to sculpting, to cake decorating. I most definitely still have a lot to learn about all things cake, but as long as I'm lucky enough to gain some business from those who are kind enough to support a budding cake artist like myself, I'm willing to just take things as they come and see where that particular road takes me. If I eventually find myself opening up my own bake shop, or  maybe working for Duff and appearing on Ace of Cakes (a dream come true!!!), that would be fantastic. But if it is meant to only ever be just a side hobby, I'll still continue striving to be as much of a professional cake artist as I can be.

JF: So if all goes well with your first vendor experience do you think you will branch out to different conventions or just stick with Spooky twice a year?

SS:"Twice a year," how exciting is it to think about that new possibility? I'm pretty excited! Well, to be honest, I used to be quite into other fandoms and their related conventions, such as anime and sci-fi/comic cons. I still enjoy a little bit of anime, and am definitely a sci-fi fan. Also, I'm as much into bright, cheerful, and cute as I am gory, bloody and horror! However, it wasn't until I became an attendee of SEUHW that I really felt a drive toward making a vendor experience happen. Like I said, the inspiration I've found there is immense! I will have to see how it goes setting up as a vendor this first time, before I can say for sure, but as of now, I'm open to the idea of giving it a go at another horror convention. As far as setting up at other conventions that pertain more to my other interests and the things I create that are inspired by them, well, I just haven't found that same type of drive yet, so I can't say for sure. I guess maybe I'm a zombie at heart!

JF: Are you a collector? If so what do you collect?

SS: A perfect way to illustrate my previous point: I collect Pez dispensers! At last count, I had around 400 of them, and have added countless more since then. I have everything from giant sized talking dispensers, to tiny and even plush keychain dispensers. Probably the coolest one I have is a vintage Mickey Mouse dispenser. My favorite character set is my Star Wars group! I have other collections as well, such as Nightmare Before Christmas memorabilia, and a small yet growing hoard of action figures, mostly Hellboy related. My big red hero! I don't know if it really counts as a collection, but anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a costume jewelry addict! My earrings are slowly but surely taking over my room!

JF: Most treasured thing that you own?

SS: That is kind of a tough question! A friend of mine recently made a plushie for me, of my original character, Myrcury. I definitely treasure things like that, artworks and such gifts from friends and fellow artists, more than most anything else. However I will say that last year at SEUHW, Max Brooks autographed my copies of both World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide, and they both now hold a place of honor on my bookshelf!

JF: What's your biggest accomplishment so far?

SS: I participate competitively in "street painting" festivals, several times a year in Orlando as well as in other cities in Florida. Last year, I participated for my fourth time in the Festival of the Masters exhibition at Downtown Disney. I spent a total of 25 hours over one weekend, chalking a 5'x7' reproduction of a painting titled "Fruit," an art noveau masterpiece by Alphonse Mucha. I was awarded first place in my category, for the best reproduction of a European masterpiece! I was pretty proud of that. Still am! I can't wait to participate in the event again this November, hopefully with similar success.

JF: Guest you are most looking forward to at Spooky this year?

SS: I feel like I was pretty spoiled last year, by the guest list. I got to meet Max Brooks, who was at the very top of my list for horror guests to meet. I also got to meet Terrence Zdunich, which was fantastic and unforgettable! Those two will be hard to top, in my book, but I am looking forward to the possibility of seeing Danny Trejo. And of course, gotta show my love for my favorite zombie, Bill Hinzman!!

JF: Favorite Horror Movie?

SS: Pretty much anything that ends in "Of the Dead," with only a few exceptions!

JF: Favorite actor/actress (doesn't have to horror related)?

SS: My all time favorite movie is Tank Girl, so for my favorite actress, I'd have to say its Lori Petty, for sure. My favorite actor is the extremely talented and diverse Doug Jones.

JF: Five years from now, where do you hope to be and what do you hope to be doing?

SS: Thus far, I have had some measure of success with my creative endeavors. Nothing makes me happier than to create artworks in all the various ways that I do, and to see how they are received by others. Artwork and handmade creations are my true passions in life, and I plan to keep doing as much as I can to make my passions in life work for me, so that I can spend as little of life as possible on things that I'm not passionate about. Who can say what will happen between now and five years from now? I just hope to still be creating my creations, successful with that, and enjoying life. That is, if I'm still alive five years from now. I mean, afterall, the zombie apocalypse could be right around the corner! So remember kids, aim for the head!!

Spooky Empire's Ultimate Horror Weekend will be Steph's first and only convention appearance this year. You should stop buy her table and buy something fabulous, and tell her that Jenni sent you! 

Myrcury's Toybox: 
http://hikarikat.com/steph/mt

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Myrcurys-Toybox/101950273174247

deviantART:
http://webmyrcury.deviantart.com