Angie Sagha - Director - Owner

My name is Angie Sagha. I am a born and raised Decatur native. 

My vision for A. C.E. is to give a space for personal growth, creativity, ideas and community. We hope to provide a diverse place of learning to connect wisdom, experience, talent, energy and the customer. My dream is to help people unlock their creative potential promoting lifelong learning through a warm and vibrant environment.

Meet Our Newest Instructor

Karen Yocks - Chalk Couture

My name is Karen and I joined Chalk Couture in June 2019! I fell in love instantly and cannot stop creating! The thing I love most about Chalk Couture is that their surfaces are all reusable and the chalk pastes are easily wiped off to use the surface again with a new transfer!

I have been a crafter for many years. I jumped in with both feet in 1999 with wanting to make my daughter’s birth announcements. I have more rubber stamps and scrapbooking supplies that I will never be able to use, but love having and creating when the feeling hits.

Recently I have also gotten the bug for my Scan and Cut machine and making t-shirts and other fun stuff with vinyl! Heat transfer vinyl, craft vinyl, it doesn’t matter. I just love to create!

I love sharing my love for crafting. Using new mediums, tools, supplies and other goodies just thrills me. I really enjoy teaching others how to use these things as well!

Rose Adams - Continental Knitting

Hello fellow crafters, my name is Rose Adams, mother of two boys and grandma to one very precocious 10-year-old granddaughter. I have been a crafter my entire life. I grew up in Assumption, Illinois and have traveled with my military husband overseas and here in the states. I started with crochet at age 6, added sewing, cross stitch and embroidery in my teens-learned continental style knitting in my late twenties. I also dabble in scrap-booking, painting, up cycling clothing and household goods, along with being a cake decorator, gardener and avid reader. I have taught many people needle-craft and am looking forward to teaching all of you. If you want to see some of my work, you can head to Facebook and look up Rosecraft in Lincoln, Illinois.

Mary Balagna - Quilting

My name is Mary Balagna. I am married to my husband Terry, have four children who are all married and 13 grandchildren plus twins on the way. I graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Pharmacy and currently serve as the National Vice-President of Project Linus. I also am a tour guide at the Illinois Governor’s Mansion in Springfield. I have been quilting of the past 40 years and never get tired of cutting up fabric and sewing it back together again! I wrote a quilting book called “Quilt it With Love”, have designed more patterns than I can count which includes the Project Linus Mystery Quilt Challenge quilt, which is held in the Fall, each year with proceeds benefiting Project Linus chapters across the country. I also enjoy creating my own quilting designs for my family and friends.

Brenda Bunch - Fiber Art

The love of fiber was rooted in the beginning with sewing clothes for high school. Over the years at Millikin University, the discovery of self-expression through fiber opened endless opportunity. To keep this gained knowledge and experience of 50 some years to myself seemed terribly selfish and I began to share my passion and empower others to express themselves in this medium. I truly love what I do. I cannot get enough!

My artwork has juried into several fiber art competitions and won a ribbon or two. However, creating on demand is not part of my makeup. I create for family and friends and teach others so they can do the same.

Currently, I’m teaching Bernina Mastery and quilt classes at Peace and Applique in Rochester and Bloomington. It is a wonderful group of fiber enthusiasts.

My home with Mike, my husband of 30 years has predominantly been in Decatur, Ill. My son, Russ lives in New York, and Courtney, my daughter, lives in Cerro Gordo. They have blessed me with 5 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Affiliations include: Pilgrim Lutheran Church, Millikin University Alum, Lincoln Land Quilt Guild and Sew Happy Stitchers

Debi Frankovich - Crochet 

          I moved here last June from Sycamore, IL with my husband, Chris and our son, Sam. I now live in Decatur.

          I've been crocheting since I was 9 years old. The last 6 years I have been teaching at Michael's craft stores in the Chicago area and local libraries. In 2013 I became a "Certified Crochet Instructor" by Craft Yarn Council. In the past 6 years I have participated in Warm Up America and Prayer shawl ministry.  I have my own business, “sewingbydebi” and sell my crochet creations at craft shows.

Dates for some of my upcoming 2019 shows are:

October 5th and 6 - Logan county fall pickers market at the fairgrounds in Lincoln

October 12th - finders market at the Decatur convention center

October 26th and 27th - sycamore pumpkin fest in sycamore Illinois

November 15th -16th is the Mount Zion Christmas show in Mount Zion convention center

Jennifer Fisher - Pottery 

Hello, my name is Jennifer Fisher. I'm the owner of Next of Kiln and have taught pottery/clay classes for over 10 years. I have a background in art from Millikin University, but I can't remember a time when art wasn't a part of my life. I enjoy helping others experience what I love so much-being creative! I look forward to meeting some new faces, seeing some old and sharing a fun, relaxing time together. .

Erin Janvrin - Knitting  - Machine repair


Erin is a Decatur native, married, mom of 2 teenage daughters. She is an avid knitter and describes herself as “never not knitting”. She is fulfilling her longtime dreams of sharing knitting with others, and also starting a sewing machine repair service. Along with her Mom, Erin has an active Etsy shop ”Minnie Moon Sewing” where they make project bags and needle cases for knitters and crocheters.  

Michelle Holsapple - Art Therapy

My name is Michelle Holsapple. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Art Therapy. I have worked with children, adults, and those with special needs.

My goal is to help people lose themselves in their art through a wide range of art medium.

Pam Larrick

Card Making & Paint w/Unicorn SPiT

I love to create “stuff”!  I’m always looking for new things to try and came across Unicorn SPiT about 3 years ago. After watching several videos, I purchased one bottle and created my first work of art! I was hooked! I truly love working with this product and teaching others what you can create with it! 

Sandra Lindberg 

 Hand Embroidery - Knitting - Sewing 

 Sandra is very happy to be teaching at A Crafting Experience, where people can discover how happiness comes from making objects that can be used again and again. Sandra’s mother, Astrid, taught her to knit and sew, as she had been taught by her mother. But it was Sandra’s sister Ingrid who helped her slow down and relax enough to really enjoy knitting. “It’s not brain surgery,” Ingrid said to Sandra and playfully slapped at her tense fingers. They laughed together all those years ago and before Sandra knew it, she was exploring all kinds of knitting and sewing. She looks forward to sharing what she has learned with others in Macon County.

Sandra and her son Isaac

Judy Rooney - Calligraphy 

Judy Rooney is a retired teacher/professor with over 45 years of experience in education and English, teaching students ranging in age from 5 to 80. While her vocation was in academics, her avocation is in art. She minored in her undergraduate years in both education and art, filling her schedule with as many classes and studio blocks as she could. She has continued learning and teaching, winning awards for her art, photography, and quilting. Her experience includes Calligraphy, Watercolors, Watercolor Pencils, Watercolor Inks, Colored Pencils, Acrylic Painting, Oil Painting, Pastels, Pen and Ink, Drawing and Composition, Pottery, Clay Arts and Printmaking. She has raffled off Art Classes for fundraisers for local Catholic schools. She designed and painted the Buddy Bench for the YMCA; she also designed a Rudolph the Reindeer Bus for the Y in a past Decatur Christmas Parade. Judy has taught with the Decatur Arts Council as well as being the Art and Environment Director at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish. She offers private classes and teaches at a Resort in Arizona during the winter months. She will be offering independent classes with A Crafting Experience as time allows—let us know what you want to try! Her other hobbies include photography, sewing, quilting, writing, and reading. Life is grand and “ART is Fun”!



Kelly Vetter - Mixed Media Art

Kelly is a local artist from Monticello. She has a love for mixed-media, vintage pieces and anything that tells a story, especially an old story.


Kelly is always looking for some new art in which to engage. This is why she has so much to offer at the Creative Gym. she is looking forward to teaching interesting and fun classes.


She currently teaches at a local studio, Canvas and Corks, in Monticello. She is excited to share her different forms of media at A Crafting Experience.

Scarlett Wells 

 Sewing - Quilting

             Scarlett Wells grew up in west Tennessee. Homeschooled through the eighth grade, she was encouraged to work with fabric from a young age. Her first project on the sewing machine, a button-up shirt with a collar and matching pair of shorts, was completed at age six. After medical retirement from the Armed Forces in 2004, Scarlett received her Bachelor of Science in History Education in 2006 from Illinois State University. She taught high school history and psychology for four years after graduation.

In 2010, Scarlett chose to fulfill her high school dream of working in business and began a small online boutique as a seamstress. By the spring of 2012, her business transitioned to an online fabric store. In August of 2014, she formally opened a brick and mortar quilt shop.

           Currently, Scarlett owns and operates The Fabric Cobbler, Ltd, in Forsyth, Illinois. The quilt shop is a source of pride in the community and a place for sewists and quilters to find the best fabric for miles. The staff of The Fabric Cobbler enjoy the interaction with clients and most especially love getting acquainted with our regular clients. Each customer is important to our staff and many feel as if they are family.

          Scarlett's sewing and quilting talents include pattern designing, teaching, sewing nearly all of the clothes worn by her children and herself, as well as intricate quilting.

Connect

[email protected]
(217) 330-6535

Visit

1215 Hickory Point Mall
Forsyth, Illinois 62535

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