photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Cindy Herington, co-owner of Lawrence Craft Company, shows a variety of art journal and memory books that have been made at the store.

For me, Christmas in August often means a court order compelling me to take down my holiday lights. But for a new business on Lawrence’s 23rd Street, it means a classroom full of people who are eager to start on their list of Christmas cards.

Of course, these aren’t ordinary people. They’re crafters, and they don’t just send Christmas cards. They make them too.

There are a couple of truisms involved with making your own Christmas cards. One is to leave yourself plenty of time, which is why Cindy Herington, co-owner of Lawrence Craft Company, can confidently predict the store’s August Christmas card-making classes will be sold out.

“You’ve got to get started early,” said Herington, who owns the store at 1502 W. 23rd St. with her daughter, Amanda Ballmer.

As for the second truism, it is an important one: “Don’t send these cards to people who throw away Christmas cards,” Herington said.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Classes on how to construct intricate, handmade Christmas cards are popular at Lawrence Craft Company.

The intricate creations involve far too much work for that type of ending. To Herington’s way of thinking, they deserve a place on a shelf like a piece of art rather than a spot in a discard pile.

“There are so many brilliant people who are crafters,” Herington said. “I don’t think crafters get enough respect, honestly.”

They have gotten a new place devoted to them, though. Herington and Ballmer started the business during the pandemic, but the shop was located in an out-of-the-way place in south Lawrence off of the main commercial corridor. Recently, the pair moved the business along 23rd Street, next door to high-traffic businesses like Chipotle and Taco Bell.

The new site — it used to house a store that sold truck accessories — has plenty of space not only for merchandise but also to host crafting classes. That’s a big part of what the mother-daughter duo wanted to accomplish with a new store.

“We love to be around other crafters,” Herington said.

They also love throwing a lot of different crafting ideas at their customers. The store stocks a large amount of paper, card stock, paints, stitching supplies and numerous other items. What crafters do with all those items might surprise you.

Currently, one of the more popular activities is called “gelli printing.” In involves the use of a gelatin plate that crafters can create designs, words or other images on. Once that plate is created, it can be filled with paints and used much like a giant stamp to imprint your custom designs on paper or fabrics.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Merchandise at Lawrence Craft Company is pictured in February 2023.

In the same vein, the store also has supplies for “water marbling,” which is an old practice that involves a tray of water and dollops of paint that are carefully dropped into the water. Crafters use combs, rakes and other devices to spread out the paints on the surface of the water to create intricate designs. Once a design is completed, paper can be dipped into the water to create a custom print.

Perhaps most popular of all right now is book making or art journals. The process often involves taking a book, removing the pages and using the cover to house a new collection of paper-based art creations, ranging from scrapbook pages to watercolor prints to stamps or other collectibles. Often the covers also are decorated by the crafters. While using an existing book to create a new one is common, crafters sometimes think outside the box when creating a book from scratch.

“We did one class where we made a book cover out of a pancake box,” Herington said.

(If I ever write a novel, I’m going to insist on that method for the cover to ensure that something will be flatter than the plot.)

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

A skeleton and beadwork adorn a handmade book at Lawrence Craft Company.

Herington said the store is pleased with its success so far. Brick-and-mortar craft stores, she said, are having a bit of a turnaround. Many of the largest chains went out of business when online retailers began to dominate the sale of crafting supplies. While crafters initially took to the online model, she said many are coming back to traditional stores because online shopping has a drawback that is hard to overcome.

“Crafters want to touch the paper before they buy it, for example,” she said. “This is such a touchy-feely thing, and you can’t do that on the internet.”

Plus, she said crafters often like to see other crafters. For many, the activity of crafting is more than just a hobby, Herington said.

“If you talk to enough crafters, you learn this is a huge mental health thing,” she said. “A day that you can’t craft is a day that you hold stuff in.”

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Lawrence Craft Company, 1502 W. 23rd St., is pictured in February 2023.