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Vista Member Turns<br />
Hobby Into Business<br />
Selling handmade wallets, bracelets<br />
and more<br />
Vista member Nicole Martines proudly shows off some of her handmade duct tape<br />
accessories at the YASBIZ Showcase back in July, where she made her first-ever sale.<br />
Joel Lucas, Realtor ®<br />
Shore & Country<br />
Specialist<br />
#1 CBRB Agent in<br />
Middlesex/New London<br />
Counties Sales 2011/12/13<br />
860.304.9150<br />
Duct tape is more than just an adhesive<br />
tool for Vista member Nicole Martines<br />
– it’s a creative art form. It’s also the<br />
foundation of her newly established<br />
business, Crafty Nicole, which she<br />
launched last month with the help of<br />
Vista staff.<br />
Nicole, who’s long had a passion for<br />
crafting, recently started creating duct<br />
tape accessories after watching how-to<br />
videos on YouTube. She decided to take<br />
her hobby to the next level after Kristin<br />
Juaire, Vista’s manager of Quality of Life<br />
Programming, encouraged her to sell her<br />
crafty wares.<br />
Using a variety of colored and patterned<br />
tape, Nicole creates large and small<br />
wallets, flower pens and hand-braided<br />
bracelets.<br />
“The pens are my favorite,” said Nicole,<br />
a Clinton resident. “They take longer to<br />
make, but they are the most fun.”<br />
Nicole made her first-ever sale on July<br />
24th at the YASBIZ Showcase hosted<br />
at Vista’s Madison campus. YASBIZ<br />
is a network of Young Adult Service<br />
programs from around Connecticut that<br />
help individuals with disabilities launch<br />
their own small business ventures.<br />
Since the YASBIZ event, Nicole has<br />
sold out of her original inventory. She’s<br />
been making more pieces in her spare<br />
time – when she’s not hard at work<br />
with the Ventures Business Services<br />
cleaning crew.<br />
Aside from her duct tape creations,<br />
Nicole also makes loom bracelets for<br />
fun. She even teaches her peers how to<br />
make them. Her other hobbies include<br />
gymnastics, golf and skiing.<br />
For more information about Nicole’s<br />
products or to make a purchase, please<br />
email Sharon Grogan at sgrogan@<br />
VistaVocational.org.<br />
Based in Madison and Westbrook, CT,<br />
Vista Vocational & Life Skills Center<br />
is a 501©3 nonprofit organization.<br />
Vista’s mission is to provide services<br />
and resources to assist individuals with<br />
disabilities achieve personal success.<br />
For more information about Vista,<br />
please visit www.vistavocational.org.<br />
32 Essex Events • Quarter 4 • 2015 www.<strong>events</strong>magazines.com
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