Lisa Cunningham’s Express Your Purseonality
Little girls enjoy using their imagination by dressing up as different characters that they admire. Getting dressed as a princess is one that has sparked an interest in many young girls as Princess Days have become popular throughout the area.
Lisa Cunningham, a local lady from Cambridge, has created a business, “Express Your Purseonality,” that has many creative accessories for little girls to create their own look as a princess or a special young lady. All the items are personally made by Lisa so you can be certain you are getting something unique.
The name for her business was chosen because, at that time, purses were the most popular items. Lisa makes the purses with fringe on them and adds popular cartoon characters to the purse for little girls.
Her daughter Madison was the inspiration for little girls’ accessories and has been helping her at many craft shows over the years since Madison was four years old.
Lisa’s crafting began about 25 years ago or perhaps more. She was making creative headbands for little girls when she was a teenager. When she began working craft shows at churches and schools, those first crafts were painted ceramics and tabletop decorations. She enjoyed making unique items and talking to everyone.
At first, Lisa just enjoyed making and showing her various crafts but then got serious about having a second income to pay for Madison’s college tuition. “I wanted her to have the best head start in life she could get.” She is now a sophomore at Youngstown State University majoring in social work.
Lisa’s full-time job is at St. Benedict School, where she is a K-5 computer teacher, technology coordinator, and auxiliary clerk. She also works as a teacher at the Cambridge afterschool program.
While she’s a busy woman, she still finds time to go to Youngstown State University to watch her daughter perform with her hip-hop dance team. Dancing is something mother and daughter have done together from jazz and hip-hop to ballet and have performed at many recitals together over the years. While at home, Lisa enjoys relaxing with her husband, Shane, and their four dogs and one cat.
She also has two stepchildren, Emily and Winona. Emily had her first baby girl so now they are grandparents. Sounds like another little girl who is going to become a princess. She probably already has a tutu.
Tutus are a popular item with young ladies. She makes them in sizes ranging from newborn to age 10/12. Some of these take a lot of time to make depending on the size and how many different colors are needed for the tutu.
You will also find headbands, hairbows, wands, crowns, beaded pens, princess dress-up aprons, necklaces, bracelets, stud earrings, and of course, purses. It’s possible to get a special order for a birthday gift and then have matching headbands and hairbows made.
Recently, she has expanded her line to include something for fashionable ladies. She makes engraved wooden handpainted ladies’ earrings, leather earrings, stud earrings, and acrylic earrings that are popular with ladies of all ages.
“Express Your Purseonality” can be found year-round at Country Bits in downtown Cambridge. During Princess Days, it is a busy spot since the booth is stocked with various accessories for the princess, and the town is filled with little girls wanting to dress in something pretty.
Lisa remembers coming to the Salt Fork Festival with her family and walking through all the artist displays, having lunch and listening to the entertainment. At that time, she never dreamed that she would have a booth there. Now, her booth at the Salt Fork Festival is filled with little girls looking at all the accessories. Lisa recalled, “I love seeing the smiles on their faces as they look around.” It’s also a great place for mothers and grandmothers to find a special gift for their little girl.
Her unique earrings have become a very popular item and she intends to expand them for little girls as well as adults. Lisa mentions her goal for the future, “I constantly try to come up with unique craft ideas you won’t see anywhere else.”
If you have any questions for Lisa, you may email her at tazzy291@roadrunner.com or call her at 740-705 -1756. Visit her Facebook posts at Expressyourpersonality. She’ll ship items anywhere and uses Paypal for easy payment.
Let “Express Your Purseonality” be the device to engage your child’s imagination in a world of endless possibilities.
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