Gettin' crazy

MOSES LAKE — Tracy Crotsley’s business started with an attempt to find a gift for a friend.

The gift had to be custom, a remembrance of a well-loved family dog, but the person Crotsley contacted was slow in responding.

“My husband said, ‘Why don’t you do it?’” Crotsley said. 

She wanted to make a memorial tumbler, she said, and it was an involved make. She pointed that out to her husband.

“And he said, ‘Yeah, but what if you like it?’ So because of a friend losing her dog and me wanting to make a memorial cup, that’s how I started. And I absolutely love it,” she said.

Cra-Z Cowgirl Creations grew out of that first project. Along with the decorated tumblers, she makes wood and leather earrings and decorated or bleached shirts.

All her designs start with a basic stainless steel tumbler, she said, and she uses paint, cutouts and her imagination to take it from there.

“I hand paint or design all of them,” she said. “I don’t do a lot where I leave the stainless steel showing.”

There are other design methods, such as wrapping the tumbler with a printed design and baking it on, but Crotsley said she prefers handcrafting.

“I touch each cup quite a few times,” she said. “They take one and a half to two weeks from start to finish.”

Her tumblers come in a variety of sizes, from ones that hold a regular can of soda (or something stronger) on up. She also has a line of wine tumblers.

She was surprised by the response.

“It blew up. I mean, crazy blew up,” she said. 

She has done custom orders for clients who saw her work at the two shops where they’re on sale, Cobie’s Dry Cleaning in Moses Lake and the 1902 Coffeehouse in Odessa. 

Her design aesthetic, she said, leans more toward Western and patriotic themes. She uses a mix of techniques, paint and paper, for the tumblers with the American flag and the words of the Constitution.

“I paint the tumbler with the square for the (field of) stars, and the red stripes,” she said, “and then I use vinyl for the stars. The Constitution is actually a printed piece of paper that I tear and burn.” 

The shape of a tumbler suggested a whiskey or wine barrel, so she went with that; she painted them to look like wood barrels.

Once the design is completed each tumbler is covered with a layer of material that’s baked on. 

Crotsley said she’s found a line of well-insulated tumblers that keep drinks hot or cold. 

“I’m kind of a snob - I only use one company,” she said.

Her customers find them to be a good choice when looking for a gift for that person that’s hard to buy for, she said, using her parents as an example.

“They don’t need anything, but I can customize a tumbler that fits their personality,” she said.

Crotsley experimented with other crafts before settling on the tumblers and the jewelry. 

The earrings start with wood and leather shapes cut by Crotsley; she adds paint, stamped designs and other decoration. The T-shirts and hoodies can be customized with color schemes and designs. 

Samples of Crotsley’s work can be found on her website, www.cra-zcowgirlcreations.com.

    Tracy Crotsley said the shape of the unfinished mug suggested the final design of a whiskey barrel.
  

    Earrings, here made from wood, others from leather, are among Tracy Crotsley’s creations.
  

    Tracy Crotsley uses bleach and various forms of lettering in her custom t-shirts.
  

    Tracy Crotsley said customs designs, like a beach tumbler, also are in her repertoire.