Dinosaurs, horses and more

Published 11:03 pm Thursday, August 27, 2015

Cindy Clark works at her scroll saw cutting out a design at her Whaleyville shop, C&A Crafts and Collectibles, on Wednesday. She does custom designs for customers and creates them on site.

Cindy Clark works at her scroll saw cutting out a design at her Whaleyville shop, C&A Crafts and Collectibles, on Wednesday. She does custom designs for customers and creates them on site.

Cindy Clark sells everything from dinosaurs to horses in her Whaleyville shop.

Well, not quite. C&A Crafts and Collectibles really does have dinosaurs and horses, but they are wooden cutouts. As are the military emblems, flags, sports team logos, welcome signs, house numbers and more.

Clark runs the store in a building she used to own until she sold it to a man who ran a thrift store for several years. He decided to close the business, so she now owns the building again.

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Clark, and her parents before her, owned antiques businesses in the shop at 6142 Whaleyville Blvd., which was a doctor’s office prior to them owning it. There are still a few antiques, but the shop in its current iteration includes much more.

The wooden cutouts are Clark’s passion. She hand-cuts everything from high-quality lumber using her scroll saw. She can do custom designs and frequently does names, house numbers and more. Her inventory includes everything from large decorations to small jacket pulls.

“I enjoy it,” Clark said. “It keeps me busy. I’m constantly looking for more designs. I’m just trying different things to see what people will like.”

Several family members and friends also sell their wares in the store. They include Ann White’s vinyl decals and T-shirts; embroider, framing and custom cards by Pat Wood; as well as crafts and other items from Karen Sallaz, Carlene Canon, Yana Ray and Keith Bowen. The shop includes everything from photography and flip-flop art to fun front license plates for North Carolina folks.

Clark does most of her business at county fairs, events like Driver Days and gun shows. She is able to make some items, like signs with children’s names, on site at the events, but mostly she gears up for the show well in advance to be stocked with several of each design. Because she hand-cuts each design rather than using a laser saw, more intricate designs can take many hours to create.

“I still have all my fingers,” she joked.

The shop is open whenever the flags are out, Clark said, but generally hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and 1 to 7 p.m. on Thursday. The shop usually closes when Clark is at an event.