Our people: Traveling, crafting and making friends

Lisa Howard has lived all over. From California, Texas, Arkansas, even a few years in England, the Alabama native has made herself a home in many different places.

When she and her family came here in 2012 for her husband's military assignment at Cannon Air Force Base, she had no idea what Clovis had in store for her – or what she had in store for Clovis. But after just a few years in the area, when her husband retired from the Air Force and took a civilian position on base, Howard knew she was not going to sit idly by in her newfound community.

In 2014, Howard partnered with another military spouse and her cherished friend, Alisa Boyd, to create a local craft boutique, Salvage and Sparkle. Over the last seven years, the duo and their business have evolved and adapted from a kiosk at the Base Exchange, to a successful online craft boutique. The company and crafters have weathered the effects of the pandemic and more recently a reassignment of Boyd and her family to another base. Challenges aside, the two friends have found ways to keep their friendship and their business thriving.

Q: How did you start Salvage and Sparkle?

A: My husband was retiring here and I decided that I needed something fun to do for myself. I didn't want a traditional job, and the Base Exchange (BX) was having a craft show. Alisa and I said, "Let's do it."

We were the only ones that showed up. It was on Halloween day, 2014. We filled a little kiosk full of a bunch of stuff, and we were the only ones to show up.

We were salvaging things and upcycling and doing all of that. Then we rented a kiosk at the BX and would do that for a year, just off and on, and during holidays, and whenever we felt like it. And then a little store had a booth open, it was like a tiny little closet. We'd go thrifting and make things, and redo them. Then we moved into what was called back in the day, the Mariachi Frog, on Sixth Street. And then it changed to Frog and Flea.

It has since closed but we had a small booth there, and then got a bigger booth - and then we got the window booth, and it was so much fun. Then we started doing more crafts and people said, "You should teach us how to do that." So that's how it happened. And then when it just was not fun traveling to people's houses, or trying to find a place to have craft parties, we found a connection through a girl from the base who posted on one of the base pages that she had some retail space -- and we started "The Makery" (which has since closed) in 2017.

Q: What advice would you give a military spouse newly stationed in Clovis?

A: Go and get involved with not only the base community but also the local, downtown community. They have been awesome. Most of our customers started on base because we started at the BX. And then we started moving downtown and it's just been amazing, and they've totally embraced our little business.

Q: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

A: How my two adult children have turned out. ... Raising kids is hard! They're responsible, hard-working, young adults.

Q: Do you collect anything?

A: I don't, neither Alisa nor I do. There's not anything I collect - I just like décor.

Q: Where was the best trip you've ever been on?

A: Disneyworld. An adult trip to Disneyworld. Alisa and I will go there for girls' trips. We took the family – all of us, her family and our family. It was fun. But it's more fun to go on a girls' trip, and just spend a week there and go crazy: pretend that we're princesses and everything's magical and we're kids again. That's my favorite trip.

Q: Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?

A: Alisa just sent me a TikTok the other day, making fun of me because I always have a water bottle with me. Every day. And if I get in the car and don't have it, I'll run back to go back in the house and grab it. ... It's like I'm gonna thirst to death or something. ... Or my espresso machine.

Q: What would you do if you won the lottery?

A: Travel. I love to travel. My grandfather was a pipeliner and he traveled all over the world and would always bring me cool things back, and show us pictures. And I thought, "How neat is that?" I would love to just travel and not have to worry about the cost of travel.

Q: What's the hardest part of running an online business?

A: We went online when COVID hit and we were closed down for parties. We started on Etsy, and we've kept it going. The hardest part is not having the personal interaction (... and sometimes it's OK, too ... you're just packing orders and shipping.) That's one reason we had The Makery – because people could come in and we'd have parties and talk to people and stuff like that. I miss the one-on-one contact.

Q: Have you always been a crafter? What got you into crafting?

A: Yes, I have. My maternal grandmother was a crafter, did everything ... a seamstress, all that stuff. They were the pipeliners - so when they retired, she opened up her own shop. She was an antique dealer, and did crafts, and taught some classes, and did custom things.

Q: What's your favorite childhood memory?

A: When I'd go visit my dad. He lived in Selma, Ala., and there were big old houses there. In the evenings after dinner we would go for walks down those neighborhood streets, and he would come up with some crazy stories. There'd be a big old scary looking house and he would tell me something scary that happened in that house. So just walking around town and listening to my dad tell stories. It was pretty cool because he'd come up with some good ones ... maybe that's why I like watching crime shows.