VALPARAISO | The artists involved with WomanCraft don't just make pretty paper. They're making new lives for themselves.

Their Chicago-based paper business provides incomes for women making the journey from homelessness to improved housing and financial possibilities. The WomanCraft artists will be among the 28 artists represented in this weekend's 23rd annual Interwoven Expressions, a juried textile and fiber arts sale and exhibit of original handcrafted garments and interior furnishings.

This year's event will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Aberdeen Manor Ballroom and Event Center, 216 Ballantrae St. Admission is free.

To participate in the show, artists must live in a state that borders on Lake Michigan, said Lu Terock, of Portage. She is chairing this year's show. Many of the artists are local residents who offer a variety of textile arts, including weaving, silk ribbon embroidery, rug hooking, knitting, marbled silk dying, crocheting, felting, handmade paper, basketry and crazy quilting. Prices range from $10 to $500, she said.

The Duneland Weavers Guild started the juried show, but organizers didn't want artists coming from far-flung points, Terock said.

"We wanted local people," she said.

What has evolved is a juried art show that typically includes mostly women artists. They do their part to help other women. That support shows itself in businesses such as WomanCraft and, new this year to the show, a decision to donate 10 percent of the sale of specially tagged items to breast cancer awareness, Terock said.

"Most of the artists are women. Our audience is women," she said. "Breast cancer is near and dear. It's women helping women."

For information about Interwoven Expressions, call (219) 762-7748 or visit the Web site at www.interwovenexpressions.com.