HOLDERNESS — A local woman and her husband, both Plymouth State University art professors, will be one of three couples featured as they competed for $10,000 on TLC's Craft Wars show Tuesday night.

Marylena Sevigney, an adjunct art instructor at the college, answered an ad in a crafting magazine in December for a television crafts show contest. She answered not knowing it was TLC looking for contestants.

She and husband Nick Sevigney, a ceramics professor at Plymouth State, were chosen to appear on the show and the competition was filmed this spring in Los Angeles.

The competition will be airing in the show's season finale at 8 p.m. Tuesday on TLC.

“I can't tell,” Marylena said. “You'll have to tune in to find out.”

Craft Wars features three competitive sets of crafters facing off in a series of “palate-pleasing” challenges, according to TLC. The competition is hosted by author, avid crafter, and actress Tori Spelling.

The Sevigneys were tasked with two challenges in the competition.

First, they had to make a chandelier out of mini-blinds, which took about an hour. The big challenge, which took five hours but was shot in segments for the show, was to create a food and wine display out of a bunch of wine barrels, bottles, and pots and pans, she said.

“I was nervous at first, but the (show's) set was a crafter's dream, they had every material a crafter would want, though we had to use certain things for the competition,” Marylena said.

“But once the clock started we were right on task,” she said.

The Sevigneys, who moved to Holderness from Rhode Island four years ago to join the art faculty, both have studios in their home. Marylena has a website as well, mindfulmaking.com, which offers tutorials and plans for making “environmentally responsible” crafts from recycled materials.

She said a few of their students know the couple would be on the show. All the students will know soon. The couple hopes it will give students a boost.

“It helps show them other things you can do with an art degree,” she said.

But the students haven't been told who won.

What would they do if they won the $10,000? “Probably upgrade our art studios at home,” Marylena said. “It doesn't matter, it was a great experience, and it was very exciting just being in L.A.”

dseufert@newstote.com