Sunday, July 29, 2007

Featured Artist - Jeanann's Jewelry & Knitting





One of my etsy customers, Jeanann, is into making jewelry and stitch markers for knitting. Her stitch markers are for sale on woolgirl.com - look for Curly Brunette's Creations Stitch Markers. Here's one of her pretty sets:




If you're a knitter, you'll enjoy reading her blog, knithappenscurlybrunette.blogspot.com




You can also see more pictures of her handmade creations there, like all of the sets above and like the pretty pink bracelet at left, and bracelet and matching earrings set.




She also made these cute kilt pins. She is a breast cancer survivor and included pink ribbon charms on the kilt pin on the left.





Here are some knitting projects she is working on. The sock is a type called Blue Moon Socks. The blue cable is the strap of a cabled tank top that she is making from Berocco's.



She may open an etsy shop soon ... but in the meantime you can contact her through her blog to purchase items or ask about custom designs.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Prize Package Giveaway!

To see the winners of the Challenge, visit pcagoe.com


This is my entry in the July Challenge for the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy. The theme is Summer Memories, and my favorite summer memory is remembering playing outside with my cousins when I was a little girl and being enchanted by all the cute little creatures. This is a pin/brooch that's 2" wide and for sale in my etsy shop.

Go to pcagoe.com where you can vote for your favorite entry. Everyone who votes will have their name entered in a drawing, and two lucky people will each win a fabulous prize package of handmade clay items. Voting ends Saturday at midnight EST Saturday, July 28.

Here are all the entries, as usual an incredible variety!

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

New creations by me!



Here are some new things I've made in the past few days. They're all for sale in my etsy shop.

Owls are very popular on etsy so I thought I'd give it a try. The first one sold quickly so I made another one.

I enjoy wearing pendants with my t-shirts in the summer and have sold some on etsy, so I made a few new ones over the weekend. I have some textured rubber sheets that I use to imprint the designs, then highlight with metallic powder. It's so much fun to make them in different colors. And I had fun handpainting the little blue flowers.











My face pins always sell out at the consignment shop, so I took a few new ones there last week and made these for etsy. I named them Amie and Stephanie. It's like having new babies to name! LOL

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Featured Artist - Shoozles



Welcome to the colorful world of Shoozles - fused glass yummyness!

Yummy is right! Michelle's glass creations do look good enough to eat! She makes pendants, earrings and rings out of dichroic glass and fused glass. Adding to the uniqueness, some are handpainted (the paint is permanently fused to the surface).




She says, "The great thing about my fused glass gardens is they are all different, so when you get one you are not going to see someone else with the same piece you have."





She has about 100 items for sale in her shop. As you can see, some are breathtakingly beautiful, and some are just plain fun! She also makes pieces ("cabs") for other artists to use in their jewelry creations.








The cute name Shoozles, she explains, is a nickname that goes way back and stuck with her so now it is her company name. She is an artist/jewelry maker, former graphic designer and the mother of 11-year-old triplets, all boys. (Wow! I wonder when she has time to work with glass?!)


She says, "I have made all kinds of jewelry for over 17 years now -

clay, poly clay, paper, plastic that includes shrink plastic and the friendly plastic kind...



but nothing compares to fusing glass."


I found this gorgeous glass lace on her blog.
She says, "Experimenting with glass brings me great excitement... A lot of mistakes become great ideas. I love to show what I do, but I don’t like to give the exact formula to how I got to my end result, because I feel there is a great deal of joy to be had when you discover something on your own and the road to discovery is worth all the steps, believe me."






To see her work for sale, visit Shoozles.etsy.com today! Pick up a unique piece of jewelry for a gift and remember to get one for yourself too!

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Featured Artist - Bella Arte by Bella Jean



I first met Dani on the Etsy forums when she was setting up her Etsy shop, Bella Arte by Bella Jean. Her user name, "Bella Jean," is in memory of her dog who passed away. Since she does photography, "Bella Arte" seems to go well with "Bella Jean" so that's what she named her shop. I enjoy checking back every now and then to see what new object has caught her attention as the subject of one of her amazing photographs!

She delights in architecture, so she enjoys capturing buildings and their details with her lens. She used to travel with her former job to big cities like New York where she took several photos like these.










In bold contrast to occasional trips to huge metropolitan areas, she lives in rural Kansas with her husband, his three boys, and lots of dogs and cats, most of whom were dumped near their farm. She finds beauty in the simplest everyday things of country living, like a sunflower or an old barn or abandoned house.





Her spectacular photographs are not just available as prints. She's thought of many other ways for people to enjoy her art and offers postcards, stationery, note cards, magnets and bookmarks in her Etsy shop.






She has recently started making some adorable hair accessories too. How cute are these lady bug hair ponies?!


You can read more about Dani and catch some more cool photos on her blog. Don't miss the picture of the toad on the toilet! :)

Friday, July 13, 2007

Celebrating summertime!


I love wearing pendants with my t-shirts in the summertime. I made a few new ones this week and have listed them in my etsy shop. It's as much fun to be creative with my photography as to make them!










Saturday, July 07, 2007

Featured Artist - Patti Haskins


Meet Sammy, an adorable softie creation designed and crocheted by Patti Haskins. He's very huggable!

If you love dogs and cats, you'll get a kick out of Patti's Etsy shop. She has created a whole menagerie of various colored critters. There are quiet ones politely sitting, plus some "Big Mouth" ones that want your undivided attention.
She has little pillows, softies (stuffed figures), crocheted purses and fabric collages for hanging.



Visit her blog to meet her real critters, all rescue animals, like cats Ben and Betty and dog Mickey pictured here.











Patti and I are doing a collaboration series. I'm making pins from her designs, like this purple Big Mouth Cat, available in my Etsy shop. These can be custom made in colors of your choice as a pin, pendant, fridge magnet, ornament or paper weight. Just ask!








Here's what Patti had to say:
When did you learn to sew and draw?
I learned to sew in junior high officially (home ec) but my mom is a fantastic seamstress and I'm the oldest of four girls in a family that had little money so we all sewed if we wanted to have clothes to wear, no budget for new wardrobes in our house. We had quite the sewing room and stashes of fabric. We used to go Cleveland (I grew up in Youngstown, Ohio) to the Bobbie Brooks clothing factory to buy fabric from their outlet. Back in the day before there were such things as outlet malls, mind you.

My grandmother, my mom's mom, was a non-stop crocheter. She always had a hook in her hand. She didn't read patterns, she looked at the picture and figured it out. She taught me to crochet and embroider back in junior high days. She also used to make us cats, not like the ones I make, but laying down cats, lifelike size. When I started crocheting cats, it was to try to make one like hers but I got distracted with all the cool amigurumi critters I saw online and haven't got around to trying to make the laying cat yet. And I only began crocheting again about a year ago. I hadn't tried to crochet since high school. I graduated in 1974. Its been a long pause in the crocheting action.

And drawing, well, as far back as I can remember, I have always loved to draw and create and read. Never did spend a summer vacation swimming or laying in the sun or camping or any other of those typical childhood activities. I was the one laying on the porch reading or drawing or embroidering or crocheting. And I still am.


Do you sell anywhere besides Etsy?

I just now started venturing out again into the marketplace. Years ago, the day job was part-time and I did the art show circuits, at that time selling my paper mache creations.

But now I have to work full-time, mostly for health insurance for myself and the husband but the money is needed as well. And my health is not the best, I refer to myself as the disease queen. So outdoor shows with the stress and long hours and bad weather just don't work for me anymore. So I'm looking around for other possibilities.

I hope to sell what I've made so far to make room for all the items floating around in my head that I want to create!

~*~*~*~*~

You can purchase Patti's items in her etsy shop!