Hand-sewn and Home-grown

Soandsewcrafty is a small craft business whose owner, Opp, Alabama native Karen Copeland, stitches a variety of interesting homespun items, with a sense of humor and playfulness. Among the many items she makes are costumes for pets (like this pumpkin outfit from which her orange tabby peaks out from over its shoulder to see who might be staring),

The lovely blue, green and yellow paisley handbag (shown at top),

these adorable cat silhouette pillows,

scrubs with Christmas trees and other unusual patterns on them, cloth sanitary pads, throws, and a mix of other fabric items.

Karen describes how she was introduced to needle and thread. “I have been sewing for almost as long as I can remember. My mother and her mother were talented seamstresses, painters....just plain "crafty" people, and I suppose I inherited that from them! And believe me I am thankful to them for that!”

Four years ago a car accident left Karen permanently disabled with a broken leg that never quite healed. In constant pain, she is unable to sit or stand for lengths of time, so opening an online store on Etsy gave her the venue she needed to make some extra money to supplement her monthly disability check, and the impetus to clear out a lot of the fabric she’d been hoarding for years. Like most artists, she loves her supplies and relishes going out to buy more whenever she can.

Her sewing gives her a sense of purpose and accomplishment, and when she’s immersed in transforming fabric into something useful or fun, she can forget about the stresses of life for awhile and enjoy the process.

You can find heartwarming gifts for everyone in the family and friends too at
http://soandsewcrafty.etsy.com/
and to learn more about the artist behind Soandsewcrafty, take a look at her blogs:
http://www.soandsewcrafty.blogspot.com/
http://www.myspace.com/soandsewcrafty

A Little Piece of Paradise

Kareen Kjelstrom currently living in Paris, France, spent summers in Tahiti (where her mother is from) while growing up in LA. Many of her pieces of jewelry include blues and greens, influenced by the intensity of the ocean colors in that tropical paradise.

She creates her own beads with a high temperature propane/oxygen torch and fine Italian (Effetre) glass, then uses them in hand created sterling silver pieces. All her beads are made free-hand, without a mold and are kiln fired for strength and durability.

Kareen’s triangular SeaSide Swankier Earrings with rounded corners include hand-formed and hammered sterling wire, with chain dangling glass beads, Labradorite and Aquamarine accents, and a special by Kareen hallmark tag. They have a lovely modern shape.

Her Purple Haze Bracelet looks almost like hard candy; flat oval lentil beads with swirls of purple and creamy white streaks giving the piece depth and dimension.

Many of the bands of color used in her handmade beads swirl around and around, creating the effect of movement almost like the winding of cotton candy around the center in one direction, or like a subtle cyclone, soft and billowy, sometimes breaking up in wisps which stop and start, at other times in wide continuous patches.

Prior to leaving Santa Monica, Kareen’s jewelry was featured on HGTV's Crafters Coast to Coast.

Since moving to Paris she has also exhibited her work at the Louvre and is trying to break into the scene and make a name for herself there.

You will find these a delight to the senses. To see her full collection go to
http://kbykareen.etsy.com/
and if you’d like to know more check out her blog at:
http://kbykareen.blogspot.com/

Time To Check The Maille

Abbi Caricco of Lunachick Designs specializes in chainmaille and sterling silver wirework designs with gemstone accents. She puts the power of intention into each piece she makes to enhance the mood of the wearer, and seeks out the most unusual gemstones she can find.

These features combined make for many aesthetically pleasing designs. I have always loved Chainmaille; it’s amazing how wire jump rings can create such a strong yet flexible mesh when linked and intertwined, perfectly structurally sound, like the architecture of a bridge when you look up from underneath. The numerous patterns, using both positive and negative space to accentuate their juxtaposition keeps her work fresh and intriguing, and her choice of stones really compliments the metalwork.

The weaves the artist uses range from Byzantine,

to European 4-in-1, (as shown in the first picture at top),

to Japanese Honeycomb (love this one),

to Full Persian (another one of my favorite weaves).

These Athena Earrings have a large round bloodstone bead dangling from the bottom of a strip of Full Persian weave.

Abbi uses a wide range of materials for jump rings including rubber, titanium, stainless steel, Aluminum, and Sterling Silver.

Her style is a cross between, Pagan, New Age, Goth, and Industrial, and the results; absolutely mesmerizing!

To see more of the artist’s work and treat yourself or a loved-one to something really special he or she will treasure for years to come, go to: http://lunachick.etsy.com/ and her supply shop,
http://www.lunachickfindings.com/ . Also, check out her blog at:
http://lunachickdesigns.blogspot.com/

That’s One-Of-A-Kind- That’s Headley!

A look around Ginny Headley-Maserang’s Etsy store will tell you that each piece she makes is a new beginning. Although the San Antonio, Texas native does have a discernable Southwestern flavor to her designs it is not the clichéd Southwestern style jewelry you see so much of around the web and in stores. Rather than the predominant traditional Turquoise and Coral often used in this style of jewelry, Ginny uses a lot of green, pale blue, and earth toned natural stones, particularly Serpentine, Amazonite, and Aventurine. Some of her pieces also use metal buttons as toggles, and a variety of glass beads, and in addition to the gemstone beads she also likes big, funky beads from Africa.

Most notable are her wire-woven pieces using sterling silver wire to create a bail as in this piece, Nereid Sacred Heart Necklace, which uses Abalone, Mother of Pearl, Aventurine, Seaweed Quartz, and Glass in its multiple strands and sterling silver cones and toggle.

Another very lovely necklace is a cross with interwoven garnet chips and Hill Tribes silver (which is at least 97% pure).

Ginny’s jewelry business is stress relief from her “day job” as a public health consultant in infectious disease and emergency preparedness. If you love to shop online for refreshing new and original jewelry, skip the stress of the mall this holiday season and go to http://thatsheadley.etsy.com/ and don’t forget to see her blog at http://thatsheadley.blogspot.com/

East Meets West- A Melting Pot of Pop Culture

Meet Yaslani; a Mixed Media Artist from NJ whose materials of choice are paper, acrylic, gouache, colored pencil, found images & objects, vintage photographs, her own photography, and just about anything else she can get my hands on. “It's fun for me to look at an object in a hardware store or around the house and figure out how I can transform it into art” says, Yaslani, whose bamboo tile pendants read like an historical diorama. Pictures of movie stars, geishas, musical greats like Billie Holiday, Tarot Cards, even Amelia Earhart is fodder for her creative process.

Her work is a mix of American and Eastern Indian influence, with paintings of giraffes and elephants, and a consistent color palette in red, gold, sepia, black, beige, and yellowed, antiqued, bone.

Moonlight, a 4x4 mixed media canvas is made with a hand painted wooden elephant and layers of paint, paper and modeling paste. The artist sprayed it with a non-yellowing varnish so it will be beautiful for many, many years!

Citywalk shows a giraffe and a lion roaming through the streets of what appears to be an urban area after dark. The choice of colors and motif are distinctly East Indian, showing architecture in the background that has the characteristic red and gold colors and ornamentation found in that region. The stars are depicted by rhinestones, scattered in an indigo sky behind the buildings.

See or purchase more of this artist’s work at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=63187
and check out her blog at: http://yaslanisgroovespot.blogspot.com/
This seller offers free US shipping!

Gifts From the Heart

The artist behind SparklyStrandz lives in Friendswood, Texas and has a day job as an occupational therapist , but her real passion lies in creating jewelry, crocheted children’s clothing, tiny picture frames, and a mix of other handmade things, mostly ranging in price between $5.00 and $40.00. Most can be easily customized and made to order.

These Baby Cowboy Booties are just adorable in dark brown and fuchsia, but they can be made in any color, and at a very affordable $12.00 a pair!

Her Swirly wire-wrapped rings incorporate buttons as the focal, and retail for $8.00 each.

Circles and circular chain links have been in style for at least the past 8 months and still holding strong. This necklace ($30.00) and pair of earrings ($15.00) combine hammered silver-plated links that are flattened and textured, with Serpentine, pearls and pressed glass beads. With these two matching pieces you can have an ensemble that will go with just about any earthtone color.

You can find her jewelry, crochet, and other gift items at http://SparklyStrandz.etsy.com , and her own website, http://www.sparklystrandz.com/ also carries beaded pet collars, and rosaries in addition to the type of items she sells on Etsy. She is currently offering free shipping to the US and Canada between now and Christmas. To join her mailing list or read more about her collections you can also go to her blog at http://www.sparklystrandz.blogspot.com

Alilsumptinsumptin In Your Stocking This Season

Blue Rondo La Turk

Double Strand Turquoise and Lampwork Heart Bracelet; includes artisan lampwork heart focal by Janet Crosby, top quality Grade A Blue Chinese Turquoise wheels, and an assortment of all sterling silver components.

Over the past 9 months Eva Espiritu has raised a total $1085.00 through her Paws For A Good Cause campaign with 100% of proceeds of selected pieces donated to the Humane Society of the United States. The artist offers the added benefit of free US shipping to all who purchase these items. While you give a gift to someone you love, you also give a gift to needy and homeless animals with your purchase.

Her jewelry is made from high-quality, kiln annealed lampwork beads created by glass artists Janet Crosby, Kathrin Kneidl-Levi, Julia Lund, Dawn White, Becky Mason, (and Etsy’s own) Marcy Lamberson combined with sterling and Hill Tribes Silver (which is at least 97% pure), and sometimes also genuine gemstones. Her color choices and scale are usually big and bold; showing vitality and decisiveness that like her last name suggests spirit and spunk.

Eva’s designs range from the whimsical and funny, with names such as K-9 Cubed, Give The Dog A Bone, B-B-B-Bad To The Bone, and Bow 2 The Wow Wow, to the more serious cornucopia-like Cha-Cha style charm bracelets bursting with abundance, like the Southern California orange groves of her home. My personal favorites are the bracelets bursting with beads. Her layering of color and texture, often incorporating lampwork from several different artists in the same piece, creates exquisite and visually fulfilling designs. These are pieces you could look at for hours, and like a Where is Waldo picture, see something new among the numerous dangles every time.

Alilsumptinsumptin is a member of the following jewelry-trade-related groups:
ART JEWELRY COLLECTIVE (AJC)

etsyBEAD

ETSY FOR ANIMALS (EFA)

She is SRAJD #0983 (Self Representing Jewelry Artist), a mark of reliability in the trade. You can be assured you will be dealing directly with the artist herself; not merely an agent.

If you love animals, flowers, charm bracelets, silver, or lovely artisan lampwork with bright colors, be sure to put Alilsumptinsumptin on your list of places to buy your Holiday gifts this year!

Etsy Store:http://alilsumptinsumptin.etsy.com/
Blog:http://www.alilsumptinsumptin.com/

The Elements of Style

Dawn Brandt of ElementsbyDawn has been selling her jewelry on Etsy since August 7, 2006, and loves geometric shapes with texture and pattern in them. Looking at her work one can tell that she incorporates circles into a lot of what she does, from Chainmaille to hammered textured cuffs and sterling, copper, and fine silver disks, to using round beads and chain. Experts have said that the round form is a shape humans are naturally drawn to, so if this is any indicator Dawn’s future will be bright.

When asked what techniques she would like to learn she said, “I’d like to be able to add more color, and thus some more dimension to my designs. Enameling, resin, and Prismacolor colored pencil are a few of the materials I’d like to incorporate into my designs. I’ve dabbled with Prismacolor, but haven’t perfected the technique yet.” Dawn describes it as a technique that blends the traditional methods of painting on canvas and coloring/drawing on metal. There are two ways to accomplish the results. One involves sandblasting the metal to give it "tooth" (which is not the method she does), and the other uses gesso; the method she uses. Then to prevent the surface from weathering over time and the color from coming off she uses an acrylic sealer.

Dawn is currently working on a collection due for release in the Summer of 2008. It will feature colorful vintage glass, vintage Swarovski crystal, and vintage Lucite.

Among the trade magazines she subscribes to are The Crafts Report, Art Jewelry, and Art Calendar. The Crafts Report has many useful articles on the business of crafting, Art Jewelry Magazine helps keep her abreast on new techniques and emerging artists, and Art Calendar keeps informed on national and local arts and craft shows.

For anyone just starting out in the jewelry crafting business or even just thinking about transforming a hobby into a bona fide business, she recommends the book Marketing and Selling Your Handmade Jewelry by Viki Lareau. This easy to read book covers many of the basic aspects of starting out in the crafting business.

If metalsmithing is your interest, The Complete Metalsmith – Pro Version by Tim McCreight is invaluable!

The book Dawn is currently reading is, How to Photograph Absolutely Everything by Tom Ang. “I am hoping to improve my photography skills, as product photography can really help or hinder your success in an online environment.”

Dawn belongs to The Art Jewelry Collective, WIST (a local Wisconsin street team), and will be exhibiting at the ART vs CRAFT show on December 8th in Milwaukee.

This artist accepts Checks, Money Orders, and accepts credit cards through both PayPal and ProPay. She also sends out a quarterly newsletter for those customers who would like to be notified when new pieces are available for sale.

Be sure to check out her whole collection at http://elementsbydawn.etsy.com/

Memories Along The Road Of Life
There is a nostalgic quality in Tiffany Teske’s photo images as though looking through an old-fashioned camera. Themes of tastefully nude women, pregnant mothers-to-be, and domestic life make up the majority of the work seen in her Etsy online shop.

Tiffany makes and sells a number of different items, including Polaroid Transfers, Polaroid Emulsion Lifts, Black and White Prints, Hand-colored Prints, Color Prints, Sepia Prints, Cards, and Jewelry. She also has Gift Certificates available if you don’t see something you want right away but you like her style.

“Pink Poppies” is a 4X 6 photo in an 8 X 10 Archival Mat which
shows a group of soft, fluffy pink blossoms coming up out of a dark background. It looks as though the picture was taken at dawn or dusk, with light directly on the petals.

“Love Grows” is an original Polaroid Image Transfer, an interesting process that
begins with the image on slide film. The slide is then projected onto Polaroid pack film which is peeled prematurely. The “waste” side of the film pack, which contains processing chemicals, is then placed face down onto wet watercolor paper and brayed (rolled over with a print making brayer). The result is a one-of-a-kind hand-pulled photographic transfer of the original slide image. The original image can be transferred an unlimited number of times but the resulting transfer will always vary from the last. Each transfer is approximately 3 ½” by 4” in size and is hand signed (both on the image and the mat). This transfer comes with a hand cut, acid free, museum quality archival mat, which has outer dimensions of 8x10.

I particularly like this one, “Merlot, the Winemaker’s Dog” taken in the Hunter Valley region of Australia. She was traveling the East Coast and Australian outback at this time. The photo is a true black and white print flush mounted onto 8x10 4 ply archival mat board. The dog has almost a feral look to it, but may be a Jack Russel or mixed with Smooth Fox Terrier.

The arrtist was first introduced to photography when she received a camera as a child with which to take pictures on a family trip. She became enamored of this medium almost immediately; then went on to continue learning to use the darkroom after school from her high school science teacher.

Tiffany received a Bachelor of Arts Joint BA in Art and Photography (Magna cum Laude) in 2002 from the University of Maine at Augusta.

She has traveled around the country taking pictures; to Arizona, Florida, Connecticut, & New York, and then to Ontario, Canada where she met her husband.

The family now lives in Banff, Alberta, Canada and has a little girl.

To buy a card or gift from her store and to see the full range of what she has in stock check out http://tiffanyteske.etsy.com/

Bead-On-A-Stick
You can tell by looking at Marcy Lamberson’s work that she has a healthy sense of humor! Living in Atlanta, GA. she gets many of her ideas while watching plants and animals native to the area, then with torch in hand, she captures the impish characters inside.

Some are sort of mischievous as if they’ve got a devious plan up their sleeves, and others, almost woefully innocent, seemingly oblivious to what has happened to bring them into existence, as if born fully grown, yet somehow eternally young.

Reinforced by the smiles, laughter (and custom orders) these creatures evoke in others, she has continued to follow the thread, watching to see where it will lead, shaping her as much as she shaped the glass. That raises an interesting question. Does life influence style, or does the artist impact life? Most likely the answer to that falls somewhere in the middle. How much does one’s experience determine what we make, what medium we choose, even the colors and textures we bring into being in that which we create?

Marcy actually started out as a watercolor painter and enjoyed the process of mixing and blending colors in that medium so much that naturally glasswork was a logical next step, both providing her the comfort in familiarity she’d previously known, and the promise of new and exciting challenges ahead, and the satisfaction of being able to render her ideas 3-dimensionally.

Most of her days are spent making more beads and sculptures, and teaching classes out of her home.
There is this place where artists go in which there is no sense of time, where there is no right or wrong, where candy is everlasting, and flowers never die, and a child can live forever.

Perhaps this is what the world is missing now with busy schedules, global warming, war in the middle east, and life in a culture in which people are drowning in expectations they can never measure up to, work fast enough, make enough money, spend enough time with friends and family, consumed with guilt, and anger, and fear for the future. In a society in which people are slaves to their cell phones, and the American worker is as expendable as a McDonald’s hamburger carton, and the President has told us that art is unnecessary in the classroom, crayons are put away in the closet, dismissed as frivolous and irrelevant to the “really serious” work at hand, where the adage “no pain, no gain” rules the day, humor and whimsy are precious commodities. Like an endangered species threatened with extinction these qualities must be nurtured and protected with all we’ve got.

Art is what brings us back to what really matters, to that little slice of heaven we dream about, yet far too often just let slip through our fingers. Here is your chance to get a little bit of what you’ve been missing. Put it in a necklace, or on your desk to remind you of that child within. She isn’t gone, just hard to locate sometimes. To buy your little piece of whimsy, go to http://studiomarcy.etsy.com/
These make great gifts!

Are You Oh So Over the Rainbow Bright?
The mother of 3 young children, Hyla can appreciate the importance of clothing that is both comfortable and pleasing to the eye, and the need for interesting stuffed toys that are refreshingly different from the same-old-same-old found at all the local department stores. The artist’s Etsy online store MyFairyBabies, has a great mix of things for the mother-to-be, special gifts for children, cleverly designed inventions that make life a little easier and more fun.

Shown below is the Pacifier Buddy; an innovative combination burpcloth and pacifier-keeper that prevents a baby’s pacifier from getting lost. A ribbon loops around the pacifier and keeps it from falling on the floor. These can be customized and made in a variety of choices in textiles. At only $5.50 apiece to $9.00 for 3, you really can’t go wrong. These come in different sizes for young babies and toddlers.







Cheery colors of pink, blue, purple, and orange engage babies’ eyes and stimulate their senses; much better for healthy development than the often muted and washed out pinks and blues normally available on the commercial market.

This pink “Fairy Waldorf Doll” is one of the signature items FairyBabies is known for. Note the intricate stitching on the back of the fairy’s wings. This is just what every little girl would love for Christmas!








This month FairyBabies is offering free US shipping and 50% off International shipping. Great for Baby Showers, Birthdays, Christmas, or to welcome that new addition to the family, given by that doting relative or friend tht wishes she had 3 or 4 of her own. See her entire selection of children’swear and gift items at http://MyFairyBabies.etsy.com

Reaching for the Stars…One Bead At A Time

Patricia Vener has lived a fascinating life spanning several careers; an accomplished and published writer, and retired ballerina, she also holds a Masters Degree in Astrophysics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy NY. She worked as an astronomer and still teaches astronomy as an adjunct professor for University of Maryland University College.)

Her earliest influence was the beadwork and textiles she saw in a Native American exhibit at the local museum on Rochester New York as a young child. Captivated by color and texture, Patricia became interested in Color Theory, inspired by the work of Impressionist painters and such Art Nouveau artists as Alphonse Maria Mucha, Paul Berthon, among others.

Given her background it is not surprising that she chose bead-weaving using tiny glass seed beads as her jewelry specialty, an array of techniques in which mathematical precision is an asset, and patience is a virtue, although her work clearly shows a sense of grace without being overly geometric or constrained.

Using Peyote Stitch, right-angle weave, and a number of netting stitches, the artist typically creates a woven flat base upon which she builds, layering it with various embellishments for texture. Many of her necklaces are elaborate bead-woven collars that celebrities and other VIPs would die for if they only knew about them.

In “Complementary “, ruffles around the neck are reminiscent of Victorian coiffure, while the brightly contrasting purple and orange color scheme and circular centerpiece look distinctly African-influenced. I particularly like what she’s done with this one, blending design elements from two so disparate cultures together within the same piece. Materials include; Seed beads, bugles, triangle beads, malachite chips and a vintage rhinestones. This necklace will appear in a print ad in Ornament Magazine during the months of October, December and March.

“Angle Waves” is a lovely pair of earrings in brown and very pale pink with a zigzagging pattern which evokes a feeling of excitement and liveliness, culminating in a spray of fringe at the bottom. They retail for a very reasonable $25.00!

“Red Sky at Night” http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5176357 incorporates exquisite sunset colors in a Russian Peyote Stitch woven in a dramatic V-shape. These epitomize elegance and grace and would make a gorgeous gift for the holidays.

Patricia’s business, Silver Dragon Creations has two web-presences; on on Etsy and the other, a free-standing website. Those of you who have only seen her work on Etsy are really missing out on a treat, as she currently has most of her best work on her other site although she is working more of her elaborate pieces in gradually.

She belongs to the International Jewelry Designers Guild as well as the local Baltimore Bead Society.

Beadwoven jewelry has historically been under-appreciated mostly due to lack of public education about its value. Jewelry like this is worth a lot more than the traditional mark-up normally placed on other styles. It is a skill that takes years to master, so money spent on it is money well-spent. Part of its value is because often this type of jewelry is not mass-produced as you might see in jewelry that is casted, fabricated with a torch, wire-wrapped, or strung.

To see everything and to purchase please check out http://silverdragon.etsy.com/
and see more of her masterpieces here; http://vener-art.com/handmade-beaded-jewelry.html

A wide variety of payment options exist, and she currently offers free shipping inside the US.

Yin and Yang-A Look into the Mirror of Our Existence

Ren Adams of Plastic Pumpkin Designs draws and paints with an intriguing mix of both Eastern and Western influence evident in her work. From bright and bold to impressionistic gesture-type renderings of bamboo and other traditional Chinese images, she has two distinctly different styles. In addition to Chinese Brush Painting she works in watercolor, oil pastel, pen and ink, pencil, marker, and a variety of other mediums, with close attention to detail through each. Each of her paintings is rich with symbolism.

Interestingly, her Chinese Brush Paintings are signed under the name An Rui Ning which is her Chinese name.

Being a Taoist, and practicing Qi Gong, a form of meditation, her art fits this spiritual path. Creating art is essential to her total fulfillment and she would not feel at harmony without it; it comes as naturally as a fish to water.

In her original Chinese Brush Painting on rice paper, “Trio of Sea Nettles” the dualities of danger and delicateness, a recurring theme of yin and the yang, are manifest within the same creatures able to sting, yet at the same time soft, streamlined, and pliable to the touch. This contradiction reflects our own quest to stay connected, man’s oneness with (and possibly his struggle with) the Universe.

In her painting, “It will Be OK” a soothing sky blue background creates an ambiance of comfort rising up from the very earth itself, with the traditional Chinese symbols of strength, uprightness, reliability, and flexibility in the sheltering arms of bamboo branches. A tree speckled with Plum Blossoms seems to be reaching outward like a hand, opening, striving toward light.

In contrast to the previous gentle strength exhibited in “It Will Be OK”, is the exuberant power of the oil pastel original, entitled, “Red Persimmons”, its intensity commanding your attention, rotund, fiery red orbs nearly brimming, as though it might burst out of its skin at any moment.

Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ren is a member of the Duke City Renegades Art Guild, the New Mexico Watercolor Society and the New Mexico Pastel Society.

She accepts custom orders, ships worldwide, and is willing to arrange layaway on purchases of $100 or more.
This vibrant collection is a feast for the eyes, and for the soul.

To see and/or purchase more of this artist's work, go to her Etsy online store at :

http://plasticpumpkin.etsy.com

Make Your Mark With Handcrafted Personalized Greeting Cards!

LOOKING FOR A PERSONALIZED CARD? Sandiego-based Earmark creates handcrafted printed and/or personalized greeting cards, note cards and sets. Most of their individual cards retail for about $3.00 apiece while custom birthday cards can be commissioned for $7.50 per card, using the names, any text, colors or images that you might like! They also can create wedding invitations.

From the Whimsical, to the comical, to the romantic of paisley, Earmark's versatility and artistic talent is evident as soon as you go to their Etsy online store; http://Earmark.etsy.com

Pictured above is a lovely notecard called "Orangy Bird" silkscreened on a double thick charcoal grey column paper. Paper is duplexed, meaning it has a second color, white, smooth paper inside making it easy to write on!