Friday, October 30, 2009

FRIDAY - Friday Finds... LunarBelle



Friday Finds... LunarBelle

This is my tenth interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy.

Today I want to introduce a wonderful jewelry maker that hails from Australia, whom came into my awareness after contacting me via the Etsy Promotions forum. I am in love with her work, there is something very romantic and delicate about her jewelry that appeals to me and I think she pieces together the findings and beads she uses in an extremely beautiful way. So here is LunarBelle on Etsy


(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)









-- Tell me a bit about you! My name is Regina, I am 37 years old and I live in Australia. I lived in Austria when I was a little girl and had to translate for my English speaking mother!

-- What is your business about then? I design and make jewelry that I love and hope others do too. My jewelry design is more of a hobby than a business, I get great satisfaction creating beautiful peices and even greater satisfaction when people enjoy what I make.

-- How did Etsy come into your life? I had been selling peices at a local gift shop and found that I needed another outlet for my designs. It was through a google search that I came upon Etsy. I had never heard of it before but thought it was a wonderful way to get my jewelry out there.

-- Are you working a day job too? Yes and no! I am a stay at home mum to two beautiful girls. I have been very fortunate in that I am able to do this. I really appreciate my time with them.

-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? I have been plying my family and friends with my creations for around five years now. Before jewelry making I was dabbling with other arts and crafts such as stained glass, sewing and painting with watercolours.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? A new bead shop opened up at the local shopping centre and I had never seen such a pretty shop before. I fell in love with all the beautiful things in there. Ever since then I have had a passion for beads. I feel like they have taken over my life! When you start dreaming about them and your designs you know its a passion!

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Pretty, unique and colourful.

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? It starts off with getting everyone off to work and school, then I spend one or two hours promoting my business. After this it is housework, washing and shopping (not a very exciting part of the day!). I then do the school pick up and start thinking about dinner. Often I will bake at this time as well. After dinner and everything is done I sit down and start creating (this is my favourite time).

-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? I love crystal beads and use them all the time. I accent these with metal and I am particularly fond of antique brass and gunmetal. It highlights the colours of the crystals nicely. I love gemstones and pearls also.

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I am very happy with how everything is at the moment and hope to keep on creating. Sales are good because then I can continue buying lovely peices to work with!

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? I play tennis twice a week - Wednesday is competition day and Friday night is for fun. I love to read, garden and catch up with family and friends. Fun is watching my husband's band play at functions so I can have a dance!

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I like to look at the treasuries and would love to try one of my own. I search art as I am in awe of their talents. I also like to look at other jewelry designers beautiful work.

-- Any last words? Thanks for the interview! I have really enjoyed it and am glad to be featured on your gorgeous blog. If I can make somebody happy with one of my creations then I get so much in return.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Monday Magic! - Near Undiscovered Wonder



Monday Magic...Glass

niapen

gildedlilyglasscandy

anapinatelier

suziesbeads

RASPBERRYRINGS

RamblingRoseJewels

endiodesigns

glasssculpture

OceanSkye

doraArt

HanksStainedGlassArt

fotoveronika

Introducing my 11th installment of my new weekly feature, Monday Magic! These Etsy.com sellers all share something special... Fabulous work! Yet, somehow like many sellers on Etsy are wondering where all their admirers are! So this is where I feel it's time to showcase the undiscovered talent of Etsy, on Monday each week so they have a chance to shine like the best of Etsy do :)

All of the sellers names can be typed into the navigation bar on your browser followed with ".etsy.com" (dot etsy dot com) to take you to their stores. Otherwise click on an image to go directly to their listing!


I am now taking requests for next weeks Monday Magic Expo. If you would like to be a part of it, you are required to have less that 20 sales in your Etsy store, and the theme this week is Weddings! (Show me your delicate white items!). Contact me via convo @ http://moonangelnay.etsy.com to send in your requests, plus a link to your suitable item :)

Have a fab week!

moonangelnay xxx

Thursday, October 22, 2009

FRIDAY - Friday Finds... Hell0Z0mbie



Friday Finds... HellOZOmbie

This is my ninth interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy.

After posting this week's Monday Magic, I was contacted by a fellow Etsy artist known by the shop name HellOZOmbie with a request to check out an item of hers that may have been suitable for next Monday. Well, I was so impressed when visiting her store I had to ask for an interview, I was absolutely enthralled by her paper arts! The colors springing out at me! My particular favorites being the origami cards. I think they're beautiful and was so pleased when she wanted to do the interview, so I'd like to introduce Emma of HellOZOmbie!


(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) My name is Emma, I go by Firheruwen and Hell0z0mbie around the interwebs. I am 23 years old, I grew up in Boise Idaho but escaped to Phoenix Arizona right after high school! I love Arizona! A random fact? I have been vegetarian for about 16 years!

-- What is your business about then? I love crafting and trying new things! Arts and crafts have always been a bit of a passion for me, although I don't think I am good enough at them to make a decent living at it alone. There is no better feeling than someone buying something handmade from me though! It makes me so happy!

-- How did Etsy come into your life? I have been an Etsy shopper for a few years, and this spring I finally got motivated enough to list some of my stuff. I started out with mostly bracelets and am branching out.

-- Are you working a day job too? I am, it takes up way too much of my arts and crafts time! I work for an economic consulting / expert witness company in Phoenix. I only recently graduated/started so my job can be a little boring sometimes (copying and data entry - barf!) but on good days I get to do cool things with MS Excel, I love spreadsheets at least as much as I love arts and crafts!

-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? I have been into art since forever! I was never super good at any one thing, but I like to try everything. Having my artistic side repressed at work during the day makes it come out harder on my off time.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? The happiness I feel when someone wants something I made enough to purchase it motivates and inspires me. It is vindication, approval and acceptance, the money is fairly secondary!

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Random, Girly, Colorful

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? Get up at six, fart around on the internet and shower and all that until I go to work at around 8.
Work all day at the office, leave anywhere from 5:30 to 9!
Have dinner with the boyfriend, maybe watch TV or a movie or work on my arts and crafts, do some Etsy and blogging stuff and go to bed. So exciting!

-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? I love paper, decoupage is awesome as is Origami, collage, scrapbooking...

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I would love to find a niche, something creative that I do really well that I could market and sell. I have no idea what this would be, at the moment. I always want to do art and keep trying new things.

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? I love to read, I mostly read fantasy and science fiction but also some non fiction. My favorite authors are Robert Jordan, George R.R. Martin, C.S. Friedman, Richard Dawkins, Max Brooks.

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? Purses! I am seriously obsessed with buying purses. I search that all the time, sometimes to blog about it and sometimes just to buy. I also like searching for pretty jewelry.

-- Any last words? Live Long, and Prosper!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Monday Magic! - Near Undiscovered Wonder




Monday Magic...Wood

cameronzegers

driftwoodangels

lichenwoods

MilesWoodworking

arkane451

hannahchristie

TheMadBowler

rustymoon

Daleswoodturnings

WandsAndSwords

gru2000

JewelsByCarolyn


Introducing my 10th installment of my new weekly feature, Monday Magic! These Etsy.com sellers all share something special... Fabulous work! Yet, somehow like many sellers on Etsy are wondering where all their admirers are! So this is where I feel it's time to showcase the undiscovered talent of Etsy, on Monday each week so they have a chance to shine like the best of Etsy do :)

All of the sellers names can be typed into the navigation bar on your browser followed with ".etsy.com" (dot etsy dot com) to take you to their stores. Otherwise click on an image to go directly to their listing!


I am now taking requests for next weeks Monday Magic Expo. If you would like to be a part of it, you are required to have less that 20 sales in your Etsy store, and the theme this week is Glass! (Show me your Glass items!). Contact me via convo @ http://moonangelnay.etsy.com to send in your requests, plus a link to your suitable item :)

Have a fab week!

moonangelnay xxx

Sunday, October 18, 2009

SUNDAY... Coffee and Cake



Sunday - Coffee and Cake
weekly musings, articles and mostly babble...



I'm currently in the process of discovering the classic joys of pregnancy as most of you probably know from my previous Sunday post, and so far this week I've been under the hopeful (yet very naive) belief that because I am approaching the 2nd Trimester, all of the lovely things that have been happening to me lately will cease to plague my days. However I am wondering if I'm going to be one of the lucky ladies that lives in the 1st trimester throughout the entire 40 week period, as so far I haven't noticed any let up in my pregnancy symptoms. Only that they appear to be getting worse! Eek!

When I was pregnant with my son I loved the fact that despite having physical trauma towards the start, and the need for chiropractic care 4 times a week for many months I was pretty fortunate to not experience morning sickness, nor the loss of appetite thing and the like... but bloomin heck, I dont know what's worse at the moment. It's pretty frightening actually, as I'm sure highly amusing for anyone that watches me heaving 100s of times a day, but I have completely lost my desire for food, and because my sense of smell seems to be amplified, any food stuffs I approach sets off this uncontrollable need to be sick. It's terrible and I don't know what to do about it. If it was just the sickness that's fair enough but to loose my desire for food and find every smell I come across physically unbearable worries me a lot, particularly as it seems to be getting worse. I hear a lot of women get this problem but I never imagined morning sickness to go as far as this. I look forward to the day that I dont have to retch all the way through my cooking and spend millions of years trying to get through meals, I only hope that it lets up soon!


Despite the fun and games, I have been back on form all week enjoying finding lots of newbies to help promote and making the necessary alterations in my store (slowly but surely). Glad to have successfully managed it all too in amongst all the goings on at home too, but I have felt that despite the changes something feels a bit empty. The great things I think have been making more time for myself on top of my usual duties, but for some reason there is this feeling that with the blog in particular there is a need for something more. I have been considering adding a new weekly post, which I thought could involve linking to helpful resources, focusing on the arts, design, marketing, business... you know, the generally need to know's for I guess a lot of people trying to work from home as there is SOOOO much that I have found to be handy myself, and not enough venues that list all the need to knows in one place. I personally have 1000s of links bookmarked in my browser and most of the time I'm driven nutty trying to go through what I find to be particularly helpful to me, as my internet habits normally involve me coming across these kind of things then bookmarking them for later reading (lack of time factor). As I do have a lot of good one's (that I have managed to check out) I know for me and anyone that's interested, to have them all available in one place will be handy for future reference. This will all need planning though as I still havent worked out how to make this idea an organised idea, nor how I plan to catagorize topics on the blog to keep things minimal yet accessible. So this one is one that'll come in time. I'll keep ya posted :)

I think maybe I'll end this one for today, as the week has been more of an adjustment to changes than interesting things to share that have occured so hopefully next week I'll have a lot more to talk about, now that I'm back into the swing of things!

Friday, October 16, 2009

FRIDAY - Friday Finds... ChocolateCreative



Friday Finds... ChocolateCreative

This is my eighth interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy.

It has been a long while since I have done my weekly searches through my favourite newest of the new on Etsy so over the weekend I almost felt peace washing over the diffiulties that have surrounded my families lives lately, by just being able to do what I love doing the most here on Blogger and Etsy. I haven't managed to finish updating my own store as of yet, but as you discovered on Monday I found 12 great new artists with wonderful work to share that I wanted to share with the community as my favourite finds of the week. Today I want to introduce my favourite artist of the week in my artistan interview, that makes beautiful home decor printed cushions and textiles. I love her work because it is fresh, unique and elegantly abstract that reflects times of old, as well as the fact that she likes to use eco sound materials like organic cotton and hemp in her eco collection. I think her concept is just so carefully thought out and produced so well that I couldnt resist asking for an interview, and thrilled that she wanted to take part! I'd like to introduce you to Designer Margarita of ChocolateCreative. Also check out her wonderful blog http://chocolatecreative.blogspot.com.



(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) Margarita Lorenzo, 38, London, Spanish at heart, living and enjoying my English life in London.

-- What is your business about then? My business is about creating sustainable handmade textiles and accessories for the house, spreading the word about craft and traditional skills and promoting handmade design above mass produced one.

-- How did Etsy come into your life? I learned about Etsy last year while browsing an American blog, and thought what a brilliant idea!! As it reaches out globally and have a great designers/makers community.

-- Are you working a day job too? My background is in Graphic Design, and have been doing this for the past 15 years, still work part time for a company, but trying to give up on this job to concentrate on my textiles business.

-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to do/study art, I went to University to do Fine Art, specialised in Graphic Design, and since them never have stopped studying and learning new ways of expressing my creativity, printmaking and textiles have been my latest studies.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? I suppose the main reason is my passion for what I do and make, and wanted to be my own boss for a long time. I believe in handmade design and love making my own things. I look for inspiration in traditional craft, embroidery, stitching, old linens, vintage textiles, the colours and look of old houses in Cuba and Brazil, etc…I like mixing the old with the new and that is what I try in each design, to bring a bit tradition into a contemporary piece.

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Sustainable handmade textiles

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? It differs from day to day, (this is when working on my textiles from my studio at home), I am not an early bird, so start around 9.30/10am,
have my coffee while I browse a magazine
read and answers emails
organize the day’s work
If time, go for a walk in the park/have lunch
Print/sew/make cushions
Work on new ideas
Market the business
Run the blog
Shop for materials
And last browse blogs and sites for inspiration and networking while I watch TV on my sofa, absolutely exhausted but very happy!!

-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? I only work with natural fabrics, such as Linens, hemps, 100% cottons and organic cotton, I soon hope to start introducing some old linens and vintage fabrics. I want to reuse as much as possible, I value old textiles and believe in recycling very much. I screen print my own designs and use transfer paper for some motives, I love using traditional skills such as cross stitch and embroidery.

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? In the ideal world and hopefully in my near future I see myself dedicated to Chocolate Creative full time, and living between Spain (Canary Islands where I come from) in Winter and spending Summer/Spring in London. Expanding the textiles lines and introducing stationary and ceramics. Running the blog, and who knows what my creative mind and new opportunities will bring along the way. I am very certain this is what I want to do as I feel very passionate about it.

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? I love being with my friends and family, (they are a very important part of my life and feel very privilege to have so many supportive people around me), cooking and entertaining at home, traveling as much possible, going home to my local beach and relax by the sea. I love going to the cinema, museums, galleries, browse second hand shops and antiques markets, and above all a good piece of cake, cup of tea, good magazine, my cat next to me and my confy sofa, HEAVEN!!!

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? Anything that looks gorgeous and is being well crafted, I have already bought a few pieces from it and I am always surprise about how much talent is out there, it is such a source of inspiration!!

-- Any last words? The piece of advice that has helped me the most and that I pass on to you all is: “Be true to your heart, believe in yourself and follow your dreams”. I want to thank to all the amazing global community that is out there, making, designing and creating for being a constant source of inspiration!!


Monday, October 12, 2009

Monday Magic! - Near Undiscovered Wonder



Monday Magic...Light!


DominicMcCabe

thecuckoostory

MatilskyArt

HinasApprentice

alexandratiara

TheBushSewer

sliceoflifejewelry

LifeinaLens

ProjectsOfPassion

janice10art

CuriousSparrow

pandyautry


Introducing my 9th installment of my new weekly feature, Monday Magic! These Etsy.com sellers all share something special... Fabulous work! Yet, somehow like many sellers on Etsy are wondering where all their admirers are! So this is where I feel it's time to showcase the undiscovered talent of Etsy, on Monday each week so they have a chance to shine like the best of Etsy do :)

All of the sellers names can be typed into the navigation bar on your browser followed with ".etsy.com" (dot etsy dot com) to take you to their stores. Otherwise click on an image to go directly to their listing!


I am now taking requests for next weeks Monday Magic Expo. If you would like to be a part of it, you are required to have less that 20 sales in your Etsy store, and the theme this week is Wood! (Show me your wooden items!). Contact me via convo @ http://moonangelnay.etsy.com to send in your requests, plus a link to your suitable item :)

Have a fab week!

moonangelnay xxx