Vintage French Flea Market

Be sure to drop by Ben and Jess http://www.etsy.com/shop/BenandJess

 a lovely Etsy shop with lots of handmade goodies including handmade paper holiday and party decorations, cards, tags and gifts, monogram letters and chenille Scottie dogs.

"All of Ben & Jess's items are personally handmade by me from quality vintage french flea market inspired scrapbooking papers and fabrics. The utmost love, care and creativity is put into each piece."

by Ben and Jess
My name is Tracey Jane and I live, work and play in Sydney, Australia. I get my love of making and crafting from my mother. Wonderful things would come out of her craft room. She shared her love and knowledge of crafting with me for which I will be forever grateful.

I’m a bit of a bower bird and love to collect old things. As I’m a self confessed craftaholic I collect vintage craft books, patterns and fabrics. I also collect vintage blue and white china. My love of all things old comes through in the things I make by way of using chenille fabrics and vintage inspired scrapbooking paper.

I have recently returned to my first love which is cross stitch. A new range of cross stitched fairy inspired love hearts will be appearing in my Etsy store soon. I love the rhythm that I get into when I stitch and the sound of the thread going through the fabric. It soothes my soul and relaxes my mind. I have a beautiful old wing backed reclining chair that I sit in when I stitch - it's pure bliss.

I am lucky enough to have a dedicated crafting space which overlooks our garden. This means that I can leave things out to ponder about and fiddle with until they are right. It is next to the heart of our home the kitchen where we will gather and eat and talk and eat.

My favourite quote "An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place or circumstance. The red thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break" -Ancient Chinese proverb.

Visit Tracey's blog http://www.traceyjanedesigns.blogspot.com/.

Scrapbooking Forever

Scrapbooking Forever's specialty is making scrapbook calendars to give as gifts. Visit her blog at www.scrapbookingforevermore.blogspot.com and her team blog at theeagleteamshops.blogspot.com to see some of her work. Visit her Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/scrapbookingforever/.

by Scrapbooking Forever
Box after box of photographs. Vacations, holidays, weddings, birthdays and just because pictures. What is one to do with all those pictures? I scrap them. Over the years I have made calendars for my family to give as gifts at Christmas. The joy and laughter is so rewarding. These pictures will be cherished forever. I add some journaling, but most of the journaling is completed by the recipient. At the end of the year, family members return the calendars to me and I then scrap them into a 12 x 12 memory album and add more embellishments and papers. These albums are then returned as another gift for birthdays or Mother’s Day.

I have been a member of Etsy since November, 2009. I wanted to offer supplies that I use to create with to other creative artists. You can find stickers, ribbons, brads, buttons, rub-ons, stencils, punches, tools and many other crafting supplies. These supplies can be used for memory albums, cards, invitations, sewing, and many other crafting projects. You will also find craft supplies for children. They need to be creative too.

My work area is still under construction, but I moved in anyway. I guess you could say I had ants in my pants.

I also do plastic canvassing to relax in the evenings when time allows.I am also a member of Eagle Team in Eagle, Wisconsin, USA. Enter the words ' shop team eagle ' in search when you shop in Advanced Search & the offerings from my fellow Team Eagle members will pop up! Shop local! Information on members of The Eagle Team is easily found on our blog theeagleteamshops.blogspot.com

New Art from Recycled Goods

Have a look at this lovely Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/juleseveland . She is an avid cardmaker and scrapbooker, and likes to discover new ways to make artwork out of recycled goods. Best wishes for a successful year!

by juleseveland

I create greeting cards of all types and sizes, and can personalize each card to the likeness of the customer. I have been making cards and other paper crafts for the last eight years now, and have loved every minute of it! My sister and I often get together to create cards, handmade envelopes, and tags for Craft Fairs, etsy, friends, and various buyers. I also create magazine bowls which can take hours to make, but the end process is worth it!

My craft studio is in a spare bedroom of my house, and can be a chore to keep organized, but I know where everything is…almost. If anyone feels that crafting can be expensive, there can be ways to work around this- rummaging through garage sale deals and thrift stores is one of them. I have found my best deals at local garage sales! A favorite quote of mine is “Don’t think it, create it”!

Gorgeous!

Check out Amanda's gorgeous designs and her wonderfully, amazingly organized studio space!

It looks like a great place to create.

by BellaRhysDesigns

My name is Amanda-or BellaRhysDesigns on etsy.com. I have always been involved in the arts one way or another. From painting scenery at our community theater and earning a few awards for watercolors in my school days to my last 16 years dedicated to being a hairstylist and salon owner, each day has seemed to carry an artistic outlet for me in some form. Besides acrylics and watercolors I’ve also enjoyed creating w/ oil pastels, black and white photography, mixed media altered art, pottery and scrapbooking.

In 2002 I started making jewelry after being inspired by pieces I had seen in Greece on vacation and was frustrated and bored with the components I was finding locally. I started shopping around on Ebay and ran across some very cool glass beads by Cassie Donlen called lampwork. I immediately started researching them and was excited to incorporate them in my work. I found a local class and dove right in, completely mesmerized by the colors, styles and techniques used to create these little works of art! I found that they totally changed an ordinary piece of jewelry into an endless array of possibilities.

I have since taken metalsmithing classes to enhance my work by making my own forged or custom stamped pieces.I find inspiration in my children’s books, fun material, change of seasons, pictures in magazines,some of the treasuries on Etsy or even let my 6 year old daughter to come up with a fun color combo.I hope you enjoy the tour of my studio! If anyone would like to look at my blog for ideas of pieces I make that haven't been listed on etsy please feel free to come by for a visit!

http://bellarhysdesigns.blogspot.com (An amazing blog! I love it ~Kerry).

http://www.bellarhysdesigns.etsy.com/