Creating Things With History

 Beth's Etsy Shop, Ringaling by Beth http://www.etsy.com/shop/ringalingbybeth  is featuring handmade, one-of-a-kind rings from vintage buttons, sea glass or anything else that strikes her. She is giving new life to vintage materials. Have fun visiting her lovely Etsy Shop.

My shoppe name is ringalingbybeth. I started my Etsy endeavor in the Fall of 2009. My daughter was going into first grade and I was thinking.... what am I going to do with myself?

I really wanted to do something creative. I had seen an article in a magazine years ago about vintage button rings. I thought it was the coolest idea, so I decided to start a business creating rings for young and old with buttons, vintage earrings, seaglass or anything else that strikes me.

I love the idea of repurposing things. Creating things with a history that have a story behind them is fun - handmade items with a vintage twist. I have lived in Massachusetts all my life. I married my husband who also has lived in the same town. We actually bought the house that he grew up in, so we really have not gone far at all. It is nice to raise our daughter where our roots began. It is a house with a lot of history.

 The house is over a hundred years old......and has only ever been in his family. The downside to this house is that there is no real space for my rings and things. I end up at my dining room table to make my creations which is not ideal but I am not complaining. My dining room workspace is filled with black and white toile and loads of black and white photos which are inspiring to me.

 I keep all my buttons and vintage findings in old muffin tins which is just prettier then a regular plastic bin. I work on a table that was once part of a barn so the idea of repurposing is constantly around me. My favorite part of my work process is finding the materials....I love the thrill of the hunt. Check out my store often, things change daily......you never know what you are going to find.

The World Is My Studio

Emelia's Extraordinary Beauty

Enjoy a visit to Emelia's beautiful etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/EmeliaJane to be inspired by Emelia's amazing talent to find the unusual and extraordinary beauty hiding within ordinary objects.

by Emilia Jane

My name is Emelia and I have been completely enthralled with photography for as long as I can remember. I am inspired by the unusual and extraordinary beauty hiding within ordinary objects. It brings me so much pleasure to know that when I capture an image in my lens, that flash in time will never recur, however it will live on forever in my photograph. I love looking at an image and being transported to the feeling of that particular moment in time...the smell of a garden in the early morning, the electricity before a summer storm, the warmth of a loved possession. I was inspired by my Baba (grandmother), who was a book illustrator and water color painter to pursue my passion and after working as a glass blower for ten years I finally did! Other than being a photographer I am an avid illustrator (I have a second shop http://www.belliuccelli.etsy.com/ ), old cemetery enthusiast, treasure hunter and lover of chocolate!

I am an extremely organized person (when I was little I cleaned my room for fun and fantasied about winning an award for the cleanest room in the world...dork!) I have a studio where I mostly illustrate, sew, do book keeping and pack and ship; the outside world is the studio for my camera! I chart all of my profits and expenses on my computer (I am big on charts and graphs) and I file everything! Everything in my studio has a home and when I am done with the item it goes back to its home, no excuses!

My best advice is to do what you love!!! Make sure to fit your passion into your schedule at least once a day...draw a line, string a bead, take a photograph!