Happy Happy Holiday Season Everyone

Hello everyone. I am looking for more wonderful Etsy studios and shops to feature! Are you looking for a fun and easy way to promote this holiday season?  My lovely readers (hi there!) enjoy finding out about you, the "artist" behind the creations, your favourite organizational tips and tools and where you create. I feature all of the unique items from your shop and link your shop and any other links to your store through Facebook, Twitter etc.. If you are interested and would like me to feature your shop or a friend's shop, please feel free to say hello and contact me!

http://www.thereddoor.etsy.com/
More great Etsy features to come!!!

Here is free image as a gift, just for you!
Simply save the image and print it to the size you want.
Looks great framed, sitting with your holiday decor or give as a gift for a special friend.

Find Beauty Everywhere

Enjoy a visit to Erin's Etsy shop Sunken Garden Beads http://www.etsy.com/shop/sunkengardenbeads where you will find her beautiful jewelry that is amazingly photographed. Erin loves photographing her pieces and explains that "photography is a passion of mine and I've grown to love photographing my jewelry almost as much as making it."

by Sunken Garden Beads
Hello, my name is Erin and I'm a slightly OCD 19-year-old who designs her own jewelry. Some other activities I love are reading scary novels, macro photography, playing video games with my fiance and learning Japanese. I'm taking jewelry design classes at my local community college so I can add new techniques and ideas to my shop often.

My jewelry is inspired by many things, from abstract art to poetry to aquatic plant life. I also like to play around with different combinations of gemstones and wire wrapping designs.

 I create my pieces either in my art studio at school or while sitting crosslegged on my bedroom floor with beads and tools strewn all around me. :)

I'm a detail-oriented person who finds beauty everywhere and in the strangest places. I love jewelry design because it allows me to transfer the secret surprises of nature around me into a permanent object that can be displayed and admired on the body.

Any Place Is A Great Place To Create!

Creating is creating no matter where you are!
Do you like to create indoors or outside? Do you prefer to create early in the morning after waking up feeling renewed and refreshed or in the evening when the kids are in bed? Maybe you are a night hawk and like to create in the middle of the night (I love the feeling of finishing my paintings ~sometimes in the wee hours of the night!) I have even found ways to bring some of my art tools with me when I go away on vacation (you never know when inspiration will hit!).
I agree with New Creationz that any where you can find a spot is a great place to create! Check out her fabulous creations http://www.newcreationz.etsy.com/.

When I take a look at the photos posted here, one word immediately springs to mind ‘HELP!’I am one of those people that dream of having their own studio, I wish for a space that I can call my own. That I don’t have to share with anyone else. That has all my equipment orderly arranged along spacious shelves and tucked away in neat little boxes. But, alas my life is not like that and though I peel through decor mags searching for the answer to my clutter problems, I have not let it hinder the flow of my creative juices.Sharing a small house with a family of five (including two teenagers!) has to have a few compromises. But my family is very accommodating. Most times, I am busy on more than one project so end up being rather spread out around the house. They put up with not eating at the dining table for days, due to it being covered in paints, canvases and with whatever project I am involved in at the time. It’s only once in a while that they tend to murmur when I am so engrossed in my art that I forget all about fixing dinner! I also work five days a week at my children’s school so am not normally able to sit down and complete a piece in one sitting.














For that reason I have adapted the way I work, to grabbing a moment here and there, so as to ensure that I progress with paintings or other projects. So I would like to encourage those that are not naturally “tidies“ or that don’t have a special studio to work in, or not much time to spare, to not be discouraged or feel they cannot produce anything worthwhile!I have learned to make the most of what I have got. Though my space and time is very limited, I am compelled to use the talents I have and won’t let my circumstances stop me. Having said all of that, I am still allowed to dream.....

(I am originally from South Africa and now live in New Zealand with my husband and three children. We love the life we have here and I am continually inspired to paint and photograph the beautiful green fields, blue sea and white beaches we are surrounded with.)

Studios, Studios, Studios

Cloth .Paper.Scissors

One of my most favourite magazines is Coth, Paper, Scissors. I discovered it this summer and fell in love with the articles and the creativity of the artists featured in this magazine. It is how I found my new passion for mixed media. Many types of artists are featured. Usually the artist submits their art piece and writes an article describing their piece and how it was created. It's a great way to discover new techniques, tools and products and give them a try yourself.

They have special editions as well. Check out the new Fall/Winter edition of Cloth, Paper, Scissors Studios. This edition features artists and their creative spaces. Their spaces are as unique as the art they create. So inspirational! If you click on the title it will bring you right to this edition. Enjoy!

Any Place Is A Good Place To Create!

I love it when inspiration hits and it doesn't matter where you are. Sometimes I'm asking someone for a small piece of paper or even a napkin to draw my inspirations for my art and collages. I love bringing my materials outside and creating there whenever I get a chance. Usually any place is a good place to create! Here is Sugarskull7's creating space and the keepers of her space. I think I'll do an Etsy Studio (Creature) Keeper blog feature! We can have a look at all of our favourite animals that occupy our spaces!

Sugarskull7

www.sugarskull7.etsy.com

Here goes:I’m a 38 year old wife, mother, former phone company employee, current dog trainer, and Etsy artist! I started carving rubber stamps about 12 years ago when a friend of mine fell victim to a severe rubber stamp addiction. We were both telephone operators at the time, and she always had an issue of Rubberstampmadness propped open on her desk. We were allowed to do “activities” (draw, knit, write notes to each other) while taking calls, so she made cards with her stamps. I was fascinated. I loved the works of art she created, but I wanted “my own” stamps. I’ve always been an artist, drawing and painting since I was very young, so I wanted stamps of my own designs. When my friend showed me an article about eraser carving, I was hooked. I could make my own stamps!!!!!

Many of the designs I offer on my Etsy shop were originally carved while I was answering calls as an operator. Looking back now, I have no idea how I did that! These days, carving a stamp requires all my concentration. Chalk it up to getting old…My workspace is basically my bedroom floor, several storage boxes, a fishing tackle case and a shelf in my closet! Designs are always done in a sketchbook, and when I’m ready to carve, I set up in a sunlit spot on of my bedroom floor and I’m ready to go. As the pictures demonstrate, all stamps are Corgi-inspected for quality and flavor before they are shipped to customers.

Some tools I can’t live without are Speedball linoleum gauge blades, Testor hobby knives, PZ Kut carving material, a magnifying glass, and of course, ink!

Before being turned on to Etsy by a friend who suggested I sell my paintings there, it never occurred to me to sell hand-carved stamps. As I browsed through all the gorgeous Etsy shops, though, I came across artists who were offering their carvings for sale and I was amazed! I had no idea there was a market for this art form! So I posted a few of my stamps and was thrilled when some of them sold! So here I am. I’ve only been selling a little while, so we’ll see where it goes. It’s unlikely that this is something I’ll make a living at, but the fact that some people out there like my work enough to want to own a piece of it makes me extremely happy. For me, that’s success.

Premiere Etsy Studio Feature

Welcome Everyone,

I am so pleased to offer "Etsy Studios". It is a close up glimpse into the creating spaces of Etsy artists. Artists share their creative workspace and their organizational tips. It is so much fun to peek into someone else's studio. You will find many different studios inside including large glamorous art studios , closets transformed and well ...work spaces that need a little transformation and organizational help!!! It's all here. We will share organizational tips and post questions for readers to answer. ~Please make sure you read to the end of the blog so that you don't miss anything exciting!~

~If you are an Etsy member and would like to be a featured studio-

just click on ~ The Red Door~ To The Right

Here is Etsy Studios' first feature .... ~Enjoy~.

Etsy Shop~ I Sew Cute

I am a mom, wife, tomboy turned girly-girl craft goddess…who works on my passions of art & craft at home. I simply love to make things and am addicted to Craftster & Etsy. I just found etsy early this summer through a friend & love both selling & buying there.

It is nice to find a variety of unique items all made with love!

I just started blogging this summer and have a resin tutorial posted there for anyone who has been hesitant to try it. It makes me sad to think there’s amazing crafters out there just sitting on the fence about working with this incredible medium…it’s wicked addictive & not as hard as you’d think!

http://isewcute.blogspot.com/

I turned a walk in closet into my ‘craft room’…and it is desperately crowded, however brightly painted! ;^)

My main crafty loves are sewing, drawing, & knitting. I have an etsy store with only jewelry and a couple of patterns for embroidery now, but hope to expand with sewn items & handmade Christmas items by this fall. I’m convo friendly and love to meet other crafters!

Visit her Etsy Shop www.isewcute.etsy.com

Cheers!

~Tip~ Store items in old shoe boxes.
Label what is inside.

Have a great day and come back often for new Studios. You never know ~it could be You next!