New Year & New Look

Hello Everyone!
Happy 2011

As you may have noticed, our Etsy Studios Blog has a brand new look. It is a pleasure to share all of the wonderful creative spaces, places and handcrafted art of the many talented Etsy artists and I am happy to continue to provide these features. I am always amazed at all of the wonderful people I meet through this blog. Enjoy reading about their personal stories and getting a glimpse into their creative lives.

In addition to my regular Etsy features, I will also now have special studio space tips and tricks. Look for Giveaways that you can win, just by reading and becoming a follower of the blog.
Lots of treats!

Best wishes for a very happy and healthy 2011.
May all of your wishes come true!

Surround yourself with your favourite things in your studio space. A favourite candle, some favourite art or piece of home decor or maybe even your softest and most cuddly blanket to keep you warm while you work.Your creative space is a special place that should make you feel happy and take the stresses of the day away.

What are some of your favoutite things in your space?

Gift Designs is owned by Rebecca, a mother of 3 who lives in tropical North Queensland, Australia.
Enjoy a visit to Rebecca's beautiful Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/giftdesigns where you will find gorgeous jewellery, bookmarks and scrapbooking gifts!

by Gift Designs
"I currently work full time and enjoy creating gorgeous gifts to share on the weekends or whenever else time permits. I find I can easily lose myself in a pile of beads for hours on end, but on the plus side it is an interest that I can share with my two girls who really enjoy getting in and creating along side me.

I can't really remember how I came about making jewellery, it was something I casually stumbled upon but fell in love with once I did. I really love that people buy the items I make and get a lot of enjoyment from the fact that people all over the world have a piece of my jewellery!

I don't really have an organised, set plan or style for the making of my jewellery, for me it is mostly created on the spot and inspired usually by a colour theme.

I also enjoy making treasuries and featuring Etsy sellers on my blog http://www.allthingsgifts.blogspot.com/

Thanks Rebecca!



Enjoy a visit to Kathryn's Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/DycheDesigns .

"So stop a while, meander through the pages of my shop, take in the sights, dream, laugh and dance along the way and lets see if we can find you something you truly love and connect with."

by Dyche Designs

My name is Kathryn. I was born in Wales, grew up in Oxfordshire (UK), and now live in Virginia with my husband and two cats.When I lived in the UK I worked as a Human Resources Officer for a biotech company but after moving to the US I decided to take a break. It wasn’t long before my husband and I realized that I was so much happier as a result and I opted to make the break permanent. I feel extremely fortunate to have such a supportive husband and to be able to pursue my crafting on a full time basis.

About My Art/Crafts
I have always loved walking into stores that have a wide selection of items so it came as no surprise that my online shop ‘‘Dyche Designs’ naturally evolved into housing a variety of my own crafts.What I create depends a lot on what I’m feeling at the time. I don’t try to fight it, I just go with it. Most recently I’ve found myself drawn to creating mixed media artwork and love how I am able to loose track of time and myself in the process.

I’ve also spent many hours sat at my sewing machine creating bags, cushion covers and pin cushions. During the fall my thoughts turn to knitting scarves and at various times throughout the year I can also be found crafting jewelry.

Another favorite of mine are soaps and candles. Nothing beats the smells that emanate throughout the house whenever I pour them.

The Creative Proces
The thing I love most is the flexibility and freedom that comes with creating.I am not an organized person so the creative process for me is kind of a chaotic and random event. I have a real aversion to following instructions and have a hard time planning or designing anything in advance. I typically sit at my work area and through experimenting with different colors, textures and materials I create a piece that I feel happy with.



Where I Create
I am extremely fortunate to have a dedicated craft room where I do computer work, jewelry making and house all of my supplies. That said, I have a tendency to spread to other areas of the house and can often be found sewing in our dining room or painting in our sun room (the light is so beautiful in there).

It is an amazing journey that I find myself on and couldn’t have achieved any of this without the love and support of family and friends. Thank you to everyone who supports the handmade community.

Favorite Quote
“Love, peace and jelly babies”.

http://twitter.com/DycheDesigns

http://dychedesigns.blogspot.com/
 

Handmade With Love

Enjoy a visit to Ria's enchanting paper craft Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/riaann/

where she shares her many wonderfully handcrafted greeting cards, magnets,pendants and gifts.

by Ria Creations

I am a SAHM mom to twins who will be four next month and wife to a supportive husband of almost 10 years. I have been papercrafting for about 11 years now.

I have always loved being creative as long as I can remember. So it should have been no surprise when I was introduced to rubber stamping through an at home party I would be hooked.

Since my start I have expanded to work on all sorts of crafts. I started my Etsy shop last September figuring I can start to add all my greeting cards to the shop. Since then though I have tried to expand that a bit to include other “papercrafted” items.

 I have a few categories in my shop right now which included Greeting cards, Magnets, Pendants and Gifts. I love Etsy, everyone who buys and sells on the site are wonderful and the fact that it is an all handmade items site is amazing.

Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/riaann/
Etsy Blog: http://riacreationsetsy.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/riaann720
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Ria-Creations/155555613194?ref=ts

My Lovely Etsy Friends

I remember the very first time that I stumbled apon Etsy. I was entranced and spent the whole evening exploring all of the wonderful handmade items. It was love at first sight and one evening of many that I would spend in the magic of Etsy. I became an avid fan and loved the many unique Etsy finds that I could share as gifts for my family and friends. 

Little did I know that in time I would open my very own folk art and vintage jewelry Etsy shops and share a blog that features wonderful Etsy artisans and their creative spaces. Thank you for sharing your many heart warming stories and being a part of my creative journey. I enjoy the opportunity to share your stories with others and being a part of such a caring community.

There is also a little bit of a voyeur in us to want to have a peek into your wonderful creative spaces and creative mind!

 I am always looking for more Etsy shops to feature. Please contact me if you are interested!

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments!

Sentimental Culture & Old Time Traditions

"My family has been actively involved in crafts and jewelries for over 50 years now and since a child all I remember is always creating something...clothes for my dolls, head pins, teen gloves...you name it...but my true passion remained jewelries....colorful and vibrant, just as my Old Europe."

Enjoy a visit to Didi's Etsy shop where you will be enchanted by her wonderfully beautiful, handmade jewelry http://www.etsy.com/shop/handarts.

by Handarts

My name is Didi and I'm coming from Eastern Europe, Bulgaria. Growing up there was so much fun because of our sentimental culture and old time traditions. My country is a little over 2000 years old and is a modern representation of the "old world" though still caring lots of rituals and traditional celebrations.

We are warm, curious and tough and we love music, vibrant colors and decorations. I believe my interest in arts comes from my background and especially my family. My grand father is a furniture designer and renovator, my grand mother is a professional tailor and she designs and sews most of our clothes. My mom is crazy about painting, decorating and altering vintage stuff. I was always exposed to creativity and somehow slowly found my love for Jewelry.

Started pretty early...maybe 7 years old I won a small "new talents" competition with a hammered rose pendant...and never stopped creating since then. I have passion for Silver and light colored crystals and stones. Designs appear in my head at any time and one of my biggest inspiration is Europe from the 1930's, the era of sterling silver and quartz cabochons. I have a small desk specially bought for my Jewelry Passion and though is hard to keep it in order sometimes, I love creating on it.

Currently live in beautiful Louisiana with my husband of 4 years and my 2 years old leopard gecko. My co workers love and buy my jewelry and they were the ones who told me about Etsy. I love it because it reminds me so much about Home...people are sweet and talented and as an artist it's great to meet so many friends with love for Handmade.

I LOVE to Sew

Fabric Greetings is a great Etsy shop that features specialty handmade fabric cards. She shares..." for me, sewing is the greatest form of relaxation. I have done other crafts, but I always come back to the sewing machine. I just need to sew! I also teach for local quilt shops and fabric store. Fortunately, I have a loving and supportive husband who understands this. And he knows exactly where to put the sewing machine when we pack the car for vacation.I love sending cards - all kinds of cards for no special reason. So I started making these fabric postcards as a way of letting someone know they are special. No two cards are exactly alike, just as no two people are exactly alike. I have sort of made it my mission to convince people to send a card that fits the person receiving it."  Enjoy a visit to her wonderful Etsy shop 

http://www.fabricgreetings.etsy.com/ .

by Fabric Greetings                                                                                                                                 
I am a retired teacher who thinks she was born with a sewing machine at her finger tips. I LOVE to sew and I love to send cards to family and friends. So when I discovered these fabric postcards, I knew I had found something that I would enjoy doing. It is my mission to convince people to send special one of a kind cards to special people. We aren't mass produced, so why settle for a mass produced greeting card.

I am lucky enough to have a huge sewing studio that could easily get out of hand. So I have cubbies for the colors of fabrics I work with, many hanging spool racks to keep threads organized and off table tops, and a drawer unit devoted entirely to the embellishments and cording for my cards. My counter height cutting surface is always a disaster, but I have learned to work with that. The best thing about all this is that it is on the second floor of our home and nobody ever needs to go up there except us.

My only advice to those starting out is to find something that you are passionate about and go for it.
Life is too short to not enjoy yourself.

Stylish Ornaments

Whoa!!! ...where did the time go! Sorry everyone...crazy week at work this week. Keep watching for more great Etsy Shops and artist features coming up! If you are an Etsy shop and would like a feature on my Etsy Studios blog, I'd love to feature you...just leave a message!

Be sure to visit today's feature shop http://www.stylishornaments.etsy.com/.

by Stylishornaments and Crafts

We are best friends and we like to do lots of things together. Last winter we were looking for ways to have even more fun and to chill out during long winter evenings and we ended up with playing with salt dough. The results were so encouraging that we went on and started to make angel figures and Christmas ornaments. We liked them so much that we decided to share our creations with others and also to expand our range by making more items, both in terms of numbers and variety. Our brand products are angels for every occasion. We also create tons of various seasonal products: witches, jack o'lanterns and the like for Halloween, Christmas ornaments, hearts for Mother's Day and so on. Each item is hand-made and therefore unique in form, shape and style. We also use different materials, mostly salt dough, acrylic painting and varnish, but also wooden frames and raffia. And we constantly try new things and techniques, adding new collections to our repertoire.Our inspiration comes from recognition of special occasions and events, like Christmas, Mother Day, etc. But we often catch ourselves at simply looking at a thing we have just seen and thinking how it would look like in a particular setting, for example, hung on a wall, or a Christmas tree. This usually brings good ideas not only how the product should look like, but what methods we need to improve in order to make it look better.

A Studio That Sparkles

Sparkles By Design

www.sparklesbydesign.etsy.com

Well, I finally got my studio organized...what a job. I started making jewelry about 7 years ago because I needed a necklace to match an outfit I was going to wear to a special occasion & since I've always done crafts, gift baskets, etc. since I was young, I thought...why not try making jewelry and it's been a learning process since then. I love designing & creating jewelry. It's relaxing and, also, rewarding when I see the finished pieces. I get ideas for a piece of jewelry any time of the day & anywhere.

Then, I try to sketch a picture of what's in my mind & list the materials & colors I want to use & then I start making it when I'm ready to create.

Sometimes I like the original idea, but other times, I make several changes along the way of working on a piece. I love to use some item that gives a little sparkle such as Swarovski crystals, metals, glass beads, & pearls. I have a good friend that I've known for almost 30 years & every time she would see me she would comment that I always had to have a little sparkle on me in the jewelry I would wear, so I guess that's where I came up with the name for my shop. I enjoy making jewelry because it seems that it makes customers smile & happy when they look at it, try it on, or purchase it. I especially love making jewelry for weddings, which I have done several. It's fun to get together with a customer & create a design customized especially for them and it's even more satisfying to see the appreciation on the customer's face when they are given their finished purchase. A little info about me is that I love gardening & crossword puzzles (when I have time). I always take the time to admire & cherish the beauty that nature gives us. The colors, the sparkle, & the uniqueness. Too often people are rushed and don't realize that they don't even notice the many beautiful things around us that nature has provided us with. When I need a few moments to relax, I sit out at our beautiful fish pond & waterfall. Family is very important to me, too. I have my husband, 2 adult daughters, 2 step-daughters, 2 son-in-laws, & 4 grandchildren. I, also, work 10 hours a week in a local child care program working with the pre kindergarten age. I've been there for almost 14 years. I would like to thank anyone that visits my Etsy shop and to thank you for this great opportunity to introduce myself & my Sparklesbydesign shop through Etsy. Thank you very much for your time.