Creative Treasures, Shop of the Week no. 9

Every Saturday a new Shop Of The Week is chosen by the previous shop of the week from the numbers of treasuries made for them. This week that honour goes to Creative Treasures...yes me! This is the winning treasury. 

Yes, I was chosen as shop of the week this week, and I am amazed at how many beautiful treasuries were made featuring items from my shop, so thank you everyone.

I wasn’t going to write a piece about me, as this blog is full of me me me, but then I thought, well for the sake of continuity, and fairness, I’d answer the same questions I set everyone else. So here goes.

Tell us a little about yourself and your work

I am a self-taught jewellery-maker. I use lots of different media for making my jewellery, gemstones, glass beads,

wire, seed beads, polymer clay. I love it all. It all started when my partner decided he wanted a new hobby and bought himself a kit for making bead earrings, and a set of tools. I watched as he tried looping the headpins and though, hmm, that’s the same technique I used to use when I worked in electronics to loop a copper core cable. I resisted having a try myself for…ooo...three days, then I made several pairs of earrings. Not happy with that, I wire-wrapped a few beads and made more earrings, then a bracelet or two, and I was away.

Of course, it was all rubbish, but as I got better at it, I put a few photos on facebook, and sold them! Encouraged by this I made more, and sold them. Eventually I began selling on Folksy, then Etsy, and the rest is history.

Naturally I moved on from the simple bead-on-a-headpin earrings. I learned how to bead weave with tiny seed beads, I made beautiful strung gemstone necklaces and bracelets, and the one thing I absolutely love doing, bead embroidery. My partner bought me a starter kit for polymer clay, and I started messing around with that, and had great success with it all. I love the way you can blend and mix colours to produce some amazing effects.

What inspires your work?

I’m going to say what a lot of other people say, but it’s true; nature, the environment around me, textures, colours, all the things mother nature provides for us. I use leaves a lot.

What are your favourite colours?

Purple. When I was little it was always pink, but it’s progressed to purple because it will blend with so many other colours and still look fabulous.

What is your favourite medium/material?

Without a doubt, seed beads. I just love weaving those little critters into something intricate and beautiful.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I’m not a well-travelled person, I’ve never left the UK except to go on a day trip to Dublin which I absolutely loved, and would love to go back there again some day, but one place I love to go which always feels like home is North Wales, Snowdonia in particular. There is a little town called Llanberis at the foot of Mount Snowdon, and a beautiful waterfall hidden away in a ravine. It’s a magical place, almost like a grotto, and I feel certain it would have been a sacred place in pre-Roman times.

What other artists work to you admire and aspire to?

First let me make it clear there is no way I could or would copy any of them, but I do try to make my work of the same standard. Zoya Gutina, a fantastic renowned beadworker, and all the Eastern European bead embroiderers. Their work is such a high standard of art and craftsmanship, I want to be as good as them.

What are you most proud of? 

There are many things in life I could be proud of, achieving the Queen’s Guide award at 15 as a Girl Guide, having two beautiful children, surviving life, owning my own business, but if we are talking about my work, then Iceni is my pride and joy. This is my first bead embroidered necklace, and one in which I wanted to encapsulate the feel of the ancient British Iceni tribe, and their warrior queen Boudicca in particular. I think I did that, I hope so anyway.

 

MaatSilk. Shop of the Week no. 8

Every Saturday, a new Shop of the Week is chosed by the previous shop of the week, from the numbers of treasuries made from them. This week that honour belongs to Maisie from MaatSilk. This is the winning treasury.

I fell in love with all the scarves and cushions when I first saw this shop. The colours are superb, and clearly so carefully thought out, the patterns are exquisite and remind me so much of a little kaleidoscope I had when I was little. Let's find out a little more about the artist behind MaatSilk, Maisie. 

Tell us a little about yourself and your work

My shop sells mostly hand painted silk scarves and cushions. At the moment my design style is the realm of patterns, swirls, lines, circles, and various shapes of all kinds. It all started when I was bought a set of silk paints for a birthday and, well, the rest just happened. It took many experiments and horrid looking scarves before I came up with one I was happy with. Now I have a system worked out. When I design a pattern for a scarf I usually plan a set of three colourways. I don’t know why but I like working in odd numbers. Then with each scarf I write a narrative piece of writing. Trying to explain this is harder, but I’ll give it a shot. For me, painting on silk and for that matter all my work, is art and more. It’s a thought, an idea, a feeling, and most importantly is a story.  Words accompany me as I design and paint the patterns. They are part of it all. The colours and design blend in my mind and an idea forms: of an image, a place, a time. Why? I’m not usre but the narrative writing that accompanies each scarf is as important to me as the colours themselves. It’s the setting and completes the scene.  So each set of scarves tells a story and the narratives fit really well into three. Every story had a beginning, a middle, and an end after all. Each scarf is a limited edition and I only make five of them. It can get a little complicated and I have to keep careful track which number I’m on.  I do sign and number each scarf so that helps. At the moment I am working on completing my scarf sets, most of the ones in the shop are lacking a third and I am also beginning to use my designs on paper, for gift cards, notebooks, writing sets and e-cards.

What inspires your work?

I am inspired by all forms of nature, plants, history and ancient art in particular. I only have to look at a book full of Minoan temples or Egyptian tombs and I am reaching for my sketch book. I have a set of scarfs based on Egytian designs for sale at the moment and I would like to do several more, a Celtic and Minoan are in the pipeline.

What are your favourite colours?

My favourite colour is yellow, just because it’s bright and happy, but I love to paint purple and blues. Grey is also a colour I use a lot, because it helps the darker shades stand out and helps to lighten the silk. Using just pure colours can make it very heavy, so a soft background colour makes all the difference.

What is your favourite medium/material?

Water based gutta, either white or gold. I use them on all of my scarves as an outliner. When I was first starting to paint silk, I bought so much gutta from the local shops that they all ran out and now I have to buy online!

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I’ve travelled quite a lot around Europe with my family. It would probably be Venice or Paris. I’ve been to both a couple of times, but would love to go again. Because I live in Spain, where it’s really hot in the summer, I like to go to cooler places. I am a museum person, so having lots to visit is top of my list, as well as going to see a ballet or show.

What other artists work to you admire and aspire to?

I admire artists from all sorts of different mediums. I particularly marvel at illustrators and painters, probably because I am hopeless at drawing people, animals or anything from real life. This is why I stick to patterns. That’s one of the things I enjoy about Etsy, I get to see and discover so many new artists.
As for someone I aspire to be like, well that’s easy and for me there is only one answer: my mother.

What are you most proud of?

This is a really hard question. I am proud of my shop and all my work, because I know that I always do my very best. 

Thank you Maisie for taking part. If you want to browse around Maisie's wonderful shop, just click here.

Shop of the Week no. 7. Abounding Treasures.

Every Saturday, a new shop of the week is chosen by the previous shop of the week, from the number of treasuries made for them. This week that honour belongs to Dallas Manicom from AboundingTreasures. This is the winning treasury. 

As I browse through this gorgeous shop, not only am I struck immediately by the variety of paper butterflies, but the colourful abstract encaustic was art too. As an owner of some encaustic art, I fully appreciate the way the waxes flow into one another to create beautiful blends of colour and shape, with the illusion of deep texture. This shop belongs to a true artisan and creative. Let’s find out more about the owner of aboundingtreasures, Dallas Manicom.

Tell us a little about yourself and your work

I live in the Maritimes on the east coast of Canada and am a grandma to 2 sweet little boys and a precious new-born grand-daughter, all of whom live so far away that I rarely get to see them.

8 ½ years ago, I was given a second chance at life when God performed a miracle and I received a heart transplant after suffering 8 years with congestive heart failure – all as a result of a simple two-day sore throat!

So for the very first time ever, I began feeling brave enough to allow whatever latent creativity I might have, a chance to make itself known in some way.

Field of Dreams - Encaustic (Wax) Original Painting

Making mistakes or not having a clue what to do caused me to hesitate but my dear husband as well as a woman in our local scrapbooking store told me not to be nervous about making the first cut – if things were not as I wanted them, the only thing I would have wasted was a piece of paper!

So, my new adventure began and I now use new cardstock and patterned papers as well as recycling old books, magazines, calendars and such.

Almost two years ago my husband gave me a special iron and beeswax blocks and I began experimenting with encaustic SFA (Small Format Art) which is never larger than 14 inches in any one direction. I fell in love with the medium and the magical process.

        Music Butterflies and Favourite Line

What inspires your work?

My mood at the moment dictates whether I pick up my iron to paint of pick up an old book or new papers to create a 3-D piece. Lately I’ve been incorporating quotes along with butterflies to create 3-D word art and I love the customization of those for my customers.

What are your favourite colours?

My preferred colours totally depend on my mood at the moment and what I want to work with. Cobalt blue, shades of pink, shades of teal or a mix of yellows and greys together are some of my favourites.

RICHARD SCARRY Upcycled - 3D Baby Whale Collage

What is your favourite medium/material?This depends on whether I feel in the mood to work with encaustics or paper. New coloured card stock or upcycled calendars or old books, I love it all.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Anywhere that I am spending time with family, especially our grandchildren.

What other artists work to you admire and aspire to?

I really admire my husband’s detailed watercolours. He doesn’t have a lot of time to spend painting as he’s still working full time, but I encouraged him to open an Etsy shop and he’s already had a few sales! See Ed Manicom's Work here.

Memorial 3D Heart of Butterflies. Personalized.

What are you most proud of?

Having lost a daughter to stillbirth many years ago, I understand the pain and grief suffered by so many, often silently. So my most meaningful creation has to be my Memorial Heart of Butterflies which I’ve sold all over the world, sometimes immediately following such a loss and sometimes, many, many years afterwards.

Thank you Dallas for such an open and honest insight into your story, one which I know many will relate to, both from the health and the bereavement point of view. Now we can see the raw emotion that goes into your creativity, and it shows every inch of the way, it comes from your very soul, not just your hands and mind.

Do pop along to Dallas's shop to see more wonderful surprises she hasn't mentioned here...click here 

Penori. Shop of the Week no. 6.

Every Saturday, a new shop of the week is chosen by the previous shop of the week, from the number of treasuries made for them. This week that honour belongs to Melissa from Penori. This is the winning treasury.

This wonderful shop takes me back to my childhood. The very sight of all those naturally scented soaps and body products reminds my of my aunt's thatched cottage, which was full of drying flowers, pot pourri, and the perfumes of essential oils, lavender, rose, and filled with wonderful colour. So although Melissa, the owner of Penori, lives and works in Wisconsin, there is something quintessentially English in the feel of her shop. Let's find out a little more about Melissa.

1.     Tell us a little about yourself and your work

I love to create, especially environmental and body-friendly products. My work started out when my

youngest son was born and I learned about all of the toxins in baby products and dug further and found almost everything was made with toxins that were not really needed to be in a product, so I started creating

Romantic Rose - Shea Butter Soap

natural products. I use my craft as a vent for the daily grind of life (my day job and all the stresses that go with it.) There’s nothing like jamming to music and whipping up a creation to ‘wash’ the stress away. I also like to think of myself as a wacky soul. I will bust out with a crazy dance move, facial expression, or dinosaur impression at the oddest times. I also like to make up mhy own words or use puns. One cannot be sad, stressed or angry if you’re smiling or being silly, so using the power of one’s own mind and body is what I use best to lift my spirits.

What inspires your work?

I get inspiration from everything! A colour, a flower, a smell, a shape and feel. If I feel it, it will come (the design or product that is).

Natural Cream Deodorant

What are your favourite colours?

Grey is my favourite colour, I just absolutely love this colour! It goes with any other colour and is just stunning by itself.

What is your favourite medium/material?

Sweet almond oil. It’s absolutely amazing and I have to pick on more, Lavender essential oil. I use it for everything from household cleaning, helping me sleep, on my face and body. There are just so many uses for it.

Almond Milk Soap - Kokum Butter Soap

What is your favourite holiday destination?

My living room surrounded by my family.

What other artists work to you admire and aspire to?

I admire knitters. For the life of me I can’t knit even though my grandmother relentlessly tried to teach me as a child.

Patchouli Coconut Milk Soap 

What are you most proud of?

In relation to my business the fact that I had the courage to start it, even though it sounded ridiculous coming from my mouth when I first started the process.  I overcame my own ‘what-ifs’ and just went for it because even if it doesn’t succeed I will have soap to clean my family for life and will give the gift of how to create awesome handmade bath, body and cleaning products to my children so they can continue to live a non-toxic life (although they have asked to send me monthly care packages when they move out because they said they don’t have time when they are in college.)

Peppermint Sugar Scrub

        Facial Toner

Mmmmm doesn't it make you just want to pick up a bar of that beautiful soap and dive into the bath right now? Thank you Melissa for this little insight into you and your business. To view this shop, just click here 

Wycked Pretty Things. Shop of the Week no.5.

Every Saturday a new shop of the week is chosen by the previous shop of the week from the number of treasuries made for the. This week that honour belongs to Michaela and Roxanne from Wycked Pretty Things. This is the winning treasury.

Taking a peek into Wycked Pretty Things, I am struck immediately by the apparent simplicity of each design, but the way the jewellery is made, and the colours used, give it a uniqueness and freshness, and makes me want to pick it up and wear it now...right now. So what about the artists behind this lovely shop?

                     Lavender and Gold Tree of Life Bracelet

Tell us a little about yourself and your work

Roxanne and I are a mother and daughter team. Roxanne has been a painter for the past thirty years and I (Michaela) was raised in a house amongst her and my farther who is a red smith – giving me the idea to combine talents. We both love colour and art, and think making jewellery is a way to display art on the physical form.

What inspires your work?

Our work is inspired by nature. We believe the most beautiful colour combinations are found naturally in the shades of blue in a glacier, the pinks and greens of a meadow etc.

What are your favourite colours?

We love burgundy and gold as well as cerulean blues and purples.

                           Blue and Green Celtic Cross Bracelet

What is your favourite medium/material?

My favourite medium is bronze/copper for welding (second to paint/pastel) while Roxanne prefers acrylic paint.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

Our favourite holiday destination is St Augustine, Florida, where we can never get enough of the historical district.

          Blue Abstract Suncatcher

What other artists work to you admire and aspire to? We greatly admire an array of artists, however our favourites include for Roxanne; H.R. Gigers’ work as well as the abstract creations of Jackson Pollock that she draws a large amount of her inspiration from. For me I am largely influenced by the fantasy-like, dark art of Anne Stokes and was inspired to begin painting by the work of Vincent van Goch (particularly Starry Night).

What are you most proud of?

For both of us we can confidently say that we are most proud of the fact that our art makes people happy; when we see customers smile, know that our work is a birthday gift etc. Nothing makes us happier than knowing something we love is spreading joy, and we are most proud of that.

                   Blue and Black Gothic Celtic Knot Earrings

                         Purple Octopus Tentacle Bracelet

Thank you Roxanne and Michaela for taking part in this. I love how your work is inspired by nature. There is an old saying here 'Pink and Green should ne'er be seen' Well I heartily disagree with that. If that were true, we wouldn't see pink flowers in a meadow would we? If it's good enough for mother nature, its absolutely fine with me.

To visit Wycked Pretty Things, just click here                                                     

Iroquois Designs. Shop of the Week no. 4

Every Saturday a new shop of the week is chosen by the previous shop of the week from the number of treasuries made for them. This week that honour belongs to Jessica from Iroquios Designs. This is the winning treasury.

The very name ‘Iroquois Designs’ conjured up images of traditional Native American Indian art and crafts, before I even opened the shop page. I was not disappointed. Here you see all the colour and vibrancy of tribal tradition that you would expect. It’s almost like walking around a reservation. Here we have the feel of an ancient culture that is so similar to that which I am trying to reproduce in my own jewellery. Jessica has captured so much in the old ways, colours and feel of her work, yet maintained a modern and fashionable twist. A difficult balance to achieve, but I feel Jessica has done it beautifully.

So let’s find out a bit more about the artist behind all these wonderful pieces. 

Tell us a little about yourself and your work

I have been creating art since I was a child. It is a trait rooted deeply in my culture and family history. I basically got my start in the craft world doing pow-wows with my family across New York and the New England area. I would help out with family crafts, like feather earrings and dance sticks. We did them together. Eventually I started making little things here and there where I was allowed to keep the money. When I was a teenager, I tried convincing myself there was no money in being an artist and I earned a degree in Math. But by the time I was almost done with school I had started taking mostly art classes. I eventually went back to school, with my mom and we both got a fine arts degree.

What inspires your work?

My work is very influenced by my culture, but as to what actually inspires me? I have to ask, what doesn’t inspire? I think it is important to take inspiration wherever you can find it. It can come from a question, a suggestion, a challenge, a thing, another artist, a family member. It can come from anywhere, everywhere really.

Blue Dream Catcher Earrings

What are your favourite colours?

I don’t’ think I have a favourite colour I like to use. I make a lot of things with leather in them, so I tend to use lots of browns, although I do have leather in many different colours. I have been partial to blues lately.

What is your favourite medium/material?

I love working with clay even though I haven’t really had a change in several years. I normally don’t like

purple polymer clay floral design pendant 

getting my hands dirty, not even as a kid, but I love creating something beautiful from a lump of clay.  I also

love doing colour pencil drawings. I do drawings based on Eastern Woodland double curve designs, which mean balance in life. They are found on woodland work, like beadwork, quillwork and pottery. I started doing them on clay plates, and decided I would like to see how my variations would look in colour.

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I do not like to travel, and if it was up to me I would probably not go on vacation. We went to the Jersey shore this year, which was pretty good, and the best so far was our honeymoon in Santa Cruz, but it is too far to travel again.

    Light Brown Medicine Wheel set

What other artists work to you admire and aspire to?

I have been inspired by so many people growing up doing pow-wows. My family was probably most influential in my life. So many of them were and are artists. My Grandfather, Richard Chrisjohn, was a renowned woodcarver and he instilled a sense of culture through art and craft in my family which has lasted generations. I saw other family members carrying on his legacy and I knew I wanted to be part of that. As far as how I became interested in clay, I just loved the work of Mohawk artist Tammy Tarbell. I even told her one day, when I was a teenager, I loved her work and I was going to try to do clay one day.  She actually remembered, and reminded me many, many years later, and said “and you actually did it”. It was a very amazing moment for me.

What are you most proud of?

I feel most proud when I am actually able to inspire the younger generation to do art. Recently my 9 year old niece did a couple of double curve ATCs in my style. I had to have it, so I traded her for one of my cards.

Silver and copper tree of life

black beaded triangle earrings

     Earth Mother with face,

Thank you so much Jessica for this fascinating insight into yourself and your work. What a wonderful heritage and a great family history to be a part of. 

Do go and visit Iroquois Designs and see for yourself the wonderful work Jessica does. Click here. 

BraceletsByJen. Shop of the Week no. 2

Every Saturday a new shop of the week is chosen by the previous shop of the week from the number of treasuries made for them. This week that honour belongs to Jenn of BraceletsByJen. This is the winning Treasury.

As I open up Jenn's shop page, I'm struck immediately by the vibrant colours she uses in her bracelets. On looking closer, you actually see a combination of colour, then the stunning patterns jump out at you. So who is the person behind the shop? Let's find out.

Tell us a little about yourself and your work.

I am a single mother to a wonderful teenage boy. My son and I live in the Boston area. I have always had a passion for creating crafts. As a child, I would make friendship bracelets for all my close friends in school. Today, friendship bracelets seem to be appearing on the wrists of everyone from children to adults.  The history of a friendship bracelet suggests that a friendship bracelet is given as a sign of friendship. It is intended to be tied on the wrist of a friend and work continually as a symbol of lasting friendship. You can also select colours for a friendship bracelet that reflect the character traits of the intended recipient:

Pink – kind

Red – honest

Orange – Energetic

Green – responsible

Blue – loyal

Black – strong.

Others also say that while the recipient is having the bracelet tied on their wrist by their friend, to make a wish. Traditionally, the bracelet is meant to be kept on the wrist until it’s worn and disintegrates naturally. At that time the wish is supposed to come true.

As time passed, and I was learning new and exciting patterns, I wanted a way to be able to share my work with other people. This is when I decided to open my Etsy Shop.

             Gradient Green Chevron Pattern 

What inspires your work?

I find that creating any type of craft, not just friendship bracelets is soothing. I’ve always used it as a way of unwinding from a long day, or to just relax on the weekends.

What are your favourite colours?

My favourite colours are teal, turquoise and purple. However, when I create my bracelets I enjoy creating

               Ombre/Gradient Purple Chevron 

them in an ombre or gradient looking. This technique involves picking a colour and starting with the darkest shade of that colour. Then you proceed with the next lightest shade of that colour, then the next and so on until the colour is as close to white as possible.

What is your favourite medium/material?

The material I use most in my work is embroidery floss thread. However, I have recently just started using some new materials such as silver clasps and chains. I found that not everyone wanted to tie their bracelet on in the traditional way. Therefore, by cutting the braided ends off each bracelet and adding a clamp instead, along with a lobster clasp, allowed for easy removal of the bracelet.

                                     Intertwined Pattern Embroidery Friendship Bracelet

What is your favourite holiday destination?

I don’t get to see my family often as we are spread out among Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Therefore, I would have to say my favourite destination is my father’s house in New Hampshire. Each Christmas my entire family gets together at his house for dinner and to exchange gifts.

What are you most proud of?

I was a mother at the young age of fourteen. Many people thought that I would never complete high school, as I was a freshman when I gave birth. However, I am happy to say that I graduated in June of 1997 at the top ten percent of my high school class.

Blue Hand Knit Long Warm Scarf

                  Neon Arrowhead Pattern

                     

Set of 3 Mini Halloween Colored Candy Stripe Pattern

Thank you Jenn for taking part in this. 

Do visit Jenn's shop, there are lots of beautiful friendship bracelets and more for you to see. Click here.