Featured Artist Sunday

Welcome to Featured Artist Sunday--and today's winner is Lucy Ingels !!! Round of Applause!!!

Lucy tells me that she have been crafting forever it seems and her style has evolved over the years.

"My favorite part of creating is the brainstorming process that precedes every piece I do. So much thought goes into each piece because I create the art around a saying or proverb that has inspired me."

Words are so important to me because they truly have the power to give hope.

I also love bringing together all of the various elements I use.

There are so many beautiful materials available, both new and vintage, and it gives me great pleasure to figure out how to make them work cohesively.

I work on canvas paper and watercolor paper in a variety of mediums that include acrylic, watercolor, colored pencil, watercolor pencil, ink and anything else that intrigues me.

Whimsical embellishments and doo-dads are added to make each one of a kind piece.

In five years, I hope to be a published author/illustrator who continues to live a creative life! And Lucy, you are off to a great start with your fabulous artwork!

Let's give Lucy's shop some love! Post your favorite here and/or choose a saying that has inspired you and tell me about it!

Featured Artist Sunday

Today's featured artist is a real treat to introduce--CLKConcepts. Cheryl is a true artist and has created an original useful product. The Fry Pan Cozy keeps your fry pans from becoming scratched. Read on for how this was discovered!

A few years ago, I heard about the dangers of using damaged nonstick cookware; and that it is advised to replace nonstick cookware which is scratched because the nonstick finish can flake off and be incorporated into food during the cooking process. (Also, you should never heat a nonstick pan to a high heat, the fumes can be toxic!)

I always used wooden utensils and couldn't figure our why my pans were gettng scratched up. I realized that my pans were getting damaged when storing them stacked one on top of the other in order to save on cabinet space. The pan manufactures recommend placing paper towels between pans during storage, but I came up with a better solution that I call the Fry Pan Cozy.

Since this is a new product that no one would be searching for, I started to make other products such as aprons, placemats, table runners, etc. in order to draw people to my Esty store (which I started in May 2010). Then, customers would discover my Fry Pan Cozys. I have gotten great feedback from people who have purchased the Fry Pan Cozys, and I am now also having fun making the aprons and other items.

It's such a great feeling to have someone purchase an item that you crated and made yourself.

I've been a health insurance agent for many years, and with my Etsy store I've been able to use my creative side that had been put on the back burner for too long, (so to speak--great pun!) and it gets me away from all the paperwork with insurance!

In five years I would love to be able to grow my Etsy business to the point where I could do it on a fulltime basis. (Yes!)

Visit CLKConcepts and find your favorite item. Post it here to share. Better yet, how many of my readers knew about the dangers that Cheryl mentioned? Buy your Fry Pan Cozys today!

Thank you, Cheryl, for talking with me today.

Sale Weekend for Followers!

Having difficulty deciding what I should write about, I decided to have a blog weekend sale, just for my followers!!

Coupon Code blog15 will get you 15% off anything in my store from today until January 23 at midnight.

You may get to my store here!

Valuable cards for Valentines--all original!

Journals for memories.

Clocks for time.

Featured Artist Sunday

Today's featured artist is a friend that I met on the More Meaningful Gift Thread, PaperUlixis. I have known her as Uli as we often call each other by store names. I learned her real name is Amanda.

Now for some information about my friend, Amanda or Uli:

She is a completely self-taught artist & crafter, as well as a trained scientist. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking, collecting things. She loves anything handmade or with a bit of history.

Amanda started out making notebooks because of her love writing, journaling & sketching. To be cost effective, she made her own journals. With 3 completed journals what was she to do with them?... enter Etsy!

Meanwhile, she was collecting buttons as embellishments to her notebooks and soon she was wearing them on her wrists! The idea to make jewelry out of buttons came from Etsy (where else?)

So she opened my Ulixis shop with a few notebooks & some button bracelets. Amanda even sold a bracelet within that first week and she was hooked! (Who wouldn't be?)

What is your favorite part of your chosen craft?

Starting new projects - deciding on colours, designs, paper, fabric, etc - & seeing finished projects, holding them in my hands & being able to say "I made this".

In five years, what would you like to be doing?

More of the same - but I particularly want to delve into my mixed-media artwork & explore some more with paint & new techniques.

Uli has a blog also that ties all her creative energy and thought process together.

Visit her shop through any of the pictures and you will see the fun loving paperulixis that I know from the More Meaningful Gift Thread. In fact come visit us at the link on the words. We like to have new friends join us on the thread.

Post your favorite item from her shop.

New Journal--New Mexico

I just photographed and posted this new journal to my etsy store. From a trip to the southwest, I was inspired by the beauty of the landscape which is so different from here in NC. So using a brown abaca base handmade paper, I drew with prismacolor pencils two landforms that fit in with the map piece which I bound in the spine.

What do you think?

Would you buy a custom journal with the state/cities or country you were visiting?

Thanks for your feedback!

Wordless Wednesday

New Featured Etsy Shop

My featured shop today is SOiNTOiT.

Take a look at just a few of the items in her shop and you will see an excitement and enthusiasm that matches her profile below.

My name is Pam and I'm a recently retired public school music teacher and band director. Christmas programs, parades, musicals, chorus, orchestras, community band; I've directed and participated in them all and taught children for years. (Yes, I can play all those band instruments!) Half time field shows with the band; lots of singing. LOTS of excited little children ready to tromp on stage with even more excited parents in the audience. Great memories. Recitals full of squawks and squeaks and missed cues and triumph! And now there's time for other creativity.

I love to travel, snorkel and scuba dive, snow ski, camp, hike and garden.

I spin and weave, quilt and crochet.

I love bird watching.

I'm a mom and gramma and wife.

I am pleased to be able to say that one of my CarveBoardArt pieces has been chosen for the Exemplar feature in the May/June 2010 issue of Somerset Studio Magazine. Who woulda thunk?http://www.etsy.com/listing/42087753/abc-etude-fine-art-alphabet-giclee-11x14

Check out her store and leave a message of your favorite piece, if you can choose.

Ideas for Posts

Thanks for your support of my Friend, Diana! Click to visit her store.

What kinds of posts would you like to see from me? I work full time as an elementary school teacher and then I love paper and journals and making paper.

Would you like to read about teaching stories, my paper products and their creation, cooking escapades?

The sky is the limit!!

Start Your New Year off right with Jewelry!

Happy New Year Friends!!

I'm starting off my blog posts with a feature on my good friend, Diana. She opened up her etsy store in 2010.

Let me give you some background on our friendship. We met in a papermaking class at Penland, NC many years ago. Diana lives in California and I now live in NC. We were instant friends and remained in contact through Christmas cards.

Diana opened her business "Treasures" in 1992 which featured her embellishments on handmade paper books. She has sold online for 10 years. She ventured into the Etsy world in 2010.

"My customers know me best for my pearl necklaces", Diana says, "however, for the last couple of years my metalsmithing has become more prominent." She loves exploring textures, copper and patinaes. You will find that her work is more individual, one-of-a-kind pieces. Four years ago, her best decision was moving her studio to an active neighborhood business oriented street.

So I wanted to feature her store treasuresbydiana . At first look, you will see the gorgeous pearl necklace and earring sets and then the metal shaped earrings. She is placing more items in her store frequently, so come back and visit often!

Visit her store and choose your favorite item. Post a link here. Let's give her store lots of love.