See the Spray Blue Artwork.

Katrin from Sea Spray Blue is a wonderful painter. I was interested in her work once i saw her "..And then he kissed me." print.

1. I've been drawing since August 2007. I sold my first print in the beginning of September 2007.



2. Before August 2007 I've been more into photography. I really enjoyed working the whole night alone in my own dark room (our bathroom). Also I had specified plans for a short movie with my friends.



3. Music inspires me. Some years ago I was listening to the Morrissey song "Lifeguard sleeping girl drowning". After listening I had a picture in my mind how I imagine the scenery of this sound. I kept it in my mind for three years and then painted it in acrylic as a gift for my boyfriend. Now it's hanging in our living room.
Also going for a walk with my little son in his baby buggy and looking at the surroundings or people. 'I can wait' came into my mind this way.
And in the very moment before falling asleep there are sometimes pictures that come into my mind. The most impressive ones I can still remember when I wake up again. For the 'coming home' print I even switched the light on again.





4. Until now I found no challenges. Far from that. I'm glad that some people like you find my artwork and make it visible to a broader community beyond etsy. I've never done a bigger promotion (except on etsy) by myself. But this year I go for having my own first website. I guess this will be my first challenge in my new artwork life.



She has many other beautiful prints and cards for sale in her Etsy shop. I think you will find them inspiring! :)

Alas! Progression.

Looking at progress day by day doesn't mean a darn thing. I am quite hard on myself, i do know this. I just feel like i have so much potential, and i don't feel like I'm growing enough, fast enough. I feel like i should be so much further in my jewelry business, that i should have learned how to be organized and efficient by now. One thing is for sure though, my photography, ROCKS. I might not by the most artistic, the best at lighting, and i surely am not the best with Photoshop, but look how much i have improved since last year!!



Vs.



Photo Kudos to me!

Parties for Grandma's!!

Grandma Party is an event usually held early in the year. It's for local artists to self their handmade crafty items, and hopefully get some great exposure. Last April was my 1st Grandma Party and i honestly had no expectations to sell anything. I did wonderfully. This year, i had slightly higher expectations but i was a lot more prepared and organized. Although it was a rocky start, i did quite well, and for that i am very grateful.

I recieved great feedback too! So many people gave me AMAZING encouragement, which is brilliant! One girl even said i had the best quality, another said my jewelry was one in it's kind, that no one had anything similar to mine. Thanks for all your kind words folks! I appreciate them!



It's driving me crazy that i can't post my table picture, so above is the "fitted" version, and below is the real size one. :) My friend Devan made my Cherry Runway sign. Isn't it stellar!!!! She is amazing! She also made the cream colored boards my jewelry is on, but that might be hard to see.



I had the two coolest helpers a gal could ask for. Lindsey is great at talking with people and helping me convince them they need some Cherry Runway jewels, and Riley tried to help one poor slightly tipsy guy that if he gave a random girl a necklace maybe he'd get a girlfriend. :) Seriously, though, they were super awesome and supportive and great company.


Lindsey


Riley



This is the flyer for this year's Grandma Party. To my amusement, there actually were quite a few Grandma's wandering about this time.

I love you like i love.....Uccello Curioso

Andrea from Uccello
Curioso and I have just been chatting. I originally messaged her when i found this adorable Avocado card. My co-worker always stated that avocado's were her favorite, and thought it was so neat someone else thought so too. :)



How long have you been crafting?

1) I have been making things with my hands for ages, but the earliest memory I have of making greeting cards is in high school. Each one of my close friends and I were heading off to a different college, so at graduation I made a custom collage greeting card for each girl. I must have gotten hooked, because I have been making greeting cards ever since then.



Did you always craft in this genre?

2) Well, cardmaking has been the only craft genre where I have actually gone into selling what I create. Most of my cards are made on my trusty gocco, some even with some watercolor detailing.
I love exploring other forms of artwork and crafts, though, and have dabbled in ceramics(so therapeutic, but I find that 3D is much more challenging for me!). I also absolutely love printmaking--especially etching. Although that's stepping more into the realm of fine art, I just love the whole process of getting your hands dirty, and all the specific steps that go in to creating a finished print.



Who or what inspires you?

3) Oftentimes, I am very inspired by the everyday, sometimes even by things that others would call the mundane: restaurant tabletops, little creatures, edible things. I also pay a great deal of attention to food, as well as the change of the seasons, and the urban environment around me.


What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

4) I think my biggest personal challenge is balancing my 'real-life' job and my crafting. It is really easy for me to just get sucked in to the daily grind, and continuously push off the crafting for when I'll have 'more' time! Also, because I am not currently able to commit as much time and energy as I'd like to the card-making, it has been difficult to regularly add products to my etsy shop and properly build my brand. Oh, but when I am able to sit down and just put my ideas down and create, I completely lose myself in it!



Andrea also makes custom greeting cards, like these wonderful bridal shower cards (see above). She's also very nice, and would love to hear from you! :)

Eeee, so cute! :)

Personalized Charm Jewelry! So cute! So You!!

Not An Odd Forest Afterall !

Lynda has a shoppe called Little Odd Forest. I've been getting her e-mails and looking at your website for AGES now, and i finally got the courage to messege her. Everything from her products, to the pictures to the website itself is AMAZING!! I know you'll agree!

littleoddforest.etsy.com is her link. Sadly the computer i am at right now won't let me link properly, but i shall fix it later tonight.



1) How long have you been crafting?

On and off all my life i think! I used to make gifts for my friends, sew them pouches, sew and draw on paper to make cards, even made fancy book covers for all my "ugly" school books and files. One time, my mum refused to give me more pocket money to change my ugly wastepaper basket, so I totally transformed its look by covering it with all sorts of colored magazine ripouts. If you were referring to crafting as a business/livelihood, it was in 2004.



2) Did you always craft in this genre?

By this genre, i assume you mean sewing? I first learned how to use a sewing machine during my school holidays before i started high school. We had to take Home Economics, and my mum (whose grandma, my great grandma, gave her a wonderful, now retro-looking, Singer sewing machine) taught me how to use a sewing machine before school started. And i got hooked onto it! Praises from my teacher (You can sew such a round circle/straight line!) helped too ;p I could hand-sew, but being naturally impatient and a little perfectionist, half the time i'll just destroy what i've created due to dissatisfaction with the wonky sewing lines or slowness of it all!
Otherwise, I've always just been doodling and drawing, alot. I've so many sketchbooks I've lost count. And ever since I had my first computer, I've been doing illustrations on it as well.


3) Who or what inspires you?

Design wise, everything and anything can inspire me. People watching, just walking down the busy streets, shopping, movies, music, a day lazing at the beach, colors, a good design book etc. Even boredom inspires me, because I like to daydream and imagine the strangest things, I also remember most of my dreams at night (I dream almost everytime i sleep!).
Business wise (i treat crafting as my business because I'm determined to make a decent living out from my passion, I don't believe in the stereotype that we should starve to create), my mum's strength, determination and hard+smart working ethics inspires me. Lee Kuan Yew, my country's (Singapore) first prime minister, also inspires me (in a totally different and non-political way) - to be able to "build" and "grow" my passion, from start to somewhere (I'm not saying finish because I don't think there will be one!), is my lifelong goal.



4) What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

All kinds of unimaginable ones! Mostly people. Because I'm in Singapore, Asia, in general (excluding Japan) does not believe in paying more than US$30 for a purse that is not a well-known international fashion label, most people here don't give two hoots about handmade/ ethically produced/ sustainable designs etc. and paying decent $ for it. It's mostly due to our culture, and education, but on a positive note, things are changing, although slowly. Thanks goodness for the internet, otherwise, I would not have met "comrades" from all over the world! Especially from the US!, and I might just have given up long ago...



She knows how to win my heart. Look how cute everything is, AND she has a cherry bag! So go to Lynda's etsy or website and stock up for the holidays! :)

Eggcellent!!!

I think these earrings are EGGactly what you're looking for!! A cute enamel miniature egg in a copper frying pan hangs from silver colored jump rings and stis on a Sterling Silver ear wire.

Wear with matching Eggcellent necklace!!

Art by an Inspiration.

Naomi has a shoppe easily remembered as Art By Naomi. When i 1st saw Naomi's posie paper clips i was immediately excited. BUT when i saw all of the other amazing things she created, i knew i had to message her. Naomi is such an inspiration! All of her work has such great flair, and admire how many genres of art she creates in.




1) How long have you been crafting?

I can't really remember a time when I wasn't making or creating. As a child I loved paint, paper, glue and the snip, snip sound of scissors cutting paper. Both my mother and father were creative folks so our home was a very stimulating and nurturing environment to grow up in. I especially loved making my own paper dolls from the sears catalog. My creations were really quite organic, I'd cut out the models glue them to cardboard and create lovely crayon fashons for them.



2) Did you always craft in this genre?

I firmly believe that one genre very often leads to another so no I didn't always incorporate collage elements in my art, I started out as a painter and loved creating greeting cards. Collage and mixed media just naturally evolved from card making. It's only been the last five years that collage has been a major focus and outlet for me. I still love to paint and haven't put my paint brushes away yet.




3) Who or what inspires you?

Well the list could go on and on when it comes to inspiration. When it hits you it's more of a spontneous coming together then a well thought out formula or method, at least that's been my experience. It could be anything from the color and shape of a pear to the bigness of the sky or the smallness of a dew drop. Inspriation for me is usually made up of the things I love, am drawn to and curious about, color and texture play a huge part in that mix.



4) What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

Of course the biggest challenge at the start is believing in yourself and your product. It's been my experience that we tend to rely heavily on human approval. This is not bad or good, it's just a learning and growing phase of our creative development. Any serious artist tho, has to grow from this place to finding their own voice, trusting it and being satisfied with their own approval which includes giving oneself permission to fail.
The next challenge for me was in the area of pricing, not getting to caught up in the dollar value of my art but also not degrading it by underpricing myself. There's definately a huge learning curve in staying passionate about the art without seeing it merely as a product or a means for profit.



So, go up to the links above and check out her work. She makes even more goodies of all kinds on her etsy. Check um out! :)

I Heart Purple.

Purple was always my favorite color as a child, that was until i discovered yellow. (But shh! don't tell Purple i said that!) Yellow has quite a competition on her hands after i finished making this necklace. The facets in these gorgeous necklace. The facets in the Amethyst rondelles are to die for!!

Monarch Awakens

Thea actually found my blog through my post about Georgia, and boy am i happy she did!! She owns a lovely shoppe called Monarch. Her gorgeous photographs are wonderful, but she took it up a notch, but turning her lovely artwork, into beautiful pieces of art you get to wear. And nothing gets me more then an amazing jewelry artists!



1) How long have you been crafting?

I started taking art classes in Woodstock, NY when I was 11 years old. My teacher held classes in her home and encouraged us to experiment with collage, sculpture, sewing, drawing and painting. In high school I majored in photography and art. I thought I would pursue graphic design in college but got sidetracked by my love of nature and ended up majoring in Biology instead. I took some years off from creating while in college. It wasn’t until 2005, when I took time off from teaching to stay home and raise my son, that I picked up my camera again. I haven’t put it down since.



2) Did you always craft in this genre?

Jewelry design is new to me. Last Christmas I decided to try my hand at making my art wearable and began experimenting with resin and jewelry design. Taking photographs is when I feel the most joy, although I still enjoy collage and drawing as well. I use jewelry design as a way of sharing my photographs.



3) Who or what inspires you?

This is a tough question because there are so many artists that have inspired me. I would have to say my mother has been my greatest inspiration. Her love of nature and photography were great passions that definitely trained my artistic eye. Next would have to be the artists I have met through blogging. Misty Mawn was one of the first bloggers that I connected with. Watching her work evolve and having her support and friendship really gave me courage to further explore my artistic passions. I have also been inspired following the journey of Kelly Rae Roberts. Her honesty, openness and willingness to share her journey has been invaluable to me. Watching her career blossom has been exciting and inspiring to me.

There are too many photographers that inspire me to list them all.

I am inspired by many art forms. Mary Oliver’s poems speak to my heart, and when editing a photograph sometimes one of her poems will come to mind. You will find many of my photographs have been dedicated to her poems.

Music also serves as inspiration. Listening to The Weepies gets my creative energy flowing like no other music I have ever listened to. I hope to create some drawings or photo collages based on some of their songs.

But the best inspiration for me comes from just being outside in the sun and fresh air, surrounded by nature. My camera helps me savor the details of my surroundings and is a practice of gratitude for the beauty around me.




4) What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

Having very little experience in business and being a stay-at-home mom of a 2 ½ year old has been challenging – especially from a time management perspective. There is so much to learn about business management, web design, jewelry design and photography. Sometimes it is hard to know where to concentrate my time and energy. Start up costs are also a very real issue. Jewelry design has a lot of up-front costs associated with it.



So go up there and click on her links, she's a friendly gal, and would love to hear from you!