Treasury Time- Dreams Of Lavender

I just finished putting this lavender treasury together. I hope you enjoy it.

'Dreams Of Lavender' by KindredImages

I am in a purple mood. All these great items are made from the Etsy Maine Team. Search maineteam to find more wonderful items made in Maine.

LAVENDER HAZE Lavender Basil... CountryFolkSoa... $5	Crocheted delicate fingerles... BearMtnCrochet $25	Melancholy Wearable Art Neck... andraswhimsies $15	Lavender handcrafted soap SadiesTheLady $4.25
Winter SUNFLOWERS LANDSCAPE ... MyMainePaintin... $65	Lavender Sea Glass and Fine ... ShelleyCreates $92	Seed Beads Lavender Matte AB... funkyprettybea... $8.25	Purple Pink Wall Hanging Hai... InJoyEmporium $8
Nadia Necklace DreaBunny $35	Vintage Antique Floral Made ... twolittleowls $16	Heather Button Bobbies BunnyBaubles $7	Archival print 8 x 10 of bea... PatriciaSheaDe... $20
Purple pearl earrings flower... AdroitJewelers $30	Heart-y Bookmark beadjenny $3.5	Filigree Flowers Purple Plas... RoughMagicals $2.25	Crocheted Lilac and Purple O... laceylove81 $90

Sponsored by send bulk email from excel.

Etsy Maine Team Cash Mob

'Black. Grey, White ' by KindredImages

On Thursday October 25, 2012, the Etsy Maine Team will be hosting an online cash mob. Just visit Etsy. com, type 'maineteam' into the search bar and then - mob us!

Ravens on a Wire AtypicalGemini... $20.00	Shell 16x21 inch print (un-f... HBischoffImage... $45.00	Houndstooth womens mustache ... HMDDesigns $28.00	AIRSTREAM: modern wall key h... PIGandFiSH $48.00
Chevron Key chain /Credit C... cassylaintotes $12.00	Old Boat, Stonington ME Blan... CeeElleKaye $4.00	SALE Large Bali Rectangular ... funkyprettybea... $16.00	Fingerless Mittens - On The ... magentaskystud... $34.00
delicate cherry blossom tree... DeniseDionDesi... $35.00	Diagonals, Framed Knit Panel PrettySneakyHo... $30.00	SALE\/ Black Onyx with coppe... funkypretty $75.00	Winter Wonderland Checkmate ... PaperMacheDrea... $20.00
35MM Tiny Glass Bottle with ... theartistsclos... $14.00	Raven's Wing Blue-Black ... wildgingersilk $60.00	Custom Graphite Pet Portrait... ShelleyCreates $80.00	Silver Radiant Starfish Earr... maggiebokor $85.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Review- Country Folks Soap Candles

I am always on the look out for a good lavender scented candle and I love to buy local handmade product. So while browsing Country Folks shop before Mother's Day I spotted her Dream Fetcher. This wonderful smelling candle is a combination of  lavender, spicy sage and sweet basil.  I must say this is the best smelling lavender blend I have smelled. It is not overwhelming and did not bother my allergies. It reminds of sitting next to the herb garden on an summer night. After a hot humid August day when the air starts to cool and sweet smells of the herbs peak to their fullest. I also purchased her Tart Me Up candle which is pleasant blend of Italian orange, bergamot is mixed with sweet & tart grapefruit. This also a wonderful scent full of citrus perk. The candle burned well near 30 hours as stated in the listing.

Her shop is filled with many fun scent combinations for both guy and gals. There is soap, lotions, candles, lip balms and more. My order was shipped quickly and neatly. The shop also has a rewards program when you buy 10 items from her shop you get one free. See her shop for details. 

All together I am extremely happy with the products and service from this wonderful handmade Maine shop! I highly recommend Country Folk Soap.

Treasury Time

I was in so many beautifully put together treasuries over the past week! Thank you to everyone that has included me. But this one is one of my favs... because it features Maine Team Members and I love the name that come from one of the product in it.

A few new Treasuries

Here are two treasuries I made. One is with members from the Out Of The Box sampler team on Etsy. The other is from the Etsy Maine Team. I hope you enjoy and visit the shops!

5 Wonderful Thanksgiving Find

Here are some handmade Thanksgiving finds that I love! Click the picture captions to visit the shops of the artist and artisans that created these wonderful holiday pretties!

Give Thanks Sterling Silver with Amber Bead Necklace

THankFuL Banner / Thanksgiving Banner

Autumn Orange Plush Pumkin

Robot Sculptures Pilgrim Couple - Thanksgiving Centerpiece -

Sock Monkey Happy Thanksgiving card

5 Fabulous Treasuries

Here are some recent Etsy Treasuries I have been featured in. I hope you enjoy the the art, crafts and handmade items from all the artist and artisan in these wonderful treasuries. Please show the curator and shops a little love:)

Hand Me Down Designs - Artisan Feature-

I am very happy to be featuring one of my fellow Etsy Maine Teamers. I love her shop and her designs so I was all bubbly when she agreed to do an blog interview so I could feature her. I am sure you will find some thing you just love from her shop.

You can contact her here-

Malaika Picard

Hand-Me-Down Designs

blog - http://handmedowndesigns.com

shop - www.handmedowndesignsme.etsy.com

Twitter - @HMDDesignsME

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/HandMeDownDesignsME

How did you name your business?

I work with a lot of hand-me-down clothing, mostly donated by friends and family, so when it came time to find a name for myself, Hand-Me-Down Designs was an obvious, and very appropriate name.

How long have you been doing your art/craft for?

I've been sewing for years and years, but it has been about a year now that I've been seriously pursuing my bag-making business.  In fact, I'm quickly coming up on the anniversary of my very first craft fair.

What inspires and influences your work?

At first, most of my inspiration came from my own personal love of bags and purses and being very particular about what features they included.  As time went on, I found myself seeing special features in other people's work and sought to incorporate some of those ideas into my own.  Many times I get inspiration from the material itself.  For example, I was given a lovely deep red corduroy skirt recently, and from the moment I got it, I knew what I wanted to make from it.  The skirt was cut so that the corduroy lay in diagonal lines, and I needed a design that showed off that feature.  Here's what I came up with:

Where can you artwork/pieces be found?

Of course, I've got my shop on Etsy, but you can also find me live and in person at a number of Maine craft fairs throughout the year.  I keep an updated craft fair schedule on the Sites and Schedules page of my blog. 

What do you do when you're not creating?

I'm a WAH (work-at-home) mom, so, for the most part, when I'm not creating, I'm homemaking.  Being a wife and mom is really important to me, and being able to do my craft while still being in the home is such a blessing.

I also love to read, watch science fiction shows and movies, go for walks, and craft with friends.  Some of my favorite crafts are counted cross stitch, knitting, and crochet, but I love trying all sorts of new things.  I've recently tried my hand at screen printing...mostly to use on my NomMon products, but who knows...

What is your favorite piece(s) that you have created?

I've actually got two current favorite pieces, my Nesting Doll Notebook Cover

and my Lumberjack Mustache Wallet

I'm really enjoying playing with appliqués.  They can add such fun character to a piece.

Why did you create this piece(s)?

I actually started making mustache wallets after discovering all the amazing facial hair items on Etsy.  Inspired by the creativity I saw,  I made a treasury entitled  The Bold and The Bearded.  Being a proudEtsy Maine Team member, I tried to find items made by some of my teammates to put in this treasury, but found a sad lack of mustache mania in Maine.  I decided to take action, created my own Maine-made mustache marvel, and then shared a challenge with my teammates to do the same.  We had such fun!  You can check out the treasury of what we all came up with here.

What do you feel is special about your art/craft?

The thing that really sets my craft apart is, firstly, that many of my items are made from second-hand clothing.  People tell me they really like the idea that I'm recycling while I'm creating.  The other thing is that, while you can tell many of my bags are made from jeans, they don't look like a pair of lopped off pants; they are actually carefully de-constructed and re-made with intentional placement of pockets, features, and embellishments.  I take a lot of care in making sure my homemade goods are professionally crafted.  And, because my bags are made from clothing, they are one-of-a-kind.  I may make more of the same style, but no bag is exactly like another for the simple fact that there isn't any more of the material to make a duplicate piece.  Of course, some of my smaller items may have duplicates, but they are all limited edition for the same reason.

Are there other forms of art and crafts you would like to learn? And why?

I'd really like to learn more about product photography and screen printing.  Both skills will benefit my business, but there really is an art to doing them well.  I get a lot of pleasure from capturing a great shot of one of my creations.  And screen printing just opens up a world of possibilities for me.  Besides, learning a new craft is like starting a new adventure, and who doesn't like adventure?

WooHoo I found my Booth Buddy for The Big Thaw! She owns the shop Am&a-Whimsical Arts and Crafts
 and she will be selling hand made hula hoops and healing comfrey salve, I am very excited now! So much planning and creating new product….. After all a bare table would be no good, lol.

I finally got out with my camera the other morning. It was a great morning for it to! There was a winter fog hovering around the river. The cloud itself was a great capture but it also created a sparkling thick frost on everything within the frost area! Here are a few of my favorite shots. All of these are avalible as prints as with all my photography for prices and more photography visit my site Kindred Images and Creations

 

 

Adventures in sewing.

I had gotten a really nice heavy duty sewing machine for Christmas this year from the love of my life. My old one had broken in November while helping my oldest daughter(she is 8) work on a quilted tote bag. I have always gone through phases of sewing, I made simple bags and pouches, simple quilts but mostly it has been used as a utility for other crafts and repair. But with the new machine a new desire to make things beyond the simple  has emerged. As with any craft or art I do believe in starting small so I picked out a simple project with one of the simplest patterns I could find. I have never used a pattern in my life so this was all new. I picked a apron pattern with a child and adult size in the package. I picked up some beginner books on sewing(I really like the Singer series of book) which really did help when it came to understanding how to use the pattern correctly. The next thing you know I had made two aprons woohoo! Now I have cut out a new pattern for a purse, but it is a lot trickier, lol.  We will see how it comes out when I find the time to cut the material and start sewing it up. It is always fun to make new things and learn new skills. My beginning efforts in Sewing gives me a greater respect and love for a truly well made, hand made, bags, clothing and other sewn items.

Black Bird Sitting on Birch Branch by thiemke-greene designs 

Fantastic Fibers, Fabrics and Threads(some of my favorite finds using these materials)
Here are a few beautifully made items from shops that are in the Etsy Maine team The cape from Blue Moonlighting is gorgeous and is in my taste! The Black Bird bag is fun and unique! Need some color for your wall? Try a colorful and bold wall hanging from laurenostis.

Victorian Black Brocade Cape By Blue Moonlighting 

Purple Bold SliceWallhanging by laurenostis