On A Roll Today

Wow talk about a burst of creativity. I sat down last night to create one or two new banners to my shop. Turns out I made sixteen instead. Not sure where all the extra creativity came from, but it sure can come back anytime it likes. I'm definitely not complaining! I do have a goal to list 1000 banners. Hopefully I will, fingers crossed! To check out more of my banners you can visit my shop here: www.simplybanners.com

Fur Baby Claudius

I was in a chat the other day with a fellow Etsian who had mentioned if anyone wanted to help out her sweet foster kitty Claudius. I checked out her shop and read a listing asking for donations to help in Claudius' care. Having such a warm heart for all fur-babies especially kitties I just had to help this precious baby as much as I could. I'm sure a little bit here and there could definitely go along way. So if your an animal lover like me please feel free to read more about Claudius here: www.kittyskrafties.com

Featured Artist of the Month

This month's featured artist is fellow Etsian variation of Bay Area California. I got a chance to interview her and ask her about her beautiful collection of bead dolls. Here is what she had to say...

What type of art work do you do?
For now I'm working with beads, but I also sew, knit, crochet, make collages, some bookbinding and letterpress,
metalsmithing, graphic design and animation. I'm always trying new things. I love to experiment and combine skills.

How long have you been creating?
Since I first begged my mom to teach me to sew clothes for my Cabbage Patch Kid dolls in the 1980s...

How much time do you spend working on your craft?
It fluctuates -- sometimes as little as an hour or two a week, and sometimes as much as 15 hours a week. I have a full-time job to pay the bills, so that, unfortunately, takes priority.

What inspires you to create?
The amazing work I see from other artists and crafters, past and present, across all mediums. Anything that makes me say, "I want to be a part of that!" The community that comes with sharing your work and learning from fellow artists. Nature, culture, science. Travel. Even the seemingly mundane things around me. All of this informs and inspires my work, and drives me to create!

Do you have a designing process?
I totally make it up as I go along! I just start dabbling with materials, become totally absorbed for a few hours, and voila! Not everything I make is successful, and sometimes I have to abandon things and start over. But in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking about my projects, whether consciously or not.

Where do you do your creating?
In the comfort of my home sweet home.

Have you always been artsy?
Yes and no. There have been periods in my life when my "artsy" side remained dormant because of school, work, or other obligations. This is when I'm the least happy.

Do you have another job?
I do. I work in the tech industry.

Where do you sell your pieces?
Just for now I sell my beaded dolls on Etsy.

Do you enjoy what you do?
Absolutely. I love it!

Do you have a favorite piece in your shop?
Hmmm...the doll in the center of my shop banner. She's like a mascot, in a way. Since my shop is evolving, I will probably have new favorites frequently.

You can see more of variations creations in her Etsy shop Variations

Some new items added!

I've had my Simply Banner shop up and running for a while now. I decided to add a new line of labels to my shop. I'm so happy with how they turned out that I decided to post a sample on my blog. I have four different label templates in my shop now, I plan on adding more in the very near future. They feature some lovely backgrounds and oh so sweet graphics which I have purchased from some very talented artists online. Each round label is priced at $3

You can find my labels, banners and avatars in my Etsy shop here: simplybanners.etsy.com

Argh! You call this glue!

It's been a while since I blogged about anything. I decided to come back and write about a gripe I have. As a jewelry designer and crafter I thought it would be nice to have some earring cards to go with my artisan earrings. I wanted to use some pretty scrapbooking paper as the cover of my cards and realized I needed a gluestick. After a hunt for a really good glue stick at my local craft store. I picked up a Scotch craft glue stick. It was a tad bit on the high price but it said for crafts so it seemed perfect. Boy was I wrong! I got home that night and sat down to make my cards. I glued the pretty paper onto my cards, dazzled them up with some cute embellishments here and there, they were so pretty. A few days later when I went to use one of my earring cards, I noticed the pretty paper was starting to pop right off the card. Ummm isn't glue suppose to help things "stick"?
I will never, ever buy this type of glue again. I desperately would love to finish my cards without having my paper popping off. So if anyone has any good glues they would like to recommend please feel free to comment your favorite type. I've tried using the liquid glue as it seems to stick the best. Unfortunately when I tried that type it made my paper pretty icky looking with the final result!