Yummy GiveAway from Kate Williams Designs

Check out this giveaway - very simple to enter and the prize will make you drool! http://katewilliamsdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/08/buttermilk-bake-shop-giveaway.html

New Followers!!

I'm doing the blog happy dance because I got some new followers today! Thank you all, and thanks for posting!

BOGO WEEKEND SALE!!

Do some early Christmas shopping for stocking stuffers or office exchanges! Our shop is having a "buy one, get one half off" sale through midnight Sunday 8/30. We also have a couple of Halloween magnets in stock. Time to decorate!
www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7427305

Look What You Can Do With Pipecleaners!

Fuzzington, an Etsy shop, created this cute little "sculpture" of Hannah our doxie, playing with her ball. It's just adorable! Check out her shop at www.fuzzington.etsy.com

BOGO SALE!!!

Good morning and Happy Friday! Keep this weekend open for my BOGO sale! Buy one item, get 50% off second item of equal or lesser value! Start hearting your favorites now! Sale starts on Friday 8/28!http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7427305

I Won!

KarenCaseySmith, a fellow Etsian, had a give-away on her blog and I won a really nice CD! Thanks Karen, and Lucy (her cat) who actually picked the winners. Please check out Karen's blog and her Etsy shop:

http://blog.karencaseysmith.com/

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5306299

Flew Off the Shelf!

The Great Pumpkin magnet already sold! Doing the Happy Dance!!

The Great Pumpkin Wiener Dog

This is our newest Halloween creation

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29702789

Featured in A Handmade Revolution's blog

Robin (EverydayDiamonds on Etsy) has reviewed our shop on her blog and is asking for readers to give their own opinion of our shop. Please take a moment and check it out:

http://ahandmaderevolution.blogspot.com

Featured in the Military Brats Treasury!

New Listings on Etsy

I call this one "Puppy Love". Awww, isn't it sweet....











This is Fat Cat Pumpkin Head ready to Trick or Treat with his "friends"

Where Have All the Doxies Gone?

They're heading to South Carolina! All our dachshund magnets sold yesterday on one order. Yippee!!! Sending them off today!

Harlequin Doxie Magnet

This is the 4th Harlequin doxie I've made. I only say this because after making the first one I swore I would never do another one. It's not easy painting a diamond pattern, even when you use painters tape, but the finished product is so cute that I keep doing them!

Fat Cat Witch

John created this Halloween magnet which I think is wonderful (I'm not biased...). We'll have a few more Halloween themed magnets listed on Etsy in the next week or so.

Candy Corn Dog

I don't know why I turned this wonderful wiener into a Candy Corn; guess I thought it was amusing at the time. To be honest, I think it's a little odd...

Sorry for ignoring you, Blog....

I haven't been posting very faithfully on my blog and I just want to apologize to it.

Interview with Barbara of "My Craft Experience" Etsy Shop

I found an extraordinary Etsy shop and an equally extraordinary shop owner, Barbara Baldin, who describes herself as an "Italian thirty-something mum, girlfriend and art & craft lover". She's also an amazing, multi-talented artist and very nice lady. I'm delighted to share this interview with her! Her shop can be found at www.barbarix.etsy.com

Tell us a little bit about yourself personally:

I live in the south of Spain , very close to Gibraltair, in that part of Europe where the Mediterranean Sea merges with the Atlantic Ocean and the culture is a mixture of Arab and Mediterranean.

I have been living away from Italy since 1994, travelling to different places and working as a underwater videographer. I love the sea, in the summer and in the winter and I cannot imagine myself living far away from it.

I came to Spain in 2001 for a need of settling down, I chose Spain because after many years of sunny places, flip flops and sarongs I could not go back to my busy ,stressful, cold, demanding home town. Andalucia was a good compromise as people here still remember to have a siesta in the afternoon...


Why Art and Crafts?

Well, my mum is an artist and since i was small I have always been surrounded by oil paintings and all kinds of craft activities, so I think I developed a special love for all hand made things. I have been painting and crafting all my life.

I worked as a illustrator for a magazine and I have been doing various commissioned wall paintings. Since in Spain ,I studied at the jewelry school and I am into goldsmithing.
I have a multipurpose studio and a shop where I develop, create and sell my artworks.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I take care of my one year old little boy Giacomo and my partner Reinhold, I go walking on the beach at sunset, I cook Thai food ( yummi I love Thai) and I try to keep my blog up to date squeezing my internet time between working in the studio in the morning, cooking, changing nappies and cleaning the house.

I would love to go diving sometimes....






What first made you want to become an artist?

I dont know if I really consider myself an artist. I suppose that this is the right word in english but it sounds really big to me cause I consider artists Michelangelo and Leonardo. I am a "little" artist, i create things and here in my shop in Spain people like them and buy them. I hope that also my Etsy shop will catch up...


Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

Well, I dont know if I have a method. Most of the times I follow my instinct and the inspiration of the moment.

I develop a piece on the run, without knowing how it is going to end up.I start with an idea and sometimes I end up creating something completely different from my original idea because during the evolution of the piece other ideas and things interfere. I go through very productive times and completely flat periods of no inspiration.

I like to recycle and give a second life to things. I like to glue old found objects to my artwoks, like old buttons, ribbons, papers, keys, ets. It makes the artwork tridimensional and lends a texture. I do it on my canvas, but also when I work on a frame, a mirror, a box or a simple hairclip.

For my jewelery I like to use sterling silver, copper, brass and semiprecious gemstones.



What handmade possession do you most cherish?

Some oil paintings that my mum made many years ago inspired by Paul Gauguin and are now in the living room. The scrap album that I made for Giacomo for his first six months and the first ring I made at the jewellery school.


Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups:

BOOKS:
The Count of Montecristo- Alexandre Dumas
The Lord of the Rings-JRR Tolkien
Oceanomare- Alessandro Baricco
Silk- Alessandro Baricco
Historia de una gaviota e del gato que le enseno a volar - Luis Sepulveda

MOVIES:
Out of Africa
Pane e tulipani
En busca de la felicidad
Amelie
Chocolade





MUSIC:
Viva la vida - Coldplay

Redemption Song - Bob Marley

Titanic - Francesco De Gregori

Cold - Annie Lennox

Pokito a poko - Chambao

How do you promote your work?

I try to write in my blog as much as possible, Facebook, and mouth to mouth advertising

In ten years I'd like to be...

Living somewhere surrounded by a bit of green, growing veggies and fruit with my boyfriend Reini and my child Giacomo.

Surrounded by friends and still doing what I like to do!


BARBARA BALDIN
Find me on
http://mycraftexperience.blogspot.com/

Featured in the Military Brats Treasury

As a proud former mililtary brat, I joined the Etsy Military Brats team. One of the brats created this treasury and our pink frog on a log is in it! Here's the treasury link:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=63676

Featured in an Etsy Treasury!

One of John's cute "little cat" magnets was selected for a treasury spot on Etsy. This link will take you there:



http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=74059

soopsee

I found this article on Etsy about www.soopsee.com . It's in beta testing right now but seems to be a great way to get more exposure and go a little further with our business.

Featured Blog

I found Barbara Baldin's blog yesterday. I really love her work. She has an Etsy shop as well. You can see one of her items in my wish list to the right, the painting called Paloma and la Luna. She comes from Malaga and her work really captures her spirit, in my opinion.

I will now attempt to attach her link... www.mycraftexperience.blogspot.com

and her Etsy shop... www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5212722

Last Day of Sale

My best friend purchase 3 of our magnets yesterday. She's such a sweetie! Thank you Kathy!!

Yes, the sale is still going and today is the last day. Don't miss out on a great deal today... think "stocking stuffers, birthday gifts, office exchange, yada yada yada" the list goes on. Everyone needs an art magnet on their fridge or file cabinet or whatever flat metal surface you prefer!

Kathy and I are going out to thrift shops today, now that the weather has cooled down to the upper 80 's....I love going to thrift stores, I'm going to start doing mosaics again and they are the best place to find "mosaicees".

Sale Still Going Strong

This is the second day of our sale - 30% of everything. I'm posting in the Etsy forums like mad and feel like all I'm doing is talking to myself. Whine, whine. Better get more coffee and find something constructive to do today. Maybe I'll finish my candy corn dog magnet!