Sunday, March 30, 2014

Giveaway from Andrea Designs: Cotton Summer Headband

Fantastic Giveaway from Andrea Designs:

Win this beautiful Cotton Summer Headband!

In ANDREA DESIGNS studio You will find beautiful Fiber Art as knitted scarves, shawls, ponchos, and more.  




This summer head band "MULTICOLOR" made of cotton in the combinations of beige, blue, green, and magenta was crocheted and will be the perfect accessory for those days that you want to look pretty without spending the time in get your hair done, just wear your cotton summer head band and ready to go out.

Measurements are:

Width: 3" inches, 7 ½ cm

Length: 19" inches ( 48 cm ), and stretching the elastic will give 3 more inches (7 cm) to the total length of the headband.

Flower attached to one side of the headband: 3 ½ " by 3 ½ inches (9 cm)



Wash by hand and dry flat

Retail Price: US $25.00
CARE: Hand wash and dry fla
t



Learn more about Andrea, the artist behind this great shop, here on yesterday's Saturday Artisan post. 


NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Contest starts now and ends on April 14th, 2014. Contest opens to US and Canada (Tracking# is not available to Canadian address, we are not responsible for mail that gets lost in transit). Open to Legal Residents (18years of age or older). Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on April 15th. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by e-mail. Adorebynat is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prizes and in a timely manner. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Would you like to be featured as a Saturday Artisan and sponsor a giveaway? Here is how to apply.


Saturday, March 29, 2014

Saturday Artisan: Andrea Designs

Meet Andrea, our Saturday Artisan! She is a talented artist and a proud owner of Andrea Designs. She is wonderful person that I am thankful to get a chance to work with. As the Master Guild of Crazy Train Riders, she actively promotes her team members. Truly, not only her creations are beautiful but her heart is so kind.

Let's get to know her, shall we?  


Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?


I was born and raised in Lima-Peru, South-America. My medium is fiber, I love to knit and crochet, I learned when I was in High School, I didn't do much after that, when I started collage, my dad bought a knitting machine to my mom, she didn't learn but I did, I loved it, I became a knitting machine instructor working for one of the Singer stores in Lima, I learned to make dresses, pants, baby clothing etc.

When I got married and came to United States (25 years ago), I didn't bring the knitting machine with me. I was working as a supervisor in a Call Center in Texas, and I started to think about to have my own business. I thought to start making sweaters or scarves in a knitting machine, I got the knitting machine and my journey to buy yarn started. I begun checking online where I could get the yarn, I was looking for specific fiber, I bought some yarn, but I didn't get the results I was expecting. I visited other online stores, started buying beautiful yarn that I fall in love, however I couldn't use them in the knitting machine because they were very thick. Again, I start using the two needles like when I was in High School.
I use fine yarns as Peruvian and American alpaca, Italian and French acrylic, French angora. I transform the fiber in wearable art as scarves, shawls, hats, ponchos, shoulder warmers, jackets, love to combine different textures and fiber that is soft to the skin, light, comfortable, elegant and breath taking. My goal is reached when my customer is happy with the product she has chosen and tells me she was asked... .WHERE DID YOU GET THAT? IT IS SO BEAUTIFUL.!.. I am in the Master Knitter Program to become a Master Knitter.


I am a proud member of The Artisan Group, a elite close-knit community of over 800 talented world- wide artisans, that gifts a collective sampling of handcrafted products to celebrities and members of the press at gift lounges, my products had participated in the 2012 CMA, at 2013 GBK's Annual Pre-Emmy Celebrity Gift Lounge 2013 here is a link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxhYL8_Fajw where my display was shown, it is the scarf, this year my products will participate in the GBK's MTV Movie awards lounge gifting to the Press.


What is the story behind your shop name?  

It is my first name.


Who is your target market?

My target market is women of all ages, my items are liked by women and girls, also I have some male customers.

 



Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

 All of them, what in general inspired me is the color, type of fiber, or sometimes I have an idea in my head, I will draw what I want to do, that way I won't forget, and I will look for the materials, also I enjoy the process, if I am not satisfied with the result, I will start all over again, I want to provide a perfect item.


For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? 

I live in Batesville, Indiana, we move here in April 2010, my husband was born here, we moved from El Paso, Tx, he was working in a Fort over there, he wanted, when he will retire to go back to his birth town, what we did. This town is about 6200 people, west 70 miles from Indianapolis, east 50 miles from Cincinnati, OH, south about 50 miles from Kentucky, it is a farm community, it has the 4 seasons, right now is the white season snow the whole winter, the hardest winter in about 20 years, spring, summer and fall are beautiful, everything is green, during fall the leaves turn red, it is an amazing and beautiful view like a postcard, it's a beautiful place.


Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department?

I organized the yarn in plastic drawers with labels, I put them by color and fiber. The same with my beads.


What is your best seller?

 I have two best seller a scarf and a pair of fingerless gloves. They vary in color. I sell them a lot in person.


How does your day go in general?

In the morning coming down to my studio, is located in the basement of the house about 900 sq. feet, this is a new house so it has a lot of light, I have all my equipment like knitting and sewing machines, couple of tables and chairs, other knitting tools and a lot of yarn and beads, paper to create my own cards, printer and my computer, check and answer emails, check my studio for messages, prepare the post for the next rider, make collections, work in my creations, take photos, edit photos, post new items in the website.


You can find Andrea at:

Facebook
Blog
Twitter
Pinterest
Amazine
Polyvore

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway!


Would you like to be featured as a Saturday Artisan? Here is how to apply.


 


Sunday, March 23, 2014

Giveaway from AZ Desert Creations: You Are My Sunshine Hand Stamped Necklace

Win this fabulous You Are My Sunshine Hand Stamped Necklace from AZ Desert Creations.
Learn more about Jennifer, the artist behind this great shop, here on yesterday's Saturday Artisan post.



a Rafflecopter giveaway


NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Contest starts now and ends on April 11th, 2014. Contest opens to worldwide (FREE SHIPPING to US only, International winner pays for shipping). Open to Legal Residents (18years of age or older). Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on April 12th. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by e-mail. Adorebynat is not responsible for sponsors that do not fulfill their prizes. I have represented each sponsor with the expectation they will fulfill their prizes and in a timely manner. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.

Good luck, everyone!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Saturday Artisan: Desert Creations

Meet Jennifer, the artist behind AZ Desert Creations. She is our Saturday Artisan for this week. She is one of women with multi-talents I know. She is a jewelry artist, makes pretty bows and crochet beautiful scarves.
  

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?

My name is Jennifer and I am a jewelry designer artist. I have been making jewelry for 10 years. I have been working with polymer clay for 3 years. My handmade business is licences in the state of AZ. I grew up in Mississippi where I met my wonderful husband. Shortly after we got married we moved to Sunny Arizona. After 5 years of marriage we had our wonderful son. 19 months ago we were blessed with a wonderful baby girl. Born 9/6/2011. My husband and I are going on 18 years of marriage.

What is the story behind your shop name?  

I am in the AZ Desert and wanted a name to match. My Hubby came up with the name and it fits :)

Who is your target market?

 Everyone from old to young :)


Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

I enjoy creating new items and watching them take form.


Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department?

I organize my items by category. All earrings together and all scarves, necklaces, and so forth in their proper place.

What is your best seller?

My Tree of Life necklaces and my Ruffle Scarves.


How does your day go in general?

I start off the day with the kids. I then take care of e-mails. Next I check social media. I then home school my Son and read to my baby girl. Lunch time for the kids and a snack for me. I write down any new ideas I have running around in my head. Time to create. It is never done and I enjoy every min of it.


How do you balance your personal and work life?

There is never enough time in the day to get everything done. My kids always come first :)


What inspires you?

EVERYTHING


What is your goal for 2014?  

To build my online sales and get my product in more peoples hands.


Any advice for others running their on-line shop?Never give up!


Would you like to be featured as a Saturday Artisan? Here is how to apply.

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Saturday Artisan: Ash Ann Jewelry

Meet Ashly, our Saturday Artisan! Come and take a peek at her shop, Ash Ann Jewelry, and I'm sure you will fall in love with each piece.



She makes beautiful jewelries with vintage chic style that I truly adore. Let's get to know her more, shall we?

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?

My name is Ashly King and I am the owner and designer of Ash Ann Jewelry. I love being crafty and ventured into jewelry design and enjoyed it! I love the vintage chic style when it comes to home interior and you can see some of that style in my jewelry pieces. I offer custom orders for special occasions (wedding, parties, holidays, fund raisers, etc) as well as just simple everyday wear. My items are all unique and I offer affordable pricing.   


What is the story behind your shop name?  

It took me a little while to come up with it, but I was playing around with my name, "Ashly Ann" and narrowed my ideas down to a shortened version of it.


Who is your target market?

Women, teens, brides, bridesmaids


Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

 My favorite part is choosing all of the materials and beads to create the final design.

For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? 

I reside in a historic town of Pendleton, Indiana. There is a lot of history here. My town is famous for its local park (Falls Park). It used to be a popular swimming spot with a water slide and a diving board. Today, it is just a place where all of the ducks hang out and local people fish. It has beautiful falls and an antique filled house that you can tour for free. A little history about Falls Park...

Pendleton, Indiana’s recorded history begins in December 1818 when John Rogers, the first non-native settler to the area, built his home near the falls on Fall Creek. As time passed, more people made their way to the region, always settling near the falls - the community source of water and power.


Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department?

I currently store all of my beads and jewelry supplies in several plastic organizers and I keep my necklaces in once place and earrings/bracelets in another. I find keeping the like items together very helpful. I don't have a workshop yet, but I have enough space in my closets to keep myself organized.  


What is your best seller?

 So far, necklaces.

 

How does your day go in general?

My typical day would consist of my full time job. I am a type-setter for a stationery company and design card layouts with type and patterns. I enjoy it! It definitely uses my creative side.

 

How do you balance your personal and work life?

Just making a decision that once I am finished with a certain project, I will move on to my next focused thing. Having a focused mind set and a set of goals keeps me balanced.


What inspires you?

Honestly, ultimately God inspires me. Why? I look at nature and design and for me, it always points to my Creator. I am just a vessel and He has blessed me with creativity. I enjoy creating pieces and seeing people happy with the finished product.

 

What is your goal for 2014?  

Continue to learn more and grow with Ash Ann Jewelry. To be in a few shows and to be featured more. 

 

Any advice for others running their on-line shop?

Yes, when starting out.... be very patient and do not give up. It takes time to build a customer base and it takes a lot of marketing to get your name known to people. Google+ business page and joining communities are awesome about spreading the word! 

Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money?

I wait for sales to buy my supplies most of the time and use coupons. I love garage sales in the summer and thrift shops in the winter!

Find her on: Facebook, Google+, Polyvore, and Website


Ashly is having a giveaway now. Would you like to win this beautiful Heart Pendant Necklace? Head over to her FB page to get a chance to win it.



 

Friday, March 14, 2014

Tutorial: How to Make Pinback Button

Happy Friday! 

 
Do you remember Toni of Little House of Crafting? She was one of our awesome Saturday Artisans. Learn more about her here.

Today, Toni shares with us on how to make Pinback Button.
 
The button materials here are those necessary to make 1.25 inch buttons. Luckily, the process used to make pinback buttons does not change across sizes. This means you can use this process for creating 1 inch buttons as well as the 3 inch buttons! 

There are various kinds of button presses and button cutters. Those used here are from www.buttonbiz.com/.

The button design used in this tutorial is her own creation. Please do not use it without permission.

Now, let's make some buttons!

Materials needed:

Materialsrevised by Tharidra

1. Use button cutter to cut button designs. See example below:

Cutter by Tharidra

2. Prep the button maker as shown below:

Prep by Tharidra

3. Put the shell in the left side of the button maker:

Shell by Tharidra

4. Put the design on top of the shell:

Design by Tharidra

5. Add the mylar on top of the shell and the design. Add the pinback into the right side of the press. Make sure that the pinback is facing the opposite direction of the graphic. Here, the graphic has the top of the design pointing left. This means that you want to have the top of the pinback pointing right:

Mylar by Tharidra

6. Move the design up and push the button maker handle down to punch the design. 

Move design up by Tharidra

7. The shell, design and mylar are held in the press, awaiting the pinback:

Reset by Tharidra

8. Move the pinback button design up to where the design was and push the button press handle down to punch the design and the pinback together:

Move pinback up by Tharidra

9. And now you have a button! 

Yay button by Tharidra

10. Repeat until the process until you have made the desired amount of buttons:

Repeat by Tharidra

Enjoy your new found artisan craft!  If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact Toni.  If you would rather have someone to make pinback buttons for you, ask Toni please! Buttons can be found at Little House of Crafting. I'm sure she will be happy to make some custom buttons for you.

Thank you for dropping by! Leave us a comment and it'll make our day! Happy crafting!


Sunday, March 2, 2014

Giveaway from Ginger's Garden: Handmade Bar Soap



Win a bar of Ginger's Garden handmade soap. The winner get to choose any bar from Irena's Ginger's Garden shop (except neroli or jasmine).

As Irena said: "If you haven't tried handmade soap, you don't know what your skin is missing."

Now it's time to give a handmade soap a try!

Get to know Irena on yesterday Saturday Artisan post. After all, it's always nice to learn more about the artist who is generously giving away her product.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

 
Contest starts now and ends on March 16th, 2014. Contest opens to US & Canada only. Don't forget to leave me a way to contact you. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on March 17th. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected. Good luck, everyone!

Saturday, March 1, 2014

Saturday Artisan: Ginger's Garden

Meet our Saturday Artisan:  Irena, the artist and owner behind Ginger's Garden. Her online shop is here.

As a coffee lover, I adore this coffee beans handmade soap!



Irena has been in the business for over 25 years. With years of experience and family background, she certainly is an expert in making soaps. Get to know her a little bit more, shall we?



Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?

I was born in Prague, Czech Republic. I am a third generation Aromatherapist, herbalist, soapmaker & bath and body formulator. My mother and grandmother made lotions, potions and creams. My mother's kitchen was full of herbs drying upside down or dark glass bottles filled with wonderful herbal infusions. I am following in their footsteps. I work with different types of oils, natural butters or fragrant oils that are used in my artisan soaps, lotions, lip balms and creams. 

What is the story behind your shop name?  

My middle name is Ginger and I love flowers and gardens. So it was easy for me to pick a name. Ginger's Garden is now a registered trademark.


Who is your target market?

My target market is everyone that needs a bar of quality handmade artisan soap. I educate the general public about the wonderful ingredients that go into each soap batch and how much better they are for their skin unlike commercial synthetic cleansing bars. 


Which part of creation process that you enjoy the most?

I enjoy working with colors, fragrances and essential oils. I like to make my own blends, which in turn get put into my soaps, lotions, perfumes and body balms. 


For us who love to travel, could you share a bit about your beautiful town/ city? 

I live in the desert of Palm Springs, California. Most days have sunny, warm weather. In the summer it gets hot with triple digit heat. I don't mind the heat too much. I would rather have warmth then the cold or snow in other parts of the country.


Could you share on how your organize your products, we all can use a little tips here and there in this department?

I have about 600 bars of in my inventory at any given time. To me, organization is a must. I use baker's racks to store totes full of soap. Each tote has a label with the name and the date made. That way I make sure that all my handmade soaps are well cured and not sold early. All my ingredients are also labeled. I keep a master list so I can tell at a glance if I need to make more soap or buy an oil or butter. I have a fridge dedicated to storing some of the more fragile oils, butters, hydrosols and aloe vera. 


What is your best seller?

The top five best sellers for right now are:
1. Goat's Milk Natural Unscented Soap
2. Shaving Cream
3. Lavender Essential Oil Soap
4. Lotion made with Mango Butter
5. Anise Licorice Natural Lip Balm

 

How does your day go in general?

I prefer to work in the late hours. My day starts around 9 AM. I try to have everything ready the night before, so my soapmaking oils and butters are ready to be melted. I check my email for orders and fill them. Then I make soap. I might make another gallon of lotion, a bunch of lotion bars, lip balms or anything else that needs to be made. Sometimes I get too busy to eat, so my lunch might be around 2 PM. After all that is done, I check online with other soapmakers, where we exchange any news, tips or sales. My day ends around midnight.


How do you balance your personal and work life?

My children are grown. Since I work out of my home, I get to choose my own hours. Those hours are sometimes long as I also work on weekends. Since I do this full time, if I don't work, I don't get to pay myself. I do take some time off on occasion. I also babysit my grandson as needed. Most days I am at home working on my business.


What inspires you?

I get my inspiration from many places. I look at a painting and wonder how those colors would work in soap. I look at nature and try to replicate the scents that I smell and the colors that I see.


What is your goal for 2014?  

My goal for 2014 is to get more wholesale accounts and to work smarter, not harder. It takes the same amount of time to make a 10 lb. batch as it takes to make a 20 lb. batch.


Any advice for others running their on-line shop?

Running an online shop isn't easy. You need to entice customers with well written descriptions and good photos. When I started to sell on the internet around 1991, small businesses were easier to find. Now you need good SEO and links, so your business can be found. I am happy to know that my business page was on page 2 of Google at the end of December 2013. I am doing something right.


Saving money is important; tell us one thing that you do to save money?

I use recycled boxes, peanuts and paper for most of my customer's orders. It saves me money and it's good for the environment.


Ginger's Garden can be found on Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+, and Flickr.