Spotted Tuesday: Shabby Chic

This week Spotted Tuesday is inspired by sweet baby chicks (above) designed by none other than my talented friend, Vink of VinkDesign.

Enjoy :-)



1st row from the left:

Hand Dyed Yellow Impressionist Daisy Jersey Ruffle Scarf by atelierfrost

Enamel Flower Necklace - Steampunk Alice in Wonderland by bionicunicorn

Ayala Levinger Art bags - OOAK Vintage fabric shoulder bag by AyalaLevinger


2nd row from the left:

Solid 18K Yellow Gold earrings with Smooth Smokey Quartz and microfaceted Citrine - Eos by Arctida

Friendship Soap Collection by SatinandBirch

Pair of cushion covers Retro flower print large yellow flowers 16 inch pillow by Ruthscrafts

Winner of Jacarandadesigns

Congratulations Kim (#35) !!! You'll the lucky one winning jacarandadesigns's beautiful pair of peach earrings. Thank you Jane for sponsoring this great giveaway.

Thanks again to all of you for entering the contest. You can enter the current contest here.

Happy Monday!

Giveaway: Banjar Bali Earrings

This week giveaway is sponsored by handmadebyannepotter: an exotic pair of Banjar Bali earrings.

These exotic beauties are going to your favorite statement earrings. Deep teal glass beads are enhanced with gorgeous Bali silver bead caps and bright silver tone findings to make these earrings a glorious ode to Balinese style. The large glass beads are a rich teal blue/green with a subtle mottling of taupe and measure 12mm across. The bead caps are real silver-plated Balinese caps with tiny rope detailing and dot pattern to reflect light making a sparkling complement to the more serious teal beads. Tiny silver tone beads and simple wraps finish off these beautiful components. Hung on simple bright silver tone wires, these earrings hang 1.5”. These earrings have that effortless globe-trotting panache – like you just stepped off the plane from your Indonesian holiday.

Read her profile featured yesterday.

There are seven ways to win. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry. How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

• Go to handmadebyannepotter shop. Return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item from her store.

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):

• Heart her shop and earn an entry. Simply let me know your Etsy username.
• Follow my blog and you earn another entry. If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
• Become my Facebook Fan and you earn another entry. If you're a fan already, you'll also get an entry. Let me know your FB username please.
  
• Tweet about this giveaway, add "@adorebynat" in your tweet. Each tweet worths one entry and you can tweet each day until the end of the contest (a maximum of one tweet per day is counted). That's a total of 7 entries!
  
• Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
• Purchase an item from handmadebyannepotter or my shop and earn 5 entries for each purchase. Don't forget letting me know by leaving comments :-)
  

Contest starts now and ends on April 10th, 2010. Contest opens worldwide.
Don't forget to leave me your e-mail address. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on Sunday, April 11th by a random number generator. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday Artisan: handmadebyannepotter

This week Saturday Artisan is Anne of handmadebyannepotter, a talented multi-media and global artist, I called.

In her shop, she offers selections of bags/ purses, jewelries, accessories, home decors, etc. I love how she embraces different cultures and collaborates that passion into what she makes. You could clearly see that in her shop. More importantly, what even made her worth of being Saturday Artisan? Her good and kind heart: she gives 50% of all proceeds to missions.


Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ craft that you make?
I am a stay-at-home mom to five children. I have been sewing for as long as I can remember, but I work with a lot of different media. I knit, crochet, quilt, paint, bead, needlepoint, embroider, etc. It’s my goal to be able to make anything I dream up (and I dream up a lot of stuff!) so I am trying to be proficient in whatever looks wonderful.


What is your favourite item in your shop?
Probably my Happy Birthday, Thomas A. Edison! Necklace.


I like beautiful things, but I also like to laugh a lot. This piece is perfect: beautiful AND it has a great personality.

What is your best seller?
My NAUGHTY Lumps of Coal. They’re a funny stocking stuffer for all the grumpy people in our lives.

Anne, if I may add: this Provence Monogrammed Grain Sack Pillow seems to be the 'hot item' now since the last time we talked. I'm sure your lumps of coal will be selling like nuts when we're closer to Christmas again this year.


What inspires you?
Travel and cultural art traditions like Thai pagodas, Mexican Milagros, Coptic crosses, Chinese chops (square name stamps), Pacific totem poles, and African masks.

What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without?
My mom gave me a pair of artery clamps for Christmas one year. I thought she was nuts. I use them all the time because they clamp like pliers, lock in place and get in narrow spots. They’re great for beadwork, woodwork, and turning fabric tubes for sewing. Mom, you’re brilliant!

During this recession time, tell us one thing that you do to save money?
I love to use recycled and repurposed materials; this is just how I like to operate. But when I feel that my budget is tight, I deliberately try to work out of my stash and try to reinvent tired elements. This is a creative challenge, but it stretches me and pushes my creativity to the next level.

Any tutorial that you’d like to share, pretty please?
Well OK, because you asked so nicely. Here’s how I make my Goa Silk Necklace.


Take long lengths of silk or rayon seam binding and sew them together, end to end (I shoot for 160”-170” total). Then place one end under your sewing machine presser foot, and begin twisting until is forms a tight tube of fabric. Zigzag over the cord and continue to twist (same direction for the whole length) until you reach the end. Butt ends together and zigzag over joint. Global gorgeous.

Stay-tuned for tomorrow's giveaway that Anne will be sponsoring. In the meantime, feel free to leisurely browse her shop.