MyCatLulu Wanders In, "Meow."

Welcome to my feature on a shop named after a cat whose name is Lulu. This cat is said to be one of the cutest cats out there. It's hard to say, after I discovered the Mean Kitty videos and the Kitten and His Box video on YouTube. Does this cat have her own videos? Anyway, she looks pretty cute, and does have interesting eyes. But, I digress, this feature is about her "people" Becca's shop, My Cat Lulu.

Here are a couple of card sets from MyCatLulu's new charity section. A percentage of sales from these items goes to either one of two places: to Amnesty International or to Etsy For Animals Charity of the month. Check it out, and get nice gocco card sets while you help some good causes.

Becca has a BA in Art. Her day job is as a Desktop Publisher. She has trained in Photoshop, Indesign, gocco, her medium format camera, black and white darkroom, and the color darkroom. She says, "Currently I am working with my husband to set up a photography Etsy shop where will have prints for sale and services like wedding/ engagement portraits. "

Here are some very nice Custom Gocco Silk Screened Note Cards which you can order and have personalized and made to use as thank you notes or another individual need.

To see more of MyCatLulu and Becca go to:

http://mycatlulu.etsy.com http://mycatlulu.blogspot.com

Cigarbox Beads

Marilyn G is the beadweaver/owner of Cigarbox Beads. Interesting facts behind her shop name are that she once found and bought some cigarboxes at a flea market over 20 years ago that were full of vintage beads. Says Marilyn, "It was the beginning of an addiction! Now I have almost a room full of beads---no exaggeration--when I need something- I go 'shopping' in my bead room! ;>) I do get carried away and buy more beads when something catches my eye---or I don't have it in my humongous supply! ;>)

Can anyone reading this, identify with the art and crafters hoarding syndrome described here? Oh, my! Just keep me away from the art supply, the paper supply, the superstore disguised as a fabric shop, and those big box crafting stores; because I will be in there for hours on end, drooling!
Paterkillars brings a smile to my face. "What's that you say?" Paterkillars is what Marilyn's grandchildren made of the word, "caterpillars." Reminds me of "gotfor," "sissen"and "cacaboose" which were my kids' talk for "forgot," "kitchen" and "caboose."

Anyway, Paterkillar Beaded Beads Necklace is eight of these paterkiller beaded beads strung together on a leather string. A totally interesting necklace!

In real life, Marilyn is a retired home-ec teacher whose hubby is recouperating from a stroke. I wish them the best and hope the rehab goes well and the recovery is amazing.

Twisted Garden Path Choker shown at right.

Marilyn says, "Beadweaving is my joy, along with knitting, crocheting, sewing AND being with our twin grand daughters. Not at the same time though, they love to 'help'! We do have 'crafting time' every day that I watch them, so I hope I'm instilling the love of creating in them."


Oceana Blue Amulet shown at left.

Be sure to visit Marilyn at Cigarbox beads shop and blog and at her new shop suchandsort---which came from an acquaintance of Marilyn's, who instead of saying etcetera--she said-- 'suchandsort'!

http://cigarboxbeads.etsy.com/
http://suchandsort.etsy.com/
http://cigarboxbeads.blogspot.com/

Glory2727

Gloria Wilson from Etsy Shop, Glory2727 is my featured artist today.

The painting on the right, Field of Daises, is a good example of the containment, contraction and expansion design format using traditional subject matter.

Gloria, like myself, has learned a lot of new skills since joining Etsy. It sounds like, from what I read, that From My Brush is Gloria's second blog and that she learned everything she needed to know about setting up her Etsy shop afterwards. It was the other way around for me. Etsy was my first solo foray setting up anything other than a mailbox on the internet. I have worked with computers for a long time unlike Gloria whose daughter got her started by buying her a computer within the last 5-10 years. Both of us can see the benefits of new learning experiences and challenges.

Says Gloria, "My learning experiences with etsy began immediately. My writing skills began to improve by writing my profile, descriptions of my items for sell, and store policies. I found many useful tips in the forum posted by different shop owners on making your shop inviting. Next I went on-line with Hewlett Packard's free classes. I took a course on using my digital camera beyond pointing and shooting. Next I learned how to download the pictures from my camera. Sizing the picturesbecame another lesson. Templates are used when uploading and require the proper setting in pixels in order to upload.

Shipping was the next lesson. Many vendors again posted to threads in our Etsy forums. It is there and Etsy's How To's that pointed my way to shipping. Also we learn from one another the best and reasonable suppliers for packaging and commercial supplies needed.My computer skills have grown. From the Etsy forums I gained short cuts and knowledge fromsplit screens to cut and paste to designing a banner.

The one thing I am most proud of is the fact that I have joined a wonderful community of shop owners, who can share problems and solutions in a forum They share ideas, and information."

This cute little guy on the right is entitled King of the Garden and is available as an ACEO in her shop.


Little Pink Flower Pot is the title of this piece, useful as well as pretty.








Go visit Gloria at:
http://glory2727.etsy.com/
http://frommybrush.blogspot.com/

On A Thousand Hills . . .

She comes from Colton Hollow, somewhere in New England. She's a mom of 2 teenagers, and wife of a trucker. She loves God! She is hoping to hike the Appalachian Trail in a few years. She is also hoping to be able to supplement my husband's income by selling beadwork and other creative art pieces. And supports buying Handmade in the USA! Her name is Cheryl, and she is the owner of Etsy shop, On A Thousand Hills.

Sleeping Gypsy Bead Tapestry Wall Hanging (above)

This beauty contains over 30,000 beads. That equals an incredible commitment to a project. Cheryl says that she had been inspired by Sleeping Gypsy, painted by Henri Rousseau in 1897 for two reasons: "The first was that I go by the screen-name Gypsy Heart, because I have always been attracted to the nomadic ways of the gypsies. The second was that I just found this picture to be representative of Jesus watching over us in the night as we sleep."

Shimmering Heart bead embroidered cuff bracelet (below)
Cheryl uses this description. "This cuff bracelet really shimmers in the light, due to the finishing process they used on the Delica seed beads I used to stitch the majority of this bracelet. I stitched the bottom portion in a mellow "wave" pattern and the top in straight up and down columns. The shimmery effect of the beads really show the pattern nicely. You will definitely get noticed in this one!"


"This necklace starts off with a porcelain cabochon, featuring a beautiful blue and yellow butterfly. I stitched a bezel around it in peyote stitch, using complementary colors. The cabochon is also backed with ultra-suede in a black and white check/plaid. The neckstrap is done in a tubular Ndbele herringbone stitch, with small spaces done in tubular brickstitch as well. A base-metal toggle is used for a clasp. The pieces were then strung on Accuflex wire for durability. "

Cheryl says she will be entering this piece in the Etsy Beadweavers Challenge "Spring Break". They will be giving anyone who visits their blog site the chance to vote. Their address is http://etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com/

Find Cheryl and On A Thousand Hills at these locations:

http://onathousandhills.etsy.com/
http://onathousandhills.blogspot.com/
http://onathousandhills-etsyfeaturedartists.blogspot.com/

Allyon67, 90 Day Challenge Feature

Artist's Statement by Pamela Miller:

"I feel that creating art is a way of sharing your soul with others. As you will see in my artwork: sometimes I am very flamboyant and always colorful, sometimes confidant and peaceful, other times angry or chaotic. I think all of my emotions; passions come out in my works. Sometimes I layer it on thick (paint and words) and other times I flirt with the canvas with light feathery strokes. My art reflects my beliefs in love, warmth, generosity, loyalty, and honesty. I’m inspired by science, fantasy, martial arts, architecture, and nature (especially water)."

Red Tulips by P. Miller

Pamela Miller is the Etsy shop owner of Allyon67 who operates out of Maryland.



Medusa by P. Miller














Saki Sun by P. Miller


Art by Pamela Miller can be found at:

http://allyon67.etsy.com/
http://pmillerabstractart.blogspot.com/

Aromatic Body Oils

Today's feature is Aromatic Body Oils also known as Zaja Natural Body Confections. Zaja is an anagram for Zestfully Ambrosial - Joyfully Aromatic, Owner, Zaidat (which means born into wealth, beauty, intelligence and prosperity) lives in the Cleveland area, where she is a graduate student. All of that hard work and education should certainly boost the prosperity quotient.

Here is a shop with answers to aid common skin problems such as psoriasis, exzema, acne, sensitive skin etc., with which many people have or have had at least, temporary issues. I have loved reading about Fitoderm Squalane, because it seems like a wonderful ingredient to put into a skin-care product. Click on the picture at right to go and read for yourself. The product is Dead Sea Mud Scrub - Skin Clarifying Charcoal Soap- and Fitoderm Squalane Pack all in one.

And here is another product, Neem Balm Neem Balm Topical Skin Treatment , that aims to help those with Acne, Psoriasis, Eczema, Itchy Skin and Other Skin Ailments.

In addition there are soaps made from unrefined Shea butter, deodorants, whipped body souffles, foaming whipped body washes. . . Oh, it all sounds like yummy pampering to me.

At right is a sugar scrub containing cocoa and shea butter to use to finish off your bath routine and make your skin feel soft enough so that you won't even need lotion. Sounds amazing! Where can I get some? Oh, right here:

http://aromaticbodyoils.etsy.com/

http://www.zaidat.com/blog

Tony Couch Workshop In Estero

I am just back from the most wonderful and educational workshop that was held in Estero, Florida. Estero is just south of Fort Myers and north of Bonita Springs on the west coast.

We had a most enjoyable week of watching Tony Couch demonstrate his immeasurable talent doing a demo every morning. In the afternoons, we had to put the pedal to the metal and attempt to put into practice the jewels we had heard about each morning. Needless to say, there were many failed attempts to produce successes, but the learning opportunity was simply fantastic. I will be working to master what I have learned for some time.

DAMdesigns

DAMdesigns gets its name from the actual initials of its owner, Danelle.

This is Danelle's newest creation with her art work. She says, "It is a journal hand cut and put together by me, and each one features a cover of my art. Inside the back cover is a small stamp of my shop name and website. The journal measures 3.5" x 5" (8.9 cm x 12.7) and contains between 56 and 60 blank white pages (I lost count when I made the first batches). Since they are blank you could sketch or write in it. Please don't throw around the journal as it is made sturdy enough for only normal wear and is set up where you can peel out the pages if you want. Attached is a decorative ribbon to be used as a bookmark. All the papers inside the journal are also hand cut by me from larger blank paper so they will not be all perfectly even but have a roughness to the edge which ads to the appeal."

Danelle says that she has always been creative since she was little and loved doing things arts and crafty. She relates that her 5th grade teacher was the one who really got her into art "because he incorporated art into everything, and we were always creating. I remember there was this one boy who was super good at drawing and we had contests in our class where 6th graders would come and pick their favs and someone would win first second and thirsd, the whole year he was always first and I was always second except this one time when I finally beat him and I was so proud."

This is an original painting by Danelle, who also draws and uses pencil , paint, ink, marker and sometimes a combination of media to create her unique designs. Keep checking her Etsy site and blog to keep up with what she's doing.

http://www.damdesigns.etsy.com

http://www.damdesigns.blogspot.com http://www.myspace.com/damdesigns

Purple Snowpeas

Kathryn Short, the force behind Purple Snowpeas, is a photographer and all-around artist. She attended the Maryland Institute College of Art where she was a photography major. Kathryn now teaches art and photography at the high school level.

Kathryn loves to knit and crochet, take photographs while walking outdoors, craft small books for collecting thoughts, and anything else that keeps her hands busy.

She is super busy right now gearing up for the Savage Snowdrop Art and Craft Fair at the Carroll Baldwin Hall Saturday, February 16th. For all of you in the Baltimore/DC area, it runs from 9am -3pm. Kathryn says she will have more items listed in her Etsy shop after the craft fair. She is focusing on her hats after which she creates wristwarmers to match the hats. She also knits scarves to fit the season. The cute hat shown above is the Hand Knit Hat with I-Cord Loops, in Turquoise.

These Pink striped wristwarmers will keep your wrists and palms warm while your fingers are free to get things done!

-chilly office?

-cold steering wheel?

-jacket sleeves are a tad too short?

-need an accessory to go with that cute 3-quarter sleeve top?

I would be remiss if I did not include one of Kathryn's lovely photographs which depicts why she needs to knit warm hats and wristwarmers. Makes me want to go for a walk in these woods. It is entitled Wandering In The Woods.

You may find Purple Snowpeas here:

http://purplesnowpeas.etsy.com/
http://purple-snowpeas-shop.blogspot.com/

Regal Beads - Seed Beads with Elegance

Soapbox :
James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

"My husband came up with my shop name-wonderful man that he is!! I was sitting staring at all kinds of bead related words trying to come up with something and it just came to him!"

Passion (shown above)

"Get a second glance this Valentines by donning this stunning piece of Russian art! A LOT of time and love went into this quality piece (this pattern takes 5-9 hours to make)!! It was woven with a needle and thread and thousands of tiny beads by hand (my hands ;) )."

These last two quotes come from the owner of Regal Beads who is from Canada.



Russian Royalty (at right)

Green Elegance (shown at left)

Visit Regal Beads:






http://regalbeads.etsy.com/
http://regalbeads.blogspot.com/

Deabus Amor

OK, I've been curious about the meaning of this shop name since I first started seeing it. So, Good Marketing to you! Sheika Lugtu says, "Roughly translated, Deabus Amor means 'Goddess of Love' in Latin. Though I am by no means a deity, I believe in sharing love and good-will through each item I create."

The bracelet on the right is made from polymer clay beads made to resemble fingerprints (as well as some translucent blood-red beads in between) and is named Smooth Criminal. Pretty funny, I think???

Sheika states, "Everything in my shop is handmade with the exception of prints. The paintings and photographs are original by me but I send a .pdf file to my printer for the prints."

Purple Tako Heart Sugar (at left)
"A strange name for a strange pendant, this purple endeavor features a crackled coil, bubbles and spotted swirls. Perfect for that indie/kitschy/
geeky fashionista in your life who would be delighted by a unique crowd-stopper."

She says she is friendly, and a little too loud, sometimes hyper and mostly crazy. Sounds like the definition of a fairly regular artist to me.


You will find Deabus Amor in these locations:









http://Deabusamor.etsy.com
http://omgcow.blogspot.com/