Handmade Highlights

I've posted some individual ones here before, but they're so fun!  I really love fishing through all the items at the Handmade Artists Shop to create Highlights, and love perhaps even more going through the Highlights others make to window shop... or actually shop.  The cool thing about Highlights is that in the original on the site, each thumbnail takes you back to the item in the shop itself for a closer look!  Check out some of them with me...

I Heart Snowmen

Festival of Lights

Fire and Ice

Artist Spotlight: Parts Eighty-Seven & Eighty-Eight

I have two artists for you this time 'round, both ones you have not met here before.

First, April of Brooklyn Bead Goddess.  As someone who spent some time living in Brooklyn myself, I have an affinity for this chick, can't help it.  Then again, I also have an affinity for her art.

I'm an art glass collector, so lampwork like this just draws and fascinates me.  It did her too; it started when the glass artists along the Coney Island boardwalk intrigued her.

And now, the variety in her work intrigues me!  She makes each bead, and then from those creates her beautiful jewelry.

You can buy her jewelry in her Handmade Artists Shop or her Etsy Shop.

You can follow her blog.

Like her on Facebook

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Or follow her on Twitter.

Don't you want to?

*****

And second only consecutively, here's Sarah of Finding Charm.  Charm is definitely the word for it, too.

A do-it-yourselfer with her own sense of style, Sarah started making jewelry when she couldn't find anything she liked already made to go with her outfits.

She's obviously become an expert since then!

You can find her funky sense of style in her Etsy Shop, Artfire Shop, Zibbet Shop, and Ecrater Shop.

You can like her on Facebook.

And you can follow her blog

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So I Made a Few More

You know me, once I get going I keep going.  And having just one eyeglass case in the shop was silly.  So I made three more!

People were admiring the one I did for myself in black, white, and grey, so I added a similar one to the shop.

And then I went ahead and did one in greens and khakis.  It's a pretty nifty color scheme, if I do say so myself.  This one's in the shop here.

And then I went really girlie with this one, in a pink, red, and aqua floral print with some polka dots thrown in for god measure.

Like 'em?

Artist Spotlight: Part Eighty-Six

This week I've got someone you've never met here before, Pam from A Bead Thing.  Now, I've been hanging out in the handmade world for quite a while; even before starting Reef Botanicals, I was a fan of craft shows, but I've never seen anything like this.  Pam's work is really unique and beautiful.

This great mom and doting grandmother who lives in Florida had the guts to give up her day job as a realtor and get full time into crafting, a pastime she's enjoyed all her life.  She now has a shop at Handmade Artists, where you can see her absolutely gorgeous jewelry.

She's got a style and technique, I've never seen anywhere else, but she's not averse to sharing it, as she teaches jewelry-making classes down in the Daytona Beach area.

She also does home shows within a 50 mile radius of Port Orange, FL.  How much cooler is this than Lia Sophia or Cookie Lee?  I can ID those brands of jewelry from across the room.  But if you're wearing A Bead Thing, you'll be wearing a one-of-a-kind conversation starter!

Interesting thing... I've showcased so many artists here who got started when their parents or grandparents got them involved in creating.  Well, Pam joined the artisan ranks by watching her daughter play around with beads instead!

And personally, I think it's a good thing she did!

Keep up with her on Twitter, Facebook, or her blog.

Is It the Season Already?

Holiday commercials are on TV, holiday movies, showing on Lifetime.  I've been getting Black Friday emails for a while.  So I guess it's time to talk gifts, especially since Chanukah is early this year.

In addition to all the great gifts we've always had available at Reef Botanicals (and remember, if you want to do a custom gift basket, fish around the shop and see what you like then message me so we can make some plans!), there are some new things at Fabric of my Mind you should see, that I haven't shown you yet.

The most luxurious is this 100% cashmere scarf.

It's in a great Irish hiking cable knit pattern.

This blue one you see is one I made for Eric, but I'm offering it as a custom order (which means if you want it for the holidays, order as soon as possible!) in any one of these six colors.

There's also this fluffy soft acrylic blue/green/grey cable knit scarf for a more affordable option.

Or there's a great fluffy soft ribbed scarf in apple green.

That ones makes a great set with these green mittens knitted from the same yarn!

Plus, there's lots more photos if you're into decor as gifts... or to update your house for having guests over.

I suppose I really am 42.

(the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything!)

And I suppose it's reasonable that my eyes, my 20/20 vision of always, my perfect eyesight of yore... would start to fail.  (Sigh.)  I finally dragged my sorry self to the eye doctor for the first eye exam I'd had since I was in 6th grade and they did 'em in school after I couldn't read some small print in a catalogue and had to have someone else read it for me.  Yeah.  Really.

(Sigh.)

It turns out I need reading glasses, though I'm hearing those more experienced than I in the eyeglass-wearing population call them "magnifiers" more than glasses.  The prescription is for +1.5, which I gather isn't all that much.

So once my eyes undilated and I could see again, I dragged my even sorrier self to CVS and bought - count 'em - two pairs of reading glasses, since they were 2/$10 and it made sense to me.  I picked two different styles, since I couldn't decide.  One a thin metal frame in a hematite color, with rectangular lenses (Eric thinks these look better) and the other oval lenses in plastic frames in a classic mottled brown color my mother always called "root beer."  (Most of my friends prefer these.)

And to console myself, I also bought some 75% off Halloween decorations.  Because if you saw my recent Halloween post, you know I need more Halloween decorations.  But then, you can never have too many Halloween decorations.

That was Saturday.

On Sunday, I decided to embrace my reading-glass-wearing self, and realized I'd need to bring them to work with me.  That meant transporting them, and that meant risking damage.  I needed cases!

So I made 'em.

And I matched them up with the two pairs of glasses.

And then, me being me, I made another one for the shop!

I did them narrower so that your narrower style glasses, especially like reading glasses, won't slip out.  There will be more forthcoming, but the one above is made from cotton paw print fabric, cream and black linen solid fabric for the contrast band, cuff, and lining, and a fleece layer between the outer and lining to promote the safety of your glasses.

It's been a while...

... since I talked about the Handmade Artists Forum & Handmade Artists Shop.  It's still going strong, stronger than ever, in fact, so if you haven't checked it out, you really should take a look.  The shop is growing by the day with talented vendors.  If you're serious about supporting handmade, this is a great place to shop, especially now for the holidays.  The place is committed to 100% handmade wares, no mass-produced, no resellers, and they're serious about keeping out the riffraff.

Speaking of the holidays, one of the members made this terrific video to give you a sampling of what you might find if you wanted to start in on your shopping - don't forget, Chanukah is early this year!

And if you're an artisan, crafter, artist, or creator yourself, you really should join and visit the forum.  HAF is committed to promoting all handmade, so whether you sell on HA or any other site doesn't actually matter.  You can find lively discussion, support, a cheering section for your creations, constructive criticism, creating assistance and instruction, and even photos of the members' pets!

You know I'm incapable of leaving you without photos, so here are some of the things recently posted in the forum.

And for good measure, a HAF pet!