Artist Spotlight: Part ONE HUNDRED and One Hundred and One

Holy crow, I've made it to 100 spotlights!  That's a lot of amazing other artists I've introduced you to, you lucky dogs.

Well, this time I've got some more you've never met here before.

First, let me introduce you to Anansa, a venue for handmade artists from around the Middle East.  There are so many different things!

If I was a leather worker, I'd jump on these .pdf patterns.

Or look at these amazing acrylic and oil paintings!  These are just a few of the many, but they really caught my eye.  Or check out the hand painted ostrich egg!

How adorable is this custom wedding cake topper?

And how pretty is this Quran cover?

Children's items like this hand-knitted camel and handmade dollhouse.

And last, but not least, clothing and household items!

You get the idea, I think.  Visit the site, seriously.

And for 101, a new artist to this blog, Highland Princess Designs.

The Highland Princess is a fellow Rennie, which you know I love.  She's been crafting chainmaille jewelry for over a decade, which I find amazing.  The first project she ever attempted was a headdress with a 3' chain net to hold her hair, inspired by one she saw at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival.  It started when her friends took up maille and she figured if they could, she could.  She was right.

That had her hooked, of course, and branching out into other accessories and materials.

She also crochets and has entered the world of costuming.  Although she does work in fabric and fiber, the funniest costume I've seen from her is this chainmaille armor for a stuffed animal!

Adorable, right?  For more, check out her blog.

Blogs I Follow: Find Your Fashionista

A resident of Massachusetts and a wonderful, sweet person, Jackie is also a professional woman who knows how to dress.  Chick's got style!

With a fun and easygoing tone, her blog is a great read and always full of nifty photos.  And she's not just telling us to buy Jimmy Choo shoes and this season's latest runway fashions at full price, ignoring the fact that most of us don't get freebies like the models do and don't have the shoe budget of Imelda Marcos.  (Remember her?)

Instead, she shares the best looks for every body type.  She posts about sales and discount websites so we all can dress like the stars without having their paychecks.  She suggests outfits for specific sorts of occasions.  And she tells you what she's wearing too!

Now, I have my own sense of "style," such as it is.  I have my lounge-around-the-house-and-no-one-should-see-me-in-this wear, I have my ultra casual I'm-having-a-comfy-day wear (like today, because I'm sick and feel crappy, and had stuff to get done anyway, I'm in jeans, an old t-shirt, and a corduroy button down shirt thrown on over the t-shirt for warmth), my going out clothes, my plethora of suits, my work casual clothing (which overlaps with my going out clothes, actually), and my dresses and then formal gowns.  I occasionally get compliments on how I look (not today) and there are days when I can look in the mirror and think, "Hey, I look damned good today!"  So I don't think I'm a candidate for "What Not to Wear," by any stretch of the imagination.

But I'm not brave.  I think I used to be braver.  In high school, and keep in mind this was 1984-88, I'd wear painted t-shirts, belted, with leggings and rocker chick boots.  I had ankle-high booties in metallic gold leather (yes, really) with multicolored rhinestones all over them.  I had calf-high boots in pink and aqua fabric.  I had black canvas hightops with silver sequined appliques, silver glitter gel, and clear rhinestones sewn onto them.  I also had at least one friend who refused to walk down the school halls with me when I was wearing those loud things.

I kind of miss them.

And I kind of miss my less in-the-box ways.  Reading Jackie's blog actually shows me the more out-of-the-box possibilities.  And no, she's not steering anyone toward a pink and aqua color combo or painted, rhinestoned, sequined loudness.  Her style is a lot classier and more grown up than that.  But for instance, she talks about pairing a black pin-striped blazer with a plain black t-shirt.  Huh?  As a suit wearer, jackets, in my head, go with button down shirts or "shell" blouses.  But apparently they don't have to!  And I can tell that what she's saying will look good!  Look for yourself.

There's info on accessories, on menswear, and holy crow on what not to do.  Um.... yeah.

And... and... if you ask her fashion questions, she'll write posts to answer them!

Moral of the story?  Check her out!

Oh, and by the way, although I'm focusing on her fashion blog in this post, she's also got a killer cooking blog!