Artist Spotlight: Part One Hundred and Four

We're back to the spotlights!  To start this round, I'm bringing back a few oldies, but definitely goodies.  First, I should mention HandmadeArtists.com, a selling venue that's 100% handmade and always will be.  I love that.  I also love that it'll always be smaller than some of the other selling venues, and pickier.

A stellar example of one of the shops on HandmadeArtists is Chainmaille by MBOI, the shop of Andrew, one of HandmadeArtists' administrators.  I'm completely obsessed with his chainmaille.

Another is the shop of Andrew's wife and the other administrator, Kimberly.  That one is Makin' the Best of It.  Among other talents, like book art and hand painting glass, Kimberly is a beautiful jewelry artist, primarily using sea glass.  I'm kind of obsessed with her work too.

Who wouldn't be?

Artist Spotlight: Part One Hundred and Two & One Hundred and Three

First, someone you've met before, Kimberly of Makin' the Best of It.

You know I love her sea glass jewelry.

 

And her hand  painted glassware.

And her altered book art.  These are all available in her Handmade Artists Shop.

But have I mentioned what she does with wedding invitations?

It's gorgeous!  She'll take your invitation, mat it, and paint flowers to go with it.  You can even tell her what your wedding flowers were so she can paint to order.

And apropos of the day, she also makes pretty ornaments, like this sea glass angel.

On top of her many talents, she runs It's Better Handmade, a terrific forum for all handmade artists of any sort.  You don't need to have a shop at HandMadeArtists.com either.  The idea is to promote all handmade, so no matter where you've got a shop or if you haven't one at all, use It's Better Handmade to show off!

Next up, April of Brooklyn Bead Goddess!

April's got a Handmade Artists shop and an Etsy shop, in which you can find all sorts of amazing lampwork jewelry.

She makes each gorgeous bead herself, and if you're a jewelry artist you'll be happy to know that she also sells separate beads for you to use in your own creations.

Not so into jewelry?  That's OK, April also uses her amazing talents for magnets, keychains and purse charms, swizzle sticks, and my favorite - bottle stoppers.

Want to know more about her?  Check the blog!

Artist Spotlight: Part Seventy-One

I know I've told you about the Handmade Artists' Shop and Handmade Artists' Forum before, but today I want to talk to you about one of the driving forces behind those related entities.

Kimberly Kitchen, owner and artist at Makin' the Best of It, has worked tirelessly with her husband, Andrew, owner and artist at Chainmaille by MBOI to support and promote the handmade community from their home in NJ.  Despite an insanely busy life and a couple of kids, plus dogs, Kimberly and Andrew have a serious love of all that is handmade.  Kimberly (and I can definitely relate to this) accuses herself of having "a case of crafter's ADD, a chronic condition which requires boxes and bags of pieces and parts that could be 'something' someday and a ridiculous collection of websites and books on crafts [she wants] to try."  Oh yes, I know that affliction well.

One of her loves, and Andrew's forte, is chainmaille, which led them to seek out a team.

To make communication easier than it was back then on Yahoo, Kimberly and Andrew offered to start their own forum.  Rather than limiting the forum solely to chainmaillers, they opened it up to "anyone that created, loved, sold handmade."  Unlike other venues which tend to stick to proprietary notions, Kimberly and Andrew have always encouraged members to post photos of their work and links to their various shops, blogs, and forums, no matter the host.

Since then, they have done their best to promote any handmade item that hits the Handmade Artists' Forum, through blogging, Twitter, StumbleUpon, Featured Member Ads, Facebook, Google+, and innumerable other venues.

With the hospitality exhibited by Kimberly and Andrew, it's no wonder the HAF membership grew to hundreds of members, fairly quickly.  Because Kimberly and Andrew encourage the HAF members to promote each other as well, numerous visits to the shops of the members was inevitable, as were the resulting sales.

Kimberly, creator of so many different kinds of handmade wares, together with Andrew, attempted shops in various available venues.

But they were dissatisfied.  Not the types to just sit back and settle, Kimberly and Andrew created the Handmade Artists' Shop.  I cannot fathom the research and preparation this undertaking required, but it's come to fruition.

Today?  The forum has nearly 2,500 members!  The shop has grown by leaps and bounds!  And Google searches are turning up products in the HAFshop.  How could they not, with the promotion that Kimberly and Andrew do?

Their whole purpose is to drive the handmade movement forward, and that magnanimous attitude spills over to the other members of HAF, who are quick to support, encourage, instruct, suggest, and assist their fellow artists and artisans.

I've been proud to call myself a member of that community since December 16, 2009, not long after the inception of Reef Botanicals.

Artist Spotlight: Part Fifty-Two

You've met her here before, but she's definitely worth a second look!  I'm talking about Kimberly of Makin' the Best of It!

She's so freakin' talented!  I'm completely in love with her sea glass jewelry.

But check this out.  When she finds pieces of sea glass that are too big for jewelry... she makes angel Christmas ornaments!

How sweet are those?  And they go with any color scheme on any tree.  Too cute.

And yes, I know it's July and hotter'n hell out there.  So you're still thinking about the flowers blooming, I suppose.  OK, then, She's got that covered too, with this beautiful tea light circle set, hand painted with pretty flowers.

I love that she thinks in practical terms, too.  Her glassware and table top service items are really pretty, like this cruet set and these coasters.

I love sunflowers!  Personally, though, I'm thinking I should get one of her awesome butter dishes.  Our set of china is fairly new and they're not making the butter dish yet, so we're dishless in that category.  And this one is so pretty!

The good thing about stuff like this - butter dishes, cruets, coasters - is that they really don't need to match your china.  They can be specialty pieces for that pop of something interesting, colorful, and unique.

What I Bought

Remember this contest on the Handmade Artists Forum, for which I made this puppet?

And how I won the contest?

Well, part of the prize was $25 in cash.  Since it was "found money," I decided to spend it frivolously, and buy something from another HAF member.  It took a while to decide, but finally settled on this awesome bracelet.

It's the creation of Deezie, and it's made from silver, sea glass, beads, vintage buttons, and shells.  As a kid, I was very into collecting shells and anything made from shells, and in fact I still have my entire collection, so this bracelet really called to me.  I got it today!

The details on it are really something else.  She used the most interesting bits of glass, beads, and buttons!

Isn't that great?  You're jealous, I know you're jealous.  There's a lot more in her shop, though.  Check her out!

Artist Spotlight: Part Thirteen

For lucky thirteen, and I really do find thirteens to be lucky, I'm honored to introduce you to the wonderful and talented fellow New Jersey resident Kimberly, of Makin' the Best of It.  Make the best of things, she absolutely does, whether it's a piece of glassware, a bit of plain silver wire, or your own wedding invitation!

Huh? you wonder.  I've confused you, I know.  The problem is, this is another one of those talented artists who makes me jealous by being able to do a zillion different things and do them well.  No joke.

Well then, get to the pictures!  Yeah, yeah, gimme a second, I'm getting to it.  First, the glassware.  Kimberly takes the plain, adds a bit of herself, and makes it beautiful.  Check out, for instance, these gorgeous toasting flutes.

These were custom-painted to match the theme of a wedding, as commissioned by the bride.  Would that I had known Kimberly a year ago!  Coincidentally, today is  my one year wedding anniversary to Eric.  No kidding, it's today!  During our eight-month engagement, I was a member of a wedding planning site and all I heard were brides looking for something new, different, unique, and good for their themes.  What's better than this?!  Not much, unless it's the handpainted, custom-designed wedding invitation memory boxes that Kimberly also does.

Is that not a terrific way to display your wedding invitation?  Is that not a terrific gift for the bride and groom you love?  The invitation doesn't have to be previously embellished either.  Look what she can do with a plainer one.

Not a fan of the flowers?  How about this.

And on that one, she had to work with a design already printed on the invitation and make it still look right!  Not an easy feat, my friends, and she pulled it off wonderfully.

It's not just about weddings, either.  This artist, and I do mean artist, does the most creative things with old books!  Check this out.

Gorgeous.  Gorgeous, I say!  And it's all sculpted from an old book, cut, formed, and then framed.  Want a funkier one?  She can do it!

That, my friends, is not just an altered book (appropriately, A Clockwork Orange), but also an old clock face, and gears and workings from an old clock.  Awesome, just awesome.

Speaking of awesome, I need to step back to the glassware for a second, because that's not all wedding-related either.  Look at this terrific handpainted "Four Seasons" candle cube.

Or what about more casual glassware, like these funky tropical mugs?

Having a backyard BBQ?  Personally, I think these sunflower salt & pepper shakers are a must.

In light of the chilly greyness currently lurking outside my windows, I just love looking at those.  They fool me into thinking it's warm and sunny out there.  It's a lie, I guess, but I like lies like that.  They make me happier.

What about that silver wire you mentioned?  Yeah, yeah, I'm getting to that too.  It's not my fault Kimberly gives me so much to talk about!

So... the silver wire.  Well, that has many incarnations as well, so bear with me.  First, I'll show you what she can do with plain silver wire.

I'm not kidding when I say that this piece had me awestruck.  The one that literally made my mouth hang open, though was one that involved her chainmaille.

The way that pendant just glows with the read center bead had me staring at that photo for several minutes the first time I saw it.  Now that I'm looking at it again, I'm staring again.  I can't help it.

One caged bead not impressing you?  OK, how 'bout a bracelet full of them?

Enough of the maille, how about going back to wire wrapping?  What about these pendants?

Or these more delicate ones?

You can also get the sea glass earrings to go with them.

And then there are these amazing wire wrappings with sea glass, to form birds' nests.

By the way, you're not allowed to buy those!  I think I want at least one of 'em.  So there!  Of course, if you did want to buy them despite my admonition, you could find them and other wonderful things at Kimberly's Handmade Artist's Shop.

Then, there's the chainmaille/wire wrap combo.

What a statement piece that is!  That necklace, a little black dress - or red one, for that matter - and maybe a small pair of silver earrings, and you would get noticed.  That's one of those pieces everyone who comes near you is compelled to comment on.

And now for something completely different, check out this handwoven Swarovski crystal heart pendant.

Basically, when you're looking at Kimberly's work, you're going to be seeing things you can't find anywhere else.  She's got a talent and sense of style so varied and unique, it's just amazing.  Look, even when it comes to Christmas ornaments!

Seriously, I've never seen anything like this.  To learn more about Kimberly, Makin' the Best of It, and the other artists she spotlights and supports, great person that she is, check out her blog.  It's a worthy read.