Artist Spotlight: Part One Hundred and Seven

I could be wrong, but I don't think you've met Monika of MyEuropeanTouch here before.

You'll note that her banner says "mosaic art," but that may be an understatement.  This woman is an artist with a capital ART.

A mosaic artist for 10 years, she's been working with different mediums quite literally all her life.  Mosaic is natural for her, though.  Growing up in Germany shortly after WWII, she watched her parents reuse, recycle, and reinvent.

She's come a long way since post-WWII Germany; her work has been seen on HGTV!  But on to more mosaics!

Would you believe she's completely self-taught?!  It's not just about the mosaics, though, no matter what her banner says.  This chick's got serious talent.  And she's come a long way since her childhood, knitting, crocheting, and sewing clothing for her dolls.

She still experiments with her diverse talents and the many types of art that have been a constant presence in her life.  Even the fine arts, which I love because it's close to my heart too.

Wanna know where else you can find her?  Try her blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and her About Me page.

Artist Spotlight: Part Ninety-Three

This time I'd like you to meet Alix Browning of The Alchemists Vessel.

Her jewelry has a style that just really draws me. partly because she does chainmaille, and we know I just love chainmaille.

This wonderful artist lives in Boise, Idaho, and is a certified jewelry designer.

Bent on helping and promoting other artisans, she's also the owner and operator of Little Shop of Artists, a retail venue for local artists in Boise.

To see more of the wonderful, check out her Handmade Artists' Shop, her Etsy Shop, her Facebook page, or her Pinterest.

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.

Artist Spotlight: Part Eighty-Two

Remember that awesome book I won?  Well, it's time to tell you some more about her, Andrea of Blue Highways.

She lives with her husband and boxer dog in northeast Ohio, and she does book binding and art full time!  An avid reader, she's always loved books, and now she makes some of the most beautiful ones I've ever seen.

She loves working with different fabrics and papers, and all different types of closures.

She also loves to try different binding techniques, each of which is gorgeous.

Heck, even the innards of her books are beautiful.

So why the name Blue Highways?  According to Andrea, old road maps used to have the back roads, those less traveled, printed in blue.  Those are the roads preferred by her.

Since she also encourages customers to contact her for custom items, working with them on size, fabric, binding, page count, type of paper, and more, be sure to check out her blog for ideas.

Highlighting Other Artists

The Handmade Artists Forum has a series of ongoing contests, "hosted" by various members, a different one each week.  The challenge is to create a Highlight according to a given theme, and then get the most comments on that Highlight.

I hosted one where the theme was "cliche sayings," and the winner got 2 bars of Reef Botanicals soap & a lip balm.

The one running now is "If you could be anything, what would it be?"  So... watching our 3 cats living a life of luxury, with down comforters to squish, beds to nap on, food to eat, warmth to gather, fish to watch, and humans to be petted by, I figure if I could be anything other than human, I'd want to be one of our cats.

I therefore present to you, "Oh, to be a cat!"

Now, of course I'd love it if you went to the Highlight to comment on it and help me win, but I'd also love it if you went just to get a closer look at the items I featured and check out the other wares by their creators!

So there's this chick...

Andrea, from northeastern Ohio.  I met her at the Handmade Artists Forum, which I've written about here several times.  Andrea herself is an amazingly talented bookbinder who has a shop, Blue Highways.

I've been coveting her hand bound books for quite a while now, and I finally own one!  She was creative and generous enough to start a contest at HAF, involving the Handmade Highlights, with one of her own books as the prize!  I created a Highlight based on my favorite song, Castle Walls by Styx, and had the most commenters, so I won my choice of one of her gorgeous mini journals.

I got it on Saturday and was so enamoured with it that I had to share.  First, her packaging is terrific; each book is wrapped in vintage newspaper with twine.  The newspaper around my book was from 1963 and very interesting to read.

Also included with the book was a pretty notecard with a message to me and a book thong, also made by Andrea.  It was blue cord with blue glass beads, my favorite color!  I knew that Andrea included a complimentary book thong with every book she sold, but had no idea I'd be getting one with a book I'd won.  I thought that was just really sweet.

Once I unwrapped the book, I got to see the fabric I'd chosen in person, these awesome batik sea turtles, of course in blue.

The book's closure is a blue ribbon with dark blue beads on the ends.  The flyleaf is fun and also sea-themed, with pictures of urchins and shells.

The binding, though, is what boggles my mind the most.  The book is hand-threaded in this lovely pattern of thread, that I think is the most beautiful thing.

The care and expertise she puts into these books is evident from front to back.  I'm so glad I got it, and know I'll be buying more in the future.

Artist Spotlight: Part Seventy-Eight

You've met this very talented artist here before.

Although Janelle is no longer with us and able to create, her shop remains open, with the proceeds going to help her estate and family.  It's really worth taking a look, as her talent lives on.  Don't take my word for it, though.

Have a look.

Another Look at the Handmade Artists Forum

So many things have been happening, and HAF has been growing so much, that I had to update.

The Handmade Artists Forum caters to and is committed to the promotion of handmade in all forms and in all venues around the world.  I've never met such a group of helpful, hopeful, wonderful artisans, all in one place.  Seriously.... business suggestions, product how-tos, honest but diplomatic critiques, and a general cheering section.  What's better than that?

Since the opening of a shopping venue, the Handmade Artists Shop, where you can find both Reef Botanicals as well as Fabric of my Mind, the number of of shops in Handmade Artists has grown immensely!  The variety is impressive, so be sure to stop by and check out what's there now.

Besides that, though, they continue to promote and support all handmade venues.

And news!  To better fulfill their mission to promote handmade everywhere, HAF has recently acquired It's Better Handmade!  The website, Facebook page, Twitter, Pinterest, and more!

We're all very excited about this, so come pop in and see what it's all about!