Artist Spotlight: Part One Hundred and Five

You've met lapidary John Rasmussen here before, but there's always room to show you some of the new creations in Rasmussen Gems, the shop where he and his bead-maven of a wife sell their wares.

I've always had an affinity for blue topaz... my favorite color's blue, so that's easily explained.

It's probably why I'm drawn to this necklace & earrings set too.  Then again, I do love ruby, my birthstone, and I've never seen ruby with green in it before!

Ah, who'm I kidding.  I just like color.  Lots of color.

Or not much color, for that matter.  I've got a thing for plain ol' copper.  Though I'm not sure I'd call this copper pendant "plain."

Want more?  Check out the shop or blog.

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 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.