“Little House” Collage

I posted earlier about my class with Claudine Hellmuth. I learned a lot from her about resist techniques. All the parts for this collage are finally put together! It’s a Little House!

I really love how this turned out. At first I was doubtful that I had cut all the parts correctly and it wasn’t going to come together. But it did! It involved hammering in about 50 silver eyelets. That was actually more fun that I thought it would be. Guess I had a little aggression to get out! Ha!

On the house at the top and the “M” I got a chance to buy and use Tim Holtz’s Distress Crackle Paints. They are amazing! It crackles as the paint dries in a lovely porcelain way. Really nice product! No more waiting for double or triple step processes to get crackle! Now I’m going to have to buy more colors! Can you tell I like it by the number of exclamation points I use?!

The bird image is printed directly through my ink jet printer onto the Sticky Back Canvas! I love that about this canvas. So many possibilities!

I told my niece that we would make a Saturday Play Date and make one of these together. I think she would like to learn about how I make things since she says she wants to be an artist like me. I want to encourage that as much as possible. She’s pretty good at drawing for her age.

Now I have to find a prominent place to hang this in the house. Might have to move something for it. We have a lot of artwork hanging in our house!

click images to see bigger over at flickr

French Woman Artist Trading Card

This is a new Artist Trading Card I made. The background was made using an embossing resist process learned in a class with Claudine Hellmuth. It started out as a variegated tan paper. I stamped with clear ink and clear embossing powder and then heated it to set the powder. Then I washed a light coat of gesso over it. The shiny embossing resists the paint and the paper underneath shows through. It’s really cool!

I added a stamped image of a woman. I’ve been toying with this stamp for a while and wondering what to do with her. Her dress was colored in with colored pencils. I also added some paper lace and vintage buttons. I got the fleur de lis paper punch at the Dollar Store!

I’m playing with the idea of making ACEOs to sell in my shop but I have no idea what to price them. Need to do a little research there.

Featured Artist: Purple Lemon Designs

Kelly Rinehart, of Purple Lemon Designs, is a fellow Etsy Twitter Team member. She creates custom stationery and rubber stamps. Her shop is filled with lovely paper goods for weddings and everyday correspondence. She makes custom address stamps, monogram stamps, and wedding stamps. And you all know I love paper and rubber stamps!

What inspires Kelly: “I am inspired by so many different things. It can be a poster I see walking down the road, an email I receive, or a pretty font. I also am inspired by fabric (for some crazy reason!). My juices just start flowing and then I just start drawing ideas in my sketchbook!”


She wants you to know: “Probably more than anything I love creating a custom piece that is uniquely a customer's own. When I have a customer that is pleased with the final project, that makes me so happy!”

She started her business because: “I was feeling very creatively stifled at work. I desperately needed a good creative outlet. So, I started designing stationery. That quickly led into creating rubber stamps. I love that Etsy gives artists a way to be creative and earn money at the same time!”


Read her blog: purplelemondesigns.com/blog
Follow her on Twitter: @purplelemon

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade purplelemondesigns.etsy.com

Etsy Twitter Team: Shop Of The Week: RoseBush Designs

Beth Wietrzykowski is the guiding light (and hand!) behind RoseBush Designs' beautiful cards, gift bags, journals and accessories. Beth's designs ship internationally as well as in the US, and offer the beauty and individuality of a hand-crafted card for any occasion, something many of us wish for when confronted by racks of mass-produced cards.

"All of what I make is something I would give to someone myself. I cut, stamp, color and put all these together by hand. I do not have any kind of printing machine or mass produce cards (wouldn't it be nice though!). All of my products are available in multiples and I'm happy to do custom orders or change colors if desired. "

A stay-at-home mom to two boys, Beth finds creating an outlet for her inner girl.

"Most of the time, we are playing outside getting sweaty and dirty so being able to play with ribbons and glitter is a nice treat for me.

My inspirations come from anywhere! I get ideas from nature, magazines, friends, anywhere really. I'm still learning every day about new techniques, ways to make my product better, ways to photograph and edit my pictures as well as new crafting products. It's a never ending lesson for me and I think that is what keeps me going and excited about my craft. "

Beth also has great tips for using Twitter as a means of promoting your work:

"I try to engage. I see it as a big room full of people who want to chat. When I see something that is funny, sad, inspirational, odd or whatever, I comment on it. I try to be fun and lighthearted. I don't see twitter as a forum to air my, or anyone else's, dirty laundry. I promote items that I buy, items I want, my fellow twits on the team and my own items. "

Follow Beth on Twitter @RoseBushDesigns
Read More on her Blog: http://rosebushdesigns.blogspot.com/

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade RoseBushDesigns.etsy.com

Reposted from our ETT Co-Leader's original post at: Etsy Twitter Team: Shop Of The Week: RoseBush Designs

Etsy Twitter Team: Shop of the Week: NDN Chick

Leanna Pierre, of NDNChick.etsy.com, has been beading her whole life! She’s a member of the Colville Tribe in Cusick, Washington. Her work also includes greeting cards and bookmarks. Her bead work is intricate and the color choices are well designed. Some of her work is also very playful.

“I bead pretty much what ever I can get my hands on. I have made everything from hair barrettes to a beaded whistle. When I need to give my wrist and fingers a break from all the bead weaving and tacking I also make greeting cards.


When I make an item it's not just an item to me. A piece of myself goes into it while I am creating it. If I am feeling sad or mad I don't create anything, I don't want those feelings transferred to the new owner. Each item I create is special to me and sometimes it's hard for me to let it go.”

I asked Leanna how she got her start in bead weaving: “A lot of my inspiration comes from my mom. She's the one who taught me how to bead and she has stuck by me through everything. When I go through a crafting slump she's there to help me up and give me inspiration to continue making stuff. She's always there offering creative criticism and ideas. (Thanks, Mom!) My crafting dream is to become a great bead artist like her.”

Follow Leanna on Twitter @ndnchick
Read more on her blog at ndn-chick.blogspot.com

Special Offer This Week: Free shipping on all orders including international all week. The shipping prices are already changed so no need to wait for a refund or invoice.

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade ndnchick.etsy.com

All photos copyright to Leanna Pierre/NDN Chick

Reposted from my original post at: Etsy Twitter Team: Shop of the Week: NDN Chick