A Few Fall Cards

Hi everyone. Hope your day is going good. I love this time of the year when Fall is in the air. Autumn begins September 22nd. What a beautiful time of the year. The leaves are beginning to turn their lovely colors. As if God took a paint brush and went wild with all the colors of the universe. He is an Artist!!!

So today I am going to show you a few cards I have made for the fall season and will be adding to my Etsy store. In the above picture is a card I made yesterday. I finally found a leaf punch. Crinkling the leaves, I then inked them with green, yellow, red and brown ink then sprayed pearl mist on them. It was a very fun technique and I am looking forward to making a few more cards like this. This card will sell for $3 + shipping. The inside of the card says "Simply Enjoy it all" and was added to my Etsy store today.

These cards were made last fall. I am not sure I added them to my Etsy Store then, but now they will be. This will be set of 4 cards for $8 + shipping. I used a pumpkin embossing folder, sanded it down then inked it. Then covered it with vellum that was stamped with leaves and the words "Autumn Leaves" Then embellished with wooden leaves and stamped leaves and a ribbon running down the side. The inside of these cards say "Bushels of blessing" with leaves and pumpkins stamped. One card is blank.

These cute little scarecrows will be added to my Etsy store in the next week or so.  These 2 cards measure 6.25 " tall X 4.65" wide and will sell for $5.00 + shipping for the two. The scarecrow is stamped then colored in with pens and covered with a glaze, then layered a couple of times with cardstock. A pumpkin is added on the corner and glazed also. The inside of one card is blank and the other says "Have a bountiful Harvest" with leaves stamped.

These cards are stamped with leaves then dabbed with brown ink and embellished with ribbon and shiny leaves. The inside of the cards each say "Fall is when nature turns to Gold" The cards will sell for $8 + shipping. All my cards come with an envelope and clear plastic sleeve for protection.

This is a set of 4 scarecrows for $8 + shipping. Each card is colored a little bit different and the measurements of these cards are 5.50" tall X 4.25" wide. You will probably see them in my Etsy store in the next week or so. The inside of each card is stamped with "Have a Bountiful Harvest"

So there you have it, just a few cards that I have worked on and am working on now. I have a few house mouse stamps that I want to work with and add to my store....then on to Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am not much into Halloween cards so you won't be seeing those on my blog any time soon.

You all have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption draws nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

Friday Funday and Part 3 of Elena and Her Works of Art

Today I am going to show off some more of Elena's works of art from her Etsy Store. If you would like to visit her Etsy store and maybe even buy something from her store go to: http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShopGift?ref=si_shop. Hope you have enjoyed this featured interview with Elena on my blog, sure was alot of fun to do. The above picture is a white tatted doily.

The above picture here are some lovely tatted book marks. Below is a beautiful tatted red box.
In the next picture below is a beautiful tatted white collar.

In this picture below a lovely tatted table runner........so pretty!

Last, but not least a lovely tatted floral runner, must have taken many, many hours to make this one.
So there you have it..........hope you enjoyed looking at Elena's tatting projects, all of them are so very pretty. Each piece worthy of a royal place in someone's home. Keepsakes to hand down to the next generation. One of my favorite things to do, is going to antique stores.....I always check out the doilies, and just looking at all the lovely stitches of each handmade doily. Wondering, who was this woman or even child that made this, what was her life like, when and where did she live........you know, questions that probably will never be answered.

In this interview, I was honored to introduce you to Elena Kozinenro from Crimea, Ukraine. If you ever run across some of her works of art, at least you can say..........."oh, I know who made this" and you won't have to wonder because you read about Elena here.

Have a great day and keep looking up for your redemption drawth nigh.
Cheers ~ Louise

Ukranian Easter Eggs and a Featured Etsy Artist

In this blog I am going to talk a little bit about my Step-Grandmother and her Ukranian Easter Egg. Plus an interview with a real Ukranian Pysanky Egg Artist. But first, let me show you my Step-Grandmother's Ukranian Egg I inherited from her. I was always intrigued by my step-grandmother's egg collection, as you see, I ended up with the prettiest one. The other grandchildren got the other eggs. But mine sits in its royal spot in the china cabinet along with her tea-cups and an array of other antiques. That is probably another blog story in the future.

Grams held on to alot of her traditions, especially when it came to cooking. I will always remember the big dinners she made for all the family. A big platter of Kubasa, shaved horsradish and eggs. Big bowls of houbah (translation=mushroom gravey [wild mushrooms from the woods]). Pedihare (potatoe and sourkraut dumplings) meat, vegies and desserts galore. And her wonderful Babka (raisin egg bread that she baked in coffee cans) There was always enough food to feed an army and we never went home empty handed. Those were the days of good eaten!!!!!!And Good Food!!!!!

Now I would like to introduce you to Gail, a Ukranian Egg Artist, which I have met on Etsy. Because I like Ukranian Eggs and being it is Easter, one day I typed in Ukranian Eggs and her store came up. I asked her if she would like to be interviewed in my blog and she said yes. So, here we go.............first of all let me start by showing you some of her work. This is probably my favorite egg.......I like purple.

Now on to my interview with Gail.

1. Tell us a little about yourself and how you got started on Etsy? I am the proud Mom of three young men, two of whom serve in the United States Navy, and one who is working toward a college degree. I have been married to the same wonderful man for 34 years. We have a spoiled labradoodle named Toby who is the best dog we have ever had, hands down...he is a joy. I work full time as the supervisor of Microbiology at an 850 bed hospital in Detroit, Michigan. Although I enjoy my challenging job, my passion is my artwork. And, I am fairly new to Etsy, but I am finding it a wonderful experience. I had been selling on eBay for years, but the fees were getting too outrageous…so I was looking for another way to market my wares. My niece, who has a degree in marketing, said to me one day, “You need to be on Facebook, and Etsy, and link them.” Truer words have never been spoken. So, I got on Facebook and set up an account and then onto Etsy and surprise! It works! I got my first order after a couple of days on Etsy.

2. When and how did you become interested in making Pysanky eggs? I am a home grown pysanky maker! I am Ukrainian by heritage. My grandmother and grandfather were both Ukrainian and immigrated to the United States in the early 1900’s. Grandma came from Ternopil and Grandpa from Lviv. When they met each other here in the states, my grandmother was saddened by the lack of tools available to create pysanky. She was using a wooden stick dipped in melted beeswax and dipping it on eggs to create very basic patterns. She made her own dyes from vegetables, flowers, and ash. Then grandpa got involved and whittled some small twigs into handles for kistka. He added a small metal tube to the end and tied it all together with twine and tar. Grandma was in business! She created her own pysanky and, of course, taught my mother. I would watch them create pysanky at Easter, enthralled at a young age. But then, I was only allowed to watch. Finally, at about 8 years old, they perched me on a stool next to the melted pot of beeswax and handed me an egg and my first homemade kistka. I don’t remember much about that first pattern other than I was caught; hook, line and sinker. Seeing my attraction, my mom began purchasing products from Surma in New York and then from the Ukrainian Gift Shop in Minnesota. In those days, we only made eggs during Lent, so I would wait anxiously after Christmas for the beginning of Lent. To this day, Lent, which is usually everyone’s least favorite time of the Christian calendar is my absolute favorite time of the year, because it reminds me of the early days when I would enjoy pysanka making.

3. What is your inspiration for each egg and where do you get the ideas? I look at a lot of traditional patterns and am inspired by good geometric design. I love the way angles and squares can fit together to make stars…I probably would like quilt making as well. But I am also inspired by fabric, mosaics, Persian rugs, oriental plates, and, of course, quilts! Colors are a big factor in my work and because of the “batik” way pysanky are made, color can be a challenge. Because the “canvas” is a “natural product” (I guess the chickens would laugh at that one) it doesn’t always conform to your wishes. Colors don’t always dye the color you want. I have learned to be flexible. When I was younger, if the egg didn’t look like I thought it should look, I looked at it as a failure. I never sold them because they were not perfect (in my mind’s eye, anyway). Nowadays, I see the beauty in those eggs. Now, if something isn’t coming out the way I had planned it, well…all the better! Some of the best work I have done is because nature took the reins out of my hands. I am so glad I kept all those “ruined” eggs!

4. How many hours do you spend on each egg? I can do a simple egg in ½ hour. An ostrich egg can take up to 20 hours.

5. How did you feel when you sold your first egg on Etsy? Like a million bucks. To think that someone would pay real money for something I created…I am humbled, honored, and grateful. And....I am an artist. Wow. How cool is that?

To be continued............. Check out Gail's Etsy store at: http://goldeneggpysanky.etsy.com

Have a great day

~Louise~

~~~Facebook~~~

Well, as you can see I am on Facebook. It has been really amazing to me to find so many people that I know and have known. I shall have to look for a few more people, never know who I may run across. Still learning the ropes on facebook. Tonight I just figured out how to make the badge/button. NOW if I could figure out how to make badge/buttons from other blogs and bring them to my blog and visa versa. Got Etsy onto my Facebook page, now if I could just figure out how to get Etsy on my blog. As you can see I have much to occupy my time.

Don't you just love this barn???? My friend Kandie in Indiana took the picture of this barn, I love old barns and I believe this barn was found in Wisconsin someplace. You can go to http://www.khixkrafts.blogspot.com/ and find her other lovely pictures and many ideas for cards and other treasures.

Some day I will have to take a picture of the barn I painted back in 1971..........a real painting in acrylics.............I wanted to be an artist........well, I wanted to be alot of things, but somethings just did not pan out......like gold I guess, am still panning away. Anyways shall have to figure out what I shall do with this barn, once I print it out. Any suggestions?

Well, you have a great day.

Jewelry by Jozie

Just thought you might like to check out Jozie an artist from Etsy. She featured one of my cards in her blog on Saturday, January 31st.........so thought I would feature her here in my blog. If I can figure out how to get a picture of her jewelry here, I will add a few of her pieces in this blog.

Hold on.........get ready for the ride. Not exactly sure how to get a picture here......but here is the address to go to her store. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19623526

Hey, gonna close here for now, been a long day and I am getting tired.

Blessings to one and all.
Louise

Here is my newest treasury...............

Here is my newest treasury, got it about 12:30am (yawn) was getting kind of tired and JP was not home yet from work and still had to feed him. But I got it done and just had to add my comments. Now I am contacting the artist to let them know they are in my treasury.

This may be the last one for awhile.......the newness has worn off.......have not gotten any sales because of doing a treasury..................soooooo......this may be the last one at least for this month. Maybe I will try one a month or something...........I'll see.

Well I am going to cut this blog short, it seems my computer is doing alot of hipcupping, seems to want to type then not. (so what is new in computer land)

So you have a great day and..................
Enjoy,
Louise

Getting Ready for a Craft Fair in October

Hi Everyone...................

Well I am gearing up for a craft sale in October. Going to be working with 3 other (possibly more) area artists. We'll have a canopy with tables set up with our crafts. That should be fun.

• I will have sets of 4 cards, selling @ $10 a piece. I am looking at getting at least 10 -15 packs of 4 cards done. That would be about $150.00. I will have to see if I can put some other packs of cards together also.
• I might add earrings to this, maybe single cards with a pair of earrings attached all color coordinated..........mmmmmmmm.......have to think on that one for awhile.
• Chrissy is going to do watercolor paintings.
• There may be a couple of other ladies with jewelery and such.

The total cost for this is $40 so if we chip in $10 a piece that should work. My Etsy store is not making any money...........I really need to go in another direction.........time is running out for me, we are slowly going broke what with the price of things now adays, I really need to find an avenue that will make me alittle bit of money. Plus do something that I enjoy. Goodness if I could make money sitting at this computer...........I would be rich!!!!!!

As soon as I get some cards done I will be adding them to this blog, the ones that I will be selling at the craft fair........I will also be adding to Etsy also..........hopefully they will be something people will like to have on had. Well I am going to close this blog for today.......you all have a great day in the Lord.

Louise