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Inspiration corner

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ARTARTART

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Articles Featured artists 9.

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In every issue

June’s pics

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94.IDEAS SUBMISSIONS

ADVERTISING

COPYRIGHT

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By BobbiLewin

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Candidate

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Handmade bags Can be a temptation fairly needed! ... And these are gorgeous!

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“ For me personally, I always draw the same conclusion: I'm doing

what I love; nothing else will do! Realistically speaking, I know that

not everyone has the luxury of making a living doing something that

they love. I count my blessings, daily!”

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By diohej

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“Also, never underestimate the power of “Word of Mouth” – offering

good service and quality product goes a long way; people talk!”

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I will then check my ‘to do’ list, which I faithfully prepare every night before

bed for the following day), and complete the list as methodically as possible -

it can be all too easy to get distracted if this step is skipped. Life is busy!

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By muddymuse

By Muddy Muse

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By azulado

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June’s pics by Filipa Carvalho

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Knitted jewelry by Aliquid

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if you believe in your work, work more and more, better days will come.

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Never give up, if you believe in your work, work more and more,

better days will come.

Handmade is something we do with love and tenderness, where we

put our soul in.

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By Lucie tales

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By

missbabacilou

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By rRradionica

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Tender

Cosy

and

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Soft

scented

and

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Uptightso

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by Kiahdesign

Recycled Paper Jewelry

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Health and beauty Did you know that chamomile and orange blossom are excellent to recover the brightness of your hair?

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Floral art - Floral photography - Tulips - Fine art photography

By

JKphotography

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Because children deserve the

best

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It ’s

party Time

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What’s your style?

Bohemian

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Casual

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dream

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time

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Almost everything inspires me.

When and how did you start doing your craft?

I’ve always done some kind of craft, ever since I can

remember, but polymer clay is a very new medium for

me. I only discovered it about 9 months ago when I

came across a photo album of some polymer clay

jewelry and thought I would try my hand at it just

out of curiosity. I never expected to fall so in love

with it as I have.

How would you describe the

style of your work?

Now that’s a tough one. Unfortunately (or not?) I am

very easily distracted and almost everything inspires

me. I am interested in so many things and would like

to try them all that this of course has to have an

effect on my work. So I guess the best term I could

use is „eclectic”. However, the main themes may be

colors, fun, folk inspired and maybe pieces that

resemble organic creatures.

What do you most like to do in your work?

I love getting lost. I love it when I get completely

engrossed in what I’m doing and forget about

everything else around me. This usually happens when I

have a particular idea in mind that I begin to work on, but then the act of

creation takes control over the whole process and completely new and unplanned

things emerge. At the same time this can be incredibly stressful if I can't let

go of the original idea.

Technically speaking what I enjoy the most is when I imagine what and how I’m

going to make something. I also like texturing my pieces (when I do), or carving

the raw clay. And I absolutely love placing mosaic pieces on the clay, or adding

any other small detail when I know what I’m doing (which is not always the

case).

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What do you like less in your work?

Sanding and buffing the pieces, especially if I have a lot. When I only have one

or two pieces to sand, I love doing it, because I can then immediately see the

end result, but when a whole pile of beads or pieces await me, I just want to

run away, far beyond the clay mountains :D.

How many hours do you work per day?

This is a hobby so I have a „day job”, which means that I hardly ever have time

to do anything clay-related during the week. Sometimes I manage to sneak in a

half hour or so of sanding or maybe color mixing, but that’s rare.

How do you promote your work?

Online mainly, at least for now. I use

Facebook, I launched a blog, I also pin,

use Kaboodle, and of course in Etsy teams.

I have a lot to learn in this area still.

Do you invest a lot of time in online

social media as a way of exposure?

I would say a little too much, and perhaps

not the right way. I’m still learning the

ropes. Someone once told me that it was

all just a waste of time, but I have to

disagree. I think these days it’s online

where it’s at. And yet it’s very easy to

waste time and energy if you do it wrong.

(Or if you are easily distracted, like

me...) You would never guess how much time

really goes into all that online presence.

What advice would you give someone?.....

Never give up unless you have a really strong reason. It is natural

that there are ups and downs. Ride the waves and you’ll get back on

your feet. Also, if you feel very frustrated or are in a creative

rut, it’s best to leave things for a while, even if only for a day

or so, and then come back with a fresh mind. Maybe you will need to

change something (about your design, the design of your shop, the

way you promote yourself, customer service etc.), but maybe you just

need to be patient for things to pick up again after a lull.

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How is a normal day for you when you’re working?

Messy. :D I do a bit of this and a bit of that. And when I’m lucky, I have a

few hours of uninterrupted bliss with one piece I can work on completely

focused. I tend to do things in batches rather then complete and entire

process. One reason for this is the baking part. I don't generally like to bake

only a few things so I tend to wait

until my baking trays fill up. Not

always a good idea though :)

Which of your pieces do you like

best?

I couldn’t choose just one

category. I have particular pieces

that are especially dear to me, for

instance most of my mosaic jewelry

(there’s a category for you! ), or

my large African necklace, or some

of the Cheshire Cat grin necklaces,

but actually the one I like most is

a chunky tribal-African-inspired

necklace I made for a friend of

mine. That was actually my first

piece, and I just love it. It looks

so stone-age, like some finding

from an archeological site :D.

What is your most popular piece?

I don’t know if I am in a position

to answer that, but I think my most

popular pieces are the small bib

necklaces (Cheshire Cat Grin).

What was the feedback that touched you most?

Actually, it came from my brother. He’s not exactly the type who easily hands

our praise („not bad” means really good in his language :D), and I wouldn’t

think he’s particularly interested in jewelry, especially women’s jewelry. But

when he first saw some of the things I’d made he was positively enraptured :D

and very enthusiastic about them. He was the one who actually urged me to sell

them. If it hadn’t been for him, I may never have thought of that myself.

What are your plans for the future of your business?

At the moment I am very happy with things as they stand. I have just enough

sales to keep me going and make my work feel appreciated, but not so many that

I can't keep up. However, I’m full of ideas, and that will lead to many more

pieces which will slowly fill up my living room. :D I'm not dreaming about

doing this full time, because I love teaching too much, but if I could do both

full time (in a paralel universe maybe) I would definitely do it.

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What does handmade mean to you?

To me it means that the person who creates something has a piece of themselves in

the item, be it one of many, something created following a pattern, or something

that is absolutely unique. To me it means that there is a personal touch, both

literally and metaphorically. These pieces have individuality, they have a

history and carry within them the unique characteristics of their maker. I think

a handmade item is filled with the emotions that contributed to its creation,

care, tenderness, attention, pride, happiness over being able to create

something, frustration, suffering, or even boredom.

Can you give us an example of two handmade shops that you love…?

How could I choose just two? There are so many I like and for different reasons.

But if I must choose, okay, I really like BooandBoo Factory http://www.etsy.com/

shop/BooandBooFactory (Christina Anton - http://www.etsy.com/people/

BooandBooFactory). I just love her items, her colors, and the entire shop is so

cohesive (which mine will never be :D). Another one is Puikeprent (http://

www.etsy.com/shop/puikeprent?ref=seller_info) (Esther van den Berg - http://

www.etsy.com/people/puikeprent) — I love her prints, they’re so funny, and I

absolutely adore the short stories in her listings :). But to be honest, there

are a LOT of shops I just love, because they sell pretty, beautiful or

interesting items, because of the way the entire shop looks, the photography and

all the hard work that’s been put in.

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Blue bowl glass mosaic By SirliMosaic

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By BooandBooFactory

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By puikeprent

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http://www.etsy.com/shop/anonimaMenteSHOP

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Seeing the birth of something from our hands, trying to make it always

better, continually and directly learning from what you do.

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By Ciaffi

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By JessalinBeutler

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in

for more

than a 've been daily

me

by being

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the same day

an

page

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billion p

from to

up

I

ell

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the as many as of a in

She always tells me to

my

to

ho

http://www.etsy.com/shop/lefthandedcraftclub?

ref=ss_profile

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By

lefthandedcraftclub

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The most important thing is to believe in yourelf, in your project, in your intuition. Things

happen and doors open when you have faith. Keep producing and creating. Reduce your

spendings and try to think always positive. Do not listen to people that try to discourage

you. Do not complain but keep your projects for yourself and let them flourish. Never

compare yourself with others, nor compete with them. And try to be patient, there is a

startup period of at least two years.

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Handmade to us is an artisanal process that can be repeated creating an object with a personal

touch; the feelings and emotions of the creator-designer are projected into the handmade item and

we try to give the best of our selves in our creations.

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By

Paulina722

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By

siiso

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By yystudio

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By f

anci

fuld

evic

es

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By

Temi

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iyiamihandbags

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talented

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By FractalWings

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By Korinajewelrry

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ART

WEARABLE

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Orange blossom

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In Blue

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Red flavours

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White and pearly

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By sisicata

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