Mis 2 Manos: Made by My Hands: August 2012

Friday, August 31, 2012

Featured Craft artist of the Week: BlackWillowSoaps

The Featured Artist of the Week is Natalee W. from BlackWillowSoaps. In her spear time she creates handmade soaps, bath salts, candles, and other items. Let’s learn more about Natalee! For your reader BlackWillowSoaps Shop will be offering a 10% off everything in my etsy shop with a coupon code that fallows. Read on to find out more!!!

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

1.What would you like us to know about you?
I am a twenty-nine year old married woman with a twelve year old stepdaughter. I was born and raised in Indiana, but have resided in Florida for the past 13 years. I have an Associates and Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice and a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology. I am a disabled Army Veteran. I have been involved in the arts since I was a little girl.

2.When did you discover Etsy?
I discovered Etsy in 2007 and attempted to sell some of my artwork. I didn’t devote as much time as I should have to my shop and was not successful. I started Black Willow Soaps last January.

3.What prompted you to open an Etsy Shop?
My mother and her friend, Kurt, had been talking about selling handcrafted items at craft shows in our area. They asked me to join them and bring my soaps and candles. So, I made a bunch of soaps to go to the craft fair. Unfortunately, it never panned out and I was left with all of these soaps. Christmas had just passed, so I couldn’t really gift the items. I had sold on Etsy before with just original artwork and really couldn’t get it to work out. But, I figured why not try it again with my new products. So far, it has been a wonderful journey.

4.What do you sell?
My shop is definitely versatile. I sell a variety of handmade things from handmade, natural soap, to homemade fudge, to original artwork, to handpoured scented candles.

5.How did you come up with your shop name?
My husband and I bought our first house this past May and one of the things that I really, really wanted to plant in my yard was a Black Willow Tree. Unfortunately for me, I don’t live in the Everglades and a willow tree would not survive in my back yard. So, I thought that I would use Black Willow in my shop title so that everyday I could see the Black Willow in my items, even if it wasn’t growing in my backyard.
6.How would you describe your shop?
My shop is warm and inviting. The items are very vibrant and creative. I think that my shop creates a great atmosphere through the photographs of my work in addition to the products that can be found within it.

Featured Craft artist of the Week: DonnasEarthlyDelites

This week I would like to welcome Donna from DonnasEarthlyDelites. Her shop is full of wonderful handmade jewelry which she creates herself. She is currently running a "Christmas in July" sale in my Etsy shop. So read on and find out how you can get your Christmas shopping done early!

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

1. My "day" job is as the owner and operator of a dog boarding kennel which my husband and I have at our home, though we both started out in a very technical field. I have a strong background in science, but have always needed a creative outlet as well (crochet, knitting, drawing, painting), and jewelry making has become my most recent creative passion.

2. I discovered Etsy in 2010, I don't recall exactly, but I probably read about it somewhere online.

3. After making as much jewelry as one person could reasonably wear for myself, then moving on to my family and friends, I decided to try to bring my creations to a wider audience so that I could keep creating new pieces without having to rent space to store it all!

4. I sell handmade jewelry which is focused on the use of natural, undyed gemstone beads.

5. I've always loved the phrase "garden of earthly delites", and since I prefer to use natural gemstones from the earth in my jewelry, I wanted to call my shop Earthly Delights--but that name was already taken on Etsy! So I had to modify it so it would be unique and still fit the character limit, so I became Donna's Earthly Delites.

6. My shop specializes in quality handmade jewelry created using natural undyed gemstone beads.

Reborn Baby Doll Newborn ready for adpotion

This is Sage. She is 19" long newborn baby. She weighs 1 pound and 10 ounces. She'll put a smile on your face when you carry her.

She was born August 26. 2012 and is now ready for adoption. She has been hand painted using many layers of Luminaire Paint and sealer. She is a vinyl doll. She has light brown hand painted hair that has also been sealed. I added a clear gloss to give her mouth a wet look that I think is precious looking.

When you adopt Sage, she will arrive in her custom dress and bloomers. I hand knit and crochet the outfit and hat just for her. She is One Of A Kind!

She will also come with her personalized Birth certificate.

Sage is a reborn baby girl that started out as a Bundle of Love Doll. I bought brand new and I stripped her and painted her. I also added the lashes.

Reborn Baby Dolls Preemie Baby Ready for Adoption

This summer I decided to try my hand at reborning. I had some dolls that I had purchased a few years ago that I planned to redo. I finally got around to it! It was fun to work with paint!

I felt like a makeup artist!

Here are few pics. of Cutie. She is a Preemie Baby. She is only 13 inches long and weighs 1 pound 1 once.