Handmade Louisiana Pick of the Week

from MATPhotography.

Handmade Louisiana Pick of the Week

Mint Green Bathroom or Kitchen Shelf from A Country Way

Handmade Louisiana pick of the week

from b+c giving tree

3-D Fleur De Lis Ornament

Handmade Louisiana Pick of the Week

Fleur De Lis Fine Art Photography from DPPhotography.

August Craft a Long Voting Time!

It's time to vote!! We took part of the summer off from our Craft a Long challenges, but we're back!!

This month's theme is Southern Living. Please vote in the poll on the side bar with the item you feel best symbolizes Southern Living. Voting ends August 25th! Thanks!!
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Southern Style-Southern Flair from ChloeBoutique

Classy crystal rhinestone Fleur de Lis earrings; so pretty and can be worn with a dressy outfit, or everyday jeans! Show your Southern Living and Louisiana Pride with these sparkly Fleur de Lis!

Cajun Crawfish Handpainted Scarf from SplendiferousFiber

Carry some Cajun flair with you when you wear this 100% silk hand painted scarf. Shades of watery blues and greens set off the metallic scarlet crawdads, hand overprinted with original design crawfish stamps. 10.5 x 59 inches, hand washable in mild soap; please do not soak; air dry.

Fleur de Lis Keychain from Etco
Beautiful verdigris patina brass Fleur De Lis keychain

Fleur De Lis Kitchen set by QuibbyMade

Bag holder and matching dish towels

LSU Inspired Fridge Folder Magnet-Geaux Tigers from CuteLootNFood2Boot

Southern Living means being an LSU tiger fan!! This 4-1/2" x 6" folder has gusseted sides and a magnetic backing. It looks very cool on the fridge or file cabinet, and is the perfect size to hold recipes, coupons, photos . . . better yet, LSU football season tickets!!

Ceramic Fleur De Lis Pendant from Hurricane Pottery

Rosenberg's Glass Tile Necklace from Mama's Little Monkeys

1825 Tuuuuuulane. It's ingrained in our brains in New Orleans!

LSU Coffee/Tea Sleeve by BabyDeary

Use this coffee/tea sleeve to wrap around your drink to enjoy it to the fullest!!

Thanks and get to voting!!! :)

Handmade Louisiana Pick of the Week

from madamesing

Check out more of her beautiful work in her shop.

Craft a Long Winner Is..........

Etco!! Congrats to Etco for her beautiful bayou bracelet! Please check her shop out!

Stay tuned for another Craft A Long next month!

Congratulations New Orleans Saints!!!

Wow! I never thought I'd live to see the day!! This has been an AMAZING year for our Saints and we deserve this Championship like never before!

I could wax on about Hurricane Katrina, rebuilding, our years in shame with bags over our heads....but you know all that. If you live or have lived here, you know about that. You have picked up your neighbor's yard after a storm, you have painted your nails black and gold even in the darkest of years, you have named your dog Payton.....

YOU are the fans, YOU are the reason this is so awesome! We have an unbelievable team, hard working, talented, honorable, and FABULOUS. But what sets the Saints apart from other teams are the FANS. Saints fans are die hards through the good times and the bad.

Saints fans are what helps make these games and this area so special. We are strong, brave and will fight a good fight. (Okay sometimes we might voodoo your butt if you're mean to us...)

Handmade Louisiana is SO PROUD of the New Orleans Saints and all the fans. The NFL tried to take Who Dat and the Fleur De Lis away from us and we fought back! Senators, fans, business owners banded together and FOUGHT BACK!

Who Dat Nation knows no color, no politics, no parish lines, hell no state lines! Who Dat Nation resides in every Saints fan all around the country and world. Who Dat Nation lives on because we FINISH STRONG.

How the hell do you like THAT GAME!!!???

WHO DAT BABY!!

~~amy

Wordless Wednesday..almost

We're going ALL THE WAY BABY! Superbowl here we come!

Chloe Boutique

Member Artisan Profile: Rustic Treasures

Meet Brandy¸ creator and owner of Rustic Treasures. She creates handcrafted furniture, such as benches, coffee tables, shelves, side tables, and so forth. Her favorite material is cedar wood.

Brandy got her start when looking at a garden calendar and noticed a bench in the photography. “I thought, ‘I can build that,’” she explains. She’s been building ever since. Brandy doesn’t use any plans for her Rustic Treasures – “just my good old imagination,” she says. Each item is unique and one of a kind.

She finds inspiration and ideas looking through magazines. “I can always find at least one thing interesting. If it is a color, pattern, style...something always gets my attention,” she says.

Brandy’s favorite part of her work is the process itself: “I enjoy building so much. When I am outside building ... I am happy. I find peace and serenity in each and every piece.”

Her favorite piece so far is the fan back bench (below).

Brandy’s biggest challenges include finding ideas for new items, and learning how to use different tools. On her to-do list is learning to operate a scroll saw.

The busy mother of three (ages 3 to 6), Brandy says, “I feel very blessed to have found something I am passionate about and can make a living doing it to be able to stay at home with my children.”

Brandy was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, and lived there until the age of 12. She returned at 21, and “found the man of my dreams,” she explained. Brandy and her family now live on Lake Bistineau in Doyline, Louisiana.

Her best piece of advice for other sellers is this: “Never stop creating -- even when it doesn't sell. There is something for everyone.” When she first began building items that were very different, someone might say, ‘Nobody is going to want to buy that!’ “They were always my best sellers,” she says.


She sells both online and offline to people in her area. “Almost everyone on my street owns something I built,” Brandy says. She is also ready to put some pieces in a store on Texas Street in Bossier City.

To learn more about Brandy’s Rustic Creations, visit her Etsy shop:
http://www.trueconnection.etsy.com/

Brandy also enjoys painting and photography and has set up a second Etsy shop:
http://www.birdcottage.etsy.com/

Member Artisan Feature--Embellished Bayou

Louisiana life and style is evident throughout Embellished Bayou's lovely shop, run by Christy, a sweet lady with great talent.

A lifelong resident, Christy, attended LSU, lived in New Orleans for 4 years and now resides in Shreveport with her husband and two furbabies. She creates hand painted personalized embellished picture frames and tins, candle embellishments, French memo boards and began creating by making gifts for friends. When she saw items in stores that she knew she could make even better, she knew it was time to sell online!

The lovely soaps in her shop are created by her mother and she has some lovely fleur de lis designs.

Christy loves all the local festivals and also supports local musicians..Cowboy Mouth is her favorite.

You can find more of

her great work on these
links:

The Blog

Facebook

ByHand.Me

Twitter

Thank you for supporting Louisiana artists!