July Craft A Long Voting Time!

July's Theme is American Pride. Which item(s) do you feel best captures that theme?
You may vote for more than one item but can only vote once per IP Address.

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Entry One:
USA Pride Earrings by ChloeBoutique
Show your support for the Red, White and Blue with these patriotic earrings! Earrings were created using polymer clay beads in shimmery red, white and blue. Each bead is complimented with sterling silver twisted spacers and coordinating Swarovski crystals in light siam, crystal and satin sapphire.

Entry Two:
American Flag Badge Reel ID Holder by Badge Reels

Entry Three:
American Earrings by Etco
Two “one cent” coins from United States of America are combined with Swarovski Crystals and Solid Copper

Entry Four:
July Fourth Fabric Wreath by Mama's Little Monkeys
Fabulous fabric wreath in honor of July 4th!

Entry Five:

Proud to be an American Boutique Hair Bow by Hailey's Beads and Bows

Entry Six:

Oyster Shell Wall Clock by Art on the Half Shell
Art On The Half Shell. Hand-crafted wall clock featuring a dozen oyster shells set like the hours around a red dinner plate accented with gold and royal blue sea glass set like the minutes. The 12 o'clock hour is embellished with a real 7mm pearl

Entry Seven:

Blue and White Hand Spun Cotton Hat by Knitzy
Cotton Yarn - blue, black and white - is knit in a wide rib pattern and can be "folded" into all kinds of interesting shapes. One of a kind, as always

So get to voting friends! :) Assuming the poll does not malfunction again, you can vote on the side bar! :)
~~Amy

Member Artisan Profile: GAR Sticks and String

"Man enough to Knit, Strong enough to Purl" - the tag line says it all.

Meet GAR, one of our younger – but certainly no less talented – members of Handmade Louisiana. GAR creates hand knitted and felted items for his Etsy shop, GAR Sticks and String. He began creating at the age of 11 and has been working steadily at it for 3 years now. How did he get started? He explains, “My mom has always been artsy and when a knitter opened her home for lessons we jumped the opportunity.”

When asked where he finds inspiration, GAR again credits his mother: “My mom is really creative. Not so much me. Just tell me what to do and how to do and I'll get it done.” (Disclaimer: this writer, and customer of GAR’s, disagrees when he says he's not creative. I purchased on of his plushies, a felted hedgehog, for my teen son. The quality and craftsmanship is impressive indeed!).

His favorite material is wool, and he finds knitting relaxing. His favorite piece is the lily baby booties.

When asked what challenges and obstacles he faces, GAR replies, “Just trying to get through teens years. Bringing less drama along as possible and trying to set a good example for my peers.” His words of wisdom for other artisan/sellers: “Never give up, promote, just love people, and pictures matter a lot.”

What’s next for GAR? Llamas, purses, more baskets, gloves and so much more. Perhaps pottery, too. “I’ve done a little pottery and loved it but that was a couple years ago,” he says. “I would love to go back to that.”

Although his mother is from California and his father is from Ohio, GAR has a strong connection to his birth state (Louisiana, of course). “I love that people are SO friendly and love you the second they meet you down here.”

His family is a major influence, rightfully so. “My dad and mom are always there for me and my sister (13 months older than myself) just loves to be around people. We serve God with the best of our ability at an amazing church and have found MANY awesome friends there,” GAR explains. “I personally hope to be the salt and light of the world and be a leader and an example giving hope to a fallen world.”

His creations can be found in his Etsy shop: http://www.garsticksandstring.etsy.com/

Visit his blog at: http://www.garsticksandstring.blogspot.com/

He also sells offline to family, friends, and word of mouth. When asked if there was anything else he wanted us to know, he said, “Well, I love all my customers and sincerely appreciate them. I give glory to God that he gave me this talent!”

Member Artisan Feature: Cheese and Chocolate

“CHEESE AND CHOCOLATE” - That is the inspired name of Merry Rubins’ shop. She and her daughter Robyn sell jewelry, art and knitted animals.

Merry makes the jewelry. She and her daughter both knit. In fact when we get together for our “Handmade Louisiana” group meetings, Merry always brings along her knitting basket. She somehow manages to knit and talk at the same time without ever missing a beat on either one. Go Merry! (I can’t seem to walk and chew gum at the same time!)

Her jewelry pieces are feminine and graceful. Her wire-wraps, precise; and she doesn’t mind doing lots of them, making some pretty pieces with lots of movement. She also seems to have a good sense for color-mixing, as seen in the necklace below.


She states that right now she is leaning towards pearls in her designs and considers the Marissa necklace (above) and the matching earrings http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23366066 to be her current favorites, though she loves all of her creations. Some of her other favorite materials to work with are crystals and sterling silver.Merry says she has been crafting as long as she can remember and has been making jewelry for about five years. When asked how she started in jewelry-making she says that while on vacation she purchased a necklace. She was so intrigued with it that when she got home she took a jewelry making class at a local bead shop, and "the rest is history".

“My biggest challenge in jewelry making”, she says, “is saying “no” to myself in a bead shop. I love all of the colors and shapes and want to buy them all.”

Merry finds peace in her jewelry making and says “I find making jewelry very calming. I can become very focused on the items before me and can even tune out any fights between my daughters.

Many things inspire her to create - Books, TV, Magazines, Nature, Color...

One thing Merry would like to do is use Precious Metal Clay to create unique jewelry pieces. She has taken one class and is anxious to learn more.

Merry has been a resident of Louisiana since 1976. Her husband is from New Orleans. When she graduated from LSU, they decided to stay in the area. She says, “Louisiana offers so much in the way of culture and diversity. We have things here you cannot find anywhere else in the world. It moves to a beat all its own.”

Merry has a second shop called Working the Stash. Here she carries destash supplies, which at the moment are rubber stamps. You can check it out here: http://www.workingthestash.etsy.com/

When asked if she had any advice for other sellers, Merry says,“I guess I would say make what you love. I am not one to make a piece purely because it might sell, or to follow a trend. I want to make jewelry that will be lovely long after the trends have changed.”

Come visit with Merry! You can find her here... http://www.cheeseandchocolate.etsy.com/
http://www.cheeseandchocolate.artfire.com/
http://www.cheeseandchocolate.1000markets.com/
http://www.workingthestash.etsy.com/
http://cheeseandchocolate.byhand.me/
http://welovecheeseandchocolate.blogspot.com/
Cheese and Chocolate fan page on Facebook

~~Article Written by DazzleMe