make this! {working girl tote}

I made a work meeting bag this weekend!

I’m always carrying files for various meetings all across town (the non-profit I work for has tens of locations), but they get slightly bent in my purse. I don’t really want to use a big heavy work bag for all my personal & work related must-carries, so I made this simple block design bag. Perfect size for several files and a little pocket for work related necessities (business cards, pens, etc). I’m very happy with how it turned out!

Fabric: Echino Black & Yellow Glasses (mustard, really) + some left over black canvas fabric.

{make this} taking photos of your handcrafted goodies

Craft much? I’m addicted! I opened my etsy shops in 2009 because my crafting was getting out of control. Too many supplies, too many goodies. It was time to share. So I tweaked my photography skills (another creative passion of mine) to create an online gallery of photos displaying my handmade goods available for sale. Here’s some tricks I learned along the way:

1. Filter the light.

I purchased this stiff gauze-like fabric at a local shop with sewing supplies (not sure what it’s rally for). I hang it on the window before I take my shots. It breaks the light down & makes it softer. I love the effect!

2. Use a mirror to even out the light source.

Seattle isn’t famous for the amount of light we get around here . To compensate for this & eliminate some of the shadows, I use a tilting mirror from my vanity to reflect the light coming in from the window & direct it straight at the photographed objects. You can actually get very creative with this simple trick & produce all sorts of cool shadow effects.

3. Group staging.

I like to photograph an entire collection as well as an individual product the listing is dedicated to. I think it gives the potential customer a bit of an in-person retail experience & communicates a larger vision of your creative aesthetic.

Here’s an example of the end result from this photo session.

{featured} on etsy’s front page!

My very popular “dance with me. vintage dance card pencil necklace” was featured on etsy’s front page! It’s always such a fun event to get to be featured there. Some etsians think of it as “right of passage”. It definitely made my day!

The red pencil has by far been the most popular at art & craft shows, & I’m happy to report that after much searching I finally found a few more of them! These necklaces are also a great conversation starter while I’m at shows… some folks know what dance cards were, & we enjoy a conversation about how glad we are they are no longer used for their original purpose; others are thrilled to find out about this little piece of history. They are going to be available in my shop for a little while longer until this limited edition piece goes away forever!

~ industrial aesthetic ~

One of my favorite pastimes is browsing through antique malls in Seattle (or anywhere else while on the road) & vintage stores on etsy – I’m completely addicted to filling my creative space with vintage decor items. This awesome treasury I ran across today was curated by RainSoul, and features a delicious collection of vintage goodies I’m having a hard time resisting (especially the star map!). As you know, I collect various vintage items to repurpose them in my jewelry designs, such as this writer’s spear | vintage pen nib one-of-a-kind reclaimed necklace

(still my favorite necklace to wear!..).  I’m so thrilled it’s featured among such great company!

vintage navy buttons … into brooches

When I purchased these beauties from lunapurpurie I didn’t know what I would do with them, but I knew I had to have them before someone else snagged them (that’s happened to me too many times!). Three months later I found a perfect way to give them the special attention they deserve!

Most of these unique buttons are antique, some are vintage. They come in brass and silver colors; a couple are black. So far I made six brooches for my spring shows. I matched my favorite brass buttons from this cute collection with variety of antiqued brass chains and used black leather as backing for a brass pin. Buttons are sewn by hand either to the center of the setting or asymmetrically on the side. The draped chain bits are inspired by military attire too.

I’ll be sure to post these one-of-a-kind creations on my baltica site as well so you can pick your favorite button & customize the shape and setting of your brooch!

~ business gal ~

This clever treasury was brought to you by DameandGent! Click here to view all these wonderful finds, including this savvy business gal essential:

 

 

~ new works ~

I took a week off in between jobs & spent some quality time with all my supplies spread all over the living room working on new designs and restocking from my sold-out December shows. May begins craft & art show season & I need to be ready!
Created some new chandelier prism designs, and finally used up my vintage pen nibs for simple | almost-masculine necklaces:

The ones on the right are my current favorites – wore one all weekend!& finally, map/dictionary/sheet music vintage lockets…

adorned with hand-wired Czech glass beads, cruelty-free feathers and vintage lace. Will be adding all to baltica this week!

sister | siostra

As I mentioned in my interview with papernstitch’s Brittni, I grew up among very creative role-models. Both of my grandfathers were part-time artists: one created beautiful hand-detailed leather belts and bags, the other loved painting classic landscapes and still life on canvas and glass.

However, I was not the one to benefit from this gift the most. My sister Karolina pursued her much more expansive talents from an early age and turned them into a degree in architecture.

Among her other interests is photography: she brilliantly observes and documents architecture. She spent several years living in Western Europe and took some stunning photographs you can view here. I’m sharing my favorites with you today!

 

 

 

PaperCutWorks on PapernStitch + Special Sale Just For You!

Happy Valentines!!! My Two Hearts Beat As One papercut design is featured on the front page of papernstitch today! & my shop is having a special one-day-only Valentine’s Day sale. Stop by & check it out. & just for my blog readers, 20% off Baltica goodies – reimbursed via PayPal if you mention this blog during check out on etsy. Happy gifting to self & loved ones!

make this: stamped gift bags

Last weekend I worked on a quick & fun craft project – stamping 65 gift bags with custom made heart shaped skeleton key imprints for Baltica customers. I always get a lot of compliments on my packaging at craft shows – in the past I used variety of stamp designs, but now I finally have one made just for me! I purchase these cute cotton muslin baggies on etsy from a Canadian vendor; the stamp also is handcrafted by an etsian. I’m very happy with the final result! My next show is likely to be the Bainbridge Marketplace, & those skeleton key gift bags will match its theme perfectly!

{Let There Be Light}

A gorgeous treasury curated by jurchenko:

Check out all these beautiful creations here!

adventures in reverse-papercutting

My first limited edition hand pulled block print. My best friend Robin, a talented print maker, recently taught me this century+ old technique!

Linocuts are the exact reverse of paper cuts. I first transfer my signature papercut heart design onto the linoleum sheet & then carefully carve out the negative. Next I roll the paint onto the linocut and press/print 50 valentine hearts.

Available at PaperCutWorks!

{new} paper cut works

red – valentine’s day coming up soon! this piece is for my friends.

{self-made} 2010 blog review

WordPress emailed me this super neat summary of my 2010 blogging today. Thought I’d share!

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.

Crunchy numbers

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 14,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 3 fully loaded ships.

In 2010, there were 91 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 101 posts. There were 390 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 173mb. That’s about 1 pictures per day.

The busiest day of the year was April 7th with 345 views. The most popular post that day was make this: home garden.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were etsy.com, flickr.com, and facebook.com. Some visitors came searching, mostly for shrinky dink mobile, selfmade craft, paper cut out art, reuse old doors, and wycinanki.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

make this: home garden March 2010

2

make space for creativity February 2010
18 comments

3

make this: chest of drawers map makeover February 2010
3 comments

4

my craft room among the most creative on marthastewart.com! April 2010
3 comments

5

heart tree: smokey crow | sewn print February 2010

punk rock flea market!

Shop Local & Indie while supporting The Low Income Housing Institute – join me at the Punk Rock Flea Market!

I’ll be there showing off PaperCutWorks and Baltica jewelry & doing my holiday shopping among indie artists and vendors.  This will be my last show this year and potentially until next summer so I’ll be offering great deals on all Baltica pieces. Can’t wait!

Punk Rock Flea Market: Twice a year vendors from around the region converge on our subterranean strip mall with all manner of treasures. More than 50 peddlers, canvassers, cheapjacks, and solicitor…s pile into the dark corridors of the Underground Events Center to sell an enormous variety of arts, crafts, comic books, belt buckles, bike parts, jewelry, vintage clothing, fine furniture, stereo equipment, jams and jellies, bras and panties, cakes and cookies, tools, magazines, records, musical instruments, zippo lighters, walking shoes, smoking accessories, and untold riches of punk rock paraphernalia. It’s as if Andy Warhol decided to hold a combination police auction and neighborhood swap meet. While shopping you will be offered scrumptious mostly-healthy handmade food and will be surrounded by live and bottled music from all cultures known to humankind.

$1, SAT 12/4, 2407 1st Ave, Seattle, WA. noon-10pm. All ages All day. Live music at random. Underground Events Center is at 2407 1st Ave. in Belltown, Seattle.Proceeds from this event benefit The Low Income Housing Institute.

{Canterbury Faire}

Getting ready for my next show! Exhibiting both Baltica and PaperCutWorks:

“A Canterbury Faire”

November 6, 2010 9:30a.m. to 3:00p.m.

Saint Dunstan’s Church, located on N. 145^th St., between Aurora (99) and Greenwood Ave North in Shoreline

antiques and collectables

woodworking, jams, jewelry, photography, cards,knitted items, candy,

paper jewelry (that’s me!), wine lamp shades, tote bags, scarves, almonds

Plan to spend the day, starting first with a visit to the “Coffee Bar” and then after your shopping, sit down to Bells and Madrigalia music with a homemade luncheon of either Mulligatawny or Bean Soup, hot  bread, cookies, coffee or tea.  Parking is free! Put on by the ladies (St Agnes Guild) of Saint Dunstan’s Episcopal Church

PS. My next & last show of the year will be ~ PunkRock FleaMarket ~ Underground Events Center Saturday 12/4 | 2407 1st Ave Seattle, WA | Noon-10pm

{new collection} – antique chandelier prisms

Antique prisms are great for creating unique jewelry. I look for pristine pieces at antique malls and on etsy, then pair them with delicate brass chains and findings to create completely one-of-a-kind necklaces and earrings. Octagon prisms are my favorite. They are modern but have that antique sparkle.I used them to create my first chandelier piece – “writer’s inspiration” necklace.

Over the last several weeks I’ve been working on creating a larger line re-using this great vintage resource. Above is a piece I particularly like. Its beautifully faceted teardrop chandelier prism is 1.5 inches long – large enough to make a statement but not too overwhelming to wear during the day. This generous pendant hangs from a brass toggle clasp so the necklace closes in the front.

More pieces coming soon!

… reclaimed & vintage | handcrafted jewelry with a soul …  chandelier prism series at http://baltica.etsy.com

{featured} !

Baltica was featured in a gorgeous wedding blog The Brass Paperclip Project by a fellow Seattleite Cindi Brooks!

Cindi wrote a great blog post about her visit to Seattle Square outdoor market and featured both my PaperCutWorks and Baltica + two other wonderful indie artists who also participate in this unique summer event. Cindi’s creative work revolves around weddings, and in her post she encourages those planning their once-in-a-lifetime event to go local, handmade & one-of-a-kind by approaching artists whose work they love and collaborating with them on creating custom pieces for this special occasion.

I’m excited to share that thanks to our encounter at my August show Cindi & I are thinking about a creative collaboration of our own… wedding related of course. Stay tuned for more details!

PS. I’m head over heels about Cindi’s beautiful blog and etsy shop creations. Isn’t her blog banner breath-taking? It’s one of the vintage wedding gowns she photographed – more images here.

Last ~Seattle Square~ of the summer!

I’m preparing for my last Seattle Square appearance this week. I’ll be sharing my reclaimed & vintage | handcrafted jewelry on September 18th in the Occidental Park between 11am and 5pm. I created a new series of antique chandelier prism necklaces for this occasion, and since I sold out of my skeleton key necklaces in August, I made a several new ones for my September visitors.

I’m so happy with the reception I received at Seattle Square & will greatly miss participating in this unique outdoor market. I only wish I’d had more time to take part in it more frequently, but once a month was all I could do. Seattle Square patrons appreciate my jewelry and frequently compliment my display (which improved greatly thanks to these several summer shows)! It may be because my designs fit so well with the spirit of this neighborhood. Almost every necklace features an antique item or scarce vintage jewelry components, and is one-of-a-kind. At my last show I also sold multiple pieces to a boutique owner! Unfortunately Seattle Square is coming to a close… but I hope they return next summer!
So be sure to catch Baltica’s last appearance at Seattle Square on September 18th or visit my small studio on etsy at http://baltica.etsy.com to order your custom necklace anytime!

~ vintage love ~

Vintage Japanese tea cup and saucer … and a matching 1890 vintage Japan Quince chromolithograph. I ran across both on etsy & fell for both. I brought them together on my vintage japanese pinboard – click on the image to view more images of these beautiful finds.

~ writer’s inspiration ~

I have a bit of an old-soul object obsession. In my jewelry designs, I use tarnished findings such as antique skeleton keys, chandelier prisms, and {my newest  obsession} vintage pen nibs. You can find those in your local antique store or on etsy:

& let your creativity run wild:

Since the reclaimed and vintage materials I use to create baltica jewelry are rare and unique, most of my pieces are one-of-a-kind, like the necklace pictured above.

The second design in a little different – a collage of oxidized steel, antique brass, Czech glass and a rare primitive iron cast tribal bead. Very touchable & fun to play with ~ it aims to inspire the introvert writer in all of us.

~ reclaimed vintage handcrafted ~

Heart Key  Necklace by Baltica, originally uploaded by chrzaszcz.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying working with old rusty objects like vintage keys and antique pen nibs. This is a Heart Key Necklace I created a couple weeks ago. It found a happy admirer at the last Seattle Square market, but I have many more keys to collage into one-of-a-kind necklaces.

two down & ready for more!

I now have completed two craft & art shows & am ready for more! The first show (photographed here) turned out to be a total disaster as far as number of visitors… Only eight or so visitors stopped by & needless to say no sales were made. However, it was very beneficial as it served as a very important rehearsal for my display & efficient show prep. I learned two key lessons – every item should be clearly priced & displayed together with similar items for easy scan/comparison. Also, the fabric I used for covering my tables was not trimmed/appropriately hemmed. This was fixed prior to the second show & my tables looked very professional. The best part about that rehearsal show however was that I met some wonderful artists & traded a pair of earrings & a necklace with one of them for several absolutely adorable items. We hope to do some shows together in the future so I just might have found myself a show buddy!

During my second show  | my camera is being repaired so no photos were taken | I sold five pieces which I considered a great success given that the art/craft tables were merely a side show to a main event. My buyers gave me great feedback & two of them vowed to see me again at my future shows.  I actually was the most successful artist there sales wise but we all had a lot of fun visiting with the attendees & enjoying the sun.

This week I’m preparing for three more summer shows – the new outdoor marketplace {Seattle Square} on 7/24, 8/21 & 8/18. I am really looking forward to this one! It’s in a beautiful part of Seattle & my paper cuts & jewelry should get even more exposure as it’s promising to be very well attended!

PS. 7/24 Seattle Square was amazing! PaperCutWorks and Baltica made a lot of new friends!

Vegetable garden update

2010-07-09 20:33:04 -0700, originally uploaded by gentlemanjames.

Our gardens have really taken off this month thanks to a heat wave. Seattle went from autumn-like weather on July 4th to what felt like 100 F record two days ago. Yesterday I made a home-grown kale dish for a potluck – it was popular!

{Tour de France} treasury

My map cutout piece featuring Paris was included in this cute etsy treasury curated by metroline6

Since I’m a bike nerd & love French language [... used to be fluent but using English - a second language for me - on a daily basis tends to deteriorate my ability to speak other languages; must have something to do with brain organization ha ha] I really appreciate this unique collection!