Mini Gallery; Mixed Media Collage by guest JennaDesigns

This is such a fun gallery & I hope it gives it's curator, and my readers, some inspirations for their own projects... 

Thanks so much JennaDesigns!

Focus on... pixiedustfineries

Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…

My name is Patricia however I go by Trish, I'm 52 years old, married, a mother of two daughters, three grandchildren one girl and two boys. I have one cat named Saxie, she is my 13 year old spoiled rotten baby.  I live in Arlington, Texas, which has been my home since 1984, prior to that I was all over the world, my Dad was in the Army.  Etsy has been my full time job since March 2008.  http://pixiedustfineries.etsy.com

I have always loved jewelry and I love the relationship that women have with their jewelry.  It makes us feel beautiful, feminine, and powerful. It affects us in many ways, and even if a piece does not cost thousands of dollars, it is still precious to us.  Therefore, I choose Jewelry.

The part of jewelry making I find most enjoyable is designing the piece. Creating jewelry is very therapeutic for me.

 

Who, or what inspires your creations?

I have always been an artsy/crafty person. When I was a kid I was constantly doing some type of craft from macramé to knitting, to drawing, you name it I probably did it. In 2007, I lost my job; I started making jewelry as gifts for my family.   At one point, I made many more pieces than I needed so I decided to try my hand at selling some of them on Etsy.

I get a lot of my inspiration from watching TV and looking thru magazine.  Most people watch TV to watch the show or the news, I am only looking at the jewelry 80% of the time.

It seems that I constantly have new ideas popping in my head, to the point that I get up in the middle of the night and make a sketch so I will remember in the morning.

What item do you like to work on the most and why?

Swarovski Crystals are my favorite, I love the way they sparkle, and the smooth texture and they just look rich.  I also love natural gemstones no two are alike, and they most of them have interesting medicinal backgrounds.

What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?

Well with it being my full time job, I am working on my shop 24-7.  Nevertheless, if I do have free time, I love to watch movies on LMN and the newest DVD release for the week.  Play games on Pogo.com and on my PSP.

What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?

As far as my work goes, I taught myself how to make jewelry, so there are many things I would like to do better, but the most thing I am terrible at is wire wrapping and would love to really study and work on that.  

Do you have favorite Etsy peeps?

Yes, many, I am a team member of the Lab Rats Team and all of the people on that team are very supportive and friendly.  I meet up with them at least 5 times a week in the Virtual Labs. Besides the team, everyone that I have ever met with on Etsy has been very friendly.

What’s your fav thing about Etsy?

 I love the sense of community; it is comprised of so many talented people.

One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…

Focus on what you love and you will be successful.

Wow... I can't believe it's been almost a MONTH!

Hi everyone!  Here is the rock I've been living under... yes it's a very big rock ;)

With the warmer weather I've been very busy with work around the house.  

We have a few fruit trees that we've had to prune.  

Some gooseberry & black currant bushes that needed to get cleared out.

Some flower beds to tend to.  

We are working on seedlings for the garden.  

My in-laws came out for a wonderful visit.  

My husband and I are trying to get his studio cleaned out and set up to get another wood fire going, and maybe start teaching throwing classes.  

On top of all of that the baby is mobile enough now that she keeps me on my toes for the whole day.  

We made our own maple syrup this year, with the help of the wonderful neighbor of ours!

The most wonderful part of the warm weather is that the kids and I are doing a lot more things outside together.  

My lack of internet presence has been a happy thing, but I do miss all of my wonderful readers.  I appreciate all of you checking in to make sure I'm still around & doing OK.  I'm going to try my best to post a bit more.  It may not be regular posts, but I'll do my best while I'm juggling all my chores & family fun.

And remember... I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Focus on... SimplyInvitingCards

• Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…

My name is Jen, I'm 33 (almost 34) years old, married to my very awesome husband, Rusty, and dog-mom to our Bluetick Coonhound, Blaster, and our newest addition, a Basset Hound/Brittany mix named Ally. We call Manhattan, Kansas our home, but we like to hit the road pretty often. After all, it is Kansas! Not much happenin' here.

Paper crafting aside, I'm into music, movies, concerts, aquariums, foreign languages, travel, shopping, painting, mixed media and collage. I also enjoy watching college sports and pro football with Rusty. My convoluted creative journey goes pretty far back in life, beginning with a French Horn at age 9 and ending up with a paper penchant in my 30's. My creative spirit has taken on different forms at different points in my life, but I've always had to be creating something.

What makes my crafty passion tick? Hmm. I guess my craft does double-duty. I make things I enjoy and they are often given to people who will appreciate them. I also have something of a need to create things that make you go "ahhhhh". At the end of the day, if I have inky fingers and a messy table, then it's a good day.

• Who, or what inspires your creations?

Lots of random things, really. I most often let inspiration come to me, but there are things that I most often find inspiring. Imperfection inspires me. Any surfaces or objects that are somehow distressed, worn, tarnished, antiqued, torn, rough and tattered. Conversely, I find clean lines and streamlined silhouettes inspiring as well. I am also inspired by color combinations inspired by natural elements and undertones - dramatic skies, sprawling landscapes, animal markings - as well as trendy and progressive color combinations.

• What item do you like to work on the most and why?

My word-shape albums. They've always found a perfect home!

• What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?

I freelance for a small, niche arts and entertainment newspaper based out of Pasadena, CA called Irish News & Entertainment. I basically handle the pagination and design of many of the advertisements.

• What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?

Draw. It is an essential skill that all artists can continually improve and benefit from. Keeping my studio organized is pretty essential to me. All that, and I could stand to drink more water, too.

• Do you have favorite Etsy peeps?

I do, but there are too many to name, and their creative styles pretty much run the entire spectrum! My favorite Etsy peeps - too many to name, in fact - are those who put joy, heart and soul into their creations.

• What’s your fav thing about Etsy?

Just one fave thing? That's tough. But to sum it up I'd have to say: "All the wonderfully nice, knowledgeable, and talented people that have helped transcend my Etsy experience beyond just selling".

• One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…

Life is too short to not do something you enjoy. After all, what would you want to look back and remember?

Look what I found today, import Virtual Labs to your google calendar...

I can't believe I haven't seen this before.  Maybe it's because until now, the calendar on the Community Page of Etsy annoyed me.  This is really going to help me to plan my week and not miss the important labs.  I am not in the Eastern Standard time zone, and when you add the labs calendar to your Google calendar it automatically changes to your time zone!  

Sweet niblets, where have I been?  Apparently living under a ROCK!  As usual... lol.

If you have been living under a rock too, first I promise I won't tell.  Next, go to the Community tab on Etsy, on the calendar there is a cute little button that says "+Google Calendar".  Click on that and it will give you prompts.  You can add Virtual Labs, Etsy Team Events, or both!  I opted for just the labs.  

And viola!  Now you're cool too!  :D