Artist: Galit Barak

Meet Galit Barak, an amazing jewelry designer who crochets with wire in her hometown of Karkur, Israel, near Tel Aviv.  She studies jewelry design and metalsmithing in Shenkar College for Engineering and Design in Israel and is really getting noticed for her work.  Her designs have made it to the front page of etsy.com and she's made over 1500 sales on etsy alone, aside from selling in person in Israel. 

I asked her if she sells her work in alot of craft fairs, markets, etc and she said:  "I have featured my work in art and craft fairs, but I don't usually do that. My favorite is an annual fair in my hometown.  For three days artists open their homes and studios and any interested people walk through the town to see the work and do holiday shopping."  Sounds great, wish your annual fair wasn't so far away!  It would be so great to see all of Galit's work up close!

Galit says that she used to crochet scarves and hats in high school and always made jewelry, and one day tried to combined them both.  Good idea!  It's working well!
She says, "I mostly create as I am inspired by the stones I use, figuring what will suite the stone best - gold or silver, to be set in a ring or necklace and so on. Some of my best designs are inspired by a unique stone's shape."

As I'm often motivated by the music I listen to when I'm working on my own jewelry, I asked Galit about this topic..."I mostly create while listening to the radio, but every now and then I listen to my favorite albums such as Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, The Doors and some Israeli music. Most of the time I crochet in my living room listening to my musician boyfriend!"  Nice, that works.  Live music to crochet to!

Below is a photo from one of the arts and crafts shows that she participated in.  Thanks so much Galit, for this great opportunity to talk to you and add you to my blog!  What a wonderful addition!  Amazing work!

Also here are some ways that you can follow Galit and her unique designs:
Her blog:  galitbarak.blogspot.com
Twitter:  twitter.com/galitbarak
Facebook:   facebook.com/GalitBarakJewelry
And you can join her newsletter @: http://madmimi.com/signups/join/22792

Artist: Layla Amber Handmade Creations

This next artist, Layla Amber is from the UK and has recently graduated from Norwich University College of the Arts with a BA in Graphic Design.

She loves to craft in many ways: jewellery making, sewing, drawing, painting, making things from driftwood and she even does book binding! Layla says, "I am inspired by beautiful everyday objects, as well as the charming seaside town of Southwold where I call home. I have a fascination for buttons which often feature in my work."

 Layla says, "My love for buttons started when my Mum showed me her tin of beloved vintage buttons that she had been collecting over the years. I really wanted to start my own collection and I now have my very own tin of buttons, some of which I love too much to part with! I like to use a mix of new and vintage buttons in my jewellery, this way two designs are never the same, making them truly unique."

The theme of birds that you see in her work was inspired by her parents, says Layla, "who have a great knowledge of birds and nature. They were shocked that I could hardly name any of the everyday birds that you see, so my Dad gave me a bird book as a gift. This sparked an interest in these cute little animals, and from there I started to draw. I then decided to turn my illustrations into this jewellery range!"


Personally, I love the colors in her bird jewelry and hair accessories, as it is bright and colorful, as these birds are naturally.  Thanks so much Layla, for sharing your beautiful collection and comments!  If you come to New York to do any big craft fairs, I would love to see this stuff there and more of it! 

Artist: VectorCloud from Queens, NYC

Hello there folks, the next feature artist is Amelia and her etsy shop VectorCloud.  Her home studio is in Queens, New York, where she focuses on laser cut products along with her 8 month old baby!  It boggles my mind how someone can make such cool designs and also be equally focused on a new baby!  Go Amelia!

Amelia says, "I started this endeavor about a year ago after working at an NFP (Not For Profit) helping kids in the Bronx creating variety of projects using a laser cutter. The experience really inspired me and opened up new perspectives on what I can do with my skills."

 Looking at these photos, maybe you're wondering, "How the hell does she do this stuff? How long does something like this take to be made??"  Amelia says, "I usually have my sketchbook handy; I take it anywhere I go, so when an idea comes up I can quickly record it. When I get home, I go over my sketches and develop them and start drawing them in the computer. It usually takes almost all day to design and many prototypes/models until I am absolutely happy with it."

Yes, we can see that you work until you are absolutely happy with these beautiful pieces Amelia!  They are flawless!  Wonderful photos are easy to take when the products are as flawless as these!  Thanks Amelia, and make sure to let us know when VectorCloud will be selling at any markets/craft fairs in the NYC area...I'm sure people would love to come out and see this stuff in person! Amazing!

Artist: Alchemy Fibre Arts

This lovely lady from across the pond, Catherine, is the first addition to the blog.  She hails from England and specializes in fiber arts, working with leicester wool, merino wool, and more to make felt of such a beautiful and wide range of colors and mixes of colors.  She says:  "Living in the beautiful English countryside I take most of my inspiration from the ever changing nature all around me. My specialties are fibre arts however as the essence of what I live for is freedom I hold no bounds to techniques or materials that I work with."

With this felted material, she sells the following supplies on etsy:  felt beads, braids, felt fabric, embellishments, trims, and as far as already finished crafts, she has beautiful scarves and maybe more items that I've yet to discover within her large number of listings.

Her shop has been open since May 2008 and she's made nearly 3,000 sales in that time!  Talk about at etsy success story!  Just take a look at her wonderful, luxurious fibers and felts and I'm sure you can imagine your next project and how you could incorporate this bold, bright material into it!  Thanks Catherine!  After the holidays, Catherine may be interested in adding a little more to her story on "Handmade and Proud" but for now, let's allow her to enjoy her holiday!

Me at my first two gigs as a vendor - markets in Inwood and in Astoria, Queens

Two Saturdays ago and yesterday (Sunday) I did my first two markets as a vendor.  The first one was at a local church and I could have walked with my jewelry and all my stuff over to the church, it was that close...it was small but so nice...the best part was all the little kids drawn to my jewelry and asking me if i made it, how i did it, etc...they were adorable...i felt awful when one girl maybe 10 years old asked me how much my necklaces cost....i wanted to say "FREE!" and give her one, but that would have been an AWFUL trend to start....i was also visited by my co-worker and her adorable daughter and that was great too....the little girl wants to sell jewelry too now...and my good friend came and visited me with her boyfriend and gave me a hand,literally, a hand to display things on...i'll have to get a pic of that on here...or  maybe it's not worth putting a pic up....just picture a hand, not human, used for displaying a bracelet or ring or something...


 There's my love sitting there, he has been a great help to me in this new vending venture!

Yesterday's market was a fun one too, nice and cozy, but bigger than the church one....in Astoria...at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden.  Here are some pics...


This is my new trunk/vintage suitcase  that i got for display....i love it!  alot of people seemed to gravitat towards it like "ooh im not supposed to look in here, in grandma's secret storage, but i'm going to..."
 
I'm looking a little tired and stressed out in this pic, or maybe a little bit like "I can't believe that a girl just told me that my prices are too high when I live in New York City and i'm charging a maximum of 20 bucks per item and others are charging $120!"

Additionally, if anyone has photos of themselves in the process of making their craft, or could get a friend to take some, that would be great....i'll totally get right on the photos of my cat trying to sit on every craft i've ever made or attempted to make.  Thank god i'm not working with fabric these days because he would always sit right in the middle of the fabric and I would think, jesus, some people make the statement "made in a smoke-free and pet-free home"...what kind of statement could I make?  This product was personally laid upon by my big fat cat...ha...alot of sales that would get me....at least with my jewelry its not big enough for him to come over and try to sit on while i'm doing it...he does try to attack any gift ribbon that i wrap the orders up in....ah well...

Calling all crafters...

Hello there, this is the opening day of a blog for crafters and artists from anywhere and everywhere that have truly eye-catching work!  I'll start with a little about myself...I'm based in New York City and have my etsy shop at http://www.brooklynbags.etsy.com/. My work is in jewelry of the bright and unusual nature....shrink plastic jewelry put on chains, earring wires, and jump rings that are just as bright as the handcrafted jewelry that's attached to them!  I'll attach some pictures of my work here as soon as I figure out how to do it!  I never thought about doing a blog before and I'm not one of those people who want to write or tweet or sing or yodel or whatever its called about about every moment in my life....this blog isn't for me to talk so much as it is for displaying the work of other artists and crafters who can get lost in the sea of crafts on the internet!  I'm interested in getting artists to describe their processes, inspirations, the spaces where they work, the disasters that happen or almost happen....let's hear the story behind the work!  I'll start off with some of mine and I hope others will contribute theirs so that we can all see a great and colorful blog full of stuff that you'd just love to have and can't stop looking at.  Please feel free to send your work!