Burrs & Berries » Crafts

Etsy Love

Aug 192010

Happy Thursday everyone! It’s almost the weekend, and finally time for a new week of Etsy Love showcasing some beautiful shops of jewelry, art, fabrics and even cake!

Ayofemi jewelry is the shop of designer and student Ayo, in Phoenix. Ayo makes jewelry in her spare time, mainly consisting of pretty, charming necklaces, bracelets and earrings from a mix of gold and gorgeous soft colors like coral, lavender, and turquoise. Oh I plan to pay this shop another visit very soon!

Esther Ramirez is a talented crafter, designer and illustrator from Chicago, and sells her beautiful creations at Essimar. The abundance of color and pattern in her shop emphasizes the whimsical element in her screen prints and paper crafts, which are gently made one at a time in small collections.

For fun and quirky fabric design, handmade bags, and quilts, just head on over to Aunt June. Lauren Hunt designs and prints many colorful fabrics that could become totes, pillows, anything really as far as your imagination takes you! I love all her fabrics from the feathers, to boats, and bird prints too.

You can find absolutely anything on Etsy! Even the most precious cake bunting shop, Kiki La Ru for all things pretty, striped and flowered is available here! Homemaker and artist in Austria uses primarily vintage and upcycled fabrics and supplies thats she purchases on Etsy to create her sweet homemade cakes!

(images: sources listed above)

Spotlight on Talent: Vera João Espinha

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Aug 172010

I am ready to delve in and get inspired by the work, dedication, passion, and talent of a crochet artists today. After a few weeks off, I am craving some creative energy! And you?

The work of Vera João Espinha is original, distinct, and fun to say the least. With a background in graphic design and painting, she currently works as a graphic designer in a publishing house, and dedicates her spare time to her love for crochet. Her beautiful pieces can be found at several retailers in Portugal.

Vera João Espinha learned to crochet with her grandmother at a very young age as a way to entertain herself after school, and as her skill evolved, she began making clothes for dolls. A painter and an artist as well until her daughter was born, she began to commit to crochet instead, and created accessories. This won her an honorable mention in 2005, in a Portuguese contest for contemporary jewelry, and encouraged her to further this talent.

Vera João Espinha’s stunning colorful, textured work is based on the manual production of contemporary accessories. Her unique jewelry is all handmade, mostly in crochet, but some collections may also include other materials. I am so in love with the little crochet balls, also their composition in the bowls and their photography. It feels like it’s all a part of Vera’s work.

Vera finds inspiration in nature, colors from photography, previous work, or her grandmother’s doilies. The color combinations in her work are divine, and the scarf looks so warm and cozy, and could be worn flexibly – I can see it with jeans and a T-shirt, highlighting the artistry of the scarf itself. What I love most about this talented artist’s work is that she first creates a piece and is true to herself and art, and then thinks about their commercial viability, because after all an artist also has bills to pay.

(images: vera joão espinha)

Sang and Serena Company Furniture

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Jul 232010

Happy Weekend friends! A lovely message hit my inbox a while ago from Serena of Sang and Serena Company, and I am so excited to share with you their beautiful inlay furniture that is like no other.

After a chance meeting in India, Sang and Serena Company was born with the intention of supporting traditional craft-making skills of an artist-entrepreneur’s art school. Sang and Serena then made these beautiful products accessible to North America through one-of-a-kind pieces that are completely handmade and derived from natural materials. These stunning pieces, intricate and decorative, are potential heirlooms to be passed on and cherished for generations.

Unlike many furniture, these bone inlay pieces have great value and are so much character to a space, creating a middle ground where East meets West. Every item designed and imported is environmentally friendly, with so much detail and soft smooth surface, a fusion of cultures as well as a meeting between history and modernity. My favorite piece is the gray and white chest of drawers; such intense pattern and detail that is yet so elegant is often hard to achieve, and I find it is done perfectly! And you, what do you think of these beauties?

(images: sang and serena company)

Etsy Love is back!

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Jul 222010

Since I missed Etsy Love last week, I’m determined to make it up to you today with a lovely set of shops featuring talented artists selling everything from fashion to mosaics.

I just recently discovered this beauiful little shop in Portugal. Kjoo is filled with gorgeous experimental textile jewelry that is designed by Maria João Ribeiro. If you love color, texture and shapes, these pieces are bound to lure you in like they did me, without hesitation!

Sigmosaics is the shop of native New Zealander and lovely designer Kerrin. Here you will find functional decorative items, and art mosaics that are made from a mix of acrylic and resin tiles, ceramic tiles, recycled tiles, stones, mirror, glass and much more! I find all these gorgeous gems so reminiscent of the Mediterranean, and Europe in general, which is actually where Kerrin sources all her acrylic and resin mosaic tiles.

New York City fashion ceases to amaze me, inspire me and captivate me, and this Brooklyn shop is no exception. Alexandra Grecco carries the sweetest pieces from hair accessories to shorts, tops, and dresses. With a style so feminine, delicate, and playful, I can’t turn my eyes away from anything in that shop.

Kim is a photographer, designer and vintage seller from Massachusetts, who does all these things at a little shop called trampoline. With a series of items salvaged from a home at 303 pleasant street between the 1930 and 1960s, vintage is ever so charming! I adore those ruffled floral sheets, doily and crochet, and silver trays. Beauty and detail is everywhere here.

(images: sources listed above)

Spotlight on Talent: Miyuki Sakai

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Jul 202010

I find the most inspiring work comes from artists who take their craft to another level, creating new ideas and different dimensions like creating illustrations with a sewing machine using only thread. Doesn’t that sound interesting?

Super talented crafter and artist Miyuki Sakai has been creating award-winning illustrations with a sewing machine for over twenty years. Oh yes, I am serious. Have you seen her work before? Imagine the skill and patience one must possess to create such art! Miyuki grew up in Osaka, Japan, and adopted her unique style inspired by watching her mother make clothes for her family. After attending art school in Kyoto, Miyuki moved to Tokyo to work as a freelance illustrator, and now lives and works in San Fransisco.

I am so intrigued by her unique style and have probably examined every detail of these lovely illustrations that are featured in the Vive la Tarte article in the June issue of Martha Stewart Living. Like many others, I initially thought that the backgrounds were hand drawn with delicious looking tarts placed on top, but I was so wrong! I love love love all the detail in the patterns, color and texture Miyuki creates in these illustrations. Gorgeous! Do you create unique art, or do you have a favorite artist who does? It’s so inspiring and interesting to see what others do, where their minds wander and creativity and skill takes them.

(images: miyuki sakai)