Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Artlandish creations

Hello followers! Today I am featuring the shop Artlandish ( www.etsy.com/shop/artlandish), a lovely little shop filled with mystical and magical beings. Take a moment to get to know the creator!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

Me - an entirely self-taught artist that makes wings, dolls, stained glass, spins, felts, makes handmade paper, sews, sculpts in clay and does just about any other craft form. Most folks find my lifestyle intriguing; I'm a recluse - it is nothing for me to go for months without seeing another soul, aside from my husband. I actually LIVE a faerie tale life: deep, deep in the middle of the forest, my nearest neighbor is 10 miles away, nearest village (yeah, not town, not city) is 2.5 hours away and even my mailbox is 27 miles away - yeah, I have to get creative to get my sold items out:-)

I live alone, except on the weekends when my husband joins me for a few hours - the trade off for living in paradise. During the week, my company are my magickal llamas and my new little (challenging) wolf pup.
How did you come across Etsy?

I'm a coordinator for a large yearly craft fair, one of the largest in northern BC. It was thru one of the exhibitors in 2006 that told me about Etsy. I joined immediately, but didn't take it seriously until about a year and a half ago. Apart from creating things, what do you do?

Apart from creating, I exist in the most self-sufficient way I can. Grow all my own food. Heat only with wood, so cutting, storing, chopping and keeping the home fires burnin', do take considerable time - oh, I live in the northern central interior of BC, Canada - so we burn a lot of wood ;-) With a HUGE garden and greenhouse, between caring for those and the llamas, I guess I just watch things grow and play with the faeries, that are abundant 'in this neck of the woods' - LOL!

Whe
re does your inspiration come from?



Obviously, my inspiration comes from nature; For color schemes; sunrises and sunsets. For textures, flowers opening, plants going thru their cycles. As for ideas, both nature and fellow Etsy-ers; Like any artist, taking an idea, shape, color or texture and putting a twist on it.
How would you describe your creative process? What have you learned so far as a seller?

What I've learned as a seller: Like any plant or pet, if you want it to grow, your Etsy shop must be cultivated. Regular tending is the key. Join teams for fabulous information on what's hot and not, further ideas and selling tips and hints. Use ALL your photo spaces and be creative with your photos. Join circles to network your work. Either list a new item every other day, or renew your oldest listing - this keeps your shop in high profile. Etsy Admin has done a phenomenal job at creating a user friendly site, that has so many tools and information to make your shop a success. Make use of all their opportunities to help you become a successful seller. Try to spend a little time every week, poking around an Etsy area you have yet to explore. Knowledge is a wonderful thing. Your favorite part about having a handmade business?
Favorite part: I'm my own boss. If I want to work on my shop, I can do it at 2 a.m. if I so choose. If I don't want to work that day, I don't have to. Best of all - it is SO self fulfilling!!!

Do you have a blog?


I don't have a blog - yet. It's on my 'to do' list.

Personal comments: If I can have a successful shop on Etsy, anyone can. As a computer illiterate, I have taught myself how to navigate around a computer - Etsy is so user friendly that way :-) When my mailbox is 27 miles away and the nearest post office is 2.5 hours away, if I can get my orders out in a timely manner, anyone can.

I do have to say, once I started making the Ear Wings, my sales just took off - started flying, if you will ;-) What I absolutely LOVE about making the Ear Wings are the type of people they attract! I have made several cyber friends thru Etsy - some I've been in contact with for years!

My 2 favorite comments so far have been:

I'm getting these for my niece. When she climbs into bed at night, she arranges herself just right, so her imaginary wings don't get squished.

and another - again an auntie

I'm getting these for my niece. She says she's not going to university when she gets older, she's going to go to faerie school.

I mean, how can you GET better inspiration?!?!

'Artlandish Creations' by sunshineluvsu

This treasury is featured on my blog for my seller's feature: http://sunshine-luvs-u.blogspot.com/. If you are interested in being featured, let me know!


Purple Fairy Wings
$12.50

Lavender Butterfly Ear ...
$12.50

Fairy Ear Wings with GL...
$13.50

Fine Art Quilt Picture ...
$450.00

Purple Butterfly Fairy ...
$12.50

BUTTERFLY Fairy Ear Win...
$12.50

Llama Needle Felted Hal...
$59.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

RetroToRevolution

My first feature is from Jeff Keegan of RetroToRevolution (www.retrotorevolution.etsy.com), a shop of handmade, upcycled steampunk jewelery and various vintage home decor. Let us take a step in another time...


Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Jeff Keegan. I live in an old Stone Dutch Colonial House in Historic New Paltz NY. I spend lots of time ripping stuff out of the house and repairing the bones. I've been here 6 years. I'm on the ten year restoration plan, although I think I may need to extend that plan to 15 years. That's actually one of the reasons I have all those old shutter picture frames. I cleaned out a house from like 1789 or something about an hour from new paltz. I needed beams and floor planks to replace the damaged ones in my place. While I was there, I took a bunch of shutters so I could salvage the hardware. They were pretty badly rotted around the edges, but the panels were in fair shape, and the patina was amazing. Seemed a shame to burn them so I spent a few days cutting them apart and reattaching the trim. I use lots of them around the house here for the stuff I keep to myself.

How did you come across Etsy?


I've been on and off etsy for years now. This most recent store Retro To Revolution is the one I plan to keep. I think I've finally found my place with this format.


Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I'm a Motion Graphic Artist. I work from my house and my biggest client is United Nations. I help with a lot of training videos and interactive programming. I think the most notable project I did for them was Land Mine and UXO Safety. That's unexploded ordinance. I made that booklet completely digitally interactive and translated it into something like 20 languages all on one DVD. It's a huge problem all over the world. Just a few weeks ago, anti land mine activists discovered a UXO in Uganda being used as a school bell. It had a hollow bottom and a live fuse on the top. The teacher was hitting it with a hammer every day to call the kids to school. I'm all for upcycling, but that's just plain dangerous. I don't make UXO school bells. LoL



Where does your inspiration come from?

I'm inspired by stuff I like to look at and a lot of times other visions just pop into my head. Like the clockwork animals. I think it's a lot more interesting that sticking a ladies watch movement on a cufflink and calling it steam punk. That's not what it's all about.


How would you describe your creative process?


Recycling/rescue of those huge industrial revolution book plates. I just couldn't believe my neighbor put that out for recycle. It's crazy. Even though the prints are from 1972, you never see that kind of subject matter, especially in such a large format. They're amazing. I spent a lot of money to bring those back to market. Haven't quite made back my investment yet, but I know I will in time, and it's worth it to save them and let people school their friends about life in the 1850's.


What have you learned so far as a sell? Or, if you are fairly new/ inexperienced, what would you like to learn more about?

I'm pretty new at selling on etsy, I've had a few stores, none successful. This one is going much better. I'm always looking to learn more about tagging and promotion.
Your favorite part about having a handmade business?
My favorite part about this business is making the stuff. If I didn't play with all this old interesting stuff all the time I'd be like some kind of couch potato. This keeps me busy and the mind active.

Do you have a blog?

I don't have a blog, y'all think I should start one up???

'RetroToRevolution' by sunshineluvsu

This treasury is featured on my blog for my seller's feature: http://sunshine-luvs-u.blogspot.com/. If you are interested in being featured, let me know!


Steam and Air Brakes. V...
$25.00

Steampunk Clock Face Pe...
$35.00

Picture Frame Made from...
$50.00

Steampunk Clockwork Fis...
$80.00

Pair of Upcycled Antiqu...
$40.00

Picture Frame Made From...
$50.00

Steampunk Clock Face Pe...
$35.00

Antique General Electri...
$200.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

Friday, July 22, 2011

On the way!!

Okay so I've started a featured seller thing for this blog and I have to say I'm very excited not only about the idea of it, but also by the turnout of those interested. I think I'm going to try to do at least two a week or so, and hopefully I'll still get more sellers interested. Hopefully I'll have the first one up by the end of today!

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Pretty Little Doll

The past few weeks I have been interested and researching a type of Japanese fashion called Hime Gyaru, a style similar to Lolita (or maybe a type of ) which is based around a "princess" look. So with my new find, I created this cute little treasury!

'Pretty Little Doll' by sunshineluvsu

Pretty, girly, hime lolita! Lot of pink and fun!


Tuxido Cupcake Dotted D...
$198.00

Baby Doll Hot Pink Clut...
$15.00

Psychobilly Rhinestone ...
$15.00

Porcelain Cup Plate Sau...
$2.99

Pocket Mirror Two Mirro...
$12.00

OOAK Pink Fuzzy Adjusta...
$10.00

Sample Organic Gunpowde...
$1.00

Princess Kitty Jewelry ...
$15.00

Handmade Teapot Stand o...
$4.00

Rose Clip on Earrings
$4.99

Gyaru Girlie hime origi...
$8.00

Keiko, 3D hearts and bo...
$17.50

Hello Kitty pink fruit ...
$70.00

Jeanne ACEO/ATC Artists...
$3.00

HELLO KITTY Barbie pate...
$90.00

SALE Grape Popsicle Rin...
$4.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.



Also, if any of you out there are sellers, I am going to be starting a new seller's feature for my blog. It will be similar to Etsy's featured seller. Send me a message with items of yours you want to be featured. Have fun!