Artisan Lampwork Octopus

Came across this very talented etsian's shop yesterday with the coolest sea creatures ever and just had to share!

Roger Child of RC Art Glass. Check out his talented lampwork, you'll be amazed - trust me.

Dreaming of the beach... only 2 days to go!
Rocki

Beat Still My Heart

If you have not seen Beat Black's shop, you must, I repeat, MUST go and check out her amazing polymer clay creations!

I "met" Sarah via blogging & Etsy and then became friends on MySpace. Who is Sarah? She is the fun creator behind Beat Black. Here's a quote from her profile that I just love: "I'm a 21 year old food junkie with a diploma in fashion design. I live in Toronto with my roommate and cactus whose name seems to change on a monthly basis (the cactus not the roommate)"

We can thank Sarah's mom for her amazing talent as her mom is an artist. Sarah has been creating things longer than she can even remember. In fact, before she knew about polymer clay, she would make little sculptures from her brothers "ball of a browny purple colour (clearly a mix of whatever he stole from school). It always had hair in it...ew". I agree Sarah... EWWWW!

Sarah's inspiration comes from many things, such as "weird colour combinations, the folds in a blanket, strange fairytale-ish movies, music, going through old sketchbooks, dreams, nature..."

When asked what her surroundings are like, this is what she had to say:"Pretty boring actually. I rent so I've never painted or put nails in my walls for artwork. Three of five light bulbs are burnt out in my chandelier. My futon looks like a lumpy monster and there's a microwave in my living room." Sarah my friend, you made this blog post very easy for me to write!

I really love her shop name, Beat Black. Sarah knew she wanted to use a black heart as her logo and after writing down several names, Beat Black stuck in her head. Speaking of heads, make sure you check out her 'brain' creations. Braaaaaaaains (zombie free, of course).

We know that Sarah has a thing for food. In fact, she has a tator fetish. Yes. I said tator, as in potato. Actually, I think my 'tator dude' is what brought Sarah & I together. What? You don't know who 'tator dude' is? Well in order for this to make any sense, you must read my "Weird. That's All I Can Say" post.

On top of her talent, funny humor, creativity & imagination, she opens up her heart and shares many unique fellow Etsian's shops on her fun to read blog: "In The Shadows".

Please visit her shop and blog. Oh, and tell her 'tator dude' says hello ;)

Beat still my heart,
Rocki

ANYTHING you want to be!

In the beautiful East Tennessee valley of the Smoky Mountains, you’ll find the most amazing sculptured art – seriously - it will take your breath away.

I recently ‘met’ Renee on Indiepublic and became an instant fan. I was immediately drawn to her work, especially the tree sculptures. Each time while reading the descriptions and gazing at them, I feel the emotions and feeling of each piece – I am simply mesmerized by them.

Creating for as long as she can remember and inspired by her mom, fairy tales (her first tree sculpture was inspired by Pan’s Labyrinth), music and nature, Renee creates her one-of-a-kind whimsical art. Her mom is also a part of her Etsy shop and mainly sculpts Christmas Elves (she states her creative gene came from her mom – yeah mom!) Combined, their work is both funky and folky, so coming up with her shop name, “Funky Folky”, didn’t take a rocket scientist.

Music seems to play a big role in Renee’s work as she “ALWAYS” listens to music while creating. In fact, music that is feminine and sexy is what she likes to listen to while creating her tree sculptures – which is usually Sarah McLachlan or Goldfrapp – “if you see this kind of kooky video my work may make more sense: Goldfrapp." Let me just say that I watched this video – twice - and I completely understand. Okay, and am now a fan of Goldfrapp – that video rocks.

Renee hasn’t done any craft shows yet, but she has created a lot of custom orders, plus has her own website with her mom selling soap, candles and a mixture of their sculptures at The Ragtree Co.

How did she hear about Etsy? Through her “dear friend Nikkii” and she’s been addicted ever since! (Addicted? I have no idea what she’s talking about…wink wink). She enjoys the “wonderful community of artists and crafters. I get so inspired by doing random searches to see what everyone else has created!.... I don't want to create my art to sell, per say. I want to create what I am inspired to create... sculptures that I feel passionate about. I don't want to create items that I think buyers will like so Etsy is the perfect place to show items that are out of the mainstream."

I asked Renee one last question - I love her heartfelt answer: “I guess the one thing that I would want others to know is that I believe creativity is so important in every day life. I know many of us must trudge off to the salt mines to make a living every day and in most of our jobs, we can't be creative and do what we want to do. Through art, we can be ANYTHING we want to be and do ANYTHING we want to do without any rules. Art is a way to live life on your own terms and to be a true individual. Aside from that, I have a wonderful hot hubby who likes to streak around the house when all of our retired neighbors go to bed and a gorgeous son who always like to remind me that I'm "not quite right" and that my sculptures give him nightmares ;)"

If you are looking for that unique piece of art for a gift or for yourself, please check out Renee’s Funky Folky Etsy shop where you will find art sculptures in a variety of ways: trees, magnets, art dolls, wall hangings and more. Also visit her blog to see what she is working on next!

Happy ANYTHING Monday everyone!

☼ Rocki

P.S. Okay, so are you curious about the hot streaking hubby too?

All Fired Up

I came across a very cool and unique Etsy shop the other day when I was looking for glass items to put in a Treasury I was working on. I knew I had to blog about it, so I contacted Lisa Rippee, the owner/creator of Cloud Eleven. I’m glad I did as I believe I’ve made a new friend.

I’m a firm believer that challenges and events change the course of your direction in life (I speak from experience). A stressful job as a juvenile intake and assessment specialist took up most of Lisa’s time. I can only imagine her stress! Long hours and overnight shifts isolated her from friends and family. Then one day in March of 2005 Lisa picked up a torch. Hot glass became her therapy, obsession, meditation, passion, and the perfect vehicle for her creative expression. Who needs a therapist when you have a torch!

Lisa has a studio in her home, in Kansas City metropolitan area (on the Kansas side). Her home is small & colorful, and some describe it as eccentric (I would love to see it!). She enjoys listening to music while creating, but in the beginning she only listened to instrumental Jazz “while learning the rhythm of the glass dance” (how poetic!). The Beatles, Zepplin and Mary J. Blige are in her CD player right now. Right on!

When asked what inspires her, this is what Lisa had to say: “Anything that elicits a strong emotional response would probably be the short answer. Everyday moments that make me smile or laugh usually find their way into my creations. The social issues that I’m passionate about show themselves as well. My muse is very in tune with my moods."

Lisa’s creations are fun, amazing and full of life. There is a big variety as well: Wine Stoppers, Vessels, Magnets, Focal Beads, Sculptural Glass Vessels and more. I especially love the blown-out mouth vessels as they are so realistic (many have uvulas!) In fact, I bought the Make Me Smile vessel (the one at the top of this post) and can hardly wait until he arrives!

Oh! Lisa eventually left the high stress job. Her torch therapy led her to a part-time job at a local stained glass shop called Bearden’s Stained Glass and eventually a shop on Etsy. How did she come up with her Etsy buisness name? When she first started flame working, every time she turned around it was 1:11, 11:11, etc. So, she figured she was on the right track of making her dream come true and since hot glass had her “beyond cloud nine”, she simply had to name her business Cloud Eleven.

Just goes to show that when you get all fired up about life’s challenges, you can turn them around into something spectacular!

Happy day everyone!
☼ Rocki

P.S. Lisa sees dead people. I do too, but I’m not telling anyone ;)