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

Behold Becky's Beautiful Beads

I'm a firm believer that things happen for a reason - whether it be good, bad or indifferent. In this case, meeting Becky Mason on Etsy was a VERY good thing. More on this later.

Above is one of the most gorgeous lampwork beads I have ever seen. It is called "SEA TURTLE SANCTUARY" and this is what brought me to Becky. I found it in a Treasury that my good friend Sharon had made. I was immediately drawn to it - like the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. I couldn't take my eyes off of it. I found myself drawn to her shop and immediately hearted it. Even Mark was in awe of her amazing talent. After reading her Profile, I sent her a message of how much I admire her work. Becky replied... more on this later.

Oh, the Sea Turtle Sanctuary bead has since sold, but you must check it out to see the rest of the details of this beautiful piece of art.

Above is Becky's "PREHISTORIC OCEANIC HISTORY - 3 - a handmade lampwork focal bead with fish bones and barnacles" and I am in LOVE with it!

Becky Mason is Lampwork Artist & Jewelry Designer and comes from a very talented family. She was selling on Ebay for about 5 years until Diane, her talented Lampwork Artist sister who already had an Etsy shop, suggested that Becky set up her own Etsy shop as well. I suggest you read Becky's Profile to find out more about this very talented artist. It is very impressive and will make you that much more of a fan.

This lovely piece is titled "WILD MUSE" and a must see! I just can't explain enough how truly amazed I am by Becky's talented hands. She simply amazes me. Truly she does. In fact, it would be a lot easier for you to just run on over to her shop, or her website to see for yourself. Also check out her sold items - WOW!

Oh. About the "more later part". I'll make this short because this blog feature isn't about me, but I wanted to tell you how my new addition came about. Becky wanted longer & heavier gauge headpins and strongly suggested I make them for my shop as well. So I did.

Like they say: "if you build it, they will come." Bada Boom, Bada Bang! Thank you Becky, you ROCK!

Happy Creating Monday!

Rocki

On Grizzly Mountain

I have met some of the most amazing talented people while blogging that it truly excites me.

If you would have asked me a year ago what a "tatting shuttle" was, I would have looked at you with a blank look on my face and say "a what?" Now I may not be a scholar on the subject, but I do know what it is now, and let me just say that Dave, of Grizzly Mountain Arts, creates the most BEAUtiful shuttles I've come across!

Dave creates more than gorgeous shuttles, he makes Niddy Noddies and a vast variety of other tools and carvings. Each time I visit Grizzly Mountain Arts blog, I'm like a little kid waiting to see what Santa brought because both Dave & Jo are talented beyond belief. I don't think there is anything Dave CAN'T do.Who is Dave? He is part of the talent on Grizzly Mountain - here is a quote from their profile: "Dave took up the whaler's art of scrimshaw while aboard ship during the Viet Nam War. He has a degree in wildlife ecology and worked over 25 years in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a wildlife law enforcement officer and wildlife refuge manager. He retired in 2002 and now lives on Grizzly Mountain in central Oregon where he still pursues his art. Whales have been protected since 1972 and Dave continues this historic maritime art by scrimshawing on ancient ivory from walrus and mammoth tusks, bone or imitation ivory."

Who's Jo? Another quote, "she is a classically trained flutist who pretends to be an artist at times. She enjoys working with clay, wood and the computer." Jo pretty much, from what I gather, is the backbone for their websites (correct me if I'm wrong Jo!). Plus she is a very fine artist, pretend or not.

These are some of Jo's handmade earthenware clay pendants.
You can find both of their finished work at Grizzly Mountain Arts and their organic and primitive supplies at Grizzly Mountain Cache, but check out their blog for all locations where you can find their work.

I enjoy chatting with Jo, plus they live in Oregon. My oldest son Jeremy lives in Oregon. Maybe next time I'm up that way I can stop by and we can chat in person!

Oh and I do believe Dave does dishes & windows, but Jo can correct me if I'm wrong ;)

Happy day!

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