Modern Handmade Goodness

Modern Handmade Goodness from Etsy.com
Click on the Shop Names Below to Visit these Awesome Etsians
or click on the descriptions below each photo to be taken directly
to that item! Enjoy Dolls...
ModPet
Elinart
MarianneLoMonaco


Love is All Around Fine Art Photograph by MarianneLoMonaco



Modern Pet Bed Chaise Lounge Chair in Avocado by ModPet

Linen Zipper Pouch w/Lichen by Elinart

Abstract Artist's Postcards by Elinart



Pet Bed Daybed and Lounger by ModPet



Artist Snapshot-Seaurchin Ceramics and Sculptural Jewellery



 

Porcelain Dish 100-365 Dish a Day Project by Seaurchin























Meet Lisa Stevens of Seaurchin on Etsy, a mum,  model-maker for Aardman Animations and sculptor extraordinaire. Lisa was generous enough to take time out of her very busy schedule to answer some questions for us-so prepare yourself for a truly fascinating read! Click on the link above to visit her gorgeous shop, drop by Flicker and have a look at her amazing A Dish A Day 365 Project or join her on Twitter!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself 
I am Lisa Stevens, 36, married, mum to a six year old boy and two year old girl who keep me very busy :) Before becoming a mum I was one of the senior sculptors for Aardman Animations, sculpting plasticine puppets for feature films such as Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit - Curse of the Wererabbit, which, apart from being immensely satisfying, was great fun. I hope to go back to it sometime.

Porcelain Dish 37-365 Dish a Day Project

How did you first get started sculpting /what most appeals to you about it?
Sculpting...I guess I sort of fell into that! I have always been creative, but found that I enjoyed all aspects of art and craft, so I found it hard to focus on one discipline. I studied Theatre Design at college, but after a trip to the Aardman Studios, I put all my effort into securing a job there. Whilst there, we had the opportunity to study a further craft in evening classes and again, as the sculpture class was full, I ended up in ceramics. It was a great loosening up exercise after the detailed, tight, and sometimes stressful day to day sculpting at work. Since leaving work, I have found I can earn a small amount of money from my ceramics, and every little bit helps ;) I love the texture of clay and I am obsessed with surface texture, which I find relaxing. Glazing, especially when working with glass or metal oxides can be unpredictable and I love opening the kiln to see what treasures await! I am often pleasantly surprised (seldom disappointed) by what I find.

Porcelain Dish 123-365 Dish a Day Project by Seaurchin 




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Can you walk us through your creative process?
My creative process.... I'm a bit of a ' let's make a start and see what happens' type of person. I don't make sketches and I often don't know how the piece will turn out. I make beads and bowls in batches, which I bisque fire. Sometimes pieces need a sand, which I try to avoid as it is a tedious job, especially the pierced pieces...the holes need to be tidied before glazing. As the pieces are small, I paint glazes on rather than dipping, but that gives me more control. Sometimes glass beads are added to the pieces, which melt during firing. A few pieces will be fired once more at a lower temperature with metallic lustre's or fused beads of glass.

Porcelain Dish 85365 Dish a Day

Of all your work-which piece is your favorite right now and why?
My favourite pieces are usually the latest pieces. I love the pieces with glass in them; there is so much depth to them. I also love the very thin, textured pieces of porcelain which have such wonderful translucence and luminosity when held up to the light. I have 'lighting' on my to do list... It is a very long list though. Right now, my favourite piece is a low dish, only out of the kiln two days ago. It has loads of craters filled with seawater-like glass and a sandy body. There are random piercings around the edge as the craters get smaller.

Porcelain Dot Pendant-Green Gloss by Seaurchin on Etsy

What inspires you to create and how do you keep motivated when you find yourself in a creative rut?
I feel ill if I don't have time to create! I try to do a little bit of work every day, with my favourite part being the texturing....but I do love the glaze firings. I have so many ideas on my to do list, although I often find I start something I hadn't thought of before when I actually get my hands on the clay. I wish I didn't have to sleep! I really would work all night if I could. So far I haven't had a creative block....mostly I find I am inspired just by the clay in my hands. Lucky I guess!

Porcelain Dish 25365 Dish a Day Project

How have you handled the business side of being an artist?
The business side is the part I find difficult. I find it hard to focus on a particular idea and stick with it, which means I tend to make one-off pieces. I would rather make a series of pieces which I can re-list once sold. I am trying to do that with my new 'dot' cabochons and pendants. What I think I am good at, and I sincerely hope I am, is customer service. I answer questions and ship parcels as soon as I can and pack my pieces well. In over a thousand sales, I have only had one breakage...and I've learned from that!



Porcelain Pendant Turquoise and Ivory Feathers




 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Do you have any advice for artists wanting to start their own business?For artists wanting to start their own business, Etsy is a great place to start. Just getting your work out into the public domain is a great way to see what works, and what no-one has an interest in. Do what you love, price pieces realistically, be polite to customers (even behind their backs on Twitter!), join networking sites and generally engage with other crafters and artists. Oh and one very important point, if you're selling on line. please take good, clear photos!

Charity Listing Porcelain Dish 36-365

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Is there anything else you want people to know about you?Anything else I want people to know about me? Humm....my ideal job, although I don't think it is done this way any more in the digital age, would be a forensic sculptor, recreating faces on skulls. Slightly morbid, but absolutely fascinating! 

Porcelain and Glass Black Current Coral Flatback



Porcelain Dish 47-365 Dish a Day Project by Seaurchin on Etsy

Porcelain Pendant Cobalt Chrysanthemum



It's More of a Shopping List than a Treasury...

Artist Snapshot-Red Brick Glass

Wendy Jeavons of Red Brick Glass on Etsy was kind enough to answer a few questions for us. She makes absolutely gorgeous glass decorations and gifts. Visit her shop on Etsy here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/redbrickglass or check out her website at: www.redbrickglass.co.uk

 

Please tell us a little bit about yourself.

From my studio Red Brick Glass on the Dorset coast, I make rather gorgeous handmade kiln formed glass products such as bunting, fairy lights and lanterns. My studio is in a converted outbuilding at home where I live with my husband and three children.

What inspired you to start creating with glass/what appeals to you about this particular medium?

Glass is a magical material. It is unique in terms of colour and transparency and when lit it seems to come alive. I gained a 1st class honours degree in Glass and Architectural Glass from Edinburgh College of Art in 2000.




Blue Glass Bunting by Red Brick Glass



Can you walk us through your creative process?

To make my glass products I start my cutting glass sheets into my shapes. The glass is then fused together in my kiln. When the glass is cool I then apply my screen printed patterns to the glass. These are then put back into the kiln. All my glass is then finished by hand and can be engraved with personal messages.

How did you come up with your shop/business name? Is there a story behind it?

In 2002 I received funding from the Crafts Council's Setting Up Scheme. I set up my first studio in a tiny red brick building so it became The Red Brick Glass Studio, and my business Red Brick Glass.

What piece are you most proud of?

I love the glass products I make and am very proud to be running my own business and being a mummy to three small children.





Pink Petal Fairy Lights



Where do you want to be in 5 years?

In 5 years time I will still be making gorgeous glass goodies, and I hope people are still buying them. I have a little dream to have my own retail outlets, but there is plenty of time for that.



Is there anything else you want people to know about you?

Here are a few things that make me smile: Log fires, blossom, fish finger sandwiches, running, beach huts, my bell tent, polka dots, fresh eggs from her chickens, weeping willows, stripy deck-chairs, the aga, eating al fresco, family duvet days, the sound of seagulls, my pink radio, stars and Benny my Morris Minor.

Blossom Glass Fairy Lights in Blue by Red Brick Glass

Artist Snapshot-Elegance Farm Homestead

Meet John and Jane, the husband and wife design team behind Elegance Farm Homestead on Etsy. Both have degrees in science (John in Chemistry and Jane in Biology and Environmental Science) and work full time in science fields...

Once the owner of a victorian home restoration company, John is now a research chemist, but still loves creating things with wood. Jane, a full-time children’s science book editor by trade, has always been crafty. She can’t walk away from a pile of great fabrics, and has been known to make her share of quilts, dresses, and drapes. She also has another Etsy shop where she sells her personalized beaded book thong bookmarks (that’s right, book thongs!). You can check it out at http://www.elegancefarm.etsy.com/

Tell Us a Little Bit About Yourselves…

We are John and Jane, husband and wife, living in a turn-of-the-century colonial farmhouse in NJ. We love to make things together! We both have degrees in science and work full time in science fields.
Being creative in our shop is a fun opportunity to use the other halves of our brains. We work really well together and are celebrating another wedding anniversary next weekend! We also love to grow lots of our own fruits and veggies – even corn on our front lawn; luckily the neighbors like it, especially at harvest time. That’s why we used the name “homestead” in our shop title.

When we are not banging wood together or working, we enjoy hanging out with our families, including our 12 nieces and nephews, whom we adore. The oldest just left this week to start studying at Harvard, and he'll be hanging a magnet board in his dorm room, the oldest building on campus!

How did you get started designing & making memo boards?

Our niece Mary Cate was actually the inspiration for this new business. She liked the idea of a magnet board because her teacher had one, but Mary Cate wanted a pretty one with bright colors for her bedroom . John got to work in the shop and I went shopping for fabric. Voila, our new business was born. We opened the shop in mid-February 2011

Would you walk us through your creative process?

We love the look of really simple design, letting the material speak for itself. Whenever we see great fabric, we make sure to grab it. We are inspired by elegant cottage style and think it is reflected in the selection of items in our shop.

We individually handcraft each memo board frame from hardwood using our original design. We are currently offering four different sizes of frames for our boards, and each one can come in the customer's choice of wood color and fabric. Customers can also order custom sizes for frames. We pick fabrics that are either really rich and neutral or crisp and vibrant in order to appeal to a range of tastes.

John does most of the woodworking with me as his assistant. We work in our basement shop or out in the yard and garage when the weather is nice. John does not use nails or screws and the pieces fit together like a glove. Together we cut and apply the decorative molding, paint or wax the frame, and assemble the final piece. I photograph each board and do the Etsy listings and customer service. I think what we are most proud of is the quality of John’s construction and the duality of the magnet boards. They are both functional and artistic, with the decorator’s fabric complementing a home’s décor. We love knowing that we are giving a really well-made product to every customer that will be a special addition to their home. We also love offering an unpainted frame option: natural beeswax and carnauba oil finish. We are glad that we can use natural products like these instead of solvent-based finishes.

What has been the most gratifying part of running your own business?

Happy customers! We have started selling to brides for their wedding escort card displays and knowing that the board will be used on their special day is an honor.

We love hearing the little back stories of how our boards are being used: for a Mum in the UK who is in a home and can't use a pin board due to shaky hands but still wants a place to display her postcards;

a young girl getting a bedroom makeover; an adoptive family bringing home 2 daughters from Africa, adding to their family of 5, who need a wall organizer for the paperwork and photos. These are the stories that we LOVE to hear. Each board is unique and special to us and we take lots of care in making each one.

What advice would you give small business owners who are just starting out?

LOVE LOVE LOVE what you make, and love what you do! Don't make something because you think it will sell. Make something that you feel passionate about. Tell your story in your product descriptions; people who buy handmade like to connect with the seller and feel like it is more than a manufactured product. Also, keep records of all expenses from day 1, and keep all your receipts.

Don't undercharge for your items, either. You must account for your time to photograph and list an item, package it (up to an hour for a deluxe board), shop for materials, and still make a profit if you want to do this as a business. When we started out we added up the cost of materials for each board, right down to the glue, dowels, magnets, and paint and followed a formula for what we wanted to earn per hour (each board takes about 4 hours to make, at least). Charging a fair price makes it easy for us to take our careful time with each board and to never rush a job.

What are your best marketing tips?

Great customer service. We treat each customer with our full attention to all the details of their order, from the time they place their order to the time it ships. We all love special attention, right? And people remember that. Since we really love what we do, it is a joy to interact with the customers and create something for their home, office, or wedding. Word of mouth is also great. It is not in our nature to talk about our business or hand out cards to everyone we know, but we are starting to do that more and more. Since we work full-time in addition to running this shop, we don't have much time for blog posts, giveaways, or social networking. We were featured in the Etsy Finds email, and that sure boosted sales and shop hits. It also seems like our product is selling well on Etsy since there are not many shops offering custom made boards. Because we hand make the frames, we can create them in any size a customer wants, to fill the exact wall space they have in their home. Filling a niche is a great way to succeed.

What are your plans for the future of your business?

Cork boards, magnetic chalkboards, wedding table numbers in frames, magnetic picture frames, and on and on!! There is just not enough time in the day. But we will slowly get these into the shop.

We daydream of being able to “quit our day jobs” and create things full time (while living on a farm next to the bay, of course. Hey, we can dream, right?!)