Friday Featurette.

It sure has been a while! But, it's about time to do a featurette. Let's focus on generally overlooked crafters: those who make lovely toys, and big fluffy lovable plushies.

Today's featurette is going to Danielleorama. Her stuff is just plain cute, I have to say.

Foxy, $45

Pansy, $28

This next one is my personal favorite. It's reminiscent of Bitey and the bigfoot character from Brackenwood, but in a lovely candy, child-friendly way.

Jaunte Poilu, $36

Please take a look at her shop, you're sure to leave (via X'ing the tab) with a smile on your face. She also has a blog at http://danielleorama.blogspot.com.

I'm one of those people in TN who will bear witness to this ice storm coming, so if you don't hear from me anytime soon, it'll be because of power outages. I'm not scared but... not happy about it, either. :\

Orglamix Review & Giveaway!

The holidays have come and gone, and they were wonderful! I'm happy to have gotten what I did from my family, considering how hard the economy has been this year. Hopefully the new year will bring more joy and prosperity.

To get back into the blogging game, I'm hosting a giveaway for Orglamix makeup. If you visit a lot of blogs, you may have come across these lovely cosmetics made by Cheri. She graciously agreed to send me an eye color collection to review, as well as give away one color collection (or three single color shades) to one lucky reader!

I've won several shades from other blog giveaways, so I'm pretty familiar with these products. However, the color collection Cheri sent me was the Wicked collection, pictured here. As a rule, I'm not one to pull off bright greens and dark shades, but I felt adventurous and wanted to give it a try.

Orglamix is home to mineral makeup that is formulated without a lot of unnecessary chemicals such as nano particles, synthetic dyes, parabens, and bismuth oxychloride, which can cause skin irritation and can be dangerous in mineral makeup when not filtered correctly. Bismuth is used to make makeup shimmery and affix to the skin easier, but Cheri has found a way to accomplish this without using this chemical. Simply put, her mineral eyeshadow stays on wonderfully and shimmers for long periods of time. Her Sweet Pea shade is very light and yet shimmers like diamonds. Also, she is a member of PETA, so you know that these are animal cruelty-free.

Here are pictures of me wearing the Wicked collection. The greens Eucalyptus and Lagoon are so lustrous, and the dark shade Obsidian gives a smoky effect that really speaks of the popular Broadway show. Note that I don't have the best camera in the world.

Compared to others like MAC, Orglamix is very affordable at just $3.99 per shade (before shipping). Some would say that the container is too small, but you're paying over $10 less, and you really don't need to put a lot of the powder on! (And recently, she has upgraded her container size!) She sells brushes and Magnetism, an eye primer, but I've successfully used these products with just concealer cream and a cheap eye brush. Just imagine these with her applier products!

And now, onto your favorite part of reviews: The Giveaway!!

Mandatory Entry: Visit Orglamix's store and pick your favorite eye color collection (or three shades). Come back here and post a comment with your favorite. With every entry, including this one, please leave a way to contact you, either with an email address or Etsy username.

Optional Extra Entries:

1) Heart Orglamix on Etsy. Leave your Etsy username for proof. 1 entry

2) Follow Orglamix on Twitter @hautebeauty AND tweet about this giveaway: Giveaway! Win an Orglamix eye collection from @hautebeauty, hosted by @spektorish! Click here: http://tinyurl.com/yjuutvu Link back here with your Twitter name. 1 entry

3) Become a Facebook fan of Orglamix. Link back with your name. 1 entry

4) Follow me on Twitter @spektorish. Link back with your Twitter name. 1 entry

5) Follow this blog using Google connect. 1 entry

6) Heart my shop at laurart. Leave your Etsy name. 1 entry

7) Subscribe to my blog using the RSS Feed. 1 entry

8) Blog about this giveaway. Post a link back. 2 entries

This giveaway is open until January 11th. On that day it will close at 12pm, or noon CST. That's plenty of time to get all entries in! I will pick one winner at random by Random.org and then contact them for details. Good luck to you all!

Saturday Spotlight.

I missed yesterday's featurette thing, so busy with school! Also, please don't forget about my big giveaway, it doesn't end until December 12th! (Scroll down.)

Today I'm going to feature thaimodish. It's about time I did! I love so much about this store: the unique style, the colors, the fair pricing (shipping is expensive, though). I've been pining after so many items I've lost count! Here are just a few of my favorites:







I would definitely love to own one of those pieces for Christmas. It's a bit out of my reach for now, but I can dream! :) Take a look, you'll be amazed.

The VAS sale was pretty slow, because there was a championship football game going on in the nearby stadium. Some sales were made, including one of my printmaking designs! *Squee!* I was so happy when the girl picked it out and showed her mother. I also traded in that tea-n-coffee stained painting for a lovely silk scarf with a fellow craft student. So, for me, it was a success.

I'm loving the response to my giveaway posted below. Also, I've recently received a few items I've won myself. I don't know how I've been living without Etsy and all of you fine folks behind it! The holidays just got brighter. :D

Friday Feature.

It's been such an interesting week. I'm happy to announce my second sale! My beloved landscape palette knife painting sold, and the buyer was so kind in her reply about my work that it really made me smile. I can't wait to ship it off tomorrow!

However, there is something else to announce: my first real Etsy feature with questions! Ilea from Gadget Gear has kindly allowed me to give her a short questionnaire; it's always nice to get to know fellow Etsians. Ilea specializes in making felt cases for gadgets (as the shop title implies), i.e. iPhones/iPods, cell phones, cameras, and more.

Lovely! Well, let's welcome our guest Ilea, and let's begin with...

A little info about you, that you're willing to let readers know.
My name is Ilea. I am 24 years old, and my full time job is working on my PhD (in Biology) at the University of Michigan.

How long have you been making cases?
I've been making cases for about 6 months.

Why did you decide to do this?
I had a lot of compliments from friends about a case that I had made for my phone and for a few of my friends, so I decided to try to sell them on Etsy and see what kind of response they got there.

Where do you get inspirations for each piece?

My inspirations come from a lot of things. Many of them come from nostalgia from my childhood, and others come from items that are important to me. Most of my cases have a little special meaning to me or a specific event that inspired them. For example, I made the shamrock case because I met my boyfriend on St. Patrick's day and I made the Koi case after one of my friends told me they were lucky. Some of my designs are just things that I think are cute or things that make me smile (like GIR; I don't think you can see him and not smile!).


So, you're about to make a new case. How do you start? What materials are needed?

I start with a long list of ideas (it's a very long list... some of the things that I'm thinking of making are a diet coke can - I can't live without it; Transformers, Mario, sushi, and one that looks like a box of chocolates). I pick whatever design strikes my fancy at that time. I then have to pick out the right colors for the case and cut the design out freehand. I use the pieces that I cut out the first time as a pattern so that I can make more than one case of that design. Finally I stitch everything together to make the final product.

What goes through your mind as you make a case?

I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so mostly I'm just thinking, 'Is that piece straight? Did I stitch that just right?'

Do you have any crafters, on Etsy or otherwise, that inspire and motivate you?

Everyone in my family is very crafty, so I had the opportunity growing up to learn many different types of crafts. So if any crafters inspire and motivate me, I would say my Mom and my grandmothers.

If there was one thing you could wish for, no strings attached, what would it be?

More time in the day. Sometimes I am very overwhelmed with keeping up with all of the little things with Etsy and work. I think a lot of people know that feeling.

Boy, I definitely agree there. More time, who doesn't need more time? Anyway, thank you so much Ilea for your time. Readers, feel free to visit her shop and peruse her items, they're all so diverse and cute! My favorite is GIR, of course. Love that lil' guy.

If you would like to be featured, please feel free to contact me! :)

Friday Featurette and Update.

My quick featurette goes to Flock Together Jewelry.

Tail Feather Earrings, $10

Her shop contains beautiful earrings, necklaces, and headbands. The arrangement and detail are so spectacular, yet all lightweight, and considering the material the items are not too expensive. My friend has a pair of feather earrings that she wears a lot, and I can understand why. I hope to own a pair soon! You can visit her blog here.

In other news, I'm doing pretty well in my classes. Printmaking is now coming to printing "editions," or copies of an artist's proof that is the best print of a design. Matting will not be fun, but it must be done. In Photography... man, I love that class. My paintbrush picture (will post soon) was considered "best photo of the day" hehe. ^_^;

Fall Break is coming, but I figure I'll be busy during that time so this weekend will be my break. Going home, hopefully to shoot good documentary photos for class, work on my sketchbook (Drawing II, not the project), and relax! Sometimes taking a break is the best, most logical thing to do.

But lots of good things have been happening, and I hope it doesn't stop. My first sale was the Color Grid painting, and Tyler posted a lovely blog about receiving it. It was so surreal, seeing that there when only days ago it was in my art room. Can't wait to sell more! I've also been getting luckier with giveaways, and a lot of progress is being made. At some point I will do a giveaway, probably this weekend. I REALLY want to give back to you guys (though you seem to be disappearing on me a little)! ;)

Let me know the good things going on in your life, art or otherwise.

Friday Featurette!

Today's little feature goes to Alter-Eco Clothing at Etsy.

Organic White and PURPLE Layered DRESS Top, $55

I absolutely love the clothes in this store. Here's a short excerpt from the store description:

"Alter-Eco is a fashion-forward Clothing line for those of us out there who want to do our part for the Planet...but look amazing while doing so ~_^

I love living organically and have always felt that there isn't enough funky eco clothing out there to dress the way I want and still be friendly to mother-earth.
So now you too can be a tree hugger in good misfit fashion ~_^ ♥♥!"

Indeed! I know that my high-school self would have loved to own items like these, much like Hot Topic but friendly to the environment. And better, imo. ;) I admit that it's a bit pricey for someone like myself, but I can pine! :P

Organic Brown and Purple Button DRESS OOAK, $62

Gorgeous stuff, definitely. I love handmade clothes... almost makes me pick up a sewing book. But that will have to wait. Check out her store, in the meantime. Cute, gothic, chique. Unique.

Friday Featurette!

So this week's featurette is for ljlh*designs at Etsy. Some of you may think I'm a little biased because I recently won earrings from her, but honestly, this jewelry is hard to pass up anyway. If I hadn't won, I still would've given her a quick spotlight because this girl's shop is beautiful and affordable.

Dark Rainbow Bracelet/Necklace, $21

The main thing, though, is that she has very little sales in her store. She has her own website, which includes the wide variety of items she sells, a link to her blog, and even a resume. Yup, a resume. So, I was surprised to see little sales.

She makes great items, simply put! Each piece is so colorful, or so stylish, or all of the above! Not to mention, they're all not that expensive considering what they are! Most jewelry at this level would cost more than $20.

Green Leaf Earrings, $6

She also has another Etsy store, dealing with handmade items from paper: ljlhpaper.etsy.com I advise you to give that a peek, too, although it is somewhat new.

I'm very thankful for the earrings I won, for they have given me a taste of ljlh*designs, and I'll definitely be making some purchases around the holidays from this shop. Take a look for yourself, there's bound to be a good Christmas gift in there somewhere! Happy shopping!

Friday Featurette and F(ph)otos!

Yeah, I'm a big fan of alliteration, I do it when I can. Anyway, I think every Friday I'll do a mini-feature of an Etsian where his or her items really appeal to me. For the first one, today I'm featuring crearting:

Handbound Wood Journal, 3 1/2 x 2 3/4in $18

I'm obsessed with journals (kreativlink rocks my socks), and this only fuels my fire. Journals with WOOD covers? And gorgeous painting designs? Count me in.

The only downside to these beautiful journals, in my opinion, is their small size, but I can understand the reason for it. Still love 'em and heart 'em when I can. One day I will own a custom, handmade journal, I swear it! :P

Anyway, a tiny little update. Yesterday was very frustrating and fun at the same time, a bizarre combination of emotions really. Photography resulted in fun, but began with frustration. My film would NOT go in the spool, and it took 15 minutes in a small, pitch-black, hot closet to get the film ready for processing. But after all of that, here's a "contact" sheet of my negatives and one print from my roll that I loved (though a bit out of focus):

Printmaking... ugh. Aligning 2x2 blocks on a huge sheet of paper, and making sure to ink the right amount, is really tough. Hopefully I'll still get an A for effort.

What have you guys been up to this week? :)