Go see it here: www.alisuns.com
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
New Web Site!
I'm so excited! VaL finished my new web site and has agreed to maintain it for a flat rate. She does great work! I specifically asked her to make it compatible with my ArtFire studios and she did a wonderful job!
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Art Thief!
I guess there is one in every community, but this is someone (again) stealing physical art. This time at an art show. The following is copied from another artisan's blog. Please read and be alert.
Jenny Paterson from “Quilted in Clay” posted this to the PCC delphi message board and asked that we pass it on.
“2 weeks ago while packing up after a show, my case with ALL my finished “Quilted in Clay” beads was stolen out of my trailer. Along with all my findings, crystals and beads I use as accents to make necklaces.
I am estimating that I had upwards of 4500 clay beads in various sizes inside that case! I make beads in in 4 different sizes and shapes, in EACH of the 33 designs I currently have listed on my web site. Plus a number that I don’t have on the website.
These shapes are 3/4″ mobius beads, 5/8″ square, 1/2″ square and 3/8″ square. All finished and drilled.
It was suggested to me to keep an eye on eBay and Etsy for these. Which I plan on doing, but these are huge shops and I can’t monitor them alone, so I am asking for help.
If you all would not mind taking a look at the current designs on my website:
http://www.quiltedinclay.com/products/jewelry/quilted_jewelry1.htm
And if you happen to see something that might be my beads, please let me know.
I am devastated! We are talking hours and hours of work just GONE! Some of these designs, I don’t have any cane left, so I can’t even make any more beads, unless I remake the cane. I am having to call customers and tell them I can’t sell them the items they ordered, and ask them to choose something I have on hand, or give them a refund.
Thank you
Jenny P”
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Holiday
My husband and I are spending the holiday with his mother and his brother's family and hope that you are having as good a time as we are! Happy 4th, and see you soon.
Ali
Ali
Monday, June 29, 2009
Jewelry is Dangerous!
My fellow crafters, I must admit weakness. I fell almost completely apart under the weight of my daily promotion duties when I added one more chore - columnist for HMN News. Because my chosen department is not one in which I am expert, to say the least, extensive research is needed for each of my columns. That, a chance for an exclusive jewelry show,and remodeling my studio (which has major problems since the change to fusion squared off pix, and was in the process of being reorganized already) and daily guild blogs (which I haven't managed for a couple months at least) and Crazy Train blogs on every other day and Forum responses and Sneakers Tuesday did me in. All this should be manageable, some of you may say, since I'm not working, but I have the job search and actually enjoying my hobby as well. I'm still learning most of these thngs, so they are time intensive. I simply couldn't do it. And it depressed me that I couldn't. I don't want to give up any of these things, but I just must cut back.
I'll blog once or twice a week on each blog. I will continue my research for HMN and my columns, especially now that the output requirements have been changed. I will spend a minimal time in the forums and almost no time on Plurk or Twitter or other venues until I establish a routine that is comfortable. I hope you will forgive my inattentiveness in the past and until then.
Thank you very much to those of you who sought me out on various venues to find out how I was doing. It was appreciated.
I'll see you sometime next week!
Ali
I'll blog once or twice a week on each blog. I will continue my research for HMN and my columns, especially now that the output requirements have been changed. I will spend a minimal time in the forums and almost no time on Plurk or Twitter or other venues until I establish a routine that is comfortable. I hope you will forgive my inattentiveness in the past and until then.
Thank you very much to those of you who sought me out on various venues to find out how I was doing. It was appreciated.
I'll see you sometime next week!
Ali
Thursday, June 4, 2009
West Coast Crafters #11
Happy Thursday! I should be going to the flea market to scout the place, but since I went to bed 5 hours behind schedule yesterday, I'm going to try to play catch-up today. AND make an easier schedule to follow!
My latest HandMade News column is about recycling cell phones and giving aid to Third World medicine at the same time. Read it here.
Tuesday's Artfire Sneakers unsub was JennyKarlssonDesign. I bought a beautiful linen lavender sachet.
Don't forget to visit my Crazy Train blog, featuring three crazy train participants:
Ninja Jenn at http://www.ninjajenn.artfire.com http://www.ninjajenn.blogspot.com
Grahtoestudio at http://www.grahtoestudio.artfire.com
Kraftouch Treasures at http://www.kraftouchtreasures.artfire.com http://www.kraftouchtreasures.blogspot.com
The Crazy Train now has a .ning site so you can keep up on the latest stop.
The third guild to which I belong is the ArtFire Jewelry Design and Jewelry Supply guild. There is currently a giveaway going on at our .ning site. Also, the guild member of the week is StudioontheHill, which has some amazing items.
Here is a link to our West Coast Crafters guild roster. My next post will be a roster update, then I will begin featuring the enormous AJDJSS guild. Today's West Coast Crafters are: Thisisit journals and jewelry: This studio has been discontinued. TwilightsFancy necklaces and purses Tztudio precious metal clay jewelry
TwilightsFancy has beautiful items. Here is her studio in her own words: "Being that I am Lady Twilight and creating necklaces and purses are what I fancy, I present Twilight's Fancy. Creativity is my whimsy. What's your fancy?
"I post something new almost every day, so come on back and see what I've added or subscribe to my rss feed. Or, if you're looking for something in particular, contact me. I'd love to hear from you.
"All of my necklaces and purses are handmade by yours truly. I never make the same one twice, so check all my listings here (and at http://rinaslayter.etsy.com) or contact me if you see one you like, but want to buy one a little different. If the supplies are still available, your wish will be granted."
About herself, "My friends say I'm unique, very creative and a little strange and I agree with their assessment.
"I've always enjoyed making jewelry. In junior high, I used to make something like 30 pairs of earrings each week. Basically, the same 30 every week...from the same beads, but arranged differently. I made the best of what I had and was constantly changing even though the materials stayed the same.
"I also enjoy sewing. Why purses? I. Don't. Know. I honestly don't, but it seems to go back to those early days when I worked from a certain pool of materials, but yet each creation is different. I never make the same one twice. I work with what I have in my sewing room. Old, new, remnants, full bolts. I've amassed so much over the years.
"When I'm not in my craft room, I write romance novels, work on television shows and movies as a specialty costumer or even as an extra, maintain websites and work on my classic cars. For more information on who I am, see my website at http://RinaSlayter.com"
Because I never watch television (ok, almost never, and usually prerecorded to get rid of commercials) I didn't understand what "Twilight inspired" meant. Now I see!
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
TZStudio is currently not a verified ArtFire member, and therefore no longer a member of our guild, but I thought to highlight this unusual studio in the hope that we can encourage verification and guild membership again.
Since the artist gives no bio or introduction, I will copy the pictured item descriptions for you.
"Need the perfect gift?
"Why not a ring made from a grandmother's silver pattern!
"I will make a mould from one of the pieces, and return it to you with your ring.
"This ring was made from my grandmother's silver pattern.
"It is made of fine silver (.999), hand crafted by me using Precious Metal Clay. Textured with a floral pattern. The texture continues all the way around the ring.
"Precious Metal Clay is a clay-like medium used to make jewelry, beads and small sculpture. It consists of very small particles of silver mixed with an organic binder and water. Precious Metal Clay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using molds. After drying, it is fired in a kiln. The binder burns away, leaving .999 pure silver. The piece is then antiqued, or oxidized, to bring out the texture.
"Please specify ring size upon checkout."
"PEACE AND LOVE!
"This leaf textured peace and love heart pendant has been hand crafted by me, using Precious Metal clay, or PMC. Precious Metal Clay is a clay-like medium used to make jewelry, beads and small sculpture. It consists of very small particles of silver mixed with an organic binder and water. Precious metal clay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using molds. After drying, it is fired in a kiln. The binder burns away, leaving .999 pure silver. The pendant is then antiqued, or oxidized, to bring out the texture.
"Pendant measures 1 1/8".
"Hangs on a black rubber cord, with a sterling silver clasp.
"Don't forget to check out the matching earrings!"
Whew! That was a lot of stuff for just a few days! I hope you found time to visit our guild members' studios. Don't forget to come back here and leave a comment for our artists. Each month a pair of earrings or bracelet is given away to a random commenter. Have fun today!
My latest HandMade News column is about recycling cell phones and giving aid to Third World medicine at the same time. Read it here.
Tuesday's Artfire Sneakers unsub was JennyKarlssonDesign. I bought a beautiful linen lavender sachet.
Don't forget to visit my Crazy Train blog, featuring three crazy train participants:
Ninja Jenn at http://www.ninjajenn.artfire.com http://www.ninjajenn.blogspot.com
Grahtoestudio at http://www.grahtoestudio.artfire.com
Kraftouch Treasures at http://www.kraftouchtreasures.artfire.com http://www.kraftouchtreasures.blogspot.com
The Crazy Train now has a .ning site so you can keep up on the latest stop.
The third guild to which I belong is the ArtFire Jewelry Design and Jewelry Supply guild. There is currently a giveaway going on at our .ning site. Also, the guild member of the week is StudioontheHill, which has some amazing items.
Here is a link to our West Coast Crafters guild roster. My next post will be a roster update, then I will begin featuring the enormous AJDJSS guild. Today's West Coast Crafters are: Thisisit journals and jewelry: This studio has been discontinued. TwilightsFancy necklaces and purses Tztudio precious metal clay jewelry
TwilightsFancy has beautiful items. Here is her studio in her own words: "Being that I am Lady Twilight and creating necklaces and purses are what I fancy, I present Twilight's Fancy. Creativity is my whimsy. What's your fancy?
"I post something new almost every day, so come on back and see what I've added or subscribe to my rss feed. Or, if you're looking for something in particular, contact me. I'd love to hear from you.
"All of my necklaces and purses are handmade by yours truly. I never make the same one twice, so check all my listings here (and at http://rinaslayter.etsy.com) or contact me if you see one you like, but want to buy one a little different. If the supplies are still available, your wish will be granted."
About herself, "My friends say I'm unique, very creative and a little strange and I agree with their assessment.
"I've always enjoyed making jewelry. In junior high, I used to make something like 30 pairs of earrings each week. Basically, the same 30 every week...from the same beads, but arranged differently. I made the best of what I had and was constantly changing even though the materials stayed the same.
"I also enjoy sewing. Why purses? I. Don't. Know. I honestly don't, but it seems to go back to those early days when I worked from a certain pool of materials, but yet each creation is different. I never make the same one twice. I work with what I have in my sewing room. Old, new, remnants, full bolts. I've amassed so much over the years.
"When I'm not in my craft room, I write romance novels, work on television shows and movies as a specialty costumer or even as an extra, maintain websites and work on my classic cars. For more information on who I am, see my website at http://RinaSlayter.com"
Because I never watch television (ok, almost never, and usually prerecorded to get rid of commercials) I didn't understand what "Twilight inspired" meant. Now I see!
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
TZStudio is currently not a verified ArtFire member, and therefore no longer a member of our guild, but I thought to highlight this unusual studio in the hope that we can encourage verification and guild membership again.
Since the artist gives no bio or introduction, I will copy the pictured item descriptions for you.
"Need the perfect gift?
"Why not a ring made from a grandmother's silver pattern!
"I will make a mould from one of the pieces, and return it to you with your ring.
"This ring was made from my grandmother's silver pattern.
"It is made of fine silver (.999), hand crafted by me using Precious Metal Clay. Textured with a floral pattern. The texture continues all the way around the ring.
"Precious Metal Clay is a clay-like medium used to make jewelry, beads and small sculpture. It consists of very small particles of silver mixed with an organic binder and water. Precious Metal Clay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using molds. After drying, it is fired in a kiln. The binder burns away, leaving .999 pure silver. The piece is then antiqued, or oxidized, to bring out the texture.
"Please specify ring size upon checkout."
"PEACE AND LOVE!
"This leaf textured peace and love heart pendant has been hand crafted by me, using Precious Metal clay, or PMC. Precious Metal Clay is a clay-like medium used to make jewelry, beads and small sculpture. It consists of very small particles of silver mixed with an organic binder and water. Precious metal clay can be shaped just like any soft clay, by hand or using molds. After drying, it is fired in a kiln. The binder burns away, leaving .999 pure silver. The pendant is then antiqued, or oxidized, to bring out the texture.
"Pendant measures 1 1/8".
"Hangs on a black rubber cord, with a sterling silver clasp.
"Don't forget to check out the matching earrings!"
Whew! That was a lot of stuff for just a few days! I hope you found time to visit our guild members' studios. Don't forget to come back here and leave a comment for our artists. Each month a pair of earrings or bracelet is given away to a random commenter. Have fun today!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
West Coast Crafters #10
Happy Weekend! Hurray! My husband and I plan to do a little window shopping and maybe see a movie today. For two over-39 (hubby is 40) people, we sure see a lot of Pixar movies! We love them.
I'm not a gardener (my husband has a degree in horticulture so he gets those chores) but my latest HandMade News column is about killing weeds without pesticides. Read it here.
Don't forget to visit the Crazy Train, featuring TheBroomCloset. Paula has a wide variety of destashes in this shop. One less now, because I bought them! Paula is also the creator of the Crazy Train. (Bows to the Crazy Train Master.) She and the original secretary then abdigated all responsiblity to LaDeDaCreations, who is doing a wonderful job of keeping us in line.
Today's West Coast Crafters are:
Thechainmaillelady Chain maille jewelry Theskinyourein Handmade bath and body products
Here is a link to our West Coast Crafters guild roster.
Thechainmaillelady says, "I make gorgeous chainmaille jewelry! I have been weaving teeny tiny jump rings for over 4 years.
"My passion is working with sterling silver however, knowing that not everyone can afford sterling silver I have also created chainmaille using other mediums. I believe everyone should own at least one piece of chainmaille!"
I bought a version of this for my daughter-in-law:
"I would love to hear from you about my designs and quality so I can keep up to date."
"Listen To Me Every Tuesday 7PM EST On BlockHead Radio. Just Click On The Banner"
There is a BlockHead Radio widget on the right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theskinyourein says, "I am a wife, mom, grandma and step-mom and I love my job! I've been making bath and body products for the past six years and I'm blessed to have this profession as my full time job. This business was born out of my own battle with eczema and severely dry skin. After a few years of formulating and testing, I can say that my eczema is now under control and I am my best advertising tool.
"I love what I do and I hope you will too!"
Don't forget to visit their studios and leave messages for them as comments on this blog. Each month a random commenter receives a free pair of earrings or sterling plated bracelet (their choice).
I'm not a gardener (my husband has a degree in horticulture so he gets those chores) but my latest HandMade News column is about killing weeds without pesticides. Read it here.
Don't forget to visit the Crazy Train, featuring TheBroomCloset. Paula has a wide variety of destashes in this shop. One less now, because I bought them! Paula is also the creator of the Crazy Train. (Bows to the Crazy Train Master.) She and the original secretary then abdigated all responsiblity to LaDeDaCreations, who is doing a wonderful job of keeping us in line.
Today's West Coast Crafters are:
Thechainmaillelady Chain maille jewelry Theskinyourein Handmade bath and body products
Here is a link to our West Coast Crafters guild roster.
Thechainmaillelady says, "I make gorgeous chainmaille jewelry! I have been weaving teeny tiny jump rings for over 4 years.
"My passion is working with sterling silver however, knowing that not everyone can afford sterling silver I have also created chainmaille using other mediums. I believe everyone should own at least one piece of chainmaille!"
I bought a version of this for my daughter-in-law:
"I would love to hear from you about my designs and quality so I can keep up to date."
"Listen To Me Every Tuesday 7PM EST On BlockHead Radio. Just Click On The Banner"
There is a BlockHead Radio widget on the right.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Theskinyourein says, "I am a wife, mom, grandma and step-mom and I love my job! I've been making bath and body products for the past six years and I'm blessed to have this profession as my full time job. This business was born out of my own battle with eczema and severely dry skin. After a few years of formulating and testing, I can say that my eczema is now under control and I am my best advertising tool.
"I love what I do and I hope you will too!"
Don't forget to visit their studios and leave messages for them as comments on this blog. Each month a random commenter receives a free pair of earrings or sterling plated bracelet (their choice).
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
West Coast Crafters #9
Number 9...number 9....number 9... Ok, sorry. I'm a long-time Beatles fan.
Happy Sneakers Tuesday, folks! My husband and I had a great holiday with his mother, brother and wife and girls, and family friends. We were out of town, and it was great to see the clear sky stars and gorgeous lake in the mountain valley. We saw brother-in-law's family cabin, which is new and ready for rental over the summer. I'm glad it wasn't rented while we were there so we could play with the babies!...um, I mean, see Mom-in-law, Brother-in-law, Sister-in-law, and friends. I hope your holiday wasn't spent in grief but in celebration of the freedom the sacrifices of our military have bought.
Don't forget to visit the Crazy Train, featuring Angelas_Adornments. Angela has played with the new studio options that ArtFire has provided us and I think you will agree they are awesome!
Today's West Coast Crafters are:
QuirkynBerkeley Greeting cards
Sewstitchedup embroidery designs on fabric squares, (SewStitchedUp appears to be on vacation, so we will visit with her later)
TantalizingStitches Craft supply
Here is a link to our West Coast Crafters guild roster.
As a San Francisco Bay Area resident, I'm a little amused that anyone in Berkeley need identify oneself as quirky but I can tell you that if you browse this studio you will find many fun and simply beautiful items. Quirky does greeting cards, and the teeny tiny envelopes are clearly quirky, but cute, and the great day card pictured is clearly beautiful, so you need not be eccentric to visit this studio.
The artisan says, "Love paper. Love color. Love Berkeley.
Enjoy your Sneakers' Tuesday and be sure to visit the .ning site or the ArtFire Forum to discover the identity of this week's unsub!
Happy Sneakers Tuesday, folks! My husband and I had a great holiday with his mother, brother and wife and girls, and family friends. We were out of town, and it was great to see the clear sky stars and gorgeous lake in the mountain valley. We saw brother-in-law's family cabin, which is new and ready for rental over the summer. I'm glad it wasn't rented while we were there so we could play with the babies!...um, I mean, see Mom-in-law, Brother-in-law, Sister-in-law, and friends. I hope your holiday wasn't spent in grief but in celebration of the freedom the sacrifices of our military have bought.
Don't forget to visit the Crazy Train, featuring Angelas_Adornments. Angela has played with the new studio options that ArtFire has provided us and I think you will agree they are awesome!
Today's West Coast Crafters are:
QuirkynBerkeley Greeting cards
Sewstitchedup embroidery designs on fabric squares, (SewStitchedUp appears to be on vacation, so we will visit with her later)
TantalizingStitches Craft supply
Here is a link to our West Coast Crafters guild roster.
As a San Francisco Bay Area resident, I'm a little amused that anyone in Berkeley need identify oneself as quirky but I can tell you that if you browse this studio you will find many fun and simply beautiful items. Quirky does greeting cards, and the teeny tiny envelopes are clearly quirky, but cute, and the great day card pictured is clearly beautiful, so you need not be eccentric to visit this studio.
The artisan says, "Love paper. Love color. Love Berkeley.
"Beyond that, my style is eclectic and I love to experiment. I get completely absorbed in engineering my varied creations for hours. Each one is a new and unique production, made of treasures from my collection of paper and ephemera, transfigured into a single piece held together by a little glue, a lot of ideas, practice and work, and most of all, a great amount of joy. Everything is made in a smoke free environment."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TantalizingStitches is a neighbor: we live in the same town.
The artisan's bio reads, "I opened up my supply shop after my craft room became overwhelmed with supplies! So now, you too, can enjoy my excess craft room supplies. (All items are new and have never been used!)
"I am a avid supporter of animals and for that reason I send 5% of all sales to PAWS-Saipan, an animal welfare organization on Saipan, an island in the Northern Mariana Islands of Micronesia, where I lived for two years. I started selling my craft when I lived there so it was only fit to dedicate part of my store to those wonderful animals."
Two great artisans who are practically neighbors!
Don't forget to visit their studios and leave messages for them as comments on this blog. Each month a random commenter receives a free pair of earrings or sterling plated bracelet (their choice).
I'm also going to go out on a limb and offer the pick of any AlisunsToo item or Alisuns item under $25 and under to the first person to reply to this blog with the basic grammatical error (excluding punctuation) in my latest HandMade News column in the Green Wise section. Here is a link.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TantalizingStitches is a neighbor: we live in the same town.
The artisan's bio reads, "I opened up my supply shop after my craft room became overwhelmed with supplies! So now, you too, can enjoy my excess craft room supplies. (All items are new and have never been used!)
"I am a avid supporter of animals and for that reason I send 5% of all sales to PAWS-Saipan, an animal welfare organization on Saipan, an island in the Northern Mariana Islands of Micronesia, where I lived for two years. I started selling my craft when I lived there so it was only fit to dedicate part of my store to those wonderful animals."
Two great artisans who are practically neighbors!
Don't forget to visit their studios and leave messages for them as comments on this blog. Each month a random commenter receives a free pair of earrings or sterling plated bracelet (their choice).
I'm also going to go out on a limb and offer the pick of any AlisunsToo item or Alisuns item under $25 and under to the first person to reply to this blog with the basic grammatical error (excluding punctuation) in my latest HandMade News column in the Green Wise section. Here is a link.
Enjoy your Sneakers' Tuesday and be sure to visit the .ning site or the ArtFire Forum to discover the identity of this week's unsub!
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