A Walk with Nature

The famous American naturalist John Muir once said that "...in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks". How true! Nature is an endless source of inspiration.

 Take for example nature inspired works presented to you by the Russian Artists Team.

When you walk through a forest you enjoy the fresh air, the subtle whisper of leaves in the wind, the beautiful views… It always makes me feel more alive.

I often want to pick up a mossy twig or an acorn and bring it home with me. Those gifts of nature remind me of the beauty that surrounds us.

We are inspired by many living creatures in the forest but owls in particular seem to be something that makes our imagination to go wild.

What makes these birds so interesting and attractive to us? Is it the fact that owls are nocturnal birds and we don’t see them much during daytime?

Or can it be the symbolism of wisdom that is associated with this bird?

There is also a mystical component to our perception of owls. Should we thank J.K. Rowling for that?

No matter where exactly the inspiration comes from, we all love owls and enjoy them in many forms and shapes.

There is so much inspiration awaiting you in the nearest forest or even a park. Get out there, take a deep breath, and let your imagination spread its wings!

 By Yana WineCountryLife

Tutorial how to color dye felting wool with KoolAid

A great way to color or dye felting wool is with KoolAid. It comes in a wide variety of colors that could be mixed up to create even more colors. It doesn’t wash away and is as natural as a food coloring could be. Another great thing about KoolAid is that it can be found in any grocery store in US.

I suggest we start with a few bright colors like red for cherry flavored KoolAid, yellow for Lemon and orange for Orange and a few felted beads of medium size. To read more about the process of creating felted wool acorns please refer to my post on How to make felted wool acorns.

I first made colored water. To make it I added powder from KoolAid packs to the water in a few small plastic containers. As a result I’ve got five containers with brightly colored water. I added approximately a tea spoon of powder to each of the containers. Then I put each of my five beads into a separate container and let the beads suck in the colored water.

One can vary the quantity of powder dispensed in the water to make the solution more or less saturated. As a result beads can turn out of either pale and pastel hues or bright and vivid colors. It makes sense to heat containers with solution and beads in a microwave up to the boiling point for color to fully penetrate the beads. However be careful as beads will be super hot! I usually cool them off in cold water afterwards.

The result is pretty impressive. All of my five beads turned out to be colored differently. The most intensive, bright and beautiful color turned out to be orange. Yellow bead was not that intensely colored but I really like the light lemon color of the bead. They smell of oranges, lemons and cherries! Yummy!

All those brightly colored beads could be turned into acorns or into an acorn wind chime.

This post describes my personal experience with a particular product.
Please be careful trying to replicate the experiment!!!

Tutorial by TonyaUtkina

The rusteam is on the front page of Etsy again!

Other great news  - again the rusteam was on Etsy front page!
It was at 1:00 EST when treasury collection "Thursday finds" was featured on the front page of Etsy. This beautiful collection was made by our teammate Ira (TomBjornDesigns). She wrote that she love each and every of those items.

Congrats Ira and all featured artists!

St. Patrick's Day

Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated all over the world on March 17th. It is a religious holiday that evolved into a secular celebration of Ireland's culture. The holiday is named after Saint Patrick who is the most widely known patron saint of Ireland.

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

The person who has later canonized as St Patrick was born in Roman Britain in the 4th century. At the age of 16 he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. He remained captive for about 6 years until he had a dream in which he was told by God to flee and return to Britain. The dream came true and he returned to Britain and studied to be a priest.

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

In 432 St Patrick returned to Ireland as a bishop and proceeded to convert Irish to Christianity. He used the shamrock, a three- leaf clover, to explain the concept of Trinity to the Irish.

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

Saint Patrick's Day became an official public holiday in Ireland in 1903. And in the mid-1990s the Irish government began a campaign to use Saint Patrick's Day to showcase Ireland and its culture. Wearing green and displaying images of shamrock have become a tradition for Saint Patrick's Day all over the world.

Photo sources from top, then left to right: 1, 2, 3, 4

Story by Alla (FleetingStillness)

Wonderful things wednesday - Winter woodland forest

Now that winter is upon us, how do our forest friends keep warm? They can’t wear warm mittens or coats but nature has given them their own means to stay warm.

Foxes, squirrels and other mammals grow a soft under fur to help them keep warm regardless if they hibernate like squirrels with their little stashes of food or are out playing in a snow like a foxes. Owls and other birds get a thick down under their heavy flight feathers.


One of the things we can do to make the winter easier for them and enjoy watching them, is to put out natural foods in a place that is visible for you. Some ideas are corn, suet, wild bird seeds and other such foods.

A winter forest is full of life even if you can not see it. Just stop and look around!

Our team has taken inspiration from the winter woodland forest and created many craft items for you to choose from!

{Photo sources from top, then l-r: 1, 2, 3, 4}

{Photo sources from top, then l-r: 1, 2, 3, 4}

{Photo sources from top, then l-r: 1, 2, 3, 4}

{Photo sources from top, then l-r: 1, 2, 3, 4}

Story by Tanya Socksandmittens
Photo collages by Katrin KarisaGraphic

How to make felted wool acorns - Monday Tutorial

Felted wool acorns are ideal for decorating homes, offices, back yards and even a Christmas tree. They make our homes look cozy and welcoming. Felted acorns are quite popular and one can buy them either on the Internet or at a farmer's market. But how about creating a few wool felted acorns yourself?

A sunny winter day is ideal for a stroll in a park and almost every park in America has oak trees. Don't just spare your walk! Collect a few large acorn cups that will be later used for creating felted acorns at home!

So how do we start?
Since we already have a few acorn tops we will now need some felting wool. It can be purchased on the internet or in any Ben Franklin store in your city. Apart from wool we will need regular soap and hot water. I usually try to use wool of as many colors as I can find as it helps to create a whole array of multicolored, bright and vivid acorns.

The creation process starts with felting. I normally take a small piece of wool make it into a soft ball, wet it with hot water and add some soap to it. After squeezing and rolling the ball between my palms for good 10 to 15 minutes wetting it and adding soap from time to time I get a felted firm ball that could be gently squeezed into an oval to look like an acorn.

Hang on! We are almost done! The last step is to connect our acorn cups to felted wool ovals. To do this we will need to make holes in our acorn cups. To connect acorn cups I use a mercerized cotton thread. This type of thread is very strong. Chances are slim it will ever tear apart. The thread enables us to hang acorns anywhere we like.

I personally like acorns to be of different shapes and sizes. They look genuine as they pretty much are. Bright wool colors make them look festive and jolly. Felted wool acorns are beautiful, durable and could be used in many ways. They add color and style to one's house and make it look cozy and friendly. They are a perfect gift for anyone you love or care about!

If you like hand felted scarves, brooches, hats, jackets and home decor items you might want to check out these wonderful shops by our Russian Artists team members:
AleksandraRoo
allmadewithlove
Beautyland
CityCrochet
dalmmar
frenchfelt
FunEmbroidery
galafilc
JaneBoFelt
jezek
JuliaFelt
manonknits
SilkMagic
soroka
Svetusha
VitalTemptation
YanArt
woolsolution

This article was written by TonyaUtkina at CityCrochet

Interview with a Star – TonyaUtkina

Today our featured guest is TonyaUtkina who is a member of Russian Artists Etsy team. Tonya has two completely different shops on Etsy. In CityCrochet Tonya offers hand crocheted and hand knitted items for urban style fashionistas as well as home décor items and hand felted accessories. In TonyaUtkina Etsy shop she offers happy and bright jewelry items made of high quality Czech glass, silver plated wire and felt.

Q: Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I grew up in Moscow, Russia and I am still in love with that beautiful and vibrant city. It’s not only a place of my childhood but a city with history that dates back to 1147 AD and diverse, fast pacing urban life. I still have a lot of friends and family members in Moscow and go back every year. In my mid 20s I moved to New York following my husband who got accepted to a university. It was a difficult but manageable transition as New York actually remind me Moscow a lot. Later on we moved to Richmond, Virginia where I reside now.

Q: How did you pick up crafting?
I love to create things with my hands! I’ve been crocheting and knitting since I was little. Hand crafting runs in my family as my mom has a great taste and wonderful hands. As so many Russian moms back in 80s and 90s she sewed and knitted for all my family. My brother and I always had beautiful and neat clothes hand made by my mom. I remember myself crocheting home décor items, making small sculptures out of wood, creating figures of paper mache. It was all back in my childhood when I had plenty of time to just hang around and experiment. Since then I had my own kids. While observing my children grow at some point I felt a need to resume my crafting. It’s great that my kids watch me actually make things with my hands and even try helping me sometimes.

Q: What are your favorite materials?
I love glass for its brightness and transparency. There are so many things one can create of glass beads and wire. One’s creativity is pretty much the only limit. Recently I’ve discovered felting which in some sense is similar to knitting and crocheting but gives much more room for experimenting. The result can be totally unpredictable.

I’m a fan of minimalism that has nothing in common with a traditional Russian ornamental style rich in flowers, curves, swirls, stylized animal and nature images. I guess I’m not a typical Russian in that sense as I adore simple lines and bold colors.

Q: What can you tell us about your Etsy experience?
I actually discovered Etsy by pure chance through an article in Wired magazine. I really liked the idea of an independent portal for artisans and craftsmen from all over the world. Besides I always thought that Etsy layout and design is very friendly and well thought out! I had no prior experience with on-line sales and marketing and Etsy came as a sort of revelation to me. I’ve been on Etsy for a bit more than a year now and I’ve learned a tonne since I started. It’s amazing how much more I now know about the world of on-line sales, SEO and marketing!

Wonderful things wednesday - Fall Highlights

Signs of fall are all around us. Leaves are turning colors from bright red to yellow. The air is getting crisp and clear. This is your chance to see how nature is preparing for the long winter! Grab your kids, pack your lunch and head out for a day in the park.

There are always lots to do in the park. You can gather acorns, watch and listen for migrating birds or just make some sketches of leaves. Of course you can always take pictures of the beautiful colorful hues of the leaves. Soon it will be gone until next fall.

The best of all, you will have some quiet time with your family. You will cherish these memories through the years, because time spent together with the people you love is priceless.

1. Felted wool acorns - set of 5 by CityCrochet
2. Copper necklace oak leaf and acorn by BlueberryCream
3. Nuno Felted Mitts - Green and Ginger by Galafilc
4. Orange Oak leafs Pendant Recycled genuine Leather by Katrinshine


1. Cell phone Ipod cozy wool Acorn by Socksandmittens
2. Taste of East Nuno felted Hoodie scarf cowl by JaneBoFelt
3. Colors of Fall. 8x10 Fine Art Photograph by IrinaPhotography
4. Ceramic eco friendly travel mug - Red Dragon by Yevgenia



1. Wool Felted Art hand dyed and painted scarf - Autumn Blues by Dalmmar
2. Hand Knit Hat and Scarf Set by Nikifashion
3. Autumn foliage digital collage sheet 1.5 inch circles by KarisaGraphic
4. Colorful maple leaves in water fine art photography by YuliaKazansky



1. Knit scarf brown yellow felt flowers brooch Autumn by Allmadewithlove
2. Very orange crocheted pumpkin decoration by AleksandraRoo
3. Pumpkin Hat PDF pattern and Pumpkin Amigurumi pattern by CuffeShop
4. Vintage Filigree Rhinestone Leaf Brooch Pin by Vintageer