Interview wit a Star, Nadia at crafts2love

If you are looking for the lovely fresh Holiday decor stop by crafts2love shop. You will find a lively company of the snowmen, the poinsettia, which will bloom forever, and the cutest little soft owl. They are all hand made of felt by Nadia, the owner of the shop, who we are interviewing on our blog today.

Please tell us about yourself
I was born in Taganrog, Russia, grew up in Kiev, Ukraine. My husband and I lived in Crimea, Ukraine, Hungary, Namibia, and Uganda plus visited Germany, South Africa and Botswana with missionary work. 9 years ago we came back to Hungary and about year and a half has passed since we settled here in Budapest.

What do you like about where you live now?
Budapest is a beautiful city, very green and artistic. We live in the suburb part of town in a house with garden but just 30 min away from the city center, so I get the best of both city and country life at the same time!

Do you work outside of the home?
No, I am a stay at home mom, my four kids are 12, 10, 6 and 4 years old and I devote my time to them.

What inspires you?
Felting is a very special form of craft to me, similar to painting or sculpting. You start with shapeless wool and transform it into whatever you wish. That in itself is an inspiration to me. I like working with natural things and ancient methods as it somehow brings me feeling of completeness.

How did you begin with your art?
I started felting as a hobby and a way to make things for my family. Since childhood I was inclined to arts and crafts and have done a lot of them through my life like being a balloon artist for example. I can also draw, paint and crochet. My husband and I lived in different countries as missionaries and I always found it handy to be able to come up with needed projects – from making balloons and being a clown to sewing a puppet theater. So it was always in my blood and finding myself less busy recently I needed a challenge and wanted to learn something new so I found felting!

 
I make about anything and everything there is to make from wool, experimenting with textures, different types of wool and other natural fibers. Come over to my shop and see!

Meet Lanadearg

Picture a cold blue January day when a blizzard is covering cars and buildings in a down blanket of snow. Trees shiver and shake from the howling wind… Rare passers-by, wrapped up to their ears in their warmest scarves, race by trying to escape the cold and get home as fast as possible… On a day like this it is great to visit a warm and cozy store, and I know just a place. It is a store filled with sunshine, warmth, and love - it is the "Argentinian Sun" store by Etsy seller Lanadearg.

Lana, the owner of the store, is a wonderful host and she would love to show her creations to you. Lana makes and sells hand-knit scarves, hats, and accessories.


Her works will immediately impress you with their elegant yet simple design, flawless workmanship and unbelievable feeling of warmth and love coming from them. Her scarves will keep you warm no matter how cold the weather gets, her hats will resist any wind. You will look great in it on a skiing slope or taking your date out in the city on a cold day.


Lana creates her hand-knit items in a variety of styles. For those of us who love to knit but do not consider themselves to be a professional, Lana's shop has knitting patterns and tutorials. Using step-by-step instructions provided by Lana you would be able to create a masterpiece yourself, just pick your yarn and color.


Also, Lana has a blog where she explains the knitting how-to. This is extremely useful for knitting beginners www.lanahobby.blogspot.com/ The blog also has a ton of other useful information such as recipes, fitness tips, bead jewelry tutorials and so on.

Come on in, visit Lana's store. I am sure that among all these soft, warm, and cozy hand-knit items there is a special one waiting for you.

Story by Lana (FineEmbroidery)
Translated by Alla (FleetingStillness)

This story also available in Russian there

Stylish Things: OOAK felted goods at Galafilc

Today, we share a story about Gala who runs great Galafilc shop on Etsy
A fairy called Gala lives in a small town in Poland on the coast of the Baltic sea.

She walks in beautiful surroundings, takes photos of white chamomiles and flamboyant poppies, delicate daffodils and royal sunflowers, autumn leaves and ripe ash berries.

And then Gala creates her magic items.
Gala does not need a magic wand to transform a shapeless piece of wool into a delicate flower, poppy field on a bag or a flexible reptile. Galina’s hands can create anything – seamless clothes, scarves, mittens, slippers, hats, brooches, lamps and amazing panels.


This is what Gala says about her handmade creations herself:

"I have liked creating things with my hands since childhood. In my school and university years I knitted a lot, everything from sweaters and hats to socks and mittens. A new unique item of clothing was gradually evolving from balls of yarn.


In 2007, I discovered a medium new for me - felting.

By pure accident I saw creations made by my university friend Lena online. They were felted scarves. I became interested how amazing woolen flowers were painted on thin chiffon and decided to try making something similar. Having read all instructions and recommendations available online and bought some wool, I felted my first scarf and flower. I really enjoyed the process of creating these simple things and started looking for materials, techniques and explanations.

Lately I became interested in dying wool and made felted items. This allows to make items even more unique".

Gala often participates in regional craft fairs and communicates with other felt artists. These fairs enable her to meet her clients and learn their tastes and likes, hear their wishes. This way she can make creations to order.

Exhibitions-competitions for amateur artists and craftspeople take place in the local chamber of culture on yearly basis. Gala’s creations have won awards in the category "Artistic fabric" in town and council competitions for three years in a row. This year Gala exhibited her felt painting "Birchwood" at the competition.

Today is the 7th of January – Orthodox Christmas. It is accustomed to give presents to relatives and friends on this day. Galina’s creations could be a perfect gift for this occasion – they are bright, optimistic and will bring a lot of joy to you and your beloved ones.


Story by Lana (FineEmbroidery)
Translated by Anastasia (Lightkeeping)

This story also available in Russian there

Stylish Things - Socksandmittens

Today our featured guest is Tanya Socksandmittens who is a member of Russian Artists Etsy team.


What can be better on a snowy winter day than grabbing your cup of hot chocolate to go, a camera and head to the forest or ice skate in a park. That’s where the white winter magic begins. Everything is covered by snow and there are hundreds of photo opportunities just waiting for you right around the corner! To enjoy it fully you should remember your warm clothing, appropriate shoes and handy accessories which will keep your hands and head warm.

Fingerless gloves, mittens, scarves and hats are winter MUST HAVE. They are relatively inexpensive so you should have several of them for the cold weather season. Each pair would go with a certain outfit or style or even your mood, and you could wear another while the other set dries out or needs to be washed.

In our store you can find a variety of warm cozy colorful gloves, mittens, hats, headbands and scarves. They are made of quality wool, wool blend or acrylic yarn, and it is up to you what fiber you prefer!


The best item for the winter, in my opinion, is fingerless gloves. You are able to keep your hands warm and toasty but at the same time you are able to perform a lot of activities that require the use of your fingers. Some of these activities may be driving (who did not hate that cold wheel in a morning), taking photographs or even typing on your computer or mobile device while outside or in a cold office!

Even better, we can make it convertibles! This way you will get 2 gloves in 1. You can wear them as gloves or mittens, it’s up to you!


If you see something you like in our store but want it in a different size or a color, we can make a custom order. We are pretty quick, it usually takes us about 2 to 5 days to complete an order, depends of yarn availability, existing orders or what you are wanting made.


Please visit our mother and daughter team shop Socksandmittens for all your warm and cozy knitted accessory needs!



Follow us on our blog, Twitter or Facebook!
Our blog: http://socksandmittens.blogspot.com/


Thank you, Tanya for taking your time and talking to us! Russian Artists team is honored to have such a talented and successful artist as its member!

Wonderful things Wednesday - Magic of Knitting

When the weather is chilling down more & more every day we are all reaching for our warm clothing to ward of the chill.

Fall & Winter is the best time to be stylish and warm at the same time. Thanks to knit items we can be both warm and stylish. There is no secret here: the key to your success are accessories! With a great selection of knitted jewelry and purses, gloves, mittens and hats everyone can find the right things to go with their outfits!

Knitting is one of the oldest and still popular types of needlework. Like crocheting, some of us have been knitting since childhood and some of us learned how to knit at an older age. No matter what age we are all trying to create something unique.

Knitting is a relaxing hobby for many people and a great way to look good even in a worst weather conditions and allows the craftsman explore their creativity. Knitters have many different ways to express themselves. There are many different materials to knit from, and almost endless variety of colors, and you can knit almost every type of clothing known!

Check out our fall & winter collection for all your cold weather needs.



1. Knitting scarf by Beautyland
2. Beige fall - handmade knitted colorflul cotton beanie by Sexyhandmade
3. Wool mittens in red and white by Inessa
4. Hand Knit cabled Leg Warmers in Pastel colors by DesignProjects


1. Hand Knit Mohair Poncho/ Cape/ Jacket/ Coat by Woolsolution
2. Aran Cable Scarf in grey by CozySeason
3. Socks rustic merino wool hand knitted by Lanadearg
4. Wool fingerless gloves by Socksandmittens



1. 100 Percent Peruvian Highland Wool Scarf in Rose by CityCrochet
2. Brown striped wrist cuff band bracelet by Cushyadornments
3. Chunky bulky handknit cowl - scarf - neckwarmer Harbor Mist by VitalTemptation
4. Baby Elf Hat by Bumblestore