Interview with a Star - Svitlana (VitalTemptation)

Please, welcome our team member Svitlana who runs VitalTemptation shop on Etsy.


Please tell us a little bit about yourself
Hi everyone! My name is Svitlana. I live in New York, but I was born in Ukraine. My home town is Simferopol located in the peninsula of Crimea. Crimea is well-known for its spectacular landscapes, beautiful Black sea, and many historical places.
Now I live in the Big Apple with my family, my husband and my son, and two very important members of my family Chubby and Buster, my dogs.


How long have you been creating? How did your journey in art and creativity begin?
I was creating since I was a toddler. I used to annoy my parents, this week I wanted to learn how to make pots, next I wanted them to buy me wood curving instruments, the week after I wanted to do embroidery. I always had thousands of hobbies. Even now my parents in Ukraine have many of my creations around the house. I remember how I was fascinated by watching shows about glass-blowing and pottery.

I always had that unexplained draft to fiber art. A few years ago I was browsing the Internet and one felted piece caught my eye. Wow, I said to myself, I want to know how it’s made. That was a start of lifelong romance. I realized there is nothing more unexpected, intriguing, magical than felt!
Besides felting I always liked to knit and to make crocheted pieces.

What items in your shop do you most enjoy making and why?
Of course the most enjoyable time for me is when I spend hours while making Nuno Collage pieces. By using Nuno techniques I can achieve very interesting texture and amazing color combinations. Nuno collage in many ways reminds me painting and painting was my obsession when I was a child.

Do you have a favorite item you have made?
You can ask me the same question a week or a month from now and I will have the same answer: “My last item” :)

What are your best marketing tips?
Believe in yourself and never think that achieved is the peak of the mountain!

Why did you decide on VitalTemptation name for your business?
Oh, that name has a little story behind it. Before opening my shop I did a serious research about Etsy. I realized then that the name of your business is just as important as the quality of your items. I remember I had a few sample names for my shop and I went to my husband to ask his opinion on them. It happened that he was watching a TV show with a name Vital Temptation on the History Channel … and he just: this is the perfect name for your shop! That was true the name was sharp and it reflected my vision on what I was going make.

What would you say makes your shop unique?
I think every artist is unique. Our work is not just a bunch of wool, fabric , beads … our work is a reflection of our feelings, emotions, experiences… we all are different, we all are unique in our own way.

Tomorrow is Svitlana's Birthday. We wish her well and we are very happy to have her in our group.

Happy Birthday, Svitlana!

Interview with a star - Adina

Today we present you interview with our team member Adina (daisiescrochet).

Hello! My name is Adina and I live in Virginia, USA.

I spent my childhood in a beautiful small town on the coast of the Black sea in Russia. Our house was surrounded by gardens with flowers and fruit trees and forests. For me as a child there was nothing better than to quietly sit in a cozy corner of our garden and work on a craft project.

I was interested in anything handmade, anything I could make myself. I got introduced to knitting at age 5 by my mother, and later I learned to crochet using crocheting magazines from the school library. I think that my love for everything natural and organic took its root there, in my childhood. This has become a great influence on my life. My other biggest passion has always been reading.

Now I am 34 years old and happily married. I have 4 sons and a baby daughter. My little princess inspired me to open my store. I sell various knit and crocheted baby items mostly made from organic yarn.

I strive to create unique and unusual items made from organic materials for my children and I would love to share them with you through my store. In my store you will find photo props and various hats and beanies for babies, toddlers and older kids. My store also carries some Bath and Beauty items. I am now working on patterns for my items. I think many mothers and grandmothers will gladly use my tutorials to make something for their little ones.

Every baby hat and even the smallest flower are saturated with my love for children. I am very happy to see happy children and their mothers satisfied with their purchases. I am very thankful to all my customers who leave comments about my work and especially to those who send me photos of their kids wearing my items. This is the best prize and such an inspiration for me.

I would love it if you visited my store Daisiecrochet.
You can also follow me on Facebook where I post all my new items and promotions.
www.facebook.com/kostadinav#!/daisiescrochet

Best wishes, Adina

Translated by Alla (FleetingStillness)

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)

Interview With A Star - Yana at YanArt

Yana is one of the talented felt artist from Ukraine who is also a member of our group. So we asked her to tell us more about herself, her work, her inspiration. She kindly agreed and we are happy to introduce you Yana at YanArt today!

Please tell us a little bit about yourself

My name is Yana. I live in Cherkasy, Ukraine. It’s a beautiful town on the bank of the Dneper river. From my early childhood I liked to draw, sew, knit, and sculpt clay. So sometimes I even wonder why I graduated from the university with an absolutely different major. Probably this is why now I invest more time in my hobby which begins to gradually replace my profession. Of course, it became possible only with the support of my family, and I mean all its members! My beloved cat is always around :)

Tell us more about your work

I learned about felting a few years ago. This particular method attracted me with its variety and unlimited possibilities: you can mix wool in the same way as you mix paints and literally draw with it and see it comes to life in your hands.

Do you use any special techniques or tools?

I prefer to use natural materials in my work: wool, clay and fabrics. Though at the present time I spent much time with felting/needle felting. You can’t often predict the outcome though but the result is always magnificent.

Work with wool is surprising, live, interesting and remarkable. There is no place for ordinary, it is always one of a kind! It is also a constant self-perfection of your own knowledge and techniques. Wool allows you to create felt products using different kinds of fabrics as a basis and different kinds of wool, fibers of silk, banana, etc. It goes further, it’s not only wet felting, but also dry or their combination!

What are your main sources of inspiration?

What gives me inspiration? Just about everything! A beautiful sunset I can see through my window, a bouquet of summer flowers, sparkling raindrops in the spider’s net. All these things are so appealing!

Do you take custom orders?

I do and I am often inspired by the orders themselves. Take a look at my work for a little girl who was only two month old at that time, for instance:

The most touching requests are to create a figurine in memory of a passed pet:

Also, I just have to mention my favorite client, a little Roxolana:)

Each and every of my creations are made with great love. They carry a bit of my soul and warmth of my hands. It is very important for me that everyone could feel it and get the greatest satisfaction possible!