A life of a mother

When I was little I wanted to be held by her all the time; I needed her undivided non-stop attention. When I was a teenager I hated all those “Have you done your homework?” and “Make sure you are home by 9”. When I was heartbroken and miserable I needed her support. I enjoy talking with her when I have time to call. I know she wishes I called more often even though she does not say anything. Being a Mom is a very difficult job that is not always appreciated enough.


If you are a mother I inspire you to celebrate yourself this coming Mother’s day! Take time to appreciate all the hard work you do. Forgive yourself for the things you wish you had done differently. Give yourself credit for the many things you’ve been doing well. Buy yourself something you’ve always wanted. Do something that makes you happy. And don’t forget to call your mom.

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

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

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

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

Story by Yana (WineCountryLife)

Photo collages by Katrin (KarisaGraphic)

Vintage Easter rabbit graphic

This is a lovely antique Easter rabbit image for you today, right in time for Easter! You can use it as a gift tag, a post card image or use it in your Easter scrapbook project.

Click on image to enlarge

This image is kindly offered by Katrin (karisagraphic)

A matter of taste. Miniature food style

Tastes differ. But whatever your preferences are, you would have to agree with me that the taste of a store-bought pie is always different from one that was baked at home.

Imagine a woman baking in her kitchen. Maybe she is singing to herself, maybe just quietly listening to the sounds in the house. She could be watching the news out of the corner of her eye, or just looking out of the window. It is clear, however, that she is baking this pie thinking of people whom she would like to enjoy it. She is baking this pie for YOU - the real homemade pie full of love. Finally, the pie comes out of the oven, it is being placed on the table, then cut, and you get to try a piece…

Now imagine that you strolled into a supermarket, got a pie off the shelf, drove it home, took it out of the box, and placed it on the table. :)

Feel the difference?

If you think about it, in both cases the pie is on the table waiting to be eaten. But those two pies are, clearly, incomparable. Would you agree?

Same holds true with jewelry, clothing and housewares. Mass-produced things are clearly distinguishable from handmade ones. The handmade items have a different "taste", taste of love.

This was just a preface…

"Tasty" Handmade. Miniature food decor style

I dove into the world of handmade and tried to peek into the workrooms of artists that create these unbelievably gorgeous items. There I discovered "tasty" handmade.

For example, there are many items among works created by members of the Russian Artists Team on Etsy.com.

Chocolate theme

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

Berry-fruity theme

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Cakes and cream

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

Bon appetite my dear friends!

Story by Maria (Callofearth)
Translated by Alla (FleetingStillness)

Spring necklace giveaway results

Guess who won the Spring organza necklace?

Salleefur/Jesslyn/Jesster did!
Her comment #131 was chosen by random. org:

Congratulations for winner! Thank you for participation, everyone!

Interview with a star - Inessa (SmaFactory)

Please, let us introduce our fellow team mate Inessa who runs SmaFactory shop on Etsy


- Please tell us a little bit about yourself
Hello! My name is Inessa, I live and work in Kyiv, Ukraine, I’m a proud mama of a beautiful 6 year old son. Recently I managed to work as a mediaplanner in advertising agency by day and jewelry designer by night, but now I decided to quit my job to became full-time jewellery maker. I'm extremely happy to be doing what I love.


- How long have you been creating? How did your journey in art and creativity begin?
I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands. As a child, I enjoyed taking children's art classes, crafts, I attended music school for classical piano study...
About three years ago I discovered stained glass paints and that’s how my craft addiction started. My first work was a glass tea cups that I painted with cute orange flowers. As a self-taught crafter, I searched for a tutorials on the web, I learned basic tips and techniques on a related craft forums…
Shortly after this I found a great site about polymer clay. I was intrigued by polymer clay jewelery and tried to make a piece of my own. It was so exciting!
I’ve been working with polymer clay now for about 2 years, and there is still so much to learn, but I really love it!


- What items do you carry in your shop?
I am a self-taught and eclectic artist, who works with a variety of techniques. I have some jewelry created in stone-imitation technique, some in decoupage, some is hand sculpted or molded and I use texture on clay technique in my jewelry also. I am fascinated with the process of jewelry making. I strive to always improve on my designs and techniques and to make jewelry that is creative, lovely and easy to wear.


- What are your main sources of inspiration?
Inspiration comes from everywhere and everything: daily life, nature, seasons, daydreams, love… and whatever I see.
But most of all my inspiration comes from nature. Gardening is another passion of mine. I love growing flowers, especially roses. That’s why there are so many flower-themed jewelry in my shop.


- Do you have a favorite item you have made?
Yes, that’s my Ancient Leaves earrings, which are molded from real leaves. They looks so refined because of the beautiful texture, and they are very lightweight too.


- Do you have a Favorite quote you'd like to share with us?
Happiness does not depend on outward things, but on the way we see them.

Easter colors

We are so tired of the long cold winter this time of year that we are happy to forget about dark winter colors and replace them with colorful ones!

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

Easter is one of the favorite holidays for many people and it has it's own colors. Soft pastels are found in nature, like pale cherry blossoms, or robin's blue egg in their nests, or the first green leaves appearing on the trees! You are also anxious to redecorate your house in soft spring colors so put away the winter decorations, open some doors and windows to let fresh spring air in and find some new spring decorations to put up.

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

Our artists were working hard to bring some Easter cheers to your house. Please take a look at our collection to see what we have, I know you will find something you like!

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

Story by Tanya (Socksandmittens)
Photo collages by Irina (IrinaPhotography)

"Enjoy the ride" on the front page of Etsy

Today I casually got to know that one treasuries made by our teammate was on Etsy front page!  It was March 26 at 8:00 PM EST. This collection named "Enjoy the ride" and it's dedicated to feeling of happy that every person should have travelling in own life. The curator of thes collection was Katrinshine. Thank you, Katrin and congrats all featured artists!
Enjoy:

Posted by Katrin (Katrinshine).