Friday Finds- Always and Forever

Ready for Valentine day? This week’s Friday Finds had a sweet theme and was called “ I heart you”. We picked a beautiful treasury carefully picked by Melina Stephens from LinenandLaceHandmade.   Her treasury is filled with love inspirational art, prints and photography.

 Melina makes beautiful fabric accessories for the house, as well as boys and girls’ nursery.
 Here is one of her burlap pillow cushions with a stitched “Be Happy “message:

                                                  Be Happy Embroidered Burlap Pillow Cushion

Treasury:
Always and Forever


I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Friday Finds. Next week’s treasury theme is “Spring Trends”. If you have a treasury you would like to submit, just send me or Susan a link via Etsy convo by Thursday afternoon and we will take a look. Remember, if your treasury is featured, we will feature an item from your shop. Thanks for stopping by! Until next time… Zoica

DIY - Free Chalkboard Printables

Today I thought I would share with you some FREE artwork. Yes, that's right - they are free! 

Select one or all three.  All you have to do is print.  Just right click on the images below and save to your computer.  Then you can either print them out on your home computer or take the file to your local office supply shop and have them printed.

 

 

 

Frame them and you have instant art!

Thanks for stopping by...

 

Until next time,

 



This year's jewelry trends

Today I am going to share insights on one of my favorite subjects: jewelry. This year’s fashion jewelry aims to create a balance between luxury and affordable. There is also a trend for gender-neutral product, ethically sources and pop culture inspired. Many designers are using innovative materials, superior craftsmanship and ingenious designs.


V Jewellery are vintage inspired, they have great quality and are affordable. Here is a popular style: Lobe earrings.

DECO APOLLO LOBE EARRINGS

WWAKE offer a modern perspective on heirloom jewelry and is ethically sourced.

Khai Khai connects the gap between fashion and fine jewelry by offering fun designs made from premium materials.

Ruifier combines superior craftsmanship and materials with innovative, witty design.

Most of the above brands are International, located in UK, and  they outline some of the main trends for this year. Designers around the world have their own interpretations of the above trends.

Friday Finds- Fresh Ideas

Welcome to this week’s Friday Finds! This week’s theme was “Let’s get organized ” and I selected a treasury named "Get Organized in Style" curated by Laura Clauson from “MamaBleuDesigns”. Laura makes beautiful personalized bridesmaid gifts, wedding clutches and décor.


Here is one of her beautiful designs:

                                                   Cotton Floral Bridesmaid Clutch

Treasury: Get Organised in Style

I hope you have enjoyed this edition of Friday Finds. Next week’s treasury theme is “I heart You” If you have a treasury you would like to submit, just send me or Susan a link via Etsy convo by Thursday afternoon and we will take a look. Remember, if your treasury is featured, we will feature an item from your shop. Thanks for stopping by!
 Until next time…
Zoica

Fashion designers' special touch to the interior design fashion

At the beginning of the month I was mentioning about the 2015 color of the year “Marsala” and its apparent influence in fashion as well as interior design. Today I want to bring a few highlights of 2014.
 Many luxury fashion brands have long been producing their own homeware collections and 2014 was a year of record labels moving to the interior design world, allowing for audience expansion and brand awareness.

 The New York-based fashion designer Reed Krakoff and his wife interior designer Delphine Krakoff created a Felt Series collection, which has the designer’s minimalist resonance. Here is one of the five-piece collection in grey felt:

Zara Home was launched 12 years ago, and has 420 locations worldwide. Here is one of their home look:

French Connection’s has a consistent style that combines washed linens, natural weaves, driftwood looking wood, textured glass, worn surfaces, and industrial-style lighting.

Ugg Australia comfortable fashion philosophy translates into woolen blankets, poufs, cushions and sheepskin rugs.

There are so many other lifestyle brands from Giorgio Armani to H&M, Antropologie, and Urban Outfitters. 

If decorating and choosing colors is a daunting task for you, find out what with what fashion style you identify and check out the brand’s homewares collections, which has no focus on the "color of the year" or the latest trends but on a lifestyle look.

Friday Finds for a Teen Girl!

Welcome to this week’s Friday Finds! Since spring is just around the corner (or at least we hope so) we are already gathering ideas on how we can decorate our teens’ room, or what we can buy as bright spring looking gifts. Today I am sharing with you a treasury curated by Leslie from Elbowsdesigns. Her treasury is named “Teen girls gift guide” so the main theme is pink.
Leslie makes quirky-chic jewelry at affordable prices. Here is one of her designs, a collar wire statement necklace.

Collar Wire Statement Necklace

Here is the treasury curated by Leslie, with wonderful unique apparel or room decor for a teenager's room.

Teen Girls Gift Guide

We hope you have enjoyed this edition of Friday Finds. Next week’s treasury theme is “Let’s get organized”. If you have a treasury you would like to submit, just send me or Susan a link via Etsy convo by Thursday afternoon and we will take a look. Remember, if your treasury is featured, we will feature an item from your shop. Thanks for stopping by! Until next time… Zoica

Artist Showcase - Papacho Creations

Welcome to another Artist Showcase, where we select an Etsy artist to feature.  This week's artist is Gwenaël Petiot and his shop is Papacho Creations.  Petiot is a macramé artist from Paris, France. Macramé is an antic art using only knots. Macramé can be made with different kind of cords, cotton, hemp, and polyester and be mixed with beads, gemstones or even leather.

Azurite Macramé Bracelet

Here is Petiot's story...

In 2007, I decided to quit my job in the television industry and travel around South America for three months. The first time I saw someone doing macramé was in Caracas, Venezuela. The man made me a simple bracelet, I was really impressed he did it only by making knots. I stayed in this part of the world more than 4 years and to make some money while traveling, some local friends from Peru and Argentina taught me how to work with cords and I started selling my creations in the streets of Chile, Bolivia, and Colombia.

Multicolored Flower Macrame Necklace

When I returned to Paris in 2011 to sell my creations at the summer street market, the partner of Anne Valérie Hash, a French haute couture designer, bought me several creations. Hash loved them and with three weeks until her runway show for the Paris Fashion Week, she asked me to collaborate on a number of pieces. The collection debuted at Le Jeu de Paume, in front of the Champs-Elysées. Six months prior I was selling my bracelets for a few dollars a piece in a little village in the mountains of Cuzco, Peru, in order to pay for my next train ticket.

Multicolored Flowers Macrame Earrings

Being able to explore the world while working on my craft is what makes keeping my business small and handmade imperative. Thanks to the online selling, I can be free because I can work from every place I travel to. I just need a few stones, threads, a camera, and a portable computer. Life might be easier, money-wise, if I keep working in the fashion world, but I really think that liberty has no cost.

Multicolored Friendship Bracelets

To get this liberty and enough sales on Etsy, you have to fill your shop with new and originals creations that cannot be found in other shops. You have to be different or at least have your own touch and be very careful about your work details and finish.

Macramé Multicolor Wristband Bracelet

 

Ammonite Macramé Bracelet

Thank you Gwenaël for sharing your story with us.  If you would like to see more of Gwenaël , check out his Facebook page.

Next week we'll select another Etsy artist to feature.  If you would like to be considered, just drop Zoica or myself a note via Etsy convo and we'll take a look.

Thanks for stopping by...

Until next time,

Marsala 2015 color of the year

This year's Pantone assigned color is Marsala, which makes us immediately think of the famous Italian wine. There are predictions of its appeal to equal men and women apparel and accessories, as well as interior designers looking to bring warmth into home interiors.
Marsala will be a great choice for jewelry and fashion accessories including handbags, hats, and footwear, while inside our homes it will combine dramatically with neutrals including taupes and grays It will be a great color for accent pieces.
Here are some of my fashion pics:

Marc Jacobs Burgundy Leather Fringed Boot (see more fringe boots)

Barbour BB002BYBY Women's Fell Leather Strap Watch, Burgundy (see more bracelet jewelry)

Carven Malher Burgundy Grained Leather Handbag (see more chain purses)

I went on a treasure hunt for decorating ideas on a budget and here is what I found:

Cat-Rossu Vases from Crate and Barrel

Knitted Pillow from Adorablewares at Etsy

Gauze Courtains from Urbanoutfitters

Subway tile from Home Depot

Anthropologie Carambola lamp

Marsala reddish-brown will command attention in your interior, and will work well in a variety of spaces and with various decorating themes.

Artist Showcase

Today's featured artist is Anna M from GemsPlusLeather. Anna creates beautiful accessories from leather, beads, gemstones, fur, and she offers custom designs and patterns as well. Here is one of her beautiful items:

             One of a Kind Bead Embroidered Necklace

 

 

 

 

• Tell us a little about yourself and your creative business.

  Let me introduce myself, I’m Anna, a self taught designer living in Prague, Czech Republic. I’m mostly known in connection with Gemsforall (gemsforall.com). I’m a beadsmith and a leather crafter inspired by the beauty of nature. As you can see my art is quite unusual and is meant for the people who appreciate handmade designs and "outside of the box" solutions. I love working with beads, gemstones, fur, leather, wire, cabochons but I'm also open to anything new. If I see something interesting I'd like to try - 99,9% I'm gonna give it a try. Thus, I always learn something new and improve existing skills. Visit my page and shop and my art will tell you much more than any words could...

  Bead Embroidered Necklace

 

 

 

 

  • How did you get your start?

My beading addiction began over 7 years ago. Later on in 2012 I fell in love with leather tooling & started creating leather projects. Since then I combine leather, beads, fur, gemstones and anything else my imagination may come up with. It all began as a hobby, thus it is now difficult to define when exactly it became more than that. I’d say I’ve understood it became something more serious once I’ve opened my first online shop. Originally my brand name was Gemsforall. It was created in 2008 when my website gemsforall.com was born. I was in love with gems and wanted to share my passion with everyone. I've opened my shop on Etsy much later, in November 2012 and by that time I already had 2 passions, both gems and leather. Thus I couldn't keep the old name for my shop though many people already knew the name Gemsforall… That’s why I had to arrange “re-branding” coming up with the name “GemsPlusLeather” (www.etsy.com/shop/Gemsplusleather).

Hand Tooled Leather Hair Barrette

 

 



  • Where do you get your inspiration?

  I live a very quiet life enjoying medieval atmosphere of old Prague (I see it from my window). I don’t know how and where my ideas come from. Some movies I watch, some music I listen to, beautiful pictures of nature and architecture I see on the internet and around me – inspiration is everywhere!

Pattern Tutorial for Beaded Sunflower

• What has been your biggest successful moment so far?
I’m happy finding out that people have, use and wear pieces I’ve made 6-7 years ago and hearing feedbacks “made for ages”. It really makes me proud!

One of  Kind Necklace 



• What challenges do you face selling online?
The biggest challenge is to become visible for buyers. Unfortunately recently Etsy is becoming a place for Chinese manufacturers and it’s very difficult to compete with them. I’m all by myself and don’t have anyone but me for production, marketing, advertising, public relations, etc… Thus I have to spend more and more time advertising myself in teams, making treasuries, using all other available sources for advertisement.

Phoenix Necklace

 

• What advice would you give someone just starting out on Etsy?
I assume that person who is going to open a shop on Etsy should read Etsy seller’s handbook and to learn more about selling on Etsy, its “do’s” and “dont’s”, useful tips and ideas. It's quite helpful. Maybe that someone will find and understand more than I did and will be more successful... :)

Thank you Anna for sharing your beautiful designs with us! If you would like to see more of Anna creations you can find them here.