Friday finds

Ah...I do love my succulents! They are so fascinating, especially how they can reproduce in the most hostile environments. I found this one down the back of a bookcase, clinging to life, feeding on the dust and mire that has accumulated over the seasons.

Wow! Has it been that long since my last post. Yes....my bad!
I was preparing for the Mycology conference, IMC9 in Edinburgh and absorbing all things fungi. I came across this mind-blowing information about fungi at the TED talks site.

http://blog.ted.com/2008/05/06/paul_stamets

I think our future hinges on supporting research and promoting the development of these kind of left field ideas!

During a very successful conference, the laws of attraction were in operation. I ended up with a nasty cold, virtually consumed by bacteria. That triggered a succession of colds and gripes, so was unwell for about five weeks in total. All that talk of swarming bacteria, spores and contamination....they say, be careful who you keep company with ;)

Check out this great blog, Handmade Europe. I got to choose some of my favourite places!

http://handmade-europe.com/2010/07/10/favorite-places-elinart

Inspiration!

The amazing work of Stebastian Buescher. The link below takes you to more of his work at the inimitable Velvet Da Vinci.

http://www.velvetdavinci.com/allimages.php?action=artist&id=130

Etsy features ELINtm!

Hooray! I've been featured in Etsy's 'The Eye of the artist' series in the Storque. Below is a direct link to the article.


http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/eye-of-the-artist-the-deep-blue-8665/

Free shipping offer!

To celebrate my upcoming exposure on both the 'Fossil' and 'Etsy' websites, I am offering free shipping on all non custom items in my Bigcartel shop ( click on the blue bracelet, to view), for a short period. Hooray!

New pin!

New pin in my bigcartel store. This is one of my favourite colour combinations, mustard, aqua and silver grey.

Inspiration!

I've just discovered the wonderfully creative jeweller Terhi Tolvanen. Her website is a veritable treasure trove of beautiful ideas and explorations.

http://www.terhitolvanen.com

Enjoy!!

Custom pincushions

One of my favourite things to do is make custom items. Last week was a pincushion week and both have found new homes in the USA. The top one is a delicious moldy one and the lower, my popular 'pixie cups' design.

I had an edition of pincushions in my Etsy shop using re-purposed shot glasses. After making about 30 of them I skipped off to Habitat to buy some more and horror! I was told the line was completely discontinued. So...I've had to play with new designs which have internal supports instead. These are my first two goes, one has a plastic disc, the other half a felt stone inside to make them stand up independently, both work well.

Do you follow the seasons?

There is no escaping the fact spring is in the air! All you crafters out there will have noticed the mountains of chicks and bunnies. Every time the season changes I seem to be miles behind! I've got another cold and my hands have gone as dry as streusel. In my dreams(!) one day, I'll be ahead of the curve and fully prepared for the seasonal changes. My pagan friends would say I don't get out of the city or plunge my hands into earth frequently enough, so am out of synch. They are probably right!

I do really like the idea of organising colours into seasonal palettes though. I'm always seduced by those books which work out what colour one's wardrobe should be from skin tone and hair colour. So, I'm aiming to try to think along those lines. The picture above is a new piece I made yesterday, endeavoring to use an autumnal palette. You can see the spring and winter rings at my Bigcartel site.......http://elintm.bigcartel.com/

p.s. Happy springcleaning :))