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I have two near addictions on Etsy: The Treasury’s and Pounce. They are to me like playing tetris or solataire is to others. Mindless, interesting and pointless …but sometimes that is what you need, some time out.
I have admired Nicole Licht’s Woodland Creatures, Bunnies and Dolls for a long time now. She makes these gorgeous cuddly soft toys and sells them on etsy.
“All of my creatures bodies are machine stitched and then altered, uh tailored by hand. I’m never satisfied with a machine stitched form. I never make patterns for the details like ears and faces. All of the faces, ears and details are cut freehand and for the most, hand stitched. On the woodlanders, I embroider hairs with silk threads pulled from the material I use to sew their cloaks and capes. Other things I make are designed completely as I go, patternless. I’m largely inefficient but I rather enjoy the process.”
I love the way that Nicole names her friends. The ones below are from left to right: Rolf, Boris and Dottie.
There is an exception though: she does not name the Woodland Creatures. “… because I don’t think they speak the same language as me! Ha! Even I’m not sure exactly what they are.” To Nicole, they have a melancholy, playful and even magical quality and pushed to make a decision, she choose the Woodland Creatures as her favourite to make.
Nicole is a single mom who teaches (not for profit but to under arts exposed and under performing inner city schools). She lives in a one-bedroom apartment in New York which doubles up as her “studio”.
“My “studio” consists of a hollow door desk in my bedroom. But most often I gravitate to stitching sitting on my bed. I’m not sure why. It’s become a bit of a running joke to those who know me, my ‘work bed’. Right before craft fairs it gets pretty ridiculous… and treacherous, pins and needles and all.”
She started Astulebee in September 2007. (The name comes from the latin word Astula meaning, roughly, atelier, an arist’s workshop). What got her started was a book: “Therese Laskey’s Softies” and “found it super fun and inspiring” but without the patience to follow others’ patterns. From here she began experimenting with her own patterns and Plush/Astulabee was born. Inspiration also comes from seeing other artists work. Artists such as Caroline Gaedenchens, Allyson Mellberg and Heather Goodchild who tie art and craft together are her favorites.
Go and check Nicole’s blog out, her flickr gallery and her etsy shop.
I often ’shop hop’ through etsy and enjoy marveling at other’s talents. Here are a few of my recent favourite favourites.
From top left to right: A hand painted and etched Ivory and white cylinder vase by oneblackbird; An adorable embroidered bird with bling by hownowdesign; Crochet patterns for a very cute family of little Chinese Zodiac animals by edafedd; A print of an original illustration done in watercolour and ink called ‘Cardboard Town’ by monjojo; An upcycled butterfly brooch pin made from playing cards by BululuStudio; and a crochet, string wrapped, wood and felted beads summer bracelet made by Stemellina.
Red Eclipse Big Town Bag - - - Red Olive Small Town Bag with blue/grey lining
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Pastel Striped Small Town Bag - - - Pretty in Paisley Bird Pouch
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Sweet Red Olive Bird Pouch - - - Summer’s Delight Bird Pouch
Etsy is simply the best! Firstly, they offered me an opportunity to make a living out of my passion for fabric, design and style and now they have published my story.
The Storque is a place where the etsy team (with special thanks to Mary who edited and published my story) write about things that are of interest and relevance to the craft life.
I often spend a whole hour browsing through the site. My favourite current articles are those from the ‘Art of Pricing’ which ties into my post about the Value of Handmade. I also love the Handmade stories section….oohhh I now realize I cannot decide. I simply love the WHOLE Storque!
I’m always on the look out for inspiring artists and Helen Musselwhite is one of those that instantly drew me.
Helen uses bold colors, strong graphic lines and familiar images and creates fictional almost fantasy scenes. She describes her work has having a distinctive hand crafted quality with hints of mid century design, folk and ethnic art. I also think it has a fantastic contemporary feel as fairy-tale land is a definite fashion and design trend. …and if it was not, who wouldn’t like to live with unicorns, rainbows, bunnies and all other lovely, harmless and good things.
These artworks are hand cut, folded and scored using a wide range of papers and cards and then further worked to create patterned and textured surfaces. Helen then uses this to build scenes in box frames. To visit her etsy shop click here.
Many Cape Townians know about David Bellamy either becuase of his Art Hotel in Reibeek Kasteel or his amazing collection of fabrics that he sells from a studio in Muizenberg.
He has now opened an etsy shop selling cushion covers made from his fabrics. These vary in sizes from 45cm x 45cm to 70cm x 70cm…so from your bedside chair to your garden bench, he has cushion covers for you. Using some of the softer linens he has also made pillow covers…..go and take a look.
After much waited anticipation I can now introduce the Tulip Sling Bag! I have been so excited about this bag…I think it is gorgeous and although the design has been extremely tricky to perfect, I think it was worth it.
The Wren Tulip bag is a more feminine, fun, relaxed and fashionable take on the traditional messenger bag.
Inspiration comes from my favourite flower : The Tulip. The flap and two side panels that extend into the adjustable shoulder strap all are in the shape of Tulip petals that wrap around the contents of the bag like a Tulip bud. Here is very basic overview of the design development.
The bag is closed with a hand-cut 1.5” Poplar Wren bird wood button. Click here to read more about these special buttons.
There are two pockets inside this bag: There is a zip pocket and a secret 5.5″ / 14.5cm hidden pocket between the flap and the interior that is bound to come in handy.
One of the many things I like most about this bag is the adjustable shoulder/sling strap.
As all my bags are made with unique fabric and individually so it is very difficult if not impossible to give you exact dimension of the Tulip Bag. Approximately the length of the Tulip bag is 16″ / 41cm, the width is 5.8″ / 14 cm and the depth is 11.5″ / 30cm. As you can gather - it is a well proportioned and spacious bag.
The entire bag is reinforced so that it is strong, sturdy and can stand on it’s own. The base is double reinforced and is not rigid.
To see the new Tulip Bags in stock visit:
When designing, I always try and push myself to new boundaries…to try new options, to discover new possibilities. This is what happened with my new bag (which I still hope to launch next week). To close the bag I wanted to use a wooden button….but not just any wooden button….a BIG button….and it had to be real wood…and I wanted this button to be the wren label! How exactly this would work I had no idea.
The first problem I encountered was that nobody makes or stocks 1.5″ or 3cm real wood buttons. I asked every haberdashery shop I knew, I even went through sourcing agent All Source who eventually found some for me in a chinese market. I also asked several etsy crafters. Nicole Catroppo took me up on this challenge and for the last two months we have been brainstorming possibilities. She eventually managed to source wooden buttons big enough and was going to paint and print the Wren bird onto them. Thank you Nicole for all the time and effort you put into this project.
At the same time I was looking into my own local options. This has turned out to be the best way. I asked a local timber company if they could turn some wood for me and slice and drill some buttons. They tried and it worked after only a few samples.
However, the buttons were still very rough and needed some serious sanding. I tried various methods and machinery but by hand was the best (even though I landed up sanding my hands raw).
The buttons were made with Poplar wood that is hard, strong and easy to work with. It is also quite light in colour. I wanted a variety of wood colours so that I would have more options when matching a button to fabric. To achieve this I bought various wood stains and varnishes. I divided my buttons up and got dipping and painting….
I tried to prevent myself getting all sticky from the varnish by using surgical gloves. This did not work becuase the fingers of the gloves stuck together. My next idea, I thought, was rather ingenious: I strung fishing line to each button, dipped it into the varnish or stain and then wiped it down with a paper towel.
This did not work wonderfully either as the buttons got stuck in the varnish, the wood did not stain all over and when wiping the excess off, the paper cloth stuck to the buttons.
The fishing line did come in handy though: I hung the buttons on the washing line to dry using clothes pegs.
Then I took the buttons to a local laser cutter who has done various weird and wonderful projects for me over the years. Onto each button the Wren bird avatar was lasered (individually). The buttons came out fantastically! The detail achieved with the lasering is amazing. I love them!
I made some discoveries though: the stained and the untouched buttons came out really well. The contrast between the lasered Wren bird and the actual button was strong and defined. Unfortunately the varnished buttons did not come out as well. The Wren bird was there, but you had to feel for it. So….I started painting these to improve this contrast.
The buttons came out beautifully….
Now you just have to wait to see the WHOLE new Wren Bag….
