Feature Artist March 28-April 3: Lisian Blue

LisianBlue is Kris of Albuquerque, NM. A woman that has been crafting her entire life and learned many valuable things from her family: "My Grandmother taught me ... to never stop learning. My mother taught me a love of nature, along with the joy of making presents for our loved ones. My dad taught me to do whatever I do, to do it well." Her current endeavors are mainly stained glass and painted glassworks.  I cannot believe the detail that goes into her butterfly wing pendants, they blow me away! Below is but a sampling of her talent, please stop by her shop on ArtFire or her blog to get an indepth taste of her varied talents.

New Store Front - Handmade Artists' Shop

A couple days ago I became a full member of the Handmade Artists' Forum which allowed me to set up as a vendor in the Handmade Artists' Shop. Now this may seem like a redundancy as I already have an etsy shop, however after some indepth research I've found several things that make HAF stand out. For starters they support ALL of US; whether you are a seller on Etsy, ArtFire, Zibbet, your own storefront, twitter, facebook or a blogger if you craft with your own talents on any level they support and love you for it. Secondly I don't know of any other format that has the experience and dedication behind it that HAF does, Andrew and Kimberly head up a team that provides round the clock support for all levels of their site. E.g. It's 4am and I just tried to create a new seller profile only to realize that I clicked the wrong link and created a buyer profile instead... emailed their admin page... fixed in MINUTES! I know emails to other companies can frequently have a 24-48 hour turn around time... You might be thinking perhaps I got lucky and they happened to answer my email quickly, well perhaps but I made several more mistakes/had questions throughout the day and each one was resolved in a matter of minutes. What other format has their admins working so hard not only to get you set up but also to promote their sellers? It has been disclosed they use 5 twitter accounts with a following of over 50,000 to keep everyone upto date on the latest and greatest from their shops and forum. I started out joining as a way to expand my online community and have found an extended family that is there through thick and thin. I accepted the offer of a 90 days shop for $1 as a very low risk way to try out another format, to see if I liked it better or if it was mearly another version of Etsy and Artfire (and there is nothing overtly wrong with either of those) and have discovered a whole new world that is woven into the online community. Fantastic people who put crafting and handmade first, yes, we all want to make money but we also want to be respected and appreciated for what we do. I am very proud to be a member of a new and rapidly growing community that is truely shaped by our own hands. Whether you appreciate handmade works or you do them yourself this is truely a fabulous place to be... please visit them and experience the love that is freely given! Come back and share your expierences, we can only grow through the input of those involved.

You can also find them at:
Facebook Fan Pages: Handmade Artists' Shop page and Handmade Artists' Forum page
On Twitter: @HAFshop and @HAFEtsyTeam

Featured Artist March 21-28: LTD Beads

My feature HAFteam artist this week is Joan of LTD Beads. A wonderful artist that is active on numerous fronts, you can find her blogging at Bead Beat, tweeting on twitter as @LTDBeads or fan her on her newer FB page. Oh you mean you'd like to shop her wares, well in that case, take a pick from her numerous shops... her website features many of her items, as does her shops on etsy, artfire, ecrater, and bonazle. Based out of Syracuse, NY you can frequently find her where she started, at the local farmer's market tending a booth. Her shops may be only a few years old but her passion dates back to her childhood when she began a box called "Joan's Stones" which is still tucked away safely in a corner of her garage. I'd like to highlight a few of my favorite pieces below. Please enjoy :)

Feature Artist March 14-20: Baublezptoa

This week's HAFteam artist is truely one of a kind! Carmen Trueheart runs Baublezptoa on both etsy and artfire. She's got a couple of blogs (Mooaany alias BananaMiranda and Mooaany Says) that feature many of her pieces as well as several of her animal companions, including the imortalized Poppyseed, done by another artist, SmellyRhino. Carmen specializes in Precious Metal Clay (PMC) and has even gotten her certification in this medium, however her skills are not limited to PMC, she is also a very accomplished lampworker, beader and silversmith. I'm so impressed by the level of craftmanship that she puts into every piece. It was so hard to choose just a few items to highlight but they are shown below. Please take time to visit Carmen's shop and if you purchase something know that 20-30% of the purchase is going to help animals at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Utah.

Featured Artist for March 1-6: ArtShu by Violet

So allow me to introduce to you Violet (Karen Grant) a fabulous red head from down under (Sydney,  Australia) who does a plethora of arts. Her blogs include Art Shu which features her fabulous photographic quality shoe paintings (yes I said paintings... you'll be amazed!), there's A Creative Spirit featuring phenominal paintings on everyday items such as hat boxes and cupboards, one can also head over to Culinary Delights by Karen Grant and delve into some culinary treats that will tempt your senses beyond reason. In the mood to shop rather then read? Visit her two fantastic shops on etsy Art Shu by Violet and Paris Accent. You can also visit her main webpage and get a taste of everything in one place. Below are a few of my favorite of her works. Please visit, comment and enjoy her works!

HAF Etsy Street Team Sale

Have you heard? The Handmade Artists Forum (HAF) Etsy Street Team is running a sale in their shops. It began March 1st, 2010 and will go through March 15th, 2010 (yes that is the Ide's of March). My shop is offering 10% off all items and an additional bonus of upto $5 in free shipping. Several shops are doing discounted rates, free shipping, gifts with purchase etc. Want to know who's offering what? You'll have to hop on over to Etsy and do a search for HAFteam or visit the HAF Blog and read all the participating artists sales before you search.

Featured Artist - Red Fox Jewelry

I am honored to be a featured artist this week, however, since I have missed getting posts done for other artists I felt it was only fair to spend this week catching up and giving them their due time in the spotlight.

Red Fox Jewelry is based in Arlington, TX. Mother of 3 grown children, grandmother to 5 (soon 6 if I read correctly) she previously worked as a tractor operator until injury stopped her cold. Now a fan of chainmaille and wire working she creates beautiful pieces that showcase a variety of styles and talents. Upon reading her blog I learned she too is in limbo about whether or not to upgrade her artfire account, although I give her props because mine still isn't complete enough to post items. To really get a feel for her works you should visit her etsy store, because it's my belief that's where all the magic happens right now... She has a singature style of wire wrapping that she calls arrowheads, however, this doesn't begin to define her jewelry as a whole. Stop by and peruse her shops, follow her on twitter and give her the attention her work deserves.