A DUSTy Kris Kringle

You should all know by now that I love to take part each year in the DUST team kris kringle/Christmas craft swap.  For those of you who can't remember, each of our participating members is assigned a recipient for whom they should make a surprise Christmas gift.  This usually involves some (or a lot) of sneaking around to find out a recipient's likes and dislikes and is generally a lot of creative fun and great for team end of year spirits.

This year, my recipient was Donna of Donna Duncombe Designs.  Donna creates the cutest crochet hooks with polymer clay handles, as well as digital stamps and scrapbooking sets.  It didn't take much snooping to discover that Donna loves colour, and lots of it, so I started firstly with creating a bright and cheery cupcake/jewellery stand.  The saucer part of the stand dates to the 1950s and 60s and I love the golden yellow of the rose design.

Because Donna is not just a creator of crochet hooks, but a crocheter herself, I also made her a craft tool pouch for storing her hooks.  And of course, I just had to use polka dot fabric to spruce up the sturdy, but plain, outer fabric of the tool pouch.

I couldn't leave the outside of the pouch plain, so I added some giant polka dots in rainbow spot fabric.  I had a lot of fun making this pouch for Donna and am seriously considering making some with reclaimed vintage fabrics/denims and doilies for Domum Vindemia - what do you think?

And has the delightful image of soaps at the top of this post got you wondering?  Well, that was my lovely gift from Erin of Inner Earth Soaps.  I have long been a fan and user of her products and she very thoughtfully sent me a package of some of my favourite scents - thanks Erin!

A DUSTy Craft Swap

This is a long overdue post about some of the beautiful items I received in the March/April DUST team craft swap!  I was partnered with the talented Chrisy of Artdecadence who sent me a variety of beautiful creations, including a framed version of the Take Flight print (see above) and an assortment of funky postcards (see below for an example).  I think I'm going to put the framed print up in my study/craft room/computer room and I'm looking forward to using the postcards to send people colourful surprises in their mail!

DUST Team Christmas Swap

After all the fun I had participating in the last DUST craft swap, I decided that I most definitely had to join the Christmas swap!  It was decided that the Christmas swap would be run under a kris kringle/secret Santa format where recipients wouldn't know from whom their gift was coming until it arrived.  The secrecy involved in this swap has added a lot of excitement to the whole affair and I can tell you that I was very excited when a large package arrived on my front doorstep!

A gorgeous spoon pendant!

My girls and I love this shabby chic fabric wreath

I was so thrilled to see that my package was from Del of Delicious Designz.  Del creates the most amazing resin jewellery (my sister and I are proud owners of Del's funky resin bangles) and fun crochet hats, beanies and shoes.  And how lovely are the surprises she sent to me?!?!  I have admired Del's spoon pendants for some time now and I have worn the necklace she sent to me almost every day!  I also have a fondness for Christmas wreaths and Del's fabric wreath brought a big smile to my face.  My girls love it too, especially the crocheted hearts dangling from the wreath hanger.  Thank you so much Del, we will love your creations for a long time to come!!!

Here are photos of two of the items I sent to my recipient: a beaded book mark and a vintage text Christmas ornament.  The ornament is a brand new design which I had a lot of fun creating but I wasn't able to roll it out in time for Christmas this year.  The cameo setting holds a snippet of text from a vintage encyclopaedia and a is a definition of the word "rose", one of the favourite flowers of my recipient.  What do you think?  Would you hang these ornaments on your Christmas tree? 

DUST Craft Swap

It has been a while since I participated in a DUST craft swap (DUST being a group of Australian artists, crafters and supply sellers who sell on Etsy); I think it has been over a year, in fact.  So when I saw the latest swap being organised, I jumped at the chance to participate.  And let me tell you that I practically squealed with delight when I found out that I was being paired with Mich of michvanetta and koot!  Mich creates gorgeous vintage-inspired jewellery as well as pretty tags, cards and beaded accessories.  Just look at the multitude of pretty items she created for my girls and me!

Vintage button magnets

Beautiful tags, stunning cards, a gorgeous doily and the sweetest bookmarks for the cheeky monkeys!

Since Mich is a fellow jeweller, it made sense for me not to send her jewellery, but to send some Domun Vindemia creations.  She mentioned that she liked to host little get-togethers with other mums so I made a dessert stand and a bunting to add a vintage look to her functions.  If you look carefully at the bunting I made, you will notice that the bias binding has been adorned with a strip of delicate, blue lace.  Thanks Mich for the great swap and for inspiring this new style of bunting!

Althea (III) dessert stand

Augusta bunting

Feature Friday - Incalesco

 This week's featured artist is Erika who owns the amazing online store, Incaleso.  I have admired Erika's beautiful work ever since I "met" her through the Etsy DUST team.  I hope you will all show Erika some extra blog love since I discovered that this is the very first time she has been featured in a blog!

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I am a wife, Mum, IT nerd and silversmith/jewellery designer and manufacturer. I grew up in Albury but for the past 10 years have lived in the inner south east of Melbourne. I have been married for a bit over 5 years and we have two beautiful children aged almost 3 and 5 months. My day job is as an SQL Server "Technical Specialist", or "The SQL Queen" as we like to call me. There are two ways of doing things, my way or my way... Resistance IS Futile ;)  That doesn't leave much time for my most neglected role of silversmith/jeweller. I only get to do that on weekends, and only if the kids are sleeping or being entertained by Dad. It means I have to plan my time well ahead but also not be too hard on myself about self-imposed deadlines.

What are five words which describe you?

Perfectionist, cheerful, funny (well I like to think so anyway), tenacious, tired

When and how did you first start creating/crafting?
I have always enjoyed creating and making things.  I did textiles and design for my HSC (Edit: high school certificate for the final year of high school, for the non-Aussie readers), and while I love to sew and make myself clothes, it is not something that I do that often these days.  My sister bought me a necklace on tigertail a number of years ago, and I was inspired by that to try and make my own beaded jewellery. Then on a holiday in Darwin and Broome in 2003 I fell in love with South Sea Pearls.  I was in a jewellery store consulting with a sales person about having a pearl pendant made, after leaving the store my hubby said "I reckon you could do that".  So as soon as we got back to our hotel I was on the laptop looking up jewellery courses.  I did a short course the next term, and then enrolled in a 4 year part time advanced diploma which I started the following year.

 Raindrop Ring

What do you create and what are your favourite materials with which to work?
I make precious metal jewellery, predominantly silver, but that is mainly because gold is cost prohibitive.  I did make our weddings rings which are both 18ct yellow gold and set with stones, and am slowly working away at my own eternity ring!  I love colour and love to introduce it into my work with stones, enamel, other metals like copper and brass and patinas like verdigris.  I have also made a range of jewellery with fabric set within the silver.

When and how did you start selling online?
I read about Etsy in "The Age" newspaper and after checking it out decided to setup my own store in late 2008. I have never tried any other online venues, but I have had my jewellery in some bricks and mortar shops.

 Daisy Drop Dangle Earrings

Describe your store in five words.
Modern, eclectic, unique, sophisticated, elegant.

Who or what are the influences behind your creations
A very obvious influence is nature, I love spending time outside in the garden with my family. I am also a bit of a bower bird (a trait inherited from my Mum) and love buying stones and have quite a collection of loose stones amassed just waiting to be made into something wearable. For the stone pieces a lot of the inspiration is from the stone itself, the size and cut of the stone and allowing it to tell it's own story. I also like asymmetry and repetition and this is apparent in a lot of my works. I have a real soft spot for Art Deco too and you can see that occasionally come through in my work. I find it hard to describe my style as I think it is constantly evolving. In fact I often joke about my evolutionary design process as I start out to make one thing and it evolves into something else.

 Effervesce Ring

Where can we find you online?
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Incalesco
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Incalesco
Blog: http://incalesco.blogspot.com/

*** Bonus: Erika is kindly offering a 15% discount to Two Cheeky Monkeys readers for ONE WEEK.  To receive your discount, enter the code "BLOG_FEAT" at checkout.  Valid until 6 August 2010. ***

DUST February Craft Swap

You may have noticed on my blog sidebar a small badge bearing the acronym "DUST".  For those of you who don't know, DUST is the Down Under Street Team, an all Australian team of wonderful Etsy sellers.  I have really enjoyed being a part of what is essentially a virtual craft and sellers group (although I have met some of the Melbourne team members in person)!  One of the benefits of being a part of this team is the bi-monthly craft swap organised by our team leader Julie-Ann.

I decided to participate in the January/February craft swap and was teamed up with the lovely Sash of Indigo Elephant.  Here are the lovely surprises she sent to me:

Gorgeous flower bobby pins (I have been wanting some of these for months and was wondering if I could make some for myself without burning the house down).

Beautiful beads for my stash (hee hee).

And the cutest half apron which will be well-loved and used frequently!

For those of you who are interested, here is what I sent to Sash:

Rosita Necklace

Rock Candy Necklace

I also sent some fabric fat quarters which will hopefully be useful for her creative work.

I am loving my craft swap surprises and look forward to using them - thanks so much Sash!