Monday, April 26, 2010

ESST Team Member - mountainshadowdesign

The next stop on my Etsy Supply Street Team tour is mountainshadowdesign - which has a wide variety of beads & beading supplies. Like Evarose1900 is run by a busy mom. I wonder how many Esty shops are mom run, I bet quite a few. Mountainshadowdesign is located in Boulder, Colorado which is one of the few places that my family would consider relocating to. In March we had a couple of weeks where my husband was without a job & we agreed that we would try our best to stay in Ohio (with our family), but if we had to move Colorado would be the place we'd want to go. My kids still talk about the tour we took of Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory in Boulder. They want to go back there & to Stephany's Chocolates in Denver.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

ESST Team Member - suhafuha

The next stop on my Etsy Supply Street Team tour is suhafuha. Browsing in this shop made me wish I was more crafty or could at least sew. There are great trims and laces that I KNOW Samantha & Rebecca (my daughters American Girl Dolls) would love - wouldn't it be great to make matching outfits for them? I saw some trim that would be great for hats or purses - I love felted purses & hats.

Lace, pompoms, flowers, even rhinestones - suhafuha has it all when it comes to trim.

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - CarDonCreativeDesign

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.CarDonCreativeDesign.etsy.com. CarDonCreativeDesign has a very wide selection of all kinds of supplies for jewerly making & mixed media art -everything from instruction books to findings to gems. I love the variety. Also I like how Carla & Donna are a mother-daughter combo that have been working together since 2005 & have been on Etsy since 2007.

Seeing all of the great items in Carla & Donna's shops makes me think about something I heard recently about how you can keep your mind healthy as you age. One scientist said that it is important to use your mind for something that is difficult regularly. She mentioned that crossword puzzles & sudoku are great, but the important thing is recall & problem solving. Well - I HATE crossword puzzles and sudoku. But I started thinking and I have decided that crafting counts as a anti-aging brain exercise.

Stay with me here... If you want to create something crafty you are solving a problem. Most crafts involve some memory and math skills. And if you are anything like me, when you get about 75% done with the craft you will have a whole new set of problems to solve. So if you want to stay mentally fit pick up a craft - preferably something that you haven't done in a while.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - Evarose1900

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.evarose1900.etsy.com - me! Evarose1900 offers a wide assortment of vintage beads, most of which are Lucite/plastic/acrylic. I have tons of bead that are just waiting to be added to my shop & try to add items regularly.

Here is the story of the name Evarose1900:

Eva was my great grandmother & due to age & location when I was little I was the only great-grandchild lived near her. I loved spending time with her. Eva grew up on a farm in Indiana & married a man who became a teacher. They moved to Ohio. Her husband died young, but Eva saw one of his students become the first man on the moon & my best birthday party ever (Neil Armstrong's homecoming parade in Wapak was on my 7th birthday). Eva was a kind church lady with a strong can-do spirit. Until shortly before her death (in her mid 80's) she was 'helping the old folks' in town, mostly making food & driving them to the store and church. When I was tiny she was the best smelling thing I could think of & I never left her house hungry or sad.

Rose was my maternal grandmother's middle name. Loretta Rose Link, what a lovely name. We seriously considered giving our daughter the middle name Rose, but decided that since her first name was from her fathers paternal grandmother - her middle name should be from my paternal grandmother. Like Eva, Loretta was a church going lady - but totally different. While Eva's family name was (and still is) listed as a founding member of the church & there is a hall named for Eva & her husband - Loretta quietly took her 7 children to the local catholic church & raised them the best she knew how. Loretta's house always seemed to be full of people (usually grandchildren) & Saturday night mass was my only time alone with her. Many years I asked for one of her German chocolate cakes for my birthday & she taught me the wonders of apple pie for breakfast. She was strong, but sweet.

Both Eva & Loretta Rose got to live through exciting times - the 20th century...the 1900's. I like to think that my beads & the finished art that they become in the hand's of people like you, represent the strong feminine ever changing style of Eva, Loretta Rose and the 1900's.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - JemmDee

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.JemmDee.etsy.com - JemmDee a unique selection of mosaic tiles cut from vintage and modern china, stained glass tiles, MDF mosaic & stained glass forms.

Every summer I think about collecting the kids & making some mosaics & never do. Maybe this will be the summer that we actually do it. Or maybe I will have a mom's craft night & we could try this. I think that could be an excellent idea - invite a few girlfriends over & try a new craft together. Do it outside & provide snacks, ice tea, & margaritas - don't start the Margarita's too early or the craft won't get done!

Friday, April 16, 2010

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - NKPbeads

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.nkpbeads.etsy.com/ - Natalie Pappas is a potter that creates wonderful ceramic art beads. She uses a wide variety of glaze combinations, patterns, textures, and painting techniques. In her profile she mentions how even the weather can affect her end result. Well, if you know me you know that I love the randomness that we often find in the world & that different often means 'super special' to me.

Natalie has another Etsy shop were she sells her pottery. Along with being a member of ESST, Natalie belongs to the Etsy group with the coolest name that I have heard in a long time - Etsy Mud Team (EMT). I have always wanted to try pottery & if the possibility of joining EMT doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will.

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - LaCotillon

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.LeCotillon.etsy.com LeCotillon has a great selection of jewelry supplies - very thing from findings, tools, chains & all kinds of beads. They even have some Semi-Precious stones. I think that it is interesting that the mother/daughter combination of Jocelyne & Daphne are able to run this shop together while living in different cities.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Etsy Supply Street Team Member EviesToolEmporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team, which I am a proud member of, is highlighting some of our members for the next month. I am so excited because it gives me a time-line to look at some awesome team members. The first shop is EviesToolEmporium.etsy.com

Wow! What a great selection of tool's! If you need tools for jewelry making, stamping or other hobbies check Evies out. Also, be sure to look at her profile - she's got a bunch of great tutorials that you can look at. I love buying from vendors that are willing to go the extra step of being helpful.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Evarose1900 Beads Featured in a Slideshow

My wonderful blue rose beads were included in the Etsy Supply Street Team's Easter Slideshow. This is a wonderful slideshow with some very interesting items. I am always very impressed with the slideshows that Karen puts together, but I think that this one is especially nice.

By the way, be sure to turn your sound on when you watch these slideshows. Karen always picks fun music to accompany them & this time she used the traditional German tune known as the "Chicken Dance"...I'll betcha that it has another name but not to our family.