Winter's Beauty and Two Artsy Ladies

Winter is not my favorite time of year. All of the other seasons are more to my taste. Winter, however, does have its moments. The sunrises and sunsets rival any other season. The colors are so much more vibrant, and the silhouette of the bare trees makes a beautiful contrast.
And then of course, there is the beautiful starkness of the snow. We have gotten to enjoy that view this winter way more than any year that I can recall. We may usually see one snowfall if we are lucky, but this year we have had at least three separate occasions of measurable snow. The schools have used up all of their snow days legitimately. That is a rarity here.

This has given me a good excuse to stay cozy in the house and stitch away at my little projects. I have created a couple of cuffs and necklaces to honor two famous artsy ladies. The first one needs no introduction.

The second set is in honor of Frida Kahlo which inspired the bright colors. All of these are made from vintage and recycled fabrics and buttons.

Introducing Three New Etsy Sites

Once people find out about Etsy, they want to be a part of it. I think it is a great resource for artists everywhere. I want to showcase three new Etsy sites that I have encouraged or helped to start.
The first two, I'm very proud of because they are my daughters-in-law. They both do similar types of crafts but different in their own ways. First I helped to set up Christaloo's Etsy shop. She is doing beaded cuffs and hand sewn items. Here is one of her first cuffs...amazing detail and lots of time involved.


Next I encouraged my other DIL to make her own shop which she calls Zebrainfusion. She also makes beautifully detailed beaded cuffs and other jewelry. Here is one of her first cuffs too. These girls have such patience and attention to detail. Yes, I will brag on them.


Next is my friend that owns the shop Arts Desire in our town that used to sell some of my work. She is unfortunately going to close the doors on her shop soon and so I helped her to set up her Etsy shop so that she can keep on selling. She makes silver and copper handcrafted jewelry too.


I think that we can all reach thousands more customers with virtual Etsy shop than one ever could reach in a physical shop. It's also a great community for artists to get to know each other.