Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.
The Paper Addict: I love a whole bunch of aristic mediums, so many that it’s hard for me to decide what exactly I want to do! I love oil paints, fabric, paper, and photography. I dabbled a couple times in making candles. I thought about making soap…. I have sanded down furniture, stained or painted. Pretty much anything I looked at and thought I could make I have tried it or wanted to try it!
Here in Providence we just adore heatherjeany. Her quirky screenprinted goodies have found their way deep into our hearts. It isn’t just a Rhode Island thing, I think you will have the hearts for heatherjeany too.
Her images range from sweet…….
(romantic bike rides for two)
…… to a bizarre with a surreal mix of vintage images.
No matter what her subject is, the result is always fun. Heather creates to make us smile.
Don’t we all love carnivals? Even if we don’t like the rides we love to see the lights and reminisce of fun times shared with family and friends. Who is up for a game or some cotton candy?
Speaking of memories, don’t we all have fond memories of mixed tapes? Making and receiving collections of music made for someone special. The thoughts of summer brews made by darling friends puts a smile on my face.
This may be one of my favorite stationery sets of Heather’s. Maybe it’s the gold print of the goldfish or how lovely it looks on any color. It could also be that it reminds me of all the goldfish I won as a kid.
And this is one of my favorite t-shirts because it’s truly bizarre and dream-like. This shirt is best described by the artist herself, “A Curious Rodeo. A rodeo cowboy rides a giraffe who is skillfully lassoing a school of what else? Flying fish. Golden Flying fish. YES.” I just love that this shirt comes in sizes for women and children. (We just need to get Heather working on men’s sizes too.) Fun for the whole family. This means no one gets to stop dreaming, no matter what your age.
Something tells me this is the shirt she will be known for. It has already been in etsy emails, tweets and facebook posts. And rightfully so. It is darn cute and that little model makes it all the cuter. Can you see why my little state loves this quirky artist?
$21 from InkSpot Workshop.
As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of Gemma Correll’s work. Gemma is a well-known freelance illustrator who also makes greetings cards, screenprinted tote bags and T shirts, pocket mirrors and art prints. Her Etsy shop is my go-to place for funny cards and gifts for my husband, who also loves Gemma’s work!
Gemma has been crafting her whole life, beginning with sewing, knitting and crochet, which she was taught by her grandmother. While at college, she started to make plush characters to accompany her illustration work, and she considers this to be her first ‘serious’ foray into crafting. At the same time, Gemma began to sell her plush characters and felt brooches at bi-monthly craft fairs, organised by Gemma and her friends.
When a friend told her about Etsy, which was not well-known in the UK at the time, Gemma decided to start selling online too. She’s since expanded her reach, selling in shops worldwide and online via her own fantastically illustrated website and Etsy shop, as well as the odd craft fair.
As well as selling handmade items, Gemma is a big fan of buying as many handmade products as possible and would much rather find something unique than buy items from large companies, as she feels there’s more of a personal touch. Unfortunately, Gemma has in the past had ideas stolen by large companies, which is a concern for many independent designer-makers and can put many people off sharing ideas with the wider handmade community.
“In five years’ time, I hope that I am still crafting for fun. As I spend more time working and outsourcing products, rather than making them myself – I simply do not have the time or the facilities to print 500 tote bags by hand, sadly – I hope that I can still enjoy making things just for myself. I hope that I’m still going to craft nights with my friends.”
If you’re interested in finding out more about Gemma’s work, take a look at this Design Week blog post about a mural she has recently completed for Chapter Arts Centre in Wales.
