Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Sarah Mann

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Raw sterling silver cries out to me, begs me to convert it into bold jewelry with subtle finishes. Of course, I must obey.

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Sarah Mann: Sarah Mann is fascinated by the creative and technical challenges of transforming her medium into objects of provocative adornment. Geometric shapes flow into organic elements, producing clean, straightforward designs that often incorporate kinetics. She is proud to carry on a family tradition in the crafts and pleased that this enables her to exercise her talent wherever her peripatetic nature may have her living.

Mann realizes fully the broad potential of sterling silver. She crafts her jewelry with torch and tools–saws, files, pliers, nippers, drills, hammers, and the more arcane rolling mill, dapping blocks, and mizzy wheels–then endows it with a range of hues through delicately controlled oxidation. The combined effect of patina on texture is a signature characteristic of all Sarah Mann jewelry.

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Interview with Anna, Mr. Jin

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[hLeah]

Anna lives in Gloucestershire, England where she is a student and loves art, music, crafts, animations and video games. She’s an animation student so most of the time she’s working on her films and projects. She makes charms to fill in bits of idle time along with playing some video games. Check out her store!

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How long have you been making these tiny charms?

Not very long to be honest! I’ve always made random bits of sculpture from various types of clay over the years but I didn’t take it too seriously until I discovered how to make cold porcelain clay. It’s only been…about a year!

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Interview with Carrie, Mountain Mama Chic

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[hLeah]

Carrie of Mountain Mama Chic has lived in La Porte, Indiana for the past two years and loves it. She says, “We moved here from West Virginia by way of Texas because of my husband, Jim’s work. If you would’ve told me a few years ago the Great Lakes’ beaches are just like the ocean, I wouldn’t have believed you. Now I know better. :) We’re 10 minutes from the beach and love it here. ” Carrie and Jim have three kids, Bailee, Nolan and Fletcher, 9, 7, and 3 respectively, and a dog, Callie, half Cocker Spaniel, half mutt.

Carrie describes herself as outgoing, a realistic optimist, and the best mother and wife she can be. She loves “laughing so hard my belly hurts and tears start to overflow, my family, dancing with my munchkins to really good music, putting on makeup and dressing up to go out with my husband, passionately loving, playing, and living life.”

Check out Carrie’s blog and her store. Her soap looks so delicious!

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Getting Our Cosy On.

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Please join me in welcoming our newest columnist to Try Handmade, Cara Quinn! She’s going to be writing about frugal living and minimalism as it relates to buying handmade and making it yourself. Check out her first post, and let her know if you have suggestions or requests for future posts. Welcome Cara!

I’m not a fan of cranking up the thermostat in our home (well, truth be told we don’t even have a thermostat) and all throughout winter I was determined to whip up a draught excluder that would plug the huge gap under our front door – where a majority of the heat escapes from.

I’ve been determined to do this for two winters running. When I saw these sausage dog draught excluder’s on Ellie’s Crafts they looked like the perfect addition to our otherwise dog-free home.

On top of draught excluder’s, there are other ways to keep the heating bills down (and Planet Earth happy) and keep warm – after all, before we know it, we’ll be springing into spring. Until then, I plan on cuddling up close to my baby son (that boy has a freakish, almost superhuman, ability to keep me warm.)

This adorable onesie from Ink & Ivy is made from water-based ink and organic cotton so appeals to my eco-friendly nature. It’s also available in a light red – which I find is gender neutral and could work for two (or more) babies. I’m a huge fan of hand-me-down clothes for little people!

Other tips for staying warm:

Wrap up in a blanket. I have a little fleece blanket on my sofa that I love to be wrapped in. I have two thin blankets and one really thick one. The two thin blankets I can circulate when the weather is sorting itself out for a spring season and the thick blanket is for the hell that was last winter. Or as we called it in these parts: Snowmageddon. By the time summer rolls around, I don’t need blankets or my central heating to keep me warm.

Put on some socks. It’s true about losing body heat through your extremities and covering those tootsies up will keep you cosied up.

Put on a sweater. I know I sound like someone’s Granma when I say that, but the fact is that it remains true. More layers means more body heat is given out – don’t over do the layering when you go out, though, or you’ll be sweating like a turkey the night before Thanksgiving.

Got some sweaters that don’t quite fit any more or have reached their life span? That’s okay, up-cycle them into a nifty (and thrifty!) purse/handbag. Make and Love It tells you how.

If you love this idea, check out some of the other up-cycled ideas on that same blog; pillows and dresses made from sweaters and a cute little beanie hat and skirt, who were in a former life, scarves.

No need to donate (or throw away – but I seriously hope no one is throwing away clothes in this day and age!) winter clothes that have outrun their lifespan; they can come right into spring with you!