Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Poochy Couture

by 3 Comments

[hPets]

il_fullxfull.85447559

Poochy Couture: I am a lover of ALL dogs. We have a house full of dogs (2 danes Tiny & Daisy 1 pug Zoey). I’ve been designing jewelry forever and on Etsy for a couple of years (girlygirlstudios.etsy.com) Well my husband had a tada moment and said I should make dog tags…Well I did and they’ve been selling like crazy!! I really wanted to keep my jewelry and pooch accessories seperate…so PoochyCouture was born.

I really enjoy making the custom designs (like the request for the mushroom dog tags).

I use all natural dyes and earth friendly leather products.

I think every dog lover wants the best for their pooch, so I will offer really colorful fun designs at reasonable prices.

[Read more…]

Barefoot Weaver

by 4 Comments

il_fullxfull71125290

Barefoot Weaver: I have been in love with color since my first box of crayons and I fell in love with weaving in the 70s when I watched a girl weaving (barefoot, of course!) in the back of a store in Brattleboro, VT. Here was not just color but dance as well! By the early 90s I had my first loom and there was no looking back. Looms have a way of multiplying and taking over the house (as my family can attest) and now I have four (we won’t count the one in the barn). I am always amazed seeing them warped and vibrant with potential.

Colors live in my living room and cones of thread fill my bookcases. I dye my threads on a big plywood table upstairs in one of my workrooms (did I mention that I have taken over the entire house?) and my clothes line is often draped with skeins of freshly dyed thread. I do my designing on my warping mill and my work now is mostly warp driven which just means that I want the warp to show more than the weft (or weaving).

I started adding more texture to my weaving some years ago as well inspired in part by knitting yarns that have flags and tufts and wraps and shiny bits and skinny and fat parts.

So, I overproduce. And I have three grown sons who really don’t wear my creations aside from a very plain chenille scarf or two. I live on an old farm with my two horses, three cats, one small dog, and a very supportive husband. We heat with wood, snuggle down in the winter up here in the North Country, and I am content.

Handmade Home

by 1 Comment

knitted shawl

A variety of handcrafted goods are available to enjoy around the house. Soaps and soft furnishings are only the beginning. Knitted goods and polymer clay can add to the uniqueness of your surroundings.

Brenda, at knittedfrenzy, offers shawls, coffee cozies, and cowls, in a variety of yarns in her Etsy shop. I was pleased to find a shawl made of soft acrylic yarn. Most of the shawls that I see are made of wool, which is fantastic if you can wear wool. But I cannot. So finding something warm, and not itchy is always a nice surprise for me.

[Read more…]

Bunnies by the dozen.

by 5 Comments

Bunnies, bunnies, bunnies! I can tell that we are getting close to Easter by the sudden explosion of the stuffed bunny population. It would seem, ahem, that they are multiplying like rabbits.

This week, I have assembled a herd (yes, a herd) of rabbits for your Easter cuddling pleasure. Some are cute, some are quirky, but all are quite clever and very eco-friendly. Enjoy!

Known for their prolific breeding and their propensity for giving birth to large (and in some cases multiple) litters in the spring, it’s no wonder that rabbits are symbols of fertility and of the season itself.

As far as its symbolic tie-in with Easter goes, mentions of the Easter Bunny begin to appear in publications from the 1600s; although it is safe to assume that the origins date back further than that – most likely to pre-Christian Pagans.

Legend has it that the Saxon goddess Oestra (from whom Easter is named) had a sacred rabbit companion and an association with another symbol of fertility, eggs. Considering that, it makes perfect sense that bunnies and eggs are so closely linked with each other at this time of year. (And now you know what to tell your children why bunnies bring Easter eggs, and not chickens. Or, perhaps it’s only my son who is bothered by this.)

Finally, if you will allow me to step up on my “Going Green” soapbox for just a moment, I do need to draw attention to the practice of giving live rabbits for Easter. Just like a dog or a cat, a rabbit is a house pet that requires plenty of care and attention over its 10+ life-span. Every year, once the post-Easter reality sets in, countless unwanted rabbits are set free or dropped at animal shelters. Unless you have given it very careful thought and are willing to make the commitment, I would strongly discourage giving a live bunny as an Easter gift. Instead, why not make someone’s day with a stuffed long-eared, puffy tailed friend from one of our featured sellers? Go on…hop to it!

Top photo: Beeper Bebe – recycled wool suiting & yarn
1. Beeper Bebe – recycled wool suiting & yarn
2. Blue Moon Rose – recycled cashmere & vintage dress
3. Buttercupbloom – cotton, velveteen & upcycled lambswool
4. Chunky Chooky – upcycled denim & batik
5. Second Seed in Stitches – upcycled sweaters & fabric
6. Freedom Rainbow – recycled merino wool
7. LuvKt – deconstructed/reconstructed merino sweater
8. Pouch – repurposed vintage fabric & chemical-free lavender
9. Sleepy King – recycled fabric
10. Woolcrazy – recycled angora wool
11. Protean’s Coffee Shop – felt & fleece
12. Sighfoo – recycled wool & bamboo fibre
Bottom photo: Canoo – recycled angora wool/cashmere

For more information on rabbits as house pets, visit The House Rabbit Society.

Bugs in your bowl. You want this.

by 5 Comments

Village Clay Works bio: I grew up in Sierra Madre, Ca. in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. I’ve had my hands in clay for the last 11 years. I’ve tried other mediums in art such as water color, drawing, intaglio etching, photography and woodblock printing. I find that I can combine most all of these art processes when creating a piece in ceramics. I form a ceramic object, a mug or a bowl etc. and use it as a blank canvas to draw or to carve on.

A few years ago I first saw a dragonfly on a lake in Cable, Wisconsin and was fascinated with its flight and vivid colors. I began to draw other bugs and insects, the “dung” scarab beetle, cricket, praying mantis and the house fly. God created each beautiful and intricate insect and I feel compelled to draw them and tell their stories.

I try to make my process of creation as “green” as possible. I fire all of my work in an electric kiln that is supplememted by solar panels on our roof. In addition we travel to the various art shows we do in our diesel truck that runs on recycled vegetable oil.