Try Handmade

Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Jealousy Designs

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I run my own company as a interior/exterior house painter I paint, repaper, and things like that. It is not easy for a female to run a business in a man’s world but I love my job and I hope I will keep going.

My interest in beads started with a gift from my lovely boyfriend. He bought a box with beads, wire and some other things to me. Just because he thought I would like it. And I loved it! At the start I didn’t have any plans at all to sell my items but people around me started to ask if they could buy some of it and after that it came more people and more….

After a while I felt that I wanted a development from the beads and the material I had been working in. So I started studying various metalsmith techniques. The material I most liked to use became sterling silver and a little more expensive gems. And there is where I am today.

I am a person who takes my inspirations from my own impressions, things in life and nature. I always have a goal to make my jewelry and findings original. My style is very variable but often pretty clean design. I do my jewelry and findings with the word: everything has his own time. I want my work to be as perfect as it possible can.

The Wheat Field

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I recently stumbled across The Wheat Field and I loved the prints available! The above whale print is extra special because the shop owner is donating 50% of all proceeds to the National Wildlife Federation. Shop owner Katie Lombardo says:

My heart goes out to all of the creatures being affected by the catastrophic oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of animals have been found dead and hundreds more are struggling to survive. This is an absolute tragedy, and we need to take action now.

Isn’t this print cheerful? If this print was hanging in my bedroom I would surely wake up smiling everyday!

This print make me want to literally ‘take a hike’. Katie has captured the allure and whimsy of nature in this print. It would be great for a boys room!

I’m moving this next week and I am definitely planning on purchasing a few of these for the new house. Please be sure to see all the other beautiful artwork that is offered at The Wheat Field!

OS Handmade

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Do you remember Space Invaders? Do you have cold toes?

OS Handmade: Felted slippers are made using hot water and soap – one of the most sustainable processes in textile
Wool (not merino) used for these slippers is very soft and thin what makes these slippers feel like a second skin on your feet. Your feet will be warm on a cold day and cool on a hot day due to insulation properties of the wool fibers.
Soles are covered with natural latex what makes wool slippers safe to walk around the house (not slippery).

Flight

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See the artist’s hand in this piece and remember it was made just for you.

Erin Bowe:
I meticulously create each piece by hand with quality materials, and no two are exactly alike. I love the entire process, but the thing I like the most is the ability to make other people happy.

My favorite experience was a customer who gave me cabochons her mother had made and wanted me to use them for making a pair of earrings that could be passed down the generations. I don’t know who was more thrilled – me or that family!

Not too long ago, I put the finishing touches on my new studio, which is in the 110-year-old fieldstone basement of my house. The highlight is a huge workbench that belonged to the original owner of the home. What’s really cool, is that among the other things that had been left behind was a toolbox with homemade punches in it! Was this person a metalsmith too?? I use these treasured tools to create some of the textures on my pieces.