time Archives - Try Handmade

Sparkle

September 28, 2020 by Erika Jurney 3 Comments

Beautiful lampworked glass by Jill Symons
As a glass artist, I am fascinated with the play of light upon glass. The beauty of glass beads is the simple power of glass itself; the power to transmit light. My approach to glass beadmaking is as simple as slowing down and letting the glass release the color, allowing the glass to speak.

I am constantly awed by the fluidity and form the solid glass takes. I draw inspiration from the glass itself and the way in which it seems to tell me what to do next. Drawing on a background in design, a passion for photography and a love of glass — ideas spill into dreams of what could be — always posing the question then of what else is possible and is there really a limit?

I remember the first time someone referred to my beads as ‘work’. My mind instantly denied that such joy could come from something called ‘work’. I have been making glass beads since 1999.

You can find her pieces in her online gallery, on Etsy, and on Artfire.

Valley Of The Dolls Cupcake Tutorial

September 27, 2020 by Lotta 12 Comments

Dear Reader,

I was waiting in line at the drive-thru pharmacy window when I realized there were 4 identical mini-vans driven by mothers who were also waiting to get their prescriptions. It was a drug convoy of moms. And the lineup made me wonder, “Were any of us using the drive-thru so that we could be a bit hush-hush about what medicine we were picking up?”

Which is silly. God knows that Xanax has made me a far better mother than Dr. Spock ever did. So if you are one of the folks that need to swallow a little help in the morning, be it for your mood or your sciatica – chin up! And if you aren’t, chances are your neighbor or best friend is. So I’m bringing you all the Valley Of The Dolls Cupcake Tutorial to help kick off this festival of pharmaceutical acceptance. No shame allowed! Only Vodka and candy pills.

If you haven’t read Valley Of The Dolls I must insist you do so as soon as possible, or at least watch the movie. It’s a fun campy story set in the late 1960s Hollywood. And it has quotes that beg to be taken out of context at any opportunity. When your family asks why you’re so darn grumpy in the morning say, “I have to get up at five o’clock in the morning and SPARKLE, Neely, SPARKLE!”

Step 1 – Assemble Your Ingredients.

Pantry Basics

Booze
Reduced Sugar Yellow Cake Mix and Frosting – Because pills bloat.
Fiber – You know why.
Candy Resembling Pills – I recommend Good & Plenty and Red Hots.
Cupcake Papers – Bake It Pretty has some great ones.

Step 2 – Make Your Cupcakes!

Improvise based on what’s in your booze cupboard. I used the Cake Doctor’s yummy White Russian Cupcake Recipe but replaced her frosting with canned. I’m classy like that.

Step 3 – Decorate!

cupcakeclosemeh1

After you’ve frosted your cupcakes it’s time to turn them into a dessert worthy of The Valley Of The Dolls. Take a handful of Good & Plenty and sprinkle liberally and haphazardly. Repeat with the Red Hots. Put any extra candy into tiny little white paper cups and offer them to people on a tray with a glass of water when they come to your house.

I put my cupcakes on a vintage pharmaceutical ad premium tray. You can find one of your own by searching the Collectibles section of EBay under Science & Medicine.

fullcupshot

Enjoy! And remember, if anyone is brassy enough to suggest you’ve had enough cupcakes it’s time to start quoting again;

“Who’s stoned? I am merely traveling incognito.”
“There’s juice freaks, and pill freaks, and then everybody’s a freak!”
“This is my happening and it freaks me out!”

Love Lotta

Holiday Shopping for Artisan Made Gifts

September 26, 2020 by Beverly Rustica 6 Comments

UPDATE: 1000 Markets and byhand.me both folded, so I had to remove the links from this article. Where possible I have linked to current shop locations.

The holidays are coming up fast for many of us who have committed to having a Handmade Holiday. Now’s the time to find and order those handmade gifts that will bring originality to your holidays as well as brighten the season of the artists you’ve chosen to hand make your gifts. But where to start?

There are innumerable blogs and sites with handmade gift choices, but you can spend hours browsing before you find one that gets you. I personally am partial to the markets of 1000Markets in part because the curators/market managers tend to pick the best available handmade work in their particular area, and it’s easy to pay through Amazon (with their A-Z Guarantee). In addition, you don’t have to sign up at the venue to purchase. So bearing that in mind, here’s my go-to list of especially well curated gift guides:

The Try Handmade Market is curated by our own Erika Jurney. She personally adds each item so you can be sure they’re the best artisan goods available. The work is organized into collections for easy browsing, and there’s a forum if you have a question or need some help. Payment is through Amazon, and you don’t have to sign up to purchase if you already have an Amazon account.

The Succulent Wife’s Marketplace is a gift market that has it’s own Cheery Holiday Gift Guide, with original gifts chosen by the Succulent Wife herself. If you don’t find something in the guide, check our the other collections organized by type of gift recipient, for easy holiday shopping. Payment is through Amazon.

Holiday Gifts the Artisan Way is the gift guide curated by 1000Markets. It’s divided into numerous collections of gift categories that are fun to browse, including ‘Artisan Gifts Under $50’ that will help you stay on budget. Payment is through Amazon.

Etsy has the granddaddy of handmade gift guides. The Etsy Gift Guide is a good place to look if you’re already an etsy member or don’t mind signing up to purchase, and have loads of time to sift through it all. The Guides are organized by price, and by just about every other category imaginable, which is great if you like tons to look through but can be a bit overwhelming if you’re in a rush. Payment is normally through PayPal although other options are available through individual artists.

If you’d like to purchase a gift that’s shipped directly to your gift recipient with a hand written note, try searching any of the major handmade venues for the term “GiftShipper”. These are artists who will create and ship your gift, with a note of your choosing, directly to the person you designate. Often they will gift wrap as well (sometimes for an extra charge). To narrow things down you can add search terms such as “giftshipper jewelry” or “giftshipper pottery”. Don’t forget to mention GiftShipper when you order, and specify the contents of your note.

If you’d like to search all of the major handmade venues at the same time for specific items, try the search at byhand.me. [UPDATE: byhand.me is now gone – try Best of Handmade instead.] It’s powered by Google but lists items only from handmade venues, with photos and pricing. It’s not a complete listing, but is good for those who prefer less exhaustive search results. If you know what you’re looking for, this search will give you a good variety across all of the handmade venues without overwhelming.

Do you have a favorite Gift Guide? Is there something that would make handmade gift shopping easier for you? Tell us about it in your comment below!

Glamorous Knits

September 26, 2020 by Ellie Thouret 2 Comments

This week I’m profiling Nichola of KnitFrekkles, who uses both machine and hand knitting to design the most beautiful scarves. Nichola has always been crafty, from a young age but did not learn to knit until senior school. Her love of the craft stayed with her, growing stronger during her time at university, during which she completed a master’s degree researching traditional knitting styles, mainly fishermen’s ganseys and fairisle. “I wanted to change my own opinion of those styles as well as the wider world. They have been rurally crafted for centuries and largely forgotten about by the art world, I think they deserve more attention than they currently get. They are beautiful and intricate, there is a high level of knowledge and skill required before you can even begin to experiment.”

Nichola started selling her creations in January of this year and balances crafting with her ‘day job’ as a fitness instructor. She had been building the courage to sell her garments for a long time and wanted to help promote contemporary patterns, structures and ideas in knitting. Selling online gives Nichola a way to develop personal contact with buyers worldwide, and she enjoys creating unique garments and receiving positive buyer feedback!

Without a dedicated studio, Nichola has limited space at home for her crafting. Luckily, hand knitting is very portable! The inspiration for Nichola’s beautiful scarves comes mainly from the natural world – the colours, landscapes and patterns in nature.

Nicola’s scarves are unique in a very saturated market. She uses modern and historical influences, focusing on care and attention to detail. When creating a new design, Nichola thinks about how a yarn will interact with the wearer – how it will feel and whether it will make them special. Nichola knows that buyers are looking for something distinctive and completely unique in handmade items, and that they want a high level of craftsmanship not found in mass-produced items.

“I think that so far I have only scratched the surface of the handmade scene within the UK. It seems to be a fast growing scene which I think is fantastic and with more website being set up for selling handmade items it really does help potential sellers take the plunge.”

To see more of Nichola’s lovely designs, visit her shop.

Oh, my Guinness!

September 24, 2020 by Rebecca Hadfield Leave a Comment

If last week’s crop of clover-themed goodies didn’t tip you off to the fact that St Patrick’s Day is once again upon us, then we’d better try harder. I think it’s time to break out the Guinness and raise a glass to Ireland’s favourite patron saint. I’m sure that some of the four-and-a-half million residents of Ireland who have made it their country’s best-selling alcoholic beverage will join me…in exactly 119.53 seconds. I don’t mean to split hairs, but according to the company itself, that is the precise time that it takes to pour the “perfect pint”.

Guinness was started in Ireland by (not surprisingly) Arthur Guinness in 1759, although it was 10 years before he decided to share his beer with the rest of the world with a modest 6 barrel shipment to England. These days, in addition to its enduring success in Ireland, Guinness is one of the most-popular international brands and is brewed under license in 50 countries using unfermented Dublin-made wort. I was impressed to hear that over 1.8 billion pints of Guinness are sold annually in over 100 countries around the world. On St Patrick’s Day, however, everyone is Irish. Or, so it would seem.

In the 1920s, Guinness began to market their product with the tag-line “Guinness is good for you!” At the time, the claims were made based on testimonials from customers who felt better after having a pint or two. Eventually, the company dropped the health-claims, but recently there has been some research that suggests that the antioxidants in the almost-black brew can prevent arterial cholesterol deposits in the heart. Additionally, despite its hearty appearance and smooth, rich flavour, those of us watching what we eat will be happy to hear that a pint of Guinness contains around 150 calories. Sad news for Vegans and strict vegetarians, though; Guinness is technically a non-vegan product due to the use of fish finings in the filtering process.

The distinctive taste of Guinness, incidentally, comes from barley which is roasted in a method similar to coffee beans. The other ingredients are simply water, hops and yeast, with nitrogen added to the finished product to give the draught version its iconic creamy, white head. If you’re lucky, like I am when I visit my favourite pub, your bartender will carve a little shamrock in the dense foam capping-off your glass.

So, whether you are celebrating St Patrick’s Day with a pint of “the old plain” or a Black & Tan, don’t forget to check out this week’s featured finds. Pretzels and Pumpkin, rainpeople, Mann Made Designs, and Pamper & Preen have all created fun, handmade and upcycled goods that celebrate Arthur Guinness’ legacy. Be sure, as well, to visit 2boos to pick up some beautiful shots of Dublin and to join the St Patrick’s Day Treasure Hunt that the Etsy Ireland team is putting on.

(And please, if you choose to imbibe on the 17th, stay away from the cheap, dyed stuff at your local watering hole. This is one time when I will advise you to NOT “go green”.)