Art on pebble stones by Happy Emotions

I'm always on a look out for creative and inspiring artists. It's amazing what some of the artists out there come up with and how beautiful many of the art pieces are. I've recently came across Nadia of Happy Emotions who turns common pebble stones into happy and bright home decoration pieces. What a great idea!



How did you start?
I first came up with an idea of making jewelry out of pebble stones. The idea was to drill a hole in a pebble stone to put a thread through it, thus, creating pendants and other pieces using sea washed stones. I tried to make it happen but the result was not quite what I've expected. We often times dream up something new and it does not always turn out the way we want it to be. That's life!



While experimenting with pebble stones I came up with an idea of turning them into magnets. Stones are an ideal material to work with. One can draw something on stones' smooth surfaces turning them into bright decoration objects. One can draw letters on pebbles so that different letters could be assembled into words. Such stones could be a great gift for someone special.



What inspires you?
When a mom gets a message from her daughter saying "I miss you" it's so touching! Even more so when all the letters are pebble stones! Young men and women send each other "I love you" messages made of my pebbles. When I learn about how people communicate by the means of my pebbles it makes me happy and inspires me. I try to come up with new ideas on how to make people's lives rich and full of positive emotions!

Crochet and plush toys by RomeoShop

I came across bright and cute toys by RomeoShop looking for a gift. They look very cheerful and radiate a lot of positive energy. That's exactly what we are look for in toys. We all want toys to be fun, to make our children happy. Helen who makes these amazing toys and is originally from Ukraine talked to me about her own childhood and the art of toy making.



Helen: I love toys! I don't remember if I ever played with toys but I remember very well as I actually made them with my own hands. My mom had a sewing machine that I mastered by 8. For inspiration I used patterns from a magazine Burda that was available in Ukraine back then. If for some reason I couldn't use my mom's sewing machine I would crochet my toys using a simple thread and a hook. My mom still owns a few of my first handmade toys.



At some point of my life I abandoned toy making and led a life of an ordinary person. I had my full time job and all the corresponding routines. But when I gave birth to my son Romeo something has changed. I'm making toys again and that's how it should be!



My main inspiration is my son Romeo. We explore outside world together looking at butterflies, chasing cats, reading beautifully illustrated books, watching cartoons. It all helps me to come up with new ideas. Inspired I draw a picture first and then transform my picture into a toy. If for some reason I cannot sew my toy I crochet it.

I've got a lot of plans for the future. I'm a realist and perfectly understand that probably not all of my ideas will turn into real toys. I sometimes regret that I don't make enough toys for boys. That's why I plan to make a set of bugs boys could play with. When we think about bugs we have a picture of something not very attractive. My goal is to make my bugs cute and funny. I plan on making a toy chain saw and a drill.



I love bright colors and simple forms. All my toys are funny, happy and cute. Children are exactly the same. That's why children really like my toys!

DIY How to make felted Halloween coaters

Since we moved to US Halloween has become one of our favorite holidays. It's so much fun to dress up, decorate our home and invite guests on Halloween. As usual we will make a few Halloween family projects to decorate our house.

I would like to share a simple project that could be accomplished either by one person or a whole family. This time we will make Halloween themed pumpkin coasters that will add color to our house and make it ready for the holidays. Children will no doubt have fun making funny pumpkins with scary faces.



We will need white and black felting wool, water, soap and bubbled wrap paper. If you have orange felting wool it's even better as in that case we won't have to dye it.



To start our project we have to lay down pieces of white (orange) wool on a large piece of bubbled wrap paper. Bubbles on the paper should face up. In order for our coasters to be round we should try to form a circle out of our pieces of wool. As a result of felting our wool will shrink by about 30%. Keep it in mind! We will have to make our circles about 30% larger than the original size we want them to be. We can put as many layers of wool as we want. More layers are there thicker the coasters will be.



With pieces of black wool we form a small circle and place it on our white wool. It will be our pumpkin's eye. It's time to unleash your creativity! You can make your pumpkin look funny, happy or scary by making eyes of different shapes and sizes. The same is true for a mouth. We can make it happy or sad.

As soon as the pumpkin's face is ready we can carefully wet and soap it. Make sure the face expression doesn't alter or we will not be able to fix it later. Once the wool is wet we can start felting by rubbing the paper. In the process of felting individual wool fibers will adhere forming a firm piece. We continue felting adding water and soap as needed. The process is completed when individual wool fibers are stuck and we are unable to separate them. It's time to rinse our project and let it dry.



If you originally used white wool it's time to dye it in orange so that our pumpkin looks like a true Halloween creature! To dye our coaster I used orange KoolAid. In a plastic tray suitable for use in a microwave I mixed water and orange KoolAid. I put my white coaster in the orange solution and kept it in the microwave until it boiled. Be careful handling the tray as it's very hot! Your coaster now is nice and orange. Let it cool and when it's cool rinse it and let it dry. Your orange pumpkin coaster is ready!

Nursing teething crocheted necklaces by Julia Ermakovich

I came across teething and nursing crocheted necklaces looking for a baby shower gift for a friend. What a great idea! These necklaces are made of natural materials and I especially like the combination of plain wooden beads and crochet. Julia Ermakovich is an artist who creates bright and happy necklaces to entertain moms and their babies. I’m glad I had a chance to talk to her and ask her a few questions about herself and her art of making nursing necklaces.



Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I live in Moscow, Russia. Up until recently I’ve been working in a bank full time and had limited time for my family and my crocheting business. A month ago I quit and am now fully engaged in developing my business and enjoying my family and friends. So it’s all about crocheting now.



How did you start?
As long as I remember myself I’ve always been knitting and crocheting. First it was making items for my dolls and later for myself and my friends. Some 7 or 8 years ago reading a fashion magazine I came across pictures of crocheted necklaces. I decided to try as necklaces looked super stylish and cool. Besides it’s much easier to crochet a necklace than a man’s sweater!

It took me some time to figure our the technique and come up with the right design though. I started with making necklaces for my girl friends as gifts. People started taking about my necklaces and I got my first custom orders. It was great as with money earned through sales I could by more supplies and afford to try new materials and techniques.

About four years ago a friend of mine asked me to make her a necklace that would color match a sling and a baby carrier for her new born baby. Thus, a nursing and teething necklace was born!



What inspires you?
I make a lot of customs orders and my clients often share their ideas and designs with me. My clients' fantasy and imagination is unbelievable. They inspire me to create new designs and come up with new color patterns.

I’m a very eco conscious person and I am always looking for new eco-friendly materials that I could use in my nursing necklaces. There are so many products that are made of organic and natural fibers that we don’t know much about! Every time I come across a new fabric or a new fiber I feel a need to incorporate them into my designs. I’ve recently discovered buttons made of coconuts. They look great and are very nice to handle!



What are you most popular items?
It all depends on what group of my clients we are talking about. Sometimes young moms are looking for something to wear every day. I make them necklaces of neutral color combinations that are less flashy and bright.

If my clients are looking for something to entertain their babies with I make necklaces bright and happy. I can add a crocheted animal or a wooden ring to make the necklace more attractive for a child.

Thank you, Julia!

DIY How to make felted watermelon earrings

To make bright and happy summer inspired watermelon earrings we will need felting wool in bright red, green, white and black, soap, pure water and bubbled wrap paper.

To make a watermelon we will need to lay out wool in a shape of “hot dog”. First we cut a piece of red wool of about 5 inch. We mix red wood with a bit of black wool to make it look like our watermelon has seeds. On top of red wool we lay white and than green wool. As a result we will have a green wool “hot dog” that inside will have red, black and white wool.

Once our “hot dog” is formed we wet is with water and soak it in soap. As it gets wet and soapy we start rolling in on a piece of bubbled wrap. We roll it on a plastic wrap for about 15 minutes until it gets firm. The wool will shrink by about 30%. Let our felted piece dry well.

Our next step will be to cup our “hot dog” into equal parts. You can cut it with scissors. As a result we will get round pieces of felted wool that will look like freshly cut watermelon. If you attach pieces of felted watermelon to simple earrings hooks you will get nice and fresh watermelon earrings.

The watermelon earrings look fun and bright. They will be a truly hand made item as I doubt you can buy anything like that in a jewelry store. The fact that you've created them with your own hands will make watermelon earring even more special.

My Red Rose brooch featured on Etsy Front Page

It's so cool that my Red Rose brooch was featured on Etsy Front Page today in a beautiful red and white treasury curated by Baronyka. Thank you so much for creating such an amazing collection and featuring me in it!

San Diego as a New Year vacation destination

I've been to the West Coast just once and loved it. The way people live and work there is somehow different from the way people go about their business in the East Coast. I just recently came across beautiful vacation pictures of the East Coast by IrinaPhotography. It sounds like a great tradition to go on a family trip to San Diego around New Years. What a fun way to start a new year!