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!

Marionettes art felted dolls by TwoSadDonkeys

I love felting as there are so many amazing things one can make out of simple wool. Art dolls and toys always fascinated me. They look so precious and sophisticated. It’s hard to comprehend how someone could possibly turn a piece of wool into something so unique, delicate and beautiful. I had a chance to talk to Olga who is an artist behind TwoSadDonkeys.



Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Olga. Since I remember myself I’ve always been fascinated by marionette dolls. It comes as no surprise that my life these days is closely connected with theater and art. I was born and raised in small and beautiful Estonia on the shores of the northern Baltic sea. I graduated from the Textile Academy in Moscow, Russia with a degree in art and design. These days I live with my husband and our three boys in sunny Georgia located in Caucuses mountains on the shores of the Black sea. I work in a puppet theater as a stage and puppets designer.



How did you start?
Felting has been known to the people of the Caucuses mountains for centuries. Ancient Georgians used to wear felted coats as part of their standard outfits. When I moved to my husband’s native country Georgia I fell in love with felting. It’s a miracle how mixing a bit of wool, hot water and soap one can create firm and durable fabric.

I started felting art dolls and marionettes for our theater. It was great watching children gather around my art dolls after every theater performance. Children are always eager to touch art dolls, to play with them and to make them a part of their imaginary world.

I should admit that art dolls we use for our performances in the theater are fragile and are more like art objects rather than toys. That’s how I came up with an idea of creating felted toys for children that are somewhat easier to play with and are more durable.

My first creation was a white dapple Horsy. It’s so rewarding to watch children play with felted toys. One can see children exploring mysterious lands of fairy tales together with their felted companions.



What inspires you?
My main sources of inspiration are children, nature and art. Children’s drawings are masterpieces that help me come up with new ideas for my projects. Drawings are so simple, kind and unaffected by any outside influence. I try my felted toys to be exactly like children’s drawings.

Rock carvings by prehistoric people are another source of inspiration for me. Their neat forms and unusual color combinations provoke many thoughts and help me come up with new patterns and colors for my felted toys.
Of course beautiful nature offers a lot in terms of design ideas and creativity.



What fibers do you use for your toys?
My first toys had simple color combinations reminiscent of nature and animals. Later I started experimenting with different colors adding hues that normally don’t exist in nature. Thus, my animals look like fairy creatures of vivid and bright colors with sophisticated prints and decorations on their bodies. Each color brings a new attitude and makes people dream about different things. Some creatures made of pastel colored fibers look somewhat melancholic. Others made of brightly colored wool look happy and positive.

I incorporate nuno felting techniques and embroidery into my doll making process to add texture and to make my toys visually more complex.

I use only natural fibers like wool and silk. All my toys are stuffed with 100% wool. Wool adds natural warmth to my toys and that’s another reason why children as well as grown ups love to hold them in their hands.

Originally my felted toys were designed for children. It turns out, however, that grown-ups are avid and true admirers of my art.

Art dolls by MioPupazzo

Art dolls are one of a kind objects that bring back memories of our childhood. Art dolls made by MioPupazzo are tiny fairy creatures that belong to our favorite fairy tales books. I was curious to know more about MioPupazzo and her beautiful art.



Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?
I was born and raised in a loving family in one of the most beautiful cities in the world - St. Petersburg, Russia. The city is famous for its tsars' palaces turned into world class museums and parks.

From an early age I often visited such places as the Hermitage museum or Peterhof known for their architecture and beauty. Almost every weekend my mom took me to a museum. My favorite one was a museum of decorative and applied arts.

As beautiful as St. Petersburg is, its climate is not that welcoming. In 2003 I moved to warm and sunny Israel on the Mediterranean coast, where there is no snow at all. My new country and a different climate somehow changed me. I became a much more open and outgoing person. In Israel I met a lot of wonderful people and found something I fell in love with - making art dolls.



How did you start?
I graduated from St. Petersburg (Russia) Technical University with a major in material science and engineering. After graduation I worked in a patent office and that's where I met an amazing and very creative person. This lady taught classes on papier-mâché and had her shows at different art galleries. Inspired my her I made a few toys and participated in a Christmas show in 2000 in St-Petersburg. That was how my interest in dolls and handmade craft got to a totally different level.

When I just started creating dolls I experimented a lot. I tried every possible doll-making material. These days I mostly work with paper clay. In the beginning I made all kinds of traditional clothes for my dolls. Later my love for patchwork and dolls merged and I evolved my own signature style of tiny crazy quilting dolls dresses. I love the fact that my work is so tiny. Typically, fabric art works are done on a large scale - big wall panel or a quilt. I create the same layered textured effect but in tiny dolls' dresses and soft sculptures.



What are you working on know and what are your plans for the future?
I've been working with an American publisher C&T Publishing for two years. Together we have created a wonderful book “Enchanting Art Dolls & Soft Sculptures”, which will be published this summer. It's actually already available for pre-order on Amazon. In my book I talk about the technique of embroidery “crazy quilting” and the creation of dolls. There are 8 unique projects including a beautiful mermaid, a fantasy fish, an elegant princess, and a sweet teddy bear with step by step photos.

Last year I switched to the creation of small brooches-dolls. They are very cute! Dolls could be used as brooches or decorations for a purse. One can turn my brooches into an ornament or a home decor item.

I've recently came up with an idea of creating crazy quilted letters. Letters are very unusual and elegant. I'm not sure I’ll be able to recreate all alphabet letters though. I've already made “L” ,“O”, “V” ,and “E”.



What inspires you?
I love collecting old photos, especially those with small children and their toys. Girls in aprons with their beautifully dressed dolls or boys on rocking horses offer a lot of ideas for my art dolls. Also I have a huge collection of small decorative keys that inspires me in my creative process.

Exotic felted flowers by Roltinica

We all get inspired by beautiful flowers. In spring and summer with so many flowers in bloom we get positive energy just by stepping out into a garden or walking in a park. It’s somewhat harder to find flowers in winter though. I’ve recently came across an amazing artists Elena who makes exotic and beautiful felted flowers. She helps us stay surrounded by flowers during cold winter days.



Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Elena and I live in a beautiful city of Naberezhnye Chelny, Russia. I love flowers, nature and bright colors. Our nature is some what reserved and we don’t have exotic flowers and plants growing in our gardens and forests. Felting unique looking flowers is a way for me to compensate for the luck of nature diversity and complexity.



How did you start?
It all started with my daughter Tatiana once coming across a felted purse tutorial on the Internet. The idea of felting a purse was quite inspiring and we ended up making one. That’s how I started hand felting.

Russian traditions of felting date back centuries and these days there are a lot of books and tutorials on how to felt pretty much anything. After experimenting with making a purse and other items I tried to make a flower. The process absorbed me completely and I make mostly flowers ever since.

I felt pretty much every day and experiment with felting a lot. I’ve come up with my own technique of felting flowers so that fluffy wool turns into smooth and soft yet firm flower petals. I try to make my flowers look real and the only thing that makes them different is a lack a scent.



What inspires you?
My family supports and inspires me in everything and I’m very thankful for that. My mom is my most authoritative critic – if she does not like the flower, I will remake it.

Nature and flowers are great sources of inspiration for me. I experiment with felting a lot and new techniques and fibers offer new possibilities and let me create different and unique items. On top of wool silk is another fiber that is great for felting. Mixing wool and silk I make interesting textures that become exotic flowers.



What are your creative plans for the future?
I wish there were more that 24 hours in one day! I plan on writing a master class for flower felting. People are often curious to learn how I make my petals and stamens that look like real. I’ve been experimenting a lot with felting to get to the point where my felted flowers look fresh and live. I’ll be happy to share my knowledge with other felt loving artists.

Thank you, Elena

Articulated Paper Dolls by Dubrovskaya

I came across these amazing paper dolls browsing the internet. They bring back memories of childhood and times when we played in our imaginary worlds days after days. These were wonderful times when we had no responsibilities, no obligations and no worries. Paper dolls by Dubrovskaya look so different and yet so familiar. I’m glad I had a chance to talk to the artists about her life and her art of making articulated paper dolls.



Could you tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Maria. I grew up in a family of an artist and a teacher in a city in Siberia, Russia. My parents didn’t want me to become an artist and I myself was not much into teaching. Thus, I took a somewhat standard path graduating from a university with a degree in economics. I ended up working as a web designed and later as a photographer though. As a hobby I started drawing illustrations that would be published by local magazines.



To change my life I left Russia in 2007. The original plan was to go to Asia and travel there for a few months but I never actually came back to Russia. In today’s world Internet empowers people to work and live in places they find interesting and challenging. Living in Asia I was able to work for companies all over the world.

I currently live in Philippines. Together with my boyfriend we rent a nice spacious house and I can finally devote some time to my beloved hobby of creating unique paper dolls.



How did you start making paper dolls?

I started with cutting and assembling a few paper dolls for myself. They reminded me of my childhood. I loved the process so much that I kept making them in different shapes and colors. I never thought of selling them but somehow a word spread and people started buying my dolls.



What inspires you?

Other artists and craftsmen inspire me a lot. It’s amazing what ideas people come up with. The boundaries of one’s imagination and creativity are indeed limitless. Once again Internet helps us all to share our ideas with the whole world. When I see something really beautiful and unique I feel an urge of going to my studio and creating, creating and creating!

Thank you, Maria!

Summer jewelry by Alery

When I first saw colorful earring and pendants by Alery I instantly fell in love! Bright summer colors of Alery earrings radiate positive energy and make me think about ocean vacation, exotic flowers and refreshing cocktails at a beach.
I was curious about the technique and materials these bright pieces are made from. Thus, I simply had to talk to Avery and share what I’ve learned.

Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Valery and I was born and raised in Kiev, Ukraine. It’s a beautiful city with rich history and beautiful ancient churches. A few years ago my husband, our two children and I moved to California where we now live in a small city not far from San Francisco. I work in IT but in my spare time I turn into a jeweler.



How did you start?
I’ve always been into crafting and art. Over years I’ve tried different crafts, techniques and fibers. Finally jewelry making became my main passion. I started about six years ago with incorporating precious stones and beads into my jewelry. Later I moved to wire wrapping techniques and metal. Nowadays I mostly work with hot enamel. I love to experiment and to incorporate completely different techniques into my creative process.



What are your main sources of inspiration?
On one hand I’m inspired by the diversity and sophistication of nature. One can indefinitely contemplate intricate creations of nature finding something new and surprising every time.

On the other hand man made objects can be as beautiful. Apart from nature architecture and art serve as great sources of inspiration. The simplicity and elegance of minimalism where every shape and every line have a well defined meaning and purpose prompt me to create simple yet bright and colorful jewelry items.



Could you tell us about the technique you use in jewelry making?
The technique I use is called enameling. A metal surface is covered with a finely grounded glass powder. The surface is then heated to about 1450F so that the powder melts and fuses together. One can use either kiln of hand torch to heat the powder.

It usually takes a few melting iterations for a jewelry piece to be ready. With each iteration a jeweler can change the color of the glass powder, its quantity and transparency. As a result most of the pieces turn out to be one of a kind and completely unique as it’s simply impossible to replicate them.

The process of enameling offers a jeweler a lot of freedom for creativity and experimentation. The results are sometimes very surprising and unpredictable. I totally love it!

Art clock by Anna Gaponova

We all put a lot of effort into making our homes look beautiful and cozy. There are so many ways to add color and style to our living room or our kitchen. I’ve recently come across a very talented artists Anna Gaponova from ArtClock. Anna hand paints wall clock to create unique and special art objects.



Q: Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

My name is Anna and I live in Kharkiv, Ukraine. I’ve always been into drawing and painting. It all started as a hobby but later painting became my profession. My clocks are not just art objects. I paint on wooden plates and turn them into real clock that can serve both as a functional decoration and a piece of art.



Q: How have you come up with an idea of painting on clock?

I’ve painted my first clock two years ago. I had an old vinyl record at hand and decided to turn it into a wall clock. The process of painting and creating new clock-faces turned out to be so exciting that I’ve been making clocks ever since. Within time I substituted vinyl to wood and all my clocks have a wood base now. Since every painting is different and unique I hand cut all wood pieces myself. I don’t want to outsource anything and make sure every part of the clock is done the way it should be done.



Q: What inspires you?

I find my inspiration in folk, native ornaments and decorations of different peoples living all over the world. African, Mexican, Indian patterns and color combinations always serve as a huge source of inspiration for me. Everyday encounters can make me start thinking about a new image for my clocks be it a unique color combination or music accidentally overheard in a street.

My stylized drawings of elephants, turtles and fish serve as symbols of peace, love and happiness. I very much hope these images truly bring positive energy and luck to homes they settle in.

Thank you, Anna!

Unique and beautiful paper art by Anatoly Vorobyev

Paper is a unique material. It’s fragile, delicate on one hand and flexible, versatile on the other hand. Art pieces made of paper look timeless and amazingly beautiful. I’ve recently came across a unique artist Anatoly Vorobyev who works with paper and creates one of a kind paper cut silhouettes, shadow boxes and art paper cutouts. His art work is so beautiful and exclusive that I couldn’t resist posting an interview with Anatoly on my blog.



Q: How have you started your paper cutout adventure?

I first developed an interest in making origami and modular paper sculptures in 2009. Later I’ve switched to paper cutouts. It’s an ancient technique that has been known for centuries. Over time many nations have developed their own unique styles and approaches to working with paper. I’ve got so fascinated by the possibilities provided by a simple sheet of paper. We often associate paper with books and publishing and rarely think about it as an art object.



Q: What amazes you in the process of cutting paper?

I love to combine traditional styles and techniques creating something completely new and unique. It’s such a joy to see how step by step a plain and pure piece of paper is turning into an art object. I like to experiment, mix and try something new. Every step of the process is aesthetically very rewarding be it drawing a silhouette or cutting a piece of paper.



Q: What are sources of inspiration?

I spend a lot of time outside and nature is my major source of inspiration. Plants, birds, animals make me thing about my future designs. Folk ornaments, vintage lace, mythological creatures and characters of favorite books, music, movies are great sources of inspiration as well.

When I see an interesting ornament or a unique pattern I start thinking about paper and how this object could be turned into a paper cutout or a shadow box.

Anatoly, thank you for sharing!