While waiting for my son to finish his soccer practice I took a few pictures of Lake Michigan at sunset. Beautiful lake it is!
This place is called Montrose beach at Lake Michigan.
They have a small space designeted as a nature area with birds and insects one will not see in other places.
I found this simple flower walking by my house on a snow day. The color combination chocolate brown flower on white snow caught my eyes. I simply couldn't walk by:)
Red maple leaf felted mini bag GIVEAWAY ended on Friday, October 12th. Thank you so much for participating! I very much appreciate your time and attention!
Congratulations to Marty for winning my giveaway!!!
Red Berry felted mini bag GIVEAWAY ended on Friday, September 28th.
Thank you so much for participating! I very much appreciate your time and attention!
I ran the number of comments through the Random Generator website
Let us congratulate Marija who won my Red Berry felted mini bag with a button and a long strap!
Congratulations Marija!!!
Autumn is upon us! With very few bushes still in bloom we see less and less of beautiful butterflies. They will be all gone pretty soon. I took a picture of this beautiful butterfly in our front yard. It will help me remember warm days and beautiful colors of autumn!
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
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!
With spring bloom almost over we are moving towards a more subtle green summer season. However, greens are not boring! The deep green color of leaves, grass and trees comes in a lot of different hues. 
We still can find fresh and young leaves that have this optimistic color of lime. They are tender and fragile and it will take them some time to turn into deep green mid summer leaves. 
Don't get upset that all the spring flowers are gone. Take your camera and go for a picture hunt in the green of the summer! I promise you will find lots of cool green objects worth to be displayed on your living room's wall. 
I keep experimenting with colors and shapes. My new version of a felted berry brooch comes in chocolate and blue. It's a very vivid and beautiful combination of colors that goes well with pretty much any outdoor and indoor outfits and attires. Unique shapes of my berry brooches make them standout. I get a lot of feedback from clients about how they get noticed everywhere they go wearing my brooch. It's so rewarding to know that!
The colors of the brooch make me think about chocolate and cotton candy ice cream that is pretty good by the way! The combination of tilted blue and dark brown is very rewarding and stylish. 
Thank you for participating in my Red Berry handmade earrings Giveaway. Believe it or not but the number generated by Random Generator was 66!
Let us congratulate Lee who won Red Berry handmade earrings today!!! Congratulations Lee!!!
It's getting warm and sunny with summer practically around the corner. Let's pack our backpacks and go hiking! Be it Appalachian mountains, Rocky mountains or forests of Washington state it's great to get out and spend a good few days walking, climbing and jumping. 
I featured the following talented fellow Etsians in my Gone Hiking treasury east: bellsandunicorns, jezek, theangryrobot, tonyautkina, papercutworks, yuliaart, Beesnetta, YuliaKazansky, HappyfrogfromAlaska, FunEmbroidery, IrinaPhotography, socksandmittens, stevester, wildernest, FlowersbyIrene, peacemagnetgirl
Forget work! It's sunny and warm and all I can think about is white colors of the sand and shells, inviting blue colors of the water and bright rainbow colors of summer and spring flowers! Let's go to the beach!
More Summer jewelry items at Tonya Utkina
