Friday, April 27, 2012

Welcome to Viking Knit

What am I working on today - Viking knit!

Viking knit is one of my favorite ways to work with wire. Instead of buying expensive tools and tutorials, I learned how to do it by watching YouTube tutorials and I use the "budget" tools, i.e. a pencil...

 

I did invest in a wooden draw plate though. When you 1st have the raw chain, it is stiff  and does not bend easily. Once you've drawn it through the draw plate it becomes pliable.

 

Through trial and error I worked out how long I needed of the raw chain to get a certain length of finished chain. Once you reach the length you need, you begin pulling the chain through successively smaller holes in the draw plate (twice per hole) until you reach the outer dimension that you want


Approximately 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inches of wire wrapped around a standard sized round pencil lengthened to this earring.
 
Check out my favorite YouTube tutorial by BlueKittyCreations.
 
 xo ~ Mad




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Sunday, April 22, 2012

Featured Artist: Lizzy from OddballArtCo





 

Hello! Welcome back to my Featured Artists Series. I am participating in the Etsian Artists Blog Swap and I'm very excited that for my 1st feature I get the amazing and multi-talented Lizzy Love of OddballArtCo!!! Check out her fun interview below...


How did your shop get its name and what was the main inspiration behind opening your shop?

I opened my shop up literally the moment I discovered Etsy on November 8 2010! A few days earlier I had finally took the step of purchasing my own domain name www.oddballartco.com and was attempting to set up a shopping cart on it through ZenCart which was not going well. After purchasing a $45 manual and reading it through twice I was no further ahead then when I had started lol I would like to point out that I am generally pretty savvy when it comes to the internet and setting up/maintaining my website so this was just craziness! I was taking a much needed break just surfing the net and stumbled upon Etsy for the first time in my life and my immediate reaction was "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!!!!!" lol I couldn't believe that I had never heard of this before and I was head over heels in love! Naming my shop was easy, obviously I was going to use the same name that I had recently purchased for my domain, luckily it was available and so it all just sort of fell into place from there.


What do you create and do you have a signature product? If so how did it come to be?

I create one of a kind art dolls/soft sculptures and acrylic, watercolor and mixed media artworks. My style is a bit quirky and a little whimsical; a perfect combination of sweet and sour that glitters up the grunge!

Recently my art dolls have become my signature product!!! Every show that I do my art dolls sell out and I have been getting a lot of custom orders for them! I am not really sure how it came to be, it just kind of did lol 
 
 

Where do you find your inspiration and what makes you different from the other people that make what you make?

My inspiration comes from Fashion and music mostly! I always have the fashion channel on in my studio and else where in the house, I generally don't ever change the channel! lol I went to college for fashion design and though I don't practice it much anymore it still plays a pretty big role in inspiring my artworks and art dolls now. I also find a lot of inspiration from the music I listen too and music videos. I just love a great, creative and inspirational music video and I have actually put together a couple of playlists on YouTube that I like to put on when I am making art in my studio! First I made the playlist called Art Class 1 but I think that Art Class 2 is way superior! Art Class 2 is a compilation of the most creative and inspiring music videos ever made and it really truly does a great job of getting my creative juices flowing when I turn it on. If you are ever interested in checking it out you can here www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9F649A47C12940D3

What do you enjoy most about your craft and what do you find most rewarding about selling on Etsy?
Nothing makes me happier then making art does!!! I find the entire process rewarding from start to finish. When someone purchases my work on Etsy and tells me how happy it makes them is what makes selling on Etsy so rewarding for me. To know that something I created is bringing that much joy to someone else is such an amazing feeling all its own, there's nothing quite like it! 


What is your best advice to newbie Etsians just opening their shops?

Don't give up, stick with it and stay dedicated! Learn to great photos, read the Etsy blog and sign up for their newsletters that always have educational articles and how to's. There is always something to learn, don't ever close yourself off to learning, it doesn't matter if you've been on Etsy for 1 day or 1 year, there will always be something new to learn, if you can stay open to that and pretend your a sponge and just try to absorb as much knowledge about selling on Etsy as you can and you will get ahead.

What are your top 3 fav shops (other then your own) that you love to browse on Etsy?

Hmmmm top 3....... there are so many but I will try to narrow it down to only 3 lol
www.christinaromeo.etsy.com
www.pinkytoast.etsy.com
www.junkerjane.etsy.com

 that was hard lol....... can I just kind of slide this really fabulous undiscovered shop in there too lol www.jb0xtchi.etsy.com


Where else other then Etsy can you be found on the net?

A whole lot of places lol....
OFFICIAL Oddball Art Co. Website ♥ www.oddballartco.com

Oddball Art Co. On-line Shop ♥ www.oddballartco.etsy.com

Oddball Art Co. on Zazzle ♥ www.zazzle.com/oddballartco

Oddball Art Co. on Fine Art America ♥ www.fineartamerica.com/profiles/lizzy-love.html

Oddball Art Co. Blog ♥ www.oddballartco.blogspot.com

Oddball Art Co. on Tumblr ♥ www.oddballartco.tumblr.com

Oddball Art Co. on Twitter ♥ www.twitter.com/oddballartco

Oddball Art Co. on Facebook ♥ www.facebook.com/oddballartco

Lizzy Love on Facebook ♥ www.facebook.com/oddballart

Oddball Art Co. on Flickr ♥ www.flickr.com/photos/oddballartco

 

Do you have any coupon codes / special sales / upcoming or current promotional events going on in your shop?

I sure do! You can use the code MYTREAT10 and receive 10% OFF anything in my shop, this code is always good forever and ever & mention this interview in the notes to seller and I will send you a free 5x7 print of my artwork with your purchase!

xo ~ Mad
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