Make-It Mondays: Ideas for Spring

Spring is a good time for renewal and fresh ideas. I know I may be jumping the gun, but with all this melting snow and March beginning tomorrow...I am going to be overly optimistic that Spring is almost here.

Spring themes to consider in your Etsy shop are: Spring cleaning/organizing, gardening, plants & terrariums, terrarium accessories, chicks and bunnies and Easter baskets, flowers, buds & twigs, nests &eggs, Mother's day, white linens, pastels, weddings and outdoor celebrations.

If you are in the Rochester area and need to get that Spring mojo going, try making a piece of work especially for the Shoe Factory Art Co-op's rotating exhibitions in Anderson Alley. The next few months they will be searching for work based on the themes Hawks and Doves and Earthly Delights: Art of the Garden. Also, start applying for summer Craft shows and Art markets. Many have deadlines in March and April.

Lets keep our fingers crossed for sunnier days :)

Wednesday Wellspring: February Team Challenge: Safari

We've got a trio of entries growling onto the blog for this month's safari-themed team challenge.

Cast your vote for your favorite on the poll in the upper, right corner of the blog.

And the first contender, handstitching her way through the jungle:

Liam the Lion by

KiraArts

Next, with a junglicious frock:

Leopard Dress

by Turtlefly



And with lionhearted elegance:

Recycled Spoon Pendant: Leo

by Sunshyne Silverwear

Cast your vote for your safari-themed favorite on the upper right of the sidebar! 

Wednesday Wellspring Pre-Game: Winner of Sunshyne Silverwear's Giveaway

And the winner of Sunshyne Silverwear's gorgeous pendant is:
#31 Marija

Thanks for playing and stay tuned for this month's team challenge and next week's Wednesday Wellspring giveaway featuring Aimee's Creations!

Treasury Tuesday: Peeps, Chirps, & Hoots + Light My Fire

It's a Double Treasury for today's Treasury Tuesday! Our RNEST members have all been compiling so many awesome treasuries lately, I have a hard time waiting until the next week to feature them! So this week I decided to feature two! They don't feature exclusively RNESTers, but each treasury does have at least one RNEST member featured. (Can you find them? Leave a comment!)

This first treasury is by Casey of PeachesProducts. I love the colors. And all the bird imagery reminds me of Spring (oh sweet Spring...please come back soon!)

Peeps, Chirps, and Hoots by PeachesProducts

This second firey treasury by Brandi of Bmeg makes me either wish I had a fireplace...or makes me want to listen to The Doors. "Come on baby, light my fire..." ;)

Light My Fire by Bmeg

Make-It Mondays: It's Baaaa-aaaack!

Yes after many months, it's back....the RNEST garbage plate. Our hope is to use our team members talents to create the ultimate handmade garbage plate, for the ultimate RNEST giveaway sometime in the future.


So far our plate includes: a plate (by the Quilted House) a veggie burger ( by Duncan Creative) onion-y, oily meat sauce (by me, Buenahelena) mac salad (by Jackbear Stamps) and hash browns (by Peaches Products).


We still need:sliced french bread, red (or white) hots, and beans. Let us know if you're down!

Jack's Pick: Buenahelena's Radial Sunburst Matchstick Painting

I am sad to say, this will be the final "Jack's Pick" on the blog. Instead I'm going to do more picking over on our Facebook page for RNEST, so look for some more great choice's there! Stay tuned on Friday's though for a new feature article from another RNEST team member.

I am happy to say I'm going to dedicate my last pick to a team member who inspires me with her original work, Carol of Buenahelana. Pictured is one of Buenahelena's eye catching radial matchstick paintings. Carol is a master of "upcycling" and this is a great example. I think in a previous pick, I may have selected here mini matchbook notepads. Well you might wonder what happened to all the matches she ripped out of those matchbooks? Here they are, painted and transformed into a great canvas to adorn a wall.

I like that you wouldn't even know these were matches if you stepped back away from it. It has a classic design and symmetry. So much of the stuff in Buenahelena's shop has that retro/vintage look right now. I feel like I just walked into a little boutique that has been closed since the seventies. If you are looking for originality, look no further than the Buenahelena shop.

Happy shopping!

Wednesday Wellspring: Sunshyne Silverwear

Congratulations to Deb (Two Cheeky Monkeys) for winning Beadwork by Amanda's awesome cufflinks!

And bubbling up from the well this week, an awesome new team member: Sunshyne Silverwear! This reclaimed cutlery artist is offering this recycled spoon handle pendant. A real fern leaf rests on top of a hand painted light green background and a generous coat of resin gives a lustrous look that also protects the art.

And now for the rules (This giveaway is open to the US only):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Sunshyne Silverwear, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.

MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):

1. "Like" Sunshyne Silverwear on Facebook.

2. "Like" RNEST on Facebook.

3. Follow the Sunshyne Silverwear blog.

4. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, February 22 and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Treasury Tuesday: Ready For Spring!

Are those mid-February "I'm SO SICK OF WINTER!" blahs getting you down? Then step into Spring with this lovely, fresh collection of items, compiled by Erin of Sunshyne Silverwear!

Ready for Spring! by Sunshyne Silverwear

Make-It Mondays: New Team Page on Etsy

As many of you know, Etsy has devised a new system for representing teams on their site. Teams were searchable on generic state by state pages, but all interaction had to take place in the Etsy Forums or outside blogs and social networking sites. There are now, new and improved team pages, including one for our Rochester NY Etsy Street Team.

On these new pages Etsians can request membership or be invited directly. Team leaders can be officially nominated by team creators to moderate the page. Members are represented by their shop avatar, so folks outside of the team can immediately click their way to your shop. Members can also create discussion threads. Overall it is cleaner, prettier and easier.

For the past year our team has existed very well on our Ning site and we plan to keep the majority of discussion and updates there. Basically the Etsy page is another route for people to find out about our shops, our blog, Facebook fanpage and our Ning site. So if you were thinking "Ugh, one more site to check everyday!" have no worries. It's mostly just an official Etsy face for us. A figurehead of sorts.

Right now we also have discrepancies between established members on the Ning site and the Etsy Team page. If you're a member in one place we'd like to have you in both. So new applicants, head on over to Ning to officially apply and oldies but goodies, stop by the new team page and sign up. No crazy application required of you again though! ;)

Wednesday Wellspring: Beadwork by Amanda

Bubbling up from the well this week, is a fan favorite: Beadwork by Amanda! This wonderful artisan is offering these gorgeous cuff links to one lucky winner. Recycled circuit board in kelly green was hand cut and ground into circles. The boards are covered in a layer of resin in a bezel cup. Silver plated cuff links are adhered to the back. The cuff links are 18mm in diameter.

Amanda isn't just an awesome artist and fulltime PhD student, she is also the cofounder of one of the best arts and crafts shows in Rochester: MayDay Underground. Vendors are being accepted for the May show through March 1, so check out the blog and get your MayDay on!

Beadwork by Amanda will be offering 10% off to RNEST blog readers til next Tuesday - just use the coupon code RNEST at checkout!

And now for the rules (This giveaway is open to THE WORLD!!):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Beadwork by Amanda, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.

MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):

1. "Like" Beadwork by Amanda on Facebook.
2. "Like" MayDay Underground on Facebook.

3. "Like" RNEST on Facebook.
4. Follow the MayDay Underground blog.
5. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, February 15 and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Treasury Tuesday: Shades of Winter

Yes...it's still winter. And I know a lot of us are getting rather sick of snow. But, I think Amanda (aka: BeadWorkByAmanda) says it best in the description for this treasury "Here's to embracing the colors and feelings of winter since it will be with us for a few more months!"

Shades of Winter by BeadworkByAmanda

All of the items in this treasury are from Rochester area artists and potential Mayday Underground Vendors. Amanda is one of the organizers for this awesome local show! You can find out more about the Mayday Underground Shows and get updates at their blog.

Make-It Mondays: Dopplegangers

A few weeks ago I was struggling with what I should post on my personal blog. So I googled myself. What I found, among mostly junk, was a photo of my work that some one took and posted on Flickr, that received ton's of great comments. I made a post about it, thanking the person and actually heard back from them the next day. Pretty cool right?

This week I was stumped for Make-It Mondays. So, guess what? I googled it. What I found were many other crafty Make-It Mondays. Not so clever moniker after all ;) but now if you are jonesing for more Monday making goodness you can check out these sites too:

Papertrey Ink's Make It Monday Series
Five Sixteenth's Make it Monday posts (She also has Fan Fridays and Sum Up Sundays)
The Long Thread's Make It Monday
Ada's Interior Design Monday's Make-It posts
Make It Monday Tumblr

Local Craft Show: Hearts + Crafts Indie Craft Market!

Just a reminder that our own Buenahelena, Peaches Products, Beadwork By Amanda, and KiraArts will be at the Hearts + Crafts Indie Craft Market tomorrow, Sunday, February 6th from 11:00am to 5:00pm at Java's in Rochester, NY! Come on by and get a handmade present for your Valentine sweetie!

* You can check out the Hearts + Crafts Facebook page here!

Wednesday Wellspring: Sculptresslink

Congratulations to our very own Buenahelena for winning Jackbear's OMG stamp!

And bubbling up from the well with a giveaway this week is an RNEST newbie: Sculptresslink!

The artist says these polymer clay earrings look so much like grilled cheese that people will be hungry when they look at your ears. The cheddar cheese oozes out the side of the bread slices.

And now for the rules (This giveaway is open to US only.):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Sculptresslink, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.
MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):

1. Become a follower of Sculptresslink's blog.!

2. "Like" RNEST on Facebook.
3. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, February 15 and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Treasury Tuesday: A Rochester Love Story

Happy February! If you're like me, hearing "February" automatically conjures up images of pink and red, hearts and roses. Valentine's Day may only be on the 14th, but it seems to dominate the whole month. This week's lovely treasury was complied by Erin of Sunshyne Silverwear, exclusively featuring pieces by RNEST members.

A Rochester Love Story>

I know there's still a few more weeks until Valentine's Day, but this gives you some time to order and have your item shipped! So go ahead...go order something for your sweetheart!