My Greatest Creation

My first child has entered my life in recent weeks. What a fulfilling creation indeed.

My Weekly Etsy Picks - Week of Feb. 14th

Spring, Spring... oh how I long for you to arrive soon! In Georgia this week, we have gone from 4 inches of snow to 60 degree days. What a swing! Hopefully this weekend was Mother Nature's last Winter blast and we are bound for more days like today!

This week, I am featuring Dreams of Spring

Fuzzy yellow chicks are certainly a sign that warmer days have arrived. Check out this sweet little guy created by seller birder1:


Mmm... green, cool grass. What a wonderful and unique lamp shade by tansyandco!



Seems seller jefffetty's philosophy is to go big, or go home. Look at these amazing sculptural Daffodils:

A Rainbow of Ear Candy

Silver shine and the colors of the rainbow!

I made several pairs of earrings for the store. The simple, single color and bead designs seem to be popular.

Faux Peacock Feather Hair Clip

Peacock feathers are all the rage right now. It's a trend that keeps coming back, from the Victorian era (or earlier), till now, people have been adorning themselves with the beautiful bird's plumes.

I was inspired by the more recent incarnation of the trend to try something a little different. I sketched out an idea for a faux version made of felt. I think the final result was something very nice to behold, not to mention animal-friendly!

New Feature

I am officially an Etsy addict! I love seeing all of the beautiful and creative items people have in their stores.

Each week I plan to feature three items in three artist's shops that catch my eye.


The first week, there is a somewhat predictable theme: LOVE. It is the week of Valentine's Day afterall.


This is a lovely puzzle by seller Jenlo262 made from a print of her original painting
See it here
What is more romantic for an evening out than a beautiful, feminine, frilly dress? This was created by another Georgian artist audreyandgrace
See it here
I love ceramics and one day I wish to have a kiln (or access to one). In the mean time, I will admire sweet creations like this one by kensgardenpottery.

Plastic Diversion

I let my creative bug get the best of me this weekend. I had a few projects planned, but they got trumped by these:

Custom phrase necklace... in this case, I am getting prepped for St. Patty's Day with the classic "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" phrase.


I also created a floral motif pendant with an illustration I hand-drew:



These are a lot of fun because they are truly customizable and unique. I can make just about anything I want into a fun, plastic charm.

Find these and more at www.amethystart.etsy.com

What Next?

I am feeling a bit schizophrenic when it comes to my project list. I have so many ideas to the point where I kind of freeze up because I don't want to go to one and forget another... or lose passion for it because the prior didn't have the result I wanted.

I have so many ideas! Some are based on trends and things I've seen. Some are based on seasonal things like birthstones, holidays, etc. Others are purely creative and are just for me.

I feel like I should narrow down my crafts into one or two things that I can become really-really good at, but I don't want to lose the excitement I get with trying new things.

The problem is this: I don't want to get into a rut (feeling) that I was in with the 365 day project where I made so many things, but few that I had a passion for or could be truly proud of. That doesn't mean the quality wasn't there... just that I know that is so many cases, I could have gone BIGGER, BETTER and I didn't.

At this moment, I have some ideas for paintings, sculpture, decorations, jewelry... just about everything! What to do. What to do...

Thankfully the weekend is almost here and the house is in order, so I think I will be able to post some fun stuff soon. Stay tuned!

Valentine's Day Commissions

I have had a few inquiries for custom Valentine's gifts.
I am taking custom orders for Valentine's Day, but they must be in before Feb 5th if being shipped and by the 10th if local (Atlanta area).
Any other custom requests are welcome any time.
Please note I make clip-ons and other hard to find items including children's jewelry and accessories.

Pre-made items can be ordered at any time and can be found here:

www.AmethystArt.etsy.com

Turtle, Turtle

leI had a recent commission for a couple of items for the requestor's turtle-loving friends. I think they turned out pretty nicely:

Can't Wait...

I really can't wait until I can start working in resin again. I had some ideas and I sat on them too long, now I can't play at all. Why is it that the forbidden fruit is the only fruit you want? Sigh. Only a few more weeks until I can start my experiments again *evil laugh*.

Heart Shaped Box with Flourish

A romantic heart-shaped box. Metallic red and dry-brushed with gold.
Please check out this item at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AmethystArt

Blue Bird Headband

This is something I wanted to try for a while. Thankfully, I was able to take a little repite after the 365 day project was over. I started on this the next day, but I was able to complete it over the course of several!

Hope you enjoy :)

Please check out this item at http://www.etsy.com/shop/AmethystArt

Happy New Year 2010!

It has been a long and challenging year. I knew creating something each day of the year would be difficult. I was able to post through two trips to Boston and one to New York with success if not a little frustration to my travel mates. I was a little fanatic in the first few months!

Over the year, I had some significant life changes and the blog became routine. Though I stuck to making something for each day, posting was the difficulty. Each posting requires a scan or photo which must then be edited or at least resized. Then I must transfer the file to a computer. That seems easy enough until your computer goes on the fritz!

I started posting my pictures in batches so that the lengthy process was limited to a few nights a week and life could be lived. I felt bad about this at first, but I also realized my readership was not close to what I had hoped for. The lack of objections made it much easier to post when time allowed.

In the end, I have gained practice and experience in crafts of many types this year including polymer clay, resin casting, painting and jewelry design and creation. However, I feel the daily constraint limited the amount of detail and attention I could give to each item I made. I was prolific, but not particularly proud of my results. I have had so many ideas and concepts I dreamed up, but in the end I would have to go towards simplicity in most cases.

I started the year with a retail web site and an Etsy site. I also had a very busy (regular) work year which along with focusing on the blog left my free time limited. So I let both go to the way side and focused on my (regular) career instead. Of course, I can do both. I have done both and I WILL do both going forward. I took my original web site down, but I still own the http://www.amethyst-art.com/ domain. A talented friend is helping me get that restored, but in the mean-time, I have begun using the Etsy shop again which is located here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AmethystArt

I will continue to post creations on the blog and eventually I will integrate it into the web site. Until then, keep visiting to see the the latest creation (though not daily).

As always, please contact me with any requests or questions. Often the greatest inspiration comes from the ideas of others and their excitement.

Thank you to those that did visit and support this project and an advance thank you to my new friends that might stop by.

Until next post, please enjoy something else that came to me this year- a fantastic new logo from the mind and artistic hand of Kevin Whelan
Have a happy New Year everyone. I hope 2010 brings only good and beautiful things!

~Shylee