Tuesday Featured Artist and Giveaway - EminTaos

This week's featured Etsy artist is Emily from EminTaos. Emily lives in the lovely high mountainous desert of Northern New Mexico. Her jewelry reflects the rich, earthy tones of her part of the world. Read on to find out more about EminTaos and to enter the giveaway!


A little background on Emily from EminTaos
I was a floral and event production designer in California for 17 years. When I moved out to Taos, New Mexico a few years ago, holding onto that profession was impossible. I had begun designing jewelry 9 years ago with my best friend, as a hobby and a way to make a few extra bucks. I realized quickly out here that I was going to need to be creative literally and figuratively to help support my family. Etsy was something I had heard about as gaining in popularity. I checked it out, mulled it over, got brave, and went for it. I opened in October of 2008 and, after being really discouraged for the first 8 months, decided to give it a concerted effort once again. This last August, with A LOT of effort and changes to my shop, things started to turn around. I WAS FEATURED ON THE ETSY FRONT PAGE!


Why you love what you do?
Creative expression is a necessity to some people I believe. It gives me a sense of purpose, accomplishment, and is an excellent self esteem booster (especially when people buy and love your stuff)

What inspires you?
The seasons, the weather, colors, and texture inspire me. I am occasionally inspired by what I see in high fashion. I like to take ideas, combine them, and then pair them down. The older I get the more I see that simple is best.

Favorite item in your shop
I am really favoring all my items that incorporate leaves....tis the autumn season upon us!

What items are you promoting for the holidays?
I will be featured in the Etsy section of the holiday issue of BUST magazine shortly with a deerskin and rock bracelet wrap. Besides those, I'm really going to push my silk ribbon charm wraps, as they are colorful, versatile, and excellent for gift giving!



Any specials deals customers should know about?
During the holidays I will be offering the following deals:
Any order over $80 gets a free surprise pair of earrings (sterling!). Keep a look out for various 20% off Weekend Deals throughout the holidays as well.



- Twitter?:
EminTaos on Twitter

And Now For The GIVEAWAY!



- Name of item: Orange Lotus--stretchy carnelian bracelet with 24 kt vermeil lotus charm
- Value: $24
- Eligible to win (US, CANADA, WORLDWIDE): Woldwide

To enter:
1 entry - visit EminTaos and tell us what your favorite item is
1 entry - visit Jacaranda Designs and tell us your favorite item of jewelry
1 entry - follow this blog
1 entry - tweet about this giveaway
1 entry - blog about this giveaway

Don't forget to leave your email so you can be contacted should you win!

Contest ends Monday November 2nd at 5pm. Winner will be selected using random.org

Little Shimmer Earrings

Some of my shimmer earrings - all less than $20 so perfect as a small gift to someone special.

So Much Yarn, So Little Time!

I was browsing Etsy this morning and came across some lovely yarn. It made me think that I haven't knitted anything in ages. Maybe I've found a new winter project!

Here are a few of my faves...

Tuesday Feature Artist - EchoEndeavor

This week's featured Etsy artist is Jamie from EchoEndeavor. She creates a variety of unique, delightful jewelry! Read on to learn more about the non-profit charity Jamie founded and that she donates all her sales to! It's certainly a very worthy cause.



My name is Jamie Miller. I live in north central West Virginia with my husband (Brad) and our little one (Logan), along with our parrot and cat (and fishies!). I work part time as director of health and life sciences for a non-profit research firm located in West Virginia called MATRIC and hold an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Medicine at West Virginia University. I hold a doctorate degree in microbiology and immunology and focus most of my research endeavors on autoimmunity, infectious disease, and cancer research. I began making jewelry in graduate school as an "escape" from all the "hooplah" associated with such a degree and decided early on that I would donate all the proceeds from items I sold to our local breast care center. So far I have donated over $7,000 to a non-profit charity I founded called echo: Endeavor to Contribute to the Health of Others.



Why you love what you do?
I love what I do because it gives me a creative outlet that allows me to help other people in the process.

What inspires you?
There are so many things that inspire me. My mom is probably one of my biggest inspirations, though. She always taught me that every little bit counts and that if you shoot for the moon you'll land among the stars.

Favorite item in your shop
That is a tough one. Can I have three????? I would have to say:
the vintage sapphire glass bracelet



the creamy cocoa pearl earrings


and the prasiolite necklace



What items are you promoting for the holidays?
I haven't really started focusing on holiday specific items yet this year. The way the economy has been I have tried to create pieces that reflect the season maybe in their colors but can be worn throughout the year so that they 0offer more practicality.



Any specials deals customers should know about?
Look for seasonal sales. In October I will have a sale in celebration of breast cancer awareness month where pink items will be on sale. I will likely have a snowflake or winter sale after that. Maybe blue and silver items featured??????

I do have a web site for "echo". You can learn more about the me, the fund, see pictures of my work and custom orders, and learn more about breast cancer by going to: http://www.orgsites.com/wv/echo

I will offer free U.S. shipping from October 20th through October 24th for anyone who makes a purchase from my shop and puts "jacaranda blog free shipping" in the message to seller. I will refund shipping through PayPal.

Winner of the Sweet Strawberry Apron!

The winner of the sweet strawberry apron from Sweet and Cozy is...

Trisha

Congrats!

Thanks everyone for taking part.

Purple Power

Well apparently purple is the HOT color this season so here's some of my recent purple creations. Hope you like them!

Nature's Beauty!

We've had a very short Fall season here in Ontario. We managed to get out for some fresh air and a lovely hike a couple of days ago. Although the colors aren't yet as spectacular as they may be in a couple of weeks, I thought I'd post these photos taken in farm country the other day. The wonders of nature!

Tuesday Featured Artist and Giveaway - Sweet and Cozy!

This week's featured Etsy artist is the talented Shelby from Sweet and Cozy. You'll see it's such an appropriate name for her shop when you check out all the cute, soft and of course, cozy baby items!



Shelby is a stay at home mom with 2 boys ages 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 . She lives in the beautiful Okanagan Valley in BC, Canada and has been married for 8 years to a computer whiz.



Shelby has been making sleep sacks and blankets for several years and has now decided to turn her hobby into a business.



Why does she love what she does? – "I’m really not an expert seamstress, and have my fair share of frustrations, but it’s all worth it in the end when you have made something you can be proud of."

What inspires her? – Really cute fabrics.

Shelby's favorite item at the moment is a pretty pink baby gift basket.



What items are you promoting for the holidays? I don’t have any Christmas related items at the moment, but I plan to make some cute kids stockings.

Any specials deals customers should know about? I offer a discount if matching items are purchased together, such as a sleep sack and pillow.

Other places you can find Sweet and Cozy..

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=530981164&ref=profile#/g...

And now for the giveaway (this is so cute)!

- Name of item: Sweet Strawberry Apron
- Value: $11.99
- Eligible to win (US, CANADA, WORLDWIDE): US and Canada

To enter:
1 entry - visit Sweet and Cozy and tell us what your favorite item is
1 entry - visit Jacaranda Designs and tell us your favorite item of jewelry
1 entry - follow this blog
1 entry - tweet about this giveaway
1 entry - blog about this giveaway

Don't forget to leave your email so you can be contacted should you win!

Contest ends Monday October October 18th at 5pm. Winner will be selected using random.org

Winner of the Bagel Creations Coffee Cozy!

Congrats to ...

va

for winning the Bagel Creations coffee cozy in our giveaway!

Thanks to everyone for taking part and to Maryanne from Bagel Creations!

Tuesday Featured Artist - Bagel Creations and Giveaway!

Today's featured Etsy artist, Maryanne of Bagel Creations, is a fellow member of the busymomsofetsy team and has a wonderful variety of sewn creations so if you're already thinking about Christmas, there's some perfect stocking stuffer ideas here! I bought a little business card folder from Maryanne a while ago and I love it!



Maryanne taught special education for 12 years and is now a behavior consultant with children with autism. She opened her etsy shop in September 2008. She's always been crafty, but learned to sew about 5 years ago and is now totally addicted to fabric!



She loves creating things that are useful but beautiful. Using something beautiful throughout her day helps lift her spirits (mine too!). I hope it does for other people.

What inspires her? Beautiful fabrics, her kids and life as a mom.



Maryanne's favorite item right now is the Possible Bag. It's super functional and super cute : ) She loves finding new fabrics to make them out of!



Bagel Creations can also be found at....
Blog: www.bagelcreations.blogspot.com
facebook: www.facebook.com/bagelcreations
Twitter: www.twitter.com/bagelcreations

And now for the giveaway!

Name of item: Adjustable Coffee Cozy
Value of item: $8
Eligible to win: Worldwide

To enter:
1 entry - visit Bagel Creations and tell us what your favorite item is
1 entry - visit Jacaranda Designs and tell us your favorite item of jewelry
1 entry - follow Maryanne's blog http://bagelcreations.blogspot.com
1 entry - follow this blog
1 entry - tweet about this giveaway
1 entry - blog about this giveaway

Don't forget to leave your email so you can be contacted should you win!

Contest ends Monday October October 12th at 5pm. Winner will be selected using random.org