Featured Artist Spotlight....Wysiwigs!!!

I met Jen through the Etsy group, Fabulous Artistic Moms (FAM) and have been a big fan of her and her shop since. Her store, WYSIWIGS, stands for What You See Is What I've Got (Smile o:) and offers an assortment of crafty goodies. From amazing prints of her pencil sketches and original origami art to notecards/ACEOs and awesome woodburned earrings. Her talent is endless and her sense of humor leaves me in stitches. It's always fun *hanging out* with her in the Etsy forums. For even more information, check out Jen's profile.

Okay...now here is more information about Jen. I asked, she answered!

MJ: How long have you been creating/designing? When did you first learn you had a creative side?
Jen: I've been drawing since I was big enough to hold a pencil. I started kindergarten at age four; about the time I started asking my parents for a horse. All the other little kids were drawing stick people and I was drawing horses with ridiculously long manes and tails :o) I guess my sketching evolved from there. On the crafty side, my grandmother had a bunch of friends over every week to make something specific as a group, like a beaded Christmas ornament for example, and she always let me do one too (I loved it). The origami started just last year while I was recovering from reconstructive surgery - I've been addicted ever since.

MJ: What is your inspiration to create? What is your motivation to succeed?
Jen: I don't think I can classify inspiration any other way than Divine. Something will just catch my attention and I "just gotta" draw it or make it. How else can you classify creative things that just pop into your head from nowhere? I don't know that I have a motivation to succeed precisely; more like a space problem and financial issues (I HAVE to sell some of this stuff so I can go make something else and buy more supplies, you know? :o)

MJ: When you are not working on your craft, what are you doing?
Jen: I am a full-time interpreter for a deaf student in high school as well as running a private operating foundation (a pending 501c3) with nine horses and a 4-H leader (we stay kinda busy around here...)

MJ: Do you belong to any groups on Etsy?
Jen: I belong to the FAM (Fabulous Artistic Moms) Street Team - which is the most amazing group of women you'll ever meet; and also to EFA (Etsy for Animals) via my other shop EPICFARMS.

MJ: What is on the horizon for you? New products? Etc.?
Jen: I don't know what tomorrow will bring, I've learned to take things one day at a time (cancer causes a definite attitude adjustment). I am just now getting back to the life I left behind a couple of years ago - well, actually maybe its more like running to catch up to it! I was just released from treatment in May of this year (yay!)
I will be adding more photo prints, cards, and magnets (I have a friend that is an awesome photographer) to my Wysiwigs shop soon and there is a set of pastels staring at me from the dining room table...I'm still afraid of them, though. I've opened a second Etsy shop to help support the foundation - I think I mentioned it earlier. We also have a foundation website; EPICFARMS which I am learning - the hard way - to build (oy :o)


MJ: Share one thing about you that you think would surprise people.
Jen: I hate soda, coffee, AND tea. Isn't that awful? (I am, therefore, forced to seek my caffeine in solid form...CHOCOLATE - that part probably isn't surprising though :o)








Check out Jen's Etsy Shop.... WYSIWIGS.

Featured Artist Spotlight....Luv4Sams!!!

I met Lisa through the Etsy Street Team, Fabulous Artistic Moms. Since joining we have enjoyed many funny and endearing moments on the forums with other crafty mamas. Lisa is awesome! Funny, witty, talented, adventurous, etc. Her Etsy shop has an eclectic mix of fun, funky, whimsical, geeky, and kitschy. I adore all her creations but am especially fond of her typewriter key and dictionary pieces. I love how she re-uses found materials and makes wonderfully unique things with them. From pocket mirrors and cuff links to earrings and magnets, Luv4Sams has it all :) For even more information, check out Lisa's profile.

Okay...now here is more information about Lisa. I asked, she answered!

MJ: How long have you been creating/designing? When did you first learn you had a creative side?
Lisa: It all started in 2005 when my daughter announced she was getting married and it was a Medieval wedding - what, huh, I don't know anything about planning a medieval wedding - and so the story goes.

Both of my daughters are creative - one in illustration and one in photography. With the wedding, I dove in head first and started researching the history and before you know it I was creativing scroll wedding invitations with a wax seal, custom wedding programs, pressing leaves, creating custom place cards, etc.

Well, when she got married in 2006 I had all of this free time and starting playing around with making glass atlas map magnets to give as gifts and before you know it, I was selling all sorts of items on Etsy!


MJ: What is your inspiration to create? What is your motivation to succeed?
Lisa: I love to recycle and use items that people normally wouldn't think of. Usually I have to look and stare at an object - walk away from it - then come back again before I figure out what I can make out of it.

So I take items most people would throw out, like old atlas' or old dictionaries, and reuse them!

MJ: When you are not working on your craft, what are you doing?
Lisa: I'm thinking of working on a craft - ha ha! You can find me in my garden, playing with my pooch, snuggling with my granddaughter or boating!

MJ: Do you belong to any groups on Etsy?
Lisa: Of course, Fabulous Artistic Moms which is an awesome support network. I have met so many people and made so many friendships (you included Merk) - it is unbelievable!

MJ: What is on the horizon for you? New products? Etc.?
Lisa: I would love to have my own website and expand my line. I'd like to introduce a line of items made from cork and also brush up on my silver metal clay skills! But with working full-time, it doesn't leave you much time to create.

MJ: Share one thing about you that you think would surprise people.
Lisa: I like to ride my snowmobile at 110 mph!








Check out Lisa's Etsy Shop.... Luv4Sams.

Featured Artist Spotlight....Michon!!!

I met Leah through Etsy's Fabulous Artistic Moms Team. I adore her jewelry, especially her incredible wire skills. Her pendants, rings, and earrings are breathtaking. Leah is a new mom who joined the Moms team when she was still pregnant. It has been a real pleasure getting to know Leah and seeing her grow as an amazing mother and also a fabulous artist!

Okay...now here is more information about Leah. I asked, she answered!

MJ: How long have you been creating/designing? When did you first learn you had a creative side?
Leah: I have always been creative. When I was a little kid I wanted to be a fiction writer and even started writing a novel, although I never finished it. (It turns out fiction writing isn't really something I'm good at.) I've been making jewelry since I was in high school when I took a beading class with some friends while on a vacation with our families. I really enjoyed it and gradually learned more and more techniques including wirework and some metalsmithing skills.


MJ: What is your inspiration to create? What is your motivation to succeed?
Leah: It's hard to define what inspires me. So many things seem to inspire me, and I think it has a lot to do with my mood on any given day. I feel better when I'm doing something creative, so I try to stay busy with creative projects as much as I can. My motivation to succeed is my son, who is 3 1/2 months old. I want him to grow up seeing me as a good example of someone who didn't give up on their dreams, so that he knows he can be both happy and successful when he grows up.

MJ: When you are not working on your craft, what are you doing?
Leah: I have a part-time job, as well as training to teach fitness classes. At the moment, I spend most of my free time with my son. I try to fit in quality time with my husband and friends too.

MJ: Do you belong to any groups on Etsy?
Leah: Yes, I'm a member of three teams: One is Fabulous Artistic Moms (FAM), which is a great group of moms. We have a lot of fun, and there is so much diverse talent in the group. Another is JET (Jewelry on Etsy), which is all jewelry makers and a lot of really fun people. The third is SFEtsy, which is a team for San Francisco area Etsy people. I know a couple people on that team in real life, so I'm hoping to be more active with the group and get to know a lot more local artists and crafters that way.

MJ: What is on the horizon for you? New products? Etc.?
Leah: I'm just getting back into designing after not doing much for the last few months of my pregnancy and the first couple months of my son's life. So I think new products are definitely on the horizon - I have more new ideas than time right now, but I'm gradually getting some of them made up into jewelry designs.

MJ: Share one thing about you that you think would surprise people.
Leah: I lived in Mexico City for a summer when I was in college, and at the time I was semi-fluent in Spanish. My husband is part Mexican but doesn't speak a word of Spanish, so even though my Spanish last name comes from him, I'm the one in our family who can actually speak Spanish. I'm hoping to teach our son some Spanish, but I'm not as fluent as I used to be so it's a challenge.








Check out Leah's Etsy Shop.... Michon.

Weekly Inspiration Photo...Keep on the Sunny Side!

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Keep On The Sunny Side

There's a dark and a troubled side of life
There's a bright and a sunny side too
Though we meet with the darkness and strife
The sunny side we also may view

Keep on the sunny side...always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day it will brighten all our way
If we keep on the sunny side of life

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This tune has been sung by various artists over the years and is seemingly played a lot here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Afterall, it is a bluegrass classic. But no matter how many times I hear it, I never tire from hearing its message. Today, I am optimistic. How 'bout you?