Europe ... handmade !

Quote of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 09:02:00 +0000

No matter what our age or condition,
there are still untapped possibilities within us
and new beauty waiting to be born.

—Dale E. Turner

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We have a winner

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 07:16:00 +0000

After collecting all the responces that actually provided a valid e-mail address(alas, of too many people I coulden't trace their e-mail) and giving everyone who had blogged and/or tweeted 2 places I came to 72 perticipants.

Random.org picked a random (haha) number from my list and Anne J came out the winner!! Congratulations Anne!! I will contact you asap.

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Item of the Day - Squirrels

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:34:00 +0000

This sweet little squirrel is crocheted with love in light green yarn with a fabulous fun-fur tail - so soft and fluffy. He is suitable for all ages due to his safety eyes and washable nature.
What could be cuter to celebrate the end of Fall? He also makes an excellent stocking stuffer.
More colours will be added soon. Why not order one?

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Christmas giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:39:00 +0000

SIGNUPS ARE NOW CLOSED!

The winner will be contacted tomorrow (27/12) thank you all for entering!

And here it is! The Christmas giveaway from the European Artfire guild. For the past couple of months we have been working to put together the collection of goodies you can see in the picture below. There are hairpins and hairclips, some holliday themed glasswork beads, a shawl, gorgeaus jewelry, Christmas decoration, a pair of ladies fingerless gloves, a christmasy box and I bet I forgot to mention something.

If you want a chance to win all these lovely handmade goods from Europe all you need to do is write a comment to this blogpost, you can even get your name in the hat twice if you blog or twitter or help us promote this giveaway in any other way. So be sure to let us know.
We will ship to anywhere.

On the 27th of november we will ask random.org to pick us a winner.
Please don't forget to provide an e-mail address you regularly check when you comment so we can contact you for your home address if you turn out to be the lucky winner.

Participating artists:

Jane from http://loopylou.artfire.com/
Bernadette from http://berniolie.artfire.com/
Alison from http://thesheriffsdaughter.artfire.com/
Neki from http://nekidesu.artfire.com/
Jenny from http://jennykarlssondesign.artfire.com/
Wendy from http://eddyspressies.artfire.com/
Helen from http://kittyballistic.artfire.com/
Catrin from http://catswire.artfire.com/
Susanne from http://BabsBeadsandDesign.artfire.com/
Mary from http://truecolours.artfire.com
Liesan from http://ignisfatuus.artfire.com/

Item of the Day - Roll Neck Sweater

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:18:00 +0000

Roll neck sweater to fit child aprox 5/6 knitted using James C Brett Marble DK yarn .

can be knitted to fit ages 1-10, with a roll or round neck, in a variety of colours

This was one of my boys favourite patterns and is ideal as the cooler weather is now with us

http://www.artfire.com/modules.php?name=Shop&op=listing&product_id=425936

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Item of the day - wire crochet Christmas ornaments

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:21:00 +0000

It's still early, I know. But since my last wire order arrived, I couldn't hold myself back. Christmas ornaments from crocheted copper wire in different colors and there are still so many more to try out!
And an extra bonus is that they can't break! ;-)

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Quote of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:13:00 +0000

"And in the end it's not the years in your
life that count. It's the life in your years."

- Abraham Lincoln

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GoldLily's work on JewelStruck

noreply@blogger.com (Kultalilja) — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:01:00 +0000

For a while I've been posting my jewelry designs on Facebook and Flickr, written blog about them. Hard work has been worth, since last week my photos were noticed on Facebook and I got invitation to blog in JewelStruck. For a jewelry designer, creating beautiful necklaces, bracelets and earrings is such a victory to be invited to publish own designs in an other blog.

Being a member of Artfire Europe is the same also. Supportive community, members who can understand difficulties to be a artisan on the web which is crowded by international and especially American crafters, is giving a lot. New ideas, intresting studios and a lot of nice, helpful artisans on one guild. Each member expands other members network and finally we are connected through each others to a huge group of people.

Cold winter is coming. Beautiful boot chain will stay visible even when most of jewelry will be hidden mostly under warm winter cloths.

* Meet the designer: http://www.goldlily.eu/

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Item of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:08:00 +0000

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Lavendar cushion in linen with vintage lace and stamp with ladybugs. Have got a ribbon so you can hang it wherever you want.

Filled with lavendar which not only smells very good, it does also work to keep little bugs away. Perfect to keep in your closet amongst your clothes.

http://www.artfire.com/users/JennyKarlssonDesign

Item of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Mermaid's Wish - A pretty freshwater pearl wire crocheted necklace fit for any self respecting mermaid. Some of the components used in it are two 16"/41cms strands of lavendar freshwater pearls, more than 100 Swarovski crystals in shades of violet and tanzanite, countless seed beads and hammered Thai Hilltribe silver cones.
The length is 17"/43cms but I have also added a 2.5"/6.5cms extender chain so that it can be worn at different lengths.

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Quote of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 07:57:00 +0000

It's not so important where we stand,
but the direction in which we are moving.

- Goethe

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Autumn/Fall reds

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 17:45:00 +0000

Item of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Today's Item of the Day is a seasonal offering - "Fall Pumpkins" from the Sheriff's Daughter.

When I saw these sweet Czech glass pumpkin beads, I knew I had to have them. They're such fun.

Adding a Czech glass leaf, I hung them on a pair of large, antiqued brass hoops to make a cute pair of Autumn earrings. Enjoy!

(P.S. My "significant other" was cross when he saw I'd called them "Fall" pumpkins - they should, of course, be "Autumn" as we're in Europe.)

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Item of the day - Felt Halloween decoration

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Today's item is from Kitty Ballistic.

This cute felt decoration will brighten up any corner of your home (or office, or even car) for Halloween. Made from spooky purple and orange felt, the decoration features a scary polymer clay bat embellishment.

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Item of the Day-Autumn Russet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 07:35:00 +0000

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I've seen some lovely crocheted bags and wanted to try one for myself. I've lined the bag to give it more structure and strength and the colours are perfect for the autumn

Can be held in the hand or over the shoulder. It has a circular bottom and a scalloped decorative finish around the top edge

Item of the day - Fire and ashes

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 08:00:00 +0000

"Fire and ashes" is what I called this necklace crocheted from red coated copper wire and hematite beads. The name suggested itself looking at the contrast between the bright red of the wire and the grey shimmer of the hematite.
The necklace is 40 cm long and thus lies close around your neck, but is no choker.

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Item of the Day: Swosch! lampwork bead

noreply@blogger.com (Fru Babsan) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:46:00 +0000

It took quite a while to make this bead.Then swirly lines are made from a lovely silver glass that shifts nicely in different blues. The surface is decorated with goldstone stringer.
The bead is 27 mm long.

Babs Beads & design

Item of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Cubic zirconia briolettes in a deep garnet shade of red. Very striking with the antiqued silver connectors and Bali silver earwires.

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Quote of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:50:00 +0000

Aim for progress, not perfection.
- Anonymous

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Item of the day : Sanity Calms, But Madness Is More Interesting. Bag no. 235

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 06:00:00 +0000

I think I have posted this embroidery earlier, before it got turned into a bag. Well here it is, the finished product!

Sanity Calms, But Madness Is More Interesting. Bag no. 235

By Jenny Karlsson Design.

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Item of the day - Pale blue flower earrings

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Today's item is these pale blue and amber flower earrings by Kitty Ballistic.

The Czech glass flowers are a lovely mix of powder blue and amber, and at the centre of each flower is a small amber Swarovski crystal. The flowers hang from sterling silver ear wires.

I love these beads so much that I bought them in lots of different colours. I have some mint green ones that I wear quite a lot, and I have some other colours ready to be made into earrings.

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Item of the Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

Today's item is "Glacial" - a necklace from The Sheriff's Daughter.

The aquamarine nuggets in this necklace are a beautiful shade of icy blue. As a child, I was lucky enough to have a summer holiday in Norway and we visited a glacier. As we squeezed through a huge crack at the end of the glacier, you could look right into the ice and it was just this shade of blue...or that is how I remember it anyway.

The necklace is designed to be worn with the heart toggle clasp at the front, but you could wear it at the back where, if you have long hair like me, it could be our little secret...

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Crafty Tip (cross stitch and embroidery)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:57:00 +0000

The threads for embroidery and cross stitch come as a 6 ply thread. However, when working from patterns, they generally only ask for you to use 2 plys at a time; meaning that you have to cut a thread to length, then carefully draw out 2 plys; leaving the other 4 for later use.

These can quickly mount up especially when doing a colourful pattern. They can also get horribly tangled and you can forget which number colour they are (each shade and colour has it's own number; many of the shades are very similar)

Here is a simple way of keeping your threads tidy and remembering their shade number.

Just cut a strip of card (cereal boxes are great for this) then add little cuts down the sides as in the photo. This way you can wrap your left over pieces around the width of the card without them sliding off. Also you can write the shade number above each one. This means that even if you don't use those pieces for this project; you can always find the right number shade again for another project - thus saving you money - and who doesn't love to save money?

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Quote of the day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

No matter what our age or condition,
there are still untapped possibilities within us
and new beauty waiting to be born.
—Dale E. Turner

Visit our studios

Item of the day - Green Fairy necklace

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 08:00:00 +0000

This necklace is made from dark green copper wire, faceted green glass crystals and dark green satin ribbon.
The wire has been spool knit with the crystals worked right in while the ribbon is just running inside. As the ribbon has not been added later, it got twisted during the crafting which gives a nice touch.
There is no clasp, the necklace is tied with the ribbon ends which means you can wear the bow in the back or in front for that little extra.

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