Crafters and Artisans Directory

Monique Smelik believes that beautiful things can be made with materials straight from mother nature. She enjoys working with fibers and mix them up to create ooak felted items. Additionally she dyes silk and other fibers to get wonderful combinations and material mixes.
She makes all items with love and great pleasure finding her greatest inspiration in her daughter.

The process of wet felting although very intensive is also very relaxing and while she is working on a piece, almost always new ideas pop up. Monique compares working with fibers with painting. Both make life natural and beautiful.

Monique started experimenting with fibers years ago. First she began with spinning fibers and later she developed her passion for felting. Felting has many things in common with painting; it is therapeutic and yet abstract objects can be made. Up until last year she was teaching many felting workshops.



Her DutchFeltArt stores on Etsy and Artfire are the places where pure natural handfelted and hand dyed products can be found. As the Etsy Mini pictures demonstrate, Monique specializes in wet felting, needle felting and crazy wool techniques. Her mission is to make unique things with natural materials (fibers, nunofelt, silk, textiles) and she loves to experiment with mixed media.

All items are original designs by Monique Smelik and she welcomes custom orders.

Feel free to follow DutchFeltArt on Twitter, on Flickr or visit Monique's Dutch Felting Art website.







Location: Zierikzee, The Netherlands

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When I was a kid, I used to make dough ornaments and I was thinking maybe this is something I would like to get back into again. I started to wonder if there is somebody who is already selling dough ornaments on Etsy and this is how I found Dough Ditties.

She began making character dolls of papier mache in the 1970's. Being "Mother-Earthers" in college, Mary Sell and her husband bought 50 acres of land and became homesteaders living 15 years without any electricity or water, raising their now 27 year old son. From there, the they became full-time crafters making and selling bread dough ornaments at shows throughout the midwest. After a break of over 15 years, she started making bread dough ornaments and dolls again in 2007.

In an INCrowdTeam Interview "Mary Sell aka Dough Ditties" published March 21 2009 Mary recounts the origin of her store's name "Dough Ditties" and how she began crafting as a child.
The question of what inspires her, she answered: "Color and life inspire me, and faces with expression. I'm not sure how some ideas come to mind, but I get a picture in my head and just want to try it."

Bread dough ornaments are the basic salt dough recipe, painted with acrylic paint and India ink, then dipped in gloss polyurethane for a protective finish, doll heads and hands are handshaped from a mixture of white bread and glue, most doll accessories are also handmade, dresses are fabric and lace.






Each handcrafted ornament is made with care and attention to detail. Mary's hope is that the customer is more delighted with the work when they hold it in their hand than when viewed on the Etsy mini image.

Shaping flour, salt and water into human (or somewhat human) form, adding lively faces, fun accessories, and bright colors - this is what she loves to do! Please visit her store and browse through her assortment of little "ditties" (ornaments, jewelry, and dolls).

For a unique keepsake that can't be found on any retail shelf, please contact Mary with your idea for a custom ornament. She has yet to be presented with a challenge she can't meet, from a middle-aged woman with a pierced navel wearing a She-Ra cape to a young boy with his pet beta fish to bagpiping highland cattle.

She also personalizes standard ornaments at no extra charge (i.e., name, year, sports uniform number). Indicate details with your order.

She enjoys sharing her techniques, so please visit her blog "Dough Ditties - Joyful Expressions of Life" for tips on making dough art, updates on works in progress, and examples of custom orders. Her personal website is located at www.doughditties.com where many more pictures of her work can be found.

Mary is a proud member of the INCrowdteam and recommends their blog "The IN Crowd - Indiana’s Etsy Street Team"  and its Twitter EtsyINCrowdteam.

Location: West Lafayette, Indiana, USA




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Lauren currently resides in MA. She loves the change of seasons (blistering hot summers, freezing cold winters, soggy wet springs - so of course her favorite time of year is Autumn...haha) that the New Englanders get to experience, as well as the bustle of Boston and the quietness of the lovely ocean. She loves her family, friends & all animals. She enjoys being silly, singing karaoke & playing video games. She relishes a good laugh. She loves creating and working with her hands.

Lauren has always thought of herself to be a crafty, artsy person. When she was a kid, she told people, “I want to be an artist when I grow up.” Well, at the time supposedly she didn’t realize the term “starving artist.” Needless to say, after a few jobs out of college (um, yeah never utilized that art degree) & just trying to make ends meet, she decided to revisit her inner artist & follow her childhood dream. And now she owns the "Razberries Designs Shop" on Etsy and the Razberries Store on CafePress, sharing her love of creating with everyone else.



In Lauren's blog "Razberries - Fresh Designs from the Vine!" (www.Razberries.com) you can see where she has been and what she is currently up to.

If you need a custom-sized print, just email her: razberriesdesigns@yahoo.com. She is happy to personalize any item, just convo her and let her know what she can do to make your item extra special! Please note that she can't accept returns on personalized items.

Become a Razberries Designs Fan on Facebook and follow razberriesdsgns on Twitter.

Friends, Family and Teams Lauren Gardner is participating in:
BellaLillyDesigns.etsy.com
ZeldasJewels.etsy.com
LanternsnLace.etsy.com

All images and artwork © Razberries (Lauren J. Gardner). You are not purchasing the rights to the image when you purchase the artwork. All publishing and reproduction rights remain solely with the artist.

Location: Beverly, Massachusetts, USA

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Laura is a mother of two girls, one who is hard of hearing. She was a teacher for seven years before having children. Currently, she teaches an American Sign Language playgroup twice a month to help others in the community as well as keeping her family signing capabilities alive.

She gained much of her crafting interest from her mother and grandmother, although Laura would not say that either taught her the crafts she now does. She learned to crochet to remember her grandmother. She is a lefty crocheter that learned to crochet from a book many years after her grandmother tried to teach her. She discovered the joy of creating her own patterns over the last few years and is enjoying sharing them with others.

Paper crafting came from scrapbooking during her children's first years. and she would love to explore ideas that she gets from reading children's picture books.

Recently Laura was featured on the design blog/studio SWISSMISS run by Tina Roth Eisenberg, a Swiss designer gone NYC.



COMING SOON (made while nursing broken toes, just need photos to list) in her stores: Ravens Football Beverage Cozies, Pine Cone Christmas Ornament, Astros Baseball Beverage Cozy

NOTE: She is now offering Capital I and Capital E patterns free. Just contact her for these files or check her blog http://lauraslefthook.wordpress.com to download the pdf files.
She is also a member of the Etsy teams EtsyHookers and CafeMom.

Laura has a second store on Artfire http://LaurasLeftHook.artfire.com/ and you can also follow her on Twitter.

Visit LaurasLeftHook's ArtFire Shop

 
Location: Manasses, Virgina, USA

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Audrey lives outside a small town in southern Manitoba. She has been crafting/painting for about 14 years now. She tells her husband it keeps her sane (cheaper than therapy).
Her husband, Brad, and Audrey have been married for almost 20 years and have two sons ages 18 and 16. The oldest just graduated from high school in June.
They love to go quadding as a family, hiking, trying new foods, meeting new people etc.

Hello and welcome to Audrey's Country Crafts on Etsy and on Artfire.



All the items are made and/or painted by Audrey. You will find jean blankets, ornaments, wall hangings, tote bags, and much more. All painted items have been varnished for indoor use unless otherwise posted. If you have any questions about an item please feel free to email her.

Please remember that she is in Canada - if you are ordering from the USA it will take at least 15 working days to receive your item.

Also feel free to check out her blogs http://audreyscountrycrafts.blogspot.com/ for updates on what's coming soon, and free give aways and FEATURES FROM OTHER ETSY SHOPS!! You can also follow her on Twitter.

She is also open to trading! Probably not jewelry (only wear earrings) unless you have cool pendants, no kids or husbands either. (LOL) She likes soaps, lotions, candles, knitted/crocheted items, bags, anything snowman related that she can't make myself. Just contact her!!

Below you can see a shop window of Audrey's a new store on Artfire www.audreyscountrycrafts.artfire.com where she mostly sells Christmas ornaments. Happy Holiday shopping!!

Visit AudreysCountryCrafts's ArtFire Shop

Location: Altona, Manitoba, Canada

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