PCAGOE July contest!

The etsy "street team" - polymer clay artists guild of etsy - that I am a member of is having the July contest vote right now. I'd be ever so thrilled if you would stop in at http://pcagoe.com/ and vote for your favorite entry. The July theme is "summer memories," and people have submitted all sort of different creations representing their favorite memories of summer. Mine is a set of runes, because my favorite summer memory is of strolling through shops at the beach and looking at things like tarot cards and runes, maybe because I have always lived in a fairly conservative area, and those sorts of things aren't readily available in the shops. Oh, and I almost forgot - there's a random drawing from all the votes, and you could win one of two prize packs of polymer clay jewelry, beads, sculptures, and other goodies, valued at over $100.

This one of a kind set of Elder FUTHARK cane work runes is available here at my etsy shop. The runes come in a hand-folded paper box and are the perfect size to fit easily in two hands for casting.

Don't forget to vote for your favorite summer polymer clay entry at http://pcagoe.com/. Voting closes at midnight on July 28, so hurry. Thanks!

Etsy Poster Contest

Etsy is having a poster contest. The idea is to make a set of posters out of treasury lists. (Treasuries on etsy are sets of items "curated" by any buyer or seller on etsy to display other artists' work.) I decided to go with a house theme for my entry. I included a couple of items from my polymer clay street team, PCAGOE, a few items from favorite artists of mine, and a bunch of fun items found by just searching the term house.

Artists included in my "poster" are: artgirlx, redandgreenbutterfly, INTERIORGLASSDESIGNS, thecolorofdreams, crackedmoon, LadyRayCello, rustchic, deciduoussoul, trendyphotos, meinoel, hermanornaments, mamadelic, KatrineK, laurali, starsparrow, and ktgarvai.

Lancaster Easter Market

DivaDea set up shop at Lancaster Eastern Market for the first time this weekend, and the day was successful indeed. By successful, I don't mean that I'm able to retire now, but the day was full of fun people, good food, beautiful art, and fortuitous meetings. And a few sales.

One great thing about the day was having the opportunity to meet some fellow etsy sellers.

LemonCadet does adorable and unique applique work from panties to onesies to plushies. My favorite item in her etsy shop is the yeti panties - so fun!

This is Alicia of Ten Gallon Greetings. She makes handmade cards out of old pictures, such as from children's books, and they all have clever, and perhaps a tad sarcastic sayings on them. I had a good laugh reading through all of her wonderful designs.

And here's my slightly chaotic table. I brought jewelry, vessels, picture frames, business card couches, loose beads, and my new magnetic bud vases. A few items were hard to part with, but I know they went to good homes. And of course there are still plenty of one-of-a-kind polymer clay goodies available at my etsy shop.

The excitement for the day for me was having a person come up to the table and recognize my partner and I as Marmalade. It was good to feel famous for a second :) And we made a few other great and unexpected music contacts, too!

Another highlight was the Moroccan food for lunch. I'm going to try to the Ethiopian food stand next time - can't wait.

You can see a bunch more pictures from the day here. (Taken by Russell Frost.)

And here's a youtube commercial for Eastern Market.

Yay! I won something!

One of the unique and fun things about etsy is the world of "street teams." These are groups of etsy artists with a common product type, geographical location, or other unifying factor. I am a member of the polymer clay artists guild of etsy.

Another of the street teams is Etsy Eclectic Jewelry Artisans. You can read their blog here. The blog, by the way, is not just a listing of "hey buy me" ads - it's got some great reading about the personal lives and inspirations of the jewelry artists. You can peruse their website here. There's an amazing variety of jewelry, all beautiful, so I encourage everyone to check it out!

I recently signed up for their email list and at the same time entered a random drawing for a prize. You can imagine how excited I was to be drawn as one of the winners! I received this package full of goodies in the mail a few days ago.

It included a vanilla orange candle with swirly sparklies (nothin' better than sparklies!), a vial of perfume named Haunted, three pairs of earrings, a bracelet, an anklet, a charm, and a jewelry polishing cloth. I mean, really, it's like winning the jewelry lottery - very exciting!

Of course, this is etsy, so these items are all handmade! So, a huge thank you from me to the contributors, whose etsy shops are: DBrownDesigns, MonaSongDesigns, BrokenTeepeeDesigns, mandalajewels, BeadJewelryShopGirl, and Ahna. (I hope I haven't missed anyone.) I wish all these artists continued success with their jewelry design businesses - what a lot of talent!

P.S. Here's my favorite of the bunch. We all know the silly thrill of finding that piece of jewelry or purse or whatever that's just "me all over." Well, this is one of those items for me. Sometimes a pair of earrings just makes you happy :)

The results are in

Thanks to everyone who checked out the Polymer Clay Artists Guild of Etsy June self portrait contest and voted! I was very pleased to get an honorable mention, which you can see here at the PCAGOE blog. All of the entries were wonderful, but my personal favorite was definitely this one. It was also the least literal of the bunch, I think, which is part of why I love it. It's called "The More I Know the Less Black and White I See," and it's by Michele at gabriel.etsy.com. I'm inspired by this self-portrait and the concept behind it. I love the asymmetry, the stamped/embossed effects, the contrast of corners and round, and just the general feel of the piece. And as for the title, all I can say, is Well, ain't that the truth! It's good to be getting older, and it's good to be inspired by the amazing artists at etsy.

P.S. Michelle also has some really unique and wonderful pendants at her shop, which I encourage you to look at on this page. And just for good measure, here's a pendant of mine that I'm excited about.