Storque articles: THIS HANDMADE LIFE

Handmade Portraits: Leslie Stein

2008-11-14T11:30:00Z

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Leslie Stein, aka larrybear, spends most of her time drawing comics, listening to old time radio shows and playing records. Leslie started her first comic series, called simply Leslie, back in high school. It revolved around her wacky adventures with her magical bunny and bird that helped her out in gym class and other misadventures.

After discovering underground comic book artists like Dan Clowes and P eter Bagge when she was an angsty teenager, Leslie decided comic books would be the perfect medium for her to tell her stories. Both of her comics — Eye of the Majestic Creature and her more experimental construction paper comics — are hand drawn and printed at a small printing press. Unlike mainstream super hero comics, her stories are autobiographical and don't have a typical plot. As Leslie says, "If you're looking for thrills and drama, this might not be for you, but if you're interested in seeing the world the way I see it, pick one up."

Leslie decided long ago that rather than work professionally as an illustrator, that she would hold a regular job and save her creative energy for her own work. She dedicates all of her free time to her creative pursuits and she finds inspiration everywhere. From walking down the street in Brooklyn to looking at an empty field, humanity and curiosity light the way to new adventures and new tales to tell.

Leslie won a Xeric Grant to print her work "Yeah, It Is!" and was nominated for Best New Talent in 2004 by the Harvey Awards. Keep you eye on this one!

Watch more Handmade Video Portraits on Etsy's blog!

Books and Zines Category | Book Worms and Writers Gift Guide

Zines Posts | Comics Posts | larrybear's Shop

Hello Craft Podcast: Your Stories Wanted!

2008-11-07T16:40:00Z

Hello Craft has put out a call for your handmade stories. The Hello Craft Podcast lets crafters call a toll free voice mail line and leave their stories for an episode. Learn how to contribute here.

What is Hello Craft, you say?

Hello Craft is dedicated to the advancement of independent crafters and the handmade movement by empowering small business owners, educating the public to the benefits of buying handmade, and teaching the joys of making.

Conceived in the summer of 2008, Hello Craft is the brain child of four indie crafters with leadership roles and ties to the local and national handmade arts and crafts communities. Founding members include famed craft blogger and podcaster Tina Seamonster, Kelly Rand, writer for DCist.com and Crafting a Green World, and Sara Dick and Kimberly Dorn, both Festival Directors of the East Coast's largest indie craft event, the Crafty Bastards Arts & Crafts Fair.

Through the foundation of its website, Hello Craft aims to bring together crafters and makers to learn and grow as a community. The public is encouraged to take an active role by sharing their crafting history through weekly reader-generated podcasts. An event blog, product testing, business workshops, and mini-events add to the wealth of crafting information and education that Hello Craft has to offer. In 2009, Hello Craft will host its first summit in Washington, D.C., aimed at advocating and advancing the handmade community.

Hello Craft is a unique resource for those who make their living from crafts, shoppers who buy handcrafted goods, and anyone interested in learning the ins and outs of the handmade movement that is sweeping the nation.

Check out Hello Craft's Etsy favorites. (You can build an Etsy Mini for your website, too!)

Podcasting Series | Top 10 Gifts for Radio Listeners | Posts by tinaseamonster

Process: New Books with Old Materials by theblackspotbooks

2008-11-07T11:35:00Z

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Margaux Kent, aka theblackspotbooks, has always had a love for old things. Her handmade leatherbound books have the feel of beautiful antique manuscripts, like something out of a Medieval library that was used by a monk once upon a time. Her books tell stories while waiting for the words of new owners. It's a magical thing.

Margaux made her first book after her well loved vintage Italian journal fell apart at the seams. She could then see how the book was held together and from that experience she learned how to bind books. Then came the next part: what to cover the journals with? Being vegetarian, Margaux didn't want to buy new hides, so she started scouring secondhand shops where she lives in Philadelphia for old discarded leather.

Since then she has repurposed all sorts of well worn leather, from antique chairs, saddlebags, gunbelts to old purses. Her hunt for leather with a past life continues, ever searching for forgotten pieces that she can transform into new treasures.

The books she sells are so gorgeous, they challenge their owners to write really amazing words, do drawings, or paste photos!

Process is a new Etsy video series that features the intimate relationship formed between Etsy sellers and the handmade items that
they create and make available to the world through their online shops. Process is not to be confused with a How-To video, as each video isintended to show each seller's unique artistic voice through the process by which their items come to be.

Did you know you can get videos downloaded automatically by subscribing in iTunes! You can also check us out on Youtube, blip.tv and get the MP4 video too. Embed the video on your blog and you might just get a special treat from us.

In the comments, let us know if there's an artist's process you'd like to see in a video!

Julia Pott's New Video: White Corolla by Casiotone For the Painfully Alone

2008-11-05T18:08:00Z

Here's the latest music video directed by Etsian, animator and illustrator JuliaPott for musican Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Julia explains how the video came about as such:

"Basically I saw him playing in Chicago when I was traveling around America and instantly fell in love with his music and thought our styles matched really well. I contacted him and showed him my work and asked if he wanted a music video and it just kind of went from there. We also met up in Brighton when he played, but it was all mainly done via e-mail. It was a labour of love because his music is pretty much my favourite of all time. I had complete artistic freedom on the piece which was really nice and we're getting a lot from it. It should be premiering on MTV2 in the UK in the next month or so, hooray!"

This is yet another brilliant piece from the director who brought you My First Crush. Check out more of Julia's work in her Etsy shop, which has illustrations, stuffed dolls and temporary tattoos of all her fantastical characters.

Check out the Handmade Video Portrait about Julia Pott to learn more about this artist!

Looking Back at Presidential Facial Hair & Other Historical Trivia

2008-11-05T10:26:00Z

Congrats to Obama!

It was almost a year ago today, the conversation that started it all. My bearded, History teacher brother (whose birthday happens to be on Nov. 4th, voting day) and I were talking at my parent's house. The news was on the television in the background. Journalists in ties and others in Jackie O. pearls were debating the upcoming U.S. presidential election.

Instead of discussing that, we focused on past American presidents such as TR (Teddy Roosevelt) and John Adams, who was suddenly 'Mr. Popularity' with a few new bios and his own mini-series. I had been looking for a non-freelance, personal art project to work on, a theme to savor. Advice was needed as well as some inspiration. Suddenly, at that moment, surrounded by my two other brothers with facial hair, the idea clicked. Presidential Facial Hair Hall of Fame...of course! Oprah would call this my 'Aha!' moment. Tears would be shed.

Drawing the 9, I mean 10* bearded, mustached, and mutton-chopped portraits taught me so much about the presidents. In grade school and high school I knew them as facts for a test or paper. In college I ignored them almost entirely, except for Abe Lincoln, choosing instead to focus more on the 'art' side of history. (Sorry, guys!) Who knew they were so interesting? Drawing this theme also solved the 42 or 43 presidents mystery for me.**

The ten portraits were such a blast to work on, I had to draw the rest of them. That was my next project, which is now complete. What next? A search on Etsy for fun and interesting presidential items!

On Etsy, you can find hundreds of items for 2008 candidates: McCain/Palin...

Folk Art Political Pin by daydreamdesigns77

John McCain Glow-In-The-Dark 3D Fridge Magnet by rovakada

Lampwork Glass Sarah Palin Portrait Bead Pendant Necklace by helensharvest

Obama and Biden are in the mix as well...

Barack Obama Crochet Doll by deadcraft

OBAMARAMA Charm Bracelet by emilyfloyd

Obama and Biden 1-inch Button Set by eddeezy

There are so many other presidential items!

For now, let's look back at some former leaders of the United States, and the Etsy sellers who've included them in their shops!

General George and Martha Washington by UneekDollDesigns.

She says, "...famous pair, George and Martha Washington. He led the young United States into victory during the Revolutionary war, and she was a young widow with two children whom George married. Later, Martha was a reluctant first lady of the United States, but she apparently supported George in the presidency in spite of her misgivings."

PellinorePress's George Washington Mask "is one of many printed on our Vandercook letterpress printing press. It's printed from a hand-drawn, hand-carved woodcut. We initially made these for a 'George Washington' Halloween party. Everyone who came got a George mask."

johndelucca did a series of Presidential prints with wild animals perched aloft, besides lesser known Franklin Pierce shown here. "I did them just to be funny, but also to express how ultimately unimportant our society and system are and how unconcerned nature is with them. These animals don't care who the people are, they just see a comfortable looking head to rest on."

susanestellekwas on Abraham Lincoln: "I had made that Lincoln image as my first experiment in gocco. It was a doodle in my sketchbook that I drew on July 4th and I thought was funny! You can be pretty horrible at capturing famous people's likenesses and still score with Lincoln!"

woodartbyal started making this Teddy Roosevelt portrait for the Boy Scouts. "My council is the Theodore Roosevelt Council BSA. I could think of no better way to honor him. It takes about 3 to 4 hours of work on a scroll saw and then more time to finish the portrait and frame."

akeywithin says of Woodrow Wilson: "I got all my stamps from my grandpa, who got them from his grandma. I do know that Woodrow Wilson was President at the start of WWI."

JFK Earrings by artenergyalchemy. She says, "I have met so many interesting people all over the world because of my funny jewelry. They tell me when they wear my creations it lifts their spirits and puts a smile on their faces."

ArtbyMarilyn's shop has almost all of the presidential portraits in print, card and bookmark forms that are extremely affordable! This Jimmy Carter Print shows her favorite former leader: "He is a sweet person and was a good president, but people don't recognize that. I think our country should know about their forefathers and be more patriotic. That is why I painted them. My father came through Ellis Island, as did my grandfather. I had three brothers who fought for our country and I worked for the USO to help our troops overseas."

DIYorDIE made this Ronald Regan Necklace, and has this to say about Reagan: "In the days when Transformers and Michael Jackson ruled the airwaves, Ronnie’s wrinkled face ruled the world. I remember being in school and reading about our then president. Did you know he was an artist and liked to draw for Nancy when he was on the phone? I kid you not, I read about it in Weekly Read in the 80’s. It was then that I realized he was the coolest dude ever."

44 Presidents and a letter to a Cat is comic illustrated by MariaSputnik, which her friend Mza wrote: "America can get awfully polarized during election year. I decided to draw this comic because I think it's important to remember that the people with whom we disagree are human beings doing the best that they can."

roska's Pick Your Favorite President Pins

Some vintage presidential items:

Vintage Presidential Card Game from timepassages.

The President Could Be You Cup from dahlilafound

1979 Susan B. Anthony Collectible Doll from backstashandbygones

1924 Presidential Campaign Buttons from HummingbirdEyes

So, there you have it. There are many more presidential items for sale on Etsy; take a look for yourself or for someone else. History is fun!

The Storque has a handful of other election-related posts, take a look!

The Homefront Team, Etsy Sellers who have family in the military, will be having a Trunk Show on Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 7pm Eastern Time in the Etsy Virtual Labs. Anyone is welcome to come. They'll be showing off items they make and socializing. Please join in!

*Van Buren is the honorable mention. He wasn't included on some of the online lists I found. But seriously, how could you not include this guy! His mutton chops are quite impressive!

**Moustached Grover Cleveland was president in 2 non-consecutive terms: both before and after the term of bearded Benjamin Harrison.

Happy Dia de los Muertos!

2008-11-01T09:27:00Z

Happy Dia de los Muertos! (aka Day of the Dead) The Day of the Dead is the traditional Mexican holiday to pray for and remember friends and relatives who have died. It also has amazing iconography and handmade traditions, like sugar skulls and paper cut-out banners. This collection of Day of the Dead inspired artwork is in reverence to this holiday.

Previous Day of the Dead Posts | Find Sellers based in Mexico | Etsy World Tour series

Update: Faythe Levine's Handmade Nation

2008-10-29T11:48:00Z

We at Etsy are very excited about Faythe Levine's forthcoming documentary, Handmade Nation; so excited, in fact, that we want to share the clips as they become available! (Such as the amazing stop motion opening sequence shown above.)

Not familiar with Handmade Nation? Here's the gist: director Faythe Levine crossed the country to interview hundreds of artisans and crafters to talk about why and what of making things means to them. The resulting film has produced excitement amongst crafters, as it's a handmade production of its own.

Living in Seattle during the punk DIY music scene in the early nineties, Faythe Levine was fully enthralled by the do-it-yourself ethos. Self-publish, produce, reuse, collaborate, indie labels, zines, communal living, art collectives: she's done it all. In 2003 she looked around and saw a powerful and inspiring movement happening within the craft scene. A "new wave" as she calls it, was emerging with energy and inspiration fueled by a desire to embolden communities of makers and reinvent traditional models of crafting.

Check out the trailer for the documentary below! Very inspiring...

For more posts on Faythe Levine and Handmade Nation, check out our previous coverage.

Steampunk Halloween Ideas, from Etsy & Instructables.com

2008-10-28T17:00:00Z

Etsy is partnering with Instructables.com for the DIY Halloween Costume Contest, and we've both noticed the Steampunk trend. Members of Instructables are offering up some mind-blowing costume ideas — feats of DIY engineering, really — and Etsy sellers are making some creative items that would suit these costumes and theme parties. Here are 5 picks for Halloween-related projects, along with some related items from Etsy. And hey, remember to enter the contest — entries due November 9th, 2008!

Steampunk chicken-walker mech by Bug

For the Star Wars fan/steampunk in all of us.

Some items you might need:

A white blouse by adarie

Vintage black boots from ZucchiniFlourVintage

Raygun — Steampunk Defense by aintMichael

If you like this project, you will definitely love buildersstudio's sweet raeguns. He makes them in both tiny pendant size and full prop size. There's quite an array of choices.

Haunted Ouija Board by askJacob

Spooky! TwinPondsFarm offers an original Spirit board in case you need one.

Low Cost Jacob's Ladder Made From A Salvaged Oil Transformer by bloomautomatic

Another marvelous, ingenious prop for a killer Halloween party. If you're not confident about your playing with electricity skills, you should check out sksullivan667's shop, offering lamps with that raw metal, gear-clad look, perfect for a mad scientist's laboratory.

Realistic Steampunk Airship Goggles by greensteam

There are some very cool Steampunk goggle options on Etsy too, such as these by NEVERWAS.

If you want to learn more about the fashion sense behind Steampunk, check out this slideshow on the New York Magazine site. It features photos from a recent fashion show organized by Etsian Kathy Malone aka fofolle. We blogged about the event here.

Steampunk & Twilight Gift Guide | Posts about Steampunk | Costume Contest Info

Process: Fused Dichroic Glass Rings by zulasurfing

2008-10-17T14:06:00Z

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

This month, to continue the Storque's jewelry theme, we bring you this video featuring Gil, a former owner of a demolition company who now grinds and fuses glass. zulasurfing is comprised of husband and wife duo, Gil and Irena, based in New York. Gil is originally from Israel and Irena was born in Russia. They fashion a variety of brilliant jewelry pieces in their small, but well equipped studio in the Bronx. We focused in on the difficult and time intensive process of making a dichroic glass ring; zulasurfing's results are absolutely stunning.

Dichroic glass is manufactured by vaporizing various layers of metal oxides in a vacuum using an electron beam. The vapor then crystallizes on the surface in a way that translates different wavelengths of light, producing a colorful sparkle. Gil uses this type of glass to his advantage by fusing it in layers with other pieces of colored glass and clear glass — unique designs appear embedded in the finished product. Gil and Irena work together to determine which colors, which type of dichroic glass, and which shape the overall ring will take.

We are happy to be able to share some of the finished rings themselves in the video because it is difficult to communicate their magnificence with photography alone, but even the videos don't do the rings themselves justice. They are truly majestic when beheld

Irene also does metalsmithing and glass etching and Gil makes some small sculptural glass pieces, so make sure to check out zulasurfing's other designs in their shop.

[etched glass pendants]

[casts of fused glass bricks]

[jewelry made from amethyst geodes]

Process is a new Etsy video series that features the intimate relationship formed between Etsy sellers and the handmade items that they create and make available to the world through their online shops. Process is not to be confused with a How-To video, as each video is intended to show each seller's unique artistic voice through the process by which their items come to be.

Jewelry tagged Dichroic Glass | More Process Videos on the Storque | Jewelry Lover's Gift Guide

Open Studio Tour: Master Mask-maker CrimsonSpark

2008-10-17T12:29:00Z

In this Open Studio Tour series, we'll be snooping around artists' creative spaces, how they set them up, when, why…even how often they clean them! We really want to know all about our artists, and maybe get a bit of inspiration!

Today I knocked on the studio door of CrimsonSpark.

What's your name and what kind of craft do you do?
Hello, my name is Bertem Rene. I partake in the old world craft of leather mask making and create hand sculpted leather masks, suitable for many a gala or whatever suits your taste.

When did you decide that you needed a studio?
The minute I sat down and started making masks and noticed that time had flown by and I enjoyed every minute of it! So then I had to act on this euphoria so I could indulge when I wanted with no interruptions.

When and how have you set up your studio?
The studio was set up a little over a year ago, and I must say there's no definite way of how I have it set up; it's a mish-mash of everything entertaining in there.

How big is your studio?
My studio is an extra bedroom in my home so, I guess, it's standard room size, which is perfect for what I do.

Which is your favorite tool in your studio?
Hands down it has to be my horn hammer. It's my most favorite and least used tool I have. I made this tool myself, but I rarely use it for leather work, my hands do most of that duty. This is the classic leather mask making tool, but for me I mostly use the tip of it to scratch my head. But none the less, every mask maker has to have one just for general purpose.

Do you want to share with us one secret of your studio?
For some strange reason, if I'm working in my studio, the studio itself seems to distract me from what I'm doing and before I know it I'm playing the slot machines, or reading a book, or even shredding paper that doesn't even need to be shredded (don't we all just love to shred paper?). Maybe it's just me not having focus and I'm just blaming the room, but nonetheless, I think the studio made me do it.

How many hours do you normally spend in your studio?
I don't spend nearly enough time in there as I should, but on a good day I can burn about 10 hours, give or take a distraction or two.

Do you share your studio with someone or would you like to do so?
I currently do not share my studio with anyone, but my wife looks at it differently. For some reason I keep seeing things that weren't there the last time I was there, like a knick knack here and there. Slowly but surely she's taking up my space with nonessential mask making studio material, if there is such a thing? But to answer the second part of the question, I don't mind her company at all.

Is there anything you would add to your working space?
Hmmmmm. I'm thinking of a dorm fridge but that would be too easy on me, or would it??

If you had to choose one synonym for your studio which one would you pick: atelier, family room, lair, lodge, nest, playroom, retreat, sanctuary, shelter, darkroom, or showroom and why?
I would say playroom/retreat, just for the simple fact that I'm always goofing around in there playing with this and that. As for the retreat part, sometimes I use it just to get away from things and re-calibrate the re-calibrators in my head, and that's a good thing.

Oh yeah, and I make my masks in there too.

And last but not least, how often do you clean it?
I hardly clean it very much. Everything seems to fall into place; I mean, I do have to take the trash out, and that's only because I leave food items in there. My wife tells me to put a fairy door in there and they will clean it for me..........hmmmm, imagine that.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Remember people.......It's all about your persona. Thanks again for stopping by my studio!

Thank you, until next studio snooping, ciao!

If you have an interesting studio or workspace and some tips to share, comment below and you may be next in our Open Studio Tour series!