Welcome to Shadez of Michelle's Blog on Blogger. I hope to bring you a variety of wonderful samplings from some of today’s most talented handcraft Artisans as well as some fun and helpful tips on Home Improvement, Home Decorating and a variety of Crafting projects. Feel free to comment on anything you like as well as what you might want to see in the future. Don’t forget to subscribe to keep up on current posts.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
How to Make Paper Roses
View my new article on Squidoo on How to Make Paper Roses. It is loaded with videos and tutorials on paper rose crafting as well as links to examples, supplies and more.
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Sunday, December 5, 2010
Featured Artist : Michelle Cox Photography
This striking photo is just one of the dramatic art pieces produced by Michelle Cox of "Michelle Cox Photography" Chicago Illinois. As you will see in her interview, Michelle's view of life in America today is nothing but " up front ", combining what is happening in our world and economy today with dramatic still shots of our history. Her work is purely surreal. Please visit her sites, it will remind you of who you are and where you came from. ( It seems that Michelle has a playful side as well, take note of her very interesting hobbies.)
Name of Business: Michelle Cox Photograhy
* Link to my shop: www.etsy.com/people/michellecoxphoto
* About me: I am fun-loving happy blond little miss that, if seen in the wrong light, can take some of the most depressing pictures in the world. :) I do enjoy a subject matter that is not too often understood, however my passion is to show people things about the world that they might never see.
I grew up and still reside in Midwest America, specifically the Chicago-land area. So much of this area is dead now, outgrown by the world's technological age. My goal is to shed some light that. I want to make the "walls" of a place talk, one last time before they are gone for gone.
* My craft or talent: I am a photographer. I guess i would call a lot of my work... journalist artwork. All of the images are left untouched, meaning that I find the natural composition when I arrive at an abandoned area. I never feel that it is my place to disturb anything when I am there. I merely look for the proper lighting and adjust my position to that. Then the fun begins...
* How I do my craft: I primarily work with digital imagery but I work with film and digital. Capturing an image, I feel, is one of the most amazing things to do, so whatever medium i have to accomplish that, i will use.
* What lead me to my craft: I have always been interested in art however when I was one class shy of graduating college I pulled up an easy "A" that happened to be intro to photography, and I fell in love. Since then I have made it my goal to create, in my photography, the way that I see the world, the way that life looks in my mind.
* My other interests or hobbies: I enjoy any kind of art or design. I love to go on adventures, I love to travel. I adore classic holiday. Not just an acknowledgment of the time but an "I am obsessed with the time period and know everything about it" adoration. My heart truly belongs in the 1940s. I enjoy to sing and tap dance... I love cooking and baking. AND I love coffee, and couldn't do the girl I am without it. :)
* My other links, blogs, websites:
michellecoxphotography.zenfolio.com/
www.flickr.com/people/lonelydove36
www.flickr.com/people/michellecoxphotography
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Another new Headboard lamp
The Essence of Royalty BL21
Delicate handcrafted gold and black rosebuds drop softly from the rich black and gold hand beaded fringe that accents this lovely Victorian style headboard bed lamp. It's fan shaped shade is dressed in gold and black paisley brocade, rose satin and heavy antique gold metallic lace. Handcrafted rose clusters highlight the side panels while 8 inch champagne chainette fringe and champagne french gimp finish her trimmings.
The fixture operates with a pull chain socket and uses no more than a 25 watt candelabra shaped bulb.
www.shadezofmichelle.com
Sunday, September 5, 2010
New Bed Headboard lamp
BL20 Dreaming of NectarThis beautiful Headboard lamp was created using a couple of moire prints that have been out of production for many years. I have been holding on to the fabric because it was one of my very favorite prints for making Victorian style lamp shades.
www.shadezofmichelle.com
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Lamp shade recover
I can see why Early American lamp shades are hard to find these days. I had fits recovering this one, but it was worth the effort.
I started by stripping the frame taking care to keep the fabric in tack as much as possible so I could use it as a pattern. Come to find out, to make the top and bottom ruffles, you take two complete fabric circles, put a cut from the edge to the center of the circle on both pieces and sew the two pieces together. This gives you twice the diameter which creates the ruffle. A wire sewn in a channel to the outside edge of the ruffle allowed you to form the finished ruffles. The rest was normal shade recovering 101.
I had an interesting adventure creating the netted and lace trim as well. I had dyed the lace trim, cut 2" strips of netting and folded it in half and stitched the lace to the netting. I then cut 2" strips of chocolate satin, made bias tape and stitched the netting and lace to it.
Total hours 43, which is why Early American lamp shades are pretty rare these days.
I started by stripping the frame taking care to keep the fabric in tack as much as possible so I could use it as a pattern. Come to find out, to make the top and bottom ruffles, you take two complete fabric circles, put a cut from the edge to the center of the circle on both pieces and sew the two pieces together. This gives you twice the diameter which creates the ruffle. A wire sewn in a channel to the outside edge of the ruffle allowed you to form the finished ruffles. The rest was normal shade recovering 101.
I had an interesting adventure creating the netted and lace trim as well. I had dyed the lace trim, cut 2" strips of netting and folded it in half and stitched the lace to the netting. I then cut 2" strips of chocolate satin, made bias tape and stitched the netting and lace to it.
Total hours 43, which is why Early American lamp shades are pretty rare these days.
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Monday, January 11, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Etsy Artist: Beaded Art Jewelry
Susan from Beaded Art Jewelry, goes beyond conventional jewelry crafting with her stunningly detailed beaded art pieces. Her rich choice of color and intricate design remind me of a royal Egyptian or Indian headdress. I would love to have one of her bangles!
Name of business: Beaded Art Jewelry by Susan A. Pierle
Links to my shop: www.beadedartjewelry.etsy.com
About You: I have been beading for over 15 years and have loved every minute of it.
I am mostly self taught from wonderful books and magazines for learning technique and inspiration.
I have taken classes in drawing, watercolor painting, silkscreen, etching, photography,
basket weaving, and glass fusing.
I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida and spent all my time on the beaches there painting sunsets and collecting shells to make jewelry and wind chimes.
I moved to Tennesse where I met my husband of 31 years and lived in the Smokey Mountains.
That was an inspiring place to be, I met some amazing young artist selling thier work and I knew I had to do the same someday.
We moved to Wyoming, another inspiring place, the mountains and landscape, I had to draw and paint it.
We came to Colorado Springs in 1984 and have been here ever since. This is where I started beading and selling my work. Every thing I had learned along the way came together and I found what I wanted to do.
My craft or talent: Creating wearable art jewelry with seed beads, fused glass, crystals and natural stones.
How I do my craft: When I make a one of a kind piece it starts with a focal piece of glass, one I might of made or a vintage button, a crystal, or a stone.
It is glued down and I start searching my seed beads for all the colors coming out of it. Then I just start beading and we'll see what happens.
I do have a sketchbook and draw my designs too.
I love to do bead embroidery the most, but there are so many wonderful bead weaves to learn and create with, so I am always being pulled in different directions. It's never boring.
What lead me to my craft: The desire to sell what I love to do.
My other interst or hobbies: Photographing flowers, camping and hiking, music festivals and having fun with good friends.
Other links or sites: www.myheartglass.etsy.com
Name of business: Beaded Art Jewelry by Susan A. Pierle
Links to my shop: www.beadedartjewelry.etsy.com
About You: I have been beading for over 15 years and have loved every minute of it.
I am mostly self taught from wonderful books and magazines for learning technique and inspiration.
I have taken classes in drawing, watercolor painting, silkscreen, etching, photography,
basket weaving, and glass fusing.
I grew up on the Gulf Coast of Florida and spent all my time on the beaches there painting sunsets and collecting shells to make jewelry and wind chimes.
I moved to Tennesse where I met my husband of 31 years and lived in the Smokey Mountains.
That was an inspiring place to be, I met some amazing young artist selling thier work and I knew I had to do the same someday.
We moved to Wyoming, another inspiring place, the mountains and landscape, I had to draw and paint it.
We came to Colorado Springs in 1984 and have been here ever since. This is where I started beading and selling my work. Every thing I had learned along the way came together and I found what I wanted to do.
My craft or talent: Creating wearable art jewelry with seed beads, fused glass, crystals and natural stones.
How I do my craft: When I make a one of a kind piece it starts with a focal piece of glass, one I might of made or a vintage button, a crystal, or a stone.
It is glued down and I start searching my seed beads for all the colors coming out of it. Then I just start beading and we'll see what happens.
I do have a sketchbook and draw my designs too.
I love to do bead embroidery the most, but there are so many wonderful bead weaves to learn and create with, so I am always being pulled in different directions. It's never boring.
What lead me to my craft: The desire to sell what I love to do.
My other interst or hobbies: Photographing flowers, camping and hiking, music festivals and having fun with good friends.
Other links or sites: www.myheartglass.etsy.com
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Etsy Artist: JLWoodturning
This is Jerry from J & L Woodturning. After reading his interview, I can just imagine his journey from the beginning and relate to it in my own life and my journey into handcrafting. His work is spectacular!
Name of Business: J & L Woodturning
Link to my shop: http://jlwoodturning.etsy.com
About you: I am a carpenter, by trade. I have worked in the field of construction since graduating from high school. There is not much that I haven’t done or attempted to do in this line of work. I have lived in the beautiful hills of West Virginia all my life. I am married and have two children that are in college.
My craft or talent: I turn wooden bowls and cowboy hats on a lathe.
How I do my craft: The art of woodturning is using a lathe to mount a piece of wood and with the use of gouges, removing anything that you don’t want there. I work in the corner of my garage, but I have hopes of somday building a shop to work in. I like to work with green wood – wood that has recently been cut and not dried out. Most of the wood I use is local wood from trees that have fallen from a storm or someone has cut down. I look for unusual pieces – diseased wood, spalted (almost rotting) wood, burls (abnormal growths on trees) or crotches where two limbs meet. These have the most character and will produce the prettiest bowls. I sand the bowls while they are on the lathe and finish the drying process in the microwave. The cowboy hats are also turned from green wood and using rubber bands are bent into their shape.
What led me to my craft: I started woodturning when my brother, also a wood turner, gave me his old lathe and said, “See what you can do.” With his help in showing me how to sharpen my tools and the basics, it wasn’t long until I was hooked. I spent every spare moment at the lathe, just trying to see what I could do. After turning for three months, I juried for and was accepted at Tamarack, WV – an arts and craft showcase of the best of West Virginia. With the help of my wife, I started selling on my etsy site last year and I love it.
My other interests or hobbies: Other things I like are hunting and fishing, riding a 4-wheeler and watching sports on tv.
My other links, blogs:
http://etsylounge.blogspot.com
http://hintjewelry.blogspot.com
Name of Business: J & L Woodturning
Link to my shop: http://jlwoodturning.etsy.com
About you: I am a carpenter, by trade. I have worked in the field of construction since graduating from high school. There is not much that I haven’t done or attempted to do in this line of work. I have lived in the beautiful hills of West Virginia all my life. I am married and have two children that are in college.
My craft or talent: I turn wooden bowls and cowboy hats on a lathe.
How I do my craft: The art of woodturning is using a lathe to mount a piece of wood and with the use of gouges, removing anything that you don’t want there. I work in the corner of my garage, but I have hopes of somday building a shop to work in. I like to work with green wood – wood that has recently been cut and not dried out. Most of the wood I use is local wood from trees that have fallen from a storm or someone has cut down. I look for unusual pieces – diseased wood, spalted (almost rotting) wood, burls (abnormal growths on trees) or crotches where two limbs meet. These have the most character and will produce the prettiest bowls. I sand the bowls while they are on the lathe and finish the drying process in the microwave. The cowboy hats are also turned from green wood and using rubber bands are bent into their shape.
What led me to my craft: I started woodturning when my brother, also a wood turner, gave me his old lathe and said, “See what you can do.” With his help in showing me how to sharpen my tools and the basics, it wasn’t long until I was hooked. I spent every spare moment at the lathe, just trying to see what I could do. After turning for three months, I juried for and was accepted at Tamarack, WV – an arts and craft showcase of the best of West Virginia. With the help of my wife, I started selling on my etsy site last year and I love it.
My other interests or hobbies: Other things I like are hunting and fishing, riding a 4-wheeler and watching sports on tv.
My other links, blogs:
http://etsylounge.blogspot.com
http://hintjewelry.blogspot.com
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
FEATURED ARTIST: DraconianRain
This amazingly detailed drawing is from Laura at DraconianRain. She is new to Etsy, but this is my very favorite of her drawings.
* Name of Business : Draconian Rain
* Link to my shop:
http://draconianrain.etsy.com
http://stores.lulu.com/draconianrain (will be a short while till I add some items, this is where I will sell my graphic novels)
* About you:
I am an Australian artist with a great interest in Japanese manga and pop art. I spend what ever spare time I have on my art and working on my graphic novels. I am now teaching others to draw manga. In some countries this may not be much but for Australia it is for those wanting to learn. There aren’t as many resources here and it is hard to learn much about it, which is why I offer lessons. I have taught people of all kinds of ages and some are better than me now which makes me really happy to know that I helped them to get where they are today.
* My craft or talent:
Drawing or just about anything art related.
* How I do my craft:
I make my art in various ways. So far I am working on my digital art and airbrushing skills. I am best at pencil/graphite drawings and giving them soft textures which is particularly effective when drawing children and babies. I love working in charcoal and making detailed work with them and when I use it I tend to use hard charcoal to get the most detail possible. I always listen to music when I draw or have a specific song playing over and over that relates to my art. I prefer to work in large areas. Usually on the floor or under a tree.
* What lead me to my craft:
I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil so I guess you could say that I was born with it. I am only 20 now and still haven’t stopped drawing and I doubt I ever will.
* My other interests or hobbies:
Manga, Anime, Ice skating, giving gift art and doing art trades, teaching others to draw and writing
* My other links, blogs, websites:
http://draconianrain.livejournal.com/
http://draconianrain.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/draconian_rain
http://www.mangabullet.com/visit/Saphira
http://saphira.paperdemon.com/
http://www.ratemydrawings.com/user/Saph/ (on this site you can watch how I made my work as a flash)
* Name of Business : Draconian Rain
* Link to my shop:
http://draconianrain.etsy.com
http://stores.lulu.com/draconianrain (will be a short while till I add some items, this is where I will sell my graphic novels)
* About you:
I am an Australian artist with a great interest in Japanese manga and pop art. I spend what ever spare time I have on my art and working on my graphic novels. I am now teaching others to draw manga. In some countries this may not be much but for Australia it is for those wanting to learn. There aren’t as many resources here and it is hard to learn much about it, which is why I offer lessons. I have taught people of all kinds of ages and some are better than me now which makes me really happy to know that I helped them to get where they are today.
* My craft or talent:
Drawing or just about anything art related.
* How I do my craft:
I make my art in various ways. So far I am working on my digital art and airbrushing skills. I am best at pencil/graphite drawings and giving them soft textures which is particularly effective when drawing children and babies. I love working in charcoal and making detailed work with them and when I use it I tend to use hard charcoal to get the most detail possible. I always listen to music when I draw or have a specific song playing over and over that relates to my art. I prefer to work in large areas. Usually on the floor or under a tree.
* What lead me to my craft:
I have been drawing ever since I could hold a pencil so I guess you could say that I was born with it. I am only 20 now and still haven’t stopped drawing and I doubt I ever will.
* My other interests or hobbies:
Manga, Anime, Ice skating, giving gift art and doing art trades, teaching others to draw and writing
* My other links, blogs, websites:
http://draconianrain.livejournal.com/
http://draconianrain.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/draconian_rain
http://www.mangabullet.com/visit/Saphira
http://saphira.paperdemon.com/
http://www.ratemydrawings.com/user/Saph/ (on this site you can watch how I made my work as a flash)
Monday, June 29, 2009
How to: Choose a Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb
Here is a short video on choosing a CFL.
I can expand on this video with the thought that there are now an ever changing variety of CFLs coming on the market, for every kind of lighting application. You may now choose CFLs for ceiling fans, (which are totally different than ones you would choose for a standard lamp or light fixture) they need to be able to withstand the vibration a fan puts out. There are also may new shapes of CFL's coming out to match almost every incandescent version on the market, such as vanity bulbs(globe shaped)and candleabras for chandeliers (flame tip). Also, be VERY aware that not all CFLs can be used outdoors in extreme temperatures or with dimmers or timers.
I can expand on this video with the thought that there are now an ever changing variety of CFLs coming on the market, for every kind of lighting application. You may now choose CFLs for ceiling fans, (which are totally different than ones you would choose for a standard lamp or light fixture) they need to be able to withstand the vibration a fan puts out. There are also may new shapes of CFL's coming out to match almost every incandescent version on the market, such as vanity bulbs(globe shaped)and candleabras for chandeliers (flame tip). Also, be VERY aware that not all CFLs can be used outdoors in extreme temperatures or with dimmers or timers.
Friday, June 26, 2009
FEATURED ARTIST: MATTSART
I am in awe, just viewing this artists site. Some day maybe, I can own one if his paintings!!!
* Name of Business: Mattsart Fine Art Paintings - The Art of Matthew Hamblen
* Link to my shop: http://www.mattsart.etsy.com/
* About you: I love painting more than breathing. I'm self-taught and have been at it for more than a decade now. I'm very happy that my work touches so many people.
* My craft or talent: Painting
* How I do my craft: Painting (funny Matt!)
* What lead me to my craft: Instinct - being an artist is in my blood, and it found me and owned me before I even knew what happened!
* My other interests or hobbies: TV, friends, the usual.
* My other links, blogs, websites: I may have the website www.matthewhamblen.com actually functional with more than just a directory soon. I'm not sure yet if I'll develop it, or just keep plugging away on Etsy (which is fun too!)
*Be sure to tell us about you, your location, history, interesting facts:
I'm in beautiful North Carolina in the Piedmont. Right in the middle of the state so I can visit the mountains or the ocean without going too far.
I love it here - one way I spend time is just driving around in the hills here. It's like driving around in a landscape painting it's all so beautiful. I can just get lost down here all day, and love every minute of it!
Then I come home and try to put those adventures on canvas for you!
* Name of Business: Mattsart Fine Art Paintings - The Art of Matthew Hamblen
* Link to my shop: http://www.mattsart.etsy.com/
* About you: I love painting more than breathing. I'm self-taught and have been at it for more than a decade now. I'm very happy that my work touches so many people.
* My craft or talent: Painting
* How I do my craft: Painting (funny Matt!)
* What lead me to my craft: Instinct - being an artist is in my blood, and it found me and owned me before I even knew what happened!
* My other interests or hobbies: TV, friends, the usual.
* My other links, blogs, websites: I may have the website www.matthewhamblen.com actually functional with more than just a directory soon. I'm not sure yet if I'll develop it, or just keep plugging away on Etsy (which is fun too!)
*Be sure to tell us about you, your location, history, interesting facts:
I'm in beautiful North Carolina in the Piedmont. Right in the middle of the state so I can visit the mountains or the ocean without going too far.
I love it here - one way I spend time is just driving around in the hills here. It's like driving around in a landscape painting it's all so beautiful. I can just get lost down here all day, and love every minute of it!
Then I come home and try to put those adventures on canvas for you!
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