Amazing Wrapped Trees

I was just going through my bookmarks (overflowing! Yeah I'm messy there too) and couldn't pass this one without sharing with you, because they are so inspirational so is the story of the artists; Christo and Jeanne-Claude are a married couple who created art together for 51 years! They met in Paris, France in 1958, sharing the same date of birth. Jeanne-Claude passed away in 2009.

Here is their statement for Wrapped Trees; "The temporality of a work of art creates a feeling of fragility, vulnerability and an urgency to be seen, as well as a presence of the missing, because we know it will be gone tomorrow.

The quality of love and tenderness that human beings have towards what will not last - for instance the love and tenderness we have for childhood and our lives - is a quality we want to give to our work as an additional aesthetic quality."  (isn't that just beautiful?)

 

Wrapped trees by Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Foundation Beyler, Berower Park, Riehen /Switzerland (1997-98)

Breathtaking, aren't they?

All the images and information are taken from their website! I reccomend you to check out their FAQ and About pages too if you like to know more about the artists and their artwork, also to get answers to why/how they do that +more questions.

{I hope you are having a nice weekend! My Saturday was fun but a little sad-emotional at some parts. I'm looking forward to Sunday to go to Santa Ana Patchwork craft show. I'm visiting this one, but I will be vending at the Long Beach Patchwork at 27th, will let you know about the details later!}

 

love,

Derya

Amazing Wrapped Trees

This paper cut doesn't hurt!

I've been wanting to tell you about Elsa Mora here for a while because 1. Her work inspires me so much  2. Her work is worth being seen (trust me!) 3. I just admire her; she is one of the people I feel so connected even though I never met her in person, but I know in my heart that I'd love her if I did.

Elsa is a multimedia artist, she makes art dolls, she cuts paper the way no one does, she paints/ illustrates, she does ceramics, sews, writes four blogs including a personal style one and she is a mom of 3 children! Oh, not to forget she has a book too 'Blossom Buddies'!

If I could I'd put all the images of her art here but I tried to gather the ones I admire the most. Enjoy!

Don't you just feel like looking at these not to miss all the beautiful interesting details?

This is one of her dolls, Elsa makes everything with her hands from the tiny pencils to intricate miniature wall hangings.

Examples of her sculptural work

Elsa's ceramic work collection, I love all the organic details!

Elsa made this dress herself entirely! If I saw this dress in a store, I'd buy it in a heart beat. She says; "I made this dress dedicated to my Grandma Maria Julia. I named it "El Jardin de Maria Julia" which means Maria Julia's Garden."

To read more on the story of this dress click here

If you like to discover more about Elsa check out her; Etsy store Elsita, see more of her work in flickr, main blog, Papercutting blog, Art doll blog and personal style blog.

love,

Derya

P.S. Thank you THANK YOU so much for all your sweet comments on my style boards and liking them! I really enjoyed seeing everyone's responses! More of those coming soon.. :D

This paper cut doesn't hurt!

Venice Beach

                            This is me!

Hello friends! 

Saturday I went to Venice Beach for the first time. It has a definitely different atmosphere (Hey, I wrote 'definitely' without any spell errors for the first time, yayy!) from the other beaches in Southern California. I must admit I felt a little uneasy first but then I started enjoying the crowd and all the vendors selling stuff mostly looked like each other, but it was fun to find really unique things at some of the booths. 

I purchased a few things; a handmade cuff bracelet brass and has a few tiny pastel colored glass beads on it. I liked that it was roughly made and very simple. Then I found a really adorable onesie for my niece to be born soon, it is pink and has a BIG crown on the front with all rhinestones (pretty girly huh?) Then I found asymmetrical leather earrings, leather pieces are cut like leaves. We had a short chat with the sweet seller lady named Yolanda who makes them and I asked her if she sells on Etsy, and she said she was just thinking about opening a shop. We both agreed that it was a sign we did that talk and that she should do it! :)

    Overall Venice Beach has sort of cosmopolit and very colorful feel to it, 

and I mostly felt like watching around like a live performance with different characters, feeling like a tourist. The graffiti and paintings on the walls of buildings were really cool, I wanted the photograph everything, though it was cold and windy (I mean for California weather in the middle of the May) so I couldn't spend much time to photograph everything as much as I would like to! I got some quick snap shots though, I hope you like them. Even if you can't make it here, at least they will give you an idea of what 

Venice Beach look like, eh? ;)

I love this one above!

Belly Dancer. A lot different than what I used to see in my country. I liked it though!

I wowed at these sculptures, all made from hardware and different metal components. Amazing job!

I put this one the last because it looks like it doesn't belong to the same theme as others, right? Well, that is how it is though in Venice Beach, at least that is how I felt like; On one side there is this ocean front street you walk through along with the colorful crowd watching interesting scenes, sales vendors etc. then you look over to the beach (sand and water side) and there is the peace and quietness, clean and smooth nature with no drama. Maybe I felt that way because it was called so there wasn't anyone swimming or laying down on the beach, so there was no action there..

love,

Derya

Venice Beach

Kahlil Gibran Quote Collage Necklace

My friend introduced me to Gibran by birthday gifting me a book of his 'the prophet' , which she said she always keep it on her night stand. Now I do too.

This necklace I created is a special piece to me, which has a quote of his on it "Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair."

Just listed in my shop, waiting for another fan, or a friend of a fan to be gifted. ;)


love,
Derya

Kahlil Gibran Quote Collage Necklace

I've been having fun with these..

I've been enjoying Photoshop Elements while practicing and discovering it's possibilities. If you are a hobbiest of photography like me, I really recommend that you try that program. I preferred elements because I didn't have any experience with photoshop before, and the price was a lot more affordable for me to just to test the waters first, instead of moving directly to the big thing!

I have a sony cyber shot camera that is fairly small and very light, which I always carry with me when I'm out.. That way, when I see something interests me, I just take advantage of it, and use them later to practice the program..

The photos above are all created that way! The first one is the gorgeous pink tree I ran into on my way to the studio. The watermelon girl is a shot I was lucky to catch in my trip to Seattle, and the last one is from Gypsy Den Cafe where I always go to get coffee while working in my studio at artist village. I'm just loving the results so far, and I ordered some prints of them from an online company, I can't wait them to arrive!!

I will update you on those later! ;)

love,
Derya

I've been having fun with these..

Jewelera is OPEN now!!

Yep, I'm listing my newest creations one by one, so keep checking out my store to see many many gorgeous designs! :)

By the way, did I tell you I have a Facebookpage for my jewelry biz? YEP! Go ahead and join, so you can watch closely what I'm up to, the news with my business and all!

It is at; Derya Aksoy Jewelry

P.S. That's my new banner with my photography!


Love,
Derya

Jewelera is OPEN now!!

Man, life is good!

From the Naturelle Collection

First of all; do I need to say it again? Yep, you got it! I'm the the worst blogger, I don't update my blog enough, blah blah blah.. This is done, let's talk about something else..

MAN! Am I happy? Oh YES! I don't know what happened, how my mood changed, what switch turned on (or off), but I became a fully motivated, excited, joyful, smiling (a lot) and looking better than ever person -again-. You know how you feel when you meet an oooold good friend you haven't seen for a long time, and when you run into her unexpectedly; you say 'wow, I've missed you!' realizing it just that exact moment? I feel like that for myself nowadays.. I had no idea real me was missing in my life for so long, and I'm so bubbly happy to meet myself again! As I said, I even look better from outside; because my positive energy is coming out with a big smile on my face, a spark in my eyes, I walk more straight, even my fashion sense got better, and my hair is nicer , and the list goes on.. To put the cherry on the top; since I've started feeling that way, I started making more friends, and really good ones too.

I don't wanna sound like I'm bragging about myself here, but I'm just trying to be open with how I feel, so somebody out there who is reading this can find a tiny little light or hope maybe, which can change their outlook in life into a more positive way. See, I was depressed for a while (a combination of reasons).. I think I've mentioned that before here in my blog. Anyway, I'll do it again, because I know there are so many people out there suffering. I had those days I didn't have the tiniest motivation or desire to leave home, or returning calls from my friends.. All I wanted to do was; just to go somewhere really far away that nobody knows me (even the existing family and friends), so I wouldn't have any responsibilities etc. Little things seemed so big, and I had a constant fight between how my soul feels and my logic.. One said 'hey you are better than this, get your butt up!', the other one said nothing but feeling sad for itself.. Sounds familiar? I hope not, because it really sucks big time. But even if it does, please know that it doesn't have to last forever.

Therapists, medications, talking with close friends or family members, etc. may help but none of them is the solution. It is you my friend. You need to make the decision to not to be 'not you' anymore, and get that oldy but goody yourself have the grand opening to the life again! Once you start implementing that into your life, I promise, everything will get better and the positive things will start happening right after another.

Everything is like a chain in this life, every move or step effects the next one. Once you feel better, you smile more, when you smile more people react to you the same, then you start communicating better, make more friends, be more outgoing, feel energetic, you wanna dress better too because you are out more now, so you get compliments, you feel better, you have more contacts now, so you may even find a better job, you feel better, you realize that life is actually worth living, you feel better...

I believe us humans are like mirrors, we do mirror each other in life really. Whatever the way you approach others is a similar one you will get in return. Also the way you see others is actually the way you see yourself. You know those people, who is cocky and sees everyone below than themselves, and belittle people around them? That actually means that person is seeing himself that way, he has confidence issues. Or, if someone is mad all the time and mean towards others, that means they are angry with themselves. I always try to keep this in mind, because I believe it gives me a good direction in life to be more understanding towards myself and others, as well as to have a more positive attitude. (The palm of my right hand is itching right now, and it is believed -in my culture- that I will earn money, yayy! lol)

Ahh I hope this post doesn't sound like a lecture, because I didn't mean it to be. One last thing I wanna say is about 'being a good friend' before I move on to some latest highlights about my little business. Trust is one of the most important things in a good relationship (I know you already know this!). If you realized we are becoming more and more reserved about our feelings by the time goes. This causes less sharing between people, while we are needing more of that actually nowadays, because the life is getting harder and more complicated with the 'modernizm' and its down sides it brings to our lives. As much as you need a person closer to you that you can fully trust, so do others. So please learn and practice, actually decide right now, to be good listener to others, and the best secret keeper on this earth! Nope, it is not OK to share even with your other best friend, or your mom or your husband/wife etc. This is done too, let's move on to the next section now;

What's up with my jewelry biz?

Well well.. Now you all know I'm back on track with my life, and that includes my jewelry business. I've been on a creative roll, making stuff day and night, sleeping very little (which is OK for me, but yeah unhealthy I know mom!). I've already done a few shows, one of them was very successful for me. I will have at least 2 -maybe 3- shows coming up for holiday season. One of them is Patchwork/ Santa Ana, which I've done once before and LOVED it! The other ones is Unique Los Angeles in the beginning of December (heard good things about it), I'm hoping to book more shows, I'll let you know. There is also the art walk nights in Artist Village/ Santa Ana first Saturday of every the month. As some of you know I have a studio in Santora Building there (2nd floor, suite B).. So please stop by if you happen to be there! Oh, I will post later about the dates and all the info about the shows by the way!

I have a lot of plans to improve my little business, a photo shoot is one of them.. I wanna do something very artistic, it'll be my first experience, fingers crossed! I'm flirting with the ideas these days..

OK, I can write more, because there is more to share, but it is already a long post so here I will end it and attach some photos of my new pieces.. If you made it this far, good for me! ;)

Love,
Derya




Frida Necklace is a part of a new upcoming collection..

Bracelets from my new Turkish Tiles Collection

Man, life is good!

Sometimes you do something without realizing...

The ring

...that you are taking the first step of creating a memory for yourself, something you will always remember...

That Sunday morning of the street fair (which I was a vendor of), I did that by deciding to wear my ring I got from my recent Istanbul trip. That ring wasn't something expensive, but had an unusual design which grabbed my attention when I first saw it. Of course I didn't know then, the ring was going to be a conversation starter for me to find out; one of the people who stopped by at my booth was half Turkish. It is not very common to meet people from my country in the OC area, so I was pretty happy to meet that young lady which also happened to be an artist. Apparently her mom was from Istanbul, but the young lady herself did not know any Turkish. Though, her name was Yagmur (which is a Turkish name) meaning Rain in English. She told me that she was going to go to Istanbul in the near future for a few months, and she also had a lot of relatives there.. She was very nice and it was pretty cool to have such an unexpected connection with someone.. We exchanged our contact information to meet and talk more later as she was leaving my booth..

Later that evening, I found myself thinking; if she didn't see my ring and compliment on it, I would probably not tell her where I was from and we would not have that whole conversation. No wait (!) if I did not choose to wear that specific ring that day, the whole thing would not happen.. I can even forward time back more to the day I purchased the ring! It is like that movie 'The Butterfly Effect', whatever route you take in life will take you somewhere different that it would be if you've taken another route, no?

I'm not a strictly believer of destiny, as no matter what you do in life, something is written for you and that's what you will get at the end. I don't agree with that. I think we each have different destinies in our lives, and what we will get as a result of our actions depends on our decisions we take at the time. Like those questionnaires you see on the paper; every question has two options 'yes' and 'no' and your route will change depends on your answer, so you keep following the little arrows that will take you to the results.. Does it make sense?

Anyhow, the street fair was fun, I can't say it was a big success business-wise but hey I got to meet many cool people, actually became friends with them afterward, and had a great time with my booth buddies! And ohh, I and my buddies also managed to do some awesome trades, so I have 2 new amazingly beautiful necklaces that I adore!

By the way, I'm aware my Etsy shop looks pretty sad right now with only one item, but I have been on 'oh boy!' creative roller coaster ride, preparing some very intersting pieces with my new unique tecnique which I believe you will love too! I'll be photographing them these days, and list them in my shop, so get ready to be amazed and not being able to stop yourself but shop shop shop! OK, enough of the bragging.. Bye now! ;)

Hugs,
Derya

Sweet Melissa, I'm looking forward to do many more shows with her! Check out her unique jewelry designs click here !

My other gorgeous booth buddy Elsie is wearing my design that I traded for.. Check out her etsy shop click here !

Sometimes you do something without realizing...

I'll be at the Orange Street Fair this weekend!

So I've been getting ready for the show, creating new babies.. I just wanted to do a quick post with a little sneak peek to my newly pretties! These will be in my online shop very soon!

If you are close by, and can't wait for me to list those to my shop; please come and visit me this weekend in Downtown Orange at the Street Fair!

I will be there from 5pm to 10pm on Friday, 10am to 10pm on Saturday, and same on Sunday!
I don't know where my booth is gonna be, but look for 3 fabulous jewelry designers under 1 tent, OK? ;) I guarantee you it'll be worth it!

Muah,
Derya

I'll be at the Orange Street Fair this weekend!

My friend's puppetry!

The street Fair in Orange is getting closer (this weekend!) and as always I'm not feeling ready at all.. My creative spark has been with me a lot lately and there are a lot of things in my mind but I'm having labor pains to push them out! I delivered some pretty cool things but I feel like I still have many babies inside of me struggling to come out to life! (OK, why am I comparing having babies with my creating process? am I evaluating or something?)

Anyhow.. Today I want to tell you about a very dear friend of mine, from my college in back home Turkey. Her name is Asuman Subay, and she is one of the most successful people graduated from our department of Set and costume Designs (also with the best hair). She opened a studio in one of the coolest places in Istanbul (Beyoglu/Taksim) where she creates her fab puppets of different kinds, and give drawing courses to the students who wants to pursue fine arts. She also excepts custom orders to make a very own puppet version of yourself! Isn't that cool?



In my recent trip to Istanbul, I stopped by her studio, intrupting her working for an upcoming exhibition (how rude ehh?). She was so happy to see me (duh!) , and even made me my latest favorite thing in the world: Mastic flavered Turkish coffee (yumm).


We talked about the economical and pilitical issues going on in the world, and what can we do about it. *snort* Not really.. We mostly had fun doing a photo shoot with her puppets and gossiping about out past classmates and what everyone is up to. It was one of those days that I know I will remember when I go back to U.S. and have a broken smile on my face, saying;
'I wish America was as close as Europe to Turkey, so I'd go to Istanbul at least once in a couple months!' for the 1000th time in my life.


Following week I was at her exhibition!


Here is her website; click here

She also has a facebook group 'Su Sanat Kukla Atolyesi' with more than 400 members, join in if you like to see more of her work and hear about the updates!


Love,
Derya

My friend's puppetry!

HELLOOOo..oooo.. ooo..oo.o............

I can almost hear my voice echoing in my poor little corner of abandoned cyberspace! Can't believe how long I've been absent, but hey I'm human and believe me "not a perfect one" for sure! Long story short, I traveled and traveled (has been in Istanbul/ Turkey-my country- for 2 months!), needed some time off from everything (including my Etsy shop), had some up and down times, did a lot of thinking and a lot of more thinking, a little couch time with a sleepy face, some arguing with myself and then kissing-making up with myself again etc. Yep! Alll regular human stuff.. lol

Meanwhile I've been visiting my blog, thinking about what I should post about, realizing there are TONS so get overwhelmed and click back to another webpage. Well, now it is not one of those days so I clicked to the 'new post', yayy! I already feel like accomplish something.. ;)

OK enough of explaining myself I think.. :P I had a fabulous time in Turkey! My brother got married, so there was his wonderful lovely wedding. Although my hair looked pretty bad (whatever the hell they sprayed on it, it looked so unnatural rock like thing that I couldn't resist keep touching to surprise myself with the weird foreign feeling everytime!) my dress was pretty and I had a lot of fun. Annnnnd after the wedding, I and my mom with a group of lady friends of her, we went to Cyprus for a week long vacation, wohooo! That was relaxing, fun and the sea was beautiful.. Overall a very therapatic time we had there. When I got back to Istanbul, I was out everyday EVERYDAY either with my friends, family or relatives, I don't remember being that social for years! I even met with a group of my elemantary school friends which I haven't seen for almost 20 years! Also highschool friends as well.. I was so social I even lost weight! (that was one of the best parts)

There are ton of photographs from my travelings, I don't even know which ones to put here *sigh* it'll be hard! Ohhh before I forget, when I got back to U.S. I and my husband also had a trip to Seattle for 5 days. That was also sooooooo awesome, I always knew I'd love it there and I was right! I have tons of cool photos from there also!

Hmmmmm... Am I missing anything else?? YEP! I'll have a show next week, yupppiiii! It'll be in downtown Orange, International Festival one! There is gonna be food, artists, music too (I think) etc. Friday- Saturday- Sunday event! (kinda scary yes!) I found some really cool display items from my last salvation army trip, I have to take photos soon to show you.

What else, what else?... Well.. My etsy shop is looking pretty empty now, I haven't updated it for a while as you can imagine. :/ The floors need a good sweep, and I need to get rid of the spider webs too.. Once this show is over, I'll do a nice come-back I promise! I'm already making so many new and exciting pieces, so I'm planing to put them in my shop right after the show!

If you are close by, pleasestop by to see me there! I'll be sharing a booth with other 2 jewelry designers from Etsy! Elsiee and melissaloschy

Muah muah for now lovelies.. :) I'll be back soon..

Derya

1. P.S. The photos are from my Istanbul trip.

2. P.S. I decided to eat healthier, and especially after reading that book called 'Skinny Bitch'
I decided to challenge myself to be vegetarian for 30 days as trial period.. It's been going very well, and I'm not having a hard time so far.. I'll update you about that also in my upcoming posts.

HELLOOOo..oooo.. ooo..oo.o............

Meeting at the 'eggz neighbourhood' with Faulty Carpenter

The weird thing is, in my previous post my goal was to introduce you a new Etsy artist I've recently discovered "faultycarpenter"..

I started talking about people are like gift boxes and you never know what you will find in the box blah blah blah, and right after that intro, I was meaning to tell you that I met this new cool artist on Etsy.. And somehow I found myself writing more and more, even about cabbages!! haha. It was way too much of an intro, it became a post itself and I just decided to leave it that way.. *sighs*

I had a pleasure learning more about Adam Grath of "faultycarpenter" after I added his very personable 'eggz neighbourhood' to my favorites. Chatting him a little bit, I immediately decided to feature him here in my blog, because I'm sure you will like to hear his story as well..

Adam is a 48 years old artist who grew up in Kalamazoo Michigan, currently lives and works in Bloomington Minnesota with his wife Anne and their two dogs Moby and Mabel. He says; 'I found etsy via a co-workers girlfriend. Her shop has had some success, so I thought it would be fun to start my own store.' And adds: 'I'm digging the etsy community and find it has been very helpful and encouraging to see the wonderful array of objet that comes from the minds and hands of others.'

Although Adam opened his shop in Feb, 2009 , he has always been in art & crafts world. He says 'My dad David Grath is a fine artist (painter) and my mom Donna Grath is a spectacular quilter so I've been around art/crafts since I was a wee tot.' He has also studied ceramics at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art.. 'under a super cool artist named Tom Lollar' he adds.. One of his other passions is music; ' I sell guitars for a living and have played for (gulp) 43 years. another story'..

Adam's Etsy shop name is coming from his illustrated short story book "The Faulty Carpenter". He actually has a video of the story on youtube which you can watch by clicking here. Although I love that story (and the music, which is also his own), my favorite one is 'Emmet The Flying Chair' which is another illustrated story by him! (click here to watch)

Going back to our conversation starter, the 'eggz neighbourhood' , he says: ' I started making "neighbourhoods" of smashed heads in 1971 and selling them in the divided coke crates that hold 24. It's getting almost impossible to find the old crates anymore and when you do some antique shop wants 20$ for one, so I started making my "eggz neighbourhoods" using recycled egg cartons instead.' and adds 'I love to look at objects and consider what other uses and personalities they might have. '

Adam says he also paints with acrylics mostly on large canvas, and planing to list them in his Etsy shop very soon! He also has a blog 'click here' which he tries to post a chapter and a drawing everyday..

I hope you enjoyed getting to know Adam as much as me.. Add him to your faves , and keep an eye on his shop for soon to be filled with many other cool artwork! His book 'The Faulty Carpenter' is currently available for purchase in his shop for only $7.. *wink wink*

Much love,

Derya

Meeting at the 'eggz neighbourhood' with Faulty Carpenter

New discoveries around the town.. Toolgrrl

Well, Etsy town I mean! More and more great artists are moving into the town and making me drool! Actually the ones I came across lately are not very new, but I thought I'd share them with you , because they are a 'must know', and all have very unique items!!

Today I wanna share Rachel Wright from Toolgrrl with you! Her clothing line is truly unique and one (or two) of the same kind. I particularly loved her 'dream anatomy series'. You can either wear her dresses or hang them on your wall as an art piece.. Her designs reminded me of a character in the book 'The Memory Keeper's Daughter', the doctor who takes photographs of human internal organs mirroring real life images, like how veins in our heart look like trees..

In her shop profile she says; "I love to transform garments that I find in the thrift stores or surplus outlets. I never buy retail! Repurpose/Recycle/Renew is my mantra. I choose high quality garments and then add my own layer of embellishment onto them, either through applique or screenprinting. Most of the sewing I do is by hand, so it is time-intensive."

She also have a website (click here) , which you can read more about her and see more of her extraordinary work! (below the photos, I'm adding more quotes from her artist statement)


"Everybody’s got a body, but few of us take the time to contemplate what is beneath the surface of our skin. For centuries, physicians and artists have attempted to make sense of the complexities hidden inside. Early anatomical illustrations are often a mixture of correct and incorrect assumptions. Some artists rely on metaphor rather than verisimilitude. "




"The Dream Anatomy series explore these imagined realms inside the body. Because these garments are meant to be worn, the boundary between the internal and the external is blurred. The invisible is made visible: wear your inside on the outside. By using women’s slips and nighties, articles that were not originally intended for public life, I am playiing with the line between the public and the private arenas."


Love,

Derya

New discoveries around the town.. Toolgrrl

Breath in and out..

Having a balcony is very important for me when I'm living in an apartment.. I want to be able to step outside and get the fresh air into my lungs, feeling refreshed! We live on the 3rd floor and have a nice size of balcony (not too big, not tiny either) looking to a beautiful big tall tree which is covered with gorgeous red flowers blooming in the late summer! I didn't know what kind of tree it was when we first moved in here, then I looked it up on the net and found out it is 'gum tree'..

Last few days, whenever I step out to the balcony, there is this divine flowery smell in the air, I can't figure the source.. Isn't it amazing when you think about all the things nature gives you emotionally and physically? It feeds our body, our soul, our spirit, our eyes... Fascinating really..

I was having my Turkish coffee on the balcony today while waiting for my old laptop to get itself together.. I used to love that thing until it started having problems due to being worn out (hmmm I wonder why? :P)! Then I got my new laptop and because I was lazy, I didn't transfer all my photos to the new one.. Recently I got an order for my mini art vintage frames with my naughty prints in them (yayy), and needed to get the images from the old computer and it just got stuck giving me headache! Finally I got it to work again and were able to get the images *relief*..

Have you seen my mini art frames before? They are so cute and original too I think! But somehow they weren't sold as I expected. I honestly thought they'd sell like hot cakes, I was so confident too! =D It is weird, you never know these things.. And sometimes you create something and think 'it is OK' and even doubt about listing it or not, then it becomes one of the most popular things in your shop! ;)

Anyway.. This person wants to buy a lot of 7 of these frames and hang them all together to the wall, as just one art piece! I love it, because that was what I initially pictured in my had!

I also got a request through my Etsy shop, for my 'bonjour necklace', the wallpaper one! Although I didn't have the exact pieces/shapes to make another one, I'll create a similar but still unique one for my client! Gotta go and finish it, then take the photos now!

I'll be back,

Derya

Breath in and out..

Experience with your art Part-3

Yep, I've been in my alchemy lab/studio working hard to make more special unique pieces. If you enjoyed the part-1 and part-2, I hope you'll enjoy this one too...

Well, I think coming from textiles related background (fashion, costume design, and interior design), I love textiles, fibers, textures etc. And, I see jewelry as a wearable art, so it gives me tons of opportunities to coordinate any material I want in the world to my art. The possibilities are endless, as I always say 'You just need to know how to look and see!'.

I remember my mom painting beautiful floral designs on silk when I was growing up. She'd make table clothes and other decorative items with them. Our whole house was filled with her creations of different mediums, she was one creative lady and still is! This means, not only look around but stick to your memories! Memories will also be a great inspiration for you.

Recently featured seller at Etsy Woodmouse quoted 'My wooden toys and figures are basically my childhood drawings turned into wood. I think of an animal or object and try to remember how I would have drawn it as a child and use that as a starting point.' in her interview. (inspiration 1: childhood memories)

So, I had some cotton fabric in hand and a few fabric paints in basic colors to create my master piece (:P), and started playing with them. I'd see some jewelry artists on Etsy making beads out of fabric, and I thought 'why make fabric covered charms?'. That's how everything started. (inspiration 2: other artists work)




I had some metal coin charms in my stash, I've covered them with the fabric on both sides, and painted little flowers on them. They needed a more finished look, but I didn't have any metal settings to cover the back and the edges. So I've created my own setting by opening the leaves of the vintage bead cap and attaching it to the charms. I think it took the charm to a different level, I like the look. (Tip: As in this example, try to think ahead with the materials, a bead cap doesn't have to serve only as a bead cap)



I finished the design by attaching the charms to vintage leafy connectors and voila! One pair is listed in my shop, and the other pair will be soon! The are both one of a kind earrings.

Inspire,
Derya

PLEASE NOTE: I only like to explain my creative process on my blog to inspire other artists. They are not instructions for people to make their own and sell them. All rights reserved to the artist Derya Aksoy (which is me). Thank you!

Experience with your art Part-3

How cool is this?

Click to have fun!

I stole this from Elizabeth's James' blog. *giggles*


Luve,
Derya

How cool is this?

Studio

I was desperately in need of organizing my studio, so I've spent quite a while to do that for the last few days... If you are an artist/crafter, you know how it is once everything gets out of hand, and you know then it is time for you to tidy up a little(!), when you start spending long time finding what you are looking for! Especially if you are a jewelry maker like me, ooh my! All those tiny little beads,findings,headpins etc., you spend hours to put everything in the right place, but the room still look messy if you still have more things around!

This time, I also wanted to change the look of my design place to make it more inviting and inspiring... Most of the craft supplies are already fun looking, colorful, and decorative naturally. So, I tried to put together my stuff in a way that they'd look more presentable. I put up some photos together, so they'll tell you better than me...

If you are a crafter and reading this, also have a messy corner to create your pretty stuff; go there and start organizing now, little by little or all in once till morning! You won't regret it, trust me! ;)

Studio