Countdown to EMC Charm Bracelet Exchange.

Teresa Boland was generous enough to organize the EMC Team Charm Bracelet Exchange. Teresa shared the following delicious picture and motivating speech to get the procrastinators working.

With the deadline for the charm swap swiftly approaching -- who would believe that time would pass so quickly and Sept. 10th be upon us in the blink of an eye! -- charms have started arriving and the excitement is building. It’s like Christmas around here every time the mailman comes, and believe me, I am anxiously waiting for him to see if any goodies come! I promise to repackage them up and get them back out to you all as quickly as I can (once I receive them all, of course – so you slow-pokes, get busy) so everyone can share in the excitement. Stay tuned for updates!

Welcome New Members to the Etsy MetalClay Team

We have two new members this month, they are Heidi Stinson of Water Hawks Metalwork and Lisa Woinarski of Lillipilli Designs.

Heidi is a busy Mother of four and a former Marine. She has been creating jewelry for 17 years. She started creating jewelry made of hemp, bone, seed/glass beads and leather, while on her wilderness/desert survival excursions. Unfortunately Heidi became disabled in 2003 but has utilized her extra time into creating beautiful jewelry. She is inspired by nature and loves to use natural elements such as wood, leaves, leather, pearls, and gemstones into her work. Heidi has another Etsy shop called www.emeraldwaterhawk.etsy.com. I love Heidi's Last Leaf of Summer Ring listed below. I can't believe summer is over, I noticed today the trees in my area were already starting to change color!

Heidi's Last Leaf of Summer Ring

A native to Australia, Lisa's designs are inspired by nature. Lisa named her Etsy Store Lillipilli after a tree found in Australia, that has the ability of create bright pink fruit. Lisa's talents include textile arts to painting, sculpture, pottery, papermaking, and printmaking. When she moved to California, Lisa discovered metalclay and she has been creating beautiful jewelry ever since. You can see Lisa' jewelry on her Etsy store or on her website http://www.lillipillidesigns.com/

Lisa's Art Deco Flower Pendant

Please everyone give a warm welcome to our newest team members. I hope you enjoy our friendly little group!

Welcome New Members to the EMC Team

The Etsy Metal Clay Team has welcomed four new members to the team. These new members are Lorena Angulo of Pueblo Folk Art, Carrie Benvenuti of Uranium Cafe, Mieko Takahashi of Shizen Designs and Lucia Gulino of Gulino Art Jewelry.

I first spotted Lorena's work through Flickr and have been a big fan ever since. Lorena's highly detailed, hand crafted pieces reflect her Mexican heritage. Her folk art jewelry style is inspired by the traditional jewelry wore by the native Indians in South Mexico, Chiapas and Oaxacaamerican. One of my favorites is the pendant listed below called Arbol De Vida

Lorena's "Arbol de Vida" Pendant

Carrie of Uranium Cafe considers New Mexico her home. She find the diverse culture and history of the southwest to be the driving inspirational force behind her jewelry. Carrie enjoys creating items composed of silver, leather, polymer clay and mixed metals. She has a website http://www.uraniumcafe.com/ that has virtual tours of the famous Route 66 and toys and collectibles from the 40's, 50's, 60's, and 70's.

Carrie's Sun God Pendant

Mieko Takahashi of Shizen Designs was born in Tokyo, Japan and came to the United States in 1992 to study accounting at a Boston College. The name of her store Shizen is really a Japanese word meaning nature. Mieko launched Shizen Designs in 2006 and has been working on her jewelry as a full time endeavor since then. I love Mieko nature inspired/ minimalist designs. My favorite are her Lotus Flower Earrings listed below.

Mieko's Lotus Flower Earrings

Lucia Gulino of Gulino Art Jewelry was originally a photographer and a ceramic artist before she was introduced to metal clay. Lucia is interested in all arts that use chemical changes, particularly fire. Lucia loves the fact that metal clay has a tactile quality that was similar to her ceramic clay but she was able to form metal objects from her new medium metal clay. Below is Lucia's Alligator Skin Necklace.

Lucia's Alligator Skin Necklace