IAMTHELAB | Your Handmade Laboratory

New to the LAB: Fantastic Art from Villavera

I’ll let you in on a little LAB secret: I’m a little obsessed with Villavera. I should probably preface this by telling you how I go about finding artists. Some I find by searching through the various directories on Big Cartel & Etsy. As much as I have a love/hate relationship with Etsy (It’s all love for Big Cartel. Sorry, Etsy.) I do really like the Activity feature that is fed by the artists that I follow. From time to time, I will venture into the artist’s Favorites list to see what and who they follow and like. It makes sense really, because if I like the artist’s style, chances are I will like what they like. That’s how I found Villavera. I’ve been savoring Silvio’s shop all week and I’m super-thrilled to introduce it to you.

Truth be told, Silvio doesn’t give much info about him/herself, so the art is just going to have to do the talking. That’s the way it should be anyway, right? So, I’ll say that whomever Silvio is, they must enjoy bold graphics, delicious colors and parrots. I so want that parrot print! Check out these few finds from the Villavera shop, then click on any picture to see the whole shebang. And if someone wants to send me that parrot…

Connect with Villavera:
SHOP | TWITTER

Fun & Fresh Handmade Baubles from Starlight Woods

The story behind the Starlight Woods shop really highlights the ingenuity and the creativity of the handmade community. Lisa DiSciascio survived a number of really crazy storms in the summer of 2011. With the power out and the neighborhood in shambles, Lisa decided to take a hike in the woods near her Pennsylvania home. Her already present love for nature and recycling inspired her to drag a beautiful piece of birch back to her home. What started out as a project with her daughters has turned into one of the most successful eco-friendly jewelry collections on Etsy.

I think what I love about Lisa’s Starlight Woods shop is the diversity. So many offerings, all of them stylish and fresh, in a dazzling array of colors and patterns. With a great price point and a ton of options, you just have to stop by and take a look.

Connect with Starlight Woods:
SHOP | FACEBOOK | TWITTER

Grab a Handmade Bag from MUNI

Imagine walking down the street with one of these fab handmade bags from MUNI and someone stopping you and asking, “Where in the world did you get that fantastic bag?” Can you just see the surprised look on their faces when you say Lithuania?

See, that’s what happens when we embrace the global handmade community: Amazing finds from talented fellow humans, sharing space on this Big Blue Marble. Oh, and you get to walk away looking like the handmade diva that you are.

How can I say it any better than Monika, the creative brains behind MUNI:

“Each item on my shop is designed and handmade by me in my  home studio with a lot of passion, joy, care and attention. MUNI are handmade accessories that are inspired by mountains, forests, colors, dreams and simply everyday life.”

Mountains play a huge role in Monika’s current collection. There are a ton more great finds in the MUNI shop. Be sure to click on any picture to see the entire collection.

Connect with MUNI:
SHOP | FACEBOOK

Wanted: Guest Bloggers

Are you a handmaker with a modern edge? Do you DIY like there’s no tomorrow? Are you a blogger with a fresh sense of style? Would you like to have another platform to engage with the handmade community? Why not become a guest blogger on IAMTHELAB? I’m looking for so fresh faces to join the handmade chorus and you might just be it.

What am I looking for? Well, the pretty graphic (Thank you, thank you so much! I’d like to thank the Academy…) pretty much says it all. Let me flesh it out a little:

The LAB features modern and contemporary handmade goods. I’m looking for artists and bloggers who would like to share a few items that make you all giddy with handmade glee.
Are you open to showing us your studio or workspace? Would you like to share the processes, tools and techniques you use to make great handmade goodies? Yep, you might just be perfect for the LAB.
Are you an interior designer, decorator or stylist that uses handmade in your projects? I would DEFINITELY want to see your hot handmade picks on the LAB!
Do you make fresh DIY? Want to show us how it’s done? Bring it on over to the LAB.

My goal is to share at least one guest post a week. I’ve already had some great posts from Geri Jewitt, Claire Smith, Julie Gibbons and Starlet Starlet. If you are interested, first check out my Submission guidelines and then drop me a line at brett@iamthelab.com with ‘LAB Guest Blogger’ in the subject line. Can’t wait to see who joins us next!

The Inspiration Room : Meet Tania Rollond, Australian ceramicist

This is the third post from Julie Gibbons (aka tractorgirl) in a series about serious craft artists – you know, the ones whose work just kind of grabs you in the back of the throat and makes your spirits soar. Their absolute mastery in their chosen medium and their creative vision has taken them many places, but most of all it inspires you to great things in your own work.

Tania Rollond is a maker of exquisite porcelain vessels. Each is wheel thrown and decorated with drawings and paintings that allude to the natural world. She does not intend for them to directly imitate nature, but hopes for them to convey some of nature’s dynamic force. And she loves visual clues that convey the relationships between the infinitely small and the universal.

The vessels are beautiful in their own right – refined, elegant and gracefully seductive. However, the very smooth surfaces of those forms are also absolutely necessary because her wonderful drawings on them are an essential, identifying part of each piece.

Much of her work is decorated using a combination of drawing and painting with various oxides and stains – abstracted shapes of leaves, twigs and more touch the surfaces lightly. Recently, she has begun to experiment more with painting in richer colours, and has shifted her focus to forms reminiscent of landscape, sometimes inclusive of buildings and other human detailings.

Originally from Western Australia, Tania Rollond has travelled and exhibited widely from the UK to China, and has won numerous awards and prizes. She now lives and works in a bush setting, outside Mittagong in the Blue Mountains. You can find more of her work on her website – http://www.taniarollond.com.au

Connect with Tractorgirl:
SHOP | BLOG | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | PINTEREST

Earthy Handmade Perfection from L’Accent Nou

Anastasia Egórova has created an intensely beautiful collection of jewelry. I’m pretty enamored with the entire collection, so it’s super-hard to narrow down the images to share. From her studio in Manacor, Spain, Anastasia’s love for clay and her appreciation for nature serves as the foundation for these organic and elegant pieces.

This one-of-a-kind clay necklace is probably the standout piece in her L’Accent Nou Etsy shop. Each stone is made by hand and then strung on a vegan leather cord. It looks like the kind of necklace that could easily transition from workday to night-on-the-town without a moments hesitation.

There are so many great items here: statement necklaces, those amazingly simple yet elegant stone rings and beautiful earrings. Click on any image to see her entire collection for yourself. Haven’t made a 1AM Promise purchase this month? Why not start here?

Connect with L’Accent Nou:
SHOP | FACEBOOK | BLOG

Creativity Deluxe: The Handmade World of Double Fox Studio

Wearable art. Those where the words that first popped into my head when I discovered the loveliness that resides in the Double Fox Studio shop. The pieces you see here, as well as the items in the shop are the handiwork of Harem6, aka Ildiko Muresan and Flavia Marele. These two mixed media artists really love working with new materials and it shows.

Connect with Double Fox Studio:
SHOP | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | BLOG

See / Wear featuring Loft Full of Goodies & Domestica Print

I’m a sucker for color and today’s See/Wear post is all about the color. Feast your eyes on Natta Leonard’s The Loft Full of Goodies and some sweet prints from the Domestica Print shop.

The Loft Full of Goodies: Natta’s shop is full of fine felted objects and, since I’m a sucker for felt, I just couldn’t resist. You’ll love this shop full of handmade goodness.

Domestica Print: This is the sister to the regular Shop Domestica, one of the best curated shops online. Chrissy Jenson knows how to bring in the best handmade goods and her print shop is full of some pretty cool graphics. Make sure to venture in and have a look.

See: Listen to your inner boom box in the Domestica Print shop
Wear: Wool felt wrap bracelet by Loft Full of Goodies

See: Thomas The Owl in the Domestica Print shop
Wear: Wool felt wrap bracelet by Loft Full of Goodies

See: Autumn Card Print in the Domestica Print shop
Wear: Wool felt wrap bracelet by Loft Full of Goodies

Handmade Necklaces from Arrow & Era

I can’t think of two more beautiful things from nature: quartz and gold. Put them together and you have these ethereal pieces from the Arrow & Era. I don’t know much about the maker behind this handmade collection. Just that Steph S. describes her collection as:

“Handmade and vintage jewelry with stories to be told & histories to be found. Traditional meets modern edge; hand meets heart.”

I would tend to agree. Be sure to click on any image to see the rest of the collection. Do you have any questions or comments about this collection? Please leave them below.

Get Inspired with Yokoo

I’m not going to lie: I am an official Yokoo groupie. I’ve been a fan for a while and then, back in March, she posted on Facebook and Tumblr that she’s been invited to be on Project Runway. Now, while I’m torn about whether she should do it or not, I’m not torn about my affection for her collection. Honestly, the images speak for themselves.

What I’m focusing on with this Get Inspired post are the crazy-good quotes from this Etsy interview. All I will say is this: we speak the same language and I’d imagine that a lot of you do too. If Yokoo does make it onto Project Runway, I’m watching. #teamyokoo

Handmade Portraits: YOKOO from Etsy on Vimeo.

“You are given this life to live and not to just exist.”

“My work is a direct reflection of my personality. I think what’s hard is going against the current, trying to be something else.”

“There’s no room to be mediocre. You have to love the process. There is not a better feeling in the world than being great at what you do.”

“Silence is very important. Most of my ideas come out of complete silence. We all need to allow the silence.”

“What happens to good artists is that, when you create art from the need to be loved, you do your best.”

Be sure to visit Yokoo’s other shop, called Mother. It’s full of her handmade clothing, including this linen smock shirt.

Connect with Yokoo:
SHOP | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | VIMEO | TUMBLR

Monday Morning Motivation & Contest: Move!

OK folks, we’ve got a whole week ahead of us and I know you’ve got a lot to do. So, let’s get in gear and let those creative juices start flowing. Because when you move, we all move. Here’s a poster that would look great in your office or studio. You can pick up your copy here. Per usual, I’ve also included a free version as a desktop wallpaper. This time, I got fancy and made 3 versions. Pick a color, put it on your desktop and let’s get going.

By the way, if you’ve been using these wallpapers, I’d love to see a picture of it on your computer. Can you share a pic on Instagram? Follow the LAB her and upload a picture of your desktop. Be sure to add @iamthelab to the post. Starting this week, I’ll check my Instagram account and pick one LAB reader to get a free copy of this week’s print. How’s that for some Monday motivation?

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