Up Up Applique!

Kajsa from Syko is a very interesting women indeed! She started off as an Ethologist, but her field of study is/was contemporary events. Initially she chose to study Ethnology because she loved folk art so much, and now instead, she's creating it! Her sweet illustrations are appliqued mainly on linens such as coasters, and applique!



How long have you been crafting?

I got hooked on knitting when I was 14-15, but I have followed my creative parent's various projects with great enthusiasm since I was a child. So I grew up in a creative environment.



Did you always craft in this genre?

I used to be a passionate knitter, but since I did my first quilt, now over ten years ago my hobby has grown to a home studio. I started to make appliqués on clothes when my daughter was born 6 years ago. At some point I noticed that my naive doodles look quite good turned into appliqués. I have tried many different crafts, but fabric and thread is the media I feel most comfortable in.



Who or what inspires you?

Children's drawings and illustrations for kids, naive folk art, colours, materials (fabrics, buttons, ribbons, patterns), people and everyday life (= my family and friends)

What defining moment made you decide to turn your hobby into a business?

I have always dreamed of doing something creative, I was on maternity leave, tired of my current job and found etsy. I sold quite well on etsy and that was just what I needed to prove to myself and others that I could do this.



What challenges have you found while taking your craft into the business world?

All the paper work it includes and especially the marketing part, I wish I had a personal manager!




If someone from out of town were visiting you, what key places would you bring them to? (galleries, coffee shops, parks, museums, etc)

That would depend on the person, of course. I usually take my crafty guests to a great store here in town that sells English quality fabrics (like Designer's guild, Laura Ashley and Liberty) to bargain prices. I would probably take them to the old castle here in town too. And maybe a coffee at Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova, a museum with a nice café.

What I'm Reading...

Wish Me Luck...

So..a little while back i posted about a pearl necklace i made as a prototype for a shoppe in South Florida. Well the time has come, and i have made another prototype and a small portfolio to show the company as well. Above is the final catalog product. I am going to go there sometime at the end of the week, so please cross your fingers they like my work! :)

A few of my favorite things....

Clockwise...

Smokey Topaz Ring - This stellar ring has a really unique Topaz cut, and a neat band. Her jewelry is very pretty and well crafted.

Safety Ring - Jenny from Jewelry fool makes exceptionally stellar jewelry. Her unique style strikes my fancy.

Under Glass Ring - This award winning dome-esk ring is utterly creative. Sadly, this artist doesn't have any more images of her work on her Etsy, but I'm sure she could send you some if your interested.

Tracery - Girts and Jan photograph flowers and blooms fabulously! This bloom is called a Chinese Lantern, or Physalis alkekengi, and is the coolest bloom I've ever seen!



I like. :)

Some Poems I Just Found

About a year.5 ago my jewelry was accepted into the gallery i work at. WHOO HOO!! We give a biography about the artists to all of the cusomters who purchase jewelry in our gallery, so i asked my co-worker to help me write mine. Here is what she wrote.

[granted i didn't use any of them, but that doesn't mean they aren't humurous.]

Jewelry is fun.
Jenipher Lyn's is pretty.
Take some home today.
(Haiku)

There once was a girl named Jen.
The jewelry she made was a ten.
She uses some pearls,
and makes it for girls.
And maybe someday for men.
(Limerick)

Jen's jewelry is unique.
The same goes for her tecnique.
(Rhyming couplets)


Fun are't they??

Balloons!!! AND other things i've tired....

I just learned how to blow up a balloon. It only took me 24 years.



To celebrate that success, i then blew up about 120 other balloons. But, i got to use a balloon pump. Lucky Me! It only took me four hours. For six hours after that i ripped up dunage (newspaper print) How many people can say they were paid to rip up paper?

None i know. :)

Along with this wonderful new addition to my "i like/i've tried"...

* Green Peppers
* Snow Peas
* Pears (bleh)
* Walnuts
* Shepards Pie (the Riley "vegetarian" way)
* Paper Mache (how have i never done this??)

Hmm...i'm sure there are more. This is all for me though. What have you tried/learned recently??

Let me know.

What a WONDERFUL feature!!

Stella has a brilliant blog called Laundry Shop! She chooses really great artists, and always has stellar images. I was stoked when she wrote me to tell me she wanted to feature my work on her blog, but was floored when i saw her write up. She wrote a really amazing feature and included my "Up Up & Away" necklace!



Stella is also a brilliant graphic designer. Some of her work is below, but please check out her website! It's adorable! All the pieces below are availble on her Etsy site! A girl named Stella.

Sweet, Awe-Inspired Cards...

I came across Erin from Noulou Cards and Paper's work ages ago. Her work captivated me right away, for I, just like Erin herself, enjoy "child like" imagery. Once i got to chatting with her, i realized how sweet and wonderful she was, which makes me love her work even more!! Enjoy this wonderful interview from a very talented lady. :)

I am IN LOVE with these wedding invitations. I want them....one day. :)



I have been drawing for as long as I can remember, spending many a night in my bedroom growing up, drawing the scenes from the back of Disney movie cases. I still have them all in a folder, and one is even hanging in my little girl's room!

I used to LOVE play dough, and I've more recently tried out shaping little ornaments and figures out of clay. I would love to learn to sew someday, and try out different printmaking techniques. And I really should try to start making scrapbooks for my kids, I suppose!





Most of my work has a noticeable "childlike" quality, which I guess is due to the many children that have overtaken my family in the past couple of years. (My sister will soon have four, and then there is my two!) I really enjoy observing the people and places around me, and all things from nature. Lately, I've also really been enjoying all things French...so I guess I like nature, with a little bit of fancy!

Following the birth of my daughter, I had a difficult time with leaving her to return to the "work force". So, with the help of an incredibly supportive family, I was able to pursue a career from home doing something I truly loved. Plus, with a rapidly growing family, someones got to do all of those birthday invitations, right!

Learning how to manage all of the financial aspects of a small business has proved very difficult for me, as I am a total right brainier! Luckily I know a wonderful accountant, who has been of a tremendous help.

I'm afraid it's not too exciting, but... if you found your way to Baton Rouge, I would recommend visits to The Red Stick Farmers Market on Saturday morning, Sushi Yama for lunch (the best sushi by far around here!), the quad at LSU (to lay on a bench under the shady trees), and a craw fish boil at my aunts house (because you just have to in South Louisiana).







Check out her shoppe, see her other creations are be awed. :)

To Be Free Is To Live.

It's time to admit that i have a problem.

It's time to admit that it's time to change, take action, grow up and figure myself out.

I work. A LOT. Anyone who knows me knows I'm constantly on the go, running from job to job, then sprinting home to finish my own work. To write on my own blog, make jewelry, clean house, and whatever else i seem to NEED to finish RIGHT THIS INSTANT.

I've been having a lot of anxsity attacks recenrly. Way too many, and way more then nessisary for any 24 year old. Last Wednesday, after spending the afternoon at work, telling my co-worker how understanding my boyfriend is with all of my "breakdowns", i had my final (for now...) breakdown that same night. After that, Riley and I had a VERY LONG talk about how he doesn't know how many more he can handle, how he can't keep watching me breakdown, can't keep seeing me so unhappy, and worstly, how unhealthy all of these fits were. They were taking over my life.

Jewelry making wasn't fun anymore. Everything was becoming a chore, something that HAD to be done, and not what i loved to do anymore.

He's right. I put so much pressure on myself. No matter how much i accomplish i never seem to think it's ENOUGH. Just one more....(anything). I'm the perfect example of the over worked, never pleased, American. Well, I'm done.

I'm going to take time off from pursuing my business. It's not to say i won't make jewelry anymore, because I'm going to learn how to love jewelry making again! I'm going to take time off from reading how successful (or so it seems) other artists are, and just rejoice in the fact that one day it will be me. I'm not going to have anxiety attacks on a daily basis, I'm not going to stress so much that i get sick anymore. Those days are hopefully over. (at least until it's time to REALLY start my business) I'm going to start blogging because i want to, not because i have to. I'm going to make jewelry because i love it, and because it's a brilliant creative outlet, not because i know it will sell. I'm just going to do exactly what I'm doing, but not FREAK OUT if everything isn't done. There is always tomorrow. Life is to short to take everything so seriously. Losing sleep and making myself sick everyday isn't going to help me get closer to my goal. I'm only human. I'm only one person, and i can't do everything. Not alone. Not ever.

So....goodbye to stress, to anxiety. I shall not miss thee. Hello new perspective. Hello to my once loved hobbies. Hello to friends, bookstores. And hello to you Riley, and the new, stress-free times we shall share together.

Thanks for bringing me back to reality.