Posts Tagged ‘Crafts’

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Ornament Girl – Fantastic Quilted Ornaments

Friday, August 28th, 2009

A Christmas hobby becomes a full time ornaments business…

When Staci Ann Lowry, ornament designer and owner of The Ornament Girl, learned the old fashioned technique behind quilted ball Christmas ornaments as a teenager, she had no idea that almost 15 years later it would become a full time ornaments business and way of life.

Although Staci Ann grew up in a very creative family and had always enjoyed crafting in many different forms, it was creating her “quilted” Christmas ornaments that continued to remain her favorite pastime. Using a painstaking folding and pinning method, her ornaments are handmade by meticulously layering many tiny pieces of ribbon and fabric, resulting in an intricate and stunning finished piece. Over time, she slowly began altering the out of date method she had originally learned into a sleeker and more contemporary ornament design, using sheer and glittering ribbons, fabrics, and trims.

It was the need of a little extra Christmas money in 2005 that jump started the transformation from an ornaments hobby into an ornaments business. Staci Ann decided to list a couple of her ornaments on the auction site eBay…and after one disappointing round of zero sales, her ornaments began to take off, and she suddenly could not make them fast enough. Shortly after, Staci Ann officially launched her own website, and The Ornament Girl was born. As Staci Ann explains it, what started out as a short-term way to make a little bit of extra money, turned out to be the unexpected beginning of a business. Since the opening of her website, The Ornament Girl has received international recognition for her stunning Christmas ornaments in several magazines and newspapers, and has a waiting list for her unique ornaments that extends for months.

It only takes a few minutes on The Ornament Girl’s website to see why. Her unique Christmas ornaments are entirely handcrafted from start to finish, and each ornament is then beautifully gift boxed with a dated keepsake collectors card, for a truly unique and heirloom quality presentation. She has several limited edition ornament collections, including her exclusive Candy and Snowflake Collections, as well as a line of designer fabric ornaments. She has also expanded beyond Christmas, creating ornaments for Halloween, Valentines Day, Easter , and many other holidays and occasions.

Because of the high demand for her handmade ornaments, Staci Ann rarely has any ornament designs available for immediate purchase from her website, but she willl gladly add any ornament orders to her ornaments waiting list.

Article and images used with permission from TheOrnamentGirl.com

 

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Learn How to Make Festive Beaded Ornaments

Friday, August 21st, 2009

Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond presents 27 creative ornament projects for any level beader. This book presents a variety of ornament projects using different techniques including bead stringing, wirework, stitching, and netting. Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond includes an introduction, basics section, comprehensive list of tools and materials, step-by-step photographic instructions, and design guidelines to guide beaders through their work.

“Our ornament projects are always really popular. They’re a fun, festive way to show off — and share — your love of beading.” — Cathy Jakicic, BeadStyle editor.

Beaders will learn to make holiday ornaments such as beaded wreaths, poinsettias, ornament covers, standing spiders, and even peyote-stitched Russian ornaments, as well as beaded air balloon ornaments, stitched crayons, moccasins, leaves, flip-flops, and fruit and vegetables. There are even ideas for creating ornament hangers or ornament alternatives such as drawer pulls, drapery tiebacks, doorknob décor, and more.

Beaded Ornaments for the Holidays and Beyond is available in bookstores and direct from Kalmbach Publishing Co. for $19.95. To order the book direct, call (800) 533-6644, Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time or visit us on the Web at KalmbachBooks.com.

Article and image used with permission from KalmbachBooks.com

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Old Chinese Art – New Incredible Ornaments

Wednesday, August 19th, 2009

The ancient technique to create the ornaments is called reverse hand painting.

Ne’Qwa Art is the world’s largest producer of the centuries-old tradition of painting on the inside of glass. The same meticulous techniques that captivated emperors and art connoisseurs ages ago are used to create each of their lovely designs, including their most popular lines of decorative ornaments and petite ornaments. Although some scholars have dated the Chinese art form of painting on the inside of glass to over 1000 years ago, it was not until the mid-17th century that it became a prized and collected art form within the imperial court.

The artists at Ne’Qwa Art must paint through a small opening in the ornament on the inside of the glass. To paint in this art form, the artist has to paint in reverse order with the foreground completed first and then finish with the background. Certain ornaments used are opaque mouth-blown glass. These ornaments don’t allow the artist to see the tip of the brush and all painting must be done by “feel”. Through a small opening in each ornament, the artist uses delicate brush strokes to hand-paint on the inside of mouth-blown glass. From outlining to shading to color application, all work is painstakingly done in freehand. Although this reverse-painting art form flourished during the 17th century, today there are only a few artist groups, living in remote villages throughout China, who possess the skill to create these Ne’Qwa ornaments. The carefully chosen artists at Ne’Qwa Art offer stunning diversity of subject matter, ranging from whimsical characters to sensuously rich details.

Their distinguished artists have built a following of fans worldwide who recognize their distinctive styles. Collected by celebrities across the globe, these amazing ornaments are enjoyed as perfect gifts for any occasion. You will recognize several names & faces on the celebrity gift list who appreciate these outstanding hand painted glass ornaments. Each piece comes packaged in a luxurious, satin-lined, velour presentation case, ideal for gift giving. In addition, each ornament is accompanied by a signed Certificate of Authenticity describing the unique art history and reverse painting process.

Take a look at Ne’Qwa Art’s online video to see the artist at work and watch how the incredible images are magically created on the inside of glass. After all… true beauty comes from within.

Article and images used with permission from NeQwa.com

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Ornaments Artist Unleashes Potential of Wood

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Christine Coffman has turned her artwork into a thriving business.

At age 12 Christine Coffman asked her father to teach her to carve. That was 46 years ago in Garden City Michigan. Over time her own style developed and people began to see her Polish and German heritage in her work. Listening to advice from fellow carvers, she learned to be more detail oriented. She also learned that she was not so much a woodcarver, but an artist who worked in wood.

Coffman draws her own ornament and figurine patterns and then forces the figure from the wood. She uses both Butternut wood and Linden wood, also known as Bass wood. Linden wood is used due to the perfect pairing of its properties to her needs. Linden wood is light and strong. The grain is straight and allows fine knife strokes to create a smooth surface. Butternut wood is used for its interesting grain patterns. Both woods are native to the eastern United States.

Ornaments were a natural extension of her artwork. Each ornament is still a tiny, original sculpture that looks natural hanging by a string. Granted, sometimes the cats or elephants ornaments are hanging by their tails, but who is to say that is not perfectly natural?

By drawing her own ornament patterns, Christine is able to change them on a whim. She will use a basic outline to start the carving but by giving each ornament carving different details, she creates very different looks. That premise carries over to every ornament figure she carves. The little children ornaments may be described simply as being dressed in pajamas or nightgowns and holding onto the string with one hand, but once carved, each child has his or her own distinct look. The wooden ornaments at Christmas-Carvings are not limited in design. You will find nativity sets, wooden santas, cat figurines and much more. With Christine Coffman’s talents and skills, a piece of wood is pure potential.

Article and images used with permission from Christmas-Carvings.com

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Eggshell Magic Ornaments

Monday, June 8th, 2009

An eggshell is a blank canvas that can be transformed into anything a creative mind can dream up.

For 25+ years, I have enjoyed decorating eggs of all sizes and shapes– from a tiny finch to the largest ostrich. They can be beaded, carved, etched, dyed, painted, embellished, and used for useful or decorative purposes. Eggshells can become simple objects of beauty such as tree ornaments, keepsake boxes, picture frames, or crafted into more elaborate items such as lamps, baskets, clocks or vases.

My Eggshell Magic ornaments begin with removing the yolk. For shells smaller than hen size, holes can be punched with a sharp object, but with larger and thicker shells a drill is required. A pointed instrument such as a wooden skewer will break the yolk with gentle stirring. An egg syringe is used to release the inside. Shells are cleaned in a solution of detergent, bleach and water; thoroughly rinsed, drained, and allowed to air dry. They can be stored indefinitely.

Now the fun begins! A solid color is selected, along with an ultra fine glitter that compliments that particular color. Next, a minimum of 12 coats of water based sealer is applied with a soft bristle brush to smooth out the glitter. After curing, a design is hand-painted on the shell using very fine tip brushes. Eggshells vary in shape from round to oblong, so care is taken to ensure the design compliments the shape of each egg.

Finally 3-5 coats of high gloss polyurethane sealer are hand-brushed for beauty and protection. Gold filigree caps are glued over the holes. The final and most important step is the personalization that makes each and every ornament special to the giver and receiver.

Eggshell Magic specializes in affordable hand-painted ornaments for special occasions – Christmas, Easter, Weddings, Anniversaries, and Graduation. Experience the joy of giving the gift that won’t be duplicated, and will be treasured for years to come. With 100+ designs to choose from, I know you will find one you like.

Submitted by Susan Willard – EggshellMagic.com

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Shotgun Santa Ornaments

Friday, May 22nd, 2009

We came across these clever ornaments a couple of years ago and it has been such a pleasure to be in contact with Diana of ShotgunSanta.com and speak with her about the history of her shogun santa ornaments. Her creativity seems to reflect the “waste not-want not” philosophy as she found a use for the shells that normally would have been discarded.


Diana and her husband are from Montana, which has the great reputation of being the “outdoorsy” state. One of the outdoor sports they enjoyed was target practicing by shooting trap and sheet with shotguns. They would reload the shotgun shells that they used for this fun outdoor sport and save the empty shells.

As Diana and her husband got older, they stopped shooting and ended up with a large trash bag of empty shells, which Diana’s husband wanted to throw away. Believing in up cycling, recycling and going green before it was ever popular, she just couldn’t let that happen! That is when she came up with the idea for her little Santa Claus ornament.

She started crafting these delightful Santa’s in 1989. Twenty years later, she is still sending these Montana shotgun shell ornaments all over the world. Gift your favorite sportsman with a ShotgunSanta.

Submitted by ShotgunSanta.com

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Eggcentricity Ornaments – How They Began

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Dory shares how a family tradition of making eggs into May Baskets became a year round ornaments business.

Springtime brings back memories from childhood of Easter Eggs and May Baskets. My favorite eggs were the heavy sugar ones with the small end open for viewing scenes of meadows with miniature rabbits and other small animals scattered about. I’m sure there were many other themes depicted, but I liked the animals best. That is probably why I began collecting tiny china figurine ornaments when I was old enough to be trusted to keep them safely out of harm’s way.

After Easter, we would use decorations, ornaments and the imitation grass from our Easter baskets to put inside May baskets. We made the baskets from strips of heavy colored craft paper woven like real baskets only much smaller. That way you could make as many as you needed.

My grandmother told how children would make baskets and secretly leave them on their friends’ doorsteps. It then became a guessing game to learn which friend had thought of you. We lived in the country with no neighborhood families nearby, so our best friends were each other. Still, it was lots of fun to look forward to each year, especially the guessing!

At Eggcentricity, I make May Basket ornaments by cutting an egg horizontally so I get two ornament baskets from one egg. The baskets can be plain or filled with whatever your imagination leans to. The trim around the top is both inside and outside for strength and the handle trip is glued in before the inside trim piece is added.

Eggcentricity has handcrafted eggshell ornaments for every season. Take a look at the Cloud 9 ornaments as well.

Submitted by Dorothea from Eggcentricity.com

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Ornaments.com Adds New Ornaments Daily

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

The Ornaments.com staff searches for unique ornaments and shares the results with ornament collectors and gift buyers. The ornaments blog presents a platform for more in depth artist interviews as well as a stage for “showing off” the beautiful ornaments. Please visit Ornaments.com often and watch us add new ornaments daily.

OrnamentShop  

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