Introduce Yourself!

[#1]

It occurred to me that providing a space for new members to introduce themselves would be a good idea...then it occurred to me that even members who have been a part of this group might like to say a bit about themselves.

So, a brief intro, preferably with a link to your About page (if you've got one). Feel free to post one or two other links here for people to explore, a Blog, Facebook page or Twitter etc.

I'll start:

I graduated from the University of Hertfordshire in 1996 with a BA Hons in Design Representation (Modelmaking). Coming from a family of 'sew and sews', 'knitwits' and modelmakers, I seem to have picked up a few skills here and there. I am also a Live Roleplayer, a trained Montessori Directress and a Reiki Teacher Practitioner (with the UKRF) but of late, aside from a few Reiki clients and an interest in personal development and Tai Chi, I'm mostly busy being a mum and getting involved in Steampunk. My creative impulse has re-awakened and now I'm doing the cliche: making stuff on my dining room table out of bits and bobs and inspirations.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheNavigatrix/about/
http://thenavigatrixatetsy.blogspot.co.uk

Glad to make your acquaintance!

[Former_Member]

Welcome Jennifer and Mandy! It's always good to see new creative minds.

Emily I'll message or email you more about the swords.

[Former_Member]

I'd love to hear from more of our new members! Feel free to share your story here!

[Former_Member]

Right now, I'm a stay-at-home Mom and full-time student. I have two awesome little boys, and the best guy a girl could ever hope for. I'm super crafty and I love doing projects to help out our family finances. Besides sewing and pouring candles, I am also a photographer and help my Fiance with his apparel, artwork and skateboard line.

I guess you could say I try to do a little of everything!

[Former_Member]

Welcome to IHLIB, MM!

Wow, it sounds like you have a very full life! I love that your candles are vegan and eco-friendly, it is wonderful. I hope you make many sales!

Does your husband also have an Etsy shop? Or do you have a place where we could check out your photography?

[fripparie]

Hi! I've always been interested in a little bit of everything. I have a BA in Management Information Systems, love geek stuff (Star Wars, Tolkien, Indiana Jones, the whole gamut) and came from a family of crafters. My grandmother did beading, like Christmas ornaments, crochet, sewing, you name it. She seemed to have passed this on to my aunt, and not my mother, but as I've gotten older I've gotten more into crafts. I can now sew a little (as long as it's a straight line), love decoupage and jewelry making. Steampunk fits right up there with my other interests and I've gotten into that as well as you can see from my shop. I like taking old jewelry pieces that almost nobody would wear as is and turning it into something new.

I've been doing customer service for the past decade and recently lost my job due to the small company I worked for going out of business. I'm lucky enough that my fiance makes enough for our little family of four to live on so I get to stay home with our toddler and do this.

Nice to meet you all!

[Former_Member]

Hello Katie!

Yay, I'm always so excited when another Star Wars fan joins our team!! I cannot express how much I love the original trilogy.

I really like your shop- the earrings and the Cheshire Cat necklace in particular!

It is so nice that your family is all crafty- it probably makes holidays fun, getting together and creating things!

I hope you have a wonderful experience on Etsy, please let us know if you need any help and feel free to chat all of the time!

[fripparie]

Yes, the original trilogy is great! The new ones...not so much. I don't hate them, really, but I don't think I'd have become a fan if they came first. The Phantom Menace in particular. I like to pretend it doesn't exist and usually skip it when I watch - I usually watch them in "machete order" which is 4, 5, 2, 3, 6. Excited/nervous for the next one!

[GirlInTheMoonJAX]

Hi! I'm Kayla, an aerialist and soon to be student (again). I started making jewelry a few years ago when I took a chainmaille class at a local irish fest and I've been making stuff ever since.

I am also an aerialist. I've been training for a year and a half and have performed at a few local event and am hoping to keep that up and even branch out a bit!

[Former_Member]

Welcome, Kayla!

I think it is amazing that you are an aerialist, how did you get into that? I think that form of dancing is gorgeous.

You have a great shop! I think the Batman overskirt is so cute!

[GirlInTheMoonJAX]

Thanks!
I saw it a few years prior at a concert I went to and whenever I moved someplace new I looked for a studio. Finally found one and have been hooked ever since. Started performing at events with the studio and am now booking my own stuff as well.

[Former_Member]

Hello everyone! I have to say, so far this looks to be the liveliest and most fun team I've come across yet! It's lovely to meet you all.

I'm new to Etsy, although I've been pottering around for a few weeks now finding my way around. I'm an archaeologist working for the time being as a secondary school English teacher in the UK (...long story!) and I've been trying to channel my love for steampunky victoriana, literature, and my sense of humour into making some jewellery. At the moment are are items poking fun at HG Wells, Shakespeare, Jules Verne... and even Twlight!

I've got a love for stereoscope photography too, which will probably make an appearance someday.

[Former_Member]

Hi Helen! I'm so glad you've joined our team! Archaeology is fascinating, I have always enjoyed reading about it. What has been your favorite topic of study/project you've worked on? I hope you enjoy teaching! Would you post a link to some of your photography? I'm definitely interested in seeing it!

[Former_Member]

Greetings Ravishing Ladies! I am NEW to Etsy and YOU are my first TEAM. Below is my bio (I am not short on words), and I often post my favorite vintage movies and crafting antics on my SBB Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/shaktiblissboutique

Also, download my MUSIC for your craft time here: www.djshaktibliss.com

Meow! ~SB

I am Shakti Bliss, a female Electroswing DJ and Vaudeville Entertainer based in sunny Southern California. I am blessed to live a mile from the beach and a short drive to Los Angeles where I often rock the stage playing my unique style of "Dirty Electro Swing" music mashing up vintage 1920's swing and jazz with dirty modern house and electronic beats. You have to listen here to believe it: www.djshaktibliss.com

I hand stitch my hats and accessories as I watch old black and white movies and listen to pop music from the 1920's and 1930's (with the occasional interlude to dirty "Burner" bass music) as a passionate hobby, now turned Etsy business, to provide my fans with unique bling made by yours truly. Every item you see in my store is one of a kind and never mass produced. I believe in quality over quantity, and dapper over drab.

My grandparents were semi-famous vaudeville musicians rumored to have run with "The Rat Pack" and toured with the USO during the war providing entertainment for the troupes with burlesque dancing girls, big band swing ensembles, and circus acts. My grandpa was once featured on the Ed Sullivan Show!

I've been stitching and crafting since I was a toddler following a lineage of seamstresses and quilt makers. My grandmother use to make gowns for Hollywood stars (where is Dr. Who to take me back in time and have my hands on those dresses and hats?). In more recent history I was once a hippie and had my own clothing line and storefront, but that tidbit we shall pleasantly forget for now.

I've always carried a unique, authentic branding as an entertainer: Polkadot dresses, hipster pants, vintage hats and gloves (an obsession of mine), reasonably high heels, my Aubrey Hepburn pin up girl bangs and so much bling I need a separate bag to contain it all when I am on tour. I have been honored to collaborate with circus troupes such as Lucent Dossier, Vaud De Vire Society and The Edwardian Ball. My favorite colors are red, black, white, gold and silver with vintage lace and pearls, a styling which you can see across all my designs.

I am a full time single mom and daytime business entrepreneur who moonlights as an entertainer on the weekends while my daughter stays with grandma and sews quilts for a non-profit organization. Your purchases help me to raise my daughter in a beautiful community by the ocean where she hopes to become a movie star someday.

I believe all our dreams can come true if we vision the highest possibility, work hard towards our goals and allow magic and intuition to do the rest. Creating this Boutique to support me as a work-from-home mom is one of my dreams.

Every item I make has a future swellegant owner in mind, although it is a great mystery until you send me a photo of you all dazzled up in the spot light. Please join my Facebook Page and post photos of your shenanigans and share your story! Thank you for your support and sharing my designs with your family and friends.

xox ~ Shakti Bliss
www.DJShaktiBliss.com

[Former_Member]

Welcome, Shakti!

Good luck with your shop, we wish you many sales. It sounds like you have a very busy, vibrant life and I look forward to hearing more from you! We love people who participate regularly, especially with both Etsy and non-Etsy topics. For instance, we have a music sharing thread I'm sure you'd be a great contributor to! Explore and have fun!

-Emily Joy

[PawsandWings]

Hello Guys,

My name is Oephebia and I am French but living in the UK for the last 20 years (hubby is English).

I live in my lair with 2 rescue Persian cats (yes the gentlemen kitties on my avatar).

I have several passion in life (apart from my hubby), animals, healing, Gothic Steampunk fashion, mermaids and fantasy.

I am a digital artist and I have created a few handmade jewellery based on my art. My Etsy shop is eclectic reflecting my passion for animals, but also the Victorian/Steampunk era.

I am also working with animals professionally (healing/communication) and I am an marine activist and animal advocate.
Each sale from my shop generates £1 for an animal charity.
For 2013, it is for Shark Angels to help protect the sharks. ♥

I opened my wee shop in May this year and I am finding my way around Etsy.

I am looking forward to know you better guys :-)

Oephebia and the kitty monsters x
www.pawsandwingsart.com

[Former_Member]

Hello Oephebia! Your kitties are so adorable, I want to cuddle them immediately!

I love the premise of your shop and that it has a direction and a philanthropic goal. Your work really reflects your love of animals and I wish you many sales!

Could you explain more about your work on healing and communication with animals? I'm very interested.

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone Artist from Maine have been making art since I was young. Worked on and taught animation for ten years. I was trained as a sculptor everything from bronze casting to welding. became disabled and trying to start my shop to continue making art.

[DarkFlights]

Hi all, I'm a stealth alternative - in that I don't look alternative, but really enjoy alternative things!
I graduated from DeMontfort university in 1996 with a BA(Hons) in Fine Art, and worked for over thirteen years in the bouncy castle industry, painting giant cartoony figures on pvc fabric, until printing tech eventually caught up and I was made redundant. I now work for a company painting prosthetic contact lenses by hand, but create my pewter jewellery and my other fantasy art as an ongoing attempt to free myself from being a wage slave. It hasn't quite worked yet, but I'm making slow progress.
Here is a link to my Facebook page, where you'll find more than just my pewter;
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Flights-Art/163232150439256?ref=tn_tnmn
The cover photo drawing featured in Metal Hammer a few months ago! :)

[Former_Member]

Hi I am Judy Innes of Borganic.
I studied Jewellery and Metal Design (BDes Hons) at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, in Dundee, Scotland. I had a deep interest in studying there as my parents did in the late 1960s.
Being brought up by two artists in a house full of clutter, creativity and unusual exoctic objects, I have a very wide spectrum of interests and visual wonderment.
I graduated in 2006 and have spent the following years trying to decide whether to live in Scotland or New Zealand.
New Zealand finally won the debate in 2012 and my partner and I have been on the course to self sufficiently since we got here. My artwork is based on a lot of varied themes ranging from cyborgs, steampunk and geeky movies to a considered love of nature and the relationships we have with it and anything a little anti-conformist or 'odd'.
I get frustrated concentrating on one aspect of art and love to dabble in a range of mediums and disciplines.
I am looking forward to taking some new courses this year and broadening my skills. I'm thinking stained glass, glass painting and definitely a lot of eco building.

Check out my page if you like at: https://www.etsy.com/nz/shop/borganic

May the geek be with you.
:D

[Former_Member]

Welcome Peter, Judy P. and Judy I. ! I'm going to have a peek at your pages. Please do strike up some conversation, ask questions, make team treasuries and have fun here :)

[Galvanart]

Hello all,

Mu name's Kate and I'm from Ukraine, so sorry for my mistakes - I used to learn English only at school time and it was quite long ago.

My husband and I are working with electroforming for about four years. We're taking natural objects and cover them with copper - to create jewelry, interesting objects, art sculptures and so on. We can create copper dandelion from the real one, or metal feather with every hair visible. Technical part of work is my husbands', and I'm making final objects and do all sort of foto, text and promotion work.

My main "helper" is 1.5 years old, and it takes lots of my time to catch her and prevent from spreading my materials all over home. So to work with Etsy I have mostly night hours, this makes me not so effective... But I hope I'll overcome it.
And I'm not good in treasury making, it's a pity. So I'll have to practice a lot to overcome it.

[Former_Member]

Follow me on pintrest at:
www.pinterest.com/jessicagungor/

Follow me on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/JewelryByTainted

Favorite my Etsy shop at:
www.etsy.com/shop/TaintedMarks


I have created a Pintrest board specifically for the promotion of Etsy items. If you would like to be able to pin to this board message me your pintrest user name. The board can be seen at: www.pinterest.com/jessicagungor/etsy-things-i-adore/

[Former_Member]

Hey Judy, Kate and Jessica! Your work is really incredible.

Judy I really enjoy the steam punk theme of your work. You seem to have a very wide range of interests in art which is great. I've found the more I create the more fields I want to explore.

[CarmelaRosa]

Hello! My name is Ria. This is my new shop on etsy (I am the owner of another shop, Mis Mundos, with my own handmade jewelry). Carmela Rosa gives me the chance to share with everyone the antique, vintage, tribal, circus jewelry pieces I collect while traveling in Europe, Asia and Africa from antique shops, bazaars, tribes or estate collections. Each piece is very special to me since I always meet in person its owner, it has a small or larger history and a unique energy.

Thank you for having me in your team!

:-)

[Former_Member]

Hello Ria! Oh, those are lovely pieces, the kind of thing that is currently inspiring my own Tribal Steampunk Aether Nomad range. Do you travel often?