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Hailing from Croatia, this new member of the HAF team definitely fits her name! BriskMamma is brisk and busy, indeed, as she creates retro-inspired home goods, cooks and bakes with wild abandon, and hand-drawn designs. But wait, there's more! She's also a mom. :)

I know Christmas is over, but I can't resist sharing these handmade gift bags and ornaments. You can see the detail she puts into these!

Make sure to check out her blog. You'll find tutorials of fun projects, artist features, and deeelicious looking posts about her kitchen creations. I'm feeling a bit like baking after seeing these tasty looking muffins.

Can you say yum? She even shares the recipes. ;)

Eye Candey 12/26/2010

Who doesn't love candy? With Eye Candey, you're getting a lot of 'candey' -- from awesome crafty goodies to anything you can possibly conceive of being printed. I really love the funky feel that the candey shops have, and it's a ton of fun looking through them.

Some of the neatest things I found were these edible image cupcake toppers. My favorites were these paisley ones and rag doll ones:

I also found these cute little resin flowers pretty charming, from the crafty shop.

On top of all of the fun stuff and awesome printing services available from Eye Candey, you're also in for a treat on the blog. You'll find quirky and interesting commentary on equally quirky and interesting products, companies, news, and updates on what's new with Eye Candey -- including a new storefront! How cool is that?

iKnitQuiltSew 11/29/2010

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iKnitQuiltSew has a shop that oozes sweet and traditional. Her shops hold over 40 years of experience and talent at creating wonderful pieces for children or collectors. Creating is her passion; and, even though she's selling to others now, she still puts so much love into each and every piece.

Now really, does it get any cuter than that face? Her teddy bears are beyond charming and have such personality. This particular bear is fully jointed and durable, making it a fantastic toy for kids...and possibly even their kids!

Since iKnitQuiltSew learned many of her techniques and got her start from her grandmother and still uses many older patterns, I have a feeling that her lovely work will definitely become heirloom or heritage pieces. Take, for example, this beautiful, vintage-style log cabin quilt:

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Reef Botanicals 11/21/2010

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First word: YUM. I've written about this fabulous team before, but who can resist an update, especially when it comes to such luscious, soapy goodness?

Eric and Larissa handcraft their soaps as naturally as possible, and make sure to make batches to satisfy their demand. That means your soaps and products are fresh, right out of the soapery (which, in my mind, is what a soap creation area should be called!).

What I really love about Reef Botanicals is that they make an effort to provide quality products for men. Men are a pretty neglected segment in the handmade market, and a man smelling like jasmine and honeysuckle might catch a snicker from his friends. But here, you can find luxurious shaving sets, gift baskets, and even beer soap.

They have a wide array of products, from bath fizzies to face scrubs to soaps to candles, all beautifully photographed and described, so you know exactly what you're getting. Details of their product creation, testing, and brainstorming show up in articles on their blog, where you'll also find snippets of their life, personalities, and articles of other artisans.

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HAF Feature - Mewes Mountain Arts 07/26/2010

Jennifer of Mewes Mountain Arts is our handmade artist, this week. She lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains of Colorado where she's able to look out into her backyard and see the self-proclaimed family mountain. Always a black sheep, she's bounced from the fine arts, all over the country, and finally settled on information technology as a career.

Her jewelry is colorful and textural, as you can see by her Red Foilage bracelet above. With this piece, she's combined several different types of red beads into a lovely, fall arrangement for your wrist.

Jennifer is very influenced by her religion, and has a giving spirit. For example, the lanyard below proceeds breast cancer awareness. She's know many people touched by this cruel disease, and is working to make a difference. She's combined various silver elements into a useful, pretty piece.

You can visit both her Etsy and Handmade Artist Forum shops by clicking to the items below, and visit her inspirational blog here.

HAF Feature - Dreams and Echoes 07/19/2010

I must add that I really like the way the texture of the background works with the piece!

Another example of the stories woven into her pieces is below. Titled Ancient Treasure, her description includes 'earthy cave walls' and 'tribal princess'. I may have an active imagination, but I can definitely create a little film in my head.

Linda (Raedawn), owner of Dreams and Echoes, has spent many years as a visual artist, living primarily in Maryland with periods in Oregon in New Mexico. Her daughter, Amy, started beading, and Linda saw another opportunity to explore her creativity through it. She learned the basics and hasn't let go since.

Each of her pieces is a journey and an invitation to explore different styles, from romantic to primal, contrasts, and different symbols. The piece below, titled The Goddess Protects, includes a well-known character, very prominent in many peoples' spirituality.

Linda has an active, interesting blog, so make sure to check it out. She regularly features other artisans, and shares details of her learning and creative process -- always very interesting to me!

HAF Feature - trusk4u 07/14/2010

Apologies to both lisianblue and trusk4u! I completely scrambled this post up, initially.

Many people are sucked into the world of artists after finding one medium that captures them. While they may maintain interest, cultivate, and perfect that medium, very rarely does the journey end there. Inevitably, it snowballs and other crafts are learned and explored.

This week's artist, trusk4u, began with sewing, a craft she's still passionate about. From sewing, Teresa has also found jewelry to her taste, and it's been her focus, recently.

Her jewelry style is very clean, feminine, and makes great use of colors. I found several pieces that really caught my eye, but this stately piece made with a mixture of obsidian, onyx, jade, and blackstone really did it for me. Not only is it a geology lesson in a necklace, but it's something that stands out.

Though jewelery is the main star of her shops, these days, you can still find pretty, functional sewing. I love this pink batik purse set. Not only do you get the purse itself, but it comes with a zippered bag and coin purse, too. Gorgeous and summery!

Make sure to check out her shops for other amazing work, and also keep a close eye on her upcoming brick-and-mortar shop, Hollyhocks! Now that's a labor of love.

HAF Feature - baublezptoa 07/07/2010

This week has been a fraught of computer and networking issues, so I'm terribly behind on getting this feature ready. This week's artisan is baublezptoa!

A self-proclaimed ex-hippie, Carmen began her jewelry career right after high school when she found her local bead shop. She strung for friends and family, but soon found herself drawn away when the local bead shop closed and school and work picked up in intensity. Her talent laid low while she maneuvered herself through the corporate world, but it came into full bloom when she began searching for a new way of life.

Since she made that break from 'the real world', she's acquired more and more skills and explored her artistic abilities and talents in many different areas. One of her more recent accomplishments was to gain her certification in Precious Metal Clay. The below piece uses PMC as a base for two lovely peridot cubic zirconias.

Carmen's certification in PMC allows her to share her knowledge and skills with others. I'm a pretty bad teacher and have a weird learning style, so I have a great deal of respect for anyone who's able to communicate with others and allow them to explore new things. That said, she prefers to stay in the studio and design, sculpt, and tweak her pieces.

The piece below really caught my eye. The glitz of the cabochon is unbeatable and snazzy, and you can see how much care she puts into her pieces in the detailing around the sides and top.

Another part of her life is her animals. She has a beautiful fur family, and I really enjoyed looking through her galleries. Currently, baublezptoa is donating 30% of sales to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. Pet lovers will also love the paw print medallion at the top of the page. Everyone will love at least one of the drool-worthy, fine-art pendants! Absolutely gorgeous.

You can find baublezptoa's shop on etsy, as well. She has a website here, and a blog where you can read about her crafts and other artist features.

HAF Feature - ReefBotanicals 06/28/2010

One of the things that amazes me most about members of the HAF group is the sheer diversity and level of skill in multiple areas. ReefBotanicals is one of those team that is truly astounding, to me. Not only do Larissa and Eric create of fine bath and beauty products, but she is also an amazing face painter and what?! A lawyer, too!

The handmade world is populated mostly with female artists, the majority of the world's buyers are female, so it's always refreshing when I see a shop that has male influence and offers products for the guys. Check out this great shaving and bath set:

They also have some lovely gift baskets that are truly drool-worthy and can be tweaked and customized to your preferences. I love it when artisans have such flexibility and are so willing to work with customers to give them exactly what they want! One of the huge advantages in buying handmade from small businesses.

On the more visual side of things, Larissa has such talent with face painting. I'm pretty dismal at finger painting, so it's pretty cool to see what she can do with a face! I can't imagine how difficult it is to illustrate a moving target -- a face that's trying not to smile, laughing, or just unable to sit still. I love this happy face from her face painting website gallery:

Make sure to check out the great offerings from this team of artists. You can also read all about their day-to-day adventures and read about other artists on their ReefBotanicals blog.