Stir Your Soul

Featured here is an Etsy artisan who's creative works reflect her passion for her craft.  Stunningly beautiful works of art that you can wear and some of the most beautiful pieces that I've found while browsing for new artists.

I introduce to you the wonderfully talented...

Margaret

Jewelry artist and Owner of the Etsy shop...

ZAXJewelry

Handmade Classic Design Jewelry Art


"Creating beautiful jewelry stirs my soul and fills me with energy. I take great pleasure in fabricating each piece that I sell in my small and personal metal smith studio.  My goal is to send you a piece of jewelry that also stirs your soul."

                                                                                                                                  Margaret Zacny

"Primordial Superstrings"

Hand fabricated in sterling and fine silver with a rutilated quartz center stone.  The bottom stone sitting at the root chakra of the pendant is a garnet.  Accompanying the pendant is a handmade silver chain.  To learn more about this piece or any of the following pieces, just click the links provided.

Labradorite Cuff Bracelet

In her wonderful workshop, Margaret is shown here soldering a bezel.

  "Be Mine"

This one-of-a-kind .999 fine silver ring is offered in a variety of custom sizes from 4-10.  The ring shown is a size 7.5, but wears more like a 7.  This statement ring is perfect to give as a gift, for the bee lover, and a lovely little heart with the words "Be Mine" adorns the back.

Perhaps my favorite of Margaret's creations follows with this lovely

Engagement Ring

Made of Sterling Silver and set with a 1 carat lab created Garnet and flanked by 6 CZ's.  Comes in size 7 and available in her shop now.

Here Margaret polishes one of her creations to a mirror finish

and intently works on one of her chain creations.

Margaret offers a wonderful array of 100% handcrafted one of a kind jewelry pieces and will created something custom for you.  So please stop by to browse her selections and find that perfect piece for yourself or someone special. 

You can also find or follow Margaret and ZAXJewelry on social media by clicking any of the links below.

Facebook

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Handmade Classic Design Jewelry Art

ZAXJewelry

Simplicitas Formosus

In the month of October, I'd like you to join me in a trip around the world.  We'll visit some Etsy Artisanistas whose creations have captured my eye.  Here, we'll expedite our globe-trotting tour via the Etsy expressway and I'll share with you some of my favorite picks.

Let's begin with a visit to the "Emerald Island" and make a stop in Cork, Ireland

  and introduce you to...

Melissa Larmer

of the Etsy shop

Like Starlight Into Day

Artisan and creator of "Simple and Beautiful Everyday Jewellry."

The thing I found most appealing about this Artisanistas creative works is exactly that, simple and beautiful.

Below are a few examples of my favorite picks starting with this lovely pair of

Gold Plated Studded Marble Earrings

Each measure 1cm x 1cm, set with marble stone.  A great gift for that special someone.

Another favorite are these wonderful

Feather Earrings

Created with 18K Gold Plating and measure 14mm long x 5mm wide.  Adorably perfect and make a great addition to your gold earring collection.

If necklaces are more to your liking, here's one that in my limited knowledge and opinion, combines the elements of nature, precious metal, and the element of preservation.

Sterling Silver and Dried Flower Necklace

Pink and Violet dried flowers permanently encased to transcend time.  A uniquely beautiful and brilliantly created piece for your collection or to give as a gift.

Geometry is brought into the equation with this marvelous pair of dainty and delicate

Small Circular Geometric Stud Earrings

These lovely earrings measure 1cm in diameter, are gold plated, and come gift wrapped ready for presentation.

"Statement" jewelry doesn't necessarily have to be ornate, adorned, or gargantuan.  It's just as appealing when it's crafted with love and simplicity.  It's...

Like Starlight Into Day

"Simple and Beautiful"

Through The Eye Of The Mind

"The worst enemy to creativity is self doubt"
                                                
                                                  Sylvia Plath

I have always admired the creativity in people.  How someone can transform something so simplistic into something extraordinary.  How out of one's imagination, one can create a the unimaginable, and how an artist can capture an image or create a painting purely out of imagination.  Here are just a few of some of my favorite photographs and paintings from some truly gifted Etsian artists.  I hope you enjoy the browse.

  

I believe the most beautiful thing about a vintage camera is the very thought of the many memories that were photographed and the hands that possessed it.

Here is a beautiful image of a vintage Kodak Brownie by

Carrie Scott

who owns and operates

ChasingShadowsPhotos

"My passion is to create images, whether moving or still, for others to enjoy. The love I have for photography and travel I hope to bring to others through my images."

                                Carrie Scott

This India Ink Shadow Studies piece is an excellent example of what I mentioned in that how ones imagination and creativity can transform a blank sheet of  Bristol Paper.  It lends to me an image of "Three Sisters."

This beautiful drawing comes to your from

Michaela Whitney

of

MichaelaWhitney

on Etsy.

"You name it, I probably learned to make it over the years. Jewelry, Painting, Drawing, Ceramics, Textiles, Illustration, my latest addition Millinery (hat making)."

               Michaela

"It's surely summer, for there's the swallow.  Come one swallow, his mate will follow.  The bird race quicken and wheel and thicken."

                   Christina G. Rossetti

This beautiful acrylic painting of a

 Swallow Martin

perched upon a limb appears as real as ones imagination can lend and is the wonderful creative works of

Marie Claprood

at

MarieClaproodArt

In the following image, I love the subject subtle hues and highlights.

"I am surrounded by waterfalls, dramatic cliffs, mountains, running deer, otters and eagles. Who could help but be an artist with so much inspiration around!"

                                                                                                                                   Lynne Douglas

This photograph of a Highland Cow invites you to imagine peering through the lens, adjusting for light, focus, then to feel the slide of the shutter.  This beautiful image and more can be found at

CrionnaPhotography

by photographic artist

Lynne Douglas

I'm in awe at how artist

Kate Maldonado

captured this beautiful, hauntingly surreal, and dream like image.

KateMaldonado

"Today everything exists to end in a photograph."

      Susan Sontag

Landscapes like  This
Barn Painting
captured my eye as at first glance, it appeared to look like a photograph.  This wonderful acrylic can be found by visiting artist

Brenda B.

at

BearGirlDesign






"Artists exist to show us the world."

Beautiful these images and the people who create such wondrous and creative works of art.  I hope you'll stop by to visit and browse each artist featured and perhaps find something you just can't live without.

Imagine Creatively

An Amalgamation Imagination

I would like to share with you a wonderful Etsy shop...

   AngelSongArts

and the gifted artisan who designs and crafts these marvelous fused glass creations.

"I’m an artist who can’t draw, but fused glass is a medium that lets me bypass that deficiency.  My grandmother prepared me for this creative outlet: she taught me to sew.  She emphasized "method" (measure twice, cut once), "planning" (know where you’re going before you start), and "patience" (haste makes waste).  Thanks to her, I’ve relied on my stitching skills for 40 years.  Now I’m trusting those principles as I play with glass." 

I am honored to introduce to you...

Gail

Gail is the artist and creator behind the works at Angel Song Arts.  Her selection of colors, shapes, and sizes of glass, fused together produce unique, decorative, and beautiful works of art.  Gail has so graciously allowed me to share with you a little bit about herself and her craft.

 "I’m not visual. I can’t picture things in my head the way most people can. Just before my sixth birthday, I ran into the street without looking both ways and got run over by a pickup truck. Mercifully, I don’t remember being hit or cracking my head on the pavement. I do remember the burnt-orange socks I was wearing, because my mother would say she looked out the kitchen window and her heart stopped when she saw my socks peeking out from underneath the truck. I remember the awful headache I had and the blanket I was lying on when I woke up at the side of the road. I remember clenching my eyes shut against the painful afternoon sunlight, and my mother’s voice beside me in the ambulance." 

Featured below are just a few examples of Gail's creations from her Christmas and Holiday collection.  We hope you enjoy.

A piece that's sure to add that handcrafted touch to your holiday decor, is this 

Christmas Ornament Sun Catcher

An exuberant, hand-drawn gold tree that sparkles within luscious ruby red glass.  A chip of dichroic glass represents a star. 

Show off your delicious holiday cookies and treats with this festive and decorative

6 Inch Holiday Glass Plate

crafted from opaque white glass with a cheerful scalloped edge of ruby red glass accented with white dots.

"I’ve never considered myself disabled as a result of the accident, but I have difficulty judging sizes or distances, and I lost the ability to draw. I spent decades avoiding visual arts, focusing my creative passion on musical and verbal expressions: classical singing and writing. Somehow over the years that passion got buried in the work, expectations, and drudgeries of daily life. In the onslaught of adult responsibilities, duties, deadlines, obligations, projects, worries, and heartbreaks, I forgot how to play." 

A Dainty Angel glimmers with a gown of purple dichroic glass and diaphanous wings of clear dichroic glass.

"We should not forget to entertain strangers, lest we entertain Angels unaware"

                                                                                                     Hebrews 13:2

Brighten up your Christmas tree or holiday decor with this beautiful

Stunning Textured Star

Multicolored dichroic glass shines in a sky of violet.  Gail offers a variety of 3" ornament styled pieces to choose from.





"Sure, I could say working with fused glass is rewiring my brain to balance visual-aural perspective. But the truth is: last Spring I started mentoring a beautiful, loving fourth-grade girl, and her sweet, playful spirit is challenging me to lighten up. Last Fall I took a class in fused glass so I could learn to support her interest in it. I didn’t expect to fall in love with it!"

The North Star and Holy Family adorn this 

9 Inch Christmas Nativity Scene

ready to ship and arrive in time for the holidays and add to your home decor.

This is a set of three Festive Holiday Plates all made from green aventurine, ruby red, and red/green fractured glass, cut and arranged into a dramatic puzzle design. 

The plates shown above are also available for individual purchase.

"I don’t care that I can’t draw. Crafting with fused glass is teaching me how to play again. It demands no specific outcome, performance metric, or result. It’s an inventive, colorful sandbox to play in, my imagination limited only by the laws of physics (and my wallet). The joy of it is rejuvenating my entire life. And now I’m sharing that joy with the people around me."

   AngelSongArts

ARTIST PHILOSOPHY

The interplay of light and glass reminds me that God is the Light who gives life into the world. He is my joy, my strength, and my song. The resonance of light through glass shapes my designs. As I harmonize colors, shapes, and textures, my compositions seek to blend individual voices into captivating visual melodies. While each piece springs from my heart and eye and hands, when its unique tune emerges, it’s singing with its own voice: an angel’s song praising the beauty of God.

–Gail Meredith

A special thanks to Gail for allowing the feature and I'd like to thank you for stopping by and  we hope you've enjoyed.  Please stop by her AngelSongArts shop to see more of her creative and unique fused glass works.

A Gulf Coast Crafter

I'd love to share with you an Artisanista whose creative works I admire and completely adore.  From her charming handmade decorative towels to the oh-so-cute plushes, her creations are unique, well made, and she creates with passion and love.

DazzleCreation

Is a wonderful Etsy shop owned and operated by

Maria

Maria has a BA in Accounting, is a member of Etsy teams, Gulf Coast Crafters and Team Vintage USA.  She always sets time aside for crafting/sewing and creates her own patterns from scratch.

"I love making different kinds of crafts. Sewing is one of my passions. I learned to sew when I was 13 years old."

And sew she does!

Here are just a few of my favorites.

Marty Bowl

is an adorable plush that would make any child smile and I especially

love this piece as his name is that of my older brother "Marty".

New to her collection and what would make a great accessory to any kitchen is this marvelous

Fancy Hand Towel

with Native American print.

100% Cotton and machine washable.

For the military enthusiast or the military Dad, this awesome

United States Navy

fabric folder would make a great gift for Father's Day!

The ultimate Father's Day gift

and center piece of any "Man Cave"

would definately be this masterpiece of

Clay Over Liston

 A TRADITONAL OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS OF CASSIUS CLAY (NOW KNOWN AS MUHAMMAD ALI) STANDING VICTORIOUSLY OVER SONNY LISTON.  30" X 30" 

Stop by Maria's wonderful shop to browse all the wonderful handmade, homemade she has to offer and don't forget to tell her that....

D' Berries sent ya! 

DazzleCreation