Friday Feature

I've spent quite a lot of today asleep, not sure if it's the antihistamines or the terrible headache I've had but either way I haven't got as much done as I'd planned after helping my father with his paper round this morning.  I really hate the paper round;

 I'm sure letter boxes are an evil invention designed to amputate fingers and the newspaper ink makes my skin go nasty so I have to wear gloves but my father can't do it by himself yet refuses to give it up because he thinks it keeps him fit.

I did a bit of work on some boxes for a couple of orders that were placed this week.  I've also got one for a steam punk dragon but I'm not quite sure what I want to do now I've painted the box silver.

As promised two artist features, not particularly undiscovered ones I'm afraid but I fell in love with some of these artists' items: Gillian Rising of NaturalatHeartToo and her sister Ashlee Rising of NaturalatHeart

I really love some of the pieces Gillian and Ashlee have in their stores, in fact I love so many of them it is really hard to decided which bits to show you here, which means you will just have to go and have a good look at their stores.  Gillian is just 10 years old but her work far exceeds that of artists many times her age.  Her sister, Ashlee is 17 and is equally stunning.  Both of them provide an artistic, caring yet professional service that make them 

Not only is her product range innovative, stylish and interesting but her designs range from beautifully arty to amazingly cute!  They are superb value for money and there's free domestic and international shipping at the moment!

So onto a small selection of my favourite pieces from Gillian's store:

I love this little gecko, partly because I like geckos generally but also because he has the cutest little 'love me' face.

I'm quite into this 60's? kitsch stuff, particularly the little deer. The colours and shapes along with the frolicking animals really make this pendant something special.

So many pretty swirls and flowers, just look at them all!  One of the things I love about this artist is how varied her work is, there really is a design to suit everybody.

Should we have just one more?  Oh go on then, let's have one more.

This is such a beautiful idea, I've toyed with doing something similar with my photography but I've never found the right tree and we don't get a lot of snow.

Onto Ashlee's store.  Her designs are not dissimilar to Gillian's but they each have their own special uniqueness. She mostly works with Maple Wood but there are gemstone based designs such as this one:

I like the way the curves of the shape are echoed and emphasised by the flowers.  It's the sort of piece that I want to pick up and feel.

I'm really into red at the moment after years of being far too scared of wearing bright colours.  I've recently redecorated my bedroom red and ivory, much like this beautiful pendant.  Go on be brave and wear something bold yet beautiful!

Ashlee also has a lot of beautiful little owl pendants in her store, this is just one example and who doesn't love a cute little owl with sparkly eyes.

I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do, go to their Etsy stores and show them some love.  If you are or know of an artist who would like to be featured please get in touch.