Tatted Treasure

Inspired by the childhood memory of a lace edging her mother made, this artist has been captivated by the traditional art of tatting. Krystledawne, on ArtFire (which has closed), is the place to discover fine tatted lace jewelry. Krystle’s earrings, necklaces, rings, and hair ornaments are uniquely designed and many incorporate accent beads. The gorgeous bridal choker and earring set is available in several colors by special order. Don’t miss the little pumpkin earrings, definitely a hit for the fall season.

Krystle hand dyes cotton thread in an array of exclusive colors and shades to further ensure the uniqueness of her little works of art. She offers dyed thread in several sizes for your needlework creations.

When you are ready to stand out, tatted earrings are lightweight, full of personality, and offer a distinctive flair. In addition to her tatted pieces, she incorporates tatted elements as the focal point in some of her necklace designs.

Krystle tats her heirloom treasures in Washington State, ships internationally, and can be found on Etsy and Facebook. She is happy to work with you on special orders. Visit her blog for sneak peeks and more examples of her intricate designs. Tatting is still on my list of things to try!

Much Ado

My daughter had a great time creating the masks for a steampunk production of Much Ado About Nothing, so I’m in the mood for a masquerade ball. BejeweledMasquerade, an etsy shop and serious party stop, has a striking array of handcrafted paper mache masks. Nora’s original Venetian style designs are fashioned and bejeweled with the finest materials giving you serious sparkle. These elegant masks can be comfortably worn for an exciting and memorable evening out. You will feel like a princess and certainly be the center of attention wearing one of Nora’s outstanding works of art.

This lady enjoys several artistic outlets, but her passion is in the art of magnificent mask making. What a statement one of Nora’s very uniquely adorned disguises would make; a playful exotic display, sure to be the focal point in any room. These masks are for a serious collector of masquerade art, or anyone who can appreciate this art form, which dates back hundreds of years.

Nora creates the magic in Missouri and ships internationally. Whether you are looking for an impressive prom or wedding mask, or to finally win the costume competition, Nora will make the custom mask of your dreams. Be sure to look through her sold items for additional examples of her incredible talent. I like the cat mask, and can only imagine the dazzling costumes and fairy tale dresses that go with one of her treasures.

Nuts and Bolts

I ran across a very interesting model shop on Etsy, NaturalBamboo (closed). Christopher has created a line of motorcycle and car sculptures incorporating various nuts and bolts. Each of his marvelous metal works is uniquely handcrafted, and I like his use of chain for some of the tires. He also makes novelty statuettes, including an impressive robot warrior, a ‘gone fishing’ pencil cup, and an out-of-the-ordinary cow coin bank.

Too many years ago I tried my hand at model making. It was a plastic model and took no imagination to put together. I had glue dripping everywhere, frustration took over, and I never finished.

To my amazement, Christopher has constructed his own line of vintage vehicle models from scratch using tin. The double-decker bus and fire engine would make attractive display pieces, perfect for any enthusiast.

Christopher builds his metal works in China, ships internationally, and can be found on Facebook (although I'm not sure how active he can be). Be sure to contact him through email chris.he2009@gmail.com if you have a custom piece in mind. I wonder if he will ever make a dalek?

Duck, Duck…Goose!

You won’t be running with one of these delicate treasures. Michael’s shop on etsy, Eggstreme, is where you will discover a nest of eggsquisitely hand carved and bejeweled eggs. Working with duck, goose, emu, and ostrich eggs, this artist creates one-of-a-kind Faberge-style egg art to be enjoyed by any collector.

The duck egg with all the holes is named Bubbles, but I thought of Swiss cheese. Safely holding such a delicate work seems like an accomplishment in itself, let alone keeping it in one piece during the transformation process. He even crafts music box eggs to play a tune, and a diorama egg ornament. The original dark color and mottled pattern created by carving the emu egg are very interesting. The rose trellis ostrich egg must look very impressive when lit up in a darkened room.

Michael carves these eggseptional art works with his gentle touch in the United States and ships internationally. What an eggstra special ring box one of these gilded eggs would make. A family heirloom; sure to be cherished as the proposal story is recounted to children and grandchildren!