FAOTW - kjd Photography
After the long wait, we are proud to present you with our featured artist : Kjd Photography : Within seconds of looking at her work, words like stunning - beautiful - amazing - “I couldn’t do that” - “Why can’t I take shots like that” and so on.....let’s not let my personal demons get in the way. Below you will find just a sample of her extensive work, it can also be found in our Featured Artist Gallery and also at Kelsi’s etsy shop. Enjoy and leave some comments of support.
I spent some time in California and obviously was exposed to Ansel Adams. Ansel had this gift that made me start loving photography - regardless of the photo, you (the viewer) seemed to be standing next to the camera. It was as if you and the photographer were a pair and that is a amazing gift that I see in Kelsi’s work - Bravo Kjd Photography.
Let’s show some love people and give Kjd Photography some hits - go and visit her etsy shop or our gallery where her work is on display. Remember to leave a comment of support because the handmade revolution can’t go forward without love!!
FAOTW-Featured Artists of the Week
This weeks artists are by far our most playful and colorful featured artists to date. Both MFM-Apparel and Variation also create art forms which we have never featured here at Mod3rnart - We love the new stuff!!! Please take a minute and feast your eyes on the beauty these two artists create, who knows......you might just be their next customer!!!
MFM-Apparel: "Minty Fresh Monster Apparel is run by two Minneapolis Natives, Saman and Erica. The “Mintee Fresh Monster” was born in the fall of 2007, after three months of trying to figure out a good name for this T-shirt company. It's sort of like the “Jolly Green Giant” but more trendy or something. And we sell T-shirts and not peas." With a story line like that, how could you not love MFM-Apparel? Anyone that follows this blog and remembers this entry: T-Shirts Are Art Too understands my deep-pleasure for crazy t-shirts, so I 100% support MFM-Apparel in their bid to create a New World Order with their shirt company. Check out their etsy store and our gallery feature.
Variation: Well Variation is just that - Variation. "I love to work in a wide variety of mediums, hence the name of my Etsy shop!" Most artists just stick with one art form ( I know we do) but this talented etsy artist cross creates with many different types of materials and techniques. (Send some talent my way)
"I also knit, crochet, embroider, sew, do some bookbinding and letterpress, metalsmithing, collage/ assemblage, digital graphics and animation. I've always been inspired by the amazing work I see from many, many artists and crafters, past and present, across all mediums. Drawing inspiration from great people is a beautiful way to create yourself and one can see from the images above and in our gallery that Variation is two things for sure: Diverse and Talented - Bravo!!! Also check out Variation's etsy store.
Grindstone Feature
Kathiroussel over at Gindstone Girl's Daily was a super kool kat and did a feature on our little istudio art project and it turned out amazing. Grindstone is a super-stunning modern blog that is so gorgeous to the eyes, it gives you cavities - I got 2 from my last visit! While it does not sole feature jewelry, it does have its fair share and tons of featured artists from our etsy world. Worth stopping by for a peek but watch out for those cavities!The Storque+The Frisky+Me
So I get up this morning and like every morning, I head on over to the old computer to see if I have any Etsy love. Type in CraftCult.com and "Wham Baam thank you maam!" Not only some hearts, not only a feature, not only some love but a storque article! Ameliamagritte has put together a very special Storque article about, "Right-Hand Rings With The Frisky’s Amelia Parry." The article deals with unique, gorgeous and affordable etsy rings:"Beyoncé says that if he likes you, he should put a ring on it. For her, this translates into a $5 million diamond, but for the rest of us without Jay-Zs in our lives, there are still tons of gorgeous, original, and affordable options. Single ladies: silver, bronze molds, and spark plugs are your new best friends. All of these babies will fit your right ring finger just as well."
There are some stunning works in this collection and these amazing artists get some marketing help - which is always great. The Storque is a great place to expose the etsy world to some amazing finds, so get writing people! I'm working on a piece that involves many of our regular blog followers, so get ready!!!
Oh!! I Like That-Feature
So I was browsing around the etsy forum the other day and ran across a post by SpareButton, in which she was asking for etsy artists to feature. Well, you don't have to ask me twice and so I signed up! Today the feature went up on SpareButton's blog which is titled "Oh!! I like that!" Rocking title for a blog and so was the feature. Go and check it out people and send some mod3rnart traffic that way. Hope life smiles on you all 
FAOTW-Featured Artist of the Week
We've had some brilliant artists of late and today's feature is no exception by any means. What we've tried to do with the weekly features, besides exposing Etsy's artists to the masses, is to show many different types of art forms-check out GrocGroc and Nooshka!!GrocGroc: Working as a pair has been working for us, here at Mod3rnart and from the images above (which rock), GrocGroc is a power-house team. With fresh designs, ultra modern shapes and brilliant colors, GrocGroc has such a balanced eye for jewelry. My favorite piece (2nd from the left) is so amazing-never thought about combining tennis and rings.
Nooshka: Etsy was my first real exposure to sewing and doll making, this is not to say I had no interest earlier-just that I had no items to view. Now I am fascinated and Nooshka's stunning work makes me want to be more involved in this magical world. When looking at the images above, you can see life in these dolls, you can see a small twinkle of a soul-glowing to get out. Look at the first image, the emotion of "shyness, embarrassment, loneliness is so real-so true. Nooshka's work is second to none in my book-so go and check the work out!!
Support by commenting on the blog's post-show your love for these amazing artists. Also you can see all our featured artists here and who knows, they might give us a crazy giveaway!
Etsy item of the Day-Feature
How does that old saying go? "Features come in 3's!" Wait....no....that's something completely different. Have you checked out www.etsyitemoftheday.com-not yet you say, well get on over there! EIOTD-as I like to call it for short is a nifty little blog that features artists from etsy and their items....yes the name says it all. Jackie, the rad gal that runs the blog was nice enough to feature us and this is how it turned out:
Two of our favorite items got featured-one you can see above but the other one you will have to explore to find out. Go on over and support www.etsyitemoftheday.com as it was built to support you-so go on over and who knows, Jackie might feature you!
Spanish Feature
We got a kool Spanish feature today from a close friend that makes ridiculously amazing jewelry-you need to check out Naventin. The feature dealt with our on going-super-kool art project....iStudio and while my spanish is not perfect (or not good at all) it was still a beautiful feature. Take a peek...
Naventin's blog and etsy shop are perfect examples of the power of a clean-mod3rn-gorgious site, that emphasises the art and not the framing site. Websites are great but they should not take from the art by being over-powering. Have a look at the feature and enjoy Naventin's blog....you can also practice your spanish-there will be a quiz, so study hard.
FAOTW-Featured Artist of the Week
Last weeks sign-ups for Featured Artist was overpowering-so much so that I could not for the life of me pick two people.....so I picked four. FrenchPressKnits and Harold and Jane were featured first and it has been great. Both artists create amazing work and the best part was that they both worked in different mediums-thus we were able to experience dos (that's all the spanish I know) art forms. Well, this week is no different-so get your fingers ready to start clicking and say hello to Benconservato and BloomStudios.
Benconservato: "I'm an Australian artist, illustrator, printmaker, photographer who spends most of my time creating things." I wish I could spend most of my time creating things-most of my time is spent destroying things
One realizes right away from looking at the art work, that Benconservato spends some of the time in our world and a lot of time in a world I wish I could get a passport to!! Words like Fantasy-Tim Burton-Dreams-Mystery-Darkness-Playfullness come to mind when I look at the work above. It isn't art work filled with fear or death as some might think from a quick glance but rather a childlike imagination that has grown with an adult body. Check out more of Benconservato work in our gallery.
BloomStudios: Balance::Strength::Elegance this is at the heart of every BloomStudios creation and even the untrained eye (me) can see this foundation. Bloom's collection is made from a wide variety of materials consisting of many different types of precious/semi precious stones and precious metals like Silver and gold. It is obvious that care is taken in matching not only the stone but also the color of each stone to the specific metal. This aesthetic eye and the classical style that we see above, is key to the great success that BloomStudios has had. Feast your eyes on the rest of the collection in our gallery and please remember to support these artists by commenting and visiting their sites.
WOW-Featured
We got featured and I don't mean, "In a mug-shot." Oceanside Creations was nice enough to feature a couple of our jewelry pieces and a cute little interview (the part about my constant drug use as a youth is all lies) on their blog, so please go on over and check it out. Here are the pieces that were featured and "Girl with the Pearl Ring" is still my favorite.
Oceanside's blog is an etsy-packed powerhouse, with artists from all over etsy's vast universe pictured and featured. Oceanside has put together a perfect example of the kind of talent etsy finds and creates (not a shameless promo comment regarding me). If you are interested in getting more info on the pieces featured, you can find them in our gallery or in our etsy shop, plus check out Oceanside's etsy shop.
FAOTW-Featured Artist of the Week
Every week I tell myself that I'm going to make a new system for picking the "Featured Artists," thus making it easier on myself and every week it gets harder and harder. Our site has been up for a little over a month now and the one striking revelation I have come up with is, "There is a ton of ridiculously talented people on etsy!" This week is no different by any means, as we have two wonderful artists, in two very different fields. Oh, by the way..... one massively bad aspect of FAOTW... you're all making me look bad ;(
Haroldandjane is our first artist this week (pieces seen above) and she comes to us from Seattle WA. I've known H&J for some time now and her personality is so much more than just artistic; she is a combination of humor-passion-drive-life-love and these attributes can be seen in her work. The jewelry is alive with color, with spirit. Each piece pops out at you, as if to say, "Wear me...we'd look great together." Koolest little tidbit of info about H&J's jewelry....each piece is named after a song lyric, so check them out in our gallery and try to guess the songs.
FrenchPressKnits: Is our second featured artist this week (pieces seen above) and from the moment I saw her beautifully-fuzzy creations, I wished for winter to arrive early. Aesthetically gorgeous and functionally perfect, FPK's pieces make us all wish we had the patience to knit (or at least lie and say we can.) From slippers to scarves-mary janes to pillow cases, each one of FrenchPressKnit's designs is original in thought and construction, with a massive emphasis on professionalism. Check out her collection in our gallery and beg winter to come early.
Let's go and support these great artists by visiting their shops (HaroldandJane and FrenchPressKnits) or our gallery. Remember, the hand made revolution begins with our support and passion, so leave some comments and spread the word......who knows what great giveaway might happen....
Lucky Thursday
We have been so very luck to be featured by such amazing sites and today it happened again. IndieFixx was super-kool and featured our Bow-Tie earrings on their site - it blew my mind (it's still blown and hurts). Oddly enough, IndieFixx was a site I was in the middle of exploring to feature on this blog-life....you freak me out sometimes (often). So, the good news is that the feature is awesome, especially since Jen incorporated the earrings into a whole vintage outfit and this post will be the first in a series on IndieFixx. Go and check it out here and leave some comments for support. We Got Featured
WoW.....Woke up to a new convo telling me that Mystic Wynd had decided to feature 2 of my pieces on her blog. This counts as better than dreaming-Thanx. So go on over and check out the feature and lets give some cross-blog support!!! It's important to support each other, so lets get moving people... ETSY Hacked
No, we didn't get hacked but ETSY did.....in a way. Before you freak out, let me explain because it's actually a good thing. There are a lot of things about etsy that we would all like to change, case in point: Quickly knowing where you have posted in the forum: Creating a new listing based on an existing one: Adding zoom options on pictures in your shop/other's shop: and the list goes on. Well, someone smarter than us has figured it out (I know, they do exist) Let me introduce you to, "etsyhacks." This mysterious man/women has created "scripts" that run within FireFox, which in turn add countless functionalities to etsy. As of right now, these scripts will only run on FireFox (best browser) but there are plans on bringing it to IE, Safari, Opera and Chrome in the near future. I have been using the scripts for a couple days now and see no negative effect on my browser nor computer. This, combined with craftopolis and craftcult make up for the things etsy should have as part of its site. Check it out people and leave your questions and comments here....
TwitPic
What it all comes down to is this, "Twitter and Google will rule the world!!!" Yet, in the mean time, we can all get along....right? TwitPic is a gem of a site that simply allows you to share images on twitter. Now, this can be done in three different ways: by phone, by their ARI or from the site itself-simple right? Best of all, if you have a twitter account, your all set, no need to sign up to another account. (thank god because all these sites mean that I now have 7.3 billion Usernames/Passwords
**SALE**
Ok, we don't have these often but since Easter is on its way, we thought we should have a small sale in our etsy store. Many of our items are on sale and if you really find something that you like but it isn't on sale, well just convo us or mail and we might be able to work something out. We ship international and most of our items will ship same day or the next day-so no need to worry. At least go on over and take a look at the sale items....
Give them the bird...
This one is easy, right? I thought I was the last one to figure out what twitter was or maybe not. Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing? Also, it's an easy way to stay up to date with all your etsy friends. That way you'll never miss important information like, "I have a sale" or "Love your store" or "Be right back, I'm going to the bathroom." Join the party and follow us here.
Do You MOO?
Moo.com is the ultimate business card site....if there was to be one, which there should always be at least one....right? Not only are they well priced and ship everywhere but they also work together with etsy. So this means that you can import into your moo account all your etsy store pictures and use them as you wish, this can also be done from flickr. Editing and customizing your cards from there on is a snap and you get to play with font, text size, color, shape, paper style and so on. Check them out!!!
Need Help With Etsy???
Need help with Etsy? Do you ever wish there was an easy way of finding out what treasuries your wonderful items are in or how many hearts you have received? Well, these two sites are right for you!!!Craftcult: Want to know how many hearts your store has gotten on any given day or how many hearts a specific item of yours has? Well, Craftcult goes one step further, you can easily sort: Store Hearts: Item Hearts: Single Item Hearts: Items Views and Features with nothing more than entering your etsy username. No membership is needed and this site is a great tool to assist you as your store matures.
Craftopolis: Want to find out what treasuries your beautiful items are in or just find your treasury quickly-even Treasury West? Craftopolis is a simple but powerful website that takes the looking around and waiting out of searching all the treasuries. Simply enter your username or the username you want to search and you will get a list of all the treasuries that person is involved with. Like Craftcult, no membership is required and yet another tool for your etsy experience.
Etsy Update-Gallery Updated
Update news both for Etsy and for our Gallery. We have added some wonderful pieces to our collection and they represent a completely new series. Lately, we find ourselves playing with black/silver colors and the simplicity of stripes. We have also added a few new piece, which combine silver and pearl-very sexy. Check out all the updates, both here and Etsy but most importantly-post a comment and let us know what you think.
Treasury & Surprise
April 1st has come and instead of a pie in our face or some trickery-we got featured in a treasury 
RiskoDesign was nice enough to feature us in a beautifully metalicious treasury, you can check it out above. On either side of the treasury is a small surprise that is coming in the following weeks, we are super excited about it. In fact we have a bunch of surprises coming and the coolest thing is that most are for you-our Blog followers!!!!
Treasury Time-March 27th
Another week and we were luck enough to be featured in three beautiful treasuries. Here are the links: Treasury A, Treasury B, Treasury C, please go and support the artists, they deserve it. As an added surprise, we have put together a treasury of the artists that have signed up to be featured artists...or as many as we could fit....we tried. You can see it here, Treasury D. Keep supporting each other and etsy-bravo!!!!!!
-We Got Featured-
We were lucky enough to be featured this week at Masaom's blog...people... you have to go and check it out-amazing!!! She is from Barcelona and not only is her etsy shop beautiful but she also has an amazing aesthetic eye. Don't be shy Etsians, leave comments about her shop or blog-we love the feedback.
Etsy Updated-Gallery Updated
Update news both for Etsy and for our Gallery. We have added some wonderful pieces to our collection and they represent a completely new series we are playing with. We love the marriage between silver+titanium and added some new rings to show off this sexy look. We have also added a new piece, which combines silver and pearl-very sexy. Check out all the updates, both here and Etsy but most importantly-post a comment and let us know what you think.Etsy Treasury-March 18th
We were lucky enough to sneak into a treasury this week and guess what....we decided to use artists who posted to our blog but did not make it into our featured artist competition. The treasury turned out to be amazing and the feedback has been great, check it out.
At the same time, we were lucky enough to be featured in two treasuries this week as well.....WOW!!! You can see them here and here, don't forget to post a comment. Even though the week has been hectic, it has been so amazing and we hope this is a trend that will continue
