HandmadeMN Giveaway - Linden Leaf

By Jessica of Clay By Clay

Congratulations to our latest giveaway winner! Thanks to all who entered and we wish you good luck with this week's giveaway!

This week Helen of Linden Leaf is giving away this fun Minneapolis print. 


Always there at the edge of the city to welcome you home!  This giveaway is for a signed Minneapolis: City of Lakes print.  The unframed print is 12x16.   Inspired by vintage city limits signs, this design was originally created by hand entirely out of cut paper, and has been professionally printed on premium satin matte stock. Fits perfectly in Ikea's affordable RIBBA frames. Show your Minneapolis pride!

Open to US residents only.

How to Enter:

Visit Linden Leaf and pick your favorite item and leave a comment on this post about it. (Scroll to bottom of post and click on Comments)

Please make sure we have a way to contact you!

For Bonus Entries:

Please leave each in a separate comment, as each comment is an entry (To qualify for extra entries you must do step one above).

1. Visit other HandmadeMN team members shops (listed in the sidebar here) and leave a comment(s) here with your favorite pieces.

2. Blog about this giveaway with a visible link back to this posting and comment here with a link to your post.

3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment(s) with a link to your tweet(s).

4. Follow our blog (you want to do this anyway to learn about upcoming giveaways!). Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower. If you are already a follower, leave a comment anyway, as each comment is an entry.

5. Follow HandmadeMN on Twitter. Comment back here with your Twitter link. Existing followers just leave your Twitter link here.

6. Become a Facebook Fan of HandmadeMN. Comment back here with your Facebook name. Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.

7.   Become a Facebook Fan of Linden Leaf.  Comment back here with your Facebook name.  Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.
Contest ends Saturday, November 14 at 12:00 noon Central. One winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!

HandmadeMN members are not eligible to win.

Dolls for the Christmas Bazaar


Every year, High Street United Methodist Church in Muncie, Indiana, has a Christmas bazaar in November.  This year, the bazaar is November 6 from 8:00am to Noon.  The church is located at 219 South High Street.

For the last few years I've donated several dolls that were made during the year to this bazaar.  Above are a few of the dolls donated this year.  There are lots of other neat items, and some delicious baked goods...I know this because my Mother donates her marvelous goodies to this bazaar.  Her brownies are impossible to beat :-)

I sang in the choir during my teenage years in this church.  When I was in college, I learned to my horror that during a brutal blizzard, a gas main exploded and nearly destroyed the church.  The entire inside was gutted, all the stained glass blown out, the doors blown off, and it took three hours to get the fire under control.  Amazingly, no one was injured, in spite of the fact that a young man lived at the church as a caretaker.

A year later Christmas midnight services were held in the barren, unheated shell of the church.  Work was under way to rebuild, but this midnight service was conducted by candlelight, the only illumination.  We sang all the beautiful Christmas hymns in the cold, still structure, and truly the magic of Christmas touched us all.

The following year, Larry and I were married in this church; the second marriage service conducted in the newly restored building.  We've been together ever since.

Many very good memories remain to me of this structure and congregation.  Many extended family members belong to this congregation; the picture below was painted by my Great Uncle Orla and is a lovely and loving representation of High Street United Methodist Church.

High Street United Methodist Church, painted by Orla Harris

Fun Friday Finds ~ Stitched with Love

By Jenna Halek ~ Artistic Edition


Stitched with Love
(Click on the image to enlarge)

Visit these HandmadeMN shops to see more:
Click on any of the names below
First Row (Left to Right): swnancy, RitasCreationsOnEtsy, birdfromawire, scissorsavvy
Second Row (Left to Right): SugarAndSpice, VeskeByLindsay, ShaggyBaggy, AndMoreBags
Third Row (Left to Right): zippityduda, GinghamLife, harvestmoonbyhand, Bryanica

More Goodies for the HandmadeMN Fall Market Giveaway Baskets and Swag Bags

by Rita Wetzel, RitasCreationsOnETSY

The donations for the HandmadeMN Fall Market Giveaway Baskets and Swag Bags continue to roll in. It is so exciting to see these handmade products up close and personal. We do indeed have a very talented and varied group of Etsians!

For example, at SakuraDesigns you will discover "a fun and fresh line of Japanese paper crafts where cultural tradition inspires contemporary kokeshi and kimono designs." SakuraDesigns offers greeting cards, jewelry, gift tags, bookmarks and more which are all inspired by the "beauty, elegance, and simplicity of Japanese kimonos, kokeshi dolls, chiyogami, and washi papers." And here's the donation for the gift baskets and swag bags.



PaintedFishStudio has donated a set of cards for each Giveaway Basket (there are 2 by the way that will be given away that day) along with a single card for each of the 25 Swag Bags that will be handed out to the first lucky 25 customers attending the market. PaintedFishStudio loves "creating stuff and working with paper!"


LightReading, is a mother and daughter team that makes "lampshades, little books, and soldered ornaments." This ornament, bookmark, and a few other items will also be part of the HandmadeMN Fall Market Giveaway Baskets and Swag Bags!


You may also want to check these previous sneak peaks to see what you might win in the HandmadeMN Fall Giveaway Baskets and/or Swag Bags...
-http://etsymn.blogspot.com/2010/10/handmademn-market-gift-baskets-and-swag.html


Hope to see you at the HandmadeMN Market:
-Saturday, November 20
-10:00 am - 6:00 pm
-Ballentine VFW at 2916 Lyndale Ave S in Minneapolis



Urban Pumpkin Patch

by Jen, Painted Fish Studio



Halloween is my favorite holiday. As a kid, I’d spend the entire month of October designing my costume and helping my brothers create graveyards and haunted houses outside. I still get a little giddy about Halloween, and the smell of a candle in a carved pumpkin brings me right back to my 11-year old self, in a punk-rocker-slash-Madonna costume.

It tickles me to no end that in my Saint Paul neighborhood there’s a little urban pumpkin patch. The pumpkins aren’t grown there, and I have no idea where they come from, but every year there’s a huge pile of different sizes of the traditional, orange pumpkins. This is a no-frills pumpkin patch: no cider, no corn mazes, no pony rides... just pumpkins. You pay on the honor system and put what you owe in the box. And off you go, to create a masterpiece in pumpkin form!

If you do come this way, spice up your trip by treating your palate to something new. Within a few blocks of the pumpkin patch, there are a few gems:

  • Hoa Bien : Vietnamese, located on the corner of Lexington Parkway and University Avenue


  • Fasika : Ethopian, located on the corner of Snelling and Sherburne Avenues


  • Mirror of Korea : Korean, located on the corner of Snelling and Englewood Avenues


  • Black Sea : Turkish, located on Snelling Avenue, between Minnehaha and Englewood Avenues

The pumpkin patch is located on 1243 Thomas Avenue, in Saint Paul (the zip is 55104). Look for orange signs as you approach.

Happy carving!

More WIP's!

No, it isn't as perverse as it sounds; WIP's are Work-In-Progress :-)

Paton's Astra sportweight/dk yarn is the perfect yarn for making the little Pocket Spirits, and I had to have skeins in all of their many flesh toned colors.  And then, of course, I needed to make a doll out of each of the colors, and give them all different hair styles.  This yarn is a pleasure to work with, it is soft without splitting, and works up nice and tight so no fiberfill shows through the stitches.  Find Paton's Astra here:

Paton's Astra at Mary Maxim

They are all sporting hair using Nashua Hand Knits, Creative Focus Kid Mohair yarn.  This is a wonderfully 'hairy' mohair yarn, and you can find it here:

Nashua Creative Focus Mohair yarn at Fabric.com

Now to get them dressed :-)
Paton's Astra in Aran, Apricot, Medium Tan, Dark Tan, and Soft Tan

HandmadeMN Giveaway - Bird From A Wire

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

Congratulations to our latest giveaway winner! Thanks to all who entered and we wish you good luck with this week's giveaway!

Today we bring you this great book Creative Bloom: Projects and Inspiration with Fabric and Wire Personal Creativity Package from Jen of Bird From A Wire!




Creative Bloom: Projects and Inspiration with Fabric and Wire Personal Creativity Package

Creative Bloom is Jen's soon to be released book, that has just been published by North Light Books. It's 128 pages of inspirational and encouraging writing, 20+ wire and fabric projects, vignettes on the process of creating some of these projects, as well as some prompts that will help you grow your personal creativity.

The projects range from a sparkling beaded cuff to wall art, to a funky artist's badge, to a truly "inspired" canvas bag. It's art for your home, your studio, and your closet in a range of colors and fabrics.

The Personal Creativity Package
In this very special pre-order package you'll receive from Jen:

* A book signed by the Jen (addressed to the person of your choice)
* Amazingly fun signature packaging
* The wire word "inspire", a small original work of wire art created by Jen!!

This is currently a pre-order package- when the book ships from the publisher in mid-November. If you’d like to purchase your own Personal Creativity Package or would like to see the other options you can do so on Jen's blog. She will receive her copies mid- November as well and will immediately sign, wrap and post all her pre-orders.

The link to her book on Amazon is: Creative Bloom: Projects and Inspiration with Fabric and Wire and they’ve provided the look inside option for it now so if you’d like to take a look.

How to Enter:

Visit Jen's shop, pick your favorite item and leave a comment on this post about it.

Open to US and International residents.

Please make sure we have a way to contact you!

For Bonus Entries:
Please leave each in a separate comment, as each comment is an entry (To qualify for extra entries you must do step one above).

1. Visit other HandmadeMN team members shops (listed in the sidebar here) and leave a comment(s) here with your favorite pieces.

2. Blog about this giveaway with a visible link back to this posting and comment here with a link to your post.

3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment(s) with a link to your tweet(s).

4. Follow our blog (you want to do this anyway to learn about upcoming giveaways!). Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower. If you are already a follower, leave a comment anyway, as each comment is an entry.

5. Follow HandmadeMN on Twitter. Comment back here with your Twitter link. Existing followers just leave your Twitter link here.

6. Become a HandmadeMN Facebook Fan. Comment back here with your Facebook name. Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.

7. Follow Jen's blog Bird From A Wire. Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower.

Contest ends Saturday, November 6th, at 12:00 noon Central. One winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!
HandmadeMN members are not eligible to win.

Fun Friday Finds ~ Pumpkin Spice

By Jenna Halek ~ Artistic Edition

Pumpkin Spice
 
 (Click on the image to enlarge)

Visit these HandmadeMN shops to see more:
Click on any of the names below
Second Row (Left to Right): catjtthomas, lightreading, RiverBird, auntiebonline
Fourth Row (Left to Right): sacredsuds, SugarAndSpice, LollyBopBaby, GottholdGlass

Halloween Costumes

By Sabrina of Riyah-Li Designs

It's that time of year again! I have been making my kid's Halloween costumes since they were born and every year it gets harder and harder to outdo the last. I knew I had it this year when I thought of the awesome idea of having the kids be open faced peanut butter and jelly bread slices. What would really seal the deal is when they hugged they would become a sandwich and how flipping cute is that! However when I brought it to my son for approval he shut me down immediately (probably had to due this the thought of having to hug his sister). So I'll have to try again next year. For this year I present to you my daughter as a cupcake & my son as a spiderweb.


For my daughter's cupcake I used an old crinkle lampshade purchased from Goodwill that I spray painted silver metallic to represent the "tin foil" liner. I used grey webbing to make straps that rest on her shoulders to hold the liner up. The frosting is made from three pink fleece tubes that I stuffed with poly-fill and sewed. I placed the tubes in a circle one on top of the other and hand sewed them from the inside together leaving spaces for her arms. I then hand stitched felt "sprinkles" onto the pink fleece. The look is completed with a cherry on top. For this I took a Styrofoam ball, spray painted it red, made a stem with black pipe cleaner and attached a leaf made from green felt. The cherry is glued to a piece of felt that is sewed to an elastic headband. Isn't she adorable!


For my son's spiderweb I purchased a black turtle neck, sweat pants & skull cap from Walmart (really cheap...I think $7.00 total). I used glow-in-the-dark fabric paint for the spider webs. I made two huge spiders by gluing two large pom poms together. The legs are made from black pipe cleaners. One of the spiders adorns his skull cap, attached with hot glue and the other one is hanging out on the front of his shirt, attached with two extra large safety pins. He loves it and it was really fun to make.

So hopefully we will be able to make the PB & J sandwich a reality next year but with my kiddos you just never know! I hope my costume ideas inspire you. Happy Halloween to everyone!

...a few of my favorite things...

'Handmade in Minnesota' by christinebyhand


$20.00

$3.00

$26.00

$20.00

$65.00

$28.00

$19.00

$25.00

$86.00

$18.50

$16.00

$6.00

HandmadeMN Giveaway - Kelly Hanson

By Jessica of Clay By Clay

Congratulations to our latest giveaway winner! Thanks to all who entered and we wish you good luck with this week's giveaway!

This week Kelly Hanson Handmade is giving away this fun fascinator.



This fascinator is hand stitched and one-of-a-kind. Made of 100% felt. The felt used is a high quality wool blend. The center features a unique, black button. The back is secure with a clip for fastening. Measures approximately 2 ¾” in diameter.  Great accessory for your clothes or your hair!

Open to US and International residents.

How to Enter:

Visit Kelly Hanson Handmade and pick your favorite item and leave a comment on this post about it. (Scroll to bottom of post and click on Comments)

Please make sure we have a way to contact you!

For Bonus Entries:

Please leave each in a separate comment, as each comment is an entry (To qualify for extra entries you must do step one above).


1. Visit other HandmadeMN team members shops (listed in the sidebar here) and leave a comment(s) here with your favorite pieces.

2. Blog about this giveaway with a visible link back to this posting and comment here with a link to your post.

3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment(s) with a link to your tweet(s).

4. Follow our blog (you want to do this anyway to learn about upcoming giveaways!). Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower. If you are already a follower, leave a comment anyway, as each comment is an entry.

5. Follow HandmadeMN on Twitter. Comment back here with your Twitter link. Existing followers just leave your Twitter link here.

6. Become a Facebook Fan of HandmadeMN. Comment back here with your Facebook name. Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.

7.   Follow Kelly's Blog.  Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower. If you are already a follower, leave a comment anyway, as each comment is an entry.

Contest ends Saturday, October 30, at 12:00 noon Central. One winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!

HandmadeMN members are not eligible to win.

Fun Friday Finds ~ Black

By Jenna Halek ~ Artistic Edition

Black
 
(Click on the image to enlarge)

Visit these HandmadeMN shops to see more:
Click on any of the names below
First Row (Left to Right):  ivorymoon, VeskeByLindsay, fromoutofthecracks, BathNBeads
Second Row (Left to Right): ALineofHerOwn, XOHandworks, penguinpalace, kellynewcomer

A new look, and a new doll

After over a year, I felt it was time for a new look.  Something a little brighter, and that would make finding the patterns available on this blog a bit easier.  What do you think?  What I like is the way the sidebar items are grouped together.

Please meet Nightshade, my little Goth Pocket Spirit.  The dress was very easy, and a fun way to easily incorporate a piece of favorite fabric in a crochet outfit.  Just crochet a top; cut a piece of fabric 10 inches by 2 or 3 inches (depending on how long you want it).  Zig zag stitch around all four fabric edges to keep it from fraying.  Turn up and press 1/4 inch for the hem and the two short sides; stitch two rows of gathering stitches (either by hand or with a long machine stitch), along the top edge, 1/8 and 1/4 inches from the top edge.

Pull the gathering stitches up to match the lower edge of the top and stitch the skirt to the top.  Make sure the gathering stitches do not show below the bottom edge of the top.  I stitched with short running stitches.  I then hemmed the bottom with contrasting color featherstitching, and stitched up the back seam of the skirt to about 1/2 inch from the top.  The back is closed with four tiny buttons into crochet button loops.

Nightshade

HandmadeMN Market Gift Baskets and Swag Bags

by Rita Wetzel, RitasCreationsOnETSY and AndMoreBags

Great news! The Gift Baskets are back for the fall HandmadeMN Market! 2 lucky visitors will be the recipients of gift baskets that contain wonderful handmade products from the HandmadeMN members. You will qualify to win a basket if you have your HandmadeMN Passport stamped by 3 vendors upstairs and 3 vendors downstairs - no purchase necessary.

Additionally, the first 25 visitors to the market will also receive Gift Bags that will be filled with even more wonderful handmade product from our HandmadeMN members!

This is the first blog post in a series of sneak peeks featuring the contents of these baskets and Gift Bags! Today, the two featured Etsians are Mary Foster of Mary Foster Creative and Natalie Uhlenkamp of JuJu Bee's Boutique.

For the Gift Baskets, Mary has donated 2 sets of note cards. Mary's photos are from the flowers that she grows in her back yard! And Natalie has donated 2 fantastic bound memo pads. These will be perfect for making lists, making notes, and for jotting down thoughts and action items.


For the Gift Bags, Mary has donated 25 of her beautiful flower cards and Natalie has donated 25 sets of holiday gift cards - each set has 2 3x3 gift cards.


Stay tuned for more sneak peaks of our Gift Baskets and Gift Bags!

Hope to see you at the HandmadeMN Market:
-Saturday, November 20
-10:00 am - 6:00 pm
-Ballentine VFW at 2916 Lyndale Ave S in Minneapolis



How would you you describe this?

by Andrea of Sacred Suds

As online sellers, we are limited to one sense - our sense of sight - for giving buyers a complete five-senses sensory experience. When buyers are browsing online, they cannot feel, smell, taste, or hold an item in their hands to turn it over and look at it from all angles. So it is up to us, the sellers, to create that experience for them using two devices: photographs and item descriptions.

I recently did a sensory exploration, where I focused each day on one of my five senses, and journalled periodically about what I experienced. It was a fantastic writing exercise, and it made me realize that your senses are EXCELLENT tools for writing item descriptions. What I'd like to do here is invite you, the reader, to use your senses to help the featured artist describe an item from their Etsy shop. This week's item is this dreamy Starry Night wedding invitation from AppleberryInk:




How would YOU describe this item? Leave a comment here on the blog with some descriptive words or phrases. Be adventurous! Feel free to grab a thesaurus, consult this color list, and use any or all of these as jumping off points:

1) What are the first three things that come to mind when you see this?
2) What does it look like? Use colors, shapes, size
3) What would it feel like? Think textures, temperatures, how it would feel in your hands, on your skin
4) If it were a smell, what would it be?
5) If it were a taste, what would it be?
6) What kind of sound would this make?

Thanks, and we can't wait to see what you come up with!

HandmadeMN Giveaway - Oodles Of Color

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

Congratulations to our latest giveaway winner! Thanks to all who entered and we wish you good luck with this week's giveaway!

Today we bring you this gorgeous Personalized Stationery Gift Set - Cards, Mini Cards and Gift Tags from Michelle of Oodles Of Color!


Personalized Stationery Gift Set - Cards, Mini Cards and Gift Tags

This gift set of personalized stationery can be customized by choosing a color, a pattern and adding a name/message. This set of stationery makes the perfect personalized holiday gift for anyone or just keep them for yourself.

The gift set includes:
• 10, A2 (4 1/4” x 5 1/2”) flat cards with coordinating gray, euro flap envelopes.
• 5, folded, mini cards (2" x 3") with coordinating gray, envelopes.
• 18, gift tags (3” x 3 1/2”) with white ribbon.

How to Enter:

Visit Michelle's shop, pick your favorite item and leave a comment on this post about it.

Open to US and Canadian residents.

Please make sure we have a way to contact you!

For Bonus Entries:
Please leave each in a separate comment, as each comment is an entry (To qualify for extra entries you must do step one above).

1. Visit other HandmadeMN team members shops (listed in the sidebar here) and leave a comment(s) here with your favorite pieces.

2. Blog about this giveaway with a visible link back to this posting and comment here with a link to your post.

3. Tweet about this giveaway and leave a comment(s) with a link to your tweet(s).

4. Follow our blog (you want to do this anyway to learn about upcoming giveaways!). Leave a comment here letting us know you are a follower. If you are already a follower, leave a comment anyway, as each comment is an entry.

5. Follow HandmadeMN on Twitter. Comment back here with your Twitter link. Existing followers just leave your Twitter link here.

6. Become a HandmadeMN Facebook Fan. Comment back here with your Facebook name. Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.

7. Become Michelle's Facebook Fan. Comment back here with your Facebook name. Existing fans just leave your Facebook name here.

Contest ends Saturday, October 23rd, at 12:00 noon Central. One winner will be chosen by Random.org.

Good luck!
HandmadeMN members are not eligible to win.

More Christmas Crochet, 2010

For my nieces for Christmas; Pocket Spirits with their own pockets!  The pattern for the granny square bags is available free from the Lily Sugar & Cream website:

Lily Sugar&Cream

They have some wonderful free patterns, including a great crochet doll, named Lily (of course!).

The ballerina outfits are from the Annie Potter Presents leaflet "Tu Tu Angelic."  I used my own design for the body suit, but the ballerina embellishment came from Annie :-)

Skye, Cherry and Willow

Fun Friday Finds ~ Autumn Wedding

By Jenna Halek ~ Artistic Edition

Autumn Wedding
 (Click on the image to enlarge)

Visit these HandmadeMN shops to see more:
Click on any of the names below
First Row (Left to Right): appleberryink, cayennepeppy, wayfaringart, terracottadesign

Second Row (Left to Right): ModernMeetsWhimsy, ArtisticEdition, UptownUrbanCraft, AngelEllie

Third Row (Left to Right): mirasolfarm, Sbdesign, sparkflight, GlassGardenDesigns

Fourth Row (Left to Right): michaelangela, annprintz, roundbottombaby, BathNBeads

Local Scene

By Toni of Wild Dog Studio

Check out these great events coming this weekend!!

*******************************************************

St. Paul Art Crawl
Friday October 8: 6pm-10pm
Saturday, October 9: noon-8pm
Sunday, October 10: noon-5pm
Various buildings throughout downtown St Paul

Where else can you see art by over 300 resident, guest and gallery artists? And, in such beautiful and historic buildings? And, best of all, it’s free! Come and visit with the artists and performers who have made this grassroots event into such a success. Art lovers of all ages are invited to visit artists’ working spaces to view a wide range of art and the historic architecture of Saint Paul. Special events, music and more, as well as always-surprising unexpected entertainments add to the weekend’s ambiance.

This Fall will be the 30th Saint Paul Art Crawl! One of the largest events of its type in the Twin Cities and the country, the St. Paul Art Crawl is a self-guided tour of over 300 artists' studios and galleries in more than 30 buildings in St. Paul neighborhoods. The Art Crawl continues to be based in Lowertown and downtown St. Paul, but is now extending all the way up to University Avenue/Raymond Avenue, to Grand Avenue, and to Harriet Island and other locations which house artists.

Check out their website for more information and participating buildings.


*******************************************************


w7collective
1032 7th Street W
Historic Pilney Building
Saint Paul, MN, 55102
Thursday, October 7 11a-5p
Friday, October 8 11a-9p
Saturday October 9 11a-5p
blog: http://w7collective.posterous.com/

w7 Collective was formulated to offer unique goods and services from local artists, designers & entrepreneurs. Our mission is simple: to locally promote amazing talents, give back to our communities, and to strengthen our local economies.

Described as more an event than a store, w7 Collective is thrilled to be celebrating our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of discovering and promoting all forms of local goods & services. Shop for amazing finds + perfect gifts: fashion + art + accessories + paper + home + office + furnishings + more

Friday evening Social includes live music & complimentary tastings! Meet the artists!



October Challenge - Farewell to Summer

by Toni of Wild Dog Studio

This month's challenge theme was "Farewell to Summer". Check out the great entries below, then scroll all the way to the bottom to vote for your favorite! The winner will receive an advertising spot on our blog.

Voting ends at midnight on October 18.
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