* let's meet our judges! *

*so nice to finally meet you* collaborative zine by kingsley designs

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goodness-sakes-alive!
i'm so super excited about all of the wonderful nominations that are coming in for the *handmade olympics!* - i just love reading folks' adorations + reasons. what an amazing community the handmaking world is!

so i thought we'd take a visit thru the various fun events and get to know our wonderful ensemble of judges (cheerleaders might be a better term!) a wee bit better! they're a veritable *who's who* of handmaking superstars, whose enthusiasm for making has really crafted the way for all of us! so thanks, nicies!

and i have to say: each was so fantastically encouraging + excited about participating in the handmade olympics! i'm so thankful for that, lovelies!

we're thrilled to get to know you a bit better!

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gosh. isn't it great when the someone's wonderful personality can come thru the wilds of the cyber-world and connect with others in a meaningful way? that's a great talent in my eyes, and it's one of our first judges' many brilliances! fans of tara gentile's fabulous & popular scoutiegirl blog have come to love her endearing & sincere writing style, her ever-encouraging ideas, and the wonderful way she has of sharing practical know-how combined with her indie-forward style. and it's so nice that she's so excited to see all of the wonderful handmade blogs you'll be nominating in her handmade olympic event: event 8! thanks so much for joining the fun, tara!

a little bit about this nicey: Tara Gentile is the editor of Scoutie Girl, the blog with a penchant for the passionately handmade. In between blogging & searching out great indie finds, Tara is momma to Lola and wife to Michael. Scratch that - reverse it! She recently released her first ebook, 52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion, which contains helpful info on how to craft a better blog & 52 writing prompts to keep your blogging all year round!

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a little bit about this nicey: Robert Mahar is the proprietor and ringleader of MaharDrygoods.com, the online emporium of vintage and artisan crafted curiosities for children. He collaborates with more than four-dozen artists, designers and craftspeople to create the imaginative and unexpected for kids, big and little. Robert’s also founder of the International Chapter of the Junior Society (JuniorSociety.com), a blog that explores the riotous world of kiddie culture and design and serves as the self-appointed Grand Poobah of the clubhouse, a title he’s bestowed upon himself mainly ‘cause it makes him sound like a big shot and somehow justifies his desire to wear a tasseled fez and develop secret handshakes.

i just love robert's clever style, enthusiasm for handmaking + and amazing eye for great craftpersonship! his brilliant and adored shop & blog are always a delight to the senses and a cheer to the spirit! robert's panache for discovering fantastical finds is 2nd to none and his heart-felt appreciation of wonderful children's things, vintage & handmade, is delightfully contagious! thanks so much for joining us as the judge of event #2 robert!

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next up is the wonderful Mary of Etsy.com and contrary, fame. i just love her warm and friendly writing style, her approachable resourcefulness and her great cheerleading of things sustainable, handmade + creative! her throngs of fans adore her impeccable curating style and her fun + interesting finds! thanks so much to mary for being part of event #6!

a little bit about this nicey: Mary earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University's School of the Arts and currently helps organize the merchandising efforts for Etsy.com, your place to buy and sell all things handmade. The most rewarding portion of her work involves highlighting the stories and work of emerging and growing Etsy sellers throughout the site. She is a lover of all things handmade and vintage, enjoys designing jewelry, as well as visiting local flea markets and farmer's markets in her spare time.

• View Mary's columns for Etsy's blog, the Storque.
• Find her personal jewelry shop on Etsy.
• Network with Mary: Twitter: @marymarytweets, Facebook, and her personal blog.

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if you're anything like me, you love folks who like to make everyday shine a bit with some good clean creative fun! enter the wonderful jena coray. i just love her upbeat, enthusiastic style of writing, the wonderful way she showcases handmade on her celebrated blog, and her love + encouragement of thrifting & vintage to create her own sustainable style! cheers to that sustainable fun! her many fans rave about her uncanny way of being her wonderful self, and how she encourages her readers to do the same! love it! thanks so much for judging event 7, nicey!

a little bit about this nicey: Hi! I'm Jena Coray, editor of Modish, the blog that's been celebrating handmade awesomeness since April 2006! I'm also the owner of the Miss Modish Vintage shop selling clothes and accessories from the 50s-80s, because I think dressing up should be fun. I live in fantastic Portland, OR where I thrift shop a lot, eat lots of delicious veggie food and try not to fall down the stairs (again.)

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goodness. the super-nicest thing i think someone could say about another person is that they're a genuinely kind soul. and it thrills me that everyone who has *met* the artist Mitsy of Artmind leaps to say it about her. Mitsy's expressive, unassuming, warm & friendly work, creations and blog have endeared her to everyone that's lucky enough to meet her, and she's inspired her legions of fans around the world to express themselves artistically and show it! who better to cheer on all of the amazing nicies in the craftivism world then her! so thanks so much for being an inspiration to all of us, nicey, and for judging event #5

a little bit about this nicey:
My name is Mitsy. I make things with my hands in order to maintain a happy heart in a crazy world. I am very curious by nature and I love to experiment. I try out all sorts of crafty stuff but I'm most happy when digging my hands in clay or fiddle around with paper and felt. I can't draw but I love to crochet and I laugh a lot. It usually makes people laugh too. Then I'm happiest. Sharing my love for handmade gives me joy & I hope that it's inspirational. I love it when people are moved by what I make, get involved and give their opinion as it makes me grow as an artist. I love Etsy.

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a little bit about this nicey: Writer Erin Loechner launched award-winning DesignForMankind.com and MankindMag.com in mid-2007 in an attempt to bring light to the inspiration found in today’s creative culture. In addition to her work featured in Ready-Made, Glamour, Dwell, Lucky and Nylon Magazine, Erin co-owns a business consultancy dedicated to offering a wide variety of assistance to small businesses and independent shoppes worldwide (http://www.thinkbakery.com). In her spare time (what spare time?!), Erin loves to run, play with her two dogs and eat inappropriate amounts of hummus. Also, she totally lied about the running thing.

i've heard erin loechner's wonderfulness summed up by many darling superlatives and i couldn't agree more. her beautiful blog is just the loveliest. the captivating art images she finds & shares the most inspiring. and i whole-heartedly feel that whenever i took through her gorgeous posts, they are always always the most beautifully breathtaking. so if you like to feed your visual soul (as i surely do!), then fill your happy head with the wonder + delight that is erin's designformankind.com. and be sure to enter your favourite handmade goodie with an innovative design in the contest she's judging: event #1!

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i just love it when folks appreciate handmaking for the creative adventure that it is! and garth johnson, judge for event #3, just exudes this sort of enthusiasm in all he does! his new book is the deserved darling of eco-friendly world, and his encouragment of things creatively sustainable in our daily lives is thrilling. i love how accessible his many resourceful adventures are to each of us, teaching us that making a change in our world can be both easy, fun + good for the creative soul, too! thanks, garth!

a little bit about this nicey: Garth Johnson is an artist, writer and educator who lives in Eureka, California and teaches at College of the Redwoods. His book, 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, was just released by Quarry Publishing. Additionally, he maintains the blog Extreme Craft and a new blog for ReadyMade Magazine about his adventures with his 1905 Victorian home. Garth is also the co-host of Reconstruct: Eco-Friendly Crafts Made Easy, a step-by-step DVD that shows viewers how to make their own projects out of recycled materials.

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a little bit about this nicey: Whoohoo! I just had my three year Etsy-versary as an Etsy Admin! I'm completely obsessed with Etsy — the people, the weird and pretty things you can find, and thinking up ways to make it better. These days I run Etsy's blog. Before I came to Etsy, I did research on DIY culture and online learning, and made a documentary film with my friend about the history of secondhand clothing.

like every wonderful community, the handmade world is made up of many vital parts: the handmakers, the encouragers, the appreciators, the cheerleaders, the thinkers, the visionaries, etc. remarkably, the wonderful vanessa bertozzi of etsy.com is all these things and more! herself a handmaking filmmaker, vanessa's sincere enthusiasm for the handmade world comes thru in all she does as etsy's blog chief. she's crafted what is every handmaker's DREAM of a blog, filled with helpful, inspiring, resourceful articles that touch on the wonderfully varied world of making. and she always comes across as a genuinely lovely soul, whose daily appreciation of DIY has inspired the handmaking world to celebrate all it's wonderful individuals! so thanks so much for all you do, vanessa, and for helping us by judging event #4.

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so there's a little look at these superstars! hope you'll send some love their way, and be sure to visit their amazing projects + cheer them on! (cheerleaders need cheering too, right!? :)

and be sure to nominate your own and other's works in their various fun handmade olympics events! have a happy, cheerleaderly day, nicies!

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