guys in scarves!

.............

1. malam

2. trucksandpearls

3. Kaylim

4. annerstreet

5. JackieMoon

6. breadandroses2

.............

i'll confess. 

one of my fave cold weather accessories is scarves. 

more specifically : guys in handmade scarves!

so cute!

swoon

swoon

love seeing gentlemen in great wintry neckwear!

how about you?

have a COLD WEATHER look you love to see?

have a cozy day cuties!

Pin It

a collection of masks with minouette

.................................

i just love seeing what folks are collecting. i guess i kind of feel it tells us just a little bit about what inspires them, what they love, and what they choose to surround themselves with in their home. today, i'm delighted to present the next in the rikrak studio's collections series: 11 & a 1/2 quick questions with a wonderful artist on what they're collecting, (apart from their art supplies! ) you can also check out my new *the collectors* series on Etsy, based on these posts! hope you'll just love {perfect for halloween}: masks with ele willoughby.

.................................

who (are you) : I'm Ele Willoughby, also known as minouette. 

I like to say I'm a scientist by day and artist by night - I work

as a geophysicist and a printmaker. I live in Toronto.

what (are you collecting) : I collect masks from all over the world.

when (did you start) : I've always been interested, and have made
several masks of my own, but I started gathering a collection about 10
years ago. My mother was going to Bali and asked what I would like her
to bring me. Of course, I said, "Masks!" She was surprised by my
answer, and I was surprised that other people aren't obsessed with
masks and don't know about the incredible Balinese tradition of mask
carving.

how (many do you have?): Hmm... let's see. Not including ones I've
made myself, or Hallowe'en costumes, I have seventeen.

where (do you find them) : Well, when I'm not making relief prints,
pillows, or art, my 'day job' is marine geophysics. One of the
wonderful perks of that job, specifically since I live far from any
ocean, is that it garuntees travel. So, I do make a point of trying to
look for masks whenever I visit places far from home. I'm fascinated
that most cultures have masks, and would love to have representatives
from everywhere (like I'd love to visit just about anywhere). Though,
many are gifts. Friends and family love knowing you collect something
- it makes it more obvious what sort of gift you would like. I want my
collection to also be a reminder of the places I've been (and people
in my life) , so I don't tend to buy masks unless I'm travelling.
Occasionally, though, I've come across an imported mask which speaks
to me. My collection so far includes masks from Bali, South Korea,
Japan, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Aruba, Tanzania, Indonesia, and
India.

where (do you keep them) : On the wall!

what (‘s a crazy/interesting story behind one) :  I have two white
canine masks - the gifts of two of my best friends. When we were
undergraduates, we all shared a house. They adopted a wonderful,
smart, white  German Sheppard (named Agua, because she slept in her
water bowl as a tiny puppy). They went to Mexico for several months
and they brought back the white, paper dog mask. The mask, of course,
reminds me of Agua. That year, I got the chance to spend a month in
Japan, working at the Earthquake Research Institute, at the University
of Tokyo. Though the Japanese make many beautiful maks, for instance
for Noh theatre, as a grad student, I never found one which fit inside
my budget (or my greatly reduced luggage - thanks to a certain
careless airline, but that's another story). My friends surprised me
when I returned. They had managed to find a white kitsune (or fox
spirit) mask, which reminds me both of the Mexican mask, and of Agua.
So now, each of these masks means much more to me; each reminds me of
the other, of a great, former pet, of our long friendship and our
travels to Mexico and Japan. I love having two mask so unrelated, and
yet with parallels.

what (piece would you like to add): I would love to add a Canadian
mask - or several. I lived for three years in a rather rural part of
Vancouver Island, but I did not manage to get any of the incredible
masks made by the various Native groups, such as the Haida. I think I
was overwhelmed by the beauty and variety and had trouble choosing the
the right mask to invest in. I love the shapes, lines and graphic
colours they employ. Closer to home, the First Nations people of
Ontario make evocative masks with really organic lines, embellished
with things like hair or shell. Near Toronto, the McMichael Museum has
an amazing collection.

why (do you love them) :  When I was a teenager, I went out Christmas
carolling with a large group of people. A neighbour I didn't know
invited the entire group into her home and gave us hot chocolate. She
had the most incredible mask collection, covering an entire wall with
masks from all over the world. I thought, 'That's what I want.'
Artifacts and souvenirs of a life of travel, and adventure, and sort
of a celebration of what cultures have in common. I want to be careful
too - masks can have deep, spiritual meaning to their creators.  I
don't want to collect something to place on my wall if that's
disrespectful to someone's religious beliefs - something sacred, meant
for ritual, not meant to be in the home of an outsider. But I do love
the feeling they project. Sometimes masks are made to scare off
demons, represent animals, ancestors, spirits or gods. These are
artifacts embued with meaning. They are all made by hand. If a person
wears a mask, it allows them to inhabit something else, to 'be'
something else for a brief while. That can be freeing, or allow for
empathy- to place oneself in another's role.

which (one is your favourite) & why : I think that the one from Aruba
is my favorite. My mother bought it for me. I love the intracacy of
the coloration and design - but also, though I've taken an interest,
that this is a tradition I knew nothing about. It appears to be
painted elaborately, but in fact, the Quillacinga artisans use a
centuries-old technique, stretching thin pieces of coloured mopa mopa
(a resin and sort of natural rubber of the mopa mopa tree) over the
wood.

what (else do you collect) : Vintage tins, books (of course), turtle
things and I have a, um, hand-made paper and fabric collecting habit,
shall we say. :)

.......................

fabulous!

thanks so much, ele. what an amazing collection, nicey.

i just love ele's gorgeous print work.

owning my own minouette linocut, i can whole-heartedly attest to how gorgeous her work is. be sure to visit her gorgeous shop, filled with prints, ornaments, brooches and soft toys made from her amazing art.

and happy handmade halloween to you, nicies!

what are you dressing up as? 

 ele willoughby

shop | blog | facebook |flickr

Pin It

come advertise with the rikrak studio blog!

 

 

i just love my sponsors! i'm so thankful for their kind and artistic support each month! and i'm just delighted with how things are going, growing here on the blog with you lovelies. thank you!

so i'm very happy to be offering a few new ad spots as of today for OCTOBER if you're interested!

with october comes a readying for the BIG holiday season, and i hope it might be a perfect time to showcase your beautiful shops & blogs for all of those early bird handmade shoppers out there!

if you feel that your shop, group or blog would be a good fit with the rikrak studio blog feel & focus, and are interested in rates, please email me at 

---> rikrakmail @ yahoo.com <---.

there's lots of continued fun coming up on the blog: funfun guests, little inspirations, more fabulous giveaways you're not going to want to miss, great games, fantastic features and, as always, a few extra fun surprises, too. being part of the fun is a great way to boost sales, increase exposure and build your little business in the handmade community, too!

i'm a handmaker & mommy and know it's a challenging economic time out there... so i try to keep the rates nice & reasonable.

i also love designing ads for folks that need them, too.
so just let me know if i can help!

so come & be part of the fun!
thanks so much, lovelies!
k.

Pin It

* let's meet our judges! *

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

..............

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!

..............................

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!

.....................

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!

...............

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.

.............................

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.)

.................................

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.

..............................

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!

.............

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.

.............

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.

...........................

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!

Pin It

greatest hits & a giveaway!: with string me along

what inspires you artistically & creatively? what would those inspirations look like visually? in this fun series, (please see the others here) ... i’ve invited some wonderful artists to share with us 4 images of inspiration in their artistic life, something of an interview in images! the guidelines were basically this: choose 4 visuals (something like your creative-stimuli *greatest hits!*) that you feel most inspires & expresses your art or craft today. for some, it might be a person, place or thing; a material; a pattern; a colour; a sound or song, etc. it might be a photograph, a drawing, a scan, etc. i’ve tried to leave it a bit open-ended so that we might better glimpse into these artists' motivations and their amazing, raw talent! today i’m delighted to present the next in the series : greatest hits with StringMeAlong (and a giveaway, too!)

......................................



happy gorgeous monday, lovelies!

now i've always been the type of person to love an occasion to dress up!
but we all know that if we wait for one to come along, such occasions can be too few and too far between. i say, let's create our own!

so i've always enjoyed the idea of making everyday a great opportunity to add a little glamour & sparkle to what i'm wearing! whether i'm playing at the park, going to the grocery store or packing orders... i'm wonderfully guilty of incorporating fun jewelry and a little glam whenever i can!

so you can imagine how much i enjoy the lovely StringMeAlong handmade beaded jewelry shop. her wonderful collection of earrings, brooches, rings & hair-accessories has something to offer for both everyday wear, as well as an array of gorgeous special occasion delights, too! i just love her beautiful hairsticks, too... and read on to learn how you can WIN a pair! woohoo! plus, a little glamour mixed with kindness goes a long way in my books. and the wonderful StringMeAlong is a wonderful, kind soul. and i've gotta say, when i saw her fun *inspirations* i knew that she was a kindred spirit, indeed! (and that for certain, she adds a wonderful bit of glamour to her days, too! )
so be sure to visit the StringMeAlong shop!

......................................

and now...
what inspires StringMeAlong, in her own words & images...

1) "I find the most inspiration in an ever-present wanderlust. I love travelling in Europe, and find it brimming with inspiration at every footstep. From the well-trod cobbled streets, to crumbling architecture, from its electic mix of the ancient and the modern, to its rich tapestry of cultures. I love how a place can cling to a rich history, yet still embrace a bright and shining future. "

2) "The Natural World is full of inspiration. Anywhere one cares to look there is inspiration to be found. I can gaze dreamily for hours at rocky cliff faces, gently lapping waves, a soaring bird, or fields of gently blowing grasses. "(photo of Bon Echo)

3) "Flora, for me is the best place to find colour cues. If I am sitting at my workspace amidst a tumble of beads and find myself reaching for the same, safe colour combination, I get up and take myself out for a walk in a garden. Flowers and trees are not timid in their colour play, and they combine and mix hues beautifully."

4) "There has been talk that I might have been born in the wrong era. I turn to 1940's Big Band, or classic Parisian cafe tunes for musical inspiration. I'm not sure, to be honest where this springs from, but put on an Edith Piaf song and somehow I find a hidden well-spring of creativity."

......................................

thanks so much, nicey!
and now... StringMeAlong is offering
one lucky reader an amazing
Set of her beautiful Bloom Flower Hairsticks
in gorgeous wintry white! yay!

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
here's how to enter the giveaway!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

1. go visit the lovely StringMeAlong shop
... take a look around ... come back here and leave a comment in this post about your favourite goodie from her shop & where you'd wear it!= 1 entry

2. visit StringMeAlong's lovely blog
and leave her a comment on a post. ... then come back here and tell us about it. = 1 entry.

3. tweet on twitter
about this giveaway and leave us a link to it in a separate comment here. = 1 more possible entry.

4. blog about this giveaway
and leave us a link to it in a separate comment here.= 1 more possible entry

5. follow or subscribe to the rikrak studio blog
and leave me a comment here telling us that you do! = 1 more possible entry.

6. :: PLEASE NOTE: each entry must be it's own comment.thanks! ::

..........................................

:: RULES ::
a) it is possible to have a maximum of 5 entries total per person.
b) please make sure to leave each entry as it's own comment. thanks!
c) the winner of the StringMeAlong giveaway will be chosen via random.org on
Tues. October 13th @ 9AM EST.
d) please be sure to leave me an email where i can reach you if your account doesn't link to one. thanks.

................................................

hope you can add a little glam to your day, nicies!

Pin It

advertise with the rikrak studio blog!

thanks so much to the nicies who have come on board to advertise in these 1st few months here on the rikrak studio blog! it's almost the end of the month - and so i thought i'd let folks know that for the new month of october, i have a couple of spots available, if you're interested!

if you feel that your shop, group or blog would be a good fit with the rikrak studio blog feel & focus, and are interested in rates, please email me at rikrakmail@yahoo.com . i'm gearing up for the busy handmade Holiday season & have lots of fun planned for the blog! i'm also a handmaker & mommy and know it's a challenging economic time out there... so i try to keep the rates nice & low!

i'm also happy to design ads for folks that need them, too! the rikrak studio blog is young but will hopefully continue to grow & grow! thanks so much for helping to build it, wonderfolk!

so come & be part of the fun!
thanks so much!
k.

Pin It