Reborn Dolls

I recently stumbled on a very unique craft niche for making “reborn dolls”. If you haven’t yet discovered this art, it is the process of making a typical baby doll into a life-like clone of a human baby. When I first looked at the pictures I truly thought I was looking at real baby pictures. That did creep me out a bit, but the hobby is quite fascinating.

I browsed further on the web and now realized the craft is a bit of a hidden giant and there are hundreds if not thousands of crafters making and selling Dolls. There seems to be more buyers than sellers, so it really is an unusual and interesting art with a big following.

Take a look at Deborah King, one of the Top UK reborn artists, and you’ll get an idea of what’s its all about.

www.reborn-baby.com

Supporting Crafters Around the World

Oprah Winfrey may have broken the hearts of many fans recently when she announced the end of her daytime show. However, I’m glad that some of her other ventures will continue – especially her support of crafters in South Africa.

Oprah contributes to their communities by selling beautiful handmade items from local beaders and basket weavers in her online store. These items are amazing with their intricate details, high-quality aesthetics and mainstream appeal.

Especially impressive (and my favorite items!) are the beaded animals, which take you on a hand-crafted safari of lions, cheetahs, giraffes and elephants. The process for creating the animals involves a team of artists that manually shape galvanized steel wire into sturdy three-dimensional frames. Afterward, thousands upon thousands of tiny, colourful glass seed beads are hand-strung onto strands of wire and securely fastened to the frames in a process called plastering or weaving. I can only imagine the effort and skill that goes into planning and executing these wonderful pieces.

To browse through various linens, photo frames, jewelry, beaded animals, african baskets, bowls and more, check out the African Crafts store. The inspiration is there for the taking, as is the opportunity to support a great cause!

The Cuttlebug: A Simple Solution for Embossing and Die Cuts

The Cuttlebug Machine released by Provo Craft provides a low tech solution to die cutting and embossing. The Cuttlebug is a cutting system designed specifically to help you make die cuts and embossings for your paper crafts and scrapbook designs. It takes a lot of the work out of hand cutting shapes and letters, and it also does the whole job without any computer or electricity! It’s like a low tech version of the Cricut Expression machine.
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Craft Fair Displays

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Top Sellers on Etsy

Have you ever wondered who the top sellers on Etsy are? What categories do they sell in? I have compiled a list of the top 25 sellers on Etsy, including their store, how many sales they’ve had, and what category they sell in. The list is as of September 9, 2009.
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Featured Crafter: CJ from CircleLineStudio

In this Featured Crafter, we talk to CJ from the CircleLineStudio. Read on to learn about how this stay at home mom began crafting to add to her family’s income.
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Featured Crafter: Kay from Poppyglass and FingerStuckFelts

In this Featured Crafter, we talk to Kay from the Poppyglass and FingerStuckFelts. Read on to learn about how Etsy began Kay’s addiction to felting!
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Laurie from MadeBySwirlyGirl

In this Featured Crafter, we talk to Laurie from the MadeBySwirlyGirl. Read on to learn about how Laurie began creating amazing photo cards!

Tell me a little bit about yourself. Born in upstate NY and raised in Delaware and Pennsylvania, I grew up in a close-knit family with 3 siblings. While my brother pursued a higher education and eventually became a teacher, my two sisters and I–all ballet students–pursued professional careers in that field, each achieving our goals as dancers with nationally and internationally known ballet companies. The last few years of my dance career were spent performing on tour and on Broadway in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Phantom of the Opera, Brigadoon, and Nicholas Hytner’s Carousel. Read more

Suzanne From DreamGallery

In this Featured Crafter, we talk to Suzanne from the DreamGallery. Read on to learn about how Suzanne went from fashion design to painting with some writing in between! Read more

World Famous Crochet Museum

Shari Elf has converted an old Fotomat booth into The World Famous Crochet Museum! When you first arrive at the Crochet Museum you are greeted with a welcome sign made from Scrabble letters. The 40-square-foot lime green museum sits tucked behind Elf’s Art Queen gallery in Joshua Tree along State Highway 62.

The museum displays hundreds of crochet items bought, donated and found over the years, from crochet Oreos to Bert and Ernie to the crochet poodles that once hid Granny’s liquor bottles.

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