Maine Team Monday - Speciality Wedding Keepsakes by Shellscapes

ShellScapes a Maine based artisan business is run by Catherine. Catherine creates beautiful keepsake cake toppers and other wedding accessories and embellishments. The concept for each piece is the time honored tradition started by sailors at sea who created shell art for their loved one left at home on the mainland. Below is a beautiful example of one of the items Catherine does. This headpiece was created for her own wedding.


Catherine, the creator of all of these beautiful keepsakes works with white and pearlized shells in a variety of shapes and sizes, coral, starfish, sand dollars, pearls and Swarovski components. The cake toppers are made to fit on the top of a 6 inch cake top. The base is made from nontoxic clay that has been given extra "sparkle" to mimic a sandy beach on a sunny day. Building further on traditions handed down each one has "something blue" by having a blue Swarovski crystal as part of the design. Catherine does special custom orders and all toppers come with a ivory colored organza bag for storage.

Thank you Catherine for sharing your beautiful designs. Below is more about Catherine and her thoughts on creativity and being a business owner.

1. Would you please share some brief details about you such as location, upbringing, school etc? I was born in Maine and brought up in Vermont; my parents are from Aroostook County. I went to the University of Vermont for an Art History degree, spent a year in Norway studying folk art and culture, and then moved to Maine to get a degree in Marine Biology and Oceanography. My “day job” for the last 30 years has been with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection as an Environmental Specialist monitoring air pollution in southern Maine. I love the ocean and live in Scarborough with my husband James who I married on August 8, 2008. I have two sons; one is in college and the other is a senior in high school.

2. What motivates your creativity? Any interesting bits of info about your process (like you only work in your studio to Liberace music)? I have always needed to do some kind of art / craft to temper the science and math side of my life. I have tried my hand at many different kinds of crafts. Working with seashells came about as a result of my own beach theme wedding last year. I designed and did everything myself. I really believe that if I can see how something is constructed I can make it myself. I love starting with parts and pieces and just seeing what I can create. Unfortunately for my husband and sons, when I am working on a project I have the ability to focus so completely that I am unaware of anything going on around me. I love music – Brazilian Jazz - but don’t really hear it when I work.


3. When you are creatively exhausted how do you rest up and refill the creative well? I look. Studying Art History taught me to “see” the art in nature. Photography has always been one of my creative outlets; I have loved photography since my first brownie camera when I was 7. I have been lucky enough to have one of my photos published by Flickr in their book: “24 Hours of Flickr 05/05/07”and another used by the Philadelphia Zoo. Both photos can be seen on my Flickr “Maine Wanderer” site -

Published! and Rhino

I love art museums and galleries. I love books – big coffee table books with wonderful photographs and illustrations. I love glossy magazines.

4. The business of selling your work is far less enjoyable to most then the actual making of product. What have you done or would do differently in being someone who must deal with the business of selling work? Actually I find “selling” to be a creative challenge itself. I read a lot on the Etsy website about branding your business and I think that is the most important part of setting up a business. I can make terrific wedding items but if they aren’t packaged carefully and “pretty” I won’t get good feedback or a growing customer base. Branding sets you apart from potential competition. My online presence is everything until the item reaches its destination. I am not featured in any “brick and mortar” stores. This is where my photography skills have really helped me. I don’t want a customer to be surprised when they receive an order and I want them to remember exactly where they made the purchase. The best compliment I can get is that the item actually looked even better than its picture when it was removed from its wrapping!

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5. Where do you see your work taking you? I would like to expand into hair jewelry – headband and combs. I made my own headband for my wedding. I love putting shells together with semiprecious stones and pearls. I also enjoy collaborating with other Etsy artisans.

6. Any particular websites you visit regularly? Just like glossy magazines, I love looking at wedding blogs, design blogs, and cooking blogs. Here are some of my favorites:

snippetandink
absolutelybeautifulthings
sweetpaul
Stylemed
whiskblog
chow


7. What are your 3 top favorite foods and why? Only three favorite foods? Ok…shortbread, spanakopita, and coffee. Coffee should be first and in capital letters!


Be sure to check out Catherine's blog also called Shellscapes.

Thanks for stopping by.

Maine team Monday - CozInk

This Maine Team member, Grace, has a lot going on and a spectacular paper goods shop on etsy which goes by the name of CozInk Cards and Paper Goods. Beautiful one of a kind monoprints, cards and photos make up Grace's shop. Her gift cards are taken from monoprints so no two are ever exactly alike. Everyone gets something special!

Grace was very kind to participate in my Maine Team Monday feature. Thanks Grace! Read on about CozInk's creative force of nature named Grace.



1. Would you please share some brief details about you such as location, upbringing, school etc?
Well, I’m 24. I’ve been married for 5 years and we have one daughter together, and right now that’s my job; I’m a stay-at-home parent. I grew up in a very rural area of Maine, and I think that's probably had a big influence on my printmaking. The vast majority of my prints and cards are made with stuff I find in the woods, and I think that inspiration probably comes from my childhood out in Woodstock. I lived for awhile in Wyoming, too, and I miss that a lot sometimes. Something about the flat prairie and the high elevation made me aware of a kind of claustrophobia when I came back to Maine. I live just outside Augusta nowadays, and I really like it here. It's not right in the city, but close enough that it's easy to stay involved in the stuff going on in Augusta or Lewiston/Auburn.

2. What motivates your creativity? Any interesting bits of info about your process (like you only work in your studio to Liberace music)?
I am really mostly motivated by the process itself. Printmaking is an awesome way to have an afternoon that is both lazy and productive at the same time. I stand at my workbench and print for 2 or 3 hours, then spend several hours (usually broken up over a couple days) cutting prints into cards or bookmarks and packaging them up to sell. It's really relaxing. New ideas motivate me- new colors of ink, new plants, (another Etsy Maine Team member, PsAndQs, just mailed me leaves from her husband's Japanese Maple trees, and I'm really looking forward to printing with those), or new craft ideas. I also just ordered a custom stamp from another Etsian so I can start making printed book plates, so I'm excited to make the first few of those as well.
I guess the only interesting bit is that I’m usually working with a kid and a dog at my feet. I have a very curious three-year-old and probably the most clingy dog ever. Neither one leaves the room when I print.

3. When you are creatively exhausted how do you rest up and refill the creative well?
It's probably going to sound awful, but shopping helps. A trip to the art store usually gives me a lot of ideas, even if all I buy is paper.


4. The business of selling your work is far less enjoyable to most then the actual making of product. What have you done or would do differently in being someone who must deal with the business of selling work?
I would take more time to settle on prices, and put more thought into it than I originally did to begin with. I realized I was selling some stuff that left me feeling negative about it- I had let it go for too little, and I needed to start considering the time I put into making each card, and the fact that each one is an original print, and convince myself that they were worth a bit more than I originally thought they were. It resulted in me changing my prices two or three times before I settled into a groove I was comfortable with, so I would sit down and really think about what it costs in materials, time, and effort to make my product.
Get support. The first couple craft/art shows I’m doing, I’m sharing space with more experienced folks, and that has taken a huge amount of pressure off.

5. Where do you see your work taking you?
I'm trying to get my paper goods up in more brick and mortar shops, and I hope that I can get established in a few of them and have long relationships with them. I’m starting full-time college in January at UMaine Farmington, so I’m really hoping this could eventually be something that earns money for books and day care and all that.


6. Any particular websites you visit regularly?
I visit Plime.com daily, for news and discussion. Etsy, of course, and the Etsy Maine Team threads, specifically. I’m also on a forum for pit bull owners, called Pits & Pets.

7. What are your 3 top favorite foods and why?
My favorite winter food is beef stew, because I remember long afternoons of shoveling snow as a kid and it was soooo nice to come inside and smell that cooking on the stove. Turkey and stuffing, because it’s just one of those meals you don’t make all that often, but it’s always so damned good. Pancakes and maple syrup. Best. Breakfast. Ever. Every once in awhile we make breakfast for supper in our house, and it’s usually pancakes and syrup and scrambled eggs.

Thanks again Grace!

Maine Team Monday - Indigo Crow

I had to skip last week because I did not have internet access. Sorry! This weeks Creative find is Indigo Crow of etsy aka Kirsten. Kirsten works in several different mediums of clay and linoleum prints with a bit of jewelry thrown in here and there. I especially love her block prints. But then again there are those lovely tiles or plates to create a wonderful backsplash or other accent area in the home.



1. Would you please share some brief details about you such as location, upbringing, school etc? I live in a small house on a lake in southern Maine. I grew up in Northern Maine where I was inspired by nature and the beauty of animals, and my surroundings. I always loved art so I went to college and received a bachelors of fine art degree.

2. What motivates your creativity? Any interesting bits of info about your process (like you only work in your studio to Liberace music)? My creativity is motivated mainly by nature. It inspires me everyday. Seeing other artists work also inspires me.

3. When you are creatively exhausted how do you rest up and refill the creative well? For me its going on a hike or a kayak ride that gets me going again. Getting out of the day to day rut, and back into the quiet and beauty of the fresh natural air is very inspiring.


4. Where do you see your work taking you? I just do it for fun. I would love to create full time and have it sustain me financially, but I'm not sure that will ever happen.

5. Any particular websites you visit regularly? Etsy

6. What are your 3 top favorite foods and why? Tacos, macaroni and cheese, and a good steak on the grill. I love tacos because they are easy and you can do different combinations, macaroni and cheese because my mothers is the BEST! and I love cooking out and that great grill taste.

Thanks Kirsten! Click on the pictures to be taken directly to the etsy storefront of Indigo Crow.

Catching up on Favorites

Catching up on Favorites
Originally uploaded by backwoods creations

I am back from my week away. I had a glorious and intense time with a training for work. I will be posting another Maine Team Member interview tomorrow. But for right now here are some favorites off from flickr. Click and explore and enjoy!!

Packing it in Before I Head South

I am gone starting tomorrow until next saturday. I am heading down south to Columbia for work related activities. If it is to humid I can stay in the building and not go anywhere. All I can say is thank heavens for AC. But that being said I have had a really full week of creative activities. I will just do the highlights though.

Yesterday I spent all day dying samples with my friend, Heather Kerner. Heather is a felter and she is part of the Maine Fiber Arts weekend. Heather does wonderfully felted hats and other stuff. You can find her work at Spiralworks. She invited me to come to her day long demo and schmooze fest. We were going to make it into a play date and dye some stuff we didn't like. I had these rolls of precut wool fabric that my mother had done 5 plus years ago. She was going to make a braided rug. I hated the colors and wanted to see how they dyed up and just to do something new and different.
I should have brought my camera with me. But I didn't. We had a blasts. She dyed yarn she didn't like and felted up some nuno pieces. I came away with some samples of colors. The precut wool had a pattern and tone variations throughout so I got some pretty interesting stuff.

Pretty wild going from one to the other. I think I will have to go buy dye for all 5 colors and do a rug. I love the red and orange gold color. But both can be really overpowering. Can't wait to do it all!

The next project was a quickie one I did today. I need a small purse to carry the bare essentials in, the license, a credit card or two, a couple of bills etc. Nothing bulky or heavy could be carried in it. All I have is my runaway bag. That I can take as an overnight bag with a change of clothes. I had to have small. I took some of the fabric paper I had made. Cut it to the three fold size I thought would be good. I then made a lining out of material with a light interface to help with keep it sturdy. Stitched it all together and added a vintage button closure and crocheted handle/shoulder strap.



This will work perfectly for my needs when I don't have pockets to keep those things in. This worked up so easily I just may have to make a few more.

dye wool rugmaking braid fabric collage purse

Monday is Etsy Maine Team Day

Maine has some amazing talent living within its borders. Being part of the Etsy Maine Team has introduced me to the work of others that I may not have ever had a chance to see. One of those people is Dorothy Winchell of Winchell Clayworks. She has an awesome etsy shop that has a whole slew of clay items to wear or use in your own creative endeavors. She very nicely agreed to this interview.

1. Would you please share some brief details about you such as location, upbringing, school etc?

My name is Dorothy Winchell and I started selling as Winchell Clayworks in 2008. I am a lifelong Mainer, raised in North Berwick, educated at Berwick Academy and the University of New England (in Biddeford). I now reside in Acton with my husband and nearly 3 year old son. I am the youngest of five children in a family where we were encouraged to create; at 10 my father signed me up for art lessons and I haven't looked back since. Those art lessons gave me the building blocks to try out whatever arts and crafts strike my fancy. At this point I've tried just about everything, but as the family joke goes, "I don't knit. I leave fiber arts to Joan" (my sister).


2. What motivates your creativity? Any interesting bits of info about your process (like you only work in your studio to Liberace music)?

I used to work with the radio on, but since I had my son I relish a few minutes of quiet. I try to work during his afternoon naps now. I finally got my studio set up this spring, so now I can just go in and work, which is a blessing; before, I would have to set up and pick up, eating into my "free" time.

I'm still working on getting a rhythm to my production process, but it's not easy when there are so many things you want to do in so little time. I try to do similar things at once to streamline production (ie all textured pendants at once, all glazing at once, etc).

I decided this spring that rather than beat myself up over what I wasn't getting done, I need to just do what I can and be happy with it. To that end I have a sketchbook where I jot down ideas, and a large envelope where I stash magazine clippings of designs, color schemes, textures, etc. Maybe someday I'll get to it all....


3. When you are creatively exhausted how do you rest up and refill the creative well?

The best thing for me to do is just sit down and work. I might not get anything good made (and one of the benefits of clay is you can mush it up and put it back in the bin), but more often than not, I'll get an idea while I'm plugging away, then I'm off! Other times I'll read about a new technique in a book or magazine, and I'll try to incorporate that into my new work. There aren't many books on ceramic bead making, so I draw a lot of inspiration from polymer and metal clay books. For those days when I don't have a chance to get in the studio, reading keeps me fresh. It gives me a well of techniques and ideas to draw from when I need them.

4. The business of selling your work is far less enjoyable to most then the actual making of product. What have you done or would do differently in being someone who must deal with the business of selling work?

I had hoped to sign on some wholesale accounts this spring, but I found that with my son I just don't have the time to put into it (I'm thankful I realized it before I sent packages out to shops). For awhile I was beating myself up about it, but I then decided that I'm human, I'm young, and I can always expand the business in the future.

If you hope to make Etsy a full time business, I strongly suggest you read some business books, especially some that cover basic accounting. One of my degrees is in accounting, and that has made it so much easier for me to figure pricing and to make business decisions. Write out a business plan. It doesn't have to be formal, and it's not set in concrete, but it does give you some direction.


And if you find you're not cut out for selling, there's nothing wrong with that. You have to make decisions that are right for you.

5. Where do you see your work taking you?

I'm not sure right now. I'm just enjoying the ride. It helps me immensely when I'm dealing with a temperamental toddler; clay is way cheaper than therapy!!!

6. Any particular websites you visit regularly?

I recommend Modish Biz Tips for the wealth of business information provided.

For ceramic artists, I recommend Ceramic Arts Daily --lots of free downloads, videos, and more. Great for new techniques and inspiration.

I'm on Flickr a lot, checking out what other people are making. Sometimes that's enough to spur me in a new direction, or it tells me I'm on the wrong path and need to backtrack. Although I'm not terribly interested in fashion, I'm not naive enough to think that it doesn't matter to me; if I want to sell what I make, I need to be aware of what is out there.

7. What are your 3 top favorite foods and why?
At this point, anything that anyone else cooks for me! I love a good ribeye, whoopee pies are my biggest weakness in the sweets department, and baked potatoes with lots of sour cream and butter. Hey, you didn't ask for healthy!


Thanks Dorothy for sharing with us your work, inspiration and tips.

Interested folks can also check out her blog

clay ceramics winchell+clay+works beads bisque