Wrapping holiday gifts is a temporary craft. Much like the Buddhist monk who messes up his sand painting that took days to construct, putting aesthetic care into something so temporal is a labor of love, an expression of caring.
I’ve captured some of my favorite gift wraps ideas to inspire you. Maybe you would like to use one of these approaches—if you would like instructions, please e-mail me at lsebast999@aol.com.

Each of the below techniques must:
1. Travel easily—no crushed bows. So many have to ship or carry gifts and it is hard to handle them with the TLC needed not to damage a wrapping that is too fragile.
2. Use simple, inexpensive, and easily available materials. You shouldn’t need to go out of your way to put these simple approaches together.
3. Be fast to execute. Time now is better spent on business than on wrapping presents. Yet, the presents need to look nice and have a deadline. This must get done! So these ideas are simple and fun to do.

Materials: red, green, and/or gold mini-ornaments; green, red, gold, and/or silver wrapping paper; green, red, gold, and/or silver thin crinkle ribbon.

Materials: selected colors of wrapping paper; thin and medium width ribbon to match paper colors; double-stick tape.

Materials: small evergreen branches from florist grocer; red berries or mini-ornaments, white yarn, crayons, red and green thin crinkle ribbon, brown paper.

Welcome to Shine Accessories!

We are three energetic friends with one passion in common: creating, designing and lovingly hand-crafting beautiful accessories from precious stones, Swarovski crystals and unique beads to form stylish pieces.

Now, we want to share our passion with you through our Shine Accessories page. We invite you to take a minute to browse our gallery. We welcome comments, requests, orders and customisation enquiries. Enjoy!

Browsing in the Milky site, the crown-like jewelry shows up everywhere. If you were wondering what it is, it is definitely not hard to guess. Here I am introducing the signature hand-craft of this site: the Princess Crown Bracelet – handcrafted for every sweet princess. The entire piece is handcrafted of wire. The main crown is made out of one single wire. The handmade jump rings are hooded to form the chain that connects the main crown. Finally, some seed beads and a czech bead are added for variety. Simple and elegant. Hope you will like it.

It seems like this little Princess Crown loves the camera, or the camera just loves it. Her portraits all came out nice, so I am just displaying them all here.

I had the opportunity to keep the display of my candles and decorations in Bank of Ireland until today, Friday which was very helpful.  I thought I it would be difficult to manage it as I was helping my friend Pam Butler organise her first coffee morning in Rathoe Hall for Pestalozzi World .  It was a small but pleasant gathering in a really lovely village hall.  More fundraising activities for this educational charity will take place during the year.  The charity is celebrating 15 years in 2010.  Have a look at their website if you need cheering up to see what can be achieved with relatively small money and great optimism and enthusiasm.

After the lovely coffee and cake I returned to the bank and met several old, new and potential customers.  On this occasion I had not only the possiblity of selling candles, but also my dainty christmas decoration boxes, and mini colourful christmas stockings which were a great hit!  There’s always the hope that some or all of the stockings and dainty decorations may grace the desk of a few Carlow Teachers – they are a suitable festive token for a child to give his or teacher….without breaking the bank!!   Such gifts might garner the approval of RTE’s Joe Duffy show and listeners today.  If you want to listen to parent and teacher opinions on gifts this is the pod cast.

If you’d like to buy any of these decorations Madeleine at the Little Coffee House in Penny Lane market on Tullow Street has a few,  otherwise contact me directly especially if you’d like them personalised.  Next year I’ll be organised for Christmas Markets!  There’s a Christmas market at Ducketts Grove this weekend – I can’t get there, but hope it’ll be good for traders and customers.  Last year it was terrific.

Also at the bank during the week I met Bernie from Malones Fruit Farm in Ballon and Elaine Kelly from “All made in Ireland”, Joe Byrne from Playball, Keith Dowling photographer,  &  Ger Gibbons Photographer

It’s freezing cold out the door with storm maybe coming on its way. I hope you all are staying warm and dry for this season. Here I am going to introduce three pieces of my handcrafted necklaces, and hope it can warm your heart a bit. Copper wire is the main theme for making the chains, loops and designs for these necklaces. I personally like copper material because it carries out the antique style.

The floral design makes Ms. Blue and Ms. Victoria unique and elegant. Ms. Blue has a copper style pendant that is 1-1/4-inch in diameter. The blue pendant is rich in ocean movement with details of seashells, star-fish and fish. Ms. Victoria is connected by a lovely music-note charm at the center. The copper flower on one side balances withe the czech bead on the other side. The long white glass pearl drop at the back of Ms. Victoria just gives you the chance to show off your beautiful neck. Freedom has a big piece of hand-carved bond pendant (2-inch in diameter). The source of the bone is not know to me. I am thinking maybe it’s from Africa? So does the image carved on the bone that is mysterious to me. Is it an eye, a bird or a walking elephant? Use your imaginations! I twisted the copper wire with spiral at the tips to add strength to the design. Spiral symbols “Change,” so I gave it the name Freedom to long for the good changes. At this point these necklaces are one-in-a-kind because each pendant is the only piece I have.

Also, thanks to Ricardo Sfeir for taking such gorgeous photos for these lovely pieces.

Ms. Blue (handcrafted copper wire chain, clay flower, antique copper style blue ocean pendant, clear and purple glass drops and white glass pearls)

Ms. Victoria_ Front (handcrafted copper wire chain, clay flower, antique white copper pendant, czech glass beads, copper musical note charm, and white glass pearls)

Ms. Victoria_ Back (hand-made hook & eye clasp set and white glass pearl drop)

Freedom (hand-twisted copper wire with beads, and bond pendant)

Friday 20th November

My work on Friday was all around spray painting. I am really pleased with the outcomes from the spray painted work, some of it is finished and others I will now be working with more.

It is definitely best to just delve in and get creating. This leads you to realise what ideas have a good outcome to them, how your idea is actually realised, to have different work to experiment with and also new work and ideas get produced from it.

Now I have finished one piece and have some more to work with.

Here is the progress of my day:

The photos aren’t the best but better quality ones will be taken for my final pieces.

Custom orders for jewelry pieces has been a great opportunity for me.  I would say that about 50% of my sales come from customers who see my work and request a special order.  Before designing pieces I always find out a little information about the customer as far as personality traits, favorite colors, places they love to visit and etc;  Jewelry not alone adds spice to a person’s outfit, but it also tells you a lot about a person.  Here are a few custom pieces that I current designed for one of my customers.  What do you think their personality traits are based on these pieces???

Desert Sand Hoop Earrings-Custom Design

Golden Teals Earrings-Custom Design

Green Raindrops Earrings-Custom Designs

Birds

marinevisart©

Ukuran:

14 cm x 6 cm

Kode Barang : JBI – 006

Harga :

Rp. 30.000

Gambar :

Gambus

Ukuran :

14 cm x 12 cm

Kode Barang : JBI – 005

Harga :

Rp. 60.000

Gambar :

Bungo Double

Terbuat dari bahan Kayu.

Kode Barang : JBI – 001

Tersedia 3 ukuran :

1. Ukuran S ( 10 cm x 4 cm )

2. Ukuran M ( 20 cm x 7 cm )

3. ukuran L ( 30 cm x 10 cm )

Harga :

1.  Ukuran S : Rp. 25.000

2. Ukuran M : Rp. 35.000

3. Ukuran L : Rp. 70.000

Gambar :

Biola

We had a question, what makes our crafts different from others. We specialize in hand crafted items. Custom made items to make your day special. We also work with artist, that would like to market their items through our various marketing network & ad promotions.

Favourite craft,craft reward,craft business.

Making your favorite craft in the comfort of your home can be fun and enjoyable, and both financially rewarding.It is very important that you have an adequate understanding for the nature of the products of the craft or the people to buy and how we sell them. If you have a homepage on the craft,you must know how to get ideas for crafts that you want to sell, how in order to maximizing revenues for your company, where are you likely to sell and how t sell your products.Another aspect of the market is, how your new company is.

I am sure that most people believe that the reproduction of this article does not require the elaboration of a business plan for the development of their new company. This May be true, but a business plan helps the financial aspects of the company to invest, mainly time and money on a loss of business. And lets be honest, the number of books used by company does not terminate in sufficient detail by clicking on the specifics start, run, store and marketing successful craft businesses. At the end of the day, without consumers, your craft will never be on departure and quickly perishable.

Mention that all these recommendations, it is important that you become a kind of guide for the craftsmen. Something that gives you valuable information about creating and managing your own craft company. Make sure the coverage includes aspects such as advertising and technology and the ability to manage your finances.

broderies (made with confettis)/
first steps

marinevisart©

In luna martie 2009, am participat cu editura la care lucrez la Targul International de carte si muzica Libris, in Brasov. Un targ de carte micut, modest, a fost ocazia perfecta pentru “lansarea” mea.

Cartile care au avut cel mai mare succes au fost cele invelite in plus visiniu si cele cu iluzia optica. Ceea ce au avut unele carti mai deosebit a fost faptul ca nu numai coperta, ci si interiorul era special. Aceste carti se voiau a fi agende spirituale: pe fiecare pagina, in partea de sus, erau trecute cateva versuri de iubire, in special de iubire de Dumnezeu, scrise de misticul sufit Rumi (unul dintre misticii mei preferati, daca ma pot exprima astfel). Versurile erau selectate din cartea “Iubirea a spus”, aparuta la editura Kamala, editura la care lucrez. Restul paginii era lasat gol, pentru versurile sau gandurile proprietarului cartii.  Am primit chiar 3 comenzi in cadrul targului, in care persoane diferite mi-au solicitat carti cu o anumita coperta si interiorul  – cel cu versuri.  M-am bucurat ca le-au placut cartile mele si ca pot fi utile.  Iata cateva poze de atunci (azi e prima mea zi de blog, asa ca trebuie sa ajung la zi cu toate evenimentele).

In March 2009, I was exhibitor at International Bookfair Libris, Brasov . My first public event. The most appreciated books was those with cherry-plush and optical illusion. In additions, the interior of some books was not blank, but each page contained only some love verses of Rumi, a mystical sufi poet, my favourite poet. The rest of page was blank, for the thoughts of the book’s owner. I received 3 ordered books, with specifical cover and interior with verses.

Una din cele doua surori ale mele este foarte inzestrata pentru lucru manual: brodat, decupat felicitari, etc. A cusut / brodat pentru mine cateva coperti, pe plus rosu de legatorie, pe care ulterior le-am legat folosind legatura copta. Priviti aceste mici minuni!

I have two sisters, and one of them it is very gifted for manual crafts. She made for me some embroidered covers, on special plush for bookbinding, then I used coptic binding. Look at these little wonders!

Petite cuisine graphique /
Every manual cooking action (add, mix,slice,…) has been translated in a manual graphic action (cut, print, bend,…).
marinevisart©

This small handcrafts are unique, each of them painted with a peculiar pattern. They can be used for expressing difrent feelings and arranged accordingly. They are 13. Brilliant colors!

„(…)- Ei, bine, daca maine ar veni la dumneavoastra un amator de kitch si v-ar oferi o suma importanta ca sa-i faceti un portret de genul celor care se fac pe faleza de la Neptun, cu siguranta ca l-ati refuza.

-Unde e acest …Mecena?? Sa vina! Il astept de-o viata…(…)”

Ion Atanasiu Delamare – grafician si lector universitar

Nu inveti sa iubesti, sa apreciezi sau sa „vezi” arta la scoala… Nu te invata nimeni, acasa, despre reguli sau valori in materie de arta, pentru ca ele nici nu exista. Ni se ofera, in schimb, niste criterii despre ce este frumos sau urat.

Societatea insasi impune regulile si pretuieste arta care se devolta in cadrul ei. Insa societatea asta e formata si condusa de oameni. Deci, dincolo de ceea ce inveti, esti liber sa iti stabilestii criteriile proprii pentru arta, pentru frumos sau urat, poti sa impui reguli sau sa le incalci. Ma gandesc ca nepasarea poate deveni si ea o regula.

Tristetea Romaniei de astazi are origini adanci de tot…in istoria agitata si poate mai departe de atat, …intr-o societate care n-a stiut sa vorbeasca despre frumos si nici sa educe omul in acest spirit, niciodata si cu atat mai putin acum.

Dezvoltarea reala a artelor in marile tari, crearea de curente si miscari sunt produsul unei societati in care stadiul de primitivism a fost depasit de mult. Unii au invatat ca atunci cand atingi sau capeti un statut financiar si social cu mult peste medie primesti si niste responsabilitati. Asa s-a nascut mecenatul…rar intalnit in istoria noastra. Au fost putini aceia care au inteles ca o tara care se vrea frumoasa are nevoie de oameni frumosi si de lucruri frumoase. Ca ele trebuie intretinute, stimulate, apreciate.

Un mecena este un cunoscător. Este un investitor în artă, dar este si un cunoscător al artelor, este un investitor în educaţie, dar este si un cunoscător al educaţiei, este un investitor în cultură, dar este si un cunoscător al culturii.

Reteta e simpla: acolo unde a existat un interes pentru arte si mai ales o traditie in mecenat, a existat ARTA. Pacat ca ne lipsesc „ingredientele”…

Alexandra Oancea

Pentru a vizualiza galeria de arta clik AICI.