Artist Spotlight - OutNumberedNovelties

I have a soft spot for figured woods, such as tiger oak highboys, mesquite cutting boards or anything made out of bird’s-eye maple. A fellow Etsy Texas Friends team member makes amazing hand shaped and turned wood items, from fabulous hair sticks/axes to hand carved measuring spoons. Rich is the creative force behind the Etsy shop OutNumberedNovelties. While his shop is full of smaller wood wonders, he has also been known to make larger custom pieces upon request.

I had the opportunity to have a booth next to Rich at a show in Arlington last December. Unfortunately for me, the hair accessories were right out because my hair is not long enough to use them. I don’t play the guitar to be able to figure out which type of wood fits my picking style the best, but I could see some of his hand formed utensils in my kitchen. There was one mesquite spoon that had great contrast between blonde, medium brown and dark reddish brown all in the same teaspoon sized spoon. Rich’s utensils are finished with mineral oil to bring out the wood’s characteristics and make them food safe and more durable.

If you are lucky enough to live close by, you can shop for OutNumberNovelties’ wares in person at the Downtown Mini Mall II on the square in downtown Denton, TX.

March is National Craft Month

Take advantage of the opportunities that you can find due to March being named National Craft month. During National Craft Month retailers across the country offer product discounts, special classes, demonstrations, as well as tips and projects to help customers discover and try out new crafts.

National Craft Month was started in 1994 as a way to introduce people to the joy of crafting and all its many benefits. It has grown from a handful of retailers and manufacturers into an international celebration with millions of participants finding their creative spirit through crafts. A post on About.com gives lots of ideas and links for you to find your perfect project. Who knows, like many other crafters and artists, you may find a passion for creating that turns into more than a hobby.

The image that accompanies this post shows a small portion of the tools of the trade and supplies that I use to fashion some of my creations.

Pi Day 2013

The math and science geek in me gets a kick out of Pi Day (March fourteenth = 3.14) being celebrated around the globe and reported on mainstream news. Even if the image that is conjured in your head when you hear “Pi Day” involves celebrating baked apples, flaky crust and vanilla ice cream, you probably can dredge up memories of geometry class and calculating the circumference of circles. It is even possible that when your teacher introduced the class to the equation C = πr², that the class smart aleck blurted out, “But pie aren’t square, pie are round!” Pi can be found in a host of other math equations and ones used in physics as well.

This got me thinking that I have been remiss about having pi items in my geekery section of my EclecticSkeptic Etsy shop. I do have other math and science themed items. However I am going to have to think about coming up with pi goodies for the math geek too. I do have several items for the music geek and since music and math have many connections such as the fibonacci sequence, I wondered if pi might be one of them. What I found on a search for a use of pi in music was a range of songs that have been created from the use of the digits comprising pi.

It seems that people from all walks of life are having fun with Pi Day. At the very least, you should grab a piece of your favorite pie to join in the celebration. After all, pies are round.

Thanks for the Treasuries - February 2013

Five different Etsians and one Etsy team let me know that they had featured one or more of my items in a treasury during February. Seven February Etsy treasuries, that treasury makers let me know about, included one of my creations. You can see a collage below of my items from EDCCollective and EclecticSkeptic that were featured during February. (Click on the collage to see a larger view.)

I really appreciate being featured by the treasury makers. To thank them, I have listed below (in alphabetical order) links to the 5 Etsy sellers that let me know that they featured one of my items, as well as an item from their shop that I like. Click the team name, TexasFriendsTeam, to find information about the Etsy team that also featured an item of mine.

Enjoy window shopping and please click on the shop links of anything that catches your eye.

AustinLeighDesigns
Beautiful gemstone and crystal jewelry made with sterling silver, gold vermeil or gold filled metals.

GrayWolfGallery
This TX artist creates Giclee Prints, Watercolor Paintings, Acrylic Paintings, Digital Art, Mixed Media, Charcoal/Graphite Pencil Drawings, ACEO's and Woodburned Home Decor

TICC
Find an assortment of handmade crafts including beautiful hand crochet afghans, candles and jewelry.

Vlada19
In this shop you will find unusual greeting cards and batiks that are unique and beautiful works of art.

WhatsHerName
Items such as handmade fabric flowers and goodies for your hair are found here.