Interview with Pamwares

Introduce yourself please.

i am pam. i have a marketing degree from USF and have been doing marketing for the last 15 years. i'm married with pets - no kids. i asked my husband out on first date because i don't like to wait around. i love mexican food. i am simple - it wasn't always this way. i like staying at home on the weekends relaxing and doing my own thing. i'm glad i found etsy and took the plunge to make my stuff and do my own thing at pamwares

What do you create?
Aprons mostly. i love to cook so I use aprons all the time. I thought they would be fun to make so I took a couple of sewing classes and started making them. And on the side I like to make jewelry. I mostly make it when I go camping. I spread out on the picnic table in the sun and create.

hollywood cobalt blue necklace

How did you get started?
i have always been creative and wanted to design stuff. my mom thought I would be a dept. store window designer when i was younger. i just see things, ideas i guess and i try to put them together. the aprons just came out of trying to have a creative outlet without breaking the bank. my day job is talking, typing and dealing with people. when i came home to make my aprons i am using my head and i have no one to justify anything too. it is me, the sewing machine, and the material. i don't even have to talk. not a huge talker.

What is unique about your products?

my uniqueness is the fabrics and the combination of them.

Garden Party Apron

What has been your biggest challenge in developing your business?
time. like everyone else i need more of it.

What is your favorite feature on Etsy?
i have a few...i like the forums, the storque and looking at what is selling.

What other interests do you have?
i have lots of pets...3 dogs, 2 cats and 2 birds...they keep me busy. my husband and the pets love to go camping. i also love my house. i have always wanted to have a house of my own and i finally do. i get to put all my design ideas to the test in my house. it is fun.

Where in Florida do you live?
i live in Gulfport - south st pete. we moved here 5 years ago from Key West. gulfport has key west character but i can afford the house. i do love key west - not going to lie about that. it took some time to get used to living there but once i did...it is a place like no other.

What are some other sites to find out more about you and your art?

i blog but i'm spotty at it. trying to get better.

pamwares.blogspot.com.

i'm on flickr but spotty as well.
facebook - i'm on there all the time.

What was an embarrassing moment in your life?

Falling off my bike in key west because i had too much wine on christmas evening. it was sad!

Where would you go if you had a time machine?
A time machine would be awesome. i would go back to the time when king henry and all his craziness with Anne Boyle was happening. the truth is i would just love to dress in one of those beautiful gowns. speaking of outfits...i would also love to be a Las Vegas showgirl...again i love the outfit!

Choose a movie title to sum up your life’s story.

Sex and the City! a tv show and a movie - fabulous! i love the clothes, the friendship, the fighting, the sex and the romance!

Minnie Mouse Apron

I love her fabric combinations !

July Fest Team Giveaway!

It is that time again! Aren’t you excited!
The July Fest giveaway is sponsored this month by Sue of Fragiacomo Glass Art. Sue makes fabulous lamp work beads and has graciously decided to share some with our lucky blog readers.
As you can see she has a wonderful sense of play in her color choices. These beads would make a fabulous necklace for summer!

The giveaway is for a set of 5 lamp work beads wound on a 1/16 mandrel (small hole) and they measure aprox 15mm each.They are made with a spring green base and lots of bright exciting colors.

You can visit Sue in her Etsy Store to see more of her wonderfully happy work.http://www.fragiacomoglassart.etsy.com/


HOW TO ENTER:If you would like to enter to win these beautiful beads, just visit Fragiacomo Glass Art in her Etsy shop, or any of the Fest team members listed to the left on this page and find a favorite item you want others to know about.Tell us what you love about your favorite item in the comments section of this post & why it is perfect for summer. Remember to add your email address so we can contact you if you are the winner! Winner picked on 7/25/09!Simple and Easy!

RecreationalArt Interview

Who are you?
RecreationalArt is Rose Fieldhouse. Simple.
I love crafting - anything. My love of creating has filled my home and given me much joy. I have always been a fan of all of the creative people that sell on Etsy and so I thought "Why not?!".
Since I love the thought of recycling through re-purposing I try to incorporate re-used pieces into my new creations. People who know me are aware of what I do and before they decide to "get rid" of something they offer their treasures to me. I repurpose them and most of these re-creations end up in my home or yard as decor because I have a hard time parting with them!

What do you create?
1) A response to creation through the expression of art

2) Art as a recreation

3) Recreating art into art)

4) Having too much fun!!!!!

How did you get started?
Growing up, my dad was often at sea in the Navy and my mom, who read and wrote very little english because she is Spanish, would make her extra spending monies by crafting and selling. She would do everything from macrame to sand art bottles and she would set up shop in the little office of the motel that we owned and lived in. She would sew for customers as well as sew all of our clothes.

I spent most of my time around mom and learned from her to make and create. When I lived in Italy I found myself suddenly living on my own paycheck and found that by making my own stuff for the house or to wear that I would have that extra money to go out and have fun!

What is unique about your products?

I started the Etsy shop by using coffee bean and burlap coffee bag products when I worked as a Barrista at a local coffee shop. I enjoyed being able to recycle unused coffee beans and upcycle the burlap bags into fun and unique pieces. I even had super fun creating an upcycled/recycled Tea Bag Lamp!

What has been your biggest challenge ?

Being shy! I really have a hard time convincing myself that I can go out there and sell my creations at a festival, or even advertising myself!

What is your favorite feature of Etsy?
I can sell from home, behind the computer screen - that shy thing again.

What other interests do you have?
My wonderful husband and I started a Boy Scout Troop when our son crossed over from Cub Scouts and now that he and his friends have earned Eagle we have started the Venture Crew, which is co-ed! We meet at our home every Saturday and go camping often. We have great, fun loving kids involved and I am very happy to be a part of that!

Where in Florida do you live?
I live in the most beautiful city ever! After I finished high school I was given the opportunity to move to Italy and live in Rome for 13 years. What a wonderful experience! But now I have moved home to St. Augustine, Florida and I really would not want to be anywhere else! I married the true love of my life and I am able to live near my family. I am home.

What are some other sites to find out more about you and your art?
My blog: http://recreationalart.blogspot.com/

What “super” power would you like to have ?
To Fly! I have dreamt about flying for as long as I can remember...maybe in a prior life I was a bird?!

What was an embarrassing moment in your life?

....um, I am too embarrassed to talk about that.

Where would you go if you had a time machine?

Back to that embarrassing moment and fix it before it happens.

Have you ever been fired from a job? Yes.

Do Tell…..well that would take me back to that embarrassing moment!

What makes you laugh?Just about anything! I love laughter XD! I laugh at myself way too often and my son and his friends keep me rolling!

Absolutely go check out RecreationalArt! An Amazing Variety of Art!

May Team Challenge Winner - Full Blown Glass

Yea, one of my favorite FEST jobs... announcing the winner of the team challenge! Allow me to introduce you to Full Blown Glass!

Brent Earnest, the glass artist behind Full Blown Glass, is a self-taught Lampwork & Blown Glass artist who began working with glass in Asheville, NC in 2002, after being introduced to the medium by a friend. During this time he was working full-time as a chef (Brent is an alumni of Johnson & Walles University with 15 years of experience in the culinary arts). Initially his focus was on jewelry and during this time, he was successful in selling his unique creations to family, friends, and via consignment. In 2005, he moved to St. Petersburg, FL, met fiance Heather Fulp, who has a retail background with a focus on buying and design, and the two started FULL BLOWN GLASS.

I asked Brent to tell us what Full Blown Glass is all about - At Full Blown Glass we create colorful, affordable lampwork and blown glass home goods and wearable art. Each piece is handmade by glass artist Brent Earnest and jewelry designer/apprentice lampwork artist Heather Fulp.We love using glass as a medium!All of our items are made from borosilicate glass (aka...Pyrex) and we use Northstar® Borocolour® in 95% of our assortment. Also all items are kiln annealed up to 1,000 degrees to ensure strength and durability.

FBG continues to produce the quality handmade jewelry that sparked this interest, yet creatively they needed a challenge, so they have now expanded their assortment to include home goods and artwork. Due to Brent and Heather's eclectic nature, they have a plentiful collection of items to offer.

So what else does this dinamic duo keep busy with? When not in the FBG Studio, Brent works full-time as a chef. In their free time Team FBG are usually completing home renovations, camping, or relaxing at Ft. De Soto dog park with their 2 Weimaraners Colby & Jack.

Happy Shopping!

June Team Challenge

Each month FEST challenges its members to create and post an item fitting a specific theme. May's theme was a hard one, HURRICANE! FESTers will vote for their favorite item and the winner will be featured here on the blog in the coming month. To cast your vote, check out each item and make note of the number next to your favorite one. Log into the Yahoo Group account (there's a link to it on the left margin), click on "Polls", and select the number that corresponds with your favorite entry. Good luck!

1. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26300634
2. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25333497
3. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23859313
4. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26433557
5. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26455738

The June Giveaway!

The June Giveaway is here!

I know all our FEST fans have been patiently waiting for the June giveaway! Without further ado,
our June giveaway is this beautiful bracelet from Dawn at Bead Creations by Dawn
A perfect bracelet for summer by the beach it is made with sterling silver, Swarovski crystals, and sweet pink branches of coral. Sparkling in light pink, fresh summer green, sky blue, and sandy brown.
Just a bit of bling for a summer cruise or just a lazy day by the pool.

HOW TO ENTER:
If you would like to enter to win this beautiful bracelet, just visit Bead Creations by Dawn in her Etsy shop, or any of the Fest team members listed to the left on this page and find a favorite item you want others to know about.
Tell us what you love about your favorite item in the comments section of this post. Remember to add your email address so we can contact you if you are the winner! Winner picked on 6/20/09!
Simple and Easy!

April Team Challenge Winner

The theme for the team challenge for the month of April was FUZZY. All the members of FEST are given the opportunity to vote for their favorite submission and it's my fun job to announce the winner! And the winner is, drum roll please..... are you doing it??.... GladRaggz with this work or art, her one of a kind designer inspired crochet handbag:

Listen to the detail that went into this bag - This is a one-of-a-kind work and extremely fun piece of crochet artwork done in a variety of yarns in shades of red with jeweltone highlighs. Embellishments include a gold tone filigree and rhinestone brooch as well as a single row of red fabric that I've sewn into ribbon to get the perfect color match. Lightweight gold toned chains make this a shoulder bag. The interior is lined with sapphire toned satin, and the small interior pocket is edged with machine embroidered silver holographic thread.

As I was looking through GladRaggz' shop I kept thinking her bags and jewelry look like wearable pieces of art. Case and point, this amazing necklace

This large Swarovski AB Crystal Pendant is just gorgeous! It hangs from ropes of ivory cord, gold fabric tape, and teal colored "Italian Mesh", which is a finely braided wire mesh that can be fluffed and shaped any way the wearer wishes. The Italian Mesh is strung with 4 AB Swarovski crystals.

I also really love how descriptive and captivating her listings read, like this one for these clear glass earings.

These desinger inspired earrings remind me of several things - seashells, flowers, and feminine curves with their swirls and faint AB, (Aurora Borealis) coating. Both the swirled beads and the round Czech glass spheres reflect a delicate rainbow when they catch the light at just the right angle. There is also a faint swirl of white glass on the edges of the clear bead. These earrings would be especially nice for bridal wear, but they can also be dressed up for evening, or down for a "casual chic" look. Either way, they are extremely feminine and sexy, and can't be missed!

Stop by this talented FEST members shop and add a little art to your wardrobe!