Bananamoo Food Magnets

Friday Finds... Bananamoo


Interview # 47
I felt intrigued over the weekend to try out Etsy chat which I have to admit was a whole new Etsy experience for me! It was great to see the feature in action and to say a brief hello to some of the artists that were conversing in there! One of the artists I came across is Bananamoo on Etsy also known as Jonie, and she makes the most awesome food magnets from polymer clay! I just had to let my eyes indulge when I saw some of her work appear in the chat window and felt very inspired after visiting her store, finding more yummy treats that she hand makes! Read on to learn more about her craft and herself :)

(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)

-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) My name is Jonie, I'm 35 soon to be 36 on New Years Eve, Yes! I'm from Huntington NY.




-- What is your business about then? When I look at my products I think to myself and I usually say what I'm thinking out loud. What a fun idea! My items are for the kids in all of us. I giggle because my little girl has her play food and now so do I! Celebrating the foodie in all of us is what my business is all about. Plus zero calories!!


-- How did Etsy come into your life? Wow, I found Etsy years ago by mistake. At the time my little sister Gretta was making pillows, and I found Etsy during a Google search for handmade products. She didn't follow her dream, but I fell in love with Etsy and opened an account back in 2008... so many years ago right?! lol! But didn't create my shop until Feb 2010!


-- Are you working a day job too? Yes, I work a full-time Job as a Nursing Assitant. I work for a great nursing home and I am surrounded by wonderful residents. But my heart is in my art. I love to create!



-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? I've been artistic for years. When I was 13 I drew my own comic book, wrote poems and summited little stories to Archie Comics. I was so excited when I recived a $5.00 check from them! Lol. Playing with polymer clay is something new for me, I was looking at some miniature food items made for doll houses one day and said to myself, I can do that! But I wanted to do it on a larger scale. I brought 4 blocks of clay and made my first item. A strawberry chocolate cake magnet! And I've been on a roll every since. I've always been self taught.


-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? Food! My love of sweets!
Funny, I started this when I decided I needed to cut calories from my diet, to think looking at faux cookies would have me running to the store? No really, I look at my items and think "wow real cookies have millions of calories". Ok, maybe not millions but you get the point. So with my decor items I can have my sweets, just without calories!

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Fun, unique and delicious!


-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? I'm up at 4am! Trying to network and catch a quick game of fishville on Facebook before I have to leave for work. I start work at 7am, until 3pm. I then come home and play with my little girl. Kaylynn is an only child so I'm her playmate most of the time. I then cook dinner and play with my clay.




-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? Polymer clay, I love it! Everything is handmade. No fancy tools just my hands and little things from around the house. I love working with sand paper!


-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? I would love to work from home on a full time basis. To earn enough money to send my Kay to college and to be able to stash away a few bucks for denture cream when needed one day would be nice too!



-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? I love going to the movies. Reading books is another love. But my favorite thing to do is play with Kaylynn. Dolls, dress-up, jumping around the backyard. You name it!





-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I like weird one of a kind items. I don't know what I'm looking for untill I find it.


-- Any last words? It's slow going right now, but I won't give up. And If your reading this and feeling the same way about your shop, don't give up either! Good times are coming... good times... and I don't mean the TV show!

Claycass

Tuesday - BESTeam Mosaic
weekly shoutout to the dedicated workers that like to help other handmade artists...


Claycass on Etsy... My fellow BESTeam artist Claycass on Etsy works her own handmade jewelry with the use of metal, beads and polymer clay. Claycass is a member of many various Etsy teams and to me stands out as a long-time determinned and passionate artist, having worked with polymer clay for a few years and enjoying crafting since she was small. Check out the mosaic below to see some of my favourite listings from her store and click on them to go directly to each item.

And Claycass' Blog... Claycass' blog focuses on both her polymer clay crafting as well as features for the other artists on Etsy. Her posts are personal, friendly and make lovely reading. I'd recommend you visit Poly-Clay on blogspot to find out more!

All items are clickable and will take you directly to Claycass' listings...

Friday Finds... PetiteCreation

Friday Finds... PetiteCreation


This is my 17th interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy!

Happy Friday! Hope everyone is looking forward to the weekend! For me it's like no other day really, as my days seem to just melt into eachother. I can't blame it on being a mum, and i doubt i can blame my partners shifts... I think I'm just going mad personally LOL! I never know what day it is, so my weekends are just as confusing as any old day... ah well!
Onward anyway! For you all today I would like to bring you into the teeny tiny world of PetiteCreation on Etsy, whose craft focuses on making some of the most impressive miniture food stuffs out of polymer clay. I wonder how these things are done, as I use polymer clay myself in my photablet pendants, but the way this artist works her clay is so precise and detailed. I admire her skills! Please do visit PetiteCreation's store to check out her lovely work, and help support the New Artists on Etsy by doing so!


(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) My name is Jennifer and I’m 19 years old. I live in Toronto, Ontario and I’m currently studying right now. I’m studying Graphic Design in Ontario College of Art and Design. I love art and craft a lot. I like working with my hands like drawing and making crafts, and using the computer to make wonderful designs.

-- What is your business about then? My business is about turning realistic things in life into small miniatures. Also, making them for people to use in different ways like jewelries, displays for home, dollhouses, keychain and phone decorations. I hope this business can make people happy by letting them bring their favourite food in miniature size everywhere they go or put at home to look at.

-- How did Etsy come into your life? I had always wanted to sell my products so I started off selling in a small store first. Then one time, I came across with a business card with Etsy site on it. I searched it up and found that Etsy is the place I’m looking for and started selling on Etsy.

-- Are you working a day job too? I’m currently a student right now. My hands are full with homework, projects, exams and crafts, so no time for a day job. Although I hope making miniatures and selling on Etsy can be my full time job if I don’t need to study.

-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? The artist in me had been unleashed for a long time already. I love working on art and craft at young age and when I grew up, I love graphic design so I studied in art school. It was only last year that I start to making clay miniatures.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? My inspiration comes from eating and my friends and family. Inspiration coming from eating might sound funny, but it is true because I love to eat. I like trying different kinds of food and I love it when I’m able to make my favourite food into tiny miniatures. My other inspiration comes from my friends and family because they give me ideas on different foods that I haven’t tried before.

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Three words to describe my products would be cute, colourful, and unique. =)

-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? My average day would be starting off with getting up early in the morning to go to school. Usually I would get home in the afternoon. Then I would start being on my computer to check emails, do some blogging and surfing around Etsy. Afterward, I would start doing some promotions around Etsy by hanging around in chat room and forums. Then I would have dinner with family. After cleaning up the house and dishes, I would start making miniatures til late evening.

-- What's your favorite material and techniques to work with? My favourite material to work is clay and paints. I love using clay to form the shape and texture of the food and painting it to make it more realistic. Right now, I’m still learning more techniques on how to make food miniatures more realistic especially fruits.

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? My ideal vision for the future right now is to improve my skills and techniques and gain more sales on Etsy. Also, hoping to make more kinds of food miniatures, and continue to sell on Etsy and in store as well.

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? When I’m not working on miniatures or going to school, I love going out to hang out and chat with friends. Also, I usually go shopping, eating and when it is good weather, I would take a walk to the park.

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I usually search for supplies on Etsy like findings for earrings, necklace, and bracelet. Also, I like meeting different artists who are doing food miniatures as well.

-- Any last words?

Thank you all for taking the time to read my interview! I will continue to make more miniatures to share with you all! My blog is http://petitecreation.blogspot.com/ , it has my updated news and creations! =)

Friday Finds... FlutteringFlowers

Friday Finds... FlutteringFlowers


This is my 15th interview of the amazing not-so-well-known artists of Etsy!

Hello all! It's Friiiiiiday! Hope you all have a good weekend planned? I myself am trying to catch up modifying my shop, making new prints and designing new collage sheets. I do wish Etsy would do various things with listings to make life a little easier. When you have hundreds of listings, a batch modify tool would be a dream come true!... hopefully one day ay?
Anyway FlutteringFlowers on Etsy is the newest seller to take part in my weekly interviews for new sellers! Like a few shops recently, I came across this gem on Link Referral and fell in love with all the cute lil' polymer clay buttons, trinkets, plant sticks etc! Deborah's shop is a treasure trove full of little critters, lovingly made which is very apparent as each piece is very considered and full of personality :) So enjoy the interview and DO visit her shop! I think anyone that particularly likes to make things using buttons will fall in love with her handmade supplies!



(Just click the images to go direct to the listings)







-- Tell me a bit about you! (Name, Age, Location, and give us a random fact whilst you're at it.) Hi! I'm Deborah, I'm 33 and I live in Guthrie Oklahoma with my husband and animals on some acreage in a genuine log home.

-- What is your business about then? My business is about making things that put a smile on others faces.

-- How did Etsy come into your life? A favorite seller of mine on ebay slipped "Etsy" into her listing and I just had to find out what that was.

-- Are you working a day job too? I'm a housewife/domestic engineer. Between running the house, yard and animals who has time for a job?

-- How long has the artist in you been 'unleashed' for? The artist in me was unleashed at a very early age. My parents always encouraged my siblings and I to be creative. There was never a shortage of clay, paints, pens, pencils, etc, to use.

-- What has been the inspiration behind your business? Other people have been the inspiration for my business. Over the years friends and family have enjoyed what I make and want things for their friends and family.

-- If you could describe your products in three words, what would you tell me? Three words to describe my items: whimsical, silly, humorous
-- What would an average working day for you be like from dawn til dusk? An average day for me starts with coffee and meditation. From there it can go in any direction. Mostly though it follows with getting my husband and animals fed, housework, yardwork, running errands. Then the afternoon playing with clay and the evening catching up with friends and family in e-mails or phone calls.

-- What's your favourite material and techniques to work with? My favorite materials are clay. I'm always looking for new techniques and mediums to play with. Eventially I'd like to practice with Genesis heat set paint but I'm a little intimidated at the moment.

-- What is your ideal vision for the future for you and your work? My vision for the future is to get better at what I do and improve my skill/technique and hopefully reach more people with my silly creations.

-- Away from work, what do you like to do for fun or to wind down? Away from work I love spending time with my husband. We love spending time by water. Oklahoma is so full of wildlife. There are so many bugs and insects, turtles and frogs, deer and coyotes. Summer evenings are great when the air is full of fireflies.

-- What are you likely to search for on Etsy? I always search for other artists that make things with polymer clays. Every day I'm left in complete awe of the things that others make. Wow! So much talent at Etsy!

-- Any last words? Take time to enjoy every moment and cherish it!