Meet Kaleidoscope by Erin

Black and Pink Lace Overlay 6 Inch Kiss Lock Chained Clutch

Bio:

She's a stay-at-home mother to two beautiful and busy little boys and a wife to my wonderful and caring husband. I have used art as an outlet for as long as I can remember. I started taking private art lessons in elementary school and continued through college. I enjoy the challenge of learning a new craft and perfecting it over time. The Etsy community has been such a great opportunity to learn and grow while showing the world my creations.

How'd you get started on Etsy?

My aunt's friend told be about the site. I had never heard of it before. I checked it out and fell in love with the beauty of it.


What was your inspiration for your shop?
My love for jewelry (then) and now my love for clutches. Wonder what'll be next??



What's your favorite shop item and why?

My crane clutch. I struggled with listing it for sale. It's just so beautiful, classy and timeless.


1950's Vintage Silk Kimono Crane Kiss Lock Clutch

How do you unwind when you're not creating?

I like to watch reality TV with my husband and drink a glass of wine (though I wish it was at the beach and not 2 hours away).



What's your favorite kind of cupcake?

Vanilla with butter cream icing. I like the simple things.

What pushes you to want to create something?

My kids. I use it as an outlet to do something "productive". What's a clean house anyways? LOL

What's your favorite cartoon as a kid. As an adult, if you stumble upon it while channel surfing now would you stop & watch?

The Smurfs. I LOVED Smurfette. And no, I wouldn't stop now. Azrial would get on my nerves. :)



Sweet Honey, Organic Cotton Kiss Lock Clutch

What's your fantasy job?
Owning my own extremely successful company, selling my craft.

Do you have a secret guilty pleasure?

Anything reality on VH1, bad or good, and the Twilight Series.

List 3 things you are so obsessed with it is torture to ever say no to.

1- My family 2- Shopping for clothes that are sale (though I think the economy has cured that) 3- buying fabric

List 3 of your favorite Etsy shops.

I can't pick three. There are so extremely talented shops on my team. I honestly love ALL of them.

Do you have a favorite author? When you read, do you use a proper bookmark, bend the page, or grab anything handy to mark your place?

Nicholas Sparks. I love his stories and that I know the areas he writes about. Couldn't get any better, in my opinion.



Bridal White and Something Blue 8 inch Kiss Lock Clutch

If money was no object and you can live wherever you want….where would that be?

Hawaii. My husband and I went there for our honeymoon and we talk about moving there all the time.

What is your best childhood memory?

Fishing with my dad and shopping with my mom. :)

You can follow and show love to Kaleidoscope by Erin at Etsy, Artfire and Facebook. Also be on the lookout for Kaleidoscope by Erin's participation in the Etsy DTeam's Thanksgiving Sale that runs from November 26 through November 29, 2010.

 

Thank you.

Michael's Creative Mom Contest

Received an email from Michael's this week on the contest they are running for Creative Mom. I am biting at the bit on this one. Considering all I've done, it'd be silly for me not to try. Over the next couple of days I'm going to collect photos of what I've accomplished. Please, please check out the photos and if you like, vote for me! Thank you!


Sewing Costumes

One of the many great things about having a child is Halloween. Over the years, I have sewn costumes for her to wear.

I wish that this wasn't so blurry. She's going "Grrrr!"

The costume has a stuffed tail with magenta accents on the spikes.

Oh no!  It's the Poison Dart Frog Girl!

The eyes are painted plastic easter egg pieces (round end) and glued in place with Aileen's OK to Wash-It glue.

I cheated on this one a bit. The wings are store bought but they matched the skirt so well I couldn't pass it up.

Crochet

 

 

This was a Christmas gift I did for my In-Laws. It was lots of fun. I've also made a slew of hats and scarves over the years that my family wears.

Handkercheif Curtains

Of course, no sewing compilation would be complete without curtains. I've made several curtains over the years. Here are the ones in the living room.

I had a collection of odd buttons that I used to create the details on the points of the curtain topper.

Hypertufa Creations

II've worked with hypertufa for a while and really enjoyed it. But found it too time consuming as actions had to be taken at certain times of hardness of the cement mixture. I had to plan a period of three days around the projects which is hard when you have a small child needing attention as well.

Several pieces were sold at Raleigh's Flea Market. I wish I had pictures of them as well. I'll have to see if I can dig up an old photo CD.

My Pond

I created this pond with the help of my husband and his stronger back. But you'd be impressed what can be done with a pick ax as a lever. Also in this picture you can see additional hypertufa pieces. One had a lantern perched on it and the other is a column.  My husband found he really likes these columns.  They are great for target practice. Kinda like stationary skeet. I hope he doesn't take this one for practice.  It's also the base of the bird bath that's pictured above.

I wanted a hidden way for the waterfall to start so I used hypertufa to create the two stones sandwiched between two real stones to raise the smaller one and create a hole.

This is a hypertufa pot which is set slightly into the water so I don't have to remember to water this plant. The plant tag said it liked staying wet and so far, so good.

Wall Effects and Murals

How can you take a picture of a hole in the wall bath? Dunno. I saw this effect on the Better Homes and Gardens website and recreated it here. The squares were creating using application tape that you use on vinyl lettered signs.  I found the blue painting tape was unforgiving on the previous layer but the ap tape worked well to give straight lines.

Paintings

This is a view outside my front door.

I've always liked elephants. Originally tried to do this in watercolors but I royally screwed up the background.

Additional Things

This list is still incomplete. I have more murals to show that are in my home. And I'll need to see if I can find pictures of the ones I did elsewhere in homes and for businesses.

Also, more sewing items, more jewelry, and more thoughts about what it means to be creative. Are you creative based on store bought crafts or does it include creating things with what you have. Does interior design count? Does landscaping? Canning vegetables and making jams? Vegetable gardening? Raising chickens? If so, I am by no means done because I do all of these things and so much more. But most of all, my proudest creation is my daughter. She is my reason for being above all else. Teaching her and creating a citizen that will be able to stand on her own with her own free will and free thoughts gives me strength every day.