Friday Feature!

This week I will be featuring TWO great etsy shops! These shops are Finnashe and MetalSmitten.

First up Finnashe! This little etsy shop sells a little bit of everything!

Hi! My name is Barbara and I love to create. I have been dabbling in crafts since my little girl was born... 13 years ago. I love to paint, draw, photograph, and play with all kinds of media. Art relaxes me and I find the creative side of myself peekin out in all different directions. A Marlylander, born and bred, I spend my time with my husband, Barry, and my daughter Katie, and of course my shelties, Finnegan, Ashlar, and Aiden.

I inherited my artsy side from my father and grandfather. Both could sketch and I learned my love of sketching from them. My mom was a knitter and crocheter and I learned how to do this from her. In my late 20's, I and a college chum, decided to start our own jewelry busines which lasted about 3 years. I stopped for a few years since my daughter consumed much of my free time. But I liked to visit craft fairs and such. At one of these events, I saaw a flyer for a paint class and decieded to go for it. While i was taking the painting classes, I also began to make jewelry again. I sold at local shows and hosted home parties in people's homes. I have also experimented with furniture refinishing and decorative funiture painting, and stained glass mosaics.

I then took the next couple of years off due to personal reasons, but after my divorce, I was much happier and consequently, much more motivated to create again. I am now married to my second, and I will add, my last husband, Barry. He is a super guy and very supportive of my arty side. He thinks it's really cool that I am way into science and art at the same time.

Today's Second Shop is MetalSmitten! This shop is quite creative, featuring all sorts of metal work!

I'm a 26 year old trained silversmith who loves turning metal and rocks into sparklie things to wear. I try to be as eco-friendly as I can with my jewelry, using recycled metals (refined,not mined!) for everything. I tried playing around with several differend craft areas, like woodworking and textiles ect., but metalworking was the one that really just stole my heart. I've always loved working with my hands and being artsy, but I never was so great at painting or anything like that, where as I feel like metalsmithing just came naturally.

I'm a sucker for puns. MetalSmitten is a pun on "metalsmithin." All told, ive been doing my craft for about six or seven years now. I plan to be doing this for the rest of my life, or at least until my hands are too arthritic to move. Usually I prefer to make a bund of one of a kind items, but I just introduced my first real product line!

Where else can you find MetalSmitten?
How about on Facebook, or on Twitter!

Thanks so much for checking out my two featured shops!