Saturday, November 26, 2011

Featured Artist: Starflycreations

I have the pleasure of having a wonderful artist, Starla Apodaca, as a leader on the NNNTeam. She is not only a great leader and former captain of this team, but also a most gracious woman and great teacher! She has mentored me in becoming captain and has been a valued and caring friend.

But besides all that, most importantly Starla is a great artist! She runs a shop on Etsy called Starflycreations. She creates original paintings, exclusive stationery designs and more. She recently created this fabulous custom work:


When I asked Starla about her life, she responded:

"God has blessed me with a wonderful family and talent. I've been married almost half my life. We have two wonderful children. A young teenage son who thinks he knows everything and a three-year old daughter who probably does! We have a dog, a turtle, and have been known to nurse injured green anoles back to health. We also love cats and have one which stays at my mom's due to allergies in the family. My son has great promise as a photographer and my daughter has great promise of being an adorably cute, walking, talking, dictionary!

My favorite activity, outside of spending it with family, has to be art. ART. ART. ART. I love creating! I've often referred to myself as AADD - Art Attention Deficit Disorder, as I cannot stick to one medium or style from commercial digital illustration to mixed media paintings, I love them all. To me, life is a beautiful chaotic mix of very special and very different moments. I try to reflect that in my work. To me, creating the same type of art every day is like having the same emotion every day. My art is a journey, just like my life.

I am the volunteer leader for art and computer science - graphic design for our local 4-H. So far in art, I've taught drawing, jewelry making, and polymer clay sculpture. Three of my students entered the state fair in polymer clay and all three won. In graphic design, I am currently teaching Adobe Photoshop but also have Illustrator and InDesign slated for this school year. I also volunteer with our local PTA and our church.

I have a BFA in Graphic Design with emphasis in communication arts. That's where I met my hubby. I've spent many years in advertising in the roles of graphic designer, art director and creative director before going back to freelance to grow my family. Now that my daughter is three, I will be gearing up the reigns to increase my activity, once again, in the commercial field too. My commercial portfolio may be viewed at www.starflycreations.com

I discovered Etsy through a friend of mine, Andrea. She sells adorably cute, whimsical paintings and children's decor. She is also a new NNNteam member. If it wasn't for Andrea, I would have never known about Etsy, nor would I have met such wonderful people through the teams that I am now fortunate to call my friends, so I wanted to give her a plug! Here is her shop www.andralynn.etsy.com

I am inspired by so much in my life that I cannot keep track and am notorious for leaving yellow sticky notes EVERYWHERE and never getting around to reading them all. My doodles and thoughts are not confined to sticky notes. I write on the back of envelopes, on magazines, note pads, anything and almost everything. Also - I love to read, though I am known not to pick up a book for a long while, and then read an entire book in one sitting because I may not get back to it again.
Starla's most recent project is polymer clay sculpture ornaments. She recently completed one of her daughter, pictured here:

Friday, November 11, 2011

Featured Artist: Heversonart

Artist Featured:  Heather Everson




Once upon a time, there was a jewelry artist named Heather Everson.  She runs a great shop on Etsy featuring handmade jewelry and artwork.  Her jewelry is not just of one type.  Rather, Heather creates pieces that are beaded, painted, wire-wrapped, etc.  The list goes on and on!  Each piece is an original and is carefully and artistically hand-crafted. 

I met Heather back in April 2011 when I first joined Etsy.  She is the current captain of the EtsyHeartsBeads Team, which happens to be the first team I ever joined!  Now she is a proud and active team member of our NNNTeam! 

Our very own NNNTeam artist Heather Everson lives in Escanaba, Michigan and is married with a beautiful 3-year-old girl Kaylie.  Since her pregnancy, she has been a big fan of hot peppers!  "I ate them constantly despite my husband's protests that our daughter would be born in a ball of fire and it just stuck with me I guess!"

In the mere 25 years Heather has been alive, she has accomplished quite a lot!  Right now, Heather is a stay at home mom, which everyone knows is a lot of work!  She works a full-time job during the Christmas season and part-time the rest of the year as an artist and jewelry designer.  Heather sells her wares on Etsy and in local craft shows as well.  Yet, though she still considers jewelry her "hobby", she hopes to expand once her child is in school.  I know this is one person who will accomplish whatever she wants!


When I asked Heather how she came to having a shop on Etsy, this is what she said:

"I knew a local artist who had a shop on Etsy and was impressed with the amount of handmade talent on Etsy.  I joined and found my own little niche too in Aug 2010!"

Her favorite thing to make is nature-inspired jewelry hand shaped from copper wire featuring creatures like birds, dragonflies, and leaves.  She says that there is plenty of inspiration that drives her, like the floral images from Georgia O'Keefe to real items in nature. 


Heather has been creating drawings and painting since she was a child.  And has been a snake-lover since then too!  About her recent expansion to jewerly, she told me, "Jewelry provided me with such a wonderful opportunity and still allows me to create unique works of art. I absolutely love my new calling and I hope that my work can find people who will cherish them as much as I loved making them!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Artist Lucary Treasury Feature: Hugs and Kisses

Our own NNNTeam artist Amy Fowler has created a luscious treasury for all to enjoy! Amy has a great Etsy shop called Lucary.

Click below to visit her shop:

http://www.lucary.etsy.com/







Click below to see more about this artist in our "Featured Artist" post:

http://nnnteam.blogspot.com/2011/10/featured-artist-lucary.html

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Blog Treasury Feature: Chatham's Crossing

This beautiful treasury was created by one of our very own NNNTeam members, Michelle Kennedy.



Not only does she make nice treasuries, but Michelle also has an Etsy shop filled with one-of-a-kind pieces of fashion jewelry.

To visit her shop, click the link below:

http://www.chathamscrossing.etsy.com/

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Artist KLHoey: The Fox and the Hound




This GORGEOUS treasury was created by one of our very own NNNTeam artists, Kerri Hoey. She runs a great Etsy shop with mixed media items, collage, and beautiful photographs.

You can find her here:

www.klhoey.etsy.com