GreekArt interview & giveaway - ended

5 piece glasses charms from GreekArt.etsy.com

Grab your sunglasses! Today we're off to Kavala, Greece for a visit with Evlambios Chatzilazaridis, owner of the Etsy.com shop, GreekArt. 

GreekArt.Etsy.com

Evlambios creates a variety of jewelry and home decor items out of both wood

Wood Dragon Wall Hanging from GreekArt

and  plexiglass. 

Earring Display - Blue Color from GreekArt

You can also find a selection of jewelry supplies and felt shapes. I stumbled into this fun shop while searching for adjustable ring blanks and was impressed by the beautiful glass coasters, wooden boxes and other handcrafted items. 

4 tree of life glass coasters with wood base 

Lucky for us, Evlambios has a few minutes to chat.... and also kindly donated a wonderful prize for the latest Thursday Giveaway! The drawing's details are at the bottom of this post, but first lets find out more about this artisan and Etsy seller. (By the way, clicking the links under any of these photos to find more about item.)

Have you always liked making things?

EC: Yes. I remember as a kid I would alter my toys with other materials. 

What are your favorite materials to work with? Why?

EC: I love to work with wood. I think it is a special material with which you can do beautiful things.

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?

EC: Many ideas are from my buyers. And I make internet searches everyday for new ideas.

You have over 2600 sales on Etsy. Do you have any advice for new Etsy sellers?

EC: If you make something you love, you will succeed and have many buyers. Just loving my work makes everything easy for me.

Do you sell your pieces outside of Etsy?

EC: I have two more online shops. The one is Craftland.Artfire.com and the other on Craftland.Dawanda.com. You can also find me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/craftland.gr.

What is your favorite item in your shop?

EC: For me is the small boxes with the engraving design on the lid. I love to do new designs!!

assortment of carved wooden boxes from GreekArt

I just love these details on these boxes too, don't you? Well, guess what - if you enter the latest ArtSnark Artifacts random drawing, you might just take home one of these handsomely carved containers. Evlamblios is generously offering one lucky winner their favorite box from the "Secret Boxes" section of his etsy shop. There are dozens of great designs to choose from, so click here and pick the one you like the most. The winner will be selected on March 28th.

Random Drawing Rules - there are 3 ways to enter

1. Simply leave a comment on my blog 

2. visit GreekArt.etsy.com & then return here with a link to your favorite item

3. share this post on your blog, facebook or twitter and return here to let me know

All comments must be left before 1 a.m. (EST) on 3/28. Please leave an email address if your contact info is not in your blog profile. This random drawing is open worldwide and the prize ships free to winner.

Many thanks to Evlambios for donating his creative work to this fun giveaway, also for taking the time to visit with us today. And thank you, readers, for taking the time to leave a comment. It is always good to hear from you and the arts and craftsmen featured in these interviews really appreciate the feedback. 

"What Most Schools Don't Teach"

You may have already caught this video - I saw it on Pinterest over breakfast and sent it to my 3rd grader. After school this afternoon he checked his email & came running into my office shouting - is there a school around here that teaches coding?! 

Why don't more public school teach this? Computers are everywhere .. and many kids are already more tech- savvy than their parents ( I know mine is!).

Tell All - Final project from The Pulse #5

last installment of The Pulse #5

Have you been following The Pulse, over at  Seth Apter's The Altered Page? Last year I participated in Seth's survey of artists and answered lots of thought provoking questions. He's been posting all of the responses over at his website & it has been a really fun ride. The variety and open honesty of answers is fascinating! If this sounds interesting to you, visit today's installment titled "Tell All". My reply is included in today's chapter, found at this link (opens in new window).

If you'd like to catch up on other episodes of The Pulse #5, links can be found on my margin. For The Pulse years 1-4 check out the links the on right side of Seth's website.

Want to share your thoughts on the creative process? The new Pulse survey is up and there is still time to respond. You have until March 3 to click here for details.

Winner of $50 Novica Gift Certificate

That's right.... we have a winner!

Congratulations Amanda (aka Chameleiana) 

from Adventures In Dirt Biking

winner was selected using tools from random.org.

Woo hoo! Lucky Amanda takes home a $50 gift certificate to Novica.com. Many thanks to Novica for generously donating this fun prize! Novica carries a variety of hand crafted items from around the globe for your home

"Emerald Flower" etched wine glasses from Javier & Efren

and wardrobe.

Bali Blue batik dress by Arthur Karvan

Please note, I received a similar prize for hosting this random drawing. I'm waiting for some fun items that my family ordered & will be sure to share them here once they arrive.

By the way, Novica is also giving away an 8 day trip to Peru on their website. You have until 3/14/13 to enter - click here for details.

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Thank you to everyone who left a blog comment and entered today's drawing. Pop back next Thursday - I will be visiting with an artisan who has a fun shop on Etsy.com and is also donating the next giveaway prize. Hope to see you there!

Chuck Close on "painter's block"

"Inspiration is for amateurs — the rest of us just show up and get to work. And the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will — through work — bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never have dreamt of if you were just sitting around looking for a great ‘art idea.’ And the belief that process, in a sense, is liberating and that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every day. Today, you know what you’ll do, you could be doing what you were doing yesterday, and tomorrow you are gonna do what you did today, and at least for a certain period of time you can just work. If you hang in there, you will get somewhere."

- Chuck Close talking with Joe Fig for his book, Inside The Painter's Studio

Creative Souls ATC swap + bit of random

This month's Art Trading Card prompt over at CreativeSouls.com was birds +/or flowers. I'll be receiving this vibrant cardinal from Beverly Sams of the Dreams Of Pure Love blog :

B. Sams bird ATC for swap

I know my kiddo is going to snag this as soon as it arrives. He loves watching the cardinals and jays at the feeder outside his window. I'll also have to show him the photos Bevie recently took of the feathered friends in her backyard - you can see them by clicking here.

image nicked from TGBBC website

By the way, did you participate in the annual BackYard Bird Count? It is great fun for bird lovers and little kids! If you have a bird fan in your house, visit their site to download free posters, see what species folks are sharing sightings of and even enter a photo contest.

I went with flowers for my ATC to share - specifically a lady slipper with butterflies. (Sorry about the weird white bits - my scanner is misbehaving today so this is just a quicky cell-phone snap)

mixed media lady slipper ATC 

If you'd like to find out about (or better yet join in) the monthly C.S. art trading card swaps, click here. If you aren't a member of C.S. yet, it is free to join.

There is still time to the random drawing that I am hosting for Novica.com! You have until 1 a.m. (EST) on 2/21 to leave a comment on my blog & be entered. You can get two additional entries by following the instructions in the original post. Good Luck! 

Musical Monday Luuuve Songs

With Valentines Day right around the corner, Xmas Dolly is rocking the romance today. There are way too many groovy tunes to choose from but here are are a few of my faves. Starting with Bap Kennedy's Moonlight Kiss (above). Next we've got some Josh Ritter:

Looking for some more romantic inspiration? Pop on over to XmasDolly's place and bop along with her Monday blog hop. With an eclectic mix of hoppers, you'll have lots of lovely bits to choose from.

Caged Bird - Unkle with Katrina Ford

Want to strut your stuff? Post your favorite serenades and then share your link over at Dolly's new digs.

Another heart-day note: Cloth Paper Scissors is having a free Make-a-long Valentine webinar on 2/14 from 1-1:30 pm (EST). Click here for details - basically you register, collect the basic supplies & then click the link they email you to catch the tutorial. I have listened to a few of their online classes in the past & have really enjoyed them.

On a final note, have you entered the giveaway I am hosting for Novica.com? On 2/21 I'll draw a random winner from folks who have left a comment on my blog in the last few weeks. The lucky winner will receive a $50 gift certificate to the Novica online shop. You can actually get 3 entries into this drawing - find all the details here.

Illustration Friday - Wheel

ouroborus 

A belated entry for Illustration Friday "wheel" challenge. To see other takes or share your own visit IllustrationFriday.com