APPLAUSE, Please?

Allow me if you will,  to introduce you to New Morning Glass, owned and operated solely by Mary Kernan and Jack Doebler, glass blowers.  A short version of their history can be found here .   Possibly you know this Glass Blowing duo already, or if you do not know of "them" you have seen or purchased one or more of their products, and for those who have not met them yet, they make hand blown glass Jewelry, Stained Glass and Door Knobs for your doors and cabinets like these pictured below....

Mary and Jack hand make not only beautifully exquisite glass and hand blown pieces, but have managed to make a niche for themselves and opening their shop at Etsy with their practical and beautifully crafted glass door knobs!   They also sell the specially designed hardware for those crafted knobs.  Convince yourself any one of these wouldn't be a gorgeous enhancement to your doors and cabinets. 

New Morning Glass began its life selling hand blown glass door and cabinet knobs at Etsy in 2011 and now brings them to 2014 and their entry nomination as one of the "Wildcard" finalists in the Martha Stewart American Made Summit Competition,  for best of the Hand Crafting and Hand Made product shops across America!  KUDO's to Mary and Jack!

According to the Rules of this competition finalists,  all 800 of them were chosen by Martha Stewart and juries, and,  an additional 200 shops through the People's Choice section of the competition.  From this huge cross section of shops who make their products only 9 winners will be decided on through a Jury and one winner alone based on the amount of votes it receives from the "people" that means you and me, all of us can vote foe a winner in this Category!!!

Martha Stewart states........ “Since our earliest days as a company, we have celebrated artisanal initiative, local provenance, and creative entrepreneurialism. With American Made, we honor and support a growing population of those makers who create beautiful and useful products, pioneer new industries, and improve their local communities.”

This is in its own way a very important, prestigious and exciting contest.  It showcases SMALL BUSINESS ENTREPRENEURS!  
How very exciting it is then to discover an Etsy Artisan business being chosen to be representative of small business too!  Especially exciting because I am also an Etsy Small business owner.  I am so proud that small business who sells on Etsy is being showcased, in the long run it also helps me!

Small business people operating shops at Etsy are contributors in the economic market place and while not all are able to create jobs, at least they support their local economies and assisting in job losses, while statistics probably won't confirm my opinion, I truly believe Etsy Hand Made Crafters are large contributors to many other huge corporate enterprises,  if only for the fact that many of their supplies for their craft comes from sources which employ other people. A very huge circle which is inclusive in many ways to prosperity.   Since the Great Depression Era, it has always been the small business which have held the economies together.

In this case a Small Business which sells at Etsy has a chance to become a winner and earn the prestige as Hand Made Hand Crafting Small Business Entrepreneurs!  This then is my reason for showcasing only one shop today!

To those who read my blog,  will you join with me and invest a few moments of your day until this competition is final to vote for one of our own? ************** IF WILLING TO VOTE then here is the vote link!****************you  may have to join, I did join and I clicked on the vote now link in the bottom right hand corner of the New Morning Glass competitor page. 

Who knows, possibly next year it may be another small business which operates at Etsy chosen in this small hand made business competition and we would then hope for as much support as we can muster. 



****The choice of items I choose to write about is my own, I am not affiliated with any crafting community, sellers or store owners and no individual or company pays for my blogging about any article or item contained within this blog. I do not know nor am I affiliated with any person or shop I write about in any whatsoever*****

COAXED FROM HIDING

Exquisite hand made items are genuinely an art form, hard to beat!  Usually the one of a kind items which are created and formed from the mind of the Artiste is something unique and makes for that special gift giving!

It isn't difficult to find hand made objects on Etsy, all you have to do is begin an exploration.  Like Livingston you will stumble upon something so different and wonderful you just have to have it or better yet buy it for that someone in your life you know will appreciate that hunted for and claimed treasure you know will be appreciated for many, many years to come, possibly even become an heirloom to be held as precious and with reverence.

To coax life from a certain medium is a genuine art in and of itself!

It wasn't difficult for me to find these glass blown Storks, these are so life like as if they'd just flown into your home and decided to stay!  Look at how very graceful these glass figurines are !  You really see the finesse in this skilled craft of  Karel Sobotka whose works are featured through WhiteGiraffesGifts
Hand blown glass of this quality is rare these days!  

Craft skill is something I do not possess!  Skill such as these Artiste's display of their workmanship comes from much trial, error, and untold years of honing their instincts in how their minds perceive the piece to look when finished.  

NOW ROCK ART is very unique!  The artist takes a gift from Mother Nature and as a visionary, pulls from that rock it's hidden lifeform!  In this case this Turtle is so lifelike as to make one think it may actually be a live creature.  It takes a far sighted artist to pull this character out of its shell, (metaphorically speaking of course)  to unveil the beauty they find buried inside. This is certainly the case with RockArtiste. 

The art of hand painting Glass is making a comeback as well, take this beautifully hand painted Dragon from Siampaint!    A person would have to possess a great deal of patience with themselves to coax color and life into a piece that began its life journey as a piece of clear blown glass!  This Dragon has been made regal and non menacing and ceremonial in its stance and coloring.   Bet this Dragon would bring much luck to its' owner!

Another hand made art form making a comeback in Fine arts is that specialized ability of beading!  This takes the utmost patience for certain to achieve still life art with the use of Beads!  I fell under the spell of this artist when I found this splendid handmade nest and the beaded eggs lovingly set into it!  I really can believe Mother Robin is very nearby and will be at her nest in no time.  This workmanship is precise, just check out the speckling on the eggs, now are these not splendidly made to look so real?  This art form of Meridith Dada and this specific piece of work can be found over at Meredith Dada's shop.

ANOTHER ART FORM making wonderful inroads on the Art Scene is FELTING, extremely difficult but rewarding if you have the skill!  Take this needle felted Sheep sculpture!  It's very dreamy appearance is so sweet and eye catching, how could you not want to give this as a gift to an adorable little child who would be fascinated with this near her bedside and inducing the sweetest of nightly dreams?

This particular sculpture can be discovered over at CozyMilArt.  

To those who appreciate hand made fine art there is nothing so special as trekking the trails to hand made shops of the Artisans whose shops are open 24/7 for anyone who has that adventurous streak and who appreciates the ingenuity of the person who spent the time to hone their skills and make such wonderful objects for others to share and enjoy!

****The choice of items I choose to write about is my own, I am not affiliated with any crafting community, sellers or store owners and no individual or company pays for my blogging about any article or item contained within this blog. I do not know any person or individual nor am I affiliated with them in any way whatsoever*****