Meet The Artist Behind: Lu and Ed

Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff, fun stuff. 

My name is Cody, and I live in Kansas City, Missouri. I moved here about 4 years ago from the East Coast and I still think it's pretty weird here, haha. I moved here to be with my fiance, Trace. :) We have known each other for like 13 years now! I have a young son, and when he's in school is when I do most of my monster making.

Apart from creating things, what do you do? Do you have a day job? 

I am really lucky to be out of the corporate day job world. All of my past work history is in customer service and marketing, and every job I have ever had I was quickly promoted into either supervisor or management positions (probably because I am an over-achieving workaholic), and while I LOVE that type of work, I enjoy what I do now way more. That experience though... It definitely reflects on how I operate with Lu & Ed - I pour my soul into my work and love every single moment of it!

What first made you want to become an artist?

You know, if you had asked me this a year ago I would say I had no idea. But now I realize I come from a really artistic and crafty family! My dad quilted and sewed, my mom sewed our clothes, canned foods, and made all kinds of homemade treats like fruit rolls and stuff, my oldest brother is a wood worker, my other brother a ceramics artist as well as a calligrapher, my sister is amazing at embroidery and cross stitch. And it goes beyond that. My cousin went to school for graphic design and also culinary school to decorate cakes, she also sculpts, paints, and makes huge wire sculptures. My uncle is also a wood worker, and my other cousin is a hair stylist, and another cousin is a jewelry maker. I have been creating as long as I can remember, starting with hand quilting when I was about eight, embroidery, cross stitch, painting, ceramics. I actually entered some juvenile ceramic competitions when I was about 12 and won a few ribbons. :) I started sewing with a sewing machine three years ago this month - when I made my very first Mon-stor!

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

I am a very inspired creative person - when I am creating I typically have music on and I completely and totally zone out. To select fabrics for Mon-stors I typically grab one fabric that is screaming at me to be used, and toss other fabrics on it until I have a THE match. Then I set in to 'em with a pair of scissors, pin 'em, and crank up the tunes and get lost in my thoughts. The entire process is exciting for me, when I start seeing the monster come together I start telling myself how awesome it is and how cute it's going to be. I don't plan anything about monsters, it all just kind of flows and jives. When it's time for the face I just start cutting pieces, shaping them, placing them, sewing them down. When it's all done I am always thrilled and excited by what I have created!

What handmade possession do you most cherish?
 
Oh, that's a tough one! There are a few. One of them is a rainbow necklace from The Mollie Shop that the owner sent me as a gift because I wouldn't shut up about how much I loved it haha! Another is also from The Mollie Shop, and it's a goodie she tossed in with my latest order - a super duper cute Mon-stor bow made with an image of my mascot, Gabos! There are a few pieces of handmade jewelry I wear very frequently, a rainbow ribbon ladder necklace from Streeter, Ltd, a rainbow seed bead bracelet from Melli's Trinkets, and a clay heart pendant made by a dear friend of mine.

What makes you giggle? 

Punny stuff, most definitely. And my kid. He is hilarious, seriously, one of the funniest people I have ever met in my life.

What inspires you? 
My kid, he is as much of an art enthusiast as I am. And I don't mean I stand there and scratch my chin while I gaze at art, I get REALLY excited by art. If I see something that I love or that excites me I get all bouncy and start talking (read, exclaiming) how awesome it is. My son is the same way, when I show him a monster I've made and he starts bouncing and talking about how cool it is I know I've done something right! I'm also really inspired by color and patterns. :)

What’s your superpower?

If I had to name one, I would have to say optimism and positive vibes, I shoot them like lasers. ;)

Wishes for the future?

Lots of monsters! :) I'm not much of a planner so it'll be a surprise. More of a fly by the seat of your pants kinda gal. I never thought Lu & Ed would be where it is now, but it has grown and changed so much. I love it! Can't wait to see how much more it evolves in the future.

Interview with Craftypod

I had so much fun with my image only answers to the questions Diane from craftpod's questions. See the whole interview here. :) Please leave a comment!

Getting to Know Dana of CafeD...

Fellow Etsian and LabRat, Dana (CafeD), is a very interesting person. Here's my interview with her and the fun things I learned about her and her Etsy shop.

What's your favorite part of vintage goods? How'd you get started?
Well, my love for vintage - specifically WW2 era - began early. Growing up, our home was filled to the brim with bright bold VERY modern furniture. Red, white and blue giant beanbags. Black and white plastic stackable cubes. There used to be a 60's and 70's style magazine called Apartment Life. Our house would have been perfect for the cover. Ironically, while that brought energy and vibrancy to the home for my Mom, to me it was cold and lacked intimacy.

It's funny - Mom's favorite music was WW2 era - Andrew Sisters, Glenn Miller, etc. We'd sing and dance to it. Nice warm memories. From an early age I was drawn to things like lace, needlepoint, deep dark warm wood furniture with marble tops. Mom would say it's so old and "Grandma" - yet, there was a sparkle of comfort in her eye when she said that.

That's what draws me in.
Warmth and love. To me, some minor chips of scratches in a vintage piece simply mean that it's been handled - probably loved and cherished. I like that. I used some vintage Samsonite on our recent honeymoon where we stayed one of our nights in a vintage Airstream trailer - just like Lucy and Desi.

Do you collect anything specific in your home/work space? (secret set of cream pitchers somewhere maybe?)

LOL - sorta of. I have a set of vintage china pats. For those unfamiliar, butter pats are tiny plates that would sit at each place setting with a pat of butter on each. It's similar to having an individual salt cellars with each setting. Butter pats are sometimes accidentally sold as dollhouse tea settings. I fell in love with them in college and went antiquing and junking on the weekends to avoid studying! I have a small collection of different kinds of pretty flowered butter pats.


Other than that, I try to have things around the house that are what I call "everyday vintage." We use vintage stoneware plates with snowflakes on them during the Winder. We have vintage cheese boxes holding our wii controllers and the tv remote - you can see ideas like that on our blog. And, you will soon be seeing some vintage cheese boxes of different sizes for sale in our Etsy shop. I have some milk glass bowls and silver vases that get used (not just dusted) in our home - and similar items will appear here and there in our Etsy shop, too.


Your sets of vase and bowl filler are so intriguing -- what do you think makes a good bowl filler?
Aw, thanks! Well, to me the vase and bowl fillers are simply an easy way to bring some outdoor love into your home. Casual outdoor style. What makes a good bowl filler? It can be different colors of like textures - such as the Tan and Chocolate Pom Poms currently in our Etsy shop. Or, it can be fun to contrast shapes and colors - like our Tucson Sunset set. (Yep, that's Tucson, not Tuscan. It was inspired by our recent honeymoon in Arizona - driving to Italy would have been one wet adventure!)

Our family loves the outdoors. And, we know that we are blessed to live in an area where pine cones, acorns, seed pods and pieces of fallen bark make our day a more beautiful place. We have fun collecting and sorting it and we are glad to share our bounty with others.

Are you working on any super secret projects you'd like to share?
Well, it wouldn't be a secret if I told, would it? Just kidding.

It's not shock to most that our wedding was mostly DIY. (And, many Etsy sellers played a part, too. It's how I decided to open a shop.) Our Outdoor (again, no surprise) DIY Rustic Wedding featured many of my vintage loves. So now I'm rolling around the idea of making some of those items available in larger sets - perfect for weddings. For example, our Rustic Candles wrapped in Twine are currently available in sets of 2...I can make those in sets of 12 for easy one-stop rustic shopping for brides! I have a handful of wedding focused ideas rolling around in my noggin. And, other non-wedding rustic and vintage treasures coming, too. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for new listings.

Can you tell us the story behind your name -- CafeD?
A few years ago I started our blog - Cooking at Café D - focusing on...no surprise here...Cooking. I had a voracious appetite (pardon the pun) for everything food related. And, since I was single, yet cooking enough for an army - I was feeding everyone from co-workers to the washing machine delivery men. )I literally sent the delivery men off with plates of food). The blog was a way to get some of that energy out.

Over time, my vintage style has made more of an appearance on the blog. Then completely out of the blue, God re-introduced me to an old college friend and his 2 fabulous sons. I soon married that amazing guy. My life - and my blog - became more eclectic...focusing on food, family, and frugality.

When we decided to open our Etsy shop, it was partially out of necessity. I needed to make room for my new husband and 2 step-sons! So passing on cherished treasures to new homes became my goal...and our shop slogan. My blog and Facebook page are still called Cooking at Cafe D - but they're much more than cooking! Both are great ways to find out about new things in our Etsy shop, CafeD, too.

Any advice for Etsy newbies?
Sell what you love. Really. Because by the time you make it, photograph it, tweak the pics, write it up, list it, and water it and feed it...if you don't love it - you cold easily resent it. If it's your passion, then you'll get energy from the process. Otherwise it will zap you, rather than fill you up.

We are still a new store - we just opened at the end of October! So each new sale brings a smile to our faces. Literally, we cheer...Yea!!!! Yeah, we can be dorky. *wink*

Anything else you'd like to share?
I really hope that those who are on Facebook drop by our page. (I have an on-going contest with my husband. He has a blog that constantly gets more "likes" than me and I want to pull ahead. Just kidding. Sort of. *grin*)

Actually, I love hearing from folks, whether it's through Facebook, the blog, Twitter, or Convos (Etsy calls messages "conversations.") If you've tried our Corner Bakery's Chicken Petso Cavatappi recipe off the blog and your family liked it - let us know! If you have a Rustic Bowl Filler color combination in mind that you want to see - tell us! You might our next inspiration!

(And, if you just want my "likes" on Facebook to pull ahead of my husband's...well, you get the idea....)

You can enter below to win rustic decor of your very own - AND, then head to CafeD's blog to enter to win something from La Alicia!

TO ENTER:

Simply leave us a comment below telling us color rustic decor you'll choose.
I've given you a glimpse into her shop but you'll want to check out her FULL SHOP! There will be 2 winners - each winning a small set of 3 Handmade Rustic Decor Balls in their choice of colors!

EVERYONE is a WINNER with 15% in CafeD's store with code "CafeD15".

This giveaway is open WORLDWIDE!
(Dana will ship directly to you)

Contest runs through Friday, April 29th, 2011 at 8 p.m. (Central)
Winners will be randomly chosen.

For up to 5 additional entries:

1. Twitter - Rustic Decor - GIVEAWAY!
http://la-alicia.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-to-know-dana-of-cafed.html

2. Facebook status - Rustic Decor - GIVEAWAY!
http://la-alicia.blogspot.com/2011/04/getting-to-know-dana-of-cafed.html

3. "Like" Both of our Facebook pages.
CafeD's is here and mine is here.

4. "Follow" - Both of our blogs via Google Friend Connect.
Our blogs are Cooking at Cafe D and Creative Adventures.

5. "Heart" Both of our Etsy shops.
Dana's Shop is Cafe D and mine is La Alicia.

Leave a separate comment below for each entry.
Please be sure to either leave your e-mail address...
Or, be sure your e-mail is easily found if I click on your comment.

So, check out her store, then tell us below:
If you win what color rustic decor will you choose?

Feature: Texas Beadz

Here's my interview with the woman behind Texasbeadz.

Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff, fun stuff.

I'm Lynn from Dallas surrounds and I am an Etsy-holic. Yes, I do admit I am
a holic of the beading kind. I love everything jewelry so the best way to
feed the need is to make it...and make it...and make it. I have a shop on
Etsy that has items ranging from $10 to $150, fluff to fabulous. Favorite is
anything pearlie!

Apart from creating things, what do you do? Do you have a day job?

I actually wear several hats and when I'm not creating jewelry I also have a
travel business helping plan upscale cruise vacations. In my spare time
(hear the roaring laughter) I also help my husband with his consulting firm.
I love the end of the day when we chop wood and start a roaring fire (ok,
I'm going to tell the truth, it's gas). I head in to the kitchen with a
glass of wine and start my favorite pastime, cooking. My forte is rustic
foods and especially Italian cooking. With over 100 cookbooks the only time
they are touched is when they get dusted or I need a little inspiration.

When not creating, planning or cooking, I love to golf, hang with my best
friend husband and play with our friends. We are no longer travel bugs both
having to do international travel for a living over 20 years, so staying
home is the best place we can be!!

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

My inspiration comes mostly from the ocean. My love for water drives me to
the elements of and around the sea. Pearls are my favorite element and
second would be earth elements. I go for texture, color and is it appealing
to the touch. Then just sit down and away we go. No studying, no drawing, no getting up in the middle of the night. I just sit down and see what happens with the materials in front of me.


What handmade possession do you most cherish?

I think I would have to say my most cherished personally made item are my grandmothers faceted amber beads that I restrung last year. They date back to the 30s if not before and have such character. I don't really recall her ever wearing them because I think they have been broken since I was born (not telling)



What inspires you?

Internal serenity and peace. Sounds corny but it's really
true. I have a loving best friend of a husband that supports anything I do,
I live in a wonderfully quiet environment surrounded by nature. My life is
in total balance with fitness and health so with this combination, I have
nothing to muddy my mental waters and have complete clarity to create pretty
much on demand. Just wish I had more time to create and let the admin get
done by the fairies!

Karma Crochet

I met Patricia the woman behind Karma Crochet at the Etsy Dallas BeerBQ event. Here's my interview with her... I hope you enjoy getting to know her as much as I did. :)

Introduce yourself, please. (name, location, shop site, blogsite, etc.)
My name is Patricia and I currently live in Dallas, TX with 3 cats: Sam, Jessie and Melba. I was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I moved to the US 10 years ago.
Shop site: www.karmacrochet.com
Blog: www.karmacrochet.blogspot.com

Is Etsy your primary “job”? If not, what else do you do?
I work full time for a software company, there I wear several hats but my main function is
to supervise the customer service and technical support team. I started my Etsy store in January this year and my current goal for it is to get supplemental income doing what I love: crafting. Long term, I see it as an occupation during retirement but that is wa-a-a-ay far away.

What’s your favorite color and why?
My favorite color is blue, it soothes me very much, however I go through phases with green, orange, pink, brown, gray and black. Sometimes I like to surprise myself with different colors.

If you could have a super power, which would it be? why?
Hmmm super power...I always liked the idea of looking at the magazine and being able to grab the item pictured and have it in my hands.

What have you created that you are most proud of?
Every item I create gives me a sense of accomplishment, however I made a wall hanging in filet crochet (this was years ago) that took me a year to finish. I treasure it.

What’s your fave snack and why?
I'm not a snacker, but if I have to I grab cheese - I love cheese all kind especially the stinky ones.

What kinds of things do you do to get the creative juices flowing?
More than doing something to motivate me I just wait until something comes to mind. I really do not force it I just go with the flow.

If you could be a fruit, what kind would you be and why?
I will say strawberry, small and sweet.

How did you get started creating things and what is your best loved material to work with?
I started knitting and crochetting at an early age, (4 or 5 years old) for my Barbie, in Argentina you could not buy her clothes. I also sew and do embroidery but I always liked yarn. Still amazes me that from that stringy material you create very cool stuff. I also like fabric and paper, the colors and patterns make me feel alive.

In 10 years I'd like to be ...
able to do crafts from home full time and get away from the corporate environment.

If you could sign up for a class right now, what would it be?
Oh yes, piano lessons I would love to play the piano.

Thanks for taking the time to tell me about you, Patricia. I enjoyed it. Please be sure to check out her shop. She has fabulous gift items for your holiday needs or to treat yourself.

Interview with a Purveyor of Vintage Wares

Here's my interview with Kim L. Blose, Purveyor of Vintage Wares...

So Kim, would you tell us a little bit about your business?
KLB purveys of a wide variety of quality vintage and hand-made treasures at reasonable prices, and is now located within the 135 Antiques and More mall in Irving, Texas. Right now we have over 400 items in stock — small furniture, china, collectible souvenirs, linens, oil paintings, needlepoint, pressed glass, confection jars and more. Hand-made items include hand-crocheted rag rugs and pillows made from vintage fabrics.

I don't want to ask you to divulge your sources for these fun treasures, but how often can we look for new items in your space?
Our stock is refreshed weekly.

What's the special deal that you're currently offering?
50% off your items purchased from KLB Vintage Wares, using the coupon below. Contact us at if you are looking for something in particular. We’ll add you to the “call” list, giving you first choice if we come across something that might be of interest to you.

Thanks for the interview, Kim. I hope you'll come back soon and share some tips and tricks with us about shopping vintage.