AGTeam Mother's Day Gift Guide

 

MOM Little House Ceramic Village by TheLittleRedDoor

With spring blossoming in the Northern Hemisphere, one of the season's most wonderful holidays, Mother's Day, is just a few weeks away.  You don't need to look any further than the beautiful shops of the Artisans Gallery Team members to find lovely handmade gifts for every mom.  Whether you are shopping for jewelry, home decor or artwork, you are bound to spot something wonderful for the special people you would like to treat to an artisanal gift this Mother's Day.  Here are just a few suggestions to get things started. For more ideas, please browse the international Artisans Gallery Team shop categories on the right or search for keywords "agteam mother day" or just "agteam" on Etsy.

Single Flower Earrings in Sapphire, Rose Quartz and Mandarin Garnet

by FussJewelry (Connecticut, USA)

 

Blue Bells 8x10 Fine Art Flower Nature Photography Print

by TheEye (British Columbia, Canada)

Little Nut Necklace
by PoleStar (North Carolina, USA) 

Tea Time original watercolor painting

by TheJoyOfColor (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Hand Textured Porcelain Vase

by NewMoonStudio (Rhode Island, USA)

Handpainted Scarf

by Birribe (Stockholm, Sweden)

 

Reef bracelet

by JibbyAndJuna (Pennsylvania, USA)

 

Pie Plate Footed Cutting Board

by GrayWorksDesign (New York, USA)

 

Wool felt Kangaroo Mom and Joey 

by EvesLittleEarthlings (Ontario, Canada)

Noodle stoneware Serving Bowl

by OneClayBead (North Carolina, USA) 

Lavender Hand Pulled Linocut

by PeaseBlossomStudio (Texas, USA)

Pear Small Funky Vase

by RomyAndClare (Indiana, USA) 

 

Children's Names Necklace Personalized

by moonovermaize (Virginia, USA)

fine art giclee print

by gretchenmist (Melbourne, Australia)

Bel Fiore Ring

by BeyondTheRockz (Connecticut, USA)

 

2 Crocheted Macarons

by Beliz82 (Paris, France)

Dandelion wish necklace in silver

by LuluBugJewelry (California, USA)

LOVE Languages - LongSleeve T-Shirt

by BuckToothedBunny (Massachussetts, USA)

Honeysuckle Baby Alpaca & Silk Knit Scarf

by TickledPinkKnits (New York, USA)

Peek. Bought. Handmade.

Today is part 3 of our new series about some of the handmade pieces Artisans Gallery team members have in their own collections. Jen from Polestar shares one of her favorite pieces of jewelry with us - a ring made by AG team member Monica from moonovermaize.

Last week, Genevieve commented "It's cool to see items I have seen on Etsy in their natural environment, in a home, being loved, being used." So very true!

Jen said: "I really wanted a simple moonstone ring so I approached Monica of moonovermaize about making a custom ring for me almost exactly a year ago.  She offered to trade which was awesome, and she made this gorgeous ring for me.  I wear it quite often and just love the glow of the blue moonstone."

What are some of your favorite handmade Etsy pieces?

art & patience (part 4 in a series on the roots of design)

A few weeks ago, we began this series by asking artisans about the seeds of their inspiration and the roots of their design.

(photo above, of Monica's rustic silver heart necklace - all photos that follow are from moonovermaize as well)

In part 4 of the series, Monica from moonovermaize shares beautiful insight into her own creative path. And the patience required to find her way. I love this quote about patience by Edward Bulwer-Lytton: "Patience is not passive; on the contrary, it is active; it is concentrated strength." Indeed.

"For me, it was not a specific moment, but a conglomeration of artistic attempts gone wrong. I was always trying out different forms of art growing up from drawing to painting to sculpting to making mosaics and sewing. Seeing as my Mom is an incredible seamstress I thought it would come naturally....I was so wrong on that one!"

Monica is pretty sure she "tried nearly every art/craft under the sun and I was always left a bit disappointed as the final product never came out as I had envisioned it. It has never stopped me from searching though and then I tried out some metalsmith techniques about a year ago and I had finally found what I'd been searching for!"

"It felt right. My hands could manipulate the tools and supplies to form exactly what was in my mind. Now that I've found what I love it is a matter a perfecting techniques and allowing myself to grow in this line of work. Seeing as it took some patience to get to this point I believe it has also taught me patience in my art of metal work."

Creative Fire: Rumi

The 13th Century poet and mystic Rumi has been a touchstone of mine for decades. My own blog The Beauty You Love is an ode to his famous line: Let the beauty you love be what you do.

Rumi uses words the way that I use clay. He takes me places that are peaceful, pure, and sometimes, only music or Rumi can soothe the places that ache. It won’t make sense. And maybe the lesson here is that what we really need is something that doesn’t make any sense at all.

Do not grieve for what is lost.  Anything you lose comes round in another form.

Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.

We are the mirror as well as the face in it.

We are tasting the taste this minute of eternity.

We are pain and what cures pain both.

We are the sweet cold water and the jar that pours.

I want to hold you close like a lute so we can cry out with loving.

You would rather throw stones at a mirror?

I am your mirror, and here are the stones.

When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.

………………………………………………………….

Click on any picture to find the artisan’s work.

Lee/OneClayBead