Wild Over Lupines and Columbines

Although in 1895 the legislature adopted the Maine state flower as the White Pine Cone, if it came up for a vote my selection would have to be the Lupine. Since it grows wild here, there are fields and fields of this exquisite, colorful flower, even along the highways. It ranges in color from deep purple to white and stands up to 4 feet tall. There is no effort in growing these and no propagation needed. You can literally throw the seeds on the ground and soon you’ll see the seedlings appear. To get the most bang for your buck, you’ll want to plant them IN the soil!


They bloom in late Spring, early summer and you can get 2 bloomings by cutting off the flower after the first has died. It likes full to partial sun and damp soil. Because they have long taproots, they are not suppose to transplant well but I have found that it is easily done when the plants are small.

That brings me to the Etsy shop for the day! Maine Simple is the name of the shop and they’ll send you the seeds and all the instructions you need to grow this fabulous plant. Before long you will be attracting butterflies and hummingbirds for your enjoyment. Think of how stunning these would look on either side of your driveway or along the front of your house. My suggestion would be to pick up some Columbine while you are shopping; they have those as well.

The Lupines and Columbines are self-seeding so you don’t have to do anything in the fall to bring them back fuller and thicker each year. One thing though, as with many Perennials don’t look for these long stalks of colors on your Lupines the first year. I promise you though, it will be worth the wait!

Stop by Maine Simple and enjoy a piece of the way life should be.

Websites, Webhosting and Photography, OH MY

Do you want your own website? Are you confused about what came first the chicken or the egg? Me too!! It took me a year of digging so here are the steps I took to be able to open my own store cheap but with all the features I needed.
I have been designing and producing jewelry and fiber products for a few years now and had a shop on Etsy.com. That experience gave me the opportunity to break into the Internet marketing plane, something I was a little shy about for a while. I had some wholesale accounts but wanted to make this a full item occupation rather than burning the midnight oil in addition to a full time job. So I opened a little shop there. It took me 2 years to get up the courage to plunge into my own website. I am pretty much computer hostile so it took me some time to see that it might just have some benefits. I am science minded and have to analyze everything so first of course I had to do some research.
First I had to have the thing designed. I looked at other sites and came to a decision on the basic design I wanted. Something simple, not garish or trendy and I knew I did NOT want anything to dance or sing on my pages. My taste in music is not for everyone and I have left many sites because of the music or some dancing woman, flashing stuff, glitter all that stuff distracts me and makes me dizzy. I am 50, not 12; this is jewelry not dolls; so I don’t want cartoons on my pages. I love earth tones, despise neon, etc… So I had the basic concept, what next?
The next logical step is to find someone to do it for me because although I said I was computer hostile, I am really just inept! So I had to find someone to do it for me…

Fall Specials from Maine

There are lots of new and exciting works by Maine Artisans and you can get a glimpse at Etsy.com When you get there put in Mainefall in the search bar. The items pictured here are from 4 different artisans and do little to represent the variety of works you can peruse. There are clothing items, paintings, jewelry, dolls, toys, children's wear, ceramics and there are even items for your pet! So go to http://www.etsy.com/ and type in mainefall in the search bar. For even more of a treat you can type in Maineteam to so what they are all up to!

PASSION FOR ART,SILVER AND SCISSORS

Gergana lives in Portland, Maine and works in graphic design. Although Gergana has a "day" job her art is not simply a hobby to work away those cold Maine winters. It is a passion for her and a major part of her life that began as a child and has taken many forms throughout the years.
As a young girl Gergana was often seen with scissors in one hand and crayons in the other. Trading in her childhood supplies she has graduated to more sophisticated tools but is still bent on cutting things up and putting them back together and does just that in a style that is all her own. You an see the items pictured here and many more exquisite and fascinating pieces at http://www.bg2770.etsy.com/

When she is not working Gergana enjoys the bountiful beauty in nature in Maine by going on a hike or riding her bike. She also enjoy movies and music and loves to travel.

Gergana states that one of her biggest challenges is "too many ideas and mediums to play with and not enough time to explore them all." With her talent and interest in all forms of art I would keep my eye on this talented lady, who knows what comes next?!

WOUND AND WIRED

Judy, a Portland, Maine artisan by night and a librarian by day has a true knack for twisting things up in a fabulous way. Pictured here are 3 of the items from her Etsy shop located at http://www.judyb.etsy.com/. She works primarily in sterling silver and occasionally incorporates semi precious stones such as the blue one pictured here with turquoise. Pounding the evenings away she creates beautiful and truly unique pieces of jewelry including earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. Hers is a style I have not seen anywhere else which makes me love it all the more. You can check out her profile but she does not have much to say about herself, with talent like this I guess not much is needed!

STAINED GLASS AND OTHER WONDERS

Let the sunshine in! These fabulous works of art are done by Coco of Maine. Coco grew up in New Orleans, was a military wife for over 30 years and is a mother of 5 children. She has traveled extensively within the U.S. and abroad discovering and absorbing the native values and artistic expressions indigenous to each location. In addition to her beautiful glass works she has talents in many other areas such as decorative folk painting , carved candles, soap, clay, needlework, fountains, basic carpentry and refinishing, various types of sewing, and jelly making...whew! Remember now I told you she is also a mother of 5.

These original paintings in the traditional Austrian Alpbach style double as Shaker style boxes and are extra strong and durable so they are as functional as they are enchanting.

Treat yourself and maybe a friend and visit her shop. There is so much more to see and you can find out a lot more about this wonderful Artisan and her family on her profile bu going to http://www.ByCoco.etsy.com

SOLAR POWERED ARTISAN AT WORK

This is a very small example of Roxy's work all made in her solar powered house in the Maine woods. In fact she has 2 shops on Etsy, http://roxyjewelry.etsy.com/ and http://www.gigglinggnome.etsy.com/ . In the first she has these wonderful barrettes, jewelry, ID lanyards, etc. In the second she has handmade recycled gift boxes, envelopes, cards, notepads, magnets, and more. Get this, she also has a "day job". Talk about a busy lady! Her prices a very reasonable beginning at $2.00 and her shipping is quick according her to her reviews. It sounds like a great place to get some of that Holiday shopping done early.

It's all about wood

Born and raised in Millinocket, Maine David went into the Air Force when he was fresh out of high school and remained there for 10 years. When he got out of the Armed Services David came back to Maine to raise his 2 children who are now grown and gone. Finding spare time on his hands and seeing his wife immersed in her passion he decided he needed one of his own. He tried his hand at a few mediums and found scroll saw art to be his newly found passion. Working at the VA by day he spends his evenings in his home shop creating! He came up with the military commemorative plaque and has been commissioned to do several for fellow Veterans. Wanting to give his daughter something special and hand made for her graduation he made her the clock in the photo which he now takes orders for as well. You can have pretty much any theme you want as long as it is "clean". He uses a variety of hardwood and pine in his designs, different routing edges, etc...It just depends on what you want. He also does some home decor; candle holders and coasters. Check him out at http://wackywood.etsy.com

ART IN MAINE

I live and work in Maine and I love it here. In an effort to help out fellow Artisans and Crafters from Maine I am going to be featuring all kinds of local work; knit, crochet, paintings, pottery, lighting, clothing, just to name a few. Check back often or better yet just subscribe to the blog. There is a lot of wonderful talent here in Maine and my goal is to show you as much as I can in the upcoming months. Buy handmade!!! Many Artisans accept custom orders and they are very reasonable. Wouldn't you rather give a beautiful, quality handmade item than something mass produced? I will even feature patterns if you have the time and energy to make gifts yourself. I am going back to a desk job full time in an attempt to keep my bills paid so I may not be writing every day although I will certainly try. I was hoping to take a full year off but with the economy today I am not selling quite enough jewelry to live on. I am sure that is true of some of my fellow artisans so I hope this will help us all!