original content from the unaware

Featured Artist Interview and Giveaway!

Shop Name: The Wolf’s Treasure

What you like to go by: Sora, just Sora; my favorite name.

When did you start your shop? Only about a month and a half ago.

Is this your only job? Nope. I also am a novelist in the very beginning of her career.

When did you realize you had this talent? I’ve been wanting to do this for years. Although, I wasn’t able to properly express my skills until I turned eighteen.

Where do you find your inspiration? Everyday life.

Who has been the most supportive of your work? This tends to drift between my mother and my fiance.

What is one thing you would like to accomplish that you haven’t yet? I want to be able to reach a steady sales count. For instance, one sale per day would be a dream come true! Although, I would also love to not have limits on what I can create!

What are your other hobbies? I want to write for a living. But, I also enjoy boxing, cooking, and playing with computers.

What are your words to live by or favorite quote? I find myself quoting my favorite novels all the time. For instance, I quote Harry Potter often. Although, I suppose, it would be best to say I live by virtues as best as I can, though far from perfection.

Where is the farthest you have traveled? Not nearly as far as I want. I live in America and dream is visiting Japan.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

← reblog this post 3 weeks ago

Featured Artist: Vivid Please

Shop Name: Vivid Please

What you like to go by:
We like to go by Vivid :) Our shop and blog name is a combination of both our fist names, Vicky & David. We work together on everything we do and can pretty much finish off each others sentences. Whist I am the one who talks all the nonsense, David is very much the brains behind the operation!

When did you start your shop?
We started our shop in 2010, but only started really working on it in October last year. The rise in interest since we started stocking it properly has been really great to see, but it does take a lot of time and persistence to get on top of things.

Is this your only job?
Not currently, but the other one is to bring in the bacon till it can make Vivid full time. Vivid is our dream and we fully intend to paint the town geek as soon as possible! We are starting to set up stalls at art markets too, so we are hoping that’s going to happen sooner rather than later. Fingers crossed…

When did you realize you had this talent?
We met working in advertising and both have creative backgrounds. Neither of us can remember a time when we weren’t making, but it wasn’t until we met and started working as a duo that we realized we could make a proper go of things. We got quite a lot of good reactions to the stuff we were making for ourselves and decided that perhaps we should go for it. It’s a decision we should have made a long time before we actually did.

Where do you find your inspiration?

We love thrifting and car boot sales. A good rummage is always great inspiration. We are both avid collectors so a lot of ideas come from the characters and objects we find. Hanging out with friends and getting the banter is also a great way to come up with good ideas. As we work a lot with double entendres, getting the chat is remarkably important!

Who has been the most supportive of your work?
Each other really! Crafting can get lonely if you don’t move in those circles in your general life. Many people hear you are a freelance designer and don’t take you seriously; it’s just because of jealously so don’t let them get you down! If you can find just one person who ‘gets’ what you do, listen to them. It takes a lot of courage to go it alone, and that is wildly admirable.

What is one thing you would like to accomplish that you haven’t yet?
We want to see our stuff in magazines and design shops. We’re taking small steps towards that every day as we are now selling our stock in the London Fashion & Textile Museum and a really awesome shop in Barcelona specializing in analogue photography. Every day brings a new challenge and a closer step towards our goals.

What are your other hobbies?
We love to collect vintage items and urban vinyl toys. We also love to explore Great Britain as there is so many little treasures hidden around - it really is Great!

What are your words to live by or favorite quote?
If you can dream it, you can do it.

Where is the farthest you have traveled?
To the moon and back :)

You can find us at
Blog: www.vividplease.me
Etsy: www.etsy.com/shop/Vividplease
Twitter: www.twitter.com/VividPlease
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/vividplease

We are also doing a special giveaway throughout April! Visit www.vividplease.me to find out more…

← reblog this post 1 month ago

Featured Artist: JimArnoldsChessSets

Shop Name: JimArnoldsChessSets

What you like to go by: Jim

When did you start your shop? I’ve only been on etsy since Feb 2011 and really didn’t start promoting it until June 11. I knew about etsy for years, but I didn’t join because they required a credit card upfront…I was an idiot, ha! I should have joined five years ago…live and learn.

Is this your only job? Yes, I hand carve chess set for my living. I have been carving and selling chess sets since 1996.

When did you realize you had this talent? Not sure if ‘talent’ is the right word, but I started carving around the age of 10, I saw my Dad carve a squirrel and thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I attempted a boat after watching him do the squirrel and have had the bug ever since.

Where do you find your inspiration? Inspiration comes in a couple forms. First, of course, is that I do custom work, so my customers call the theme, I will make a chess set out of any idea or theme proposed by my customers. Working together, one on one and collaborating on a set is one of the most fun parts of my job. I’ll make sets based on ‘their’ interests, I’ll sketch up some poses, suggest characters, and we’ll bounce the sketches back and forth until we arrive with something nobody has ever thought about before…the sets can be about their life, their profession, their hobbies. Its an endless list and also means I don’t have to come up with the theme, they do that part for me. Chess is a game of antagonists, in this world its too easy to come up with original ideas along these lines. Anything goes, Cats versus Dogs, North versus the South, any War, Hippies versus the Establishment I can make a political statement, or I can make people laugh, or I can explore something like the Egyptians, Namibia, or America’s First Nations…the latter teach visual lessons about different cultures…I enjoy those the most, they require lots of research, lots of carving, and when they’re finished they are the ones that get the most compliments. I also enjoy making sets from things that interest me in my life…sailing, music, the ocean, I have lots of sets in those categories! My absolute favorite sets are the ones that I dream up while I’m sleeping. I learned long ago to keep a notepad and pencil on the nightstand next to the bed. The sets that I have ‘dreamed up’ include The Samurai Chess Set (wonderful carving and live bonsai and sand gardens included in the board), The War of 1812 Chess Set, made up of two fighting ships, The USS Constitution and the HMS Guerierre. The ships are all in one piece at the start of the game and the ships break apart as you move the pieces during the course of the game. The Scottish Wars for Independence set is another ‘dream’ set. I awoke from ‘seeing’ it in my mind’s eye and completely sketched out in full detail the castle and all the pieces in about ten minutes, then went back to sleep, the set is exactly as I saw it, and its one of my best. These ‘dream’ sets have no boundary. They are huge (usually the board starts at 36” square) and they’re different from what you learned how to play with. The Train Robbery at Straker Flats Chess Set is another example, when you play a game on these sets, you are instantly taken back to a time when things were just plain fun to do. The latest of these ‘dream’ sets is the Heaven versus Hell Chess Set, none of my circle of friends like it so I know it will be a huge hit for me. Intense religious carving, lots of good people and lots of very bad people… a glass board, saints, demons everything, it will be my best ever.

Who Has Been the Most Supportive of Your Work? There has only been one supporter of my work from the very start. When I first started this, I was pretty much the butt of jokes among my family and friends. I was laughed at, I was continually asked when I was going to grow up and get a real job. It was a very long and very hard road to get to the point where I could say I do this for a living, hundreds and hundreds of shows, years of hours spent online it seems, my number one (and ‘only’ supporter from the start) was my Mom!

What is the one thing you would like to accomplish that you haven’t yet? I’d like to help chess get taught for credit in the school systems. There’s so much about the game that can be applied to everyday life, kids that know how to play the game do better in life and that’s a fact. People like Susan Polgar (former world #1) have dedicated their lives to this cause and its a good one. Her program is the best, its the SPICE program and you can check out the specifics at @SusanPolgar on Twitter for details on bringing chess accreditation to your schools. Already in many schools, ‘study hall’ has been replaced with chess lessons, time to kick that up a notch and give students credit for it. Thanks for asking that question, Michelle!

What are your words to live by or your favorite quote? Too many, my Dad had some for every occasion, he was an original, but my favorite is from my Grandfather. His best line, and wonderful words to live by, was, “What You Can’t Hold in Your Hands, You Can’t Hold”

← reblog this post 2 months ago

No More Trips to the Post Office!

Are you tired of going to the post office? Tired of waiting in the long holiday lines? Or are you just to damn busy to get there? This easy start guide will help you send your sold items out to your customers with out ever leaving the comfort of your own home!

← reblog this post 6 months ago

Featured Artist post from misanthropycreations.com

This is Laura. Hi Laura. Shop Name: le animalé What you like to go by: Laura When did you start your shop? May 2011 Is this your only job? It’s a full-time job, but I also work as a part-time freelance photographer. When did you realize you had this talent? Sculpting is something I’ve done on and off for the past few years . Where do you find your inspiration? Animals, of course! I get lost in all of the adorable animal photos on the internet. I’m also inspired by my friends and family. More info Who has been the most supportive of your work? My boyfriend. He’s so supportive of my endeavors and is ALWAYS there for me. But I’ve really had great support from a lot of different places and I’m so thankful to each and every person who has supported my work! What is one thing you would like to accomplish that you haven’t yet? A balanced schedule. What are your words to live by or favorite quote? Two Emerson ideas: “Always do what you’re afraid to do.” —- “Envy is ignorance; imitation is suicide.” Profile Excerpt: More info Hi. My name is Laura, and I love: animals miniatures quirky traits silly humor & fun gifts. I tell people all the time that I wish I could have a zoo, or better yet, a zoo of miniaturized animals. Wouldn’t that be the cutest? So I created the closest thing possible: le animalé, a place with mini animals full of cute & humorous antics ready to brighten your day. : ) Take a peek into my creative process. Follow me on Twitter. Check out my blog.