Russian Maiden in a Pink Dress circa 17th century
Written by Teresita Blanco (The Artsy Sister)
As of late, I have been working on adding plenty of new products. I originally wanted to just do painting, drawing and digital art. I later on decided to add craft into the mix. Craft is just about anything that is done with your hands. This is the official dictionary definition. Following that technical definition I started to build up my brands. The first thing I worked on was the clay collection. Clay is mainly used for sculpting. I have the traditional Sculpey and Fimo and then some more. I also have plasticine. When I was little, I used to use plasticine. This is what was available in Cuba. I was a bit nostalgic about it, so I looked for a brand to add it. I also had more solid clays of an unknown brand. There were no brands of anything in Cuba, scarcity was the rule of the day. Everything else is an illusion painted for careless tourists. As for the clay, I used to keep it in the refrigerator to keep it from drying out. Most people do not know that the refrigerator is a good place to store the clay. It keeps it nice, and malleable. Then again, I have not used much clays that are found on this side of the Caribbean. As of now, I am waiting for a Fimo clay I asked for my birthday. It is airdrying. I do not have a proper cooking oven for my clay.
Aside from clay, I also added photography. Photography technically is not a craft anymore. Still, in the old days photography was a type of craft. Photographers used to have their own red room. They also used to do rudimentary photoshop. Photoshop in the old days was done collage style. They used to cut photos together, and then they took a final photo of the final product. They then printed the final photo for newspapers. All the old newspapers have classical examples of this technique. It is something fun to think about. These days people do photoshop with a program. Regardless of what you want to do with your time, I am happy to inform you that we have cameras. The featured camera brands are brands that I have used at some point in the past. Some, like the Fujifilm and Polariod come with printable photos. They are designed for people who still do the scrapbooking thing. Think of it as a good gift for your grandmother or something like that. Then again, I am just assuming that scrapbooking is no longer in style. I personally do not like the idea of it. I can think of better usages for my time. There are products that might be useful for scrapbooking, however, there isn’t a designated section for it. I was just not in the mood for collection all sorts of construction papers. Anyhow, we have cameras.
The third new type of product I have been adding are those meant for Sewing. I like sewing, but I never properly learned how to do it. When I was small, my mom had her own sewing machine. It had a nice classical design. I think it was like 200 years old. Everything in the old country is old, and decaying. Then again, you do not care about that old country, and neither do I. I always prefer not to talk about it. It is like whining about a rotting corpse. Just put some dirt on it and go on with your life. Most people tend to get nostalgic about the places they leave behind. It you left it, do not paint it in rosy colors. Nobody leaves a place they fell comfortable in. I always find it annoying when I hear immigrants talking about their old country, and comparing it to the new one. They always talk trash about the new place, and grow nostalgic about the old one. I suppose some things cannot be helped. Like I said before, I have never met a person who did not turn out to be an utter disappointment. I do not ask much of people. I suppose this is just about it, with the past and my issue with others. Now, back to Sewing.
The Sewing department has ribbons and buttons. I also included zippers too. It is just about everything commonly used to make clothing. Another thing I added was Velcro. Velcro is commonly used to make doll clothing. I like dolls, and I think they should dress nicely. I also added some Sewing Machine brands. Most people need a useful sewing machine to get anything done. There is only so much you can do via hand sewing. There is also a nice variety of threads. Lastly, I added lots of fabrics. I separated them by types. You have your silks, your cotton and your print fabrics. These are the main fabrics people use to make their dresses. There is also yarn products. Everything here is designed for you to make yourself. I also have a couple of instructional books related to Sewing. The books belong to the same brands that offer the sewing products. IT seemed easier than collecting any random books.
The last thing I added to my website is the stuff to make jewelry. Jewelry making is a staple of craft projects. I am still working on adding the final brand. I ended up only needing two brands to cover up this section. I tried to maintain a nice level of variety. I included the sets, and the specific individual items to make your little jewelry projects. The long and short of it is that it was a lot of hard work. Once I finish with Darice, I am going to call it a day with product uploads for a bit. I think I will go back to focusing on the Artsy’s Choice segment. I have some brand new art supplies I got for my birthdate. So, look forward to me showing you their awesomeness. Now, back to this little anime drawing of mine. It features a Russian maiden in a pink dress circa 17th century. I first drew the line art with my Royal and Langnickel pencil. I then used my Stabilo and My Morris Bamboo pens to draw in the line. I then added color using my Art 101 and my Derwent pencils. I also used two Sakura Gelly pens for shinny detail. I hope you find this information useful in your Artsy Endeavors.
