SALE! Découpage mirrors are now $6 off!

We really need to sell these adorable but somewhat bulky découpage mirrors, so we've taken an additional $6 off. At this price we'll just break even on them but they have to go.

Check them out now!

We are a Featured Artisan on Handmade News!

Felix and Paco are thrilled to announce that we are now in the Featured Artisan section of HandmadeNews.org. Many thanks go to Angelica Schaaf for discovering and featuring our store!

Read the interview here.

New item: Vintage glass Japanese cabochon earrings - Pale Blue

I adore vintage glass cabochons, particularly the cut-glass floral kind that were very popular in Western Europe and Japan after World War II. These pale blue earrings are very special, as the cabochons have aged differently, making one slightly paler blue than the other.

They'd be perfect for the vintage-loving woman who likes unusual and unique cocktail jewelry.

Buy them now!

New item: Ceramic hamburger earrings

Yes, you read that correctly. These are earrings that look like hamburgers. Why? Because I can.

Buy them now.

New item: Acrylic rose earrings - White

These white acrylic rose earrings were super fun to make and turned out very well, if I do say so myself. They're lightweight and very strong, but look like porcelain or ceramic depending on the light. They go with pretty much everything and are perfect for spring, summer, weddings--you name it. I love these and think you will too.

Check them out!

New item: Enamel rose earrings - Mustard

I found these adorable enameled metal roses on ArtFire and decided to turn them into earrings. A little non-toxic, permanent adhesive and some surgical stainless steel posts later, they were done. They're lightweight, cute, and sophisticated but flirty at the same time. I love these!

What do you think?

New items: Framed necklaces in Blue Sky, Forest, and Seawater

I bought a small sampler of blank, hand-painted pendants from ArtFire artisan, Virago Creations, and decided to capture a little bit of nature in each one. So I carefully cut measured pieces from a recycled travel magazine and adhered them to the frames using painstakingly applied layers of Diamond Glaze. Then I made bails out of ribbon and put them on ball chains in varying sizes and colors.

The results were very pleasing and I think this little set is my favorite series I've made so far. I like it so much, in fact, that I'm keeping the fourth necklace ("Smoke", not pictured) to wear.

Check them out and see for yourself.

Blue Sky

Forest

Seawater

New item: Decoupage vase - Blue Flowers on Flames

This repurposed glass vase came with a flower delivery we received many months ago. The original plan was the decoupage the flowers on and then give it a thick coat of acrylic paint as a background. That didn't work out, however, so instead of acrylic paint I used orange crepe paper for an interesting textured look.

I'm really pleased with the finished result and think this would make a cool accessory for any room.

Buy it now!

New items: Upcycled napkin rings - Beige Palm and Pink and Purple

We've made two more sets of upcycled napkin rings, in a soothing, tropical beige and palm tree pattern, and a purple floral and pale pink combination. The sets are very different but, as always, made of upcycled paper towel tubes, craft paper, and non-toxic glues and acrylics. They also come with a muslin storage bag to keep them safe when not in use.

Check them out now!

Beige Palm

Pink and Purple Floral

New items: Decoupage dish sets - Blue Urn and Green Orchid

We were shopping at a well-known big box department store for various things and I stumbled upon this set of children's play dishes. There were four sets in four different colors, and each set had a bowl, saucer, and plate. I thought that I could do something with it, and it was on sale and had no logos on it, so why not? When we got home I stuck it under some books and promptly forgot about it.

Recently I found it again and decided to practice decoupaging images onto the plates. Those turned out so well that I thought maybe I could sell the sets in my ArtFire store. They'd make a great gift for someone seeking a cool way to stash coins or paperclips on their desktop, or they could be propped on a shelf to add a splash of color to any room.

What do you think?

Blue Urn

Green Orchid

New item: Green decoupage mirror - Orange Blossoms

Like "Wildlife" and "Superhero" before it, "Orange Blossoms" was made using basic decoupage techniques. I hand-stained a raw wood mirror and then carefully applied hand-cut orange flowers and paisley pieces to the frame over a thin layer of adhesive. The whole shebang was then coated with thick layers of glue, over and over again, to help the paper edges blend in with their surroundings. The project took several days, as I had to be sure that each layer of glue was fully dry before applying a new one, but it was a lot of fun. The end result is quite pleasing, don't you think?

Buy it now!

New item: Red decoupage mirror - Superhero

This mirror was made in much the same way as my previous decoupage mirror, "Wildlife". I stained a raw wood mirror by hand and then painstakingly applied hand-cut pieces of a single ply of a colored paper napkin to the mirror, which was coated in a thin layer of non-toxic adhesive. Then, using decoupage technique, I delicately coated the whole thing in a thin layer of glue, being careful not to tear the napkin pieces. After the glue was mostly dry but still a bit tacky, I gently distressed the paper for a slightly aged, vintage look.

After that it was just a matter of applying a few more coats of glue. Time consuming but fun.

Check it out!

Now a member of Indiepublic!

Indiepublic is a social networking site for designers and artists and people who like that sort of thing. We are happy to announce that our application for membership was recently accepted. Please take a minute to check out our page!

In the works: Decoupage glass vase, three more decoupage wooden mirrors

I've been working on this cylindrical glass vase for a while now. Originally, I cut pretty blue and gold flowers out of some handmade wrapping paper I had stashed and decoupaged them in alternating patterns on the inside of the glass. Then I tried to cover the whole background with hand-mixed maroon acrylic paint, reasoning that it would be kind of translucent and smudgy.

It looked awful.

Fortunately, acrylic doesn't bond to glass very well, so I was able to peel it off without damaging the flowers. After cleaning it well, I decided to use pieces of crepe paper to give it a sort of papier mache background instead of a flat matte color. It's working really well so far and I like the way it looks; it almost appears that the glass itself has swirls of color in it. As soon as the glue is totally dry, I'll give it a coat of acrylic glaze for extra protection, let it cure, and get some photos.

I'm also working on some more decoupage mirrors and hope to have those finished by the end of the weekend. Stay tuned!

Clearance sale! We're slashing prices to make room for more inventory

With lots of new ideas and tons of bulky supplies on their way in the mail, we need to move our current stock--and fast. So we've marked nearly everything in our store down significantly. Some items are as much as 80% off! We need to get this stuff out. Can you help us?

Check out our store now!

Now featured on ByHand.me!

Our découpaged apothecary jar was featured on the "All About Handmade" blog at ByHand.me. How exciting! Thanks, Rebecca.

In the works: Decoupaged napkins mirrors in red and green, decoupaged cylindrical vase

I've stained two more 10-inch x 10-inch mirrors and left a third one raw in preparation for another napkin decoupage project like this one. I've also been experimenting with applying images to a children's play tea set in four different colors and will see how they turn out and whether they meet my selling standards.

I tried using one of Durwin Rice's decoupage techniques to decorate an interesting glass vase, but since I used acrylic paint instead of latex, it didn't work out so well. The acrylic didn't bond with the glass well at all and was very streaky. I'll be working to remove the paint (leaving the images on, which still look great) and going for a new background.

Sorry there hasn't been more merchandise posted, but I've been out of town for pretty much the whole month of June and haven't had a chance to work much. Please stay tuned for more updates!

Still no response from Etsy, so...

We've officially flown the coop

The administration over at Etsy still hasn't responded to the revelation that they virtually destroyed seller traffic by tinkering with SEO settings, and have possibly jeopardized their current and future relationship with Google, among other search engines. It appears they attempted to drive more traffic to Etsy.com at the expense of individual sellers. There is also the disturbing implication that Etsy is sneakily attempting to rebrand individual artists' work as "Etsy product", which is simply unacceptable.

I opened an Etsy shop to sell things easily and quickly on a site with a very pretty GUI. As an Etsy newbie, I won't lose much by walking away. Since Etsy seems to have no intention of even responding to their rightfully angry customers (the sellers), let alone placating them, I see no need to stick around. Yes, the GUI is beautiful and fun to use--but the GUI wasn't making me any money. The GUI wasn't moving product.

So off to ArtFire we go, likely forever. I do hope you'll follow us there.

We're now on Artfire!

A few weeks ago, I noticed via Google Analytics that traffic to my store had suddenly dropped precipitously. I thought maybe I wasn't promoting enough, or maybe no one wants my products. Or maybe there was so much new competition on Etsy that my store was simply getting lost in the fog. It happens.

Then I found this thread and lo and behold--it appears that Etsy has inexplicably messed with seller SEO. Thanks to their latest "enhancement", search engines can't find Etsy stores. Not even if you search for those stores' items by name. And not even if you search for the very stores by name!

Needless to say, this explains why traffic ground to a halt. And it's made a lot of people very unhappy, and a few of those people have recommended Artfire.com as an alternative place to showcase our wares. So as of today, we have an Artfire store.

I have no idea if this will be more effective than Etsy, but since listings are free, I don't see the harm in giving it a shot. No matter what, I won't be listing any new items on Etsy until they get this straightened out. Why would I pay them to advertise their site? No thanks.

I hope Etsy realizes what a terrible decision this was and hastens to make things right. Their projected "one or two weeks" timeframe is not exactly encouraging. What a pity.

Oh well. In the meantime, check out our new Artfire store!

Felix and Paco are back!

Our store is back online! Order now and we will ship your item first thing Monday morning.

Check out our new look!

We are on vacation until next week

Due to a fortuitous change in schedules, we're on vacation for a while. Well, until next week. So our shop is in vacation mode and our items are not for sale until we get back. Bummer, but to be honest, we kind of needed this break!

Thanks for keeping up with us. We promise to have new merchandise listed and new updates very soon. And as always, you can still follow us on Twitter!

New item: Dainty Yellow mobile home collage

This collage is a little different than the others in the mobile home series, as it's a colored line drawing of a trailer instead of a photograph. The original image had adorable little white stepstools at each door and some wrought iron curlicue adornments in the back, but cutting those out proved to be impossible...or, at least, not entirely worth the major major effort it would have required.

One thing I love about découpage is you can change the source images to suit your purposes. The stepstools and wrought iron were cute, but they didn't work here. And that's okay. Dainty Yellow is still pretty dainty even without them.

Check it out!

New item: Little Man mobile home collage

Continuing our mobile home series, we découpaged a cutout of a vintage compact trailer onto some gorgeous craft paper that looks like weathered, painted wood. We then hand-stained a wooden frame and put the piece inside. The frames are very inexpensive and the measurements not so precise. The glass didn't fit right away so we had to do a lot of chipping, carving, and chiseling to get it in. The end result is very pleasing, though.

Check it out!

New item: Necklace and hairpin set - Flew the coop

We had so much fun making this little pair. The necklace features a bright blue metal birdcage pendant, with its own swinging trapeze perch and working door, that I adorned with a purple organza ribbon. It hangs from an 18-inch handwoven silvery satin cord with gold metallic threads and a lobster claw.

The hairpin is a simple chromed bobby pin blank, to which I glued a vintage 1950s bright yellow celluloid bird cabochon.

Worn together, it looks like your pet canary has escaped its cage and nestled securely in your hair. How fun, and so perfect for spring.

Buy it now!

New item: Recycled sterling silver ring: Vintage glass cabochon in coral

We made another adjustable recycled sterling ring, this time with a red cabochon instead of a blue one. The results are pretty satisfying and we think this ring will sell. (Though maybe not as fast as the first ring, which sold within hours of listing!)

Check it out now!

New item: Upcycled whiskey bottle with cork stopper - Crazy plaid

This cool, old-timey bottle was on its way to the recycling bin when I rescued it from certain destruction. It appears to be handmade glass (though I'm not completely sure) and looked great even before I adorned it with alternating strips of colorful craft paper and a thin coat of high gloss protective acrylic.

I think this would look fabulous in a kitchen or bedroom, or it would make a fantastic bud vase. Do you like it?

Buy it now!

New item: Upcycled medicine bottle - Greens and blues

This upcycled veterinary medicine bottle would make the perfect stash jar for people who have things to stash. It's waterproof, airtight, and filters UV light. It's also decorated with hand-cut patterned paper and has a thin coat of acrylic gloss on it for extra protection. I hated the idea of throwing such a cool bottle away--imagine how many medicine bottles just like this one are sitting in landfills? Yikes. Why not turn it into something you can use over and over again? So we did.

Check it out!

SOLD: Recycled sterling silver ring: Vintage European glass cabochon in peacock

We took a vintage 1960s European glass cabochon and adhered it to a sterling silver, adjustable ring that is made out of 100% recycled silver. The ring has three-dimensional flower blossoms and leaves and catches the light in a very pretty way. We think it would make a great cocktail or party ring, and just in time for summer.

This item has been sold.

New item: Upcycled napkin rings - Red and white floral

Like our other upcycled napkin rings, these are made of upcycled paper towel tubes and pretty paper. This is easily our favorite set we've made. The red and black go beautifully together and we think they're awfully sophisticated, considering what they are. How cute, and just in time for summer!

Buy them now!

New item: Upcycled napkin rings - Spring green

We've made more upcycled napkin rings out of paper towel tubes, pretty paper, and lots of acrylic paint and gloss. It's so much fun to take something that would otherwise wind up in the garbage and turn it into something that's...well, maybe not useful, per se, but at least pretty. Are napkin rings ever really useful? Maybe not, but they sure are cute.

Since we have no shortage of pretty paper, acrylics, or paper towel tubes, we suspect we'll be making lots of these in the future. The muslin bag is hand-stamped with blue dragonflies for that extra warm weather touch. Fun!

Check it out!

In progress: Upcycled napkin rings, decoupaged pill bottle, paper plaid jar

Currently we've finished two more sets of upcycled napkin rings and a cute little blue plastic prescription pill bottle that we découpaged and made all spring-like and cute. We're also carefully applying hand-cut pieces of paper to a beautiful whiskey jar for a charming plaid effect.

Stay tuned for pics, and in the meantime, why don't you check out our store?

New item: Upcycled napkin rings - Chocolate floral

We sold our first set of upcycled napkin rings and created a custom order for two more sets. Inspired and glad to see that people would willingly pay for decorated slices of a discarded paper towel tube, we created yet another set.

This one was made with pretty, chocolate-brown Japanese chiyogami paper on two rings, and brown dotted craft paper on the other. We hand-mixed a gorgeous sky blue in acrylics for the insides, and gave each ring a thick coat of textured high gloss acrylic. As a finale, we hand-stamped some dragonflies on a pretty little muslin bag for easy, cute storage.

Adorable and just in time for spring.

Buy it now!

New item: Trailer-and-a-Half 1940 mobile home collage

This framed découpage piece was kind of a happy accident. We originally intended for the car to appear to be driving off into the edge of the frame, but mis-measured the dimensions. The result is a funny, surreal half-car towing a shiny trailer from an ad circa 1940. The somber yet pretty background gives it a kind of sophisticated feel. Although it's not what we intended, it's somehow better than it would have been.

Check it out!

New item: Blue Ben mobile home collage

We découpaged a bright blue and white trailer onto a red, white, and blue plaid background and stuck our creation in a hand-stained orange-red frame. The end result is quite charming and we're very pleased with how it turned out. We think this would make a great gift for the Fourth of July!

Buy it now!

Made my first Etsy sale!

Well, that's pretty awesome. A very kindly buyer not only bought my upcycled napkin rings, but custom ordered two more sets!

So exciting!

New item: Wooden keepsake chest - I've got a secret

We had so, so much fun making this little piece. First we hand-stained a small two-drawer chest with a pretty French blue. Then we used découpage techniques to apply red, patterned paper to the sides and top. We then découpaged a pretty white tulip on the back and lined the drawers with complementary striped paper.

The finished result is quite pleasing to the eye, as well as practical. We almost didn't want to sell this one. Almost.

New item: Black, white, red floral napkin holder

We took a clamshell napkin holder and decoupaged it with very pretty papers for a peekaboo effect through the outside of the plastic. Then we gave it a few coats of acrylic paint and glaze and called it a day. It turned out even better than we expected and we're very pleased with the finished result.

Buy it now!

We're now on Myspace!

We now have our very own Myspace account. We'll still continue to post most of our info on this blog, but Myspace will allow us to do a bit more networking.

Check us out and add us as a friend here!

New item: Upcycled napkin rings - Rainbow

These were so much fun to make. We took the cardboard tube from a finished roll of paper towels and cut it into sections. Then we painted the inside of each section very carefully with acrylic paint and a high gloss coating. Once it was dry, we carefully wrapped slices of high saturation digital printer proofing sheets around each ring using decoupage techniques and lots and lots of glue. Then we gave the whole thing a thick coat of high gloss acrylic that we carefully textured with a sponge before it dried.

The finished product is surprisingly sturdy and very pretty. We even like how one of the rings still has the black-and-white-checked border from the printing sheet. So cute!

Buy them now!

New item: Glossy silk headband - Blue palmetto

We made yet another headband out of repurposed vintage silk, non-toxic glue, and high gloss acrylic seal. The colors are particularly summery and we enjoyed making this one quite a bit. Even the ends are wrapped in ribbon for extra comfort. Such luxury!

Buy it now!

New item: Glossy silk headband - Green and yellow tie dye

After surveying the always helpful Etsy forums for shop critiques, it became apparent that our green paisley glossy silk headband was by far our most popular item. So we dipped into our overflowing bucket of vintage silks and pulled out a hunk that had been tie dyed in appealing yellows and greens. Then we used our painstaking but very necessary process to adhere it permanently to a headband. The final step was trimming it with ribbon for comfort and decoration.

Check it out!

New item: Decorated tray - "Upholstering"

We have a book of prints of matchbook covers from the 1920's and 1930's. One print, an old ad for an upholstering company, kept catching my eye as I thumbed through. The simplicity of the chair and font was appealing and on a whim, we "upholstered" a ceramic tray with cute floral paper, ribbon, and mismatched but complementary buttons.

The project was surprisingly labor intensive, as the ribbon really didn't want to stay put, and we buffed the paper by hand for that extra vintaged look. The end result was pretty cool, though.

Check it out!