Silk Artist Challenge #5

Scarf by Sirje from SilkLetters

For a few weeks our team has a challenge - Silk Artist Challenge. The main idea is to create a treasury with featured item from previous week's winner shop.
Last weeks we created treasuries with Sirje's lovely scarf from SilkLetters. Now she has announced the winner treasury, but at first...




Here are all beautiful treasuries which were made for this challenge:
1) Crimson sapphire by Lynn
2) Purple inspiration by Liene
3) purple madness by Zane
4) Reflections of purple and blue by Maria
5) Purple wedding by Ieva

So the winner is....

'Your touch I love it' by akwiinas

Inspired by Purple silk scarf by SilkLetters

Purple Clematis Hand Painted... SilkLetters $62	Blouse Handpainted Luxuriou... TanjaDesign $105	Hand Painted Long Silk Scarf... KatarzynaKaMaA... $57	Handpainted Silk Scarf Blue ... SilkScarvesTak... $49
Extra large silk shawl, over... BorneoBatikraf... $120	Mini note card set - pack of... FluffyDuck $4.99	Hand painted silk scarf whit... singingscarves $48	Felted Scarf Ruffle Wavy, Pu... silkshop $68
Silk necktie white grey pink... AudraTextileSt... $40	Flower silk dress hand paint... ArmeniaOnSilk $140	Violet scarf 'Violet sky... MinkuLUL $56	Floral Dress Peplum White Pu... MidnightFlight $40
Tablecloth white purple blue... Dreamzzzzz $15	Blue/Navy/Purple/Lilac/White... sweetstellas $115	Purple, blue and white flowe... RHCpets $10	Cosmetics make up bag Fantas... CuriousMissCla... $16

Steam Setting Silk Dyes- Vertical Steamer by Lynne

For those of you who use silk dyes and need to steam set them this is the one of our team members - Lynne from FantasticPheasant, made her steamer.

Here is what Lynne had to share on our team forum:

I find steaming to be a challenge in the silk painting process. When I first started using silk dyes I steamed the silk on the stove top with a vegetable steamer, to my surprise this worked pretty well. I would roll the silk in newsprint paper then coil it (like a cinnamon bun) then steam for a couple of hours. The problem with this procedure was that the silk sometimes got wet and folds would be steam set in the silk.

Since then I've created a vertical steamer. Being the frugal person I am, I made one instead of spending a lot of money to buy one.

I created the vertical stack with heating/air conditioning pipes with two groves cut in the top with a metal BBQ skewer placed in the groves to hang the silk from. I set this in a pot and place the whole thing on an electric hot plate. I place the pot lid on top of the stack covered in foil paper to keep the steam in. I still wrap the silk in newsprint and roll it (like a jelly roll) and hang in the stack. This works extremely well.

I'd love to hear how others steam their silk!

- - - - - - -

Thanks Lynne for sharing your steamer with us today!

How about the rest of you, how do you steam your silk? 

How to Create An Etsy Treasury

A friend recently asked me how to create a treasury on Etsy. So I thought I would put together a little tutorial.

1. Choose your theme

Perhaps you already have an idea of a color theme, a song or something else that has inspired your desire to make a collection of items you like. If so, then getting started is easy. 

Another was to form a treasury is by regularly adding items to your favorites by hearting items you like. 

Still another idea would be to be working on several treasuries simultaneously by simply (I love this new button) adding an item to a treasury you have going- in this way you can work on several treasuries at the same time, adding items you like as you come across them. 

Once you have an inspiration, whether a theme or simply one item choosing content follows fast behind.

2. Add content

To begin you must go the treasury section: etsy.com/treasury and choose to Create a List. 

You can then begin adding content by copying and pasting the address URL link into the boxes and pushing ok (or just Enter) to add. To edit or remove use the buttons that are provided.

• Pro Tip! Be sure to keep your treasury private (only you/draft) until you are ready to make it known, otherwise it will become "old news" before you have even finished it. The date and time that will be listed are the date and time that you make it public.

 Another easy way to add items and work on several treasuries at the same time at your leisure is to add an item to a treasury directly. I love this new feature that I just discovered this week.  I also love that it is automatically private this way and I don't have to worry about it going public until I change that setting.

But how do you look for more items to fill up your treasury? You can do color searches and within that choose items that are from various categories. Be creative, using synonyms. If you are wanting to make a red treasury theme, use other words like: cherry red, garnet, scarlet, etc.

3. Tags

Once you have everything ready, or even as you go be sure to add corresponding tags. If you are representing your team, or several teams where you included their items be sure to include those as tags (our Silk Artist team has a tag "silkartistteam" which you should include when making treasury including teammates).

On treasury start page you can see Today's Trending Tags (on right side bar), check them out to see which tags are hot or trending more in this exact moment!

4. Post

• Do lots of rearranging and editing until you are satisfied with your treasury
• Add a description and all 18 tags
• Then make it public so everyone can see it (double check the privacy settings) 
• And SAVE it to make it LIVE
• After posting it, you can easily share it on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest by buttons on right side
• Your treasury is worth of noticing, so share it on your teams (where appropriate). Our team has a thread for your treasuries(which includes your teammates) here: silk-artists/treasuries
• Enjoy your comments

Good luck making treasuries.

This was a tutorial on how I do it since someone asked :) But I am sure there are lots of tips out there.

Here is the Etsy Guide on Treasuries
Another great Blog Post on Creating a Treasury

Updated on 23.11.2013. by Zane

Featured Artist- Tina Gleave

Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Tina Gleave. Her work is amazing, bright, and so lifelike. I am so glad to have her join the silk painting team and to get to know her a bit through this interview.

Tell us a bit about you:

I moved to Northern California in 1993 to attend Humboldt State University. I entered college an Art Therapy major, but felt very emotionally drained from the Therapy of Psychology. Ultimately, I earned my Business Administration Degree with emphasis in Management, Marketing and Accounting.

When I started my family, I earned my Early Childhood Education Degree and now own and teach Pre-School.


I ultimately put art on hold for at least 10 years. My children and business were my life. So, in August 2011, when a friend offered me an Art Therapy ‘Scarf Painting’ night out-I was excited to do something artistic again after being dormant for so long.

Why silk painting?

I have always been attracted to Watercolor Paintings, but have never found my skill in that medium. My paper would always end up a holy mess, overworked and never capturing the color I wanted. When I started working on Silk, it literally captivated me! The rich, vibrant colors just struck a chord in my heart that I had never heard before. That first night painting the scarf, I stayed for hours painting my heart out. My friend didn’t have the heart to send me on my way. She could sense something had been stirred in my soul that was literally playing out before our eyes. The silk seems to be like the Watercolor I was always searching for…

What inspires your paintings?

Light and Nature are great inspirations to me. I’m an avid reader and am constantly trying to learn new applications and techniques on silk. I love pushing the limits with my art and get excited for the challenge of that next highly difficult project.

What is your work space like?

My work space is my kitchen table right now. However, I am setting up our recently vacated studio apartment as my NEW Art Space. My family is fed up with all of my stuff overflowing in the main house.

What are you currently painting?

 

Currently, I am on the Steering Committee for the North Coast Open Studios Tour. www.northcoastopenstudios.com It takes place the first two weekends in June. So I’m painting like mad to fill my Art Space for the weekend.

I’m also working with a photographer to bring some new challenge to my art. My Monarch Series is in the works. The first Monarchs “Morning Light” was a great challenge, but I enjoyed researching for it too.

How have you found your niche selling online? What advice can you offer the rest of us?

I try to offer a superior product with excellent Customer Service. I open a line of communication with each client and treat them like gold. Word of mouth has been the best marketing for me.

I’m still very new online with etsy. I opened my business account in 2011, but quickly realized I was not where I wanted to be as an artist. I put that on hold and took two classes with Master Silk Painters. Each have very individual styles and techniques that I wanted to be exposed to in order to learn to be a better painter. So, I’m changing and growing in a very dynamic way and I feel that my clients are enjoying the roller coaster ride of art change too! I take risks, offer lots of color and always challenge the everyday thinking.

What do you do you do when you are not painting?

When I’m not Silk Painting, I’m spending time with my family. We love the outdoors-camping, hiking, biking and fishing-me especially fishing! We all are Archery lovers, but my kids are getting better than me because I’m painting way too much these days.

Find Tina here:

Etsy

Mother's Day Treasury Promo

Butterflies- Treasury Promo

Silk Garden -Treasury Promo