A New Contest!

That's right, it is time for another contest. Grab your art supplies, here we go.

1) The piece must use at least one of the photographs from my newest collage sheet, "African American Women". No, you don't have to buy the collage sheet but you will have to email information at charmingsam.com to get a free collage sheet emailed to you.

2) The piece of art should be 4"x4" in size. The drink coasters at Chili's are the exact size if you are looking for some free cards.

3) BOTH sides of the 4"x4" sheet should be covered in original art work.

4) Deadline is June 12th at 11:59pm PST to have a high resolution photograph of both sides emailed to information at charmingsam.com. We will then post the entries on this blog no later then June 17, 2008 by 11:59pm. The single entry that receives the largest number of votes by June 24, 2008 will be considered the winner.

5) The prizes --- $50 gift certificate from Charming Sam Studios http://www.charmingsam.com/

---1 artisan anklet from Charming Sam, exclusively at Barefoot Bling http://www.barefootbling.com/

--- 1 year subscription to Somerset Studios Magazine - http://www.stampington.com/html/somerset_studio_magazine.html

--- More prizes being added as sponsors are secured so check back often.

That's it. Use your imagination & have fun!

Amy

Isabel Ferreira

While cruising around Etsy today I came across this loveley artist, Isabel Ferreira. Looks like she is in Lisbon, Portugal and her work is just lovely. She has original paintings in addition to her photogaphs and mixed media collages.

...bringggg! the Internet is calling!

Hello, this is the Internet and while you'd probably like to go to sleep here you are... again.

LOL! Just a little joke to myself. I should be sleeping or doing something like making jewelry or painting. Art every day....which brings me to my latest find. At Maker Faire I was across from a lovely artist Catia Chein. So very lovely. Sort of reminded me of artwork in the original James and the Giant Peach book. There was also a piece with a Parisian feel but there is still something else. Little details that could be Asian in origin and lines and dreams. Really you must visit Catia's world. She illustrates books, rides bicycles, lays on top of towering trees and flys through the air under a sea of paper airplanes. I bought a pack of the Winter Postcards and a pin back to add to my growing collection.

Visit Catia, you'll love it.

Scoutie Girl

I'm a huge fan of Scoutie Girl aka Daisy Janie and Jan is having a fun contest you gotta check out. I have a pair of swirl earrings in the give-a-way but there are so many wonderful things to win.

Hop over and get all the deets!

Yeah! Maker Faire

I'm back from a great weekend with the folks at Make Magazine and Bizaar Bazaar. Here are a couple of pics I took of my booth and if you want to see the life size Mouse Trap go here and if you want to see the guy who played the drums and knitted at the same time go here. Thank you Willo for the great pictures!

And a special thank you to the ladies who came to see me and introduced themselves after reading my blog. Yeah!

Charming Sam Jewelry

Busy, busy, busy! Last night I found myself on the floor of my studio surrounded by flowers and thought I'd take a few pictures of what I am working on. I will have all my website styles at Maker Faire this weekend plus lots and lots of new stuff. Including these fun necklaces. All the flowers you see are from the 1950's and really have lovely colors. Perfect for the girl who has everything! Ha!

Come visit me!

Come visit me next weekend, May 3 & 4 at the Bay Area Maker Faire at the San Mateo County Fairgrounds. The event is going to be CRAZY! There are tons of stuff for kids, adults, and every radio head in a 1000 square miles. The Maker Faire includes Rocket Launch Pad, Power Tool Drag Races, live music, craft zone which includes Bazaar Bizarre (shop til you drop - all handmade!). There is also sewing machines to check out and use to make something and more stuff than I can list. Go to www.makerfaire.com for all the deets.

I'm giving away complimentary pair of earrings with a purchase at the Maker Faire so be sure to stop by and say hello. I am in the Cypress building at booth 708!

African American Women Collage Sheet

I am so excited with this new collage sheet that I had to post it here as soon as it was finished. I'll get it up in the store tomorrow with all the annotations on these lovely ladies.

Really excquisite photographs and it isn't very often that you see African American collage sheets. At least that has been my experience. I hope you love it as much as I do.

Pop Up Cards - How Cool!

Oh, my, my, my! Crankbunny has the loveliest pop-up cards that are hand made. They make my heart swoon! What wonderful art.

You can also visit this wonderful artist at http://puppets.crankbunny.com

Spice Hound

You learn something new every day and I learned that the spices at the grocery store are stale and old. Doesn't sound so appetizing. There was a time when I cooked a lot more then I do now. Something happens to my brain these days and when its time to cook a meal I just get a giant BLANK.

Anyway if you are a cook you should check out my favorite spice lady, Tammy Tan at Spice Hound. They are located here in the Bay Area and I love her tag line, "Globally Found, Locally Ground". I have a spice cabinet full of her stuff and it is delicious, fresh and blended locally. Tammy comes across very sweet and nice but somehow she managed to get me to dump ALL the spices in my cupboard and replace with hers. Now my cupboard is an advertisement for her business. Of course I don't have too many people coming through looking in my spice cupboard so it really doesn't do her a lot of good.

You can see her spices and smell her spices at the Sunnyvale Farmers Market on Saturdays and the Santana Row Farmers Market on Sundays. For those of you not from around here she will happily ship you some very nice spices from her web store. Spice Hound Oh, and a final plug for Spice Hound.... they have great gift boxes and sets!

Photo courtesy of my spice cabinet. :-)

Charming Sam - Collage Sheets

Over the last six months I've been quietly creating collage sheets and loading them on my web site. I love, love going through this process of finding images based on a time period and place in the world and then pulling them together in a way that compliment each other. For me each collage sheet is a work of art in of itself.

Today I finished another sheet, this of fleur de lys shapes each with a background from late 19th and early 20th century photographs and illustrations. To celebrate this new sheet I am offering 20% off everything in my store. That includes the collage sheets, vintage prints and of course the jewelery and art.

Shop early because I am only offering the 20% off for 24 hours! During checkout please use code FLEUR to apply your 20% discount. AND, if you want free shipping be sure to choose USPS as your shipping option....its FREE if shipped in the United States.

Webster Pages

Scrapbooking arts have come along way baby! From the days of construction paper and photos glued on a page we now have amazing choices for scrapbooking OR mixed media arts. I'm sure most of you have probably already heard of Webster Pages but I think they have some very pretty papers and worth a few minutes of time.

D.S. Brennan Photography

Today I was surfing through my "friends" over at one of my Ning groups, http://etsyvintage.ning.com/ and came across Diana's beautiful photography. I'm completely mezmerized by this photo called "Preserved Lady's Slipper".

*sigh* It is beautiful.

Be sure to check out all her work at the following;

Etsy Shop:
dsbrennan.etsy.com
Blog
dsbrennan.blogspot.com
Flickr
www.flickr.com/photos/dsbrennan/

Semiprecious Salvage

First before recommending this book I'd like to suggest hopping down to your local independent bookstore to grab this little treat.

Or, maybe you can check it out from your library. For any mixed media or jewelry artist there are a lot of tips in here that are clearly explained for you.

First there are several sections on transferring photos or written words from paper on to metal using acetone to create an etched effect. The writer also talks about using rubber stamping on metal and creating etched effects using acetone. Very cool stuff.

There are also some handy tips on creating resin charms, using a torch to create a bead at the end of silver wire (I didn't think it was going to be this simple). The writer goes in to some other things in depth and all the projects are interesting. They may not be to your taste but as a mixed media artist you'll find the techniques and step by step instructions useful.

Charmaine Manley our WINNER!

Thank you so much for all the entries for the Charming Sam Indie Wedding Month Contest! Every one's entries were wonderful but only one person can win so CONGRATULATIONS to Charmaine Manley for her vintage hanky entry!

Charmaine has won:

Prize(s): $100 Gift Certificate from Charming Sam - http://www.charmingsam.com/

$25.00 Gift Certificate from 5th Avenue Bath Co - http://5thavenuebathco.com/

$25.00 Gift Certificate to the store of your choice at Marmalade Pink - http://www.marmaladepink.com/

Be sure to visit her sites.

blog - http://etsyhighdesertdiva.blogspot.com/

shop - http://highdesertdiva.etsy.com/

Thanks again for all the votes and all the entries. We'll do another contest soon so stay tuned!

Amy

And the entries are here....

Thank you to everyone who sent in an entry! I am so thrilled and think all of them are lovely!

To vote for your favorite entrant please email information@charmingsam.com with the name of the entrant in the subject line. No additional information is necessary. Please only one vote per email address. :-) If you send more then one vote per email address all duplicates will be deleted prior to winner selection.

Which ever piece of work has the most votes by March 26, 2008 at 11:59pm, PST will be considered the winner.

1) Charmaine Manley - Vintage hanky filled with dried lavender, tied with Merci ribbon and adorned with vintage costume jewelry.

blog - http://etsyhighdesertdiva.blogspot.com/
shop - http://highdesertdiva.etsy.com/

2) Robin Bartoletti - Entry #1 - Recycled shirt cuff bouquet holder/cuff bracelet– Shirt cuff bracelets seem to be everywhere these days. This one does double duty. Locate old shirts at a thrift store. Look for those that have cuffs with 3 (or more!) buttons. Cut off the cuffs, and remove the buttons (keep to recycle!) Finish the cuff edge so it will not ravel if needed. Use a hammer or grommet tool to add grommets where the buttons used to be. Grab some vintage lace or ribbon, and lace up through the grommets and button holes. This cuff can hold a posy during the wedding (line it with wax paper to protect from stem discoloration). After the grand wedding, remove the flowers, and wear this fashionable cuff.

3) Robin Bartoletti - Entry #2- Vintage wedding napkin – Use thrifted cloth napkins as either keepsake invitations or reception table decorations. Gather up old napkins, wash, and tea stain if desired. Have an altering party with your bridesmaids to make these unique napkins. If used at the reception table, let guests take them as favors. *Can you tell this wedding is at 3:00?

4) Denise Fontaine - Recycled Paperbag Wedding Favor Album

Embellished with Vintage Pretties.

Perfect vintage keepsake for treasured memories. Adorned with pink fiber,vintage ribbon,lace,dove, vintage pink rose.Cheerful pink paper roses bouquet.Vintage music sheets,vintage wallpaper,old photos, lined inside. Vintage embellished tags with inspiring quotes. 7"x7". Enchanting Memories* Heirloom quality.

www.vintageartiste.etsy.com

5) Niki Lee - A vintage bottle filled with beach glass and little shells as a favor for a beach wedding in Hawaii (or other beachy locale).

48 hours and counting...

A little over 48 hours is left to get in your entries for the Charming Sam Indie Wedding Month contest. Please send your entries to information@charmingsam.com before 11:59pm PST March 19, 2008

Win something every day...

I just have to plug Liz over at Wickedly Chic today because she has an awesome give-a-way going called the Spring Fling.

Everyday or two a NEW indie business is giving something a way. Today it is Barcelona Bath & Body with FIVE candles. Tomorrow there will be another indie business giving something else away!

Every day is different and so, so - SO worth popping over during your AM cup o'joe!

Delicious Days

I can't remember how I came across this site a few days ago but I wrote the name down and have been carrying it around since. Delicious Days is a food blog with some very pretty pictures and several recipes that look delicious.

Like I said, it is pretty and nicely written from a lady somewhere in Germany. She has some lovely little jam filled donut things on the front page right now that are surely yummy!

As quoted from Delicious Days, "Krapfen, as they are everywhere, and so are other traditional fried dough specialties (Hasenöhrl, Auszogne, Mutzen, Schneeball’n and more). And not just the regular ones (filled with apricot jam, dusted with powdered sugar), they are available filled with chocolate creme, eggnogg custard, champagne custard, raspberry jam and - an old favorite of mine - rose hip jam. I’m most certainly a picky Krapfen eater, they shouldn’t be packed with too much rose hips jam filling and they better not be too greasy."

mmm! Saddle me up!

Bell'occhio

Once again my mom has come through with flying colors! About 10 years ago (before I was in to vintage and crafting) she drug me along to this place in San Francisco. I remember at the time being impressed by the sheer amount of ribbons AND the beautiful corsages and other flowers they made from the ribbon. But I honestly was ready to go after about 15 minutes. Times have a changed....

Bell'occhio now has an online store so you don't have to live in San Francisco to enjoy the beauty of Bell'occhio. A little slice of French vintage heaven. (Gotta remember to tell Gabrieal over at VintageIndie about this shop!)

I don't even know how to begin to tell you about the loveliness there. Beauté Confiserie Maison Papeterie .

You'll see...

Marmalade Pink

There are all kinds of exciting things going on over at Marmalade Pink if you haven't visited recently.

We've got lots of great new companies so drop by and see what's going on!

TODAY Denim & Knits New York

Charming Sam / Marmalade Pink Involved - Charity Event TODAY Denim & Knits New York, NY

Charming Sam has teamed up with the other fabulous members of Marmalade Pink to donate baskets full of indie goodies for the Denim & Knits Charity Designer Sale.

Benefiting Futures and Options INC.

Head over to Denim & Knits today from 4:00 - 8:00 for your chance at the Marmalade Pink gift baskets raffles including 2 $25.00 gift certificates from Vintage Indie to our Featured Sponsor's shop Painted White.

Denim & Knits2 Cortlandt St nr Broadway, second floor
OFF BROADWAY IN THE FINANCIAL DISTRICTNEW YORK, NY 10007

Questions? Please call 212.571.2600 or email info@denimandknits.com.

Faux Photos

Thanks once again to my mom for finding something interesting on the web. This time from across the pond a great article on Digital Alternative Photographic Effects from Gillian Allen. Really worth the read and I think it has a lot of interesting examples.

It's also worth a couple of minutes to check out the main site http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/.

I was perusing Door51 again tonight and found their blog. Alex has done some interesting "before and after" that is pretty cool. I love PhotoShop!!

Indie Wedding Month - Art Contest

I am jumping on the band wagon and hoping to grab the tail of someone elses star. March is officially Indie Wedding Month. Along with VintageIndie and Eco-Chic Weddings I am throwing a small party in March, but my party involves another fun art contest. Tell your friends!

Prize(s): $100 Gift Certificate from Charming Sam - http://www.charmingsam.com/ .

$25.00 Gift Certificate from 5th Avenue Bath Co - http://5thavenuebathco.com/

$25.00 Gift Certificate to the store of your choice at Marmalade Pink - http://www.marmaladepink.com/

How to Win: Keeping with the theme of Indie Wedding and Eco-chic your entry must be a wedding favor. An item that can be given to guests in thanks for attending the wedding of the lovely couple. Your wedding favor can be anything BUT it must be made from recycled materials.

Recycled doesn't necessarily mean digging around in the trash for an old coke can (unless that is what you want to do). Instead recycled can also mean vintage, antique, refurbished and altered. This must be an original piece of art, assemblage, etc. done by you and owned by you. Please do not submit anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to see and I reserve the right to reject any entrant at my sole discretion.

Photograph & Description: A scan or photograph of your art along with a short description of the materials used must be received via email no later than March 19, 2008 to information@charmingsam.com at 11:59pm, PST. High resolution photographs or scans are encouraged.

Voting: Each entry submitted will be posted at http://www.charmingsam.blogspot.com/ on March 21, 2008 with the capability for site visitors to vote for individual pieces. Tell your friends, co-workers and anyone else you know to stop by and vote for your piece.

Which ever piece of work has the most votes by March 26, 2008 at 11:59pm, PST will be considered the winner.

Winner: The winners entry will be posted at http://www.charmingsam.blogspot.com/ on March 27, 2008 along with details about the artist including a short bio, links to website, store, etc.

Yada-Yada: Each prize cannot be exchanged, resold, redeemed for cash or transferred with out the express permission of Charming Sam Studios.Charming Sam Studio is operating this contest with prizes offered as of February 27, 2008. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. A PURCHASE DOES NOT IMPROVE YOUR CHANCE OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED.Eligibility: Entrant must be eighteen (18) years of age or older and a legal resident of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia as of December 31, 2007. Employees of Charming Sam Studio, parents, subsidiaries, affiliated companies, and agents and the immediate family (defined as parents, spouse, children, siblings, grandparents) of each such employees, and all those with whom such employees are domiciled, are NOT eligible.

Timing: Contest begins at 12:00:01 a.m. PST on Friday, February 29, 2008 and ends at 11:59:59 p.m. E.T. on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at 11:59pm, PST.

I think that is it. If you have questions please post them as comments to this post so I can answer for everybody. Good luck!

Tagged - Weird & Stuff

O.k., I'm getting back to my tag from my favorite blog, Cherry Coloured

Rules of “tag”:
1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
2. Share 7 random and/or weird things about yourself
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

MY RESPONSES:

1) Cherry Coloured - Love this blog!

2) Seven random or weird things about me. uhhhhh.........

* I once did a voice over for a Monty Python Game. I was the voice of a Virgin in the Spank the Virgin part of the game. I think voice would be a "gross" exaggeration.

* I lived in Hawaii for almost 7 years. The first three were spent using a fake I.D. to get in to the bars. I had fun.

* I use to be in the software business. My last job was the VP of Technical Support, I was suppose to be able to answer technical questions. Now I can't find my way out of a computer box so I ask my husband for tech support.

* I can only draw stick people.

* My husband SWEARS I told him I was a great softball player. I NEVER said that and to this day I still close my eyes when a ball is coming in my direction.

* I once had a cat that climbed a power pole and got electrocuted. I was like 9 or 10 and instead of humanely putting him to sleep we had one front leg amputated, 1/2 of a back leg amputated, one ear amputated and I think he never grew whiskers back. He was an angry cat after that.

* In high school my dad bought me a motorcycle instead of a first car. I LOVED it.

3) Tag seven random people -

Sparkletopia

Secret Leaves

Dreamy Giraffe

Abigail Percy

VintageIndie

When I think of others I'll add to this.....maybe.

2008 Show Schedule

Show season is soon to begin and I will continually update this post with my schedule as I am accepted to new shows.


May 17 & 18 - Mountain View A-La Carte & Art - Mountain View, CA (confirmed)

May 25 - Capsule Design Festival - Hayes Valley Park (confirmed)

June 7 & 8 - Sunnyvale Art & Wine Festival - Sunnyvale, CA (confirmed)

June 12 - Appel & Frank 'Chic Summer Soiree' - San Francisco, CA (confirmed)

June 21 & 22 - Monterey Custom House Plaza Summer Fest - Monterey, CA (pending)

August 16 & 17 - Los Gatos Fiesta de Artes - Los Gatos, CA (confirmed)

September 6 & 7 - Mountain View Art & Wine Festival - Mountain View, CA (confirmed)

September 20 & 21 - Pleasanton Art & Heritage Festival - Pleasanton, CA (confirmed)

October 4 & 5 - Los Altos Fall Festival - Los Altos, CA (confirmed)

October 19 - Capsule Design Festival - Hayes Valley, CA (confirmed)

November 30 - Bazaar Bizaar San Francisco - San Francisco, CA (pending)

December 11 - Stockings & Stilettos, Appel & Frank (confirmed)

December 2008 - February 2009 - Solo Installation, Ariba - Sunnyvale, CA (confirmed)

To see a complete list of Bay Area arts, crafts and handmade events please visit http://www.charmingsam.typepad.com/

Tinsel Trading

One of the BEST places on the planet is Tinsel Trading in NYC. While they have lovely things on the website it is really worth a trip to the city to spend a day just at Tinsel Trading.

Last night while checking to see if they had anything new I ran across the "Craft Club Collage Collection - Vintage Variety". These little craft kits are $30 each plus shipping and look to have all kinds of amazing finds. I can't decide which is my favorite though....

My Favorite Etsy

It has been so long since I did anything on Etsy I thought today would be a good day to do a little shopping.

I've found some new things and added to my Favorites

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade amysteinberg.etsy.com

New & Tagged

I am working on two new series of art. The first being about Venice and the second about Provence. I have found that sticking with my travel themed art is much more enjoyable. The first in the Provence series is really a concept piece at only 8"x10" and I submitted to a magazine for review. I've sketched out about 8 more Provence pieces and probably the same number of Venice. I'll post the Venice in a week or two. In the meantime I hope you enjoy this.

Also, I've been tagged by my favorite blog, Cherry Coloured. (Yeah!) so I will be working on that in the next couple of days too (Think "Monty Python".)

I am also working on a bunch of jewelry pieces after spending this last weekend organizing bits and pieces.

Cloud9 Design

Not much better then being on Cloud9 and that is how you will feel about Amber Bartek and her lovely design work at Cloud9.

Amber has her Etsy shop where you can grab yourself a quick t-shirt or if you need some design work for business cards, website, tags or whatever then she also does design work at http://www.cloud9designonline.com/. Be sure to check out her MySpace with even more stuff at http://www.myspace.com/cloud9_design.

Be sure to visit our winner!

Dawn of the Feathered Nest is the winner of the Charming Sam Valentines Day Contest. Be sure to visit her lovely blog at http://the-feathered-nest.blogspot.com/ and she has a wonderful Etsy store at http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5080161.

And the winner is????

A total of 686 votes were cast during the Charming Sam Valentines Day contest. And the winner is.... "Dawn E." with this lovely entry.

Thank you to Dawn for her entry and to all the other wonderful entrants. I cannot tell you how much I've enjoyed this, I hope you have too.

Dawn will be notified via email to claim her prize(s) and all the other entrants will get prizes for entering.

I'll have a new contest before the end of the month so stay tuned for more art fun AND even MORE great prizes!

Thank you!!!!
Amy

Valentines Day Art Contest - Cast your votes!

It's official, we've received 9 entries in the Charming Sam Valentine Contest. Each entrant has done a beautiful job and I hope you will take the time to cast your vote for the single winner of the following prizes.

Prize(s): $100 Gift Box from Charming Sam - http://www.charmingsam.com/ - You'll get collage sheets, papers, ephemera and jewelry as part of your prize.PLUS: $25.00 gift certificate from Savvy Skirts, http://www.savvyskirts.com/PLUS: $25.00 gift certificate from Above the Mark,http://www.abovethemark.com/PLUS: $25.00 gift certificate from Sadie Olive,http://www.sadieolive.com/

Opinion Polls & Market Research

le Divan Fumoir Bohemien

There are times I wish I could speak and read another language. This is one of those times but luckily Google has translation available. Check out le Divan Fumoir Bohemien for all kinds of lovely inspiration. Included was this print Alfred Saint-Ange Briquet.Alexis Godillot. Campement, équipement, coiffure, chaussure, ambulances. Types de l'Armée française" : "Équipement pour la cavalerie" - 1862

Thanks Mom!

Ma Chere'

This past weekend I met a woman named Coco who lives in San Francisco. I found some wonderful tid-bits from her that were acquired in Paris flea markets. Here is just a tiny, tiny sampling of what I found and what will become the basis for some collage sheets, journal pages and oh, so much more!

Valentines Day Art Contest - DEADLINE REMINDER

Thank you to those of you who have sent in your entries!

Just a quick reminder to anyone who still wants to participate in the Valentines Day Contest from Charming Sam. You only have about a week to get your submission in.

All the details are here: http://charmingsam.blogspot.com/2007/12/valentines-day-art-contest.html

Photograph: A scan or photograph of your art must be received via email no later than February 5, 2008 to information@charmingsam.com at 11:59pm, PST.

High resolution photographs or scans are encouraged.

Valentine Gift Guide - Wickedly Chic

Yep, it's that time.

Need to send someone something special for the V-D day? Then go check out the Wickedly Chic Valentine's Shopping Guide. All kinds of great gifts including jewelry, home, bath & body, food & drink and accessories. *No this is not a paid listing* I do not accept paid listings on this site. :-)