Tag: dubai
ARTE at Oasis Mall
Arte, The Makers Market will be at Oasis Mall, Sheikh Zayed Road.
ARTE at Oasis Mall
Arte, The Makers Market will be at Oasis Mall, Sheikh Zayed Road.
ARTE at Times Square Center
(Handmade) Love is in the air at ARTE
We have another full house with over 170 amazing stalls, featuring plenty of great Valentine’s ideas for men and women, so please come and visit us. We would love to see you there.
Here is a sneak peek at some of the lovely heart themed products that you can see on display tomorrow:
Hearts by PepperTreeArts
Bags by Maicharles
Delia’s Quilts
Love to see more? Here is the full 2013 Valentine album of ‘lovey-dovey’ work by the artisans.
Creativity for artisans doesn’t stop with the actual craft. Many of the artisans now create their own posters to showcase what handcrafted goodies they have in time for Valentines. Check out some of them below.
Books by Surat Journals
Shoes by Sarah’s Art
Illustration by Orange Jar Illustrations
Cufflinks by Janys De
Want to see more? Check out the 2013 ARTE vendor’s posters on facebook. And if you haven’t already liked us on facebook, please do!
ARTE bookmarks in Weird and Wonderful Places – Fruitbowl Workshops
Fruitbowl Workshops are absolutely creative, not only in the way they do their handcrafts, but also in the way they decided to get their falcon posing next to the ARTE bookmark. How cool is that?
Me want to hug ARTE…..
ARTE VIP visit to the Dubai Mall.
Take a photo of the ARTE bookmark in the weird and fun places that you can think of and the photos could be featured on this blog.
Camel milk leads the way (to great skin!)
Essential Soaps at one of the ARTE events. Supplied photos.
Here is an ARTE vendor who has built a great client base by attending ARTE fairs, and she has been attending ARTE only since the beginning of this year. Her name is Stevi Lowmass, Owner of Essential Soaps. What’s special about these soaps is that the chief ingredient is made of camel milk.
Stevi explains, “I wanted to make something that was uniquely from the UAE. I figured that camel milk would be pretty unique for the region. All soap makers start with non-milk based soaps which are somewhat simpler to make but once you get hooked on milk based soaps it is hard to go back!”
Neatly packaged soaps waiting to be purchased! Supplied photos.
Apart from working up a great lather, the camel milk contains the well known alpha-hydroxy acids (used usually in peels in cosmetic salons) that promote lovely looking and firm skin. “Camel milk has three times more Vitamin C than cow’s milk.” Makes sense, then to switch to such a potent handmade soap.
Stevi shared some photos of her at her ‘cauldron’ as she wittingly puts it. “All my soaps are made using a method cold cold-process soap making. Contrary to the words, however, the oils for the soap are heated before being mixed with the camel milk mixture. The large pot is for heating my oils and waxes.”
‘Brewing’ away. Supplied photos.
Stevi and her ‘labour of love.’ Supplied photos.
Camel milk based soaps don’t have to be boring from the fragrance point of view. Stevi can spruce the soaps up with a variety of spices or flowers. Lavender, rose geranium, rosemary, orange, cinnamon. It’s your choice.
Visit Essential Soaps online. Essential soaps also have a facebook page.
Mummy’s No. 1 Inspiration
Bahraini-born, Mona Al-Alawi is the lucky mother of a beautiful little girl who is also the inspiration behind her baby accessories line, The.Little.Lady.
Mona Al-Alawi with her daughter
Specializing in handmade hair accessories for little ones, her collection currently ranges from hair clips & hair bands to luxurious ribbons & sashes, specifically made for a baby or toddler’s fine and wispy hair. Mona makes it a point to keep an eye on high street trends and tries to make sure that her designs compliment the seasonal clothing ranges in the local shops.
When creating her unique one-of-a-kind pieces, Mona takes extra care to ensure that each item is safe for babies. This entails making sure that all embellishments are firmly secured using non-toxic glue, and lead free materials. On occasions, these accessories could make it to a child’s mouth, so she makes sure that the parts are not going to easily come free, posing a choking hazard, or that any of the components used could make a child sick.
A customer visits The.Little.Lady booth at the ARTE Market
A happy customer
To learn more about Mona and her cute line of baby accessories visit The.Little.Lady facebook page or just drop by her booth at the next ARTE Market in Festival Centre and Times Square Center.
Daring to be a Superhero – Linzi Kan
There must have been a time in your life when you dreamt of being a superhero. Catwoman, Wonderwoman, Batman, James Bond, even Tintin and his dog Snowy. And who knows, some of us had wicked fascinations to be the bad guys – the Joker or Green Goblin.
Thanks to UK born Linzi Kan, superheros and supervillains come alive in this day and age. Through her handcrafted line named ‘Gorgeoustuff‘ you can experience all the ‘..man’ and ‘…woman’ super-stereotypes that you have ever come across in the comics world. This ARTE vendor has a degree in graphic design and has been a colourist in the film industry before she harnessed her inner feline strength to create funky cushions incorporating old graphics of comics.
So if you wish to have Thor-like strength…
… or be feline through and through, like the superhero gal below…
… or perhaps you like the vile Joker
… or debonair 007 James Bond, ‘Gorgeoustuff‘ is your one stop comic con shop at ARTE.
Linzi also has a fascination with skulls, which she thinks is cool (I am aware that many ARTE vendors love skulls, including myself). Skulls remind me (Jan) of the ‘Ghost that Walks’ troupe – Phantom and his wife Diana, his pet wolf Devil and his faithful horse Hero. The Phantom reportedly wore a skull shaped ring, and with his mask on, he usually looked like a skull head.
Here are some of Linzi’s skull cushions.
The scary ones …
The super scary ones …
The in-love ones …
And the extra-cute ones!
Follow Gorgeoustuff on Facebook.
Photos supplied by Gorgeoustuff, with thanks.
Cherry Blossoms anyone?
One of the most poignant parts of the ‘Mulan‘ story is when Mulan, the heroine of the story, meets her father under the Magnolia Trees. The conversation goes something like this, “Some (Magnolia) flowers take a long time to bloom, but once they do, they are the most beautiful of them all.” With this, Mulan was encouraged to find her life’s purpose and she became instrumental in saving the Kingdom of her time. Of course, the story is set in China and the cherry blossoms are not the same as the Mulan’s magnolia but for me both the trees’ blossoms stir similar emotions. (I would like to thank Lazar, one of the ARTE blog readers, for pointing out that ‘Mulan’ actually means magnolia. How fascinating).
So when Katarina Kovacevof MojePerle shared with me (Jan) her story of how she created the cherry blossoms pendant in polymer clay, I felt an immediate connection. Katrina says, “Cherry blossoms bloom in Japan during this time of the year.” Further research showed me that this is true for the main Japan cities such as Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, though in the rural areas it may start as early as January and end in May.
As April has already descended on us, what better way to begin the month with a story on Cherry Blossoms right here in Dubai. If you are wondering, no, Katrina is not from Japan, but from Serbia. It’s so nice to see how artisans can glean inspiration from other cultures and Katrina demonstrates this perfectly.
How Katrina from MojePearl makes her Cherry Blossom polymer pendant. Photo supplied by MojePearl
The above photo depicts the step by step process that Katrina uses to make her cherry blossoms pendant. Whenever she makes these pendants in polymer clay, she fondly remembers her grand mother who loved cherry blossoms. “Sadly, she passed away last year,” she says, her eyes misting up. I’d say, what a beautiful way to create a handmade product that helps you recollect fond memories of a loved one.
So if you fancy having a ‘cherry blossoms viewing’ or a ‘cherry blossoms picnic Japanese style’, right here in Dubai, pop by Katrina’s stall at the Times Square Centre on Friday, the 13th of April 2012 (and usually every 2nd Friday of the month), as part of the ARTE exhibition. She has other ‘garden’ treasures and roses to share with you, if you fancy these more than cherry blossoms.
Garden earrings. Photos by MojePearl
Rose pendant with silver foil. Photo by MojePearl
Visit MojePerle on facebook.