Tag: handmade

Hats off to the Milliner

For French American Nadege Brunacci, fashion is indisposable. So she takes it upon herself to handcraft each and every piece of art in the form of hats. You will never see the same hat, colour, stitch twice at Nadege’s stand and hand.

Nadege, the lady behind these lovely handcrafted hats.

Nadege, the lady behind these lovely handcrafted hats.

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The girl who grew up loving the styles of Coco Chanel and Audrey Hepburn, wants to recover that sense of  ‘femininity’ so lost to women. If you want a hat, bring in  your favourite dress, and she will stitch a hat just to compliment that dress.  You can be sure that if a hat doesn’t suit you, then Nadege will say so and instead draw your attention to the hat that does suit your countenance, your style, your figure and also add inches to your frame (if you happen to be petite).

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Visit ‘Hats by Nadege’ on Facebook.

(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

Hearts by PepperTreeArts

Bags by Maicharles

Bags by Maicharles

Delia's Quilts

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 Journal

Books by Surat Journals

Shoes by Sarah's Art

Shoes by Sarah’s Art

Illustration by Orange Jar Illustrations

Illustration by Orange Jar Illustrations

Cufflinks by Janys De

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!

Have a hUmorki day

Aneta Dersley narrates how hUmorki (notice the capital U) starts with her daughter Amelia and her different moods. She takes the chance to make stuffed toys that also look sad or angry, something so unusually in stuffed toys.

At kindergarten Amelia couldn’t find any toys to play with. So Aneta came up with the idea to start sewing stuffed toys which encaptured various moods and various creatures that the world has probably never seen in such form.

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Amelia is the rigorous tester of all the handmade hUmorki toys by taking them on her own adventures in daily living, whether that be in her messy bedroom or on picnics. She has also named many of the toys, such as rabbit Jenny, Bobby, Peli and more.

Aneta feels inspired to create new hUmorki characters thanks to the people who appreciate the work done and the moods that the toys feature that resonate with the people’s hearts.

Visit hUmorki on facebook.

Have a Handmade Halloween!

Our ARTE Artisans have been very busy creating Halloween themed handmade products. From fun decorations to toys and delicious treats, each piece will help you stand out at your upcoming Halloween party.

Crochet Zombies and Pumpkins by Komeropuoti – Little Craft Shop

Pumpkin Toffee by Toffee Princess

Halloween inspired Crystal Tree by Sahar’s Luxury Handicrafts

Halloween inspired Cat-Shaped Decorative Cushions by Eva’s Cats

Stuffed toys by Natalia Sukhanova

Halloween Inspired Miniature Sculptures by Orange Jar

Halloween Bunting by Bright & Beautiful ME

Trick or Treat Buckets by Bright & Beautiful ME

Halloween inspired Cupcakes by Farah Nausheen Arshad & Sana Ayesha Arshad

Little boys set by In The Sand Pit

Polymer Clay Earrings by Mojeperle

Skull Cork Stoppers by Colin Roberts from 2RGalleries

There’s Something about Mary’s Designs

Mary Falconer’s handmade clutches are one of the most coveted items at ARTE. These pieces exude classic feminine sophistication, with a dose of glamour to boot.

Without any formal training, and mostly self taught, Mary is the maker and talent behind the sewing machine, creating these colourful and trendy clutches, one design at a time.

Mary Falconer with one her handmade clutches

A stay at home mom of three children, she decided to give entrepreneurship a go. It has since turned into something more remarkable for her. Her business is something she looks forward to each day, and is a constant source of gratification.

“I strive for difference and oneness with my pieces. Finding materials and then finding ways to challenge the perceptions held by people about the boundaries of these materials is what drives me. I therefore embrace vibrant colours, intense prints and textures and fuse them together to create a unique and expressive design.”

Image courtesy of Mary Falconer Designs

“I really do enjoy both the creative aspect of dreaming up new things and the business side of making it all work. It is not an easy process and certainly not quick as one might think, but it is a wonderful experience when the end product works out and it can be enjoyed by my clients.”

Image courtesy of Mary Falconer Designs

“My goal as a designer is to create a brand that truly defined a woman; a brand that embodies all the qualities I see in them: Strength, Fun, Independence, Elegance and True Beauty…”

To learn more about Mary Falconer Design, join her on facebook  or visit her website: http://www.maryfalconerdesign.com

Image courtesy of Mary Falconer Designs

Handmade Gifts for Men

We don’t know about you, but we find it notoriously hard to buy gifts for the special men in our lives. If there’s no one thing in particular that springs to mind, our fail-safe advice is usually a package of little treats, things to make him laugh, and useful objects. It’s a great solution and you can mix-and-match to fit the big guy’s personality.

What’s your guy’s personality? Dapper, foodie, adventurer, sporty, musical or geeky, ARTE has a little something for everyone…

Handmade Model Railways By Model Railways UAE

Handmade Mugs by Irene’s Pots

Scottish Tablet desert by Toffee Princess

Handcrafted Bottle Stoppers by Colin Roberts

All natural Shaving Soap Kit by PAN Soaps

Sterling silver Cuff Links and Tie Pin by Mr. Beaujangles

Elvis stencil art Cushion by Gorgeoustuff

Wrist Candy

For an instant wardrobe update this spring/summer 2012, all you need is some stunning chunky wrist-candy.

At ARTE, they come ranging from the sparkly Swarovski cuffs to some of spring’s most attention-grabbing and colourful bracelet. Each piece is an original and eye catching piece handcrafted by locally based artisans.

Ghawaiesh by Mona El Sanhoury and Radwa Abo Alam

Swarovski beads bracelet – vendor unknown

One Card To Rule Them All…

One Card to rule them all,

One Card to find them,

One Card to bring them all

and always have a card on hand, no matter what.

Meet Clara Townsend – a Dubai College student who recently began her very own laptop fund from the sales of her unique handmade greeting cards at ARTE.

Between school and playing drums for an indie band called Rainhouse, Clara needed a quick yet smart way to raise money for a Macbook Pro. With her goal in sight, Clara decided to create something that was unique yet cost-friendly. Using her friends and family as inspiration, she quickly realized that most people in Dubai lived very busy lives and often forgot small things such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Enter All-Occasion Cards

For the common multitasking Dubai-resident, Clara created funky yet simple wordsearch greeting cards with a plethora of sentiments (Sorry, Congratulations, Merry Christmas) and phrases (Thank You, Missing You, Welcome Home) that can easily be customized for any occasion.

A picture of a “last minute” gift accompanied by Clara’s All Occasion card sent in by a customer

Clara suggests, “Just store a few cards in the office, at home or even in the car. Then, on your way to a last minute  party, pull one out, highlight/circle the right occasion and you’re good to go. For extra points, you could consider dropping by a flower shop for a bouquet.”

Clara’s all occasion cards are available as a single piece or in sets of 5, for only AED 45.

Lego Heads

It has been over a year, since Clara raised enough money for her Macbook Pro. However, having caught the ARTE bug, she is far from being done with creating Greeting Cards.

Today, Clara’s card collection has expanding to include new Lego-Head cards, with her bestseller being the ‘Ghitra Lego Head’. The new collection was well received by customers as well as fellow crafters, which also gave her the idea to use it in her GCSE art final piece.

To find Clara’s unique handmade cards, visit her at the ARTE Market in Times Square Center on the second Friday of every month.

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.