EIT for Charity: first campaign has ended

[versione italiana]

The first Etsy Italia Team charity campaign has just ended and its results are great! Our fund raising campaign was destined to GECA ONLUS, a non-profit organization founded to support and help people affected by heredo-familial heart diseases and their families.

Our Team has always been sensitive to this theme and, thanks to our friend and team mate Vera who talked us about her condition and the GECA organization, we started a charity campaign this summer. You can read about the campaign and her story here: http://etsyitaliateam.blogspot.com/2011/07/eit-for-charity-geca-onlus.html

All heart themed objects sold in our charity store from july 9th to Spetember 9th raised 103€ (after taxes and fees) and the entire amout has been given to the GECA organization to help research on ARVC. Here you can see the receipt of the bank transfer to GECA ONLUS:

click to enlarge

We would like to thank everyone who supported us and to thank Vera for allowing us to know about this organization. A special thank to all team members that got involved in this campaign giving to our charity shop their 'hearts':
ArchivioGotico
Atelierpompadour
Biberta
BijouxdelloStregatto
CallMeMimì
CloudNumberNine
ElenasLoom
EtherealFlowers
Fabdant
FioreJewellery
HandmadeinItaly
IGhirigori
Ireneagh
Knittingcate
Kosmika
LallaCairns
LaPerLaA
LazyFish
LeFolliediMarzia
LeStoffeAllegre
Lillicose
Lofficina
MadameRenard
MairiTales
MiamaCreazioni
MyMinimalLook
NotforEat
oOLaPiOo
SignoraLuna
ValentinaDonatiello
Valeriatelier
VeraCreations
Verityunmondoaparte

See you soon with a new found-rising!




Written by CloudNumberNine
Translated by Kosmika


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Weekly Finds!

Elegant Cabled Fingerless Gloves - by HandMadeInItaly

The october Country Paper Garland - by ArchivioGotico

Petite Organic Sterling Silver Ring - by LovePotionDesign

Grey Silk Shrug - by Notforeat

Collage created by Kosmika

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Weekly Finds

Emily D flower brooch - by etherealflowers 

Honey - by OnYourHead  

Black, rust and vanilla silk dress - by nivule 

Honey bee necklace - by bijouxdellostregatto 

Collage by Babu106


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Back to School

[versione italiana]

by Mairi Tales

September started from a few days and the children are now resigned to the harsh reality: back to school is imminent and inevitable.
As every year, has begun the run to the purchase of the necessary equipment, that is to say pencils, pens, notebooks, diary, pencil case, backpack and much more. Most of the products sold in our stationery can now satisfy the desires of our children, but even here, as in all areas, we have to deal with the so-called "fashions of the moment", that standardizes the proposals on the market.
What a shame ...

Handmade world comes once again to our aid: it is possible, in fact, customize ous school kit, giving free rein to our personality ... how?
Well, for example creating a pencil case using crochet colorful yarn.
Our knittingcate made an absolutely delicious one, perfect for schoolboys!

If you want a customized bookmark, PassionArte proposes a very simple one: a little mushroom will sprung from the books of your children and will accompany them during the study!

The Small notebooks by Biberta are very original: entirely hand painted and very detailed, they are all different from one another.

But if you want to create something by yourself, (perhaps with the help of the children!) here is a tutorial to make a nice cloth pouch: My needle crafts - Simple pencil case tutorial.

And now ... have a nice back to school to everyone!

Written by LefolliediMarzia
Translated by LaPi



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EIT for charity: northern Italy earthquake - Second donation

 [Versione italiana]

The fund-raising campaign for Emilia Romagna Earthquake, promoted by EtsyItalia team, has ended.

You can see the previous stages of the campaing at the follow web links:

Announcement

First donation

Helena's story

MEI's post and their fund-raising

In the first stage of the campaign, ended on June, we have donated 700€ to region of Emilia Romagna. In the second stage we have donated 405€ to Finale Emilia town hall and 405€ to S.C.P.A. San Felice sul Panaro for their school and help for people.

The receipts:

 

We had almost 200 items, 131 sales, 1510€ collected (without Etsy and Paypal taxes), 14 countries from over the world involved.

Thanks to all of you who have partecipated by buying from charity shop, by donating creations and promoting the campaign, thanks to Pam with her treasuries and a giveaway, to Diana, the winner of the giveaway and her post, to the Treasury Flash Mob team, to Helena - Simplyhelena, to Daniela - Handmadeinitaly, to Anna - Themuubear, to Sonia - Lofficina, to Silvia - Cloudnumbernine, to Anna - Lalunadianna, to Marzia - Lefolliedimarzia, to Laura - Kosmika and to Francesca - Etherealflowers.

The emergency in Emilia Romagna is ended but there is a lo tof work to do, towns and communities to rebuild, materials and money to collect.

We'll never forget them nor the other people we helped in the past:

GECAonlus

Alluvione5 Terre

Pigments and polymer clay

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Have you ever seen the movie "The girl with a pearl earring"?

It's about the life and work of the Flemish painter Johannes Vermeer and gives us an idea of ​​the great work behind the preparation of a painting. At that time, every artist used to prepare his own colors, working the raw material that had to be finely minced, washed (purified) and then mixed. They say that Vermeer's favorite color was ultramarine blue, extracted from the precious lapis lazuli, at which we ascribe the enchanting shade of the girl with the pearl earring's turban.

Pigments are substances that can give a color to a material. They are known since the Stone Age and may be organic, inorganic, natural or synthetic. Pigments are formed by very thin particles (of the order of microns) sold in powder, paste or dispersed into an appropriate medium. They can be used in many ways: in paints, in the plastic industry, in the synthetic fabrics, in the cosmetic industry and so on.

Talking about hobbies, pigment brands disposible on the market allow you to create very special effects, imitation of ancient metal, of precious stones, of leather and Raku porcelain, reproducing the effect of the hammered metal and are used in cartonnage, in modeling with polymer clay, in candle making, in decoration, in painted decoupage and in many other techniques.

Leaf pendant by Celidonia

Almost all companies that sell products for hobbyists offer a line of metallic, matte, satin, perlescent (and so on) pigments at affordable prices. These are synthetic products, definitely not as precious as Vermeer's ultramarine blue, but with a great performance nonetheless.

Working with polymer clay, pigments can be used both mixing them into the clay or applying them on the surface of the uncured creation with a brush, a sponge pad or even with your fingers to create glows, gradients, pearlescences etc.

The owl and the moon earrings by VeraCreations

The creation has to be cured and then the surface can be protected with transparent varnish to prolong the life of the colors. However, many pigments lose their metallic finish when varnished, so the advice is to always do a test on a scrap piece before to focus on the creation, so that anyone can find the right compromise between color performance and durability.

Dragon pendant by Mairitales

Happy crafting with pigments and polymer clay!

Weekly finds

Fabric doll's house - the farm by MentaeCioccolato

Blue boat in 1/12 scale by Mairitales

LAVINIA - handmade soft eco kids doll by Chromantication

Handmade Upcycled Teddy Bear Plush ELISE by LaKrimeCreations

Collage by EtherealFlowers






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