Waltzing through with Talent - Shenevski from Etsy

Waltzing though with Talents is moving to a new time slot! (I say this like it's a radio show..) because from next week onwards I will be spending my Mondays at work, so I cannot gurantee that the segment will go up on time. So Friday it is now! In 2010, I have many more features lined up, more giveaways and a lot more exciting to share with you, so stick around and you won't be disappointed! (I'm hoping anyways...)

For this week's segment, we have Ana from Shenevski here to share a little bit about herself with us.





Who are you and what do you sell?
My name is Ana – a married woman with two kids – a 7 year-old daughter and a 5 year-old son. T my shop I sell hand-knitted and crocheted clothes.

What are your inspirations and muses?
The first incentive for me to create is the love of knitting/crocheting. This has been my biggest hobby since childhood. Now, the new techniques, new pattern, new types of clothing, other peoples' creations really motivate me to experience and create. And the most satisfying thing is to see that people like my creations and are willing to spend their money for hand-knitted/crocheted clothes. With every sale I feel the need to start a new and more interesting project.



Beautiful Knitted Shawl

How does your creative space look like?
There is no specific space for my craft – I may be knitting while sitting by my PC or on the couch while watching TV, and sometimes in my bed just before sleep. Contrary to the general idea of an artist space – mine is very tidy – just the ball of yarn and probably a sheet of paper with the pattern.

Tell us a little about what makes you, you.
My mom showed me the knitting and crocheting techniques when I was about 9 years old. Since then I have been perfecting my knitting abilities. Besides knitting I love gobelin tapestry. I have a few gobelins that I am proud of. The other hobby I hope I will have more time to practice is photography.
My day job - I am a secretary at an attorney’s office. I love it and it satisfies me a lot.



Colourful Handknitted Scarf

What are you most proud of in your crafting/art life and your personal best achievement?
People’s appreciation and satisfaction from my products make me proud, especially when they come back.
My personal achievement – my family and my kids.

Complete these sentences:
I love … my life.
I cannot live without my … family.
I hope … my children will achieve more than I did.
When I grow up… I will still be happy with my life.



Handknitted Skirt

What do you like best about the crafting/art world?
Crafting/art world is an enormous world of ideas where one can see the power of human imagination.

Where can we get more goodies from you?
You can get my clothes at my shop: Shenevski on etsy
I also accept custom orders with client’s desired measurements, patterns, yarns and colors.

My other creations can be seen on Flickr





Ana's fingers must be magic, for nothing I've ever knitted ever looks quite as beautiful as her creations. And as if having magic fingers wasn't enough, Ana has a beautiful and generous giving soul as well. To Little Waltz's readers, she has agreed to give away a beautiful crocheted shawl valued at 50 dollars.





Here's how to win:

Compulsory entry: One entry for following Shenevski on Twitter: Shenevski on Twitter

For additional entries:

• Tweet about this giveaway - please link your tweet back here for verification purposes.
  
• Follow Petitevalse
  
• Go to Shenevski on Etsy and pick a favourite item, remembering to come back here with the link.
  
• For four extra entries: Purchase anything from Shenevski on Etsy during the giveaway period.
  

Would you like to be considered for this feature? Send me an email at petite.valse (at)gmail.com and tell me why you'd like to be in the feature!

Waltzing through with Talent - Shenevski from Etsy

It's a birthday giveaway - the winner!

Did you have fun twittering? I was amazed by the number of entries pouring in. Thank you so much!

I also had a beautiful birthday. A very nice and relaxed one that I really enjoyed despite having no friends to keep me company on the day itself.
However I did have friends around me on the day before and after my birthday, so I think I'm pretty lucky and am really happy with my lot.

Did you wonder about the significant of the number 271 ? Other than that being the number needed to win the giveaway, it was also when my actual birthday was on. 27th of January. Thank you to all those who wished me a happy birthday! It made me smile rather happily.

At any rate, everybody have been twittering up a storm to win one of these beauties:





And after so many entries, I finally have the winner!

Congratulations to:

Morgrain24

So Morgrain24, please do contact me back on twitter and let me know what your preference is (red or blue, do remember that the photo above is for illustration purposes only, and the pattern may not be the same) and your contact details and I will send them out to you asap.

Remembering that the crucial rule is: The winner will be contacted through Twitter, if the winner does not contact me back within 48 hours of winning, the win will be disqualified and the next person in line will be the next winner. Hurry!

Watch out for the next giveaway guys. It will be up today!

It's a birthday giveaway - the winner!

January Cookoff 2010: Mexican

As part of my 2010 projects, my friends and I have started a Monthly Cook Off Challenge. You can read the rules and regulations of the challenge here.

So for our very first challenge for 2010, we started with the theme: Mexican.





It was such awesome fun! Awesome food, awesome desserts, awesome drinks and awesome company made for a fantastic and... you guessed it: awesome night.

You can read more about the food (and recipes) that were cooked and shared that night on my food blog.

Feel free to leave a comment here or there... and feel free to join in the fun! I will be posting up the theme for next month really soon! So stay tune.

January Cookoff 2010: Mexican

It's a lazy sunday afternoon.

It's a lazy sunday afternoon.

How lazy?

Allow my cat Tinsel to tell you exactly how lazy:


It is thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssss lazy.

I have a proper blog post in the works, I assure you, but for now let us join Tinsel in the lazy afternoon mood and laze around a little...

In the meantime, have some cat photos:







Distracted cat model is distracted.

I don't think Tinsel was too amused by me taking photos of her when she was really just trying to go back to the bedroom to sleep.

I'll be back later with the winner of the giveaway! So stay tune!

It's a lazy sunday afternoon.

It's a birthday giveaway!

Time has surely flown by.

It's going to be my birthday real soon again! Whoops, did I mention birthday?

So as a real treat to you , I will be doing a giveaway of my own. What's this? A birthday that you give instead of receive presents? And why not?
A birthday is a celebration and I'd love to share the joy with you.

So here's the deal:

I'm giving away ....





one of my sakura necklaces (blue or red, you pick!)

These pretties are valued at $35 usd and are one of a kind.
If you haven't heard already, they are kimono fabric frozen in resin, shaped into sakuras.
Three different layers of sakuras flowers coordinated together and highlighted with shimmering swarovski crystals!

Don't you want one? Of course you do. They are such beautiful little pretties.


How to win:

There is only one method of entering and that is by posting this on Twitter.

" Be the 271 person to tweet this and win your very own #SakuraNecklace http://bit.ly/5LOTRd Details: http://bit.ly/6cthNg #littlewaltz "

Rules:

1. You may tweet only once per hour.
2. You may RT but the keywords #SakuraNecklace and #littlewaltz must be in the tweet or it will be disqualified.
3. Winner may pick the colour theme that they desire (red or blue) but the fabric pattern may not be the same as pictured.

I will be doing a search through Twitter and keeping count.

The winner will be contacted through Twitter, if the winner does not contact me back within 48 hours of winning, the win will be disqualified and the next person in line will be the next winner.



So why wait? Do it now!


--------------------------------------------


In other news,





The lovely Heather King had my little ear studs up on her blog to cheer you guys up from January Blues.
Not just my ear studs but many other lovely cheerful things as well.
So why not pay her a visit?

It's a birthday giveaway!

Today...

I've been taken over by a Japanese craze recently. So have more kimono fabrics encased in resin jewellery!


Blue Kimono Fabric Resin Earrings

Available here

Red Kimono Fabric Resin Earrings

Available here


Earrings this time! Aren't the colours just gorgeous? I'm really loving all the vibrant colours and how it really really pops.

Also, hello! to all my wonderful followers! There's been quite a few new followers recently, I really do hope you are active readers and active bloggers! I'm always looking for new blogs to read so I'll be doing my rounds very soon and popping by your blog!

Please don't feel shy, say hi! I love having conversations with my readers. So feel free to leave a comment, who knows, you just might get a little surprise one day!
(I like to give my readers random gifts.. you never know when it might be you! )

What did you get up to today?

Today...

Turning Japanese: Kimono Resin Flowers as Necklaces.

It's been awhile since I spoke of my own crafty endeavours on this blog, so let's have a look shall we?

This is going to be a combination of posts really, but to start with Finki started a monthly challenge, and the January theme was Turning Japanese.


So here's my take on it!



These are made from Kimono fabrics frozen in resin, and then shaped as sakuras.
Each sakura has 3 layers of different flowers and different fabrics
As different parts of the fabric is used, no two sakura will ever be the same.
Similar, possibly. Exactly the same? Not possible.





Closeups of the flowers.


The flowers hang on a necklace ring that is also nickle free, so for those with skin allergies, this will definitely suit you.
It's a modern take on the usual traditional looking kimono fabrics!

These particular necklaces have gone home to a new owner! *cheers*
But if you want more sakura necklaces (just with different sakuras), you can get them on my etsy store.
Mention the code TURNING JAPANESE and you'll even get free shipping on the necklaces! Offer ends 10th Feb tho, so be quick!

These necklaces were also featured on Empirebeads blog!

So what do you think? Like them, hate them?

Turning Japanese: Kimono Resin Flowers as Necklaces.

Giveaway winner for Angelene announced!

It's been a massive week so Waltzing through with Talent will take a break this week.

But don't worry, we do actually have the winner for the Angelene Giveaway all picked and chosen and ready to go!

There were some of you who entered the entries a tad late (after the deadline) so I'm sorry but your entries had to be disqualified. But don't worry coz we have many more other giveaways for you to try your hand at!


And without further ado:




Random.org has spoken. The winner of the much coveted 40 dollars gift voucher from Angelene will go to : Melissa S. !!

Congrats Melissa. I will be in touch with you shortly!

More blog posts to come, stay tune yet!

Giveaway winner for Angelene announced!

Giveaway winner for MooBeeTees design contest unveiled!

I'm a day late with my announcement of the winner from the MooBeeTees giveaway. Thank you so much to everybody who entered! Your ideas were fantastic and Karen from MooBeeTees echoed my thoughts when I wished that I could award each and every one of you with something awesome.

It was hard to pick a winner, but the deed had to be done, and so after much delibration on Karen's part (She got the hard part of the job! ), she finally landed on a winner.

And the winner is:




Congrats Janil!


Janil, I will be in contact with you shortly.

Now. Before you go off and close the window in disappointment, Karen was ever so generous and has decided to award an extra four prizes. A 25 % discount voucher to another lucky four of you!

So Congratulations to :

Rebecca - with your suggestion of a hippy shirt
Shiki - with your suggestion of a cherry blossom tree
Busy05 - with your suggestions of the birds tweeting a name
Candy3181 - with your suggestion of a sheriff badge

All of you incredibly creative cookies have won yourself a 25% discount voucher from MooBeeTees!
I will be in touch with all of you shortly to send you voucher details.

Phew! Wasn't that exciting? If you didn't win this one, don't worry. There's plenty more giveaways to come, and hey look! there's even one giveaway going on right now!

So hop on over to the current star of the fortnight and enter Angelene's giveaway for she does make absolutely gorgeous jewellery, don't you think?

Giveaway winner for MooBeeTees design contest unveiled!

Friday Favourite Artist: Marc Johns

Friday Favourite .... is a new favourite artist!

I'm talking about : Marc Johns

His art is simple and refreshing and full of humour! I especially love this toilet paper series:











If he ever made these into actual printed toilet paper rolls, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Even though I'm a diehard fan of Quilton's 3 ply toilet paper.
Yes, I'm a toilet paper snob. *grins*

Check out more of this work at his website! Marc Johns

Also! Don't forget that Oakleigh Brown Owls are meeting tomorrow!
If you are wanting to send in your RSVP, do so NOW!

Friday Favourite Artist: Marc Johns

The Handmade Show

I'm nervous, I truly am.

But this will be my very first display show, trunk show, jewellery party, whatever you'd like to call it so I'd appreciate it very much if my friends and blogger friends came to support me.

Plus I promise you it will be fun!

If you are the crafty sort, bring along a handheld craft and join us as we sit around with cuppas and finger food and chat about all things crafty under this sun.

And do introduce yourself if you come! I'd love to say hi to my crafty and blogger friends. I do love putting faces to people!

The Handmade Show

Waltzing through with Talent - Ange from Angelene

Happy New Year everybody! It's Monday once again, and while we still have the previous segment ongoing till the 12th of January 2010, there is no reason why we cannot continue to feature another awesome crafter. With that said, if you haven't entered the previous giveaway, do it! It's so adorable, and so easy really!





I make jewellery, and often I find people tend to group all jewellery makers together. But this is so incredibly wrong. Just like how with clothes we have so many different types, and sizes, and styles... in jewellery, we have the same. Ange is a jewellery maker, and her jewellery's fantastic! Very different from mine, and much classier too. *winks*





Who are you and what do you sell?
My name is Ange, and I sell handcrafted jewellery, and some upstyled ladies tops too! My jewellery is made from sterling silver and some goldfill, with gemstones and Swarovski crystals. I am easily bored, so you will see my store has a wide range of styles, themes and has something to suit just about anyone!

What are your inspirations and muses?
I am inspired by organic shapes - you'll notice alot of circle, swirls and curves in my jewellery - I also love natural gemstones, particularly at the moment lush rich garnets! I'm heavily influenced by what I read and experience - for example, at the moment I'm reading (yet again) Laurell K Hamilton's Merry Gentry faerie princess series - so my latest pieces are decadent, a bit noir, and very very rich.


AAA Rock Crystal Quartz, Green Amethyst and White Topaz Art Earrings - Gaia at Night

How does your creative space look like?
My fiance Josh has built me a work table, so I can sit with him of an evening (or by myself on the weekend in front of a good vampire flick) and work away. I am terrible at putting things away so I have a mish mash of my favourite gems and crystals out - for inspiration and easy access.

Tell us a little about what makes you, you. Your other hobbies, day job (if any!) .. anything that makes you tick!
I am a very boring public servant by day - my work is in social policy - at the moment I am advising on early childhood, multicultural affairs and the arts. It is fairly dry work - lots of brief writing and meetings... but I'm good at it, so that is in itself rewarding. I also read alot - I love Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake vampire hunter series, and the Merry Gentry faerie series too - Anne Rice's vampire chronicles, Mayfair witch series and other novels, anything a bit noir and naughty really! I also read a brilliant book recently called "Someone Knows My Name" a fictional piece about the slave trade of Africa in the 1700s and 1800s... very moving.

I describe myself as a grown up with ADHD - I have a million things on the go at any one time - on top of my fulltime job, I run a home spray tanning business, try to help Josh renovate our house, and make jewellery (plus all the listing and promoting that goes along with it). I find time for friends when I can, and am lucky to know so many gorgeous people to spend time with.


Metal and Sterling earrings - Bronze Butterfly

What are you most proud of in your crafting/art life and your personal best achievement?
I'm proud of the way my technique has improved and how I can visualise a new technique and make it happen (without too many do overs!). My most recent piece (yet to be listed) involved a bit of wire crotcheting, and was a risky experiment, but I pulled it off! I posted a picture of it on my facebook fanpage, and will list it on etsy soon.

Complete these sentences:

* I love... my fiance Josh deeply
* I cannot live without.. a creative outlet!
* I hope..to find more time in my busy schedule for my craft
* When I grow up..hehe not sure i've done that yet - I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up!



Handmade sterling silver toe or pinky ring or regular finger ring - Swirly Swirls

What do you like best about the crafting/art world.
The community - my team mates (Down Under Street Team, JETteam and BrisStyle) are all wonderfully supportive!

Where can we get more goodies from you?
Head on over to my etsy to purchase, and join my facebook fanpage for discounts and special offers. I also do the odd twitter only sale, so follow me on twitter too!


And there you have it, straight from the talented lady herself! Hurry hurry, grab her shinies now because you just know she's going to be huge and those prices won't stay low for forever!





Christmas festives leaving you a little bit broke, but you are still salivating for one of these prized jewels? Ange has been most understanding towards the readers of Little Waltz and has very generously given us the opportunity to reward one of you avid readers with a gift voucher that's worth $ 40 .



This could be yours!


Here's how to win:-

For one entry: Be a fan of Angelene on Facebook

For one entry: Be a follower of Petitevalse!

For two entries: tweet this on twitter: Win a 40 dollar gift voucher from Angelene on Etsy here! http://tiny.cc/uCdM3 Remember to leave a comment stating that you have done so!

And that's it! Nice and simple. So let's get going!

This giveaway will end 18th of January and the winner will be announced on the next Waltzing through with Talent segment.






The winner to the MooBeeTees giveaway will be announced with on the 13th of January!


Till then!!



Would you like to be considered for this feature? Send me an email at petite.valse (at)gmail.com and tell me why you'd like to be in the feature!

Waltzing through with Talent - Ange from Angelene

Oakleigh Brown Owls Meet and Greet 2010

Image courtesy Brown Owls

What is Brown Owls?

Brown Owls is our craft-a-long club for chatting and teaching each other and just having fun together! It's for beginner and experienced crafters, and we all have happy times making stuff and talking about stuff and also laughing about stuff too!

There are other chapters around Melbourne and Australia, with some Brown Owls overseas as well! You can view all available chapters on the Brown Owls member blog

This is a call out to all crafters in the South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne

Believe me, I know how barren it is over on this side of town. I've been on the hunt for craft clubs and such and unless I've been incredibly blind, I've not been able to find a general craft club that welcomes all ages and all experience level of crafters.

That's why I decided to pick up the challenge, and start up a chapter of Brown Owls in Oakleigh.

And this is where you come in:



Oakleigh Brown Owls Meet and Greet 2010

Where: Oakleigh RSL Dining hall (95-97 Drummond St)
When: 9th January 2010 ( From 2 pm onwards)
Bring: A few dollars for a cuppa and a handheld craft to work on while we chat!

Please RSVP by 8th of January 2010 at the very latest!
You can RSVP by leaving me a comment on my blog.

And remember, if you are stuck for ideas,
let me know with your RSVP so I may prepare some craft kits for you.

See you there!

Oakleigh Brown Owls Meet and Greet 2010

And 2009 bows out..

Image by ....Charlotte.... via flickr


2010.

It seems like it was just yesterday the clock ticked closer to the year 2000, with everybody freaking out over the potential 2k bug.
And with a blink of an eye, it's 10 years past that and I am just 25 days away from my 25th birthday.

I never used to do New Year Resolutions as I thought them to be rather silly and since I never seem to keep them anyways... also rather pointless.
But I did something different for 2009. I made resolutions, and wrote them down on my desktop so I wouldn't forget them.

Because I realised that resolutions aren't there to limit you, nor to remind you on what not to do etc. They are there to be goals that we work towards. Sure, we don't always fulfill it; we don't always come close to realising it; but that's okay. The important bit is that you tried.

And that's part of growing up.

So this year, my new year resolutions are:

1. To lose weight and regain the physical state of 2004/5.
2. To work more on Little Waltz, Let's dance a fashion waltz and Berrytravels.
3. To work more on photography.
4. To have more savings.
5. To finish up my Masters and obtain that PR.
6. To get over my friendship and trust issues from 2009. To look forward and not backwards.



What are your New year resolutions?

And 2009 bows out..