October Featured Members and Giveaways!

This month, please give a warm welcome to Sharon from Shazzabeth and Hayley from REread, as they give us a sneak peak into their fabulous worlds of crafty goodness, and give away some of their wonderful handmade items to two lucky readers. To enter is simple - just leave us a comment at the bottom of this post. For more info (and to find out how to score an extra entry) read The Rules at the bottom of the post. Good luck everyone :)

Introducing BrisStyle member...


NAME: Hayley Lees
ETSY SHOP NAME: REread

1. Can you please describe the items you are giving away to one of our readers?

A basket of bunnies, I am giving away three bunny brooches all are one off pieces. Keep them all for yourself or give them away to your friends or family.




2. How would you describe your work?

Funky, cute and nostalgic. People often see a brooch made from a book they had read to them as a child. They really go well with a plain work dress you want to jazz up … and they are always a talking point.

3. How did your Etsy shop come into being?

I went on a huge train trip with my two best friends, we went across Siberia into China and I made us all matching brooches for the trip. They were a hit with the people we met on the train and it kind of just started rolling from there!



4. Who or What inspires you?

Clever people, my Mum and music. I love rummaging through op shops and thinking OMG I can turn this into ‘insert whatever crafty thing I have thought of here’.

5. Do you 'reduce, reuse, recycle' as part of your creative process?

Yes … 90% of my product is made from stuff that was in an op-shop or being thrown out anyway. I also try not to make more waste in my shop or at markets … all my bags and envelopes for postage I reuse or made from book pages.


6. Can you describe your studio / work area?

Messy, oh dear so very messy. I have a dining table piled with paper scraps, glue, scissors, sticky stuff, rare endangered trapped animals etc.

7. What is your favourite thing in the shop at the moment?

I am a deer freak, so I am just loving these little fawns at the moment.


8. Do you have any other places that people can view your work?

You can read my ‘colour’ blog www.mantahay-re-read.blogspot.com or follow me on twitter http://twitter.com/reread

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Introducing BrisStyle member...


NAME: Sharon Williams
ETSY SHOP NAME: Shazzabeth Creations

1. Can you please describe the items you are giving away to one of our readers?

A chainmaille necklace using gold-toned rings. The necklace has a base chain in 2 in 2 weave and then has a spiral weave chain joining the base chain at regular intervals, looped on between the joins. Caramel coloured cats eye beads hang from each of the joins. It creates the effect of a lacy looking collar.


2. How would you describe your work?

My work concentrates predominantly between two mediums, wirework and chainmaille, it is largely in sterling silver but I do also use copper, brass and other materials. It could almost be described as old fashioned styled jewellery with a modern edge, combining the sterling silver with a range of gemstones and Swarovski crystals.



3. How did your Etsy shop come into being?

I first heard about Etsy via a beading forum that I am a member of and decided that I had nothing to lose by giving it a go. It has been an enjoyable journey with plenty of encouragement via the forums and various Etsy street teams.

4. Who or What inspires you?

I’m not sure that there is anything specific other than the desire to create, and also to learn and introduce new techniques. Artists that I would say have inspired me in wirework (and from whose tutorials I have learned new techniques) include Eni Oken, Remy and Iza Malczyk. Other than that my inspirations can come from a variety of sources – nature, history etc.



5. Can you describe your studio / work area?

My main work area is actually my coffee table – it’s a long time since it has actually been used for coffee! I have most of my bead boxes on the table surrounding my bead mat with two tins of wire on the floor next to the table. I sit on the floor in front of the table and “watch” television while I work (although I often get to the end of a show and have no idea what happened). Actually anyone visiting while I’m working would wonder what was going on – me sitting on the floor and the dogs up on the comfy chairs!

6. What is your favourite thing in the shop at the moment?

Do I have to just pick one! Hard to choose between my Entangled Necklace, my Jasper and Exotica necklace and my Dragonscale bracelet – if pushed to pick one – probably the Exotica.


7. Do you have any other places that people can view your work?

Other Selling Sites:

http://madeit.com/shazzabeth

http://en.dawanda.com/shop/shazzabeth

Other Links:

http://shazzabeth.blogspot.com

http://facebook.com/ShazzabethCreations

http://twitter.com/shazzabeth

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22360387@N06

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Thank-you Hayley and Sharon!

The rules:

Simply leave a comment on this post to be in the running to win one of these two fabulous giveaways. Be sure to leave a way for us to contact you. If you don't have a blog, please include your email address. Only one entry per person. You may enter twice if you mention this giveaway on your blog. If you choose to do this, please pop back after posting to your blog and include the url address to the post it was mentioned on here in the comments. This will count as your second entry. International folk are welcome to enter. BrisStyle members and their immediate families (ie: husbands/partners, dependent children, and their computer savvy pets) are excluded from entering all BrisStyle giveaways. A name will be randomly drawn on the 25th of this month and the winner will be announced on the blog on that same day.

Good luck all :)