Dreaming of Gold

For April's challenge the Etsy Expats let their day dreaming take over and many wonderful items were contributed for this treasury titled: 'Dreaming of Gold.

In fact we had too many for just one treasury so for the first time, we had a part 1 and a part 2!
Hardly surprising that many items were favourites but a count showed Maria of mariacorcuera's lovely, delicate gold earrings and Jan of foulardfantastique's charming scarf tied for first place.

Jan's gorgeous scarf.

Maria's beautiful flower earrings.

Thanks to all who entered an item in this fabulous two part treasury.

In my garden

Etsy expats are back with a challenge. For the month of March we celebrated the return of spring in the Northern Hemisphere (us Southern Hemispherer's were just happy to pretend spring was on the way). And we submitted our favourite garden-related items. The challenge was: In my garden.

I'm happy to announce that the winner for this challenge was Monique from UniqueNique with her gorgeous dragonfly.




Dragonfly - from Unique Nique

 

Then Elena from Peony Forest and Jacqueline from Jacqueline Fouche Design Studio both get an honourable mention for their entries.

Copper flowers

Coco the Lop-eared Bunny

Have a look at all the gorgeous entries the Expats submitted for this challenge.

And a special thank you to Linda from Sew Fine Fashions and Just One Look for pulling it all together. Don't think that we'd miss thanking you for your hard work!

Post by: Jacqueline

Meet the expat: Spirrel Monkey

The lovely Lorna runs her Etsy shop Spirrel Monkey where she sells beautiful cushion covers, purses and fabric buttons amongst other things.

Lorna was kind enough to take the time to tell us a little about herself.

I’m originally from a town called Stevenage which is 30 miles north of London, it was the first New Town built after WW2. Although Stevenage Old Town has been there since the 1100’s. My family have lived there their entire lives as have my husband and I. That was until last year at the age of 28.

We now live in Up State New York near Albany. We got here in the summer when it was unbearably hot. I didn’t mind too much as it was nice to get a feel of having a holiday after the stress of moving. We also happened to experience the worst winter in 25 years! I never knew it could get so cold and snow could get so deep. Yet everyone got on with life, roads were cleared, paths salted, schools open (apart from the days we actually had blizzards). It put the British reaction to snow to shame.

I have a degree in Applied Art with a specialism in Textiles something I have been into since I was a child and I enjoy creating especially when it comes to fabrics. My career though since leaving university has not been in the textiles area, as any job will do when you leave uni. But coming here has given me that chance to finally just go for it and do what I love, being creative!

 My husband works for an American company and had been working in their London office for 4 years, before he got transferred to their New York Office. I am the trailing spouse.

Being away from the family and friends you’ve grown up with your entire life. It was very hard saying goodbye, and I feel like I’m missing out on lots of things such as, weddings, births, funerals and ill grandparents.

I also miss certain foods. I know you can get similar things here but it’s just not the same.  Also there is a language barrier, even though we both speak English. Sometimes I find myself talking to people and I realise I lost them 5 minutes ago because they can’t quite understand some of the words I’m using.

Being different, most people are interested in you as soon as they hear your accent especially here in the US. Everyone asked us what we thought of the royal wedding and had we met the Queen.

We also have the opportunity to explore a vast and diverse country. We have already taken a road trip down to Florida and it’s amazing to see such a difference in climate and culture from just going north to south. This summer we have more travel plans to visit Niagara Falls, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal.

I think everyone should live in another country at some point in their life. It’s such an experience and you learn so much about another culture, another country and about yourself. I know I will go home one day with a different perspective of the world that I wouldn't have had if I hadn’t lived abroad.

Find Spirrel Monkey online:

• Etsy shop
• Blog

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)

Meet the expat: Tialys

The lovely Lynne runs three shops, Tialys, LaMance and Tour de Force on Etsy. Phew! Three shops, that sounds like a lot of work.

When this busy lady finds the time to chat with us she always manages to give me a chuckle with her wry sense of humour.

Lynn took time out of her busy schedule to tell us about herself.

Born in London, I’ve been living in France for the past 6 years with my husband and two daughters who are now 17 and 16. We sold our house in the U.K. because we wanted a change and we thought, whilst looking for a new property, we’d rent. Of course, we rented a big house, expanded into it for 4 years and then couldn’t afford to buy anything of a similar size as U.K. prices had rocketed. We already had a holiday home in France so it seemed the right time to make it permanent.

My husband works in IT in the finance and investment banking sector (yawn!!!) so he commutes to London on a Monday morning, returning Thursday nights and, with the girls at school, I needed to find something with which to occupy myself – apart from the dogs, cats and chickens we seem to have acquired.

I started my handmade shop, Tialys, because I always seemed to be making things and then not quite knowing what to do with them – friends and family already overstocked with my creative outpourings!

I absolutely love rummaging in junk shops and flea markets and, to save my house having to be registered as a shop itself, I decided to start offering some of my finds in La Manche which, I must admit, is now my favourite.

I recently started Tour de Force combining my vintage and handmade passions by making one of a kind cake display stands and jewellery holders but I haven’t really had a lot of time to promote that one yet so it’s a bit of a slow starter.

Biggest challenges living in my part of France

• The language
• The school system 
• The shop opening hours (almost everything still shuts for 2 hours at lunchtime here)
• French websites (abysmal)
• No fish and chip shops
• The language (I know I’ve already said that but it needed saying again!)

Best things about living in France:

• The wine
• The weather
• The peace
• The mountains
• The lack of traffic jams (compared to the U.K.)
• The lack of crowds everywhere (ditto)
• The health system
• The fact that my daughters are now bilingual
• The wine (ooh, have I already said that??) 

Of course, there are more serious challenges about being an expat. My father is unwell at the moment so that’s difficult but, in reality, I can be at their home in England in around 5 hours so it’s not as bad as it could be if we had decided to move further afield.

I have a blog which some of the expats kindly come and read from time to time and I ramble on about everything and nothing on there when I get a minute.

All in all, I’m glad we made the move but I certainly don’t rule out moving again although next time it would definitely be to an English speaking country – any recommendations?

Thank you for taking the time to talk about yourself Lynn! It's nice to get to know you better. Hmmm... no moving recommendations from me at the moment. Give me more time to settle in South Africa before answering that.

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)

Meet the expat: Karen's Loom

Karen is an absolute sweetheart and whenever I talk to her the word lovely just pops into my head.

She runs two beautiful Etsy shops, Karen's Loom where she sells beautiful hand-woven, knitted and felted creations. She opened FeltNatural to sell her gorgeous bridal wear.

Karen was kind enough to take some time to tell my a little about herself.

I am from a small village in East Yorkshire, UK but have been living in Buenos Aires for more than 20 years now. I learnt to knit when I was about 9 years old and although I have an advanced certificate in Education and have taught English for more than 20 years, I spend all my time working with natural fibers. I weave, knit, crochet, do macrame and felt.

Why did you move?
When I was about 18 years old I lived in London and around New Year I met my now husband, an Argentine, who was travelling around Europe with some friends. We kept in touch via letters for around a year and then lost contact for 5 years. We met up again in London and 6 months later I moved to Buenos Aires and have been here ever since.

Biggest challenge in being an expat?
My biggest challenge was the language, I was very shy at that time and totally afraid of speaking the language in case people laughed at my mistakes or pronunciation so I kept quiet for a couple of years (my husband often says he wishes I had never learnt the language) Although I have been here for many years and my Spanish is pretty fluent I still get into problems sometimes due to misunderstandings.

Biggest Joy in being an expat?
It is really hard to choose just one:I love the warmth of Buenos Aires as I found the cold and rain in England very depressing. I believe I am sensitive to the climate and the weather here in BA really suits me!

I also love the food here (I remember eating tinned ravioles).

The Etsy Expat Team is another of my joys, I think we all have a need to fit in and be understood, and this team of incredible ladies gave me that space. It is not easy living in a country that has a different culture and language to yours or living far away from your family and friends and each of us on this team understands that. We can use our experiences to help each other out and give support as we all have experienced many of the same things.

Etsy Shops

• Karen's Loom 
• Felt Natural 

• Blog
• Facebook 

Thank you for taking the time to tell us about yourself.

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)

Meet the expat: Sam´s Shenanigans

Whenever I visit Sam's shops I get this happy feeling. Her Gingerbread Christmas decorations are delightful and I love her inspiring signs. She also makes beautiful homewares - go have a look.

Sam was kind enough to take some time to introduce herself to us.

I´m Sam, I´m 27 and live in Barcelona, Spain. I make anything my hands want to make and I run two shops on Etsy, Sam´s Shenanigans and The Gingerbread Mama.

I started sewing, probably only about 6 or 7 years ago, but I have always been creative and making things since I was small.

I´m originally from a small village called Walkington in East Yorkshire, England. Think fields, trees, tractors and a typical English Village with Village pubs and a pond I grew up playing in corn fields and climbing trees and making “den´s” with my younger brother Matthew and due to this I love nature and really miss it now I´m living in a city. I love the UK countryside and I never realized it until I moved, but I am such a country girl it´s untrue!

When I thought about my creative/artist background I couldn´t really see where it had come from, or if I had been encouraged at a young age, but then I remembered that my Great Grandma made clothes, my Grandma made clothes and even my Mum made clothes so really it´s all in the genes! (Although I haven´t quite got onto clothes yet!) My mum bought me a sewing machine one Christmas, as I thought it was a good idea to learn to do properly and it sat in the loft for two years. Then for no reason at all I decided I needed to get it out and start learning. I went round to my mum´s on Saturday afternoons for sewing lessons and the rest is history! I think even my mum is impressed at how far I have now taken those lessons! Thanks mum!

Why did you move?

I moved to Barcelona, Spain in 2009 and as with all good love stories, it was purely for love. I met my partner Victor on a holiday in Menorca, and just like the famous film dirty dancing – he was on the entertainment staff and I was with my family!

We lived a long distance relationship for a long time and it got to the point where we couldn´t live that way any longer, So one of us had to move. After all this time here now, I am starting to feel like this is home, the home sickness still strikes, but less often and it´s more controllable.

Hardest thing about being an expat?

I found the hardest thing was relying on someone else to help me (not speaking fluent Spanish or Catalan). I'm very independent as a woman and found it really disabling. It still occasionally gets to me now although I am getting much better at accepting things and letting him help…plus my Spanish/Catalan is getting better each day as well. Of course missing my family is hard and at special times, babies, marriages etc it´s harder but I am only a 2 hour plane ride away so it´s not too bad.

Biggest joy being an expat?

The biggest joy of being an expat, (apart from being with Victor – obviously!) is the great friends I have made these past few years, including my Etsy expat friends who without sometimes I don´t know where I would be! I really have been lucky and met some wonderful people and seen some wonderful places. It´s opened my eyes to the world and taught me a lot about myself.

Find Sam online:

• Twitter 
• Blog

Etsy Shops

• Sam’s Shenanigans 
• The Gingerbread Mama 

Thanks for taking the time to tell us about yourself Sam.

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)

Here Comes the Sun - Team Theme Challenge Winners

Here comes the sun, little darlings, and it's here to stay. In some parts of the Northern hemisphere and for a few months, at least! The Etsy Expats have been even more industrious than usual this time, as for the first time the number of entries to the challenge surpassed the number of available spots in the treasury. And as if that weren't a felicitous development in itself, we get to crown as many as three winners this time!

The colors of the Sun seduced the voters in Grain's graphic design banner, Artophile's door topper and fabriquefantastique's summer scarf.

Meet the Etsy Expats: Solohandmade

Kerry runs her lovely shop solohandmade on Etsy. Her designs are gorgeous and she manages to balance function with exquisite workmanship. I love her coasters and she also makes pillow covers, jewellery and bunting.

Kerry was kind of enough to give me some of her time to introduce herself to the rest of the Etsy expats.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts, USA in a coastal area about 12 miles north of Boston. After finishing art school, I moved to Philadelphia with a friend. I got a job working with a non-profit organization which provided support services for children at risk. After work I would head straight to my studio and get busy with my art. I worked in glass and metal (enamelling) for about 10 years, exhibited in numerous galleries, sold in a few local artisan shops, and was part of a wonderful artist co-op gallery.

I've been living in Utrecht, the Netherlands for 9 years now. I am married to Hans, we have a 3.5 year old son named Minh Sao and are currently waiting to complete the adoption of our second baby, a boy. I was unable to take my gigantic enamelling kiln so got a bit more serious with what I had minored in school: bookbinding. I did that for about 5 years and then in 2007 switched gears again and started sewing and have been steady with it since.

I have been a huge Frida Kahlo fan since the age of 15. I have many artists who I admire & am always keeping up with news/shows in the art world, but she's really the be all end all for me ;)

Why did you move?
I took off to travel through the EU for a few months and met a Dutchman in Prague. One year later, I was living in the Netherlands!

Biggest challenge being an expat?
Dutch grammar, missing my family and friends.
Redefining the work I do.

Biggest joy being an expat?
Travelling is a lot easier! Seeing the world from a different perspective and meeting people from all over. While it can be terribly hard at times, having 2 countries to call home is a blessing and something I am thrilled we have to give our children.

Find Kerry online:

• 3continentfamily
• Etsy Shop 

Thanks for allowing us to peek into your life Kerry.

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)

Photo credits: All photos by Kerry from solohandmade

Meet the Expat: Julie

We’re always happy when the lovely Julie pops into our Expat thread on the Etsy forums. Her chats always manage to cheer me up and I find her comments about her belly dancing classes intriguing. She was kind enough to answer some questions and give us a looksie into her life.

Hello my name is Julie. I have 3 etsy shops - Dorsbien for vintage, Frenchfabrics for my handmade and HeadsUpHigh for my new supplies and feathers.

I have always made things - I started sewing and crocheting age 8 at school. My mum taught me how to use the sewing machine and as a teenager I made all my 'special' outfits for the disco.

I didn't go down the art route at school - I chose science. I'm glad of that now because my style is definately my own. I worked with the Camphill Communities for 3 years and learned pottery and basket weaving. I ran the pottery for 2 years with no previous knowledge. I can still remember the noise of broken pottery as we opened the gas kiln for the first time (far too hot - no instruction book or anything!) After that it got much better.

We moved to France from Scotland in 2005 after 10 years of wanting to be there. Finally our circumstances changed and we moved. It is one of the best things we have done. We are well integrated into the local community - both children bi-lingual now, I teach bellydance locally to a wonderful group of English and French ladies. We now do public performances.

Biggest challenge being an expat - the French Bureacracy - it is unreal!

Biggest joy - has to be the weather, peace, tranquility, fresh air, slower lifestyle, bi-lingual children and Vide-greniers!! Through selling on etsy I can stay at home and look after my children - no aunts or grannies here.

I like big old wooden doors with black nails, I like lace and linens, I love rainbow colours. I like being able to go out and see the stars at night, crickets singing. Oh and we have animals - couldn't do that before. We have hens and chicks, sheep and lambs and over the years have had geese, ducks, goats and quail. All have gone to new homes as an exchange for hens usually. Our hens lay blue eggs. Last is the mediaeval festivals held here every year - our nearest is at Chinon and is the first week of August, fantastic.

Vices - I don't drink (shame with all that wine), I don't smoke, no drugs, my vices are chocolate and VERY LOUD MUSIC, which I can play here because we have no close neighbours.

I really like the etsyexpat team because we are all unique in our sisterhood / brotherhood. I think it is a very important part of the etsy lifestyle and work.

• Which craft notions (blog)
• Living a simpler life (blog) 

Thanks for the glimpse into your life Julie!

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)

Meet the expats: Tangentine

I've been writing posts for the Expat blog the past couple of months to introduce you to the team members and their shops.

This week, I wanted to introduce myself. I'm not usually a vain person, but I would like to talk about living as an expat before moving back home, to South Africa, next week. I think it will be interesting to see how my viewpoint changes after I settle down. I have, after all, lived as a nomad for 9 years.

My name is Jacqueline and I make jewellery that I sell in my Etsy shop Tangentine.

I started making jewellery when I was 16 because I thought I was an unique little snowflake and did not want to wear the same things as everyone else.

After I left school I decided to do a degree in Multimedia – as I've always liked the balance between the technical (computer science) and art (web design). Turns out I'm a really good planner so I spent most of my professional career planning and implementing websites for other people. A job I really love.

There was one need that my day job did not fulfill. The tactile element, being able to point at something and say, 'Hey, I made that!' I took up jewellery making again in 2004. In February 2010 I decided to take it seriously and start selling.

My jewellery are influenced by my interests and roughly falls into 3 styles - ancient history inspired, related to science and the natural world.

Why did you move? 
Throughout history there were always people who wondered what they could find over that hill! river/ sea. There's a certain sense of adventure related to the unknown and the need to explore those places.

I'm pretty much that person. I want to see it with my own eyes and experience how other people live and see the world.

While I'm talking about experiences, I thought I'd include one of the many stupid things I do. I like to think it's because the first time I saw proper snow, but I have to be honest. I do a lot of silly things just because I can. This was a lot of fun and we also got the shot.

Biggest challenge being an expat?
Paperwork and missing my family.

Learning German's been a big one too (even though my language skills are still really poor).

Biggest joy being an expat?
Exploring. We've lived in Dublin, Ireland for 2 and a half years, 5 in London, UK and the past 2 years we've been in Darmstadt which is close to Frankfurt in Germany. Each country has things that I really love and will miss dearly.

Travel. I don't think we'd be able to travel to as many places as we have if we stayed in South Africa. My favourite places were Rome, Tunisia, Istanbul, Crete, the Amazon and Thailand.

We arrived in Dublin with 2 backpacks and a duffel bag. After 9 years in Europe we have 12 boxes, mostly books and some clothes, computers and a few bits of furniture. We've lived the nomad life and we're low on possessions but so rich in experience and friends.

Europe I'll miss being reminded of your history - so apparent in every town and building. South Africa, I'm looking forward to your diversity and biiiiggg skies.

Find me online:

• Etsy shop
• Twitter
• Tumblr
• Facebook

Are you a soon-to-be, been-there-done-that or currently an expat? If you sell on Etsy come and join our team.

Post by: Jacqueline Fouche (Tangentine)