Novem-Beard Interview!!!

My name is Nathan Edwards and I live in a small town in the woods of Maine. I named my shop Moonsky Woodworks because of my now 4 year old daughter. One day back when she was learning to speak, pointed up to the sky and said "moonsky" It became her favorite word to say and it was what instantly came to mind when my wife and I tried to come up with a name for the shop. I am obviously a woodworker but what I like to concentrate on is turning small vessels, pens and other small objects. I am also a burl junkie! To me, the figure of the wood is as important as the shape of the object I turn. I usually let the wood tell me what it should become rather than start with an idea set in stone. This is unfortunately only my weekend "job".

Cocobolo Wine Glass Wine Stopper

How did you learn about EPE?
My wife Anna from NobleGnome Jewelry had just joined the team and I wanted to join her in raising money for a cure. We both do quite a bit of contributing outside the shop and it feels good to add pieces where part of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society.

Buckeye Burl 10K Gold Jr Gents

What is your favorite item in your shop?
You had to ask! I really don't know if I have a favorite piece but I have been working with Elm wood lately from the oldest Elm tree in Maine that recently had to be cut down. I love that it has a history! It has turned into some remarkable hollow vessels that I am not sure I want to part with yet.

Curly Maple Painted Fruit Bowl

What is your most prized possession?
That's easy. My lathe! My wife gave it to me as a gift and it has yet to stop giving me joy and a way to escape from the daily grind. When I'm at my lathe it doesn't matter if I fail to find the shape or form I wanted. I still find something interesting in the wood. Even if it comes off the lathe and hits me in the head. It has happened enough times that it should have knocked some sense into me!

Is there anything that you collect?
I really don't collect a particular item but have lately started to find old tools, mainly hand tools, fix them up and then use them in my shop. There is something special about using simpler tools rather than power tools all the time.


What would you like to be doing ten years from now?
Holy cow, 10 years down the road! I can't think a week ahead! I am forever striving to be a better father and husband. As I work on being the best man I can be for my family I find that my work in the shop also improves.

The photos I have attached are of the kids helping me paint some of my bowl blanks for the drying process and one of my work area. Child labor rocks!!

Thank you so much Nate!!

Finds 'n' Fancies

out of the box

 kyoo hood by a. e. brown (medusawolf), galliano patchwork sweater

black afgano fragrance by nasomatto, louise bourgeois: the fabric works

cube by bebond20, march edition print by essimar

steel vessels set by modernindustry, blue spots cube embroidered pop art by WeirdWoollyDesigns

Phew! Tip-toed just a little outside of my comfort zone for this one, but thought it would make a nice segue into Erica's next Novem-beard interview. If you missed the first, you can find out more about our Joe here.

May you all succeed at something new today! --katie :D

Weekly Challenge

Hello lovelies!

It's time to announce our Weekly Challenge winner!
This week's theme was "rememberance."

Our winner is Kristin from loveartsworks
with her Hope Hummingbird Dish.

Lana really believed that for different reasons, she could choose any of the entries as a winner.
She decided to go with Kristin's because "Her piece touches my heart in a personal way as she talks about strength and hope. Both of my parents have passed away ~ my Dad in 1997 and my Mom in 2006. Prayers from my family and friends for Strength, and the Hope that's in my heart that tells me I will see them again are what have sustained me through these losses. "

Congratulations Kristin!

A huge, hugtastic thank you to our other
oh-so talented participants:
Stevie of Designs by Stevie J
Julie from Little Altars Everywhere
Melinda from Crab Apple Vintage
Rebecca of Knee Deep Originals

You can check out their fabulous entries
on our Weekly Challenge page.

Kristin's choice
for this week's theme:
"gather"

To participate in the fun:
1) Start creating!
2) List the item in your Etsy shop.
3) Contact me with a link to your entry by next Monday (November 15th) at 12 midnight EST.

**I just want to remind all of our teammates
who sell vintage or supplies that you can enter too!**

I also want to make sure that everyone knows you don't have to create something brand spanking new for the Weekly Challenge. If there's something in your shop that fits the theme, enter it!

I will post all of the lovely entries on our Weekly Challenge page as they come in. The new winner will be posted here next Wednesday. The winner then gets to choose the following week's theme, and of course, it's winner!

Happy creating!
xo, Jen

Cozy Treasury Challenge Winners!

Hello Teamies!!

Announcing our amazing

Cozy

Treasury Challenge

Winners!

Cozy Home

CrabAppleVintage

Quintessential Coziness

BlueBerryCream

Such a blustery day and all I want is to get cozy!

CropCircleClay

Thank you so much to our Judges

and to all who participated!

A special thanks to our generous shops who donated prizes:

Gabriele- Emmarts

Amy- AdornbyAmySingley

Stevie-Dbsj

Stay tuned for our next challenge!!

Our winners will be using their talents judging the next!

Novem-Beard Interview

Hello Teamies...

Welcome to Novem-Beard, where we will be honoring and getting to know the men of our team!

Introducing...

Hi there! I'm Joe, and my shop is ProsperosBookshelf. I live with my wife Mollie and Kitty Moonbeam on the coast of Maine.

Born in Portland, Maine, inspired by childhood summers on the shores of Sebago Lake, educated through the generosity of the GI Bill, I turned my early love of reading into a career of teaching and research as a professor of English. Over the years I accumulated a substantial library, along with a collection of curious theatre memorabilia. As time passes and life changes, one starts wondering: What on earth shall I do with all this stuff?

I found the answer as Mollie expanded our knowledge of the internet. Having explored our genealogy, we learned that an ancestor was a voyager on the Sea Adventure, the wrecked ship that inspired Shakespeare to write "The Tempest." In the magician's declaration near the end of the play, "This Rough Magic I hear abjure," Mollie found the name of her shop, RoughMagic Creations, and I borrowed the magician's name for my shop: Prospero's Bookshelf.

I have a second shop, FeedbackTheatrebooks. In our business Partnership (est. 1983) Mollie and I publish theatre books and pre-World War I American plays for university courses. I now list those plays in this shop, along with the more esoteric vintage books from our library.

I learned about EPE from Mollie. Laura had purchased some copper blanks from us, and she quickly became a good friend. When she was diagnosed with cancer, the word spread, and the world changed.

My favorite item from Prospero's Bookshelf is a small, colorfully illustrated book, printed in Japan on "crepe paper," entitled "The Boy Who Drew Cats." It's a Japanese fairy tale translated into English by Lafcadio Hearn (1850-1904). I can't remember which dusty book store I was poking around in when I found it, but the book's singluar character was irresistable. There is much that I would love to say about Hearn, a Greek-Irish-American author who became a Japanese citizen, but for now I'll quote a critic: "At his best, Hearn evokes both in form and content an ethos 'as gentle as the light of dreaming.'"

The Boy Who Drew Cats Lafcadio Hearn

It is difficult to choose one favorite possession, but I'll settle on a hand saw that my father used. It has a handcarved handle with finger holes and is very comfortable in my hands. Although not a carpenter by trade, my father built our family home, including beautiful oak china cabinets and fireplace surround. His father, however, was a carpenter who died after falling off a schoolhouse roof when Dad was very young. The home my father built still stands, well kept and handsome after all almost 100 years. And Dad's saw - I use it all the time and keep it in my grandfather's tool chest.

Town Hall Tonight, American small town theater in the 1880s and 90s

I guess that I would have to say that along with rocks, sand from beaches I've visited, birch bark and different varieties of moss, I still collect books. I can't seem to sell them in my shops as fast as they accumulate on my shelves, tables and every other flat surface.

I have a blog, and I must post there more frequently:http://ProsperosBookshelf.blogspot.com

Hanuman Monkey King Malaysian Shadow Puppet

Personally, Mollie and I have a mantra relative to all future dates: Stay happy; stay healthy; stay here. (Here being the sprawling old house we love and have renovated room by room over the past 21 years.)

Artistic endeavors. I have always enjoyed "doing things" - the legacy of a stern mother who did not tolerate childish complaints about boredom: "You find something to do, or I will find something for you." I don't remember ever complaining. The problem is that I never think of the things I do as "artistic endeavors." I like to make the things in copper that Mollie uses in her designs, and I hope to get better. As a teenager, I made a "Indian War Club" by uprooting a small birch tree, sharpening the roots into points, varnishing it and adding a leather thong to the handle. It looked fierce in the corner of my room, and I'l like make another one. But artistic? I doubt it.

Thank you so much Joe!!

Finds 'n' Fancies

 de-stress/distress

rich romance clutch by lilydove, flower burst by yumiyumi 

 jackson square artist's smock by bayousalvage, do you know me by dsbrennan

vintage books by abby try again, alfabeto incompleto by luca barcellona

golightly bangle set by bullfinchbarbury, justin cowgirl boots from honeyblossomstudio

Weekly Challenge

Hello lovelies!

It's time to announce our Weekly Challenge winner!
This week's theme was "giving thanks."

Our winner is Lana from Simple Joys Paperie
with her Thanksgiving vintage hymnal wreath.
Andrea chose this entry "because it resonates so deeply with [her] own philosophy of magnifying joy/love/God/happiness/(insert positive energy here) by focusing on it and giving thanks for it. Just beautiful!"

Congratulations Lana!

A huge, hugtastic thank you to our other
oh-so talented participants:
Audrey from AudreyGardenLady
Kristin from loveartworks

You can check out their fabulous entries
on our Weekly Challenge page.

Lana's choice
for this week's theme:
"rememberance"

To participate in the fun:
1) Start creating!
2) List the item in your Etsy shop.
3) Contact me with a link to your entry by next Monday (November 8th) at 12 midnight EST.

**I just want to remind all of our teammates
who sell vintage or supplies that you can enter too!**

I also want to make sure that everyone knows you don't have to create something brand spanking new for the Weekly Challenge. If there's something in your shop that fits the theme, enter it!

I will post all of the lovely entries on our Weekly Challenge page as they come in. The new winner will be posted here next Wednesday. The winner then gets to choose the following week's theme, and of course, it's winner!

Happy creating!
xo, Jen