Reclaim  Repair  Up-Cycle  Re-Purpose

In this Eco-Friendly Venture of Utilizing Pre-Produced and Manufactured Goods, it all Begins with a Mission to Reduce the Waste and Thoughtless Consumption of our Natural Resources.

All that we Use in Our Daily Lives Derives from Natural Resources; Many are Essential for Survival.  To Reclaim, Repair, Up-cycle, and Re-Purpose is Paying Respect to These Resources, and Staving-Off Their Depletion. Food for Thought: The Industrial Revolution Began Only About 260 Years Ago.

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My Fleur-de- Lis Flea is a Curated, On-Line Flea Market of Goods I've Hand-Selected for Their Decorative Value as Home Decor, Display, and Personal Adornment.  Follow via Twitter, Facebook, or RSS Feed to Receive the Announcement of the Grand Opening.

Meanwhile, as an Appetizer, I am Serving-up Preview Photos #2.  If You Missed Preview #1, see the Artisanaworks Blog or Earlier Post.

Lidded Jar with Hand Enameled Chinese Motifs over a Butter Yellow Crackle Glaze. Late 19th - Early 20th Century... Life Sized Standing Folk Art Bell Boy - a Real Treasure... One of my Embellished Mirror Frames.

Autobahn Arrow Signs and Other Vintage Collectibles...

Old Hand-Painted Duck Decoys with Rustic, Man Cave Appeal...

Rustic and Olde World Salvaged Goods to Use as Distinctive Wall Decor...

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I Have to Admit, I am in Love with the Creative Process, Start to Finish... From the Designing, to the Selecting of Materials, to the Hands-On Handcrafting.  Whether it Involves Hand-Cutting a Stencil and Daubing Textile Paint on to Fabric, or Creating a Design with Sewn Strips of Chenille Fringed Fabric, it is the Making that is the Magic for Me.

Quality Construction is a Must... Couture Cut Corners, Meticulous Seaming, and Hand-Stitched or Zipper Closures.  No “Rabbit Ears”, and No Cheapy, Bulging Flap-Over Closures, Please.

So, I am a Hold-Out.  All my “Artisanaware” Decorative Pillows are Made by Me, Right Here in my Little Artisanaworks Workroom / Studio, Texas Hill Country, USA.

With My Concern for the Environment, I Incorporate Eco-Friendly Processes and Materials.  Here are Several Chenille Pillows Made Entirely of Salvaged Remnant Fabrics.  The Chenille was Created by Sewing Fringed Selvedge Strips of Muslin, or Bias Cut Muslin or Linen/Cotton Strips, Row After Row.  The Black with Blue Chenille is so Lux and Soft, it Makes me Think of Chinchilla Fur!

Did you Know that in French, Chenille Means “Caterpillar”?  Appropriate, Don’t you Think?

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Before moving back to my home State of Texas, I was engrossed in the Interior Design Trade building high-end custom seating, fabricating pillows, and running my Showroom and Prop Rental Gallery in Downtown Seattle.  The small 1500 square foot Showroom was an eclectic mix of special finds, goods from buying trips to Morocco, architectural salvage, antiques, textiles, and furnishings…a source for Interior Designers, Photo Stylists, the Film Industry, as well as the General Public.

I am picking-up where I left-off with a soon-to-launch “Fleur-de-Lis Flea”,  an On-Line Flea Market of  Select  Home  Décor,  Furnishings, and   Distinctive  Personal  Adornment.   I personally seek-out and select each item using an artful, rather Bohemian eye, and all the design sense that I have accumulated and ruminated over for years.  I am a Maker, so often goods are re-furbished, re-painted, embellished, or re-styled.  Some items are invented from salvaged parts of this and that.

Access to Fleur-de-Lis Flea is through my Artisanaworks Website which,  in addition, offers a Marketplace of Eco-Friendly,  One-of-a-Kind, and  Limited Edition Pillows and Textiles for the Home,  Fashion Wearable Clothing,  and  Fashion Accessory Scarves, Wraps and Jewelry…all Designed and Hand Crafted by me, Carol Tate, here in the Texas Hill Country.

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Next Time You Stand Before a Mirror, Envision Your Body as a Blank Canvas. The Choices You Make in the Clothes You Select, the Shoes You Slip-on, the Bag You Take, and the Jewelry You Wear Paint a Picture of Who You are. You, in Essence, are Creating a Composition. Elements of Design Such as Color, Texture, Shape, Tone, Line... all Come into Play.

So far, None of us are Cloned, Released from a Mold, Mass-Produced, nor Stamped-Out with a Cookie Cutter. Each of us is an Individual, a One-of-a-Kind. And why not let one's Jewelry Express This.

One of the Things I do is Create One-of-a-Kind Jewelry, and from a Variety of Old, Vintage, Hand Made, and Sometimes Unusual Materials. I React to Certain Qualities in, say, a Vintage Plastic Button, a Handmade Ceramic Bead, or Old Glass Bead. I call my Fashion Accessory Jewelry “Artisanawear. The Newly Manufactured and Mass Produced don't seem to have the IT Factor. IT is a Distinctive Quality, a Soul, a History, a Richness.

So, Let's Get Out the Brushes. Leave Run-of-the-Mill and Mass-Produced Fashion Accessories Behind, Express Your Individuality, and Let Yourself Shine Through the Crowd.

L-R: Striped Beads Necklace, Bakelite Vintage Bead Necklace

Left: “Madame Zebra” Necklace: You are Bold, Like to Party, and Wear Black Well. Czech Beads, 50-60 Years old. Hard to Find Pyramidal and Claw, the Latter Being a Protective Bead. Much Social and World Trade History Behind These Beads.

Right: “Buttoned Up” Necklace: Again, You are a Party Girl, and Love Being the Center of Attention, and Having a Good Time. This Necklace will Spur More Conversation as well as Being Your Own Wearable Button Collection.

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My New artisanaworks.com has Just Launched... An On-Line Marketplace of Handmade, Eco Friendly Goods From my Workroom / Studio, Nestled in the Texas Hill Country, USA.

Among My Offerings: Artisanawear ~ Fashion Accessory Big Scarves, Long Scarves, Extra Long Scarves and Wraps

L-R: Eco Friendly Scarf C, Long Fringed Scarf G, Safari Print Scarf E

Distinctive, Way-Green Fashion Accessory Scarves and Wraps Handmade from Recycled Textiles and Fabrics, Reclaimed Apparel, with Remnant or Vintage Trims. All Ingredients are Hand Selected and Individually Sourced... Pre-Washed and Shrunken, and Washed Again. A Fine Arts Background, and a Life-Time Engulfed in Fabrics and Textiles is the Impetus for Searching out Just the Right Combinations of Color, Tone, Pattern, Texture, Flavor, and Drape. The Realization of One Scarf May be Dependent upon Finding, say, That Certain Shade of Blue Silk, or a Specific Black and White Print to Complete the Mix.

So, We are Talking 5-6 Skirts and Dresses, Fabric Remnants and Maybe 20 Yards of Trims per Scarf!

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The word “Artisan” was taken from the French word of like spelling, which was taken from the Italian word,  “Artigiano”.  Artisan in Spanish is Artesano (masculine), and Artesana (feminine). All mean a craftsperson…a skilled maker of hand-made goods, which can be functional goods, purely decorative goods, or both.  So, Artisanaworks is a Focus on Works Made by Hand.

Artisanaworks really began many years ago when owner, Carol Tate was hand-dying linen for her creations of textile wall art.  At that point, and later when Tate was building hand-crafted custom upholstered seating for the interior design trade in Seattle, the business was known simply as Carol Tate Company.

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