The maker world can be a stereotypically male-dominated space, so it can be very exciting when you find an opportunity to support a female maker’s business. Here are some innovative and ambitious women makers who have used Etsy to create their own businesses:

1) Greta de Parry

Greta is a furniture maker based out of Chicago who sells her creations through Etsy. After studying Fine Arts in college, she apprenticed with a master woodworker to hone her craft. She’s been working through Etsy for seven years and her best-selling design is the Coleman stool. The minimalist design is made to seat someone comfortably, allowing them the ability to put their feet up on an added bar beneath. Greta was also the winner of the Best Furniture Award from Dwell Magazine at America’s Largest Design Show.

A self-proclaimed specialist in what she called ‘heirloom pieces’, Greta discusses her passion for furniture with Etsy stating, “We interact with furniture everyday. It’s the background of our lives. So, I want it to bring people joy and I want people to look at a piece of mine and love it and know that there’s a story behind it.”

2) Sian Zeng

Grand prize winner of the Etsy Design Award in 2019, Sian Zeng utilizes both artwork and design prowess to create her whimsical magnetic wallpaper. She began her work on her wallpaper designs in 2009 and has gone through the prototyping process in order to create her current design. Her original designs used magnetic paint, until she discovered a magnetic receptive liner which worked much more effectively. The designs come with little magnetic characters that match the wallpaper, allowing users to create messages and patterns all their own and make the wallpaper experience much more interactive.

3) Heidi Girad

This maker, based out of New York, has created her own line of hand-made jewelry called Liesel Love. She began working with jewelry at a young age as her aunt had a jewelry repair shop. In an interview with Etsy, she describes her experience working with jewelry at a young age and how that progressed into owning her own business, “One of my earliest memories was designing a necklace with her for my Mother. I started off with just beading, then I started getting into stained glass, and when I got into stained glass I got really into metalworking which expanded into making jewelry.”

Heidi’s jewelry is designed for everyday wear, with minimalist pieces made with high-quality durable metals and gemstones that are ethically sourced.

The post Women Makers to Support on Etsy appeared first on Inventionland.

WATERCOLORS

Watercolors are likely to be the kind you see attached to kids’ activity books, but they can also be used to create beautiful paintings on their own. A pigment is mixed with gum then diluted with water. The result is translucent and builds up darker colors through repeated layers, a unique trait for paint. Fun fact: a primitive version of watercolor was used by Neanderthals to create cave paintings.

ENCAUSTICS

When you mix pigments with melted wax, you get encaustic paints. While it behaves similarly to oil paints (discussed below), it is favored for not being affected by moisture and for its overall longevity. However, encaustic paint must be kept warm during painting, which can be difficult to master and easy to mess up. They’re also expensive, making them less-than-ideal for many.

OIL PAINTS

Considered by many to be the default paint type, oil paints are exactly what they sound like: pigments mixed with oil. They’re incredibly versatile, can be both translucent or opaque, and capture a great many textures. Despite its ubiquity, oil painting never reached Europe until the 11^th century, although it was first documented in Afghanistan in the 7^th century.

ACRYLIC

Acrylic is unique in that it can be as transparent as watercolors, but also as bold and dark as oils. It also dries quickly, thanks to the synthetic acrylics used. They are more susceptible to warping, however, and fumes can be toxic if not dealt with properly. Still, the ability to use acrylics with other mediums such as pastels and graphite makes it great for experimentation and layering.

GOUACHE

The untrained eye might mistake gouache paintings for watercolors, and for good reason. The two are made almost the exact same way, but gouache paints are mixed with opaque white. This creates a smooth layer that reflects light and has the richness of oil paints. They are still vulnerable to moisture, however. This kind of paint was very popular with Rococo artists in the 1700s.

These are all paints you would use on a canvas, paper, or other surfaces to create fine art. If you want to paint your walls, however, it’s better to use one of the following.

MATTE PAINT

This is the most common kind of interior paint. While there’s no shine or texture to the finish, it’s ideal for walls and ceilings without distractions. It’s easy to apply, even if it sometimes takes multiple coats. It also requires regular retouching since it’s very susceptible to marking.

EGGSHELL

An eggshell paint is defined by its subtle shine but lacks the smoothness associated with satin. It doesn’t bring attention to imperfections quite as much and can cover in a single coat. Oh and contrary to popular belief, it does not contain any actual eggshells.

MATTE ENAMEL

Matte enamel, as the name implies, is very similar to regular matte paint. It’s more durable and easier to clean, so it’s great for kitchens and families with children. However, it still needs multiple coats to get full coverage, but overall is less limited than traditional matte.

SATIN

If you don’t understand satin paint, you’re not alone. It’s somewhere between gloss and matte, resulting in a softer sheen. Imperfections jump out even more when covered by a satin finish, and you’ll need to clean your walls regularly. It’s probably best to use as an accent rather than the main color.

GLOSS/SEMI-GLOSS

These shiny paints are appealing but bring flaws to the forefront and require multiple coats. They also take much longer to dry due to the shine. Semi-gloss is less shiny than a regular gloss, although regular gloss paint is more common.

The post A Quick Guide to Paint appeared first on Inventionland.

MR. CORY’S COOKIES

At age six, Cory Nieves decided he was sick of riding the bus and wanted to buy his mom a car. His plan? Sell hot chocolate to his neighbors in Englewood, New Jersey. This evolved into adding lemonade and cookies to the menu–cookies that he and his mother Lisa spent hours perfecting. Now his cookies are sold nationwide online and he’s collaborated with the likes of Pottery Barn and Whole Foods. Oh and that car he was saving for? It was gifted to him on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

NAY GAMES

Have you heard of “Bubble Ball?” It launched on the Apple app store in 2010 and surpassed 2 million downloads in its first two weeks. The company behind the game, Nay Games, was created by then 14-year-old Robert Nay. He told CNN he learned all his skills through research at the library and produced the 4000 lines of code needed in just a month. Bubble Ball even dethroned “Angry Birds” as the most downloaded free game at one point.

LEANNA’S ESSENTIALS

Leanna Archer’s great-grandmother had a secret recipe for all-natural hair pomade. When Leanna was eight, she decided to start sharing that pomade with the world. Although she first distributed it for free, she now has a full line of beauty and skin-care products, including skin lotion, facial masks, and shampoos. She’s now CEO of Leanna’s Essentials and in 2008 founded the Leanna Archer Education Foundation (dedicated to building schools for children in Haiti).

MO’S BOWS

Who loves bow ties? Moziah “Mo” Bridges. He was disappointed with the few selections available to him, so he learned how to sew his own with the help of his grandmother at age 9. Mo sold his ties on Etsy before they were picked up local boutiques. Now 16, he’s the CEO of Mo’s Bows and was invited to the inaugural White House Demo Day to meet President Obama (whom he gifted with a custom tie). In 2017, he signed a licensing deal with the NBA, allowing him to make bow ties with NBA team logos.

BOTANGLE

Never let it be said that the bitcoin craze didn’t help anybody. Erik Finman cashed out his small bitcoin investment to fund Botangle, an online video tutoring service. He started the project at 15 after dropping out of school due because he was being bullied. His latest project? Building a satellite that will serve as a time capsule. “The easiest way to make money is to create something that solves a problem, or improves a situation. Don’t chase fads, chase opportunity,” he tweeted last year. He’s quite the motivational speaker. Just check out his TEDxTeen Talk:

GLADIATOR LACROSSE

When Rachel Zietz was 13, she needed new lacrosse equipment because her old stuff just wasn’t durable enough. When she couldn’t find any, she decided to create her own. With the help of her entrepreneur family and some of the Sharks from ABC’s Shark Tank, she was able to launch her business. Gladiator Lacrosse offers better-quality products including thicker netting and metals for longer-lasting gear at prices families can afford.  The company is an official goal sponsor for the 2018 FIL World Lacrosse Championships.

ME & THE BEES LEMONADE

The youngest business kid on this list, Makaila Ulmer was just four-and-a-half when she the entrepreneur bug stung her. Literally. She got stung by a bee and became fascinated by them. She learned how they help our environment and, as a result, “Me & The Bees Lemonade” was born.  The honey-sweetened beverages were also inspired by her grandmother’s vintage recipe for flaxseed lemonade. “Me & The Bees Lemonade” is now a staple of southeastern Whole Foods. She donates a percentage of the profits to organizations focused on saving honeybees.

ORIGAMI OWL

Bella Weems always had a passion for jewelry-making, so it was only logical when she started selling them at age fourteen. Her signature item, the Living Locket, allows customers to build their own jewelry by mixing chains, charms, and lockets–the Build-a-Bear of necklaces, if you will. She’s now a millionaire and the founder of the Owlettes Initiative, where Bella personally mentors 12-17-year-olds through business. “You can’t do anything in life alone, so surround yourself with people who believe in you,” she said in an interview with Luca Magazine. “Never let anyone tell you that you are too young to follow your dreams.”

The next time your kid approaches you with a sales pitch, listen and encourage them. You never know…it could be the next big thing.

The post Running a Business…Kid-Style appeared first on Inventionland.

When you think of Renaissance art, who do you normally think of? If you said Michelangelo, you’re not alone, because his works are still some of the most extraordinary pieces of art and have withstood the test of time.

Countless companies and individuals have tried their hand at replicating his works but, to no avail.

Now, thanks to 3D scanning and 3D printing, objects from the past are being replicated with greater precision and accuracy than ever before.

FATHOM, Artworks Foundry and Scansite all specialize in something different. FATHOM specializes in 3D printing; Scansite is all about 3D scanning technology; finally, Artworks Foundry is best known for their professional bronze casting.

All three of these specialties were combined for one project known as Renaissance Matters, which is an art liaison that’s received authorization to reproduce 28 of Michelangelo’s works.

The replication process began when Scansite 3D scanned the statues and converted the point cloud data to a 3D-printable STL file that was then used by FATHOM to work their 3D printing magic.

From there, once the replicas were 3D printed, Artworks Foundry used lost wax casting to cast them in bronze, which resulted in the recreation of these ancient works of art.

It’s still uncertain if this combination of technologies will become more and more popular; however, as it stands, the ability to create scaled down replicas of various pieces of history could be great for educational institutions.

Though the original pieces of work will obviously carry the most value, they lack the ability to be in multiple places at once and this innovation could solve that problem by copying these magnificent pieces of history to be displayed in museums all over the world.

So, if you can’t FATHOM that 3D printing companies like Scansite can use their 3D-scanning technology and Artworks Foundry can create bronze casting to replicate history, believe it. Here’s the proof!

Copyright Inventionland, 2015

Sources:

https://3dprint.com/45646/michelangelo-3d-print-work/

https://news.softpedia.com/news/Michelangelo-s-Famous-Sculptures-Perfectly-Reproduced-Video-473777.shtml

Media:

https://www.3ders.org/images2014/3d-scanning-printing-helps-recreate-michelangelo-sculptures-1.gif

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfA0XVKa-D0

The post Can you FATHOM this 3D-printed Sculpture? appeared first on Inventionland.