Friday is my day: Benconcervato

Haa! Prepare yourself to a long flight, we are flying to Australia and meet Emma from Benconcervato who lived in France for 5 years and was part of our Etsy's European street team. She makes cute, fun and whimsical illustrations, photographs, cards and textile art as well. Please visit her awesome Etsy shop

(click any picture to go to the shop)

Panda-Eyed Monster Original Illustration

by Emma Kidd

I am Emma Kidd and Australian artist / illustrator / photographer type who has only really got over coming "home" from living in the North of France for about 5 years.


My day usually starts pretty early. I am not a late sleeper (even though I can be accused of having a sieste later in the day). Normally I wake with the light at the moment that is around 7am or earlier.

First thing I do, usually, is eat breakfast. I am a horrid muti-tasker, sometimes I think it stems from the sometimes inability to concentrate on one thing at a time, which I am trying to be really conscious of. While I eat, I normally check my emails and stuff i like to look at such as Etsy, maybe The Sydney Morning Herald (on-line) odd blogs (such as the Moleskine exchange blogs) or Flickr.

Then it is have a shower and try to make myself get to work.This particular day was a little cold and windy and dark so my makeshift, outside desk was not really a nice option, so I started on my very cramped inside one (we live in what would be classed as a "granny flat" in Australia, one bedroom, small living room, kitchen, bathroom... our dining room is that "outside desk" I just mentioned).

I dream of my desk in Lille when I sit at the one inside... anyway. It was pretty uninspiring, i drew some monsters to get moving and peeked out of the corner of my eye at what I was supposed to be doing (that would be the pinky coloured creature in the other image).

Finally I got to move outside, did some better work.Ate lunch and organised some pieces bought to be sent out and odd letters.

Went for a walk, I always pass through the park down the road to go to Manly. (That is me in the park taken with a fisheye camera).

Got back in the afternoon and finally kind of improved that pink creature to my liking and nutted out the idea for the next one to keep my brain moving. I tend to either listen to music or podcasts (such as "All in The Mind" or "The Book Show" or something in French like "2000 Ans D'Histoire" to keep me on the job).

Started to get cold, so I go inside and get ready for the evening, do another check on the internet, and do boring evening stuff. The man is usually back by this time, we ate dinner and watched a bit of TV (usually while playing on the internet at the same time, not good I guess).all in all not a bad day...

Friday is my day: Paper Flower Girl

Today Belgium and Isis from Paper flower girl. She makes pretty jewelry and lovely little paintings and drawings. Her photos are very beautiful and nicely done! Enjoy your Friday with Isis!

(click any photo to go to the shop)

Anna Lucia necklace
by paperflowergirl

My name is Isis.

I'm 22 years old

I live in Gent, Belgium

I study Archaeology

I create jewelry and a lot of other things

08:00: Triiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing does the clock on my nightstand. I turn around and stay in bed for a couple of minutes more, give Mr. B a sweet kiss on his nose and get up. He stays in bed some more because he works late in the evening. I take a shower and get dressed. Choosing clothes always takes me longer than I would like. I go for a comfy cotton tunic and jeans.

9:00: I go downstairs to prepare breakfast for myself. Today I eat Greek yoghurt (they sell it for Greek yoghurt but the real thing is completely different, I like it none the less) with pecannuts and honey. I also eat a couple of pages of Madame Bauvary for breakfast. *Crunch crunch*


9:30: I go to the top floor where my studio/workspace is. I am currently spending nearly all my time writing my final thesis about medieval ruffled headwear (yes I know it's a peculiar subject :-). I still have one month and a half and then it must me finished. Hence I buried one of my two tables with books. To be presice, there are 36 books on the table. There are more on the shelves behind me.

9:35: I have turned on the computer. I read my emails, check etsy, and read my favorit blogs. No orders today, so no packaging to do. I start writing right after that. Normally I would list something on etsy now, but I don't have time for that at the moment. I work all morning, except for the tiny nicotine-break I allow myself around 11:00.

12:30: I eat lunch - scrambled eggs with onions, parsil and mushrooms - on my own. Mr. B. has left the house to make a trip to Mechelen to visit a couple of museums there and photograph medieval sculputers in he old town hall (yes, he has middle ages for his day-job, I have it as a study). The workaholic I am even during lunch I'm reading literature for my thesis.When I'm in a brave mood, I would also do the dishes right now, but today I wasn't. It will probably have to wait untill tomorrow, since I can already guess I wont feel like it tonight either.

13:30: I take a walk to university to pick up the first two revised chapters of my thesis and to go get some more books in the library. The white buildings in the photo are part of the faculty of arts and humanities, there's more to the left. In the middle of the photo you see the buildings of the Saint Peter's Abbey, which is early medieval in origin.

15:30: On the way back home I take some time to enjoy the pretty presents Spring leaves behind for us here and there. I like the park just a block away from my home.

15:45: I enter the house again. I like the old oak wood door!

16:00: I sit down to eat a little snack. I feel rather hungry, since lunch was rather tiny. I eat fresh cheese right from the farm and homemade fig and raspberry compote. And again I have something to read.

16:30: I finish an experiment I started yesterday in reconstructing frills and ruffles on medieval headwear. The techniques used are based on 12th to 17th century textile finds.

18:00: I whip up a quick dinner in my green kitchen. In the mean time Mr. B. arrives back home again. He helps setting the table.

18:20: Dinner is served! We eat pasta with big shrimps and fresh herbs, baked in olive oil. It's one of my favorite fast foods. EVER.

19:15: I go off to the bathroom for a 'do the spa at home' session (I love those!!!). First I clean my skin, then take a facial steam bath with lavender and rosemary essential oil. After that I apply a clay mask (oh the joy of being a green monster!). In the mean time there's time for a quick manicure.

20:15: After 10 minutes the clay goes off, and hydrating lotion goes on.

20:30: Time for another cup of tea, an episode of 'Wire in the blood' with Mr. B, and picking silk colours for a new jewelry project I have in mind. I also finish some silk brooches I'm working on. After that another smoking break in the garden. Next we watch the this weeks episode of 'Deadwood'. Friday and Saturday are the only days I actually watch television.

01:00: Time for bed!

Friday is my day: Chichiboulie

Let's stay in France, it's beautiful here and meet another illustrator and artist; Gretchen from Chichiboulie. She makes very sweet and cute illustrations and creations for children and why not for little bigger too. Please do visit her pretty and cute shop after peeking her day :)

(click any photo to go to the shop)

Sou'wester or Nor'easter - Set of 3 badges
by chichiboulie


Hello! My name is
Gretchen Jakub Fabre, otherwise known as Chichi. I am an illustrator and designer currently living in Northern France, about 5 km from the border with Belgium, though we’ve moved around quite a bit between the US, Canada and England. We live in an adorable Flemish farmhouse, me, my husband and our 3 very energetic and silly children: two daughters, Anne-Charlotte and Augustine, and a wee man, Léopold.

Unfortunately for story telling purposes, I don’t think I have any type of schedule in my day and I fear you’ll find my daily life slightly less than titillating. But I’m going to give it a try…

Somewhere between 5.30 and 7.00 – Depending on the whims of the wee people in the house, we wake up. But with the time change for summer, at least we have a lovely view to wake up to.

Between 7.00 and 8.00 – We run around rather manically trying to get everyone dressed either by their own means our by ours. Then it’s the next round-up for breakfast followed by the final round-up to get everyone out the door in order to make it to school in time.

8.30 – Back home. Ouf! I get to make breakfast for myself and catch up on emails, Etsy, news. This is my little bit of quiet time where I attempt to wake up and prepare for the day. Today’s breakfast is porridge with stewed plums and of course, 2 cups of green tea with lemon. I’m a bit of a green tea addict.

Morning – I’m definitely a morning person so I usually try to get all of my important business out of the way first thing, while I still have the enthusiasm to get things done. This means answering emails, placing orders for supplies, wrapping orders on their way out, cleaning the house etc. It also means a stop by the EST chat thread to say hello as well as a chat with my “office mate”, Etsy friend Kala, based in England through MSN.

When the weather permits, I try to get outside for a walk or bike ride. My bike is currently out of commission so it’s foot power today. I definitely need the fresh air and time to think. One of my most usual walks goes by the local castle and artist’s village. You can’t see the castle here in this photo, only the gate house, but it’s there. Promise! And of course, there are the roosters…

Midday – Time for lunch. I really do love food (perhaps a bit too much) so any meal time is rather important to me and something to look forward too! But if no children are about, I usually just scavenge around for left-overs to avoid cooking and using up my very little free time that I have to get work done. Today is leek and potato soup left over from last night.

Check the news again (I’m also a news addict) and Etsy as well as other sites, before getting back to work painting orders or creating new designs. I tend to get slightly distracted all too easily so I try to stay focussed. Note the cup of tea in permanence by my workspace.

Afternoon – The troops are back home and there is no rest for the weary. It’s either running around to activities or entertaining them. Sometimes they do entertain themselves by getting completely absorbed in the latest Playmobile catalogue or running and jumping around the garden and checking on the tomatoes we are growing, but more often than not, they are being very mischievous and preventing mummy from working. Sometimes I find lovely gifts, like this tomatoes lined up on the radiator, each one with a lovely set of 2 year old teeth marks… Sigh.

Evening – Time to think about dinner and homework and baths and bedtime. I’m tired just thinking of everything that lies ahead! But the show must go on. The weather has been nice so we’re having a light dinner tonight of salad and homemade pizza topped with fresh tomatoes and courgettes.

8 pm – The troops are in bed, though usually not sleeping, and it’s finally quiet time for hubby and me. I’ve finished all my books (I tend to devour them so they don’t last very long, much to the dismay of hubby) so I have nothing to read at the moment. But we love a good English murder mystery and so I’ve purchased some from England. Tonight we’ll watch one in the series and chat on the sofa before going to bed. A little bit of time to wind down.

Friday is my day: Matilou

Today we will fly to France and meet Anne from Matilou. She make so cute and pretty illustrations and you can find them from jewelry, T-shirts, calendars and even as a transfer picture so you can add it to your clothes yourself. Let's peek to her day and we can visit her shop in Lyon too. How exciting!

matilou.etsy.com

Hello !

My name is anne cresci alias Matilou, I'm 32 years old and live in Lyon in
the middle est of France. I have 2 kids with Cedric, Matis (6) and Lou (almost 3).
oh, we also have 2 cats !
We live in a loft with a little garden which is really heaven in a city !
I work as a freelance illustrator since 10 years (oh god...getting old right....)
for different magazines, Editors and internet. i just love my job, and sometimes
still wonder how it is possible to make a living with drawing... :D
I have opened a workshop in Lyon last november which is a totally new step for me,
and a dream too, I must say !

7h30

Everyone gets up to have breackfast and get ready for school or daycare.
Cedric works at home so it's really cool, he can take care of the kids
most of the time.

9h30


The choice of shoes is vital ! As you can see we have many :D
I've been taking the subway this whole winter, but the nice days are here
so I can ride to my Atelier.
The city of Lyon has bikes ready to ride for us, the first half our is free
so it's really cool !
Now Lyon is such a pretty place, I just love arriving to the bridge above the Rhône
river, it's just so beautiful, always makes me happy !



10h 00

I get to my place and have to open it, my day can now start !

10h01

My first moove when I get into my workshop is to open my computer !! I guess
i'm a real addict as I spend most of my day on it :)
First ETSY of course, see if I sold anything, then facebook, twitter, and my mails.
I answer everyone and everything, make new listings for my etsy shop, start making
all sorts of corrections on my works for clients.
Sometimes I have to redo my illustrations three or four times to match the client need.


14h00

Oups I forgot to eat...again ! I know it's a bad habbit but i'm usually so involved
in my work that I don't see time passing.
When I'm tired of the computer I have lots to do in my workshop.
Right now I'm working on a new spring collection of T-shirts and onesies for girls
and boys. I have dyed my white shirts in many cool colors and now I need to add my
transfers to them.
So let's go ironing !!! (That's about the only time I do iron really ...)

16h00

Now I feel that my walls are a bit empty, so I will hang around frames and posters
so that people can imagine them on their wall.
I can't help but rearrange my workshop all the time. I change The necklaces in the
front window, I add a couple new things here and there, I'm always mooving things around !
I go back to my mails to see what's new.
Surf internet a little bit, see what's new on blogs (especially all my friends
from my european team on etsy ! ), renew some listings in my etsy shop again, chat on
the etsy forum...
And suddently realise my pictures are SO bad............ So I try and find ways of
improving my pictures, big work !

I also sometimes have people come in, chat, buying or not, but they all seem to
like what they see and that's always a good feeling.

18h00

Usually I leave around 18h00, so that I can see cedric and the kids a bit.
When I get home we usually try to make dinner together although most of the time it's Cedric
who cooks gorgeous meals for us, while we play together cards or other games.

20h30

It's time for the kids to go to bed. We usually read a story each, they both want their book,
but they still love listening to the other story too !
That's it, cedric and I have a little time for ourselves, eventually :)
We watch a movie together most of the time or go outside talking.

23h00

One last cigarette outside and GOOD NIGHT !!
I'm always happy to find my bed :)

And thanks Heli this has been really fun to do !!!