Now, I see designers using vintage components all the time in their jewelry, but I think Johanna’s take on this is unique. I love the way she layers the pieces together for an ultra dramatic effect!

Prices range from the super affordable (starting at $19) to the extravagant pieces of her new couture line, Born Again Virgin Vintage (my favorite piece, the first one pictured here is $498). Find all of Johanna’s gorgeous creations at her website, her Etsy shop, or visit her blog.

Not only does Sarah create these cool pieces of functional art, she’s also a talented filmmaker. Check out her How to be Green at Work video, which was featured on the homepage of YouTube for all of Earth Week 2009. Now onto the tutorial…

For your fancy-schmancy DIY decoupaged work of art, all you need to do is follow these simple steps!

You’ll need:
- acrylic paint
- sponge brush (two are ideal)
- unfinished piece of wood (sanded)
- old magazines and/or photographs
- Mod Podge

Step 1: Place on the table your unfinished wood piece (in this case, a light-switch plate). Pick any color or combo of colors. I chose purple, it’s calming and moderately simple to match.

Step 2: Paint a smooth coat of your desired color onto the unfinished wood, allowing at least a half hour between the first and second coat. Sometimes, the piece will require a third coat of paint, but that’s entirely up to you.

Step 3: Open any magazine you have lying around. Here’s where recycling comes into play! Cut out some fashionable and colorful images from the pages to use on your wood piece. Try to stick to images no larger than the palm of your hand for flexibility in adding it to the overall design.

Step 4: Pick a magazine or photo clipping you’d like to go on your painted wood piece. Then, on a small section of your piece, paint a thin layer of decoupage to act as adhesive for your clipping.

Step 5: Once the image is pressed down and smoothed out, paint another layer of Mod Podge over the image for a nice gloss.

Step 6: This step can be tricky if you don’t prepare ahead, but you can certainly improvise. To use a real pressed flower, simply press several flower petals in a book cover or between two hard, porous surfaces and allow the petal at least two weeks to dry out. If you want to improvise, just cut a pretty flower out of a catalog or from old, unwanted photographs.

Step 7: Once you have your flower picked out, spread a thin layer of Mod Podge to the wood piece to act as an adhesive for the applied flower.

Step 8: After your flower is applied, paint another layer of Mod Podge over the entire light-switch plate to give the project a finished look and feel. Here’s a closer look:

Congrats, you’re all done making your signature “From Sarah, With Love” piece! Now you have a funky and creative light-switch plate to show off to all your friends!

Thanks to Sarah for this fab tutorial! You can find more of her work at her Etsy shop, read her blog, or check out her videos on her website.

By Ro! Designs is a fully fledged line of handmade bathing suits and other fashions for sizes 1x-6x. While these suits aren’t custom made to measure like some of the other lines mentioned above, all of the By Ro! suits are handcrafted by a designer with over 30 years of experience, including plenty of time working on costumes for the entertainment industry. Prices range from $55-$85 for most suits.

By Ro! Designs is out there to prove that you should be able to have a fun swimsuit and kick back at the beach no matter what your shape or size!

Tell me a little about yourself and your work. Well my name is Aziza Browne and I am a glass bead artist and jewelry designer. I design and create every piece of jewelry in my shop. All of the beads are made by me with Italian glass using a gas torch. I also just started making hair accessories.

How did you get started as a designer? I began making jewelry when I was about 9 from little polymer clay beads that I made. I loved forming things, especially wearable art, from a very young age. My beads were always colorful and bright and my jewelry was very eclectic and funky. My mom still wears some of my older jewelry and loves it! When I graduated from college in 2001, I knew I wanted to work with glass and after finding a class in glass beadmaking, I knew I had found my calling. I absolutely loved it and haven’t stopped making glass beads jewelry since. After selling my jewelry at a few craft fairs and art shows I decided to really get serious about selling my jewelry online just recently.

What inspires your work? Nature inspires my work, believe it or not. And color. And current fashion trends, although I wouldn’t consider my jewelry ‘trendy’ in the least bit! There is just so much that inspires me. I might be taking a trip to the grocery store, picking out vegetables and think, “Wow these peppers would look great as a pair of earrings! Or better yet I want to make this strawberry into a necklace!” Everyday things inspire me and also making jewelry with a specific outfit in mind inspires me to be creative as well. I am really into colors, bright colors, and I love shiny sparkly things, which also ties into my love of fashion! I tend to use a lot of Swarovski crystals to bring sparkle to my pieces.

Who are your favorite designers? I have a lot of favorites, but for time’s sake I will name just a few. I love tortillagirl’s clothing designs, and Ahpeele. I love tortillagirl’s sense of timelessness. With Ahpeele, I think their clothing is so fun and unique. I really love all of their clothes and the fact that they are both so savvy as business owners. Also Chie Mihara’s shoes…I love her story and her designs are so unique plus they look super comfy but still trendy. I also am a big J. Crew fan! I just love the fact that they have all sailing and boat theme clothing and have a lot of metallic shiny hair accessories and shoes now.

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves? My top fashion must haves: Fancy metallic hairband, especially in the summertime to keep my hair out of my face while I work. Ballerina flats, because they are so cute and you can dress them up or down! Beauty Must haves: Clear lip gloss (a classic but its got to be shiny), liquid eye-liner, and mascara.

What advice would you would give to aspiring designers? Follow your dreams…and never stop working at your craft or your passion. Always believe in yourself. Also always be working on new work and new designs.

Where can people find your work? For now just on my new web site: azizajewelry.etsy.com (jewelry) and creativeutility.etsy.com (ceramics and pottery).

Right now through July 15, Aziza is offering a FREE pair of sterling silver earrings with any order of $30 or more from her shop, azizajewelry.etsy.com!

I might have to try some paint dying projects similar to this soon. It’s just too cool!

If you’re in search of some crafty business tips, I just started a new series over at the New Orleans Craft Mafia blog. The first post is on How To Pimp Your Twitter. I hope this helps some people! And let me know if you have other topics you’d like to see covered.

If you’re in search of even more crafty business tips, check out Modish Biz Tips, The Switchboards, Indie Biz Chicks, Handmadeology, Startup Nation, and my new favorite, recently discovered blog, The Proprietress!

The Proprietress is a new-ish blog started by Kate Logan Fulford, who founded the sassy San Francisco boutique ooma. Kate ran her boutique successfully for six years before selling it to like-minded owners in order to spend time with her son. I cannot begin to tell you what an inspiration her blog and e-book are to me right now, as my goal is to ultimately have a brick and mortar boutique of my own, selling the sorts of things I write about write here, right now!