Irish Arts Blog taking off

Some time ago, I announced the setting up of the Irish Arts Blog. A group blog made up of 11 Irish Artists and Crafts people. This week I am doing the official online launch of the blog.
The artists are really taking to the blog and there has been a great response from international bloggers to it. Go and have a look, lots of really striking works of art on display.

Irish Arts Blog

Anne Black Ceramics

Via my other blog, SiopaEile

From About page:

Anne Black is one of Denmark’s most influential contemporary ceramic designers.

Anne´s approach to porcelain is uncompromising. Each product is unique,crafted by hand, and of high quality materials. The result is a classical yet modern, simple yet intricate porcelain collection.

anne black

Get the latest posts from a Guide to Online Ireland by Email

technorati tags:porcelain, ceramics, jewellery, jewelry, unique, denmark, online shopping

Flying Buds Focal $40

via Siopa Eile

Jill Symons specialises in glass lampwork jewellery. She has so many excellent items, I found it hard to pick one. This particular one is sold already, but there are plenty of others to choose from.

Jill Symons, handmade glass lampwork beads, earrings, bracelets, pendants and functional items

see also:

• The Power of the Grazer Shopping Directory
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Buying digital cameras and mp3 players
• Pixmania Portable Music Deals
• Shopthestates a hidden Gem
• Sniping on Ebay Ireland
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites

Get the latest posts from a Guide to Online Ireland by Email

technorati tags:jewellery, glass lampwork, focal, online shopping Ireland, Christmas Shopping, unique

Felt Flowers by Gail Crosman

via Siopa Eile

Gail Crosman Moore Felt Work

see also:

• The Power of the Grazer Shopping Directory
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Buying digital cameras and mp3 players
• Pixmania Portable Music Deals
• Shopthestates a hidden Gem
• Sniping on Ebay Ireland
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites

Get the latest posts from a Guide to Online Ireland by Email

technorati tags:felt, craft, art, fashion, online shopping Ireland, christmas shopping, unique

Christmas Shopping - Smooth porcelain dish £12.50

via Siopa Eile



Beautiful porcelain dishes. Would make a nice Christmas present.

Unique Gifts, Gift Ideas - Smooth porcelain dish by Rachel Jayne Rogers.

see also:

• The Power of the Grazer Shopping Directory
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Buying digital cameras and mp3 players
• Pixmania Portable Music Deals
• Shopthestates a hidden Gem
• Sniping on Ebay Ireland
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites
  

technorati tags:dish, porcelain, craft, online shopping Ireland, Christmas Shopping, unique

Christmas Shopping Tip - Crafts and Jewellery sites

The world of craft and jewellery is enjoying a bit of a renaissance, at the moment, due to Ebay, new social networking models, blogging and the ease with which they can be traded globally. Jewellery is a small item, so the associated delivery costs are not significant, which makes it easier to trade internationally and ideal for the internet.
As regular readers know, I feature such products a lot on Siopa Eile, but I would like to highlight a few international sites that you may find interesting. Etsy is a fantastic auction site, similar to Ebay, but focusing exclusively on Arts and Crafts. The prices you get on this site are great, when you consider most of the items are hand made or custom designed.
Another interesting site is StyleHive, which is a kind of social bookmarking site for stylish products, covering mostly fashion, jewellery, crafts, furniture, decor.
There are plenty of smaller operations with excellent quality also, like Amy Burhoe, for example, creator of these glass fusion rings which are wonderfully unique and a steal at $15 a go. Art Star is another US site that has a very interesting range of jewellery, fashion and crafts.

Here are some more International sites that you may find interesting:

Bellaceti
The Blue Between
Alex and Chloe
The Carrot box
Kelly Sutton


And some closer to home:

The cat and the moon
Roisin Mai
Saba
Niamh Utsch
Rebecca Allen
Louis Mulcahy Pottery

Note, I have many more websites in my grazr shopping directory on my links panel.

see also:

• The Power of the Grazer Shopping Directory
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Buying digital cameras and mp3 players
• Pixmania Portable Music Deals
• Shopthestates a hidden Gem
• Sniping on Ebay Ireland
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites

Online Shopping in Ireland tips, useful websites for people working and living in Ireland

Technorati tags

irishblogsmoving to Irelandliving in Irelandchristmas shoppingonline shopping Ireland
jewellery crafts Ireland Irish Northern Ireland Cork Dublin Galway Kerry Belfast websites Ireland links Ireland SSIA

Soul Friend by Orla de Bri

via Siopa Eile

This body of work comprises of human forms combined with abstract shapes which are inspired by life situations and emotional states we may find ourselves in.

Soul Friend

see also:

• The Power of the Grazer Shopping Directory
• How to save EUR100 on an mp3 player
  
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Buying digital cameras and mp3 players
• Pixmania Portable Music Deals
• Shopthestates a hidden Gem
• Sniping on Ebay Ireland
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites

Get the latest posts from a Guide to Online Ireland by Email

technorati tags:art, sculpture, online shopping Ireland, Ireland, Irish, irishblogs

Celtic Fish by George Wright

Highlight from Siopa Eile

celticfish.html

see also:

• The Power of the Grazer Shopping Directory
• How to save EUR100 on an mp3 player
  
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Buying digital cameras and mp3 players
• Pixmania Portable Music Deals
• Shopthestates a hidden Gem
• Sniping on Ebay Ireland
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites
  

technorati tags:art, abstract, painting, online shopping Ireland, unique, Christmas

Amy Burhoe Jewellery $15

Another highlight from Siopa Eile.

Beautiful fused glass ring from Amy Burhoe. Check out her unique nightlights also.

Fused Glass Jewelry by Amy Burhoe Designs - Bold, Bright, and Funky colors.

see also:

• New Shopping Directory for Ireland
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Some great UK and European online shopping sites
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites

Get the latest posts from a Guide to Online Ireland by Email

technorati tags:jewellery, ring, fashion, online shopping Ireland, christmas shopping, christmas unique

Unique shoes by Dead Pony 39 EUR

Siopa Eile Highlight

The String Republic Corporation

see also:

• New Shopping Directory for Ireland
• Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
• Some great UK and European online shopping sites
• Buy Trough Price Comparison sites

technorati tags:fashion, shoes, design, online shopping Ireland, French, unique, christmas shopping, christmas

Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland

Time to don my suit of armour and set forth on another quixotic adventure. A while back, I introduced you to my Grazr shopping directory, boldly proclaiming it as Ireland's newest shopping directory. Well, things have progressed since then and the directory is starting to develop nicely. I keep reminding you about it, I know. Apologies for that.
Anyway, now, I have decided to take the experiment a step further. Not content with finding you the best websites, I've decided to save you some time in searching for the most interesting products on those websites as well , by starting a new shopping blog called Siopa Eilecourtesy of hosting365's excellent free blog plan. Siopa Eile is Irish for "other shopping" or alternative shopping if you like. As the name suggests,this blog will be focused on all sorts of unique products, which you will not normally find on conventional shopping portals . There is a heavy emphasis on artisan products and it will cover everything from Arts and Crafts to Furniture to Fashion to Artisan food to unique services to things I haven't thought of yet. I will also include popular gadgets and use price comparison engines to find you the lowest prices. As I have shown, it's possible to save a lot of money by using price comparison engines. Ethical and eco friendly products will also feature prominently.
I know I'm trying to cover a lot there and I'm not sure if this formula will work, but the great thing about being a one man band is, that I can always change my mind and go another direction, if need be. So for the time being, its going to be that way.
To my eyes, the Internet has progressed in 2 phases. The first phase can be characterised as an effort to replicate structures and conventions of the real world. So, you get online shops trying to mirror closely the model thats apparent in the real world. Some online retailers have realised, though, that the online world offers more possibilities then the real world. Amazon has discovered the potential of long tail selling. It's possible now to make money selling products, for which there is a weak demand, due to the low cost of storage made possible by large warehouses. Conventional shopping malls, on the other hand,cannot economically sell these products, because of the high price of retail storage space. They are only interested in high selling products, which they can offload quickly.
Unfortunately, the more conservative approach to online shopping is evident in Ireland, with the most prominent Shopping portal, choosing simply to act as a gateway to conventional shopping stores. Naturally, they do offer more choice then your regular shopping mall, but not a whole lot more, I believe.
Siopa Eile on the other hand will give you access to a real choice of quality and unique products.
I am not against products that are mass produced. I like my mp3 player too much for that, but I do think we need to shift the balance towards more life enhancing and cultivated products. Culture, good food, ethical consumerism are all things that I want to promote.

Who will be interested in this blog? I guess, anybody who shares my (gulp!) taste. Anybody who's looking for something different. Thinking about buying something special for someone, I'm hoping you will head straight for 'SiopaEile' when you do. Can I hypnotise people through my blog?...just relax and think 'siopaeile', 'siopaeile, 'siopa.... Embed it in your subconscous and make sure to bookmark or add it to your feed reader :)
Thanks to James Corbett for introducing me to the Grazr Widget and OPML editor. This has really helped me in compiling my shopping directory which is a great resource for Siopa Eile. To any blogger out there.... a link back would be much appreciated. Hope you find the blog interesting.
And remember to check out hosting365's excellent free blog plan

technorati tags:artisan, jewellery, art, shopping, online shopping Ireland, unique, furniture, gadgets, crafts, irish, shopping portal, christmas shopping, christmas

Blogging for Artisans

I see a number of artisans are taking to blogging recently. Kieran Murphy's Ice Cream Ireland blog is a perfect example of how effective a blog can be in promoting your own brand. The mixture of personal narrative, fun and dangerously seductive images of Ice Cream is quite compelling.

Rebecca of 'An Irish Craftworkers Good Life' is new to the blogging game, but already she seems to be getting into a rythm. Again the mixture of personal and work narrative works well and helps build a relationship with her readers. According to Rebecca:

The purpose of this blog is to follow my daily sources of inspiration for my craft work so that you can see them from the first seed of thought, through to sketches, work in progress and then the final product.

Alot of artists out there, attempt to create websites using free services such as Eircom or Geocities, but they don't realise what a millstone, they are hanging around their collective necks. These sites are usually badly designed and even those, that look half way decent are frequently so riddled with poorly written code, that they stand next to zero chance of gaining high search engine ranking. A blog on the other hand is very search engine friendly and with a little patience and careful cultivation can reap significant rewards.

see also:
New Shopping Directory for Ireland
Art Portals in Ireland
Some cool arts and crafts websites
Furniture websites in Ireland
Some great UK and European online shopping sites

technorati tags:artisan, art, crafts, online shopping Ireland, blogging, irishblogs, food

A collection of Irish Artists

I talked before about a number of Art Portals in Ireland, but of course there are many individual artist websites out there. I have started to assemble a list of them on my shopping links directory. Here is a selection from the artists I have discovered so far (clicking on the picture will take you to artists website) :

I like the colour blue



Something about this picture appeals to me?:)



These are poppies.



Making cows look cool!



All seeing eye!



Cute kids



Two Windows



Interesting story behind this figure by Seamus Culligan

This is my rendition of a young lawyer I met briefly in Harvard Square in 1999, who tried to talk me into taking a law suit against the hospital that saved my life.


Original take on the men carrying curragh cliche



Blendy and Curvy



I love crooked houses.

see also:
New Shopping Directory for Ireland
Announcing Siopa Eile, an Alternative Shopping Portal for Ireland
Art Portals in Ireland
Some cool arts and crafts websites
Furniture websites in Ireland

technorati tags:artists, Ireland, Irish, art, paintings, directory, shopping, online shopping Ireland

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