Tuesday, January 29, 2008

I Heart Etsy!

I just love all of the wonderful things you can find on Etsy. From handmade supplies to beautiful jewelry, Etsy has it all. Today, I'd like to show you just a few of my many favorites. These sellers are fantastic at what they do. Be sure to check them out!

Craft Pudding
Craft Pudding not only has a darling shop name, but offers the cutest array of products. One of my favorites being her Custom stamp. A hand carved image of whom or what you please and you pick the font for the name. These are really so unique and a super deal. She also offers other handmade stamps and even sock monkey valentines!


Crystal's Bead Designs

Crystal's Bead Designs has a plethora
of beautiful jewelry in her shop. I am so in love with this Peruvian Pink Opal Gemstone bracelet. What a beautiful piece to own! She uses a wide variety of gemstones, sterling silver and Swarovski crystals in her work. All of her jewelry comes packed in a pretty boxes ready for gift giving, even if only to yourself.


Heidi Miracle-McMahill
Check out the fabulous artwork of Heidi Miracle-McMahill. Know someone who is having a baby? This would be a wonderful gift. The Joy of Motherhood Magnet is one of my favorite items in her shop. Absolutely beautiful. Her artwork is available in a wide array of formats; prints, magnets, note cards, coloring books
and more.



Jenn Maruska Designs
Do you love cute? I do and Jenn Maruska has lots of cute. My favorite item in her shop woul
d have to be the Cornsilk Button Flower Needlebook. Peek around and you'll find plenty of goodies such as sewing sets, taskets, needlebooks, wallets and more. Great designs!


Joyful Abode
Delightful Goodies for your Happy Household inde
ed! As a seamstress, I'm always on the lookout for interesting and unique supplies. My favorite item from the Joyful Abode is her handmade bias tape. She has several patterns available and it's packaged so well! She also carries paper goods like recipe cards, aprons and zipper pouches.

Karen's Soaps

Yum... I wish you could scratch and sniff the internet, or at least Karen's Soaps! In her shop you will find an amazing variety of scents and shapes. From her sea glass soaps, to her tomato plant scented soap, everything is so unique and beautifully presented. Her Jumbo Oatmeal Bar is one that I would love to
try!


Lucky Libra Designs
Lucky Libra Designs has some very imaginative and unique pieces. My favor
ite being Ariel's Fantasy, a necklace that features A gorgeous ammonite pendant set in sterling silver and adorned with two smoky topaz gemstones and a citrine. A one of a kind piece! With almost 300 items to choose from, you're should to find something you love at Lucky Libra!

Maravillosa Designs
I'm truly loving jewelry for t
his spring, and Maravillosa Designs has plenty of beautiful pieces to choose from. I love her Turquoise Teardrops that are hand wrapped in sterling silver wire. They are really just my style. She also offers wardrobe sets and cancer awareness pieces.

MerryLoft
MerryLoft is a mother/daughter team that specializ
es in creative and colorful pendants. My favorite is titled Punk Rain. I love the pink and black. Such neat designs! All of their pendants come on a leather cord and are waterproof as well as heat and alcohol resistant. They have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and you can also find cute rings in their shop.

Owen & Izzy
This shop carries paper products such as no
te cards and stationary as well as some really neat mixed media art. I love the painting entitled "Home". I would love to have this hanging in in my entrance way. She has wonderful use of color and space. Everything is happy and bright in this shop!


Patty Lakinsmith
Wow. Patty Lakinsmith's jewelry is absolutely stunning. I am drooling over her Groovy Bracelet in violet and caramel. It is constructed from her hand-fired lamp work beads and even features her own handmade s
ilver signed clasps. All of her work is truly unique and would be a great piece to love and even collect!


Prisma
Prisma is a great place to look for some cheery spring items.
Expect lots of cute jewelry here! I love the Yellow Delicious Apples with Lilac earrings. Handmade from her own polymer clay mold and perfectly painted. Also look out for her adorable cupcake badges. A delightful newcomer to Etsy!


Sugar and Spice
Sugar and Spice offers a variety of wearables and magnets, and I'm completely in love with her seed art. It's such a fantastic use of materials and is so unique. Sol is a 3" magnet that my fridge would be proud to display. There are eight different seeds used to create this piece and all natural colors, courtesy of mother nature herself!


Voleur De Bijoux

Voleur De Bijoux is the place to go for beautiful and elegant jewelry. Just browsing her shop, yo
u're sure to find something that arouses the romantic in you. I'm lusting over her Susie Americana Vintage White Lucite Globe Earrings, all made with retro findings. All of her work is gorgeously displayed. You must have a look!


WChilds
At WChilds you will find more fabulous jewelry. I can't stop viewing her Emma-Lee double stranded necklace. Created with
blue turquoise, brown jasper, citrine, golden potato pearls, bronze seed beads, and all of the other components are Sterling Silver.
An earthy treat! You'll also find bracelets and earrings here.


I hope you've found a few new places to visit and items to swoon over, I know I have! If you haven't taken some time to browse Etsy in awhile, I suggest you do. With so many upcoming holidays, it is never to soon to start shopping for gifts! Thank you for stopping by! :)

Monday, January 28, 2008

New fabrics and fun...

I've decided to postpone my favorite Etsy items until tomorrow. I've had a lot of fun searching through Etsy to pick out item's I'd love to own and think others should see. So yes, check back.

Today I took a walk to the Fancy Tiger here in Denver. The sunshine did wonders for my mood. It was such a beautiful day. I picked up some fabulous new fabrics including a yummy chocolate brown cord and a couple cotton prints. Also, some "you-should-be-so-jealous" yarn. It's bulky 100% alpaca. I see a hat in it's future. There were so many things I wanted! Also, FT is hosting an open craft night tomorrow and I'm hoping I'll be able to go. I need to get a bunch of stuff done before I can commit.



I also found some snazzy new pins today. A very entertaining alphabet set and another cute pastel set. I just love the little hearts! Now, all I need is a new pincushion that will do them justice.

And to finish off a delightful day, I looked to my old stand-by for a tasty dinner. Fine dining to five year olds and a fabulous feast for me.

Pass the pepper?

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Sew, sew, sew and dreaming.

I just received a large batch of zippers and am working on some new zipper pouches. I love making zipper pouches, it gives me a chance to play around with fabric matching and use up some of my scraps.
Here's one I really love.

In addition to my busy sewing and etsy listing, I've really been dreaming of spring and summer. I'm longing for the mountains and late night camp fires. Last summer, the boyface and I went wilderness camping for a week in Alta Lakes, which is located in South West Colorado. It was amazingly beautiful. We were surrounded by mountains and nature. No running water, no restrooms, but so worth it. If you've never been wilderness camping, I really suggest you give it a try. Here's a picture of where we camped. Can you imagine waking up to this every morning? If you'd like to see the rest of my pictures from Alta Lakes, you can do so here.

In my next post, I'll be sharing some of the wonderful things I've been seeing (and wanting!) on Etsy. Stay tuned.

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Delicious!

Fabric is so deliciously wonderful. I am lucky enough to have my very supportive boyface, as he helped me totally replenish my fabric stash. So, I have a lot of different options to play with. In keeping up with the opening of my etsy shop by the end of the month, I've been working on a few new purse designs. Wool felt is really one of my favorite fabrics to work with and pair with cute cotton prints. The new design I have lets me combine them both and play with appliques as well. I have a few works in progress, but will share one peek with you for now.

I've named the design Isabella after my dear friend Izzy who has been incredible understanding of my non-stop sewing lately. I'm quite fond of the design and it only needs a touch of tweaking. In keeping with my green and earth tone fetish, I thought a leaf motif would be fitting. I'm really loving light pinks and turquoise right now as well, but you'll see that later.

And, my poor kittens are having a difficult time understanding why I can't be available for immediate affection at their every beckoning meow. Bobo gives me the stink eye every time I go into the craft room and Lulu just waits on my bed for me to walk by and then verbally attack me with adorable meows of loneliness.. Not a happy couple of kittens.

I'll end with a picture of my little Bobo.


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

It's a new year...

And a new year means a new start.

Over the past few years, I've been going through a lot of life changes. I have been missing all of my internet pals and craftster friends very much and it feels so wonderful to be back. I've even started sewing again, which is so amazing to find comfort in my element once again.

My new years resolution was to start sewing again and open a new etsy shop and blog. So here I am! I've been a busy sewing bee for the past few weeks, even catching up on some old projects. I'm hoping to have my shop up and running by this coming Friday. I've been coming up with new designs and combining them with old ideas.

Let me share a few of my favourites.

I've been collecting Russian Nesting Dolls on and off for the past few years and they've inspired me to create a few designs in their image. There are many wonderful designs out there by other crafsters inspired by these dolls and I hope mine do them justice. This is Onya.

Most of my matryoshka dolls have the color scheme of red and blues, basic primary colors, but I have these beautiful cotton calico prints in several shades of pink and when matched with a deep burgundy wool felt, I feel she turned out very pretty. She has little rosy cheeks and puckering lips and has such a sweet and soft
appearance.


In keeping with the matryoshka theme, I've also created a small plush doll and purse.


This is Poula. The fabric that I found for this purse seemed so fitting for the russian doll theme. It's really quite an extraordinary fabric. A great find for me.


And finally Mareah, a small plush.

I just love her cute little face!


Thanks for visiting my blog and I'll have more new hand mades to post tomorrow. I wish you all the best of luck and courage with your New Years Resolutions!

Happy Crafting!