Category — {Etsy}

We went to Macy’s this weekend and somehow had tons of fun there.  This was not part of it: [Read more →]

Surfing around on the Etsy wave one day, I happened upon Ashley’s shop.  In my opinion, her sterling silver jewelry is, as my two year old nephew likes to say, “oooh, so cute.”  (He’s clearly parroting us, especially if you could hear the inflection in his voice when he says those words – it’s… well, it’s so cute! If you’d like to know what I mean, watch this video of an adorable little kitteh and allow yourself to react to it aloud.  I feel somewhat confident that the video I’ve linked will bring it out of you, because it brings it out of me, and I don’t even much like little kitteh videos.  What I DO like, however, is writing kitten, kitteh. Thanks, rest of the internet, for that one.  I like puppeh, too.

Okay, slight tangent, but I’m back on track.  And now, the jewelry…

What cute ideas for wedding day accessories!  Ashley describes her pieces as “simple, classic and fun.”  And, aren’t they?

Here it is at a different angle.  Not necessary, but I’m kind of in love with her background colors.

How about a little mix and match?

What’s your wedding day theme, if you have one?  If it’s love birds, how ’bout a little bit o’ this…

… a little bit o’ that…

… and a bunch o’ these, for your bridesmaids…

Birds not your thing?  Check out her hearts and flowers…

Here’s a super duper cute pump for the shoe fanatics out there…

Ashley doesn’t limit herself to metals, however…

By the way, I’m digging the sleek black and white packaging.

Pretty stuff, eh?

I love it when I randomly take a look at one of the many lovely shops I’ve “Favorited” on Etsy, and find – always to my surprise, for some reason – new and outstanding product ready for purchase.  Say it with me, folks – new product.  Ahh, just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it.  In a hard consonant kind of way.

Well, this was my experience when I paid a visit to my “Favorite Sellers” page recently, clicked on my old friend Sigmosaics AND SAW THESE:

(I know what you’re saying – but no, those are not the same eggs from Friday’s Fab Finds… they are, in fact, smaller mini eggs, and in summer hues.  No I’m not joking, they’re different.  Scout’s honor.)

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Does breakfast in bed sound like the perfect way to spend your Valentine’s Day?  Then ask him to buy you one of these – but make sure he knows that you’d like it filled with food before he presents it to you.  Remember, men don’t read minds!  (Thank God.)

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How about some heart-shaped creations?  I’d feel pretty lucky to receive one of these little works of art mid-February…

Oh, and by the way, here are two additional reasons why I have mad love (do the kids still say that?) for Kerrin, the creative force behind Sigmosaics:

1. 10% of the listing price of nearly all the items I’ve displayed above (save for the mini mosaic eggs) will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

And, as if that wasn’t enough…

2. An excerpt from her bio: 

“Sigmosaics is how I became known amongst my customers in Portugal coupled with the fact it is also the name of my website … therefore I decided to also use this name for my Etsy shop. My children provided the inspiration for the ‘Sig’ part … it’s their initials!”

I’m a sucker for rolling in your kids’ initials when naming your business.  That’s just a certain kind of special, and it’s the kind that I love.

Occasionally, I’ll go to my Favorites page on Etsy, just to take a lingering look at what I’ve accumulated.

For example, I favorited Etsy shop owner sarahparrott825, because she has the most precious thing going.  She calls it, “Press & Post,” which she describes as “a monthly delivery of one letterpress card complete with a kraft envelope & vintage postage stamps for those who love to write & send beautiful notes.”

What an absolutely, positively splendid idea.  And who doesn’t like pristine vintage postage?

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Gathering Etsy Favorites is one of my many labors of love.

I’m the saver in the family, so it’s not about parking things to pick them up later… though I certainly do Paypal it up every now and then.  (My credit card bill alternates between Whole Foods, Etsy, rent and Chipotle.)   I have a few reasons for picking Favorites… sometimes I feel like I need something, sometimes I find something inspiring, but most of the time I feel like having the opportunity to easily access and stare at something for whatever length of time pleases me.  To infinity.

Or ’til it makes its way to the blog.  A totally legit reason to hoard loveliness, no?

Time to share.

~ An origami paper crane, by Shadan.  I’ve had this one on the list for awhile, for two very specific reasons:

1. Origami cranes are my thing.  (Shout out, childhood.)
2. It’s just a paper crane – a beautiful paper crane, but a crane, nonetheless – however, somehow Shadan’s crazy skillz transform the scene it into a topographic landscape, complete with mountainous lanterns, what seem like jellybean lowlands, and I think there’s a kid in the back. (And that’s either a huge white diaper entombing his bottom half, or a sunbeam splashing off of an unknown in the foreground.  Votes?)

By the way, here’s Shadan’s dandy Etsy bio:

“I’m a vegetarian,recently-married,closeted reality-show loving,friendly,artistic girl who would just like to turn my hobby of making things into a full-time career before I poke my own eye out with my pencil at my current 9-5 cubicle job.”

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~ A set of favorites from Sigmosaics, comin’ at us all the way from Christchurch, New Zealand <– why I love the internet.  I’m digging the “lip” of orange that rises just above the external mosaic.

More of my favorite mosaic work from Sigmosaics:

~ Last up, lovely paper goods from humunuku.

{1 & 2, 3}

Lovely, right?  This is a pretty stunning project, a GREAT WAY to save money, and in my opinion an even better way to make your wedding yours… not to mention get loads of compliments on your unique talents.  You can stamp your monogram on a bag of cookies, or prettify a plain brown paper baggie with a flourish of your choosing.  Personally, I think it would be great fun to get a personalized rubber stamp from Pretty Pen Jen for this project.  (Below is one she made of a couple’s return address.)  I cannot WAIT to do something like this for my wedding.

{Pretty Pen Jen via littlewhitebook}

Don’t have the stamps or ink?  No problem, there are SO MANY PLACES to find exactly what you need, on the internet or in stores, like Michaels craft stores, for example.  And various crafty things are on sale there all the time.

Etsy has everything you need to make your project the best project.  And by the way, I’m sure you’ve noticed I mention etsy quite a bit on here, but it’s not just because I’m obsessed; it’s also because it’s so incredibly awesome for finding and doing things like this!

And this, which you can use to embellish a brown paper favor bag, like the one up top:

And check this out – how about making personalized linen ties for your favors?

For a destination wedding, stamps with international themes like this Parisian set are oh so magnificent for adding a little flare to your correspondence:

So, if you’re getting into this whole personalization-by-stamp idea, here’s my advice on how to get the best results: get yourself some Staz-On stamping ink, a quick-drying ink for stamping projects on plastic, glass, paper, wax paper, porcelain, photographs, metal, vinyl, and more.  Pretty amazing stuff.  You’ll also want the cleaning solution, for any accidents.  Everybody makes mistakes, but not everybody can afford to replace whatever it is that’s been stamped. Never fear; check it out, in action:

Awe. Some. Ness.

I love this play by play instructional by karaku on Etsy, where you’ll find many of the stamps I’ve mentioned, as well as bushels and bushels of other fantastic eye candy. The steps pictured below are all you need to get started on a project of your own.  Seriously, even though I often LOVE professionally done weddings and super pricey decor, when I see stuff like this, I just can’t imagine spending bucketloads of dough for something I can make for pennies!!!

I totally encourage a project of this nature.  It’s EASY, fun and hard not to come out with something beautiful. Go forth and create, my pretties!

Oh, and don’t forget the ink!