Mad Men Monday - All About the Men

Another great episode of Mad Men aired last night, and it was a really great showcase of 60s style. The hats, the dresses, the skinny ties that were in vogue back then.
I featured womens' style last week, so this week I thought it only fair to look at what Etsy had to offer for vintage mens' style.

Vintage Gray Plaid and Stripes Silk Tie Set - Mousetrap Vintage

Vintage Men's Brown Wool Car Coat - shopgoodgrace

Vintage Herringbone Fedora - Gothabilly13

I can totally imagine Don Draper wearing that fedora. Tune in next week to see what direction I think of next for Mad Men Monday style.

Friday Featured Seller - JLR Designs

Wow, it's Friday already? Time to pick a seller to feature this week from the comments and it is JLR Designs! Congrats! She creates handmade jewelry and is based out of sunny Phoenix.

So Sophisticated

Purple Fluorite Earrings

Fall Leaves Necklace

Very nice! Congrats to JLR Designs! If you want to be just like her, be sure to leave a comment and support your Etsy community.

BoutiqueBelle

Boutique Belle is actually the brainchild of Maggie Cook, a London knitwear designer. Her background is pretty fascinating:

"For the past ten years I have been designing and making fabulously feminine knitwear and accessories and have been lucky enougth to win a stand at London Fashion Week, as well as having my designs featured in many National newspapers and magazines.
Most of my collections are short runs or one offs to which I sell online as well as wholesale to boutiques around the U.K."

And the results truly are fab. What caught my eye were these knitwear corsages. I love the depth and color. The knit sweaters like the one below are also lovely too.

Stunning Wool and Mohair Jacket

Large Handmade Knitted Flower Corsage

Knitted Wedding Shrug with Flower

Very nice work. Check out her shop and let me know what you think.

Ambrosia and Bliss

This week has been full of stress because it is the beginning of school! Parents, children, college students and teachers all know this time well. As for myself (and my missing post, sorry), I need a stress ball. So I turned to Etsy and found Ambrosia and Bliss out of Wisconsin. She makes stress balls filled not with goo, but calming herbs and scents. Plus, she also offers yarn to use for your own projects while you de-stress. Bonus!

Crabapple Yarn - Suffolk/Hampshire

Serenity Sax - Neopolitan

Serenity Sax - Pacifica

Please stop by her shop and check it out. Any purchase you make will help benefit charity. And how sweet is it to de-stress while you've done a nice thing?

See you tomorrow!

Mad Men Monday - Let's Hear it For the Girls!

I think I'm in the mood for a new feature - Mad Men Mondays. For those of you who don't know, Mad Men is a fabulous show airing on AMC Sunday nights. I love the show. I love the fashion. I love the casting. Since Season 3 just started 2 weeks ago, I've decided to give a shout out to Etsy sellers who feature fabulous items in the spirit of Mad Men. Today I decided to feature Audrey and Grace, creator of lovely dresses from the 60s era. Betty Draper fab anyone?

Custom Little Black Audrey Dress

Custom Silk 60s Breakfast at Tiffany's Cocktail Party Dress

Elegant Custom Made Dropped Waist Swing Dress

Love it. Check back next Monday to see what I'll feature next week inspired by Mad Men.

Friday Featured Seller - Justine's Originals

Congratulations to Justine's Originals, today's Featured Seller! Today I'm bringing jewelry back by featuring her shop, all handmade by Justine from Southern California. I like the hints of beach glass and other light colors in her work.

Dawn Earrings

Sabine Earrings

Driftwind Bracelet

Very nice! Want to be just like Justine? Leave a comment for today's post and you might find yourself here next week! Have a great weekend everyone.

John Jenkins

I saw a little doodle of a mandolin on the front page the other day and went to investigate. The result led me to John Jenkins, an electrical engineering student who also has a side talent for drawing. The mandolin drawings would be perfect for the music lover in your life, and really any of the drawings would be perfect for anyone who enjoys quirky, technical and fun line work. Like me.

Bird Bath and Beyond

Mandolin #2

Homage to Hokusai's Great Wave

Pretty sweet. What do you think? Leave some love in the comments below.

JewelleryHaven

I haven't featured jewelry in awhile on the blog, so when I was surfing around and came across Jewellery Haven's shop I knew I found a feature. I love the composition of her jewelry, clusters of stones with contrasting colors resulting in layers of texture. A perfect item to pick up to complete a black tie affair look or just to have on hand to feel extra special.

Cremoso

Framboise

Naranja

Aren't the Cremoso earrings so romantic? I keep thinking they'd be perfect for a bride, it even has something blue! Let me know what you think in the comments.

Valentina Design & Joeseppi

Hm, I thought I had a post ready to go over the weekend for Monday and apparently I was wrong. So, today we're going to have a double feature. Yay!

The first shop is Valentina Design based out of Florida. She creates prints with inspiring images and sayings. I love the color choices and bold designs. You can't help but feel happier after seeing these.

Something Good is Going to Happen

Gratitude is the Open Door to Abundance

Funky Birds and Tree

The next shop is Joeseppi, a shop based out of Portland, Oregon with a message I can get behind: the Victory Garden of Tomorrow. Using different print methods, he creates homefront propaganda posters for the 21st century. I like it!

Recycling is Reusing

Sink That Carbon

Grow Food on an Organic Farm

Can you dig it? I can. If these prints struck a chord with you, let me know in the comments below. See you tomorrow!

Friday Featured Seller - UglyBaby

Congratulations to Ugly Baby, this week's Featured Seller! I have to hand it to them as their shop offers something I haven't seen on Etsy yet: shower art. At first I thought it was decorative soap, but it is art you hang up on the shower wall with a suction cup. Think of it as a little decoration for your shower or bath.

Good Things Are On The Way

Love Ewe

What Happened to the Gingerbread Man?

If you want to be just like Ugly Baby and get some free publicity, feel free to leave a comment below. If you're the lucky winner you'll find yourself here next week. Good luck and have a good weekend!

Borsa Bella

I never get bored with ways to store things. While I know I've featured other sellers who create bags and pouches and camera bags and so on, I can't get enough. It's a sickness. Maybe it's contagious if you like that sort of thing too. Which is why when I came across Borsa Bella, I had to feature her cute camera/iPod/cell phone bags. If you're big into Kindle and other technological gadgetry, she makes cases for that too. Apparently the Kindle device and her bags are quite popular.

Kindle Case

Hip Zip Bag in Amy Butler Print

iPod/Cell Phone/Camera Case

I love the idea of a Hip Zip bag and I love the fabric on the Kindle case. Good choices! If I have any Kindle users in the audience, care to tell me what you think in the comments?

Kate Jarman

Kate Jarman is a new shop owner on Etsy all the way from Australia. Her focus is painting, specifically oil and acrylic landscapes. I like the dreamy quality of the paintings and the visible texture of the paper.

Storm Cloud

Stormy Sea

Alone At Dusk

Take a moment and support this new Etsy shop! I'm looking forward to reading your comments.

Plants and Animals

I was bouncing along in Pounce and came across these lovely owl plushies in Plants and Animals' shop. I wish I'd found these a few weeks earlier as a dear friend is expecting her second child, whose in-utero nickname is Owl. Still, these plushes are great for any age. There are other items in store including prints and drawings. The colors are relaxing and I really like how different fabrics and patterns are layered together.

Pasco The Owl

Spring Chicken Print

Pistachio The Sleepy Owl

Aw, I just want to squish one right now! So cute! Check out the brood of owls (and their inventive names) at her shop and tell me which one you'd like to hug.

Doodlebirdie

Terrariums are a hot thing on Etsy I've found. Doodlebirdie has found a unique niche in the terrarium scene. Created by Patricia, the proud owner of a Black Headed Caique parrot, her shop is filled with little creatures for your terrarium along with other paintings and interesting things. If you want to keep up with her adventures, you can also check out her blog.

Hedgehogs - Mama and Baby

Fairy Houses for your Terrarium

Yellow Ranunculus Headband

I love ranunculus. Even if I can't spell it. What do you think? Love the hedgehogs and the houses? tell me about it in the comments. :)

Friday Featured Seller - Backwoods Creations

There are Fridays where I pick my Featured Seller and wonder hm, what is their Etsy shop all about? Sometimes I go through a bunch of blogs and names and blogs start to blur. By the time I do revisit a shop, I think aha! Backwoods Creations is a good example of this. Earlier in the week, she'd commented on my blog and I'd checked out her shop and thought aw cute, birds! Seeing that she's from Maine, I bet she has a lot of inspiration! It was a welcome surprise to go back to her shop to pick out items to feature today and realize it was the bird shop! Yay!
Cause you know, isn't it apparent I like birds already? :)

Bobbing Bird on Branch

Retro Bird in Pink and Black

Bluejay Mobile

Ok, the bluejay mobile and the bobbing bird are so cute I can't stand it. I love them both! Love love love. Return the love and comment on your favorite, who knows, you might love being featured next week!

Nightmares and New Listings

If you ever wonder what I do during the day, I teach ceramics part time at a local arts center. The camps I teach run 2 weeks a session, and in that time I have to cram a lot of work into the kiln and make sure everything gets out on a somewhat timely basis. For those of you unfamiliar with the ceramic process, the kiln is like a bigger, badder oven. Instead of baking sweet potato fries at 350 degrees for a half hour with about a 20 minute cooldown back to room temperature, a kiln fires up to 1870 degrees and takes a few days to cool down to room temperature. Enter my nightmare.

I was drifting off to sleep last night reviewing my day when I realized oh crap. The kiln. You see, for some ungodly reason my brain decided today was Friday, the last day of the current session and the day the kids glaze their work to go back into the kiln. The kiln wasn't quite done yet Wednesday and I quickly did math in my head and realized my kids wouldn't have anything to glaze. The horror.

And then my brain realized today is Thursday. Duh. Brain, why have you forsaken me?

Speaking of ceramic art, I've decided to go through my inventory and post some more older work to get some room for the NEW work I have going on in the studio! Ovenware, mugs, tumblers, yay!







Look for these items (and more crocheted items like scarves and dishcloths) to go up this afternoon. While you're here, scroll down to the next post and check out the seller I featured today.