Handmade Playfulness

My friends, this week I'm taking you to four artists' shops where you can let loose and let your playfulness out. All of today's shops are fun and very unique. That's the beauty of Etsy!

First I want you to meet Cindy Doty of Cinful Designs. She lives in beautiful Brookings on the Oregon coast where she makes jewelry and wonderful art dolls. Both jewelry and art dolls are unique, and for me it's the art dolls that always bring a big happy smile on my face. Have you ever thought of dress miniatures as ornaments? Well, how do you like this?

April Luna from Los Angeles, CA is owner of Moon Of Light Talismans. She creates raw crystal and electroformed jewelry and each piece is very unique. If you are looking for some one-of-a-kind jewelry you should definitely pay a visit and browse April's shop. I very much like this beautiful necklace:

With Catherine's shop Tribal Handmade we enter the fairy and fantasy world. Be prepared for cuteness overload. She lives in Lviv in Ukraine where she also makes jewelry besides little fairy houses. It was hard to decide which one to showcase here because all of them are so pretty. This Adriatic coast fairy house is the "winner":

Luna Essence in South Cairo, NY is a shop full of gorgeous handmade jewelry and small handbags. The jewelry is inspiring - you can find Aztec earrings, handcrafted brooches among others, and this fantastic boho style filigree cuff. I love the colors!!

I hope you enjoyed our little "shopping spree"!!!

Hanging Out with Online Friends

When I introduced our giveaway to you, I mentioned that I teamed up with three other Etsy sellers for the month of October. Now, with only one week left of the month, I can say that this was a wonderful idea. While I kind of knew one of the other artists, I knew next to nothing about the other two except that they are making beautiful art. I wasn't even aware that they are not living in the US!

We connected with each other through a team thread where we exchanged ideas and encouraged each other. Then someone came up with the idea of using Google hangouts to chat with each other. One of us set up the video chat and on Thursday morning we "met" face to face, talking and laughing for a long time. Seeing these lovely ladies and connecting with them made my day! Let me tell you a little bit about them.

First, there is Sally. She lives in Toronto, Canada, and is a mom to three kids (all of us have teenage or adult children). She has at least two cats who both showed up briefly during our video chat. Sally hand crafts semi precious stone boho jewelry and every piece she creates is one of a kind. What sets her apart from many jewelry makers is that her pieces are bold and she makes jewelry for both women and men. It really appeals to me that she doesn't offer her beautiful wearable art exclusively to women but includes men as well. It is quite fitting that her shop is called AudacityWear.

Her earrings are my favorite items. Most of them are chandelier earrings which is a style I like to wear. They're bold but elegant and certainly make a statement. This one is made of Turquoise, Tiger Eye and silver, a stunning combination.

Turquoise is also a great stone and color for men's jewelry, like these bracelets:

Ildi is a potter from Maastricht in the Netherlands. What I especially noticed about her during our chat is that she has a great laugh!!! How can you not like someone with a wonderful laugh? Ildi's shop is called Ceraminic, and as you might guess from the name she hand crafts personalized ceramic home decoration and accessories. Can I say cuteness overload? You can find small plates, unique ornaments, ring dishes, stud earrings (also for men!), coasters... I think you should take a look yourself!

Are you in need of super cute ornaments for the holiday season?

Or what about coasters with beautiful autumn leaves?

Ildi also writes a beautiful blog where she discusses her art, and every post she starts with "dear reader" which I find very charming.

I first "met" Ellen through my favorite cougar. I know that sounds completely weird! Ellen lives in Tucson, Arizona and she sometimes visits the Arizona Sonoran Desert Museum there where "my" cougar resides as well. When I posted a picture of her (the mountain lion), either on my blog or as a photo card in my shop (I really can't remember), she contacted me telling me that she recognizes this special cougar. Thus we entered our long lasting conversation. She actually got one of my paintings and I received one of her wonderful knitting needle cases. And these are the ones I want to show you, because they are so beautiful and useful at the same time! Are you a knitter? Then I bet you could use one like this one:

If I already hadn't a knitting needle case (with cute little foxes), I would buy this one.

You're not a knitter? Darn! What about a purse made from plastic shopping bags? Recycling at its finest!

You can find Ellen's blog and shop The Chilly Dog here and her Etsy shop where she sells knitting and crochet patterns here.

Next month I will probably team up with other Etsy sellers - we love to mix things up a bit. This was such a great experience that I am excited about the new team, but I know I will miss my three ladies here. However, I'm pretty sure that we will keep in touch.

Adornment (August Break 2014)

Before this day is over I want to offer my adornment.

Honestly, I wasn't even sure what adornment meant. Thankfully, Susannah Conway sends out emails every day of her August Break 2014 and thus I got an idea about adornment. She was talking about adorning oneself, followed by a few examples.

So, how do I adorn myself? I rarely wear make up, I put my hair up in a ponytail or messy bun, and my clothes are anything but fashionable. I love comfortable, sometimes a bit crazy clothes, color and nothing trendy.

But I have a thing for earrings. I love them. I have quite a collection, but usually I wear these ones:

The Geek gave them to me on Christmas a couple years ago. I had seen them at a holiday fair, made by an artist from San Francisco (unfortunately I lost her card). Immediately I fell for this style... and my husband saw how much I loved them. I was very happy when I found them under the Christmas tree, and I have worn them almost every day since then.

No lipstick, no eye shadow, no mascara - but these earrings are a must!

What is your favorite adornment?