Thursday, January 8, 2009

These are a Few of My Favorite Things- Etsy Edition

Ok, I must confess that I don't love the Sound of Music. I saw it for the first time as a very cynical teenager, and was not too impressed with the idea of pausing to burst into song whist running from the Nazis. I know that this musical is near and dear to many peoples' hearts, and I don't mean to malign it. I just never got bit by the Sound of Music bug.

However, I find myself stealing a song lyric for the title of this post. Materfamilias was asking if we've tied up the loose ends from 2008, and this is one post I wanted to write before moving fully into 2009.

I've done quite a bit of Etsy shopping in the last few months, and have purchased a number of lovely items. I'm loving Etsy because I try to support small, independent crafters whenever possible. Also, the variety of merchandise available is staggering, and often reasonably priced. It's unfortunate for me that the Canadian dollar has plummeted in the last few months, but even with a lousy exchange rate there are still bargains to be had. I'm inspired by bloggers like Holly over at Decor8, who regularly post their Etsy favorites. So, without further ado, here are some of my favorites.

Ok, one last bit of ado. The lovely pictures belong to the owners of these shops.

Irene Suchocki has a lot of very lovely photographs, including this one which is currently awaiting framing in my living room:


As it this one, printed on a metallic paper that gives it the most incredible finish:




Mr Ripley has a love of penguins and polar bears. I couldn't resist this photo from Esoule, which is one of a series of photos of animal toys that she's done:




Little Brown Pen has an assortment of great stationery that you can buy, download, and print for your friends, which I did this year. They also make a Southern Hemisphere version of this calendar, with the seasonal pictures reallocated appropriately.

Hadley Hutton sells lovely originals and prints featuring animals, birds, and flowers. As I have a theory that foxes are the new owls, I couldn't resist this print from her October series:



I hope you visit some of these shops, or are inspired to visit Etsy if you've not done so before. I'd love to hear about some of your favorite Etsy shops, or other online artists. I have more Etsy goodness to share, so tomorrow I'll post about the cheap and cheerful Etsy bling I've enjoyed...

























1 comment:

sweetcheese said...

I love Etsy! I don't shop there nearly enough, though. Can't wait to see more of your favorites.