Special Feature Friday: Ivory Mint Cards

Edition 41

We have moved house, and gotten quite far with putting everything at it's place, so this week there is time again for a Special Feature Friday!

It is November, and Christmas is not far away. Etsy is home to many shops with wonderful Christmas items. This week I would love to feature a shop selling Christmas cards. 

Ivory Mint Cards has a wonderful collection of postcards, not only suitable for the holidays but also cards for the whole year around. Cards can be bought as singles but also in handy packages.

This reindeer card features a cute reindeer with a red hat. It is printed on thick creamy white paper and comes with an envelope of recycled brown paper. The cards are A6 sized and blank on the inside. 

Ivory Mint Cards are printed professionally on top quality paper. The card is packaged in a clear plastic envelope to keep it tidy and shipped out in a hard back envelope to keep it flat.

Not everyone you know might like the holiday season, but maybe you still would like to send your friends or family who dislike the holidays a card. Here is your solution, the Bah Humbug card, for those not in favor of the winter holidays! 

Special Feature Friday: Betsy Bensen

Edition 40

Oh Dear, because of the move and the extra hours I do at work I completely forgot it was Friday yesterday! So, as an exeption this Special Feature Friday is published on Saturday!

Betsy Betsen a shop on Etsy , selling handcrafted jewelry. Betsy works with precious metals and gemstones and pearls. All her pieces are one of a kind. Betsy has a 25 years experience as a metal-smith and jewelry maker and all the skills and insight to produce unique and strong pieces.

This is a pearl ring with a freeform freshwater pearl. Next to the pearl you can find a London blue topaz. It is hand crafted in sterling silver. There is a 18kt gold bezel around the topaz, and there are two 14kt gold balls on the sides of the pearl.

A necklace with a stone called Willow Creek Jasper, which is mined in Idaho. The design in this stone makes it a unique piece. The sterling silver and gold pendant was made by hand, and a very lustrurous pearl was added. The back of the pendant is just as pretty, it is pierced with ginkgo leaves!

Betsy offers free shipping within the USA until November 5th 2014, with discount code: AISHA

Next week my sister is staying over, and the Friday we will spend at the zoo, therefor, no Special Feature Friday this week, but be sure to come back the 15th of November. The whole month of November and December we will give extra attention to the upcoming holiday season! 

Special Feature Friday: So Many Somethings

Edition 39

Because I am still surrounded by moving boxes, and the moving date is coming quite near, I will do a short Special Feature Friday this week. Short, but very sweet!

So Many Somethings is a wonderful shop run by Abby, she sells home made sweets and cookies.
Abby finds quality and delivering a good product the most important aspects of her sweets. Her sweets look gorgeous and very attractive. The marshmallows will be great on a winters evening or for the upcoming holidays. If you are like me, and you like to use your candies and chocolates as a piece of edible decoration, Abby's shop is certainly the place to go!

These wonderful cherry marshmallows are gluten free. The marshmallows you can find in So Many Somethings are not the gummy stale marshmallows you are used to, but light and fluffy cubes of confection. They are available in 3 sizes. Marshmallows are also available in other flavours. 

White chocolate lemon truffles, how beautiful do these look? They remind me of freshly rolled snowballs. They are also available in a gluten free version, and would make for a wonderful gift!

Abby offers a 20% off coupon for the items in her shop, with a minimal purchase of $20. It is valid until Christmas day 2014. 

Arles

I decided to not have a Special Feature Friday this Friday. Due to my daytime job, and because we are moving house soon, I do not get to spend as much time on my blog as I would like to, and instead of a Special Feature Friday I would like to write about a memory we made last summer.

Friends were over with their car, and we decided to go for a daytrip. This time we chose Arles, a city in the Provence of which I heard a lot. It is about an hour away from Marseille and makes from a nice drive on a spring day. We arrived in Arles and found an Provencal market very soon.  It is great to see the items sold by the salesmen. Olives, bread, vegetables, nougat, sausages and meat products. It was wonderful to see all these regional grown and made goods together!

Arles is an ancient city, the area was already inhabited at 800 BC. In 123 BC the Romans arrived and worked on the expansion of the city. Roman influences can still be found today in the shape of an amphitheater, built in 90 BC and a Gallo-Roman theater.

The arcades of the amphitheater against the blue sky. The theater is open for visitors and in summertime it is still used for bull fights. It has an whole history for it's own! The Gallo-Roman theatre can also be visited. Just outside of Arles there is a Roman aqueduct and mill. 

The city center breathes the air of the old Provencal streets, with the typical houses. Decorated with their beautiful doorways, practical wooden shutters and statues of Maria and other saints. Every summer traditional festivals are celebrated. Every 1st Sunday of July "les arlesiennes" will dress up in their traditional costumes and parade trough the city. 

The painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles some of the last years in his life. Some of his famous works where painted here, like "Starry Night over the Rhone", "Cafe terrace at night" and "Hospital in Arles". The latter two can still be found and viewed in the city. Above you can find a picture I took of the "Hospital in Arles", where van Gogh stayed for a while.

Arles is certainly worth a visit, and I would advise to visit in spring or Autumn. As summers can get very hot. If you don't want to miss the market it is best to go on a Saturday morning, as markets usually stop early in these parts. If you have the time it is advisable to stay a couple of day's to truly discover Arles. A train goes to Arles from Marseille. Close to Arles you can find the Camargues, a natural parc in between to arms of the Rhone. It is a river delta with wild horses and flamingo's roaming around. About this, I will write more next time!   

Special Feature Friday: NoraKaren

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Nora from NoraKaren worked as a fashion designer for many years, one day she decided to paint a peacock feather on a pair of shoes. It was an immediate success. Nora designs her shoes for the special days in life, wedding days in particular. Her shoes are all hand painted and unique, they will be the eye catchers of any outfit.

Not only paint is used to make the shoes beautiful, crystals, strass and brooches can be added as well.

These shoes are decorated with daisies. The shoes are available in 11 colors. The daisies are painted on by hand, the detail is truly stunning! 

I love these red shoes with snowflakes. I think they will make for a great pair to wear to a Christmas party, but they will also work for a winter themed wedding. The added rhinestones really make for a great finish, giving a luxurious look to the shoe. This shoe is also available in other colors.

You prefer to have a matching purse with your shoes? No problem for Nora also offers a lovely range of shoes with matching purses! 

Nora offers free shipping within the US, with this discount code: FREESHIPPINGSHOES

Special Feature Friday: Pure Designs

Edition 37

Victoria Brewer is the person behind Pure Designs, her mission is to "Make the world more beautiful, without damaging the environment". Her line of jewelry and decorations are made with eco friendly materials, and recycled paper.

The technique used by Victoria is Quilling, an art that uses small strips of paper which are rolled, shaped and then glued together to form a whole. Victoria sells earrings and home decorations.  

These eco friendly earrings are made of paper, eco-friendly glue and are coated with a eco-friendly matt vernish. Because of the varnish they are waterproof to a certain extent. They are available in different beautiful colors.  

These leaves make for wonderful autumn decorations. They come in a set of 7. 

This snowflake will make for a beautiful eye catcher in your Christmas tree or wreath. The detail is stunning! It is about 5.3 cm but also available in larger sizes. It is available in several wonderful colors.

If you would like to follow Victoria's designs you can like Pure Designs Facebook page, there is also a shop website. 

Special Feature Friday Hearth and Heritage

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Hearth and Heritage is the shop to go to for wedding favors and thank you gifts. Sue is the owner of this shop, and offers a wonderful range of candles, soaps, giftbags and skin products. The items are inspired by British Heritage. Natural wax bases are used for the candles, combined with 4 scents to choose from. For the lotions the purest high quality bases available are used, and then mixed with signature scents. 

Rose & Neroli is a bodylotion made with natural ingredients. The lotion is high in cocoa butter and vitamin E to nourish the skin. It is a absorbent moisturiser that is taken up by the skin immediately.

They come in a easy pump dispenser to minimize spilling and messiness. A body wash and a natural wax candle are also available in the same line of scents. 

These personalised scented candles will be perfect as wedding favours. They will make sure that people will remember your wedding day for a long time to come. They are made of soy wax, pure cotton wicks and essential oils for scents. The scent you can select yourself, with 3 choices available: Bluebell, Jasmine and Gardenia. They are wrapped in cellophane and the color of the ribbon can be coordinated with the color theme of your wedding. 

AUTHUMN20 will give you a 20% discount until the 6th of October 2014

Special Feature Friday: Louise De Masi

Edition 35

Louise is a painter who lives on the mid north coast of New South Wales in Australia. She is the shop owner of Louise De Masi, a wonderful shop filled with paintings of animals. Louise is very lucky to live on a big property surrounded by state forest. Everyday she gets visitors from the forest, mostly birds like; Kookaburras, Kingfishers, Rainbow Lorikeets and Bower Birds. But also wallabies and kangaroos love to visit Louise's garden.

This is a print of an original acrylic painting from Louise's hand. It is a zebra printed on beautiful archival Fine Art paper. Even though it is a print, it looks a lot like the original painting. It will be sealed in an acid free plastic envelope and shipped out in a rigid cardboard mailer, all to ensure the print will arrive safely to any home around the world. 

I am a big fan of these two swallows, the colors used in this painting are beautiful, just as the details! This is a print of Louise's original work!

Besides the prints available in the shop, it is also possible to have custom work made. This is especially interesting if you would want to have a portrait of your pet. It is also possible to buy original paintings. There is a special section for this in Louise's shop.

Special Feature Friday: built on branches

Edition 34


Searching for items to decorate the house for the upcoming autumn and winter season I ran into Built on Branches. Erin is the owner of this shop and creates woodland animals with wool and felt.The sculptural animals are made using the needle felting technique, and her brooches and ornaments are hand sewn and embroidered from pieces of felt.Next to this Erin also creates greeting cards and customized gift bags.

Several years ago Erin discovered the wonders of needle felting in a small supply store in Vermont. She decided to buy the supplies and learn how to needle felt. The moment the green eyes where sewn to her first animal it came alive, and this always remained her favorite part of the process!


The items made by Erin are very lifelike, yet the little details give them a personality and make them unique!

This wonderful grey rabbit is hand crafted, his hind legs are reinforced with cotton cord. He is grey and ivory with a dusty pink nose, and his body is made 100% wool. His bow tie makes him a real handsome gentlemen! He comes packed in a paper box tied with ribbon, ready to be a gift, either for a loved one or for yourself.

A collection of felted acorns will make wonderful decorations for your house. A set includes 6 acorns. They can be placed in a bowl, put on a shelf or on your table. I also think they will look wonderful in any autumn or winter inspired wreath. They come in a reusable cotton muslin drawstring bag. These acorns are available in 31 colors, so they can fit into any house!

Erin is happy to help out if a different quantity or color is required.

Erin was very kind to donate a discount code. For any order above 20 dollars you will get 5 dollars off with this code: HAPPYFALL14

This code is valid until December 31 2014.

Special Feature Friday: Peg and Awl

Edition 33

Peg and Awl is a truly unique shop on Etsy.  Entering it for the first time gave me feelings of freedom and happiness. The items in this shop seem to have been made with a lot of thought and care. Peg and awl is run by Margaux Kent and her husband Walter, with behind them a team of specialized craftsmen and women.

Most of the materials used are organic, and many of them were once forgotten items saved from markets and houses, who have been given a second life. Even though there is a team behind this shop, all the items are unified in style. Margaux, Walter and their team do not only make the items beautiful, but also durable and fit for heavy duty.

This tree-swing brought me back to my youth, as I remembered the swing we had, it was attached to our barn and lots of hours were spent swinging on it. This large swing was made of pine wood. For years this piece of pine functioned as a floor joist for a 19th century house. The rope is 3/4 Manila with a 694 pound tension limit. The rope is looped through the seat and secured with a fisherman's knot. It comes with instructions on how to attach the swing to a tree or a pole. 

This is an extra large weekend bag. It was made with waxed canvas and finished with antique leather and a vintage metal zipper. It was build to endure! 

This ring with the image of a wood sorrel, or as others know it, the shamrock can be bought in 4 different metals: sterling silver, oxidized silver, bronze or gold. It is available in sizes 5 through 8.

Besides swings, bags and rings there are many other wonderful discoveries to find in Peg and Awl, and going over for a look trough the shop is certainly worth the effort.

Walter has kindly made a 10% discount code for the readers of this blog: LEAVESFALL

There is also a website, for those who would like to learn more. And if you want to stay up to date about this shop, I suggest you add them on Facebook or Twitter.