Special Feature Friday: Art From Dreamland

Edition 15

Etsy is a great place to buy unique art from yet undiscovered artists. This week feature is Art From Dreamland whom sells custom portraits and illustrations. The name of this shop says everything about the items they are selling.

I have come across this shop several times now, and every-time I get taken by the wonderful style of drawing by the owner of the shop. The drawings are whimsical and give the impression of a magic world. The drawings could come straight from that children book you remember from when you where young. 

Some of the illustrations available are great for baby or kids rooms, they give a vibe of whimsical and simple happiness, and some of them are educational too! They will be a wonderful thing for your child to admire.

Art From Dreamland also does custom orders varying from wedding photo's to portraits. If you have a moment or a person that you would like to have illustrated, it can be done.
A massive amount of details make the illustrations look realistic, without loosing the feeling that this is indeed a portrait of a person or pet you care about.

  
As I said, I think these illustrations are children book worthy, and I sure hope to see them in that context one day! 

Special Feature Friday: Nikkimcl

Edition 15

Today's featured shop is nikkimcl, a wonderful shop that sells high quality hand made jewelry.
Browsing through this shop I notice that the items have a luxurious vibe.

This shop works mostly with high quality materials, like gemstones, pearls and crystal. The jewelry looks well made and sturdy, but is at the same time very elegant. Also I think the jewelry can be used for many occasions, weddings, parties and everyday live. It is always great to add some versatile jewelry to your collection!

I love these sophisticated green and gold wire wrapped earrings, the green beads are beautiful and work so well with the gold elements!

This wonderful necklace has a antique look, it looks very sturdy and at the same time elegant.
The blue color of the stone just springs out and will catch every-ones eyes!

Nikkimcl is situated in the US and ships world wide! There are over 170 items in this shop, so there is a lot more to discover.

Exclusively for the readers of this blog there is a Etsy discount code, you will get a 10% discount when you use this code: SECRETSALE10. The code is valid until the 15th of December 2013.

Special Feature Friday; House of Mark

Edition 14

Christmas is coming up fast! This weeks shop has some wonderful Christmas decorations.
The shop is called House Of Mark. It is run by Salpie and Karena, from California.

House of Mark only opened In October 2013, so it is a very new shop, with a fresh look at things.

In this shop we can mostly find home decorations, and very nice ones too!
The decorations are handmade and very festive. It is possible to have decorations made for a party your organize, whether it is your wedding, Christmas, Halloween, a birthday or any other special event. It is wonderful to be able to decorate with items made especially to your wishes. At the very least people will notice that a lot of care and thought went into the decoration of your home, but custom made decorations will also make a great conversation starter.


Now, because the holiday's are coming up I will show only holiday decorations today, but check out their shop for the other products, because some of them are great for any party.

This burlap banner is rustic and festive, It is sure to make any home look ready for the holidays!

Wreath's look great on front doors during the holidays, this particular one is very colorful. In the last couple of years I have seen a huge amount of Christmas ornaments in these colors in the shops.

The only thing that saddens me about this shop is that there is currently no shipping outside of the US. However, they explain in their shop policies that they hope to offer international shipping in the future, so patience does it!

Special Feature Friday: Afternoon owl designs.

Edition 13

In the last week it has gotten much colder outside. The mistral is blowing happily, and because of this the temperature has dropped. The mistral is a strong cold wind, it feels like it goes straight trough your clothes. At least it puts me in the Christmas mood. 

It seems like just a winter coat won't do with this weather! This week I came in touch with Rebecca from afternoon owl designs. Rebecca knits mostly scarfs. They are perfect for any cold weather, and at the same time they will make a great addition to your outfit.

The scarfs Rebecca knits look big, bulky and warm. Exactly what one needs when dealing with cold weather. The scarfs come in many colors and different shapes and sizes. For example the oatmeal infinity scarf as shown above. I see these more and more lately, and I can understand why they are popular. 

The color combination in this oversized infinity scarf is great, I never thought orange and blue could work so well together! 

Rebecca's scarves are unisex, witch means they can be worn by men and woman. I think these scarfs will make for great Christmas gifts! The scarves are made of chunky lamb wool and acrylic blend yarn. Especially wool is known to give a lot of warmth. It is one of the oldest materials for clothes used by mankind, and for good reasons too. All the scarves are designed by Rebecca herself. It is possible to request custom orders, witch is great if you would like something special, or maybe some different colors!

Handmade Monday, November 25.

November the 25th 2013 will be Handmade Monday. Now, I only heard about this a couple of weeks ago but the more I read about it, the more the idea speaks to me!

Last year a US family spent about $764 dollars on average per family, followed by Australia at $930 dollars per family, and a whopping average of $1000 dollars was spent per British family.

If only 20% of this money was spent on handmade items from small companies and artists, a sustainable, vibrant, creative and lucrative impulse for original craft and work would be created.

Handmade Monday is here to promote exactly this! Of course there are many big companies that sell wonderful gifts, but with buying a handmade item you are sure to receive something special and unique.

Shop owners and artists work hard to set up and run their own businesses, with high risk and often small returns. Even when everything goes right, it is still a huge amount of work. There are many little shops on the internet where every single thing was handmade with love and care. 

I know, handmade items are more expensive. Why would you buy a 25 dollar pillowcase when you can get one for 7 at that big store in town? And why would you spend that money on a handmade item if you can get it from a expensive brand?

I will tell you why;

What you get back for buying handmade is a product that you can't get in any store. Artists and crafters always work hard to improve their work. A lot of research is done before you can buy the items in the shops. A person running their own store often has years of experience, is highly motivated, and as said before, has worked really hard to get to the point where they are. They love to communicate with their clients, and what they want most is for their clients to be happy with their purchase. Handmade items are not mass produced and you are sure to have high quality item. No, you won't have a high brand item, people will not recognize your item as a Ralph Lauren cushion or a Tiffany&CO bracelet. But remember that these brands also mass produce their items, they might be expensive, but they are not truly unique. And your handmade item will be. This is great for you, but also great for anyone who will get a handmade Christmas or birthday gift!

Now, let's also think of the impact it would have on society when you decide to buy Handmade.

• You might help someone through college or university, many store owners sell because of this reason.
• You might help someone's daughter to have ballet classes, or someones son to go to soccer.
• If you buy handmade locally you will help your local businesses and economy.
• You might help a pensioner pay the rent, or a single mother pay for heating.
• Handmade items are made to last, you help the environment!
• There are many shops that recycle materials, also a great plus for the environment. 

These are just 6 examples, the list goes on forever! Really, buying Handmade will help many people.

You might have one reservation left: how can I trust a stranger on the internet to just send me these products after I paid for them? Well, here is great news; as a buyer you have a lot of rights. Websites like Etsy and DeWanda have strict policies for customers. After a purchase the shop has 45 days to get the items to the costumer. If this does not work out the buyer can open a claim and get their money back. This will also work with credit card companies and Paypal. There is really nothing scary about buying online from small businesses!

If you were never sure about buying handmade from small businesses, I hope I have helped you decide to go for it. Remember how positive it is to get your gifts and decorations from small businesses, either locally or from the internet. I am going to leave you with a link to a Facebook page about handmade Monday, here you can follow the latest news and updates. 

Have a great week and remember, Monday the 25th of November: Handmade Monday!

Special Feature Friday: NozomiCrafts

Edition 12

It has been a while! The last couple of weeks have been very busy. A good time for me because I made a few sales in the shop, and I had a large order for a friend.

Last time I wrote about a shop that sells mori styled clothes. This week I am going to stick to the kawaii a bit. A while back I came across a shop that sells needle velted items.
Of course these are all made by the owner of the shop herself! Witch makes them extra special.
The shop is called NozomiCrafts and has been opened since August 2011.

In the shop one can find wood animals, but also little cakes and macarons and adorable necklaces.
I am a absolute fan of these wonderful and adorable creatures!

This handmade jewelry is adorable, and I think it would fit in great with the cute Japanese styles like mori and lolita. It is great in detail as well!

All together this collection is very whimsical! The soft colors make the jewelry also usable for other clothing styles. All these pieces are unique and I think they are great eye catchers.

As you may know, I am a bird lover, and this owl has truly stole my heart. It is so cute in his little nest, he must be very cozy indeed!

The prices for all these items are great, I can imagine a lot of work goes in them, but they are very affordable! And, as said before, you will have a truly unique item!

I would advise you to go and visit the shop, because there are so much more wonderful items to see!
It was really hard to choose the two pictures, since they are all so wonderful!

Special feature Friday (on Saturday)

Edition 11

The last week has been extremely busy and as a result I did not get to write the Special Feature Friday for 2 weeks.
So this week we will have to do with a Special Feature Saturday.

Cold weather is coming up so I was browsing for some knitwear. Wilst browsing I came across a shop called Deadly Mori Girl I have a huge weakness for this style, it is cute just like I find lolita cute but not as over the top, and easier to wear in every day live. The styles are quite different but yet these two styles can be mixed very well! And one could still work with a lot of lace in the outfit, and of course, for me there is never too much lace.

This shop has many lovely clothing items perfect for Mori style, the light colors, knitwear, folksy lacy type of clothes.

 I am not a fan of green, but I love this teint of green,

  especially with the lace this makes a great piece!

The items look well made and very detailed! The materials used seem of a very high quality, with beautiful lace. This style is certainly great for this time of year as well. 

The only thing I would want to say about this shop is that I hope they will come with more items in the future, this shop has potential and I think there should be so much more!

I love this cardigan, the color is so pretty and it looks very soft and comfortable.

Special Feature Friday: French Baguette

Edition 10

I can't believe it is edition 10 already! There are so many lovely shops to choose from on Etsy!
Usually I search for a while before I decide witch shop to feature, but this time I found a shop real quick.
I love vintage and antiques and we all know that a great country to shop for unique pieces is France.

This week was my anniversary of my first year in France! unfortunately I did not get to see as many antique markets as I would have hoped for. But I did find this shop on Etsy.

It is called French Baguette and filled with lovely mainly French vintage items.

                           Isn't this just great? I can picture it in the most wonderful country kitchen!

Browsing trough this shop makes me wish I had a huge kitchen, I want it all! Wonderful enamel coffee and teapots, the cutest cups, ceramic container and plates, I could go on because there is way more.
They all breath that atmosphere of a wonderful warm kitchen with a delicious meal is cooking on the stove and cookies in the oven. Really, yet again I get hungry writing this blog!

Lets not forget about the tins, I just love vintage tins.

Of course this shop also sells items that are not kitchen related, but I would really suggest you go and check them out yourself. I think there are great things to be found for the collectors! 

Work in progress

When I am working on a project I do not like to clean up the items I need for crafting until it is finished.

This means that sometimes we have go go to bed with the house being a mess, and get up with a house being a mess. Since I have started working on the shop this has become an explosive problem.

Explosive because that is what the room looks like, as if a little bomb of crafting items just went off.

Usually you can find me somewhere in the middle of it, with a cold cup of tea and an old sandwich I forgot about. In my old house this was not much of a problem because I had a room for sewing.

In this house it is quite a problem because it is small, there is not much place to put things away, and of course I am not living here on my own but with Dear BoyFriend, who I will be calling DBF from now on.

I can't quite believe how patient DBF is with me, putting up with all my stuff day in and out, sometimes he decides we need to clean up, and then we do. but about 3 hours later it is back to being a mess. I think he is sweet for helping me clean up my crap in the first place.

So, something needs to change, I should start working on one project and then finish it, and not -as I am doing now- 5 projects at the same time. Or maybe I have to stick with two, because in the evening I work on different projects since I do not like to sew in the evening. Oh dear, there you go, as soon as I find a resolution I decide something to make that resolution useless in the first place.

So I should definitively work on getting my stuff organised better, after all this is a tiny house and we will be here for another 3 years. I will dream of having a sewing room for myself one day, but for now I am happy with what we have!

Special Feature Friday: Exclusively Pearls

Edition 9

This week in special feature friday Exclusively Pearls. Why you ask? well...don't we all love some pretty pearls?

This shop has a lovely collection of pearls, braclets mostly but also earrings.
The items are very classy indeed!

                    I love these pink pearls, they are classy yet the color makes them a bit more playful!

These are items for all occasions, fancy dinners, funerals, weddings. They would certainly do very well as a birthday or Christmas gift. (Really, we have to start thinking about Christmas because it is coming FAST)

                 Also these peacock pearls are gorgeous! I just love the glace of all the different colors over it. 

There are also items for girls in the shop, it must be great for any young girl to have her very own bracelet of pearls!

As usual for Etsy these items are handmade, witch always gives me the feeling of luxury.

This is a fairly new shop, but there feedback is all positive, and I do think these items are everlasting when it comes to style.