MAB's notes on jewelry, life and ephemera: finds

Showing posts with label finds. Show all posts

Friday, June 3, 2011

Get your domestic on with MeAndMySewingMachine

My friend Gini has opened a fresh new Etsy shop, MeAndMySewingMachine, full of domestic goddess wear--the most fabulous aprons on earth. Here's her sexy little "Hotter than a pepper sprout" reversible cocktail apron.

And the retro pup cool of her "pampered pooches" half apron.

Dig this "rock tattoo" half apron! For the badass in you.

This coy little "corny picnic" apron is retro fab, with its ruffles and rickrack.

And this full "cherries jubilee" apron is classically ladylike.

Gini has a great eye for fabric, and everything she designs is perfectly made. It's time to fancy up your next dinner party or picnic, or pretty up your daily house happiness. The pocketed aprons would also be fantastic for craft shows, when you always need another pocket for money, pens, and other stuff.

Stop by Gini's bright and joyful shop. She's the hostess with the mostest.

MeAndMySewingMachine on Etsy.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Spotlight on zippityduda

See the gorgeous banner up there with my shop name on it? Zippityduda made that especially for me, to use on my tables or tent at shows. It is one of the most beautifully crafted, professionally designed items I have bought off of Etsy, and I kinda want to hang it up in my living room year round.

Zippity is the Young Quiliting Phenom from Minneapolis. She can sew anything for you. Anything you want! She has a vast collection of fabrics, and a head full of fantastic ideas. If you can dream it, she can sew it up for you.

Coffee cozy sleeve - choose your fabrics

Q: What is your idea of earthly happiness?

A: Well-rested, well-fed, not too warm, not too cool, projects to complete but no panicky deadlines, and the company of good friends.

Q: The quality you most admire in a man?

A: Tenderness.

Q: The quality you most admire in a woman?

A: Certainty.

Be Mine bunting banner garland

Q: Your favorite virtue?

A: A sense of humor - If you can't laugh about what happens in life, it's a pretty long, sad trip.

Q: Your favorite occupation?

A: Anything that involves helping other people's lives run more smoothly.

Q: Your most marked characteristic?

A: Openness.

Groovy quilted wall hanging

Q: What are your favorite names?

A: Well, I'm partial to the two I gave my children: Harrison and Glory.

Q: Your favorite words:

A: I like words that sound like what they are. For example, "tintinabulation" is that delicious sound ice cubes make when bouncing off the side of a cocktail glass.

Q: Your favorite sound?

A: Laughter. Gut-busting, tears rolling, can't-catch-your-breath laughter.

Fresh fun Frankentote fabric shopping bag

Q: What natural gift would you most like to possess?

A: Musical ability.

Q: What is your motto?

A: The whole poem "Desiderata" sums up my outlook on life, but my favorite passage is this one:

"Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

Sweet Cherry Pie fabric jewelry roll

Q: Tell us about your Etsy shop and what you do there!

A: My Etsy shop, Zippityduda, is a place for me to hawk my wares which I obsessively create during my every spare moment. Even without the shop, I'd still spend an indordinate amount of time quilting and sewing, but we would have needed a bigger house by now to store it all. I am in love with fabric, and hoard it obsessively, which I maintain is still cheaper than drugs or therapy - it just requires more space in my home. I love a good challenge and find the most joy when creating a custom, one-of-a-kind piece for someone who thought they'd never be able to get exactly what they needed.

And that, dear readers, is exactly what Zip did for me. Stop by her Etsy shop and say howdy!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Spotlight on SquidBullySquid

SquidBullySquid is a plush cephalopod designer with a happening and happy shop on Etsy. She's from Seattle. She rides her bike through all kinds of weather. She lived on a sailboat for three years and has a ball pit in her apartment. Oh, and she makes the coolest squids ever. I love me some Squiddy. Here's a list of random philosophical questions with her wonderful replies.

Q: What is your idea of earthly happiness?

A: Freedom, comfort, and a good smooth Scotch.

Q: The quality you most admire in a man?

A: I like it when men listen. Although, when I'm admiring them, I'm usually admiring their eyes, tattoos and ability to hold liquor.

Q: The quality you most admire in a woman?

A: Confidence, motivation, kindness and a healthy dose of adventure. A good figure never hurt either.

Squid in rust red and dark blue

Q: What is your favorite virtue?

A: Lust! No, patience? Crap, I misunderstood the question.

Q: Your favorite occupation?

A: I miss fixing boats. Classic wood boats have so much personality.

Q: Your most marked characteristic?

A: My skin! Ha! I have a bunch of tattoos!

Giant Super Squid

Q: What are your favorite names?

A: October, Lunchbox, Tiberius

Q: Your favorite words?

A: I love you.

Q: Your favorite sounds?

A: The wind in the rigging and the gentle waves lapping against the hull of a boat.

Q: What is your motto?

A: Be awesome, have fun, smile lots, be nice to people. Always ALWAYS tip the bartender.

Q: What natural gift would you most like to possess?

A: I wish I could sing! I even took vocal lessons for nearly a year. The vocal coach said, "I can't make you good. But I can make you better."

Baby Giant Squid in teal and pink

Tell us about your Etsy shop and what you do there!

SquidBullySquid is pretty self-explanatory, I'd think. I crochet cute, yet anatomically approximate squids, festoon them with buttons, and hope the public loves them as much as I do. I've been working on branching out to other cephalopods. I hope to introduce octopuses and cuttlefish into the shop this year. The whole endeavor started as a way to get rid of my acrylic yarn, so I had room for fancy wool and other fibers for knitting. I taught myself the amigurumi style crochet from the internet and made some blobby looking sea creatures. Now I have more acrylic yarn than I know what to do with. Boxes and boxes of it! After a full year, I finally settled on a design I like. I don't have any written pattern, so I freehand every squid with a loose idea of formula. My favorite part is choosing colors and putting all the little button suckers at the end.

My goal is to sell another thirty squids on Etsy this year. Really though? I'm here for the community. Team Bacon! is the sweetest group of crafty people I've ever met. I adore all of my friends in the Etc. Forum, and I have so much fun being a part of this site.

Hearts and stars and love and sharks!

Yours truly from the dinohouse,

Cass

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Etsy is like old time, small town America, featuring Team Bacon!

My mom always talks about small town America in the Fifties and Sixties, how everyone knew everyone, and Main Street was lined with charming individual shops for everything you needed. No Wal-Mart where you went and bought everything you needed from a huge, faceless corporation, but a bunch of individual shopkeepers who knew your name and cared about customers.

Etsy is a lot like that. A lovely batch of sellers where you can get great stuff you want and need from people who know you and want to make you happy.

Bacon from the butcher shop!

Bacon tags, from teambacon

Fresh veggies from the produce stand!

Garden peas pendant, from LonesomeRoadStudio2

Hot coffee from the corner cafe!

Coffee Fueled messenger bag, from gothicreations

Seafood from the fish monger!

Blue and pink squid, from SquidBullySquid

Sweet honey from the beekeeper!

Queen Bee milk and honey soap, from HelloCrafty

Brown eggs from the chicken keeper!

Fried Egg Smiling dish cloth, from kitchekitsch

An arranged marriage from the matchmaker!

Just Married bunting banner garland, from Zippityduda

A new sailboat from the boat maker!

Silver origami sailboat pendant, from AllegroArts

And of course gorgeous jewelry from the jeweler!

Let's Go Sterling Silver Necklace from ZestyB

Okay, maybe you couldn't get a sailboat and arranged marriage on Main Street in small town America, but you really can find anything you could possibly dream of on Etsy.
It's my happy small town.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Etsy shops that I have shopped

franticmeerkat

See, I do buy more than beads!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Cheap cosmetics that I love

Maybe cheap is the wrong word to throw around here. Inexpensive. Bargain. Less costly. I'm a cosmetics junkie, and, while I have been known to splurge now and then, it's even better when you find cool stuff for less money, right? Take this e.l.f. lip gloss. It's $1.49. No, seriously. The entire e.l.f. line is scary cheap, and it's all good stuff. Plus, this shade is called Goddess, and what woman doesn't want Goddess glossy lips? Especially for a buck and a half.

I do terrible things to my poor hair. I color it and torture it with hot irons and pokers. I call it names. I always want it to do what it was not naturally intended to do. There have been times when it got so hot that it actually smoked. Come on, you know you've done it, too. Suave makes a fantastic shampoo and conditioner duo, Suave Professionals Almond and Shea butter, that is kind of like a big moisturizing hug for my poor hair. $3.49 for a big old bottle, and sometimes there are coupons in the Sun

day paper. Plus, it smells nom.

Although I can't deal with having polish on my fingernails, mostly because I do too much with my hands and destroy it too quickly, I always have color on my toes, especially during sandal weather. Pure Ice makes a polish that will stand up for three weeks. Even on me, and I don't wear shoes from May through September. $1.99 a bottle, plus their durable rainbow of colors have great color names like Celestial and Dare and Dreamy. I always buy colors according to their color names. Because that's just how I roll.

I'm heavily addicted to liquid eyeliner. I need it to live. The big problem with liquid eyeliner is this: If it starts to run, you look like a very sad drag queen, and that's not exactly the look I'm after. Waterproof cosmetics make my eyes swell shut, so that is not an option. InColor FabuLiner does not smudge, even at a craft show where it's 96 degrees and I'm sweating like a moose. I buy it in black, but it's available in lots of colors at Wal-Greens for an easy $1.99. Sometimes, on sale for two for two bucks! That's w

hen you stock up, baby!

And I've said it before, I'll say it again. CoverGirl LashBlast mascara is the best mascara ever on the planet. Big lush lashes, doesn't smudge or flake into your eyes while you're driving. Always easy to find in its bright orange package. Yes, it's a whopping $8.50, but it's worth every single penny.

I love drug stores, and I love drug store cosmetics. You can get this whole slew of stuff for $21.00, plus tax! That gives you extra money for your Bare Escentuals and your Chanel perfume!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Waterrose and her handcrafted obsession

A Van Gogh masterpiece turned into a wearable work of art. The Starry Night embroidered cuff from Waterrose, and one of my favorite items on all of Etsy.

Waterrose is obsessed! I mean, I'm a hard-working overachiever, but Rose makes me look like an absolute slacker. She creates the most gorgeous embroidered pieces, each one a unique and special piece. This dark crow brooch embroidered on linen, with a dangling vintage key, is so unusual and amazing. Such an expressive face.

Rose is creating a series of one-of-a-kind embroidered Christmas ornaments, inspired by retro shiny blown glass ornaments. New holiday heirlooms to pass down through the generations, and each festive and lovely. You can see the tradition of needlecraft, sewing and ornate embroidery that was handed down from her grandmother and mother in everything she creates, not to mention her bright talent and love for what she does.

Rose is also one of the sweetest members of the Etsy community. Stop in and visit her Etsy shop of many amazing treasures.