Rack Attack!

Setting up for a craft fair can be harder than it seems. Displaying your items for the public can make all the difference in how your craft is perceived. Here are a few Etsy sellers offering some handmade displays! Wildernest, by Sara Schalliol, offers various fun and colourful "sapling" tree racks for displaying jewelry at a store or in your bedroom! Claudine's Closet offers similar racks but made of wire for a more whimsical feel. And this simply, but ingenius, ring display comes from Jewels Curnow. What is so genius about this tiny stand you say? Not only does it offer a variety of ways to display rings, but it also has a tiny invisible slit on top enabling it to be used as a sleek biz card holder as well!

Double Dose Monday!

I usually update this blog during class (so studious I know), and considering I've been skipping quite a lot lately I've been a little behind. So today you're going to get a double dose! Ok, here I go...
A while ago on Etsy I discovered two great female artists in Portland. Lucia Johnson's art varies from whimsical hot air balloons to my favorites of ladies hanging out on patterned couches, all originally painted on windows, giving them a light 3 dimensional touch. Her prints are in the $20 range as well as a few mounted prints on painted boxes for around $50.
Similarly, Brenda Rose's artwork is painted on either found wood or canvas and layered with plexiglass, created a bit deeper 3 dimensional effect. I am so excited to have her artwork up at In Other Words for the month of March, so for anyone in Portland, OR, I highly recommend checking it out!

Crafts are a Hoot!

Maybe I'm a little late to be jumping on the owl theme but those little buggers are just so gosh darn cute I wanted to feature them in a post anyways! And if you are over the owls but not over, nests, birds, cameras, bicycles, or small fawns, these three sellers have these same items with a plethora of other images so make good and sure to check out their shops! First, from Happy Owl Glassworks come one-of-a-kind hand blown glass cuff links featuring a variety of woodland creatures (yes, woodland creatures are still in style). From Vinyl Wall Art we have, well...vinyl wall art! Holly has tons of great designs and colors to choose from including this adorable little owl. Last, but certainly not least, Dillon Designs has come up with a great bargain of a ring. At half an inch, these shrinky dink rings are silver with painted gold edges and a huge variety of images stamped onto the front. At only $7.50 these rings are a steal!

Like whoa.

Thank you to my friend Joseph who turned me on to the art of Irene Suchocki who sells her prints on Etsy. I'm no art critic, but there's something about her images that suck you in. From Montreal, Suchocki's images have been featured in various publications, won numerous awards, and was recently on an episode of Extreme Home Makeover (guilty addiction). Her prints are priced from $17 to $175 and most of her listings are 8x10 but she will print on almost any size at your request. Now I'll just let her art speak for itself...

Clean me up Scotty!

It's the second (also known as "most depressing") half of winter which means we're taking solace in longer baths and showers, anything to escape the bitter cold. Here are a few items to jazz up the decor in your bathroom! First, from Scrumptious Suds we had soaps that smell so delicious you could drink them! That's soak in a cocktail and soap up with Mojito, Cosmopolitan, or my personal fave, Memphis Sweet Tea (pictured).
Need a little something to stare at while defrosting your extremeties? Purchase some shower art from Ugly Baby. Each one is unique and includes a list of ingredients including resin and coolesterol. They are hangable on any smooth surface with a heavy duty suction cup, ideally inside your shower, but a window or sink will do just as well!Finally, from Head to Toe, we have not-your-grandma's tissue box cozy's. Made out of retro and vintage printed fabrics and reversible, they scream "I may have a tissue box cozy but I'm hip! I'm funky, I swear!"

The Crown Jewels

My obsession with Handmade Julz reached a fever pitch this weekend when Julie Briggs and I had tables at the same craft fair and we traded for the most amazing ring EVER! I couldn't find a picture of it on her site but I found more pictures that capture the amazing colors in her graphics. Her table is so colorful you can't help but stop and survey every item.She uses a set of self created images under glass to create a unique jeweled effect that she embeds in colorful metallic wire to create an assortment of jewelry, magnets, and now even coasters she melds with her own heat press! And it doesn't hurt that she is the sweetest person with a subtle Texas accent.

Baubles and What Have You

Yesterday, thanks to the Etsy front page, I came across two of the most unusual random crafts I have ever seen! I'm partially enamored because plastic molding is beyond me and I am also infatuated with useless sorts of plastic this-and-thats. So, without further ado, Somethings Hiding in Here has many hidden treasures indeed. Check out the wishbone gift bag ($12). Now you can play enchanted genie and give your friends three wishes to get what they really wanted! And from SOOP, not what it's name implies, comes a collection of one-of-a-kind plastic rings. They aren't as exciting on their own, but at $12 a piece, the price is right and you can collect them all. Or you can buy a ready made set like "Enchanted Forest" or "City Farm"!

Close the Loop

With rapidly melting polar ice caps and little to no ozone layer left, it's no surprise that even handmade goods are "going green". There are tons of great recycled and reclaimed crafts out there but here are a couple of my recent faves.

First, from Geek Gear, on Etsy, we have recycled office supplies made into new office supplies! Geek Gear's specialties are the disk pen holder and notebook set and the zip drive desk clock.

Next, check out Retired Records, where they recycle tired vinyl into anything and everything, including belts, bracelets, clocks, magazine racks, purses, coasters, earrings, and soap dishes? What?! I'll take one of each please!

Props for My Homies

I know I know I've been away for far too long but I'm back and want to feature a couple of new Etsy shops from some Portland ladies I know and love. First. I met Erica Essink at the handmade bazaar almost a year ago. I loved her table display and jewelry and now I am happy to announce that she has set up shop on Etsy as Happy Cake jewelry. The name basically describes just how awesome and delicious her jewelry looks!

As perhaps the antithesis of Happy Cake, now there is Trashy Deluxe, a new incarnation from Small Things Designs, inspired by your trashy yet flashy side. Trashy Deluxe is happy to do custom orders and scripts too!

I Like to Ride My Bicycle

The weather is getting colder and so are my little hands! Well, HandbyHand has an adorable solution. She remakes woolen clothing into fingerless bicycling gloves with a hand embroidered bicycle tire on top. Because she uses used clothing, the sizes and colors may vary so you'll have to check out her shop and see what she's got!



Decorate your walls with bike art...or cloud art, or laundry art, or tree art...by Brenda Rose! Using reclaimed wood and plexiglass, Brenda Rose creates simple 3D deisngs in Portland, OR.

Are your Apples cold?

1. Then they might need an apple jacket! When I first saw these I was biting my knuckles trying to hold back cries of cuteness. I was also thinking, this is the most ridiculous useless thing I've ever seen, until I saw the description and saw that it was to prevent bruised apples....GENIUS! Made by Jacqueline Knits, they come in sizes for pears as well like the one above.
2. I'm not a huge fan of pachouli, nor nag champa, but I do love a good prayer flag. Especially psychadelic prayer flags for knitters. God knows we need those prayers when we run out of yarn on the last row. These prayer flags, by Flederhaus can be custom made in American Sign Language as well!

The Uterus as Art & Craft

Just for fun...here's a slideshow compiled of images I found of uterus arts and crafts from Flickr and Etsy. If I really had it together today I would be able to link them all to their respective craft sites...but I'm not quite there yet. So for now, just sit back and enjoy!

It's Pillow Mania Up in Here!

And by "up in here" I actually mean on my computer right now. I'm feeling pillow crazed at the moment and I'm searching for just the right pillow to adorn my backaching (but oh so cool and retro) couch! Here are the contenders. First, vying for the higher end but still affordable are those in the huge selection at Joom's Etsy Shop. Most of her pillows are bird/plant related and come in a wide variety of colors and mostly large but simple designs, my personal favorite being Love Birds(and ringing up at $28).
Coming in next for the midrange priced pillows, are those select few at Jamric, specializing in unique screen printed images and quad-like retro fabric sewn pillows like this one, The "Maharam Sputnik Star Patchwork Pillow" (ringing up at $25) may not actually match my chartreuse fuzzy couch but there are many others in Jamric's Etsy Store that will! And lastly, but not leastly, are the very few handsewn pillows from vintage fabric that Olive displays in her Etsy Shop window! These pillows are extremely affordable as they are sewn from found vintage fabric and ring up at only $11. Shipping for all shop items is only $4 make this $15 pillow cheaper than anything you would probably even find on sale at Urban Outfitters! I think I've found a winner!

Mutha Crafter

So you think you're not crafty? Mutha Crafter might think otherwise! Made by a mother for mothers...and babies....and fathers...and...well you get the idea. She specializes in a small handful of designs, highlighting the craftiness of motherhood, which she prints on onesies, tees, magnets, buttons, etc. It's the perfect gift for any mother-to-be or to-been! Also, check out her other online venture I Break Plates, filled with tons of jewelry re-made from broken ceramics...

DIY it right!

A few months ago I had the pleasure of being contacted by Heather Mann, editor of CROQ Zine, a publication about anything and everything craft! History of crafts, how-to craft projects, meet people who do crafts, and all other things do-it-yourself are included in each issue (now numbering 10). CROQ is also a great way to advertise your business with affordable advertising space available in each issue. CROQ can be purchased online or in various Portland, OR bookstores like In Other Words, Reading Frenzy, and Powells City of Books.

My Custom Mirror

After browsing around on Cut + Paste, for some bookish crafts yesterday, I stumbled upon a new favorite custom site, My Favorite Mirror. A few artists, in collaboration with My Favorite Mirror, sell their artwork on hand mirrors on Cut + Paste but a plethora more can be found on the actual website. With artwork from Jill Bliss, S. Britt, and Susie Ghahremani of boygirlparty, you are sure to find something you'll like. And not only do that have mirrors, but they have expanded to coasters and mousepads. You can search by item or by artists (of which there are more than 30!).

Mmm...Mmm...Feltalicious...

This weekend at the Handmade Bazaar, I got to meet two friends and prospective consignors for In Other Words. They each have shops on Etsy that sell fabric and yarn based arts. The first one, Mmmfiber, makes loads of creative scarves and maybe my favorite hair accessories of all time, felted birds nest bobby pins. Never Felt Better creates a potourri of buttons, earrings, and charms, as well as knit and sewn bags, and these adorable embroidered rose buttons. Hopefully you'll be able to catch both of them soon at the shop!

Plushapalooza

Meet Igor. If he doesn't melt your heart then you're probably a souless being devoid of human emotion. Igor is one of the many imaginary Friends that comes out of Zeldaloo Studios

That's right! Stuffed animals are not just for children anymore and many crafters out there are proving it. Another example of this is the creative cats that comes from Sew Many Cats, another handmade plush shop on Lov.li that was the mastermind behind Kanji the Ninja Cats. Check them out, whether your 5 years old nieces birthday is coming up or you just need a friend...

Survival of the Ceramics

I'm not usually a huge fan of ceramics. They kind of all look the same to me. But Circa Ceramics stand out like no other. Their designs are simple but the colors and images stand out. Their images seem to be the sort of thing that shows up on a lot of screenprinted t-shirts these days, but for ceramics it is something completely new. They have anything from simple polka dots and stripes, to elaborate floral patterns, vintage cameras, antique typewriters, bicycles, and skulls. Their prices can be sort of steep, to add one bowl or mug to your kitchen cabinet will cost from $30-$35 dollars. But if you just want to have a token or their craftsmanship, you can buy a decorative tag or magnet for only $8-$10. The work put into each item is definitely worth it.

Hopeful Monsters

I just discovered Hopeful Monsters
at the Etsy Portland craft fair over Rose Festival weekend. You can't throw a rock in Portland without hitting a screenprinter but Hopeful Monsters just has a little something extra. For one they've managed to creat a few specific images that are extremely eye catching, and they also print more than just tee's. Although, this Narwhal Love Tee is definitely tempting! This is one of their signature designs which can also be found on some ecclectic slips and dresses! My other fave has to be the Gingko Wallet which I finally gave in an purchased for myself. Check them out on Etsy!