Please Mr. Postman…

Oh boy oh boy oh boy!

I’m such a big sucker for all things hand forged from steel (if I have a million dollars one day, oh what a garden gate I will commission!). And so when I met Kristen, the artist behind KnitSteel, on an Etsy forum thread, I had to ask her if she would be able to create something I saw once and have been longing for ever since: a necklace made from a single steel thread, twisted into the shape of a vine tendril. She said she’d give it a shot, and, as luck would have it, she took a liking to my pottery and offered a trade. Brilliant!

Even better, she created something amazing and they are now flying like hotcakes out of her shop (she sold three, I believe, in the last two days – you can nab the last one here). I’m going to be opening my mailbox five times a day until it gets here! I can’t wait!!

Oh – and today is the last day to enter to win a set of two dip bowls!! See the link in the sidebar for more details!

Czesc!

These amazing earrings are made by Polish artist Olga C., who I picked today in honor of my little brother, who is in Poland right now on a study abroad semester. Aren’t they incredible? Check out her shop, it’s one stunning piece after another.

My little bro just sent me a funny story about his trip, which I’m going to share with you (whether you like it or not!). A friend of his got tickets to see a USA vs. Poland soccer match (that’s football, to the rest of the world) in Krakow last week. They decided to go all-out, and dress up in red, white and blue and bring a huge American flag. But, to their surprise, they were the only five Americans there in a stadium full of thousands of Poles. But they did their best to represent and cheer for our team (who actually won!), and everyone thought they were pretty funny. So much so, in fact, that they caught the eye of the local news media and my brother wound up both on television and on the sports section of the major Krakow newspaper!!

You can watch the video of the game with a cutaway of him and his friends cheering (he’s on the left, wearing a hat).

I’m so happy he’s safe and well and having fun. And this year he officially can say he’s been to more continents then me. Damn.

Let it snow

I think we’re all pretty familiar with folding up a piece of paper and cutting a snowflake out of it. In fact, that was probably one of the earliest crafting experiences I became obsessed with (paper snowflakes everywhere).

But Brittany, over at Bittystar, has definitely taken it to a new level! Her paper cuts are all done free-hand, with an exacto-knife, then layered with awesome fabrics. It’s like a snowflake, all grown up!

Oh, and P.S.? She lives in New Orleans and uses fabrics recovered after the Katerina disaster – what a simply wonderful way to find beauty after tragedy!

Um, it’s Chanukkah?

Please, please – someone buy me this dress! No, no, really – It’s my birthday today, I swear! It’s Christmas today – they changed the date and didn’t tell you. Um, it’s Valentines, and you love me? You know, it’s a tradition to buy a girl a dress for spring solstice! I’ll say anything…

I think I may really have to buy this amazing dress from Fraeulein Wunder (of Germany) to wear to that wedding I mentioned (I don’t think it would be too white…right?). I keep looking in my paypal account and hoping it will magically double so I can justify a big expense for myself. I should, right? Tell me I should! Or tell me you’re a wealthy benefactor who loves buying dresses for poor artists…!

P.S. I lied. It’s not really my birthday, and it’s not really Christmas. But the Tooth Fairy is real. Seriously.

Almost time for lilacs

I caught another treasury this week, and developed it around yesterday’s featured artist! Please enjoy while it lasts!

Pottery Porn

I’d seen a little of her work around before, especially in Etsy Mud Team treasuries, but I never really explored  Tara Robertson’s shop until last night. Now I’m in love.

She seems to achieve effortlessly the kind of interplay between texture and glaze that I am doggedly pursuing  in my own work. Just look at the “lover’s cups” below!! And the photo of her ramekins above makes me drool! I sooo want to touch them, and I adore the mug tray.  I can’t wait to check out what she puts up next!

And sipping a pina colada…

 

I think the word “juicy” was my first reaction to these stunning earrings, by Archaic Design. Perfect for those “I’d rather be on the beach in the Caribbean” days.

Treasures

 

Many of my friends are starting to get married – a prospect which, at 24, I find kinda terrifying. But hey, I gotta be happy for them. But I’m was a little less happy (just a tiny smidgen!) when it dawned on me how expensive going to a wedding is!! I have to buy a new dress, plus an $80 waffle iron???

I don’t know, maybe it’s me, but it’s hard to really feel like I showed my love for my knot-tying friends with a waffle iron or freakishly expensive orange juicer. So it’s such a relief to find other amazing (and less budget-killing) options on Etsy.

Take, for example, this gorgeous restored cigar box from Patricia, at TattooDreams. It’s sweet, special and sincere – and entirely affordable. And seriously, how often do we really have time to make waffles in the morning?

I used to miss my boyfriend…

But then my aim improved.

No, I’m not bitter, I swear! But check out my angry (and slightly tongue-in-cheek) treasury, anyways. Only one short day till it disappears! Oh, and boys are welcome to look, too. Seriously. I won’t punch you. (Maybe.)

It’s ALIVE!

 

I totally fidget. I play with odds and ends, chew pens, snap rubber bands. I love things that I can twiddle between my fingers and, quite possibly, sneak into my mouth when no one’s looking (I’m sorry, it’s true! Make any Freudian judgments you like).

So you can imagine I was salivating when I saw this sterling silver ring, by RuralAbandon. I mean, it looks fun off the bat. But then you learn that all the little arms move independently and jangle! She quotes a customer who called it “a party on my finger!”

I must have this play-thing!!!