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Exploring natural history one itsy bitsy spider at a time...

Exploring natural history one itsy bitsy spider at a time...

Friday, December 19, 2008

GCs Holiday Gifts-o-Glee Findings on Etsy

Etsy is awesome. I've recently discovered this wonderful site. It's a shop listing handmade items- many of them crafted with greenness in mind. It's extremely addicting to browse. Make sure to set your time limit before you type "www.etsy.com" into your browser. Here are a few of my top picks.
1.) To the left: "Toilet Tentacles" by "FlushPlease". What a silly sight to see when you walk into the lou. I can't imagine a more satisfying image to stick to my toilet. Although the goldfish toilet decals come in close second...




2.) To the right: "Eat Your Breakfast Necklace" by "CuteAbility". Who wouldn't want to wear this delightful necklace with the coffee cup ring to match to any Sunday brunch outing? A true conversation starter, good-feeling giver, and celebration of the best meal of the day. I can't decide whether I need the coffee cup adjustable ring or the pop tart adjustable ring more... This seller has quickly made it's way into my favorite's list. As soon as I own the breakfast collection, I'll be quickly spending my money on the cake and cookies collection. I can see it now, all the guys I'll pick up wearing a mini cookie jar with teeny tiny cookies in it necklace, or a tiny chocolate cake with the charm "I love cake" dangling below necklace...
3.) To the left: "Bluetit, Bird Brooch" felted pin by "lupin". Perfect gift (or craft idea!) for the wildlife enthusiast. Fantastic detail of these adorable critters drew me right in. Since this seller is from the UK, her birds are not native to my area, but the awesome detail shows all the field marks of their native species. Another great conversation starter for any occasion. In my case, the $19 is a little expensive, but my crafting radar is blinking away and I'll surely steal this idea if I ever get a chance. (Don't tell!) Lupin also has a line of "disguises" which are quite amusing: felt mustaches that strap onto your face with a piece of elastic. I can see these being quite useful...

If you need a great one of a kind gift, or need some crafting inspiration... definitely check out Etsy. Happy Holidays!!

5 comments:

Amelia said...

It may be possible for you to copy one of these beautiful bird brooches but that would be Illegal, unethical and you wouldn't be the owner of a perfectly affordable handcrafted 'Lupin' brooch would you!?

none said...

$19 seems really reasonable to me given all the time and skills it would take to come up with the idea and then make it all by hand - imagine how many hours that would take and how much you'd want to charge per hour for being bent double squinting at such dainty detail, and that's before you think about the amazing feat of cutting out such small pieces so perfectly and hand stitching every single bit.

Phew - $19 seems far too cheap now I've really thought about it! I'd snap one up quick before she sees all that and increases the price!

LPFish said...

I agree - etsy is completely awesome. I did loads of Christmas shopping there - but you know the etsy site and paypal take their chunk out of a sellers asking price so they need to charge a decent amount to make this their business.

Me, You and Magoo said...

you have to bear in mind when you look at the price of an item on etsy, that the seller has to source the materials, design the item, make the item, photograph it, list it, pay etsy fees, pay paypal fees and hopefully, just maybe, get a little bit of profit to live on.
$19 is perfectly reasonable for a handcrafted brooch by Lupin.
Instead of copying her work, you could try supporting a hardworking artisan and snap one up before they are all gone.

Kelsey Frey said...

I absolutely agree with all of you. But you can't really say that making felt animals is something that would be unethical to do yourself. In this post I didn't mean copying their exact artwork, I just meant using felt to make nature items. Perhaps the word "steal" is being taken too literally. I am definitely promoting supporting hand-crafting artisans whenever possible.

And just out of curiosity, is it illegal that there are tons of people selling love letter necklaces on etsy? I understand rude that someone would copy that adorable idea... but illegal?