A quick Gush

Another order from Cover to Cover. How can you not love it?

Featured Item: Vintage-Look Necklace

There's a new seller I've noticed, and her necklace and other wonderful jewelry just amazes me. I don't know where she finds her great findings but the stuff she makes is just soo lovely. And the jewels.. so pretty and colorful.

Featured Item: Fade From Rainbow Sock Yarn

I know, I know, you're sick of rainbows. But Seriously, probably THE BEST rainbow yarn is right here at etsy, and the best part is that you can also get a custom made yarn from the seller! So even if you don't like rainbows, this person does great work. The fades are incredible, and I simply love it. My rainbow yarn came today and the wool is nice, not particularly special but when is it ever? The colors are what make this yarn, and I highly recommend it. The seller is awesome! I'll be sure to update you guys with sock pics once I make them.

Dry Winter Skin Solutions

I am having this problem, and I know a lot of YOU are having this problem too. Unless you're lucky enough to live in the southern hemisphere, or a hot, humid place, a lot of you are probably suffering from dry winter skin- be it severe like my fiance's mothers, or moderately annoying like mine, or even just a little dry. I've spent the last week trying to figure out what to do about my own winter dry skin and have also been drooling over the great selection of handmade bath and body items on Etsy, thinking about what will finally free me from my winter dry skin problem. Here's a step by step "Guide" to better skin using products straight from Etsy!


First, you gotta get rid of the dead skin, plain and simple. I've been really digging the look of this sugar scrub by Althea Saps because it boasts the claim that it doesn't separate like other oily scrubs. The bonus of scrubs like this is that they usually include an oil, which is really one of the most essential things you need to get your skin feeling good again- your body's natural layer of "sebum," the stuff that keeps your skin lubed- gets depleted seriously in dry weather, so you want to try to replenish that! If you're more of a do-it-yourself type, you can even make your own sugar scrub, but of course I always advocate buying it from Etsy.


The next step, the first to actually getting the moisture back in your skin, as I read in an online article, is to try to get the oils back into your skin. What better way to do this than by using these butter beans from the Vintage Body Spa. I received a sample of these in the super-posh Little Black Box and I haven't been able to use them since I only have a shower, but after dissolving one in a sinkful of water to experiment, they are wonderful. Best way to use them? Let yourself soak in the water for about 10 minutes, THEN drop in the butter beans. This'll "plump" your skin with water and allow the oils to absorb better.


What next? Well, you wanna moisturize. The biggest thing I've seen in all my research and struggles to find ways to make my skin better is to stay away from anything commercially produced that contains any kind of alcohol- this will dry you out in the long run. The other thing i've noticed is that natural plant fats like shea butter and cocoa butter are KING at not only keeping your skin moist, but they also supposedly speed healing and help with 'problems' like stretch marks and other skin blemishes. Thats where this great whipped shea butter comes in. SudsMuffin has a great line, but this is probably the one that attracts me most. It comes in three scents and is nothing but pure, natural, GOOD shea butter. The peppermint/tea tree combo would be excellent for sore, cracked, winter feet.


What about locking in all that moisture? Well, shea butter will do a good job but I like to have something that I can take with me on the go, something that provides a pretty good coating to keep my skin protected. These vegan lotion bars are the perfect answer. I have loved lotion bars for nearly a year now, and I have found a lot of good ones on Etsy. These look especially promising.


You know what the WORST thing for me is in the winter? Its having to wash my hands. My hands get SERIOUSLY dried out, even with all the moisturizing I do, such that I have to literally slather myself with the shea butter EVERY TIME I wash my hands. Well, THIS SOAP is just what you need, especially if you wash your hands a lot. Its loaded with cocoa butter and jojoba oil, and despite the name it doesn't have any actual "Silk" in it, so its vegan, for those of you who prefer to be without the animal products. I hear it also makes GREAT shaving soap.

Fall 2006 Featured Sellers

This is an archive of Featured Sellers from 2006. Please see the sidebar for more current features!

CC Jewelry
Ashabee's Creations
Young and With It
Laura's Knittage
Precious Meshes

Etsy's Growing Pains are my Own

Well, not entirely, but just be aware that I'm going through the blog to fix all the entries because Etsy just launched version 2 and all the photo urls have changed.

I'll try to post some new features today too.

The Perfect Rainbow Yarn: Lavender Sheep

Talk about amazing. I never thought I'd find it, really. The actual PERFECT rainbow yarn that I've dreamed about all my life. but I found it, in the colorway "Mine, Don't ToucH" by Lavender Sheep's Fiber Garden. In a supersoft merino sock yarn, this is by far the BEST yarn I've ever seen. I love it. Just ask my fiance, who snapped this pic...



He knows. He saw how excited I was. It's simply the best- and the other colorways are great, too. Vibrant, and not too dark- they are simply lovely.

Featured Seller: Duet

Who is Duet? Actually, this shop is run by two ladies- Duet and Lunamom, both very talented. The Duet is an earring that is meant for more than one ear hole- like the gorgeous one shown above. And well.. Lunamom just makes awesome clay stuff. I'm featuring them today because they're good friends and both of them are amazing artists. Seriously guys.. love this stuff. Click here to view the whole collection!

August 2006 Featured Sellers

Definitely Different Designs
Sun Daisy Gems
Precious Luxie
Cover to Cover
Wai Sze Designs
Twists on Wire
Clear Creations Stained Glass
Craftsman
My Olivette
Kidz Bedz
Shelly Lampshire Originals
Take off your Clothes
Snail Mail Creations
Dragon Lady Designs
StoryBlox
Maps on Leather
Chica Style

A few more Sunday Features

I swear I'm going to have a real feature post with real action shots sometime, but for now, a few more cool things from Etsy.


This pocket mirror with art from IvaArt is really sweet. I'm covetting it, but of course I haven't taken the final step and clicked the "buy" button yet. I've got an ATC from her and she also sent me a pocket mirror with some of her other art on it- Gorgeous. I adore it all.




OhSoRetro is definitely something of a legend on Etsy (and other places), and for good reason- Adrienne makes freaking AWESOME stuff. Not only does she choose wonderful "retro" fabrics which make her products fun and crazy, but as you can see, the workmanship on this and her other products is impeccable. That's what separates her from the rest. I have a card holder from her, and you should expect more action shots and gushing in the future from me- I'm just like that.




Just a little something for halloween from our favorite chainmaille artist, Sinister. What better way to celebrate than with properly colored earrings?

A Lengthy Blog in which I feature Many things

So, first off, big apology. I can't make any promises that I'll be more regular from today forward but I am certainly going to try. In addition to this post, be sure to check out the first installment in my series, "Etsy's Best."


This awesome yarn is from one of my favorite yarn sellers. Rita doesn't just spin wonderful tussah silk and other natural yarns- she also plays the harp and sings- I bet if you ask really nicely she'll let you purchase a signed copy of her cd full of lovely harp music and singing. Look for a full-length feature of the yarns I've purchased- once I use them to make something incredible. I'm a big fan of her mLee line of yarns- inspired by the great paintings of Marissa Swinghammer.



Speaking of mLee, isn't this print to die for? Marissa has been a featured seller on Etsy and is one of my favorite people on Etsy ever. It occurs to me that I say that a lot but I have a lot of favorite people, and Marissa is one I love- I have purchased 3 of her prints so you should be expecting another full length feature later on as well- once I have them hung on the wall.



I don't know Three, Five, Eighty-Five but I love these earrings- they're really fun and the colors are cool. Definitely on my christmas list, eh?



I know I rave about John Wik way too much but how can you not? He's got some great new stuff including this awesome coloring book, but he's also got a couple other new things like these chainmaille pendants and this great guitar pick necklace.

So, the promise I will make is to post at least once a week, but I hope to get used to my full-time job and be able to find time to do Etsy Features once again. Right now? I'm off to update the blog exchange links- I've gotten a ton. Ta ta everyone!

Late Theme Thursday and More: Fem Power

Okay, just to clarify, this week's theme is not about rabid feminazis, but rather a celebration of femininity and freedom, an idea that came to me after I went to Planned Parenthood to get my birth control and my yearly exam.

Featured Item: Crocheted Wire Mesh Ring

OK, normally I try not to feature things that are also on the front page of ETSY for the day, but this was so fabulous I could not pass up the chance to feature it today. I may have mentioned that I have a soft spot for metallic 'fabric' so this is no exception. The ring is made from oxidized silver wire and is custom made to fit your finger. Precious Meshes has a bunch of other really gorgeous crocheted wire Jewelry, so they are most definitely worth checking out!

Featured Item: Scarflette Set (its not self-promotion, I swear!)

A while back, before school was out, Laura approached me and Rita about doing a coproduction scarflette set, and it was just recently finished. Due to how awesome the THREE separate scarflettes look together, they are being sold as a set and I think they are absolutely FABULOUS. Laura is one of the people I met early on in my Etsy tenure and she has always had gorgeous photos and gorgeous things to sell- but this I love. She came up with the idea, and Rita spun the yarn for the scarves themselves- I made the flowers. The idea came out so lovely that I just can't resist- I need to show you guys.

Absolutely GORGEOUS.

Featured Item: Crocheted Scarf

This listing has been taken down

Today has been a "great" day. Awakening at 6:30AM, I realized that it was freezing. Then, around 8:55AM, the power decided that it did not want to grace us with its presence anymore, and thus we decided to leave for our Breakfast date early (we were meeting up with a friend from work). Thankfully, the Golden Corral was open and we were able to have a nice, hot, meal, but that does not change the simple fact... it was 28 degrees F by time we left there.

Hence, I am featuring this scarf by Ashabee's Creations, one of my friends from the Etsy Chat. As it is, I love a lot about her shop- she has cute little scarves and armwarmers and whatnot, and she takes great photos. This scarf makes me feel all warm, just like I want to on a nasty, rainy, freezing day like this.

Theme Thursday: Autumn in the Air

We had our first very chilly day today, so it made me think "wow, fall is on the way," hence the theme. Again, I really really reallllly apologize that I've been neglecting the blog, I promise to try harder and I hope sincerely that my schedule will be a little better once training is over, excluding Mondays which will be the night I rehearse should I manage to ace my audition this Sunday and get into the Great Falls Symphonic Choir.