A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum...

I just spent nearly my whole lunch hour in the Etsy Forums! So addictive. It's really great to be able to talk to fellow crafters/Etsians. I love the feeling of community that comes from the fact that everyone is so nice!

The forum's awesome-ness was two-fold; firstly, I received some awesome advice from my peers, and secondly, I got to discover amazing new Etsy shops! I want to thank all my new pals for giving me advice by sharing some of their awesome products from their shops.

This is the Watermelon Measure Up brooch by LianaKabel. Isn't it cute? This is the first featured item on her shop page and it caught my eye immediately. It distracted me almost completely from the rest of her shop, which is equally as lovely. I love the knitting needle bangles! They're funky but sweet. The brooch is definitely my fave though, I think I may become the proud owner of one very soon...

Sygnet Creations almost makes me sad I don't have a child. Only almost. If I were a mom though, my kid could be all tricked out with awesome burp cloths with skulls and blankies in a Halloween theme. My favorite thing in the shop was the above Orange Braided Scarf. Sygnet Creations also has cute printed neck pillows, which are great if you do a lot of traveling, trust me.

All of the beautiful glass bead jewelry by DancingMooney reminds me of the seaside, specifically of Bodega Bay, where I just was. It was hard to choose my favorite out of all the gorgeous pieces, but I think I like the above Sea Breeze Lampwork earrings the best of all. The colors look to me like the ocean in the morning, and I love lampwork beads.

It was also extremely difficult to pick my favorite of Tricia McKeller's amazing mixed media collages. They are a lovely amalgam of earth colors, industrial feel, and cute little animals. I think I like the Plans & Diagrams series the best (Plans & Diagrams #2 is shown above). I like the birds in silhouette.

Can you believe how cute these bobby pins by Simply Shell are? I love the rosy cheeks on the little fabric children. Shell also has sooooo many beautiful, colorful pieces of jewelry on her etsy page, and I don't think there was one I didn't like! You can see what she's working on on her blog, simplyshelldesigns...the blog. It's pretty new, but it seems like it's going to be a great place to get a heads up on new items in her shop.


Finally, I bought this print from organicstills' shop:

Great, isn't it? I think it will be just perfect in my house, I'm just trying to think exactly where...maybe in the kitchen?

And there you have it! If you are a blogger or a crafter or both, go check out the Etsy forums, so much fun and so helpful. And thanks again to everyone who responded to my forum post.

mel