More Etsy Goodies

           I have still been so busy sorting through all of my stuff (my house will soon be half empty.) I can't believe it's February already. The quicker this year goes the better, and we will be even closer to our move to England.

    Even though I have been clearing out very large amounts I haven't stopped buying completely. Etsy continues to tempt me!

      Of course I continue to add to my Miss Bumbles collection (I now have over 90!)

        Another shop I love is Boopsie Daisy. And I thought I would share with you the four dolls I have from this shop.

My very first doll was a custom made black cat called Pawlie.

Next I was luck enough to grab Gimmick from the 2012 Halloween range.

This custom made doll is based on my cat, Ruby and her love of Malteser sweets. 

I snapped up Drippy the gingerbread girl at the same time as Ruby.

    I have yet to take pictures of all my dolls. All pictures belong to Boopsie Daisy, find her Etsy shop here.

      Although I can't start another large collection, I do have a few more dolls on my wishlist.  I'd love a Marie Antoinette doll, an all white witch like a previous Halloween doll and a little French girl. I'm sure there will be more to come this year!

12 Days Of Etsy: Make It Awesome

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.



I'm a visual artist and writer. I have three published books of my collage, drawing and poety work. I've been doing this since the early 90s. I started making bunnies around then. I cut up an old sweater and started sewing. There was never a plan. 



2. How did you choose your shop name?



It's kind of a joke. I actually really need to change it. It doesn't reflect the bunnies at all. I chose it way back in 2006. Maybe earlier? I used it as my personal website. It was just something a friend said that slipped out. 'Make it awesome'. It's just about making things better.

3. What is your favourite item to make? 


Bunnies are fun but my heart is more with my art. The bunnies help support my other art practices. I can only make them once or twice a year. I make a small collection.



4. What is the best seller in your shop? 

The bunny!

5. Your work sells all over the world, in which parts of the world is your work most popular? 



I send alot of packages to Australia. I love that country. Our aesthetics jibe.


6. What inspires you? 


Almost anything. I like nature and the city. Beatrix Potter, Frida Kahlo...all the great lady artists. I consume alot of pop culture. I watch movies while I sew and then write reviews which are sometimes on Rookie. I work for them as well.
www.rookiemag.com



7. How long have you been crafting? 

Since I was a child.

8. What are your other hobbies? 


Trying to be healthy. listening to music. trying to be funny. 



9. Do you collect anything? 


Silly things. I like Bunnykins and depression-era dolls. Exquisite teacups and fun vintage eggcups. I put bunnies in them to give them a new life. Often an eggcup just sits around. It's a perfect bunny seat.

10. What is your favourite Christmas tradition?



Driving around looking at Christmas lights



11. Do you have a favourite Christmas song?

Silent Night is a tearjerker.

12. What is the funniest Christmas present you have ever been given?



I'm drawing a complete blank on this one. Just this year my family has started a new tradition of 'no gifts'. This is both liberating and kinda sad but kind of great. We all just buy what we want for ourselves. I do love presents!!!

Many thanks to Sonja from Make It Awesome for taking part in this feature. Click here to visit her Etsy shop.

12 Days Of Etsy: Andrea Kett

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born in Dublin,Ireland ,after leaving school I studied animation at Dun Laoighaire College of Art & Design (Dublin) for 3 years,I moved to the Uk a few years back to complete my studies at Bristol University.I currently live in Manchester where I work as a freelance illustrator & general collector of Vintage goodies.


2. How did you choose your shop name?

As much as I like a clever pun or a witty name I decided to stick with my own name (Andrea Kett) 


3. What do you enjoy drawing the most?

Probably glamorous ladies (i used to want to be a fashion designer when I was younger,so naturally I love drawing  outrageous outfits, and accessories)

4. What is the best seller in your shop?

Probably my paper doll books (Miss Marpole and Undead Threads especially),although I have been selling a lot of greetings cards this year too,I find that cards are something that people always need  ...(also anything with Marie Antoinette sells well)

5. Your work sells all over the world, in which parts of the world is 
    your work most popular?

I would say the vast majority of my customers are from the UK or the US.


6. What inspires you?

Lots of things inspire me from music to Vintage fashion (mainly 1920’s -1950s), a good film,especially ones with unusual costumes. John Waters films are a real favourites of mine (I love all the little details,even down to the clever names he gives his characters).I am partial to an ol’ browse around a charity shop too,(these are a great source for my other craze,collecting vintage cake decorating books) 

7. How long have you been an artist?


I don’t really remember a time when I wasn't drawing, but I suppose technically I've been working as a full time illustrator for about 12 years or so.



8. What are your other hobbies?

As I mentioned earlier,I like reading,watching films,general treasure hunting etc (nothing sporty I'm afraid)

9. Do you collect anything?

Yes definitely, my house is packed to the rafters with my collection of lovelies, Vintage tins,wooden peg dolls (Victorian ones),Worzel Gummidge memorabilia, jewellery, odd china, vintage cake decorating/kids party books, fancy stationary,figurines,seaside postcards... to name but a few.


10. What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the Snowman or the Worzel Gummidge Christmas special on TV (not to mention Muppets Christmas Carol & Elf) & no matter how old I get I must insist on a selection box too!!

11. Do you have a favourite Christmas song or carol?

My Fav Christmas song would be between the Pogues “fairytale of New York” & The Pretenders “2000 miles”
Favourite Christmas Carols :Good King Wenceslas & Hark the Herald angels sing

12. What is the funniest Christmas present you have ever been 
      given?

I'm not sure about the funniest but certainly one of my favourites was a Barbie Mc Donalds 
(i remember my poor Dad spending the morning putting all the stickers on it ,I thought I would die from the excitement and I can still picture it as though it were yesterday....Happy days)


Many thanks to Andrea from Andrea Kett for taking part in this feature. Click here to visit her Etsy shop.

12 Days Of Etsy: Boopsie Daisy

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Missy and I'm a happy-go-lucky misfit living in British Columbia Canada alongside my merry little family of 4.

2. How did you choose your shop name?

It's a play on the old phrase 'oopsy daisy' tied in with a tribute to the First Lady of Kitsch, Miss Betty Boop. As a youngster I got hooked on a VHS compilations of old black & white Betty Boop cartoons and a love of Betty's big eyed beauty and sweet persona have stayed with me ever since. 

My entire body of work is heavily influenced by cherubc dolls and charming toys from back when Betty first became a world sensation. I should also mention a nod to the stirring ee cummings poem 'a winter afternoon'. The last line of this poem in particular, "I thank heaven somebody's crazy enough to give me a daisy" encapsulates all that I aspire to put out into the ether with my wacky unsual images and whimsical dolls. 

3. What is your favourite item to make?

Print work is the most rewarding for me. When my daughter was born there was a particular type of decor I yearned to decorate her room with, but it just did not exist. I set about bringing the things I saw in my mind's eye to reality and it all took off from there. Being surrounded by a large arsenal of junk food and bright kooky play things all day tricks me into thinking I never grew up! :)

4. What is the best seller in your shop?

The dolls sell the quickest and I can't re-stock them fast enough. 'Oh Deer' and 'What the Frank' are the prints purchased most often. 

5. Your work sells all over the world, in which parts of the world is your work most popular?

I'm sure there is more boopsiedaisy stuff in the United Kingdom than anywhere else on the planet. For whatever reason, my work really seems to resonate with the wonderful people there. 

6. What inspires you?

Big eyed dolls, colorful food and candy, words, dreams, fairytales, holidays, different eras of the past. 

7. How long have you been crafting?

Crafting is big in my clan. In the 80's we had a Saturday morning tradition of making breakfast people out of whatever was in the fridge & cupboards. There was always an abundance of crafting materials at the ready, handmade Christmas ornaments would be added each year to the tree, etc. My sister & I made our own 20 page magazine 'The Cheeseball Update' when we were pre-teens that always kept our friends & family in stitches. The women in our family all just seem to exit the womb with a pencil
or paint brush in hand. Crafting is in our very blood.

8. What are your other hobbies?

Thrifting almost daily, reading, writing, drawing, baking, collecting, and I can never watch enough horror.

9. Do you collect anything? 

Dolls, cameras, books, magazine clippings, Pez, vintage squeak toys and salt & pepper shakers, vintage Halloween & Christmas decorations, Snow White or Frankenstein related items. Things too numerous to mention. My husband likes to say I "collect collections".

10. What is your favourite Christmas tradition?
Wearing pajamas all day while basking in the ambient light of the tree as carols play on the turn table and the kids try out their new toys.

11. Do you have a favourite Christmas song or carol?
I like the really fun ones like "I Want A Hippopotamus for Christmas' and 'Baby it's Cold Outside'. I feel like I instantly officially catch the Christmas spirit though when I hear 'O Holy Night' for the first time each December. 


12. What is the funniest Christmas present you have ever been given?

When I visited Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in New York a couple years ago my Mum snapped a shot of me with my eyes closed dreamily, puckering up to Boris Karloff's 'The Monster' for a long deep kiss and for Christmas that year she presented me with a hard bound journal with that picture as it's cover. It always makes me snort so I suppose that is the funniest holiday gift I ever got.



Many thanks to Missy from Boopsie Daisy for taking part in this feature. Click here to visit her Etsy shop.

12 Days Of Etsy: Hoolala Jewellery

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Sam I live in England. I created my brand Hoolala in 2005 shortly after I had designed a collection of gemstone jewellery for a spa chain I was working for when I was a graphic designer. it was a sell out and one of the girls said you should do this part time and create a website so I did! My style changed a little and I developed my charms - then I was picked up in a feature for The Sunday Times Style and haven't really looked back since.

2. How did you choose your shop name?

It came from a David Shrigley screen saver called Hula la. he is one of my favourite artists and I thought that is it! Then I Googled it and there was nothing on Google so I trademarked it as my brand name.




3. What is your favourite piece of jewellery to make?

I love making the large one off vintage luxe pieces as they are very special.




4. What is the best seller in your shop?

I am not sure it tends to go in cycles this year the vintage collection has been very popular.

5. Your work sells all over the world, in which parts of the world is your work most popular?

Mostly the USA and the UK but I also sell a lot in Europe and Australia.




6. What inspires you?

Oh my! Everything! I don't have a TV as I find it stifles my creativity but I do love films, books, flea markets and thrift shops.

7. How long have you been crafting?

I studied art for 8 years and have also been a graphic designer - Hoolala is now my full time job but I have always made things ever since I was little. One of my favourite photographs is me as a little girl (aged about 3) in the yard at a farm we used to live in making something with 2 bricks and a pile of twigs on a table.

8. What are your other hobbies?

I also deal in vintage collectibles and can often be found diving in skips, car boot sales and flea markets. I love to surf on the Atlantic coast with my long board and I have a little terrier who keeps me busy walking either by the river or on the beach the rest of the time.





9. Do you collect anything?

Yes World War I and II handmade love tokens.

10. What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

I love winter solstice and always make the effort to go to the woods on the 21st December to make a little ritual to welcome in the light. I take some candles to light and bread as an offering - then sit by an old oak tree and give thanks for the year that has passed and the year to come.




11. Do you have a favourite Christmas song or carol?

I love The Angel Gabriel - I used to sing it at in our school church choir and have fond memories of it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pliqObTHxUQ




12. What is the funniest Christmas present you have ever been given?

My sister is a graphic designer and we always buy each other a little joke present as well as the main present which I always look forward to opening most. This year she made me a handmade card of a red bus with me aged 7 driving it - I am going to frame it and put it on the wall in the studio.

Many thanks to Sam from Hoolala for taking part in this feature. Click here to visit her Etsy shop. Be sure to pop over to Hoolala's Facebook Page and click "Like" to be in with a chance of winning a fabulous prize!  The winners will be drawn on New Years Day.

12 Days Of Etsy: Spun On Cotton

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

I grew up in a small town in Northern California called Grass Valley where both my parents worked from home. My father is an artist whom works mostly as a jeweler. My mother is an antique enthusiast, who was always taking me around yard sale-ing or thrifting. Because of this, I knew I wanted to work from home, be an artist, and was profoundly inspired by anything old. I went to school and left with a degree in Fashion Design...I haven't done a thing with fashion since. I am now a work-from-home-mother, attempting the balance between raising a child and creating my art. I've recently found the only true way to succeed in this, is to treat each moment in life as art, and to live artfully in every avenue of my life. Now that's living!

2. How did you choose your shop name? 

At the time I opened my Etsy Shop I hadn't a product to sell, but I liked the name "Silk and Thistle." Once I started developing my pieces I realized I needed a name that reflected the quirky character of my items a little better. I came up with "Spun On Cotton" as a play on words between "spun cotton" and "Sprung On" (or being excited about something) It fits because I am excited about Spun Cotton!

3. What do you enjoy making the most?

I really enjoy making all of my pieces. Because the majority of my items are one of a kind, every piece is bringing a whole new character to life, I love that!

4. What is the best seller in your shop?

It is hard to say what my best seller is, seeing as I do one of a kind pieces. I do have one made to order item, that I list because it gets so much attention, that's Dudley the Reading Deer.

5. Your work sells all over the world, in which parts of the world is your work most popular?

I sell most of my pieces to the East Coast of the U.S.

6. What inspires you?

I find inspiration from so many sources, but I find myself eager to create after I've read my 2 year old her bed time story. I love children's book illustrations. I love anything vintage, including cute old cartoons from the 1930's. And of course nature, I am fortunate enough to live in beautiful surroundings, my work space looks out to nothing but trees.

7. How long have you been crafting?

I have been crafting really my whole life. I remember being very young and having the urge to create, something, anything. In grade school the projects were always my favorite. But it is only within this last year that I've been working with spun cotton. I am constantly developing technique and style and that's what keeps it so exciting.

8. What are your other hobbies?

I love being out in nature, painting, photography, sewing, yard sale-ing, and I love to get foot loose as often as possible.

9. Do you collect anything?

I am constantly collecting "stuff", but I could never stick with one type of thing. I just like having things around me that tickle my fancy.

10. What is your favourite Christmas tradition?

Picking only one tradition is a bit difficult, but I would have to say decorating the tree... with cookies baking in the oven ... and old Christmas carols playing in the background.

11. Do you have a favourite Christmas song or carol?

Jingle bells has always been my favourite to sing to, especially when others join in.

12. What is the funniest Christmas present you have ever been given?

One year I was unable to make it home for Christmas because my car needed new tires and I wasn't able to afford them. My brothers ended up buying my tires for Christmas! That's funny and sweet!

Many thanks to Sara from Spun On Cotton for taking part in this feature. Click here to visit her Etsy shop.