Favourite Etsy Shop Friday

Favourite Etsy Shop Feature

Fairy & Fantasy Art by Rachel Anderson
www.twosilverstars.etsy.com

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
I have been fascinated with the world of fantasy since I was little. The idea that you could fall down a rabbit hole and enter a strange magical world took hold of me and inspired me to create my own characters and stories through drawing and painting. Eventually I discovered online communities of artists and was introduced to the medium I currently use, which is digital painting. I create my paintings using a pressure sensitive tablet and pen in photoshop, mainly using the brush tools in a similar way to how one would work with oil paints.

2. What made you open your shop and why Etsy?
I knew other artists who had Etsy shops, so I started poking around the site a bit. Of course I got sucked in right away by the huge variety of cool handmade items. I signed up in January of 2008 to save the user name that I usually use online, but didn't actually start listing until late July of that year. And then I was inspired to create some new items for my shop, like the jewelry and pocket mirrors which feature my artwork.



3. Do you sell your items anywhere else?
Yes, my main website is http://silverstars.us

4. How did you choose your shop name?
I've been using silverstars or twosilverstars as my online user name at other sites for many years now, so I figured I would use it at Etsy as well. If silverstars is taken (which it usually is) I add the "two". The name doesn't really reflect what I sell in my shop, I just thought it was pretty.


5. What are your favourite things to do?
Well, my artwork is not only my career, but it is also one of my favorite things to do. It's nice to be able to do what you love for your job. I also love baking and reading. I often listen to audio books while I'm painting.

6. What inspires you?
I have a chronically overactive imagination so I'm never short on ideas for my artwork. Even little things like listening to music, watching a movie, or just seeing a certain colour can all inspire ideas for new paintings. I love nature and how peaceful and magical it can be walking through a forest. So I try to reflect that in my artwork.



7. Of all your fairy pictures, which one is your favourite?
Hmm, this is sort of like trying to pick a favourite child... I think right now I am most satisfied with Sweet Dreams. I have felt a bit "stuck" as far as skill advancement goes, and I think maybe I made a bit of a breakthrough with this one. Hopefully...

8. Which product is your most popular?
As far as products go my prints are definitely the biggest sellers, and pocket mirrors are probably a close second. As far as paintings go, Lily of the Valley and Sweet Dreams are probably my biggest sellers.


9. Which handmade possession given to you do you cherish?
I've been given a lot of jewelry from etsy sellers that I really love. I think my favourite is a pair of hand made glass twist earrings that my mom gave me Glass Twisty Earrings

10. Name 3 other Etsy shops you love to visit.
Oh wow, it's hard to pick just three!
Sweet Fritsy
AmberSky
Beastlies



Thank you to Rachel Anderson for being my favourite Etsy shop for this week. Aren't these fairy pictures just amazing. I dont know any little girl who doesnt love fairies. Even my Victoria who likes alot of boy type things, loves fairies. I dont think that the love of fairies ever goes away either. I know I still find them beautiful and fascinating. How wonderful that Rachel has incorporated her wonderful paintings on items that you can take with you and show off so you will always have a fairy with you. You just have to check out her other pictures and the other products you can purchase with these pictures on them. There is something for every fairy lover.

Meet My New Buddy

This week I have started my babysitting adventures. This is Lilly Mae my new niece. Isnt she just the cutest thing. So far I have had her for the last two days and its been so much fun. Today she is spending the day with her Grandma. Apparently Grandma needed some Lilly time but she will be back again tomorrow.


As you can see here our kitty Ringo is quite intrigued by our new visitor and all her baby smells. His nose goes into overload when she is here. I didnt think Victoria would care one way or the other if Lilly was here because she hasnt really been around babies before but she looooooves having Lilly here. She loves that she is here when she wakes up and is here when she gets home from school. She told me that she wishes Lilly were here all the time and is always asking me when she leaves when she will be back. I dont know if she has gotten over the fear that Grandpa instilled in her about touching her but hopefully she will get better in time ( grrrr to Grandpa).


I seen Lilly several times and have yet to hear her really cry. She kind of fusses a little but never really fully cries. I have heard it happens and Im sure I will hear it one day but she just generally likes to snuggle, eat, play and sleep. Here she is fascinated by our Christmas tree that we just put up and decorated over the weekend. The lights werent even turned on at this time and she was still loving it. You should see her face when you turn the lights on hehe.


Is this a little dimple I see with this cute baby smile. This could be a real smile or it could just be gas hehe. You never know at this stage. I like to think of it as a smile. Needless to say I am having alot of fun being a babysitter and its so very nice to be able to hand her over in the afternoon and not have to do the night shift.

Favourite Etsy Shop Friday

Favourite Etsy Shop Feature

Nikki Makes Scents
www.nikkiscandles.etsy.com

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.
My name is Nikki and I live on Long Island, New York in a city by the sea. I live about 4 blocks from the beach & boardwalk of which I hardly take advantage of. I love to travel, web surf and craft and spending time with friends and occasionally family (j/k)

2. What made you open your shop and why Etsy?
I kept seeing other shop links to Etsy and thought it would be a good place to list some of the one of a kind items I make since I no longer do craft fairs. I signed up in October 2008 but didn't start listing and become immersed in what a wonderful community for handmade items until July 2009. I love it!


3. Do you sell your products anywhere else?
My website. NikkiMakesScents.com, friends, family and a couple of stores.

4. How did you choose your shop name?
My name is Nikki and I make scents...thus Nikki Makes Scents. Nikki Makes Scents is my business name nikkicandles is my user and Etsy shop name.


5. What are your favourite things to do?
If I had time I would travel more, read, write, and make more candles.

6. What inspires you?
My inspirations come primarily from my customers. If they say I want a candle that is blue and smells like bubble gum if I like it I try to see if such a candle would appeal to the masses. I also am inspired by the scents. Some scents just immediately sparks the imagination to make certain candles or bath & body products.


7. Of all the products you sell, which do you enjoy making the most?
After 10 years of doing this, making candles and being impatient to see the final project I still enjoy making the most.

8. Which products are the most popular?
It depends on the season although my chunk votives are a hit year 'round.


9. Which handmade possession do you cherish?
My mother is a crafter too and several years ago she made a beautiful dried floral arrangement for my office when I was promoted. To this day people still think it's real and a lovely bright arrangement. I bring it to any office I'm in and spray it with a linen fresher in a floral scent that fools everyone.

10. Name 3 other Etsy shops you love to visit.
* XOHandworks
* Sea Babe Jewelry
* oktak


Thank you so much to Nikki Makes Scents for being my featured favourite shop this week. I found this shop while in an Etsy chat not long ago and just loved all her stuff. The thing that I like about this shop is its not just candles. There are body lotions, perfumes, lip balms and all sorts of good smelling stuff all in the one shop. This appeals to me as I like to use good smelling stuff not just while burning candles but on me as well. I see many ideas for gifts for the people I know and for myself. She even makes it easier by having a gift set section. The pictures in this blog feature are just the tip of the iceberg. You have to go and see the other goodies you can find in this shop as well.

Holiday Greetings!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are off to Joe's cousins house very soon for the much awaited turkey and cranberry sauce. I cant wait to enjoy all those Boston Cream Minis I made yesterday. Fingers crossed I will get one.
I hope everyone who is celebrating Thanksgiving today has a great day.

A Good Old Fashioned Tasty Tuesday

It was pointed out by my Mum that I haven't done a Tasty Tuesday in a long time. It wasn't on purpose, I just kept forgetting. So here is a long overdue recipe. I thought I would use this recipe this week because I will be making these tomorrow to take with us to Thanksgiving at Joe's cousin's house. These are sure to be a hit as every time I make them they disappear. What are they you ask?

Boston Cream Pie Minis

Ingredients
1 pkg (2 layer size) yellow cake mix
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg (4 serving size) Jello-O Vanilla Flavour Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping, divided
4 squares Baker's Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cake batter and bake in 24 greased medium muffin cups as directed on package. Cool 10 minutes in pans. Remove to wire racks: cool completely.

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, using a serrated knife, cut cupcakes horizontally in half. Gently stir 1/2 cup of the whipped topping into pudding. Spoon about 1 Tbsp. of the pudding mixture onto bottom half of each cupcake; cover with top of cupcake.

Microwave remaining 1 cup whipped topping and the chocolate in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate is almost melted, stirring after 1 minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted and mixture is well blended. Frost each cupcake with about 1 1/2 tsp. of the chocolate mixture. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes before serving. Store leftover cupcakes in the refrigerator.

Makes 24 cupcakes

These are so easy that we made them with Megan's old Girl Scout troop and they turned out great. It is completely crazy cooking with about 10 crazy girls but we had fun and they loved the end results. We have been making them in our house over and over ever since.

I hope you try this recipe and let me know how yours turned out.

Favourite Etsy Shop Friday

Favourite Etsy Shop Feature

Mae
www.lovemaestore.etsy.com

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Mae is the best part of three ladies - Peta, Emily and Rebekah. We make fabric wall stickers for children. Mae is Australian made and owned, and we always keep the environment in mind - all our supplies and materials are sourced from local small businesses, we use recycled packaging and our stickers use eco inks.

2. What made you open your shop and why Etsy?

We have all been big fans of Etsy for a long time. It was an easy way for us to get our stickers out there, to start selling. It's a whole lot easier than the markets!

3. Do you sell your wall decals anywhere else?

Yes, you can check the stockist page on our website www.lovemae.com.au

4. How did you choose your shop name?

We created Mae as a character that we all aspired to be like - her name matches her personality - sweet, charming and old-fashioned (to a certain extent!). She comes from a place where things are far less complicated, and everything is beautiful.

5. What are your favourite things to do?

Eat, snuggle my cats and draw pretty patterns

6. What inspires you?

Good blogs, pretty photos and creative people doing what they love.


7. Of all the wall decals you make for your shop, which is your favourite?

Hmm. I would have to say Teatime, but that could change with the new range coming out in January!

8. Which decals are the most popular?

Easily the Build a Tree, Forest Critters and Twitters.

9. What handmade possession do you cherish?

My family portrait which was painted by Audrey Malo:
Rebekah's Family Portrait

10. Name 3 other Etsy shops you love to visit.

nothing elegant
Proper Pact Vintage
Geninne

Thank you so much to Mae for being my favourite Etsy shop feature for this week. Don't you just love these wall decals. So many possibilities and ideas come to mind when I see these. What a wonderful and easy way to make your children's room look beautiful. I was so excited to read that there are going to be new designs coming out in January. I know I will be rushing over to see what they are when the time comes. If you love the pictures you have seen on this feature hop on over to the Etsy shop or the website and see the other designs. You will fall in love with them too.

A little message to my sister, make sure you check out where they sell in NSW on their website because they probably have a stockist near you.

Feeling A Little Rusty

I just listed these cable fingerless mittens in Knitted For Ewe. These are so fun and quick to make. I love this yarn as well. It feels really soft and comes in really great colours. This has to be the first yarn where I want a ball of every colour it comes in. You may have heard of it, its called Vanna's Choice.


Megan was my lovely model again. She much prefers to model these types of things because she doesnt have to worry about her facial expression hehe.


I went back and forth on this rust colour and what it would look for. This colour tends to take on a different hue with whatever colour it is paired up with. It looks especially nice with brown.

Im still working on things for this craft show that is coming up in a couple of weeks. If I dont sell much at the craft show then my Etsy shop sure is going to have a huge boost in inventory. We shall have to wait and see how it all goes.