Boot Fetish: Footwear on Etsy

Handpicked on Etsy

Boot season is offically in gear, and my quick search today on Etsy yielded these unique, creative boot options. Treat your feet to handmade cozy sweater boots, enhance a plain pair boots or winterize (bootify?) your strappy sandals with splendid creations like these from Etsy. A fashion lesson from the women of Paris is to buy just a few, great fitting, good quality basics for your wardrobe, and accessorize with scarves, belts, jewelry, shoes and boots to change your look. I've always thought of boots and shoes as accessories in themselves, but today's virtual stroll through the Etsy marketplace inspires me to accessorize footwear that I already own, thereby saving some money and having some fun. Click on the pictures to go directly to these Etsy listings. Prices range from $24.50 to $125.00.

Today's featured artisans include, from top left to bottom right: lainedesign, Avistudio, onerobinroad, Fabulize, CapriciousAdornments, BeautifulPurpose, leathermadenice, Calynette

Bewitched on Etsy

Handpicked on Etsy
Spooky creations found in my quick search on Etsy this morning speak of witches, ghosts and the occult. Busy day ahead and I just had a few moments for this mini-showcase that tantalizes the imagination and shows some of Etsy's diverse talent. Searching Etsy for 'witchy stuff' is rewarding and many artisans are inspired by the theme. Click on the pictures to see more from today's featured artists. Prices range from $7.50 to $49.00.
Today's artists include: steelgoddess, ghoslovejewelry, whitemagic, TrashandTrinkets

Halloween: Don a Mask from Etsy!

Handpicked on Etsy

Halloween is a festival celebrated with costumes and masks. Known also as "All Hollows' Eve," the holiday originated in ancient Celtic culture as a secular festival marking the transition from longer days of summer to the shorter days of winter. Called "Samhain," which meant "summer's end," the ancient Celts believed that the border between the worlds of the living and dead was at its thinnest on Samhain, enabling spirits from the "otherworld " to pass through. The benign spirits of family ancesters were welcomed, while malevelont spirits were warded off with masks and disguises to deflect ill intent. Pagan symbols of Samhain also included skeletons to represent the departed, and lanterns carved from vegetables representing the human head, symbolizing this most powerful body part where spirit and knowledge reside. These ancient folk traditions evolved through the ages to become, in modern American and other societies, a day of good fun, blending ancient beliefs with all manner of superstition and Gothic horror stories. Focusing on masks for today's showcase: Most of the creations featured today are wearable, not typical commercial Halloween costume masks, but are pieces to collect, display or wear for any celebration calling for masquerade attire. Click on the pictures to go directly to these Etsy listings. Prices range from $20.00 to $3200.00.

From top left to bottom right, today's features artists include: TomBanwell, kimbascrafts, Spatzle, unmasked, Masquefaire, Beadmatrix, faerywhere, MasksbyMartina, beadmask, MasksbyMartina, sneakyfetus, beadmask

Iconic Seattle on Etsy

Handpicked on Etsy
Seattle landmarks inspired today's featured Etsy artists. While looking for rain-inspired Etsy creations a couple of days ago, I came across these Seattle related pieces that not only capture iconic images associated with my city, but are also new ways of looking at familiar landmarks. I now want to run downtown and find the exact spots that motivated these creations. To me this is a reminder that no two sets of artistic eyes see things in the quite same way, and that there are countless ways to interpret and convey a common theme,
My Invitation to You: Re-discover your own city or town by looking at it through other pairs of artistic eyes. Find Etsy creations that capture your own city, town or village and heart them in your faves, then comment here telling me to have a look at your picks for consideration as an EtsyLounge showcase-feature with you as the curator.
Click on the pictures to go directly to these Etsy listings. Prices range from $12.00 to $45.00.
From top left to bottom right, today's featured artisans include: MikeUlatowski, VenomousSwan, pixcraze, lisaburch, MarKhed, lisaburch, ChristopherBoswell, matthewporterart, DonShan, leciawood, artbydi, BunkFossStudio

Rain Is Beautiful on Esty

Handpicked on Etsy

I love rain. Raised in the sunny southern California climate, as a child I adored the few weather days that punctuated the blandness, cleansed the air and brought lush green to the world for a few days thereafter. The soft kind of rain with a high cloud ceiling appeals to me the most, while the monsoon kind of rain going on right now in Seattle is not exactly what I want everyday. Northwest skies "raining elephants" motivated me this morning to see if any Etsy artists let rain inspire them. The 8 varied creations I found range from literal to abstract references to rain, each appealing to me for its quality of craftmanship and successful rendition of the theme. Click on the pictures to go directly to these Etsy listings. Prices range from $15.00 to $250.00.

From top left to bottom right, today's featured artists include: Egokitten, xovika, itesbeautiful, littlehendesigns, meilors, FloatingEarthCeramic, allaShark, juneshin

Sunday Gratitude: Colleen's Eye

This is about Colleen from KCRlehrstudio, who had been a frequent visitor and supporter of EtsyLounge and the talented artists of Etsy. The first photo is Colleen's beautiful necklace, the second is a scarf she purchased from me, and the third and fourth photos are among the superb pieces I found by spying on her favorites. As you can see, Colleen has exquisite taste :) not only in what she makes and sells, but in what she admires. OK, so I realize I am complimenting Colleen's fine taste in part for choosing my scarf, but that is where my personal gratitude comes in. I awoke today not planning to blog, but just felt a compulsion to express my appreciation of people like Colleen, who, along with several followers of this blog, have gone out of their way to participate in this effort to seek out excellence on Etsy, & raise awareness and support for handmade. Colleen, with her academic knowledge of the arts and her background teaching art to high schoolers, has a keen sense of how history and tradition carries through in art being produced today, and has written features for EtsyLounge (July 8th and August 6) If you'd like to see more remarkable things Colleen has created or has hearted, have a look through her personal favorites! *The pictures are linked directly to these Etsy stores, so click on them to see more from these artisans.

Trolls: Ungainly Beauty on Etsy

Handpicked on Etsy

In Norse mythology, trolls were magical creatures imbued with special skills, often dwelling in caves, mountains or woodlands. More threatening are J.R.R. Tolkein's trolls of the The Hobbit, who inhabit the Middle Earth and are portrayed as oversized, ungainly, super-strong, crude, rather stupid humanoid creatures with comical Cockney accents who enjoy their meat and beer. In my search last week for fairy-inspired creations on Etsy, I ran across doll-makers whose repertoire includes trolls and decided this theme deserves a special showcase. Whether or not you are a doll or a troll afficionado, I suspect most of us can marvel at the artistry displayed by today's featured Etsy artisans who use their sculptural skills and various media in making these imaginitive creatures. Click on the pictures to go directly to these listings. Prices range from $39.99 to $290.00

From top left to bottom right, today's Etsy artists include: ToadstoolsNTreestump, UtesTrolls, thepaintedpoppet, fairyrealm, petradi, jennifercarson, ArtFeyStudio, DollThreadsandClay