Everybody lies

posted on Thursday, February, 26th, 2009 in Thursday Thirteen

Lately I have become quite obsessed with etsy. I have yet to actually order something from one of the stores, but I very much enjoy browsing the site and discovering all the fascinating stuff people sell there. Here are, in no particular order, 13 etsy shops I found particularly interesting:

Minelolly

I found her store through the notebooks she makes, but when I checked out the rest of her inventory I was even more impressed by her colorful quilts. Unfortunately they are way out of my price range, but still beautiful to look at. She also has a blog.

Star of the East

As a rule, I don’t usually wear jewelry (apart from the piece of jade and the bone carving I wear around my neck and never take off ever since I left New Zealand). But even though I am not very likely to buy it, I nevertheless  love to look at rings and bracelets and necklaces and stuff like that.

What caught my eye in this shop, although they do have oodles of interesting stuff, was mainly the sea urchin collection, especially that necklace, which looks just awesome.

DaliDecals

Well, I am sure there are hundreds of shops on etsy alone that do these wall decals. But this was the first one I stumbled on that made me want to order something, namely those swirly things and this tree. Although some of their text decals are worth a look as well, and I guess since they also do custom work the possibilities are endless.

Pixie Soap

What can I say, I am a sucker for handmade soaps. I often buy them from our local market, but I might actually give this shop a try, even though I find the thought of ordering a thing like soap from the US a bit strange. But how can I resist when they look so delicious?

Rebecca’s Soap Delicatessen

Well, since we’re speaking of soap already…

With names like Strawberry Champagner, Lime Margarita or Chocolate Cherry the store’s name is very aptly chosen, I think.

Moonbeemz Designs

Again, jewelry. What caught my eye here were the opals. Opals are by far my absolute favorite gems. When I was in Australia I used to stand in front of the windows of every jeweller and admire the fantastic and beautiful opal jewelry. Unfortunately, all of them were far outside my price range.

Not so here. If the stones in this shop are really as big as described they are almost laughably cheap. Ok, they do have flaws, so that probably explains it. But still: shiny.

XcessRize Designs

Another unusual shop for me. Not all that interested in bags and stuff normally either. But these do look nice, mostly because of the colorful fabric designs. Plus, those little shoulder bags are quite practical.

stevester

More bags – yay! And t-shirts, although they really are not my taste. Actually it was just one of their bags that caught my eye, mainly because I have a similar one already – only without the leaf:

Koenig Designs

Knick-knacks. Another category I am not really a fan of, generally speaking. But now and then one piece stands out and says hello to me. These 2 paperweights fall into this category:

Shaka Studios

Antiques can be fun or totally dull. This shop’s inventory tends toward the fun side. Totally out of my price range again, obviously. The one thing that tempts me, though, is this backgammon game. Awesome, if completely overpriced. I might have to build my own after all…

Expression Rocks

Again, nothing really useful, but I like them things anyway, especially since you can leave them outside and they wouldn’t clutter up my house.

Moxy

What drew me here were the journals, but the shop also has some very nice photographs that I could easily imagine hanging on my walls.

Kreativlink

And I can say without exaggeration that I saved the best for last. You see, what started my infatuation with etsy in the first place were the scores of handmade journals and diaries and notebooks of all kinds.

And after looking through that category for a while now, I am pretty sure there are no more beautiful ones than the ones of Renate Ikinger from Austria. Those little pictures here don’t do them justice at all. Hop over to the shop and check out the incredibly done details on each one of them.

In case anyone of you is ever looking for a birthday present for me, you know where to look now.    (j/k)

Oh, I got one more that I just can’t leave out:

April Kawaoka Jewelry

Again, jewelry, but it’s just so beautiful. Understated, organic-looking. Something I would wear, if I ever had the opportunity to wear jewelry.