Etsy Love

Oh Etsy, how I do love thee... I have been a member of Etsy for 7 years now.  It was a fantastic discovery when I stumbled upon it in its beginning days and I believe, even with the many changes it has undergone, it is still a fantastic web site.  I do know many of the stores I have marked as favorites over the years are no longer in business, but many still are and there have been many many more new stores created to fill in the voids.  Please take time to shop around on Etsy.  It is so huge, it can be a little overwhelming, but it is worth the time to get a feel for the site and I can promise you will discover many handmade goodies, made by individual hands, and people whose names you can see and who truly put their heart and soul into there creations.  One place to browse is the Treasury.  I just created a new treasury this week called Spring Romance.  Here is a glimpse:

My Soap Love

I have been using handmade cold-processed soap for a few years now.  I discovered handmade soap when I first fell head over heads for a website called Etsy.  It was around 2006 when I came across Etsy and fell in love with the Handmade Movement.  I also became really interested in trying to go more natural in the products I was using in my home.  I kept coming across some scary facts about the different chemicals found in the products we are constantly exposing ourselves too.  One thing that I found was easy to try and turned out to be a very beneficial change was body soap.  Something about knowing that the product I use was created from scratch from simple ingrediants by an actual individual who I can email by name gives me a sense of comfort.  Also, having tried MANY bath and body products throughout life, I honestly can say cold-processed soap is the BEST soap I have ever used.  I would like to highlight two handmade soap makers who I have bought many bars of soap from and have never had a bad experience.  One of these is a local Virginia soap maker: Old Dominion Soap Company.  The soap sold by this shop is simple, inexpensive, but at the same time, FABULOUS!   The SimplyPom soap is my favorite, but the olive oil soaps and specialty soaps are just as lovely.  And, my favorite product of their's is the hemp oil lotion, which has been a miracle worker for my eczema ridden skin.  The second shop is an etsy shop called KBShimmer.  This shop is full of lots of fun and wonderful products, all that I have tried have been awesome.  But the soap is so fun and full of scent and color, great as a gift, and so fun in your own shower.  Give handmade soap a chance.  Know where your money is going, know what less packaging and simple ingrediants can mean for our Earth.

Handmade In the Bathroom

I love handmade soaps.  Well, to be honest, I love not only handmade soaps but also handmade lotions bath bombs, body scrubs... the list goes on.  And a great place to shop for these is on Etsy.
I have bought from KB Shimmer and absolutely adored all the goodies I received.  Check out these from her store:

Top Picture: Pink Sugar Bath Bombs Set of 3

Middle Picture: Good Morning Citrus 9oz Jar Sugar Body Polish Scrub

Bottom Picture: Rosemary Mint Essential Oil Soap

Just a few of the pros of buying handmade bath products: 

Direct sales, straight from creator to buyer

Less packaging

A complete ingrediant list

Contact with the creator so all questions can easily be answered

Fabulous customer care

Shopping local to support local artisans

Handmade soaps contain glycerine

I think everybody should give handmade soap a try!

Who doesn't love a sale?

Have you searched "Sale" on etsy lately? It is a fun way to spend an evening Christmas shopping. So many fabulous deals on such amazing products! Check out these finds:

This fabulous pillow by floradora for only $10:


This gorgeous purse from ReFabulous on sale for $32:

And this stunning necklace by acornbeach, a steal at $20:

I hope you take a little holiday shopping time to browse etsy. The treasures are bountiful and well worth the extra effort to dig up.

Warning! Potential Cuteness Overload

Hey, I warned you, LOL. These are just the most adorable little faces!!! So much fun searching baby knit on etsy.

Links for images starting top, left corner:

• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17614996
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17614575
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17610118
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=15889747
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17528547
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17603777
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17599784
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12824536
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16963845
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17484533
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17594980
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17294551
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17592672
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16608748
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17575413
• http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17177015

Buyer Show and Tell in Virtual Labs

I attended a virtual lab yesterday that was a Buyer Show and Tell. It was great fun to talk about wonderful finds I have found on etsy but I was upset more people did not show up. We created the above treasury by showing off favorites... which I love to do. I am finding it difficult to find a place to talk shopping on etsy. Things get buried immediately in the promotions forum. I can post finds here but I like to "talk" about things. I find that it is fun to make treasuries to show off my finds, but these days, with well over 1000 treasuries out there, it is difficult to even wade through that area of etsy.
I am definitely more of a buyer than a seller, but the etsy community seems to be mostly for the sellers.
So, if you like to talk shopping on etsy, and you have found a fun place to do it, let me know. Also, if you are a buyer, please check the virtual lab schedule and check out the next buyer show and tell. It is tons of fun to make a treasury and show off the really unique things you have found while shopping.

Buy Handmade: Etsy Cards

There is an amazing selection of handmade cards on Etsy.com, so I wanted to take a moment to point out four etsy artists who make amazing cards. I also want to encourage you to buy handmade cards as opposed to the mass produced cards available in the stores. You may ask: Why buy handmade?

Here is a great link for info on that: http://www.buyhandmade.org/why-buy-handmade

Also, on that site, you can make a pledge to buy handmade.

For me personally, it means so much to me that I am buying something that involved the hands of an individual, and that dedication and passion goes into each card. Also, when buying handmade, especially cards, you are buying individual works of art. The makers of these cards put a little of themselves into each card. You are not buying a cookie cutter illustration that has been over-analyzed and over-tweaked by industry people. you are buying something that comes from thew soul of an individual.

Another reason, the price of store cards continues to rise. Why pay such a large sum of money for a mass-produced card when you can get so much more for the same amount of money.

I have highlighted four card makers from etsy and I encourage you to check out their stores and buy some handmade cards.

twiddlestix designs

fresh line illustration and design

moonmum

pixiepaper

Please check out these terrific artists.

Yes, folks, another Gudonyatoo rave

I usually prefer to showcase the less well known artist on Etsy, but I got to tell you guys about this deodorant. It did something miraculous, I tell you, it conquered the stink of my tween on a hot day of playing hard and getting sweaty! I was not a fan of having my daughter use deodorant, but the girl was so stinky, I knew people could smell her. So I got her some deodorant, which went against my gut intuition but something had to be done. Well, when the over the counter stuff started irritating her skin and making her all itchy, I decided to spend the little bit of extra money and try some handmade deodorant. This deodorant worked fabulously and I can give it to my daughter without the fear of all of those chemicals... especially the aluminum. I can honestly say I am not up on the Alzheimers research, so I don't know if they still consider aluminum to be a possible risk factor, but after seeing my grandma struggle many many years with that debilitating disease, I felt a slight bit unsure when I bought my daughter deodorant from the store. Well, who knew handmade deodorant would work better! She had no itchy arm pits and she even said she felt less sweaty. AND, I smelled her arm pits and they smelled.... good.... I know, it is so hard to believe, but it is true. I am a true fan of Gudonyatoo!