etsy friday

Sometimes the rainy day lighting is a good thing, mirrors this new beauty...


Earthly Elegance handwrapped copper wire ring with lampwork glass bead by cozysister.etsy.com

You have no idea how hard it was to capture the beauty of this ring. I totally didn't come close. I think it was just hard to get the shift of grey to purple in the glass and how well it all works with the copper wire, how each wrap of the ring band is perfect and tight, how something that's "just" wire can be sculpted by hand into something so pretty and unexpected. It's stunning... Cozysister has taken a handmade lampwork glass bead in greys and purples, sandwiched it between sterling silver accents, and wrapped the entire thing in copper wire as a ring, custom made for my (surprisingly HUGE) ring size. And it's awesome.

I always feel like I get the better end of swaps, and this is no different. Cozysister's work is like nothing I've seen, and way up my alley with it's obvious handmade elements and work. I'm so excited with this! :)

Oh, you want more excitement? I waited *anxiously* for this to arrive (like, 2 whole days!! :)) and wow, just wow...


90% delaine merino, 10% kid mohair from BlackBunnyFibers.etsy.com
8 oz-- marigolds colorway

You may remember that I joined the Black Bunny Fibers fiber club towards the end of last year... this was my first installment :) Now, really and truly I'm not a club kinda girl-- I have a definite sense of what I do and don't like (though I may not be able to put it on paper... kinda like obscenity I suppose), and there hasn't been one club I've seen that I've liked *every* installment of. I also am not down for paying extra for exclusivity, not that I think it's bad but-- just not for me. But Carol's club sounded perfect for my spinning side-- 8 oz of fiber standard, a very very reasonable price (I'm a bargainhunter at heart), and she took the time to craft a questionnaire about my color likes and dislikes. I don't expect the club to be spot on with what I like every time, but this is a very good start!!

BlackBunnyFibers, for this first installment, dyed a separate colorway for each of its participants. That's right... we all got different colors and I'm guessing that it was all based on our "favorite" color answer in the questionnaire, cos you KNOW I said orange and look! what! i! got!! :)

The fiber is "from a small family-run ranch in the West and was processed by a small family-run mill" and is so soft. I've always avoided buying mohair fiber blends, thinking they'd be itchy-- but this is way not. My kid went so far to beg me to let him cuddle with it (seriously), the batch is so big and lofty it just makes you want to squeeze it :) I'm a little nervous to spin it-- I'm more used to the slippy superwash merinos and the like and this definitely isn't like those, but I'm excited to try. So yay! I totally don't regret participating in the club, and hope Carol lets me in next time ;)

Now for something a little different, being the beginning of February and all...


A Year in the Kitchen calendar by smackofjellyfish.etsy.com
(photo by SoJ)

One of my favorite etsy card vendors, Smack of Jellyfish (you know-- with the alphabetical collective noun cards?) has started to branch out in other design and print destinations and I dig those just as much as her animal cards. I bought this calendar as a gift and had it shipped right to the recipient from SmackofJellyfish for a belated birthday gift... right now it's hanging in an amateur chef's kitchen, being enjoyed as much as I enjoyed giving it :) I haven't seen it yet, but have no doubt it's as awesome and as well put together as everything I've bought from SoJ before.

Since the day is all about awesome... my pick of the week from zero shop patrons:


Lightweight Alpaca/Silk dyed with natural dyes by AVerbForKeepingWarm.etsy.com
(photo by AVfKW)

I have a confession, an announcement. I am terribly biased and bias-able, and this pick is in that vein. First of all, Kristine wrote the *sweetest* blurb about zeromarkers on her blog... I love reading where people enjoy my markers, and this one just had me grinning all day. Second and my roundabout announcement, A Verb for Keeping Warm is co-hosting a booth at Stitches West 2008 and gave me the opportunity to sell my knitting stitch markers alongside them and Tactile Fiber Arts-- and I'm so excited about that as well that I can't be objective :)

But really now-- forgetting all of that for a moment, take a look at A Verb for Keeping Warm's etsy shop (or retail storefront)... full of gorgeous yarns and fibers, many of them dyed using natural dyes. I have a serious admiration for those working with natural dyes and especially those who can coax such beautiful and varied colors from them-- notwithstanding all of the above, A Verb for Keeping Warm would have been on my must-visit list for Stitches just for the dye and fiber talents.

You want another reason?! :) Ravelry is hosting a passport game (an idea seeded by Kristine's brain) and one of the stops will be A Verb's booth... lots of prizes will be given away by vendors thru Ravelry's game, including A Verb for Keeping Warm's prize of fiber and yarn and oh yeah... four 7-marker sets from zero.etsy.com (a set of markers in all of my ring sizes-- US 2, US 6, US 9 and US 13).

Speaking of my etsy store (I know!! lots this week eh?)... my free shipping sale is still going strong thru the end of Sunday, and because of yall's sale purchases I am taking possession of my new-to-me wheel today. Fingers crossed against bolts of lightning and all that, but yay yay yay! :)

Happy weekend, miss you!