Wishlist Wednesday - Alison from Glassali!

Hi Rats! Wednesday already?? LushBoutique here with another great Wishlist Wednesday list from one of our fabulous members.


Today's featured member is the fabulous Alison from Glassali.


Here is her selection of favorites, in no particular order.


"I absolutely adore these earring despite the fact that I have a sneaking suspicion that they are heavy and my earlobes would end up on my shoulders if I wore them for any length of time, I'd be willing to take that risk for these beauties.  Yes, that's me in the grocery store with the large earlobes.

I love the juxtaposition of an ancient craft, like pottery, and contemporary sensibilities.  And I love how smart that last sentence makes me sound even if it makes no sense at all.  Basically, I like this
if for no other reason than it's colorful.  And contemporary.

Kristin may be the first artist I stalked on Etsy.  Not in the weird way that the term "stalker" implies.  No, in a much more benevolent, "I want to make things like she does!" kind of way.  Which is still actually a little weird, I'll admit.  I make glass beads and I aspire to silversmithing, and she does both so well.

I don't think I even have to say anything about these.  I have absolutely no use for them, whatsoever.  My children are 11 and 13, it's nowhere near Halloween, and my house is cluttered.  So why do I have to use all my willpower to resist tapping that "Add to Cart" button when I see these guys?

I kind of love my Great Dane, Holy Moly, a lot.   And event though she's black, this pendant captures that Great Dane spirit so well:

All it's lacking is the drool."


Thank you Alison from Glassali!

Mosaic Monday: Silver and Gold

It's the last day of November! Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and is revved up for the Holidays (I know I am)! I'm going to have some fun with themes this month, and each week will be inspired by a song. I'll kick things off with my Grandfather's favorite, Silver and Gold.

1) Let Go by Paperbullet
2) Grey and Mustard Ponytail Holders by zomoandbara
3) Gold and Peal Bird's Nest Ring by laurabailliedesigns
4) Blue Bird of Happiness by yarnabees
5) Dolce Silver Glitter Shoes from AgelessThings
6) The Casino Necklace by lushboutique
7) Grey Circles Notecard by EvenAndy
8) Gold Fusion Christmas Bow by Advancewing

Feature Friday - Shirley of ScrapHappieAZ, RomasMasion, and PeaPodRay

Hello all! It's another fabulous Friday! Today's feature seller is Shirley, who runs three great shops - ScrapHappieAZ, RomasMasion, and PeaPodRay.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself, your shop, and what brought you to the Etsy community.

I have degrees in Fashion Design and Microbiology and Health Administration. I guess you might say I have a balanced brain, both strongly creative and analytical sides. Sounds balanced but it can create a bit of chaos. I have a hard time focusing on just one process.I want to do it all!

When I was laid off from my job in the healthcare industry, I decided to go back to my creative roots. This is when I decided to join the artisans of Etsy. I love the resurgence of creativity.

2. Besides creating beautiful things for your shop, what do you spend your days doing?

I am addicted to Buzztime Trivia and my husband and I play at least three times a week at a local restaurant.

I am the mother of three adult children. Two daughters and a son. In Nov my first grandson is due so I am excited to make some baby clothes for the new addition to the family.

I also love to cook, read and awwwh heck I just love to create, whether it is crocheting, cross-stitch, scrapbooking, refinishing furniture.
 

3. What sources do you draw your inspiration from and what is your creative process(es)?

My grandfather was a professor of architecture at Syracuse University and I believe some of my artist tendencies come from him. He found beauty and inspiration in butterflies, a simple ceramic vase or in the ornate Westminister Abbey.

Much of my inspiration comes from different periods in fashion history: The Victorian ages, the Pinup girl days of the 1940s and the roaring twenties when my mother was growing up.

I also try to find inspiration in nature and all things around me. I feel that I am ever evolving, I may not have found my niche but I will continue to grow.

I believe that women are so busy with jobs, children and their home they become overwhelmed and forget to enjoy those things that use to bring joy such as cooking and being in the kitchen. That is why I believe that there is such popularity in cooking shows. Women want to be feminine in their kitchen and so I want to make these awesome aprons to show off in the kitchen.

4. What market (group of people) do you see your items being for?

My market is mainly cooks, women, mothers, new brides and other local crafters and artisans who want upscale trendy items. I will be adding some more men’s BBQ aprons in the future.

5. Name your top three:

- Books

Anything by Patricia Cornwell and Jeffery Deaver.
Recently, I am loving the books by Anna Godbersen based in turn of the century New York socialites

- Music (song or artist)

I love most all music so I don’t want to narrow it down to three. This week it may be country, next week rock, then some rockabilly.

- Movies or Television Shows

NCIS, CSI, HOUSE, GREY’S ANATOMY and Project Runway.

- Websites

Google Earth

6. What are your favorite features on Etsy? What new features would you like to see added?

I like the new rearranging feature but my favorite is being able to link to facebook. I network with Facebook directly. This is fun to update for all my Facebook fans.

I would like to be able to build a listing and save it before I actually complete for public view.

This way I can spend a day writing the listings and then add pictures another day. It would help my organization.

7. How do you market your work? What has or hasn’t worked for you in the past?

I am trying everything: Facebook, Twitter, Etsy forums, Featured Seller Chat rooms, local networking, craft shows and Etsy Teams. I am new enough that I won’t say something has not worked yet. In the future I want to start a blog but I have not taken that plunge yet. My goal is before Halloween.

8. What do you like most about the Virtual Labs?

I enjoy the sense of community and support that most Etsians offer. I have met so many helpful and amazing people. I want to continue meeting and helping new members of Etsy.

9. What topics or events would you like to see added to the Virtual Lab offerings?

I would like to add more ship critiques. So many people want their shops critiqued and there never seems to be enough time. Perhaps smaller and more frequent one and one critiques.

Wishlist Wednesday: Fresh Picks from rathina

This Wednesday the lovely rathina was randomly selected to pick any 5 items of her choosing from Etsy. Here goes!

1). First item comes from LittleSidekick. This is her Cotton Crochet Monkey Hat for 0-24mths. rathina says her son would look just adorable in it, and I'm totally betting she is right!

2). This Stained Glass Kitty Business Card Holder comes from Glass2Class and rathina calls it adorable, and says she just loves cats!

3). Continuing to show her love for cats, rathina chooses woodnamesandmore's Custom Corner Cats for her home, saying hubby limits her to 2 kitties so these would be the perfect way to sneak in more.

4). PoshDots' Sea Dreams Hand Painted Wooden Letters would look fabulous in rathina's soon to be finished under the sea master suite, saying she loves these letters by this talented artist.

5). Finally, being a big scrabble fan this Scrabble Family Pillow from designlab443 is going to be bought as soon as rathina's family grows, she says.

Great items, rathina. I'll wrap this up with a lovely switch plate from your shop!