A charming glass locket and a beautiful butterfly ring

I just got this wonderful clear glass memory locket from the Etsy shop PoPkO, and I am in love! It is the coolest thing.



You can put whatever you want in it—flowers, leaves, photos, notes, a lock of hair, whatever you want.



And the great thing is you can change what's in it if you want, and show something else in your pretty locket. I chose a pretty yellow flower from my front yard to start off (a buttercup, perhaps?), which dried nice and flat within the confines of the glass.



Another goody from PoPkO that arrived yesterday was this custom butterfly wing ring. It is a beautiful bright yellow color, and looks so lovely on my finger. (This is not my hand, it's from the sale listing, but it shows the ring better than my picture does.)



And no, the wings aren't pulled off the poor butterflies, but instead harvested after they have lived out their lives. From the shop:

All of my butterfly wings are from a Butterfly Conservation garden where the butterflies live in a happy garden until they naturally expire. The gardens collect the wings and I make jewelry with them. I feel this is a great way to recycle these wings so people can appreciate them long after their time. Eco friendly!



I already own a gorgeous Keepsake Glass and Sterling Silver Necklace with a Real Butterfly Wing in it. I have the Cairns Birdwing, which is similar to the one on the lower right. I wear it all the time and get lots of compliments on it. What's really great is that it's two sided, so you can see a little bit of beauty from both sides.

And Crystal, the shop owner, is a wonderful person to work with. She was very patient and helpful when she assisted me in designing my custom ring. And I couldn't be happier with the results. I highly recommend stopping by and checking out her shop.

You And I Both

Go check out Dallas Shaw's Etsy shop, where this print entitled "You And I Both" is available in lovely candy-like colors, including this sunny lemon yellow.





Shameless Self-Promotion Alert! I took the photos for the yellow print, which were featured on Dallas's blog, Dilly Dallas, as well as Joanna Goddard's blog, A Cup of Joe. And yeah, that's my dog Spanky in the top photo. What a well-behaved little model he is!

Kathy Roussel handmade jewelry

I happened to pop over by Etsy to check out what new things they're featuring, and I saw these pretty dangly earrings featured on the front page.



There's something quite lovely about their irridescent gold shimmer and offbeat shape that is quite appealing to me.

I also adore this line drawing necklace



and this autumn leaf necklace



(which are out of my price range, but still cool), and this sweet flower ring



which is quite delicate and nice.

They're all from a shop called Kathy Roussel handmade jewelry. Feel free to check it out, although don't say I didn't warn you that you'll be tempted.

Someone should drag me away from my laptop so I'm not allowed to look at such things. I might be tempted to accidentally drop one of those gorgeous pieces of jewelry into my little Etsy shopping cart...and I won't be held responsible for what happens after that. That's all I'm sayin'.

esdesigns—Elizabeth Scott Botanical Jewelry

I love the shop called esdesigns (Elizabeth Scott Botanical Jewelry) and everything in it. I think this ginkgo ring has been in my favorites list for ages. I keep meaning to buy one of these lovely pieces, but never seem to get around to it. And of course money is tight at the moment, but I still like to window shop every once in a while...

John Clark: pen and ink in words and images

Love these bold and powerful portraits? Well, you're not alone. The work of gifted artist John Clark is featured in the November issue of Domino, along with other rather talented portrait artists. Upon first view I was blown away by his sheer talent and imagination, and I loved his fresh take on the traditional portrait. Clark takes random pages from books and draws portraits right over the words, leaving key phrases highlighted. His style is very graphic and minimalist, yet I think there is an element of whimsy and the tongue-in-cheek in his work. And you can request a custom portrait, too, which would be insanely cool to have or to give. Check out his Etsy shop and see for yourself.

(Images courtesy of John Clark)

Digital art by John W. Golden: Vintage techniques made modern

I love the work of John W. Golden and its quirky mix of vintage and modern. I own several of the dog prints (but no cats yet), plus a bird print I won during one of his promotions (check out the entire collage series). This Vespa print is fabulous (the closest I will probably get to having one) and I love his series of "By Order of Management" signs. I think I should put this one in my kitchen. And I looooove the Polaroid image too. Isn't that so fun?

ShySiren vintage-style accessories

ShySiren is one of those Etsy shops I stumbled upon while I was recently looking for vintage jewelry. And vintage is definitely what you think of when you see this gorgeous shop full of wonderfully delicate and beautiful earrings. Everything from dainty dangling flowers to modern metals and crystals is for sale, and they all are handcrafted and one of a kind. I can't seem to pick out a favorite pair, but I definitely have several I wouldn't mind having!

PoPkO

I LOVE this Etsy shop called PoPkO. There are some really fabulous finds here, including authentic butterfly wing pendants, which are made with the wings of butterflies that live at a nature conservatory until they naturally expire. I have one of these beautiful pieces, and the neat thing is there's a different wing that's visible on each side of the pendant. They're truly beautiful. I've just put in an order for a similar pendant made with real leaves, which is absolutely stunning. You can get other things at PoPkO too, like funky glass rings, fused glass pendants, and even dried lavender.

Don't forget to check out her blog!

Lariat and other pretty baubles from L Ria Jewelry

I wore this lariat today, which was given to me several years ago by my friend Katie. I got lots of compliments on it at work, and people were asking me where I got it from. The lady who made it has an Etsy shop called L Ria Jewelry, which is empty at the moment. But you can probably email her and ask about any upcoming pieces arriving in her shop, or whether she can make you a custom piece. This is a bracelet that she recently sold, which is similar to my lariat.



(Photo taken with my iPhone; photo of bracelet courtesy L Ria Jewelry)

Blogs of Note: The ethereal photography of Alicia Bock from Bloom, Grow, Love

If you have any love of photography and would like to be inspired and delighted beyond words, then you should check out Bloom, Grow, Love. I stumbled upon a link to this blog while reading a post about Alicia Bock's photography on another blog. And let me say I can't get enough. I am blown away by her use of color, compostiion, focus (or lack thereof), and even a vintage-style vignette affect, achieved by using a Kodak Duaflex lens—see my post about it here. I bought one of her prints several months ago entitled "Unruly" from her Etsy shop, and I have gotten several compliments on it from visitors to my home, even though I haven't framed it yet and it's just propped up on my Magic Chef stove right now. There's a real sense of serenity, light, and magic in her photographs, and I think it also comes through in her writing. Definitely bookmark Bloom, Grow, Love on your browser...you'll find yourself eagerly checking for new additions to her brilliant collection of work, as well as what's new in her life.

(Photos courtesy/copyright Alicia Bock)

Orange Peel Enamel

These are some of the necklaces I got at Orange Peel Enamel, a really cool Etsy shop that I discovered last year. The pendants all have a very funky, artistic vibe to them, and they are totally bold and graphic looking. I love how unique they all are, and I get compliments on them all the time. (Today I'm wearing the horse pendant.)

Bumble bee pendant

I just bought this from Etsy at a shop called chinaberry. You can find lots of very cool vintage-style necklackes there, and the prices are pretty good.

Beetlelady Books journals

I saw a link on another blog I'm currently reading for these really unique journals. They're from an Etsy shop called Beetlelady Books. I love the songbird and the map journals. It would be neat to get a Hawaii journal, since Pete and I are going there for our honeymoon.

"Unruly" print by Alicia Bock

Isn't this incredible? I purchased it last night from Alicia Bock's Etsy shop. It was hard deciding which print I wanted, they're all so magnificent. She is so talented and very much an inspiration to me and my passion for photography. Take a moment (or many) to see her blog, Bloom, Grow, Love.

Never stop being inspired, and never stop inspiring others.

(Photo courtesy Alicia Bock)