Graduation Gift Guide

First of all, I hope everyone in the America had a good memorial day and a nice long weekend! :) If I am not wrong, it is also graduation season over there right? I have a couple of friends who just graduated from art school. So... what should you get as graduation gifts? Here are a few ideas that are career-inspired.

For the Future Soldier

Vintage WWII Ammunition Box :: DailyMemorandum

Bullet Casing Shell Cufflinks :: Cufflinks

Brave Soldier Magnets :: CreaShines

Ares, Greek Warrior Handmade Soap :: sacredsuds

For the Future Pilot

Vintage WWII Officers Dress Hat :: RattyandCatty

The Aviatrix Necklace :: PoleStar

Silver Wing Alligator Bar Tie Clip :: StJoshua

Upcycled Vintage Samsonite Suitcase :: BrightWall

For the Future Fashion Designer

Vintage Leather-case Measure :: vintageseventyfive

Sewing Machine Polymer Clay Ring :: CreaShines

Dictionary Wooden Spool Necklace :: WoodenNickelsJewelry

Handknit Fingerless Mittens :: KnotOriginal

For the Future Interior Designer

Circle Stems Giclee Print :: EloiseRenouf

Dream Big Photography Print :: magalerie

Black and White Carved Porcelain Lamp :: isabelleabramson

Contemporary Wall Mail Organizer :: PIGandFISH

For the Future Musician

Vintage Music Paper N Brooch :: ismay

The Old Gramophone Shadow Box :: psyboom

Harmonica Necklace :: idlehandsdesigns

Recycled Bronze Guitar Pick :: peachesofindigo

For the Future Movie Director

Solid Wood Folding Director's Chair :: npebaysale

Indiana Jones Promotional Poster :: SaltysPirateDen

Vintage Wind Up 8mm Movie Camera :: shop20max

Director's Clap Board iPhone Case :: Coolbeans717

For the Future Doctor

Remarkable Doctor's Bag :: MsBettiesVintage

Vintage Anatomy Cuff Link :: kimiko611

Vintage Chest Diseases Graduation 1947 Photo :: funretro

Diagram Collage Art Block :: sushipot

For the Future Veterinarian

Ghost Tiger Abstract Design Men's Apparel :: rctees

Chip Off The Ol' Block Print :: Hisss

Shelter Dogs No 24 :: susansabophotography

Liam Collar :: CreatureCollars

For the Future Scientists

Vintage Test Tube Rack :: AMradio

Mouldy Molskine :: elinart

Chocolate Molecule Earrings :: molecularmuse

1940s Botanical Glass Microscope Slides :: OneSpeckledEgg

For the Future Teachers

Chalkboard Tablet :: PegandAwl

1950s Pearlized Mink Cat Eye Eyeglasses :: BoldSparrowVintage

Marble Horse Bookends :: nocarnationshome

Wood Pen Holder Desk Organizer :: lessandmore

For the Future Writer

Handmade Leather Journal :: peaseblossomstudio

My Story Typewriter Note Card :: EvenAndy

Vintage Tan Leather Flats :: VintageEyeFashion

Journal Bandolier :: cleverhands

For the Future Cook

Chef Cutting Board :: newberry

Sienna Skies Small Ceramic Dipping Bowls :: GlazedOver

French Macarons Lustre Print :: ChelseaVictoria

Vintage Wood Salt and Pepper Set :: CheekyChicVintage

Weekly Word Picks - Trains

The wonders of the weekly word picks series is that... I will never expect what to find and what theme it would be before I start my search. :) And today's picks prove that point as I did not expect a theme such as this from the word alone at all. Today's word had been selected by Cecilia from Naked Elements, and her word is...

TRAIN

Cotton Rose Garden Eco Wedding Dress by PureMagnoliaCouture

For the complete Treasury, please follow this link : Let's Elope on a Train

o what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

This week's word was chosen by Cecilia from Naked Elements.

Around the World - Seattle

Whenever I think of Seattle, I was reminded of the movie - Sleepless in Seattle. Though amazingly, I do not remember much about that movie at all! (maybe too old?) I am also reminded of Starbucks, as they started off in Seattle. I'm recently very much in love with their chocolate cream chip frappucino with a dash of hazelnut syrup, yum yum!

Seattle - Space Needle at Night by cateomalley

The search for the best Etsy shops located in Seattle however, was interrupted by a sudden change in Etsy's Shop Local function. But it's okay, I got enough wonderful vendors for my article. :) A few interesting facts to take note of... of all the places I had searched thus far, Seattle has the most amount of underwear/lingerie shops!! For both female and male, and in many different styles too. ;D However, this is a family friendly blog (visual-wise anyway) so unfortunately I had opted to not feature lingerie shops. This is what I did find though...

Before I discovered the existence of screen-printed t-shirts, (which isn't too long ago btw) I always thought t-shirts are always printed. But now that I do, I have a whole new level of fascination to these apparels. Uzura (which means 'quail' in Japanese by the way) is quite exceptional in the art of screen printing. :) Not only that, her organic cotton t-shirts and hemp bags are very eco-friendly too! I love that blue bag with the hydrangea design, if only the hydrangea was white. It would look so lovely. :)

I am quite into geometrical motives lately, whether it is for jewelry, artworks or even sculptures. So I am quite ecstatic when I found Aiguille et fil! The french it means 'needle and thread', how appropriate is that for an apparels shop? :) One thing I love about Aiguille et fil is the consistency of the color usage. It is bright and colorful, but at the same time the palette is limited. It gives the a shop a very consistent look. I also love the way she incorporated the geometric shapes and lines to her clothing. So original!

Still with the theme of geometric shapes, Simbiotek Design Lab has some very interesting wares as well. The two architectural designers (no wonder) offers a variety of wares such as jewelry, coasters and prints of their simple geometric designs. Even though offering a somewhat large range of wares that doesn't seem to have anything to do with each other, they managed to keep their shop looking consistent due to the geometric designs they use. Very simple and effective. :)

The most interesting part of Ada Rosman's jewelry pieces is that they are influenced by her travels. Familiar patterns such as the triskele from Celtic art, floral wycinanki from Poland, the matryoshka from Russia, and even the arrows often found on road signs! I find that one particularly clever. :D It is amazing how she embodies a so many different art cultures into one shop and still make it consistent. I love metalsmiths!

Speaking of metalsmiths, JMcCormick Designs or Julie McCormick, is a self taught metalsmith with the most amazing jewelry. What I love most about her work is her rich, dark textures, and the unique look of her rings. They almost look like those plastic strip thingies that are used to tie up plastic bag sometimes, but a million times classier. Oh yes, did I mention about texture? It makes her jewelry looks almost leather-like in some instances, just simply amazing and extremely unique!

There are soooo many photography shops on Etsy, that I sometimes find them repetitive. (though beautiful) So when I do come across truly unique photography shops such as wavyshell, I get very excited. :) Her macro mushroom photographs as well as other forest floor creepy crawlies are just so enchanting and magical. I am particularly fond of the miniature photographs such as the tiny house in the moss and the table and chair under the mushroom. It was as if little people really exist!

Collages made with vintage ephemera are also one of my favorites lately. :) Unlike last week's Scrapatorium, Heidi Favour's are brighter in color, modern and a little less mind boggling. But with her unique use of colors within a certain color palette, it made her work stand out. My favorite is Specimen B, the collage with the insect in a jar. :D I'm actually surprised though that she has so few sales after so long, makes me wonder why, hmm...

Last but not least, this is probably one of the most amazing crafters I've found on Etsy! Eva Funderburgh is the creator of these really creative and lively 'beasties' as she would like to call them, with woodfired porcelain. I am extremely impressed by her imagination and how lively her beasties are, given the material. Some of them almost looked like they could move! You should read her descriptions too for each beasts, (even her sold ones!) very fun and interesting. :)

Pinterest

I admit it, I am shamelessly addicted to Pinterest. It is basically like a virtual 'pin board' where I pin pictures I like into different boards/folders. I had been pinning for a while now but had never mentioned about it on my blog before, I apologize. :P Here is my pinterest board!

There is just so many gorgeous pictures on Pinterest, and it is never ending as long as people pin. I am particularly attracted to this one photo of a flower arrangement for a wedding that I saw one day, the colors just seem so unique and beautiful...

...that I decided to make a bracelet with colors inspired from it!

Also listed in my Etsy shop.

The flower arrangement photo is from JL Designs. :)

If you want to try Pinterest out, I can throw an invitation your way. Just leave your preferred e-mail address in the comments and I'll send you the invitation. You can choose to login with your Twitter or Facebook account once you got the invitation. :)

Weekly Word Picks - Vegan

A new week, a new word! Before I begin, I find the need to say that the similarity of this week's pick's color scheme with last week's... was totally coincidental! I guess I am in a 'black' mood lately. ;) Anyways, this week's word was picked by the gracious Susmitha from Art by Susmitha, who was featured in last week's post. Her word of choice is...

VEGAN

Vegan Almond Butter Cookies by treehousevegan

For the complete Treasury, please follow this link : Totally Cool and Vegan-Friendly

So what should next week's word be? Suggest by posting in the comments below!

This week's word was chosen by Susmitha from Art by Susmitha.

100 Bracelets!

The first 100 pearl cluster bracelets that I had made! And right now I'm already somewhere in the middle of 100+. Maybe I will be able to reach 200 by the end of 2011. ;) Some of these sold quickly, some did not, some I retook the photos, some still needed new photos.

Funny thing is, the majority of these I was selling as OOAK bracelets, then I realized it was a lot of hassle to take photos and edit every single bracelet. Plus I've had a few requests for bridesmaids gifts and no one seemed to mind if they were OOAK or not. So that's when I decided to have them made to order, instead of OOAK. I will cycle out some of the older designs/colors eventually when I run out of beads of those colors. Hopefully that won't be too soon though. ;)

Around The World - Houston,TX

Houston Studios, Enhanced Photography Print by Zabella Creative

Being a non-American, the first thing that came into my mind when I thought about Houston, Texas, was the imagery of farms, cowboys and country singers. (well, basically, whenever 'Texas' is mentioned, really) Imagine my surprise to see that Houston is actually a pretty darn modern city!

You see and learn something new everyday I guess! (I also found the wiki article of the Houston Mass Murders when I'm researching on Houston, oh my curiosity with serial killers)

Cowboys and serial killers aside, Houston do come with a large variety of artists and crafters too. :) Let's see what I found...

As you probably had known from a previous Around the World post on Greece, I am a sucker for artists that utilizes lines beautifully, and White Octopus is no stranger to that. I love that her theme is rather centralized on octopus and tentacles, although there are other types of animals too. LOVE that painting of the stag, so ghostly and beautiful! I also love the subtle textures and lines that she has going on in the background, it does makes a difference in her paintings. :)

Another artist with gorgeous lines and patterns, lisachow is no less amazing. :) She has a whole different theme and style though, as she draws whimsical and sometimes mind boggling images of houses, butterflies and hearts. I particularly love her works that involve houses and cityscapes. :) Aside from artwork prints, she sells these really interesting DIY cut-out paper buildings too! Yeap you heard that right, instead of paper dolls, they are paper buildings. ;)

My mind was completely boggled when I found Scrapatorium! The good type of boggled! I always have a keen interest on oddities and things that stirs one's thoughts. Pretty images are well... pretty to look at. But these collage artworks by the talented Angelica Paez just goes one step further by making you think. How clever is that collage with the cut out doily an a man in the center, smoking? But then you think... something as pretty and innocent as a doily is actually cigarette smoke (something negative) in this piece. Oh the irony~

Jay Marroquin's works are also extremely mind boggling! His photo series "Hate!!" sends a strong message of the darker side of mankind, very thought provoking. When I found his shop, I knew on the spot that I must feature his work! I've never seen photography like this before on Etsy. All of his photos depict a scene that was happening, instead of just a single subject. These scenes were very well thought out and every single detail is just simply amazing!

This shop would be perfect for people that loves to DIY and are looking for more interesting options instead of the free ones that people could find online and everyone seem to be doing. A Little Hut, run by the amazing Patricia Zapata, is a shop that sells pdf printables for various paper products, ranging from gift tags to candle cover! Her designs are very well thought out and the presentation is just perfect. I almost felt sad that they were only printables, as I am the type that are lazy to do DIY things most of the time haha.

I love the shop intro to this Etsy shop, "You are unique, shouldn't your furniture be unique too!" Really does makes me feel special and unique. :) Jalex Studios makes modern and contemporary housewares and home decors. I just love the simple designs of his products, they look like they would fit perfectly right into a modern five star hotel. (I hope one contact you soon ;D ) Love the Levi modern vase!

I sure do love me some cute sewn goodies! Betsy Wynn is one of them, and it is not hard to fall in love with her wares. :) Two facts that I love about her shop - The first one is that they are colorful, and I love her use of color combinations and textures, makes her purses and handbags look really cute! The second fact is that she keeps her shop consistent with her bird and deer embroideries. It does adds that little charm to her work and that much more likeable! :) Love her little deer~

Last but not least, the only jewelry seller in this post! Orange is the sun (what an interesting name) makes really interesting textile jewelry. Her designs are very simple, but made exciting with dashes of bright colors. I think this is what made her work so unique. :) I just love her color selections for some of her pieces, just so fun and cheerful!

My First Returned Package

Just look at how tattered it is! Definitely went through quite some wear and tear considering that it traveled the world in one full round. I'm just glad that the envelope is still in one piece!

As I ship via registered mail, my packages will need signatures to be received, either by family members or the recipient themselves. When the package is undelivered the postman will bring it back to the post office. And if not claimed for one month, it will be kicked back to the return address. Which is what happened here.

I already contacted the buyer and she said she did not find any notices. I've heard a lot of stories like these about USPS's services - lazy to go up some stairs to deliver a package, so left notice to neighbor below who probably tossed it. Claimed they left a notice but didn't etc. It's frustrating really, since it probably ended up with a package being kicked back to where it came from and I need to send it again.

So had you had any bad experiences with USPS before? This is your chance to rant. :P