Item: Handmade Mother’s Day Card
Seller: Printster

Wow, really digging the style of Rozemarijn Oudejans, the artist behind an Etsy shop called Printster.  This shop was introduced to me via my Etsy Item of the Day shop submission page.

My favorite item in this shop is this lovely (and super simple) Mother’s Day card.  I think Etsy.com is a great place to shop for holiday cards. They are affordable (this card is $5.00) and it’s an easy way to start incorporating the handmade lifestyle into your life – as well as others.  Buying, living, and selling handmade is very simple – but you have to start somewhere!

You can see some of my favorite handmade cards here on my Pinterest board.

“I’m a graphic artist from The Netherlands, living an working in Ottawa, Canada for he past 6 years,” Rozemarijn told me. ”I work as a graphic designer for a nation wide not-for-profit organisation and I’m nuts about printmaking. I do woodcuts, linocuts and etchings, inspired by nature and the world I see around me. There’s no end to the inspiration and sometimes I drive myself crazy with all the ideas in my head. If only I had 4 hands and there were 50 hours in a day!”

I was so in love with Rozemarijn’s colorful and fun handmade cards, I thought I’d share her entire card section!

I’m always interested in hearing what Etsy sellers like to do when they are not crafting for their shop.

“I love to go outdoors and hike, bike, cross country ski and skate,” Rozemarijn shared. ”Ottawa is the best place in the world for that: lots of biking paths, Gatineau Park nearby and the longest skating rink in the world on the Rideau Canal. I’m ready for winter!”

I asked Rozemarijn where she likes to shop on Etsy.com and she told me about riosalidaart.

“I’m a big fan of Sherrie York’s prints. Her linocuts and woodcuts are amazingly skillful and beautiful, with lots of layers and colours. I especially admire her reduction prints, a technique I still want to try myself.”

“Another favourite shop is atelier28,” she added.  ”Beautiful prints from my home country.”

I loved hearing Rozemarijn’s advice to other Etsy sellers:

“Do what you love to do, make what you love to make, work hard and the rest will follow,” she said. So true!

Do you love Rozemarijn’s Etsy shop as much as I do? Be sure to check out her website and visit her Facebook page for her shop!

- Jackie

Item: From Here to Dublin Print
Seller: HopSkipJumpPaper

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

If you’re a nerd like me, you may have wondered how St. Patrick’s Day came about.

Here’s a snipit from History.com all about the holiday:

“St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, the saint’s religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century,” the site reads. “The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over 1,000 years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink and feast–on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.”

Interested in learning more? Read about the first St. Patrick’s Day parade, the annual dyeing of the Chicago River, and many more fun holiday traditions here.

- Jackie

Item: Handmade Paper Flowers
Seller: DragonflyExpression

I’m a fan of a dozen red roses just as much as the next pretty lady, but here’s the thing… flowers aren’t always eco-friendly.

By their very nature, flowers seem to be 100 percent “green,” or eco-friendly. But not all flowers are equally Earth-friendly in the ways they’re grown, harvested and distributed.

I read about this problem (as well as found some fun solutions here.)

A few factors that make flowers eco-friendly is if they’re watered efficiently and aren’t treated with pesticides. Eco-friendly buyers must also consider how far the arrangements will have to travel, as well as the packaging and materials that might be required for the arrangements.

While browsing Etsy.com, I found a pretty cool shop with an interesting alternative to non-green flowers – paper flowers!  They’ll last a heck of a lot longer and I find the handmade aspect of these flowers to be really endearing.

Not a fan of the red roses pictured above? Here are some other listings I liked:

A bit of a different take on Valentine’s Day bouquets, but I think they are rad!

- Jackie

Item: Valentine’s Day Gifts
Seller: Various Etsy Sellers

I saw this cute page Etsy.com set up to highlight great handmade Valentine’s Day gifts. If you have someone special to pick up a gift for this February 14th, Etsy is a great place to start.

There are tons of great gift ideas highlighted here.  Check out some of my favorites:

Above are a 3 pear set of cute polymer clay pears from Etsy seller SkyeArt. Loving these because they are not only a sweet surprise for a loved one, but a cool year to year decor item! They are selling for $21.00 – great price, right!?

This fun headband is perfect for a Valentine’s Day dinner. The Etsy shop selling this hair accessory is called Byrdferth, so go check it out!

If you’re shopping for a guy, we all know gift giving can be really hard. I have been seeing fingerless gloves on men all week during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and I think they are really cool (and functional!) Visit Etsy’s MoonHalo for more info on these gloves.

Best of luck shopping for Valentine’s Day! In the coming days, I will be sure to let you know if I come across other great ideas for gifts!

- Jackie