Merry Christmas from Etsy

I was thinking about what kind of a post I’d put together before Christmas. I’d been wanting to do a full on post about Etsy for a while now. What with it being a major time for gift buying I thought I might highlight a few sellers who’ve helped me get the perfect gift.

If you don’t know Etsy its a website where people can buy and sell handmade goods. In some respects its a very american orientated site, however there are plenty of sellers from the UK and even from throughout Europe.

To me the beauty of it is you can get a great unique gift thats perfectly one of a kind and you’re paying the artist directly rather than having to give a large percentage to the gallery.

First up is celestefrittata from Bari in Italy. My mum is a massive Harry Potter fan and she often carries around notebooks in her bag. With this in mind I thought she’d love one of these screen printed notebooks.

I deliberated for a long time over which one to get her and whittled it down to Dark Arts and Spells and Charms. In the end I went with Spells and Charms.

I also ordered an Owl Post gift wrapping bag as an alternative to wrapping paper for an awkwardly shaped present. The design on it was incredibly cute and I also got a free Daily Prophet reporter badge!

Being a very crafty family I usually try and get at least one craft related gift and this year it was some hand dyed Falkland roving for spinning.

I spent ages looking at sellers on Etsy trying not only to get the best quality, price but also the right colours! The shop I kept coming back to was FeltStudioUK run by Daniela Kloppmann in Leeds.

Along with spinning tops she also has beautiful pre spun yarns in a variety of weights, colours and even has luxury yarns. Also its great to support crafting in the UK through a purchase.

As a designer I really value a good notebook and you can get some great hand made leather books on Etsy. I found EarthworksJournals which I think are probably the best notebook binders on Etsy in the UK at the moment.

When I made my order I was actually asked to wait for it since there was such a high demand and upon receiving it I can certainly see why! In fact I was slightly begrudged to give it away as a gift.

Samantha and Jason run the shop online from Northampton in the UK and their work makes its way through craft fairs, country shows and even on TV. Featuring a journal on BBC childrens programme ‘Sorcerers Apprentice’.

A while ago I bought myself a necklace from mrd74 a polished pewter ravens skull. Its one of my favourite pieces of jewellery, my dad decided that he wanted one too.

So I bought him the bronzed ravens skull because somehow in my mind I decided that bronze was more manly than shiney silver pewter.

Anyway I can’t recommend mrd74 highly enough because even though they’re in Canada shipping is surprisingly speedy. And I even added the who’s who in hooville necklace to my christmas list!

I’d also like to thank the buyers who’ve spend their hard earned money on the things I’ve created this year in a shameless plug for my own Etsy store – LittleWrenPottery. It recently got a feature on the Boho Birdie blog during the 12 days of Christmas.

So next time you’re looking for the perfect gift why don’t you give Etsy a try

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