Etsy Finds - Marine Edition!

I love things that have to do with the sea. I love the sounds and smells of the ocean and visiting all sorts of shores and beaches. One of my favorite activities is snorkeling - in my opinion the best way to experience the wonders of marine life. So, this week I am featuring some of my favorite Etsy listings from under (or close to!) the sea.

Starfish and Pearl Necklace

I love this delicate little necklace in blustarfruit's shop featuring a starfish and two little pearls.



Tide Pool

Isn't this print fun?! I swear I can just hear the bubbles well, bubbling on up when I look at this adorable painting by HollyvisionArt. Definitely go check out the shop - there are tons of adorable, fun, whimsical paintings!



Lifeguard Tower

This photo from AlisonTravels really caught my eye. I think the colors are extraordinary and I remember seeing those beat up Long Beach lifeguard towers.



Suzy the Blue Octopus

This makes me smile! She's called Suzy and was knit by AracneForKids. What a darling little toy for a baby!



I hope you enjoyed this week's features!

Etsy Finds - Madrid and Morocco Edition!

I am planning a trip to Spain soon. Nothing is set in stone yet, so no details, but as I research areas in Southern Spain, as well as easily accessible Morocco, I am getting excited. So excited I get plagued by the over-use of commas!

Inspired by my newfound interest in this part of the world, I've been browsing Etsy as well for some handmade arts and crafts made in or inspired by Spain and Morocco.

Flamenco Necklace

Seville is one of the cities I am interested in visiting. Known as the birthplace of Flamenco, Seville is the capital of Andalusia and the home of great culture, art, and nightlife.

This beautiful necklace by tinatarnoff captures the romantic and flamboyant flamenco by providing a glimpse into a special moment. I love the detail on the chain as well as the pendant.



Spanish Inspired Art

I love these next two pieces. Both have different styles, but I think they capture the essence of Southern Spain.

"Barcelona Balcony by marywibis is a framed oil painting inspired by the artist's own stay at a Barcelona hostel. It really draws you in doesn't it?



Love this next one by artquirk. This shop has the most precious paintings and prints, many of them featuring famous European locales.

"Sunny Spain" shows a lovely scene of typical Southern Spanish architecture, and it really makes me want to poke around amongst the pretty little buildings.



Let's move south! From several ports in the Southern part of Spain, it's relatively easy to hop on a ferry and go across the Straights of Gibraltar into Morocco. I am all about this - I love opportunities to see different kinds of places and get to new countries and continents! While I have already been to Africa, Roberto hasn't, and neither of us have been to Morocco.

I am really excited to try the food there, and basically, to rock the casbah! Sorry.

Traditional Zouaq

I had to google "zouaq" when I saw this listing; it's a traditional Moroccan style of painting. moroccanmade has some gorgeous pieces of this stuff, and it really captures the style I envision Morocco. This listing was one of my favorites.



Cute T-shirt

mothwritten's shop (the product of a Moroccan-American marriage :)) has t-shirts for a cause. They are encouraging dialogue with the Arabic speaking world to try to bridge the gap between east and west.

This one says "Kiss me I'm Irish" in Arabic, and I think it's adorable! Perfect for St. Patty's day!



Side Note:Their cause is also in support of Sudanese refugees, many who speak Arabic, who have moved to the United States. I recently discussed a documentary on the subject, "God Grew Tired of US," over on my travel blog. It was an issue I knew nothing about, despite the events taking place very very recently. There were transplanted Sudanese living right in my hometown of Pittsburgh featured in the film.

I hope you all enjoyed this week's feature. Definitely go check out these fabulous listings and shops!

New Section of Tiny Paintings!

After lots of positive feedback from this post and asking around on the Etsy forums, I decided to list the little tiny paintings in a Brand New Etsy Section on BrazilianCanvas.

So far I have listed 3 little guys.

Here is "Mountain Path."



Next is "Cottage Reflection." I love the detail in this one!



Finally, one of my favorites, "Wheatfield."



I hope you enjoy these little Mini Originals as much as I've been!

Etsy Finds - Feline Edition!

I keep finding so many fun things on Etsy that it's hard to choose what I want to feature. Since I haven't figured out how to make a treasury just yet, I wanted to feature a few things I've been drooling over lately!

This week's theme: The Cats of Etsy!

I am a big cat lover, with two kitties of my own, Kiki and Freddie. I love meeting new cats, and even volunteer at a local shelter to socialize (play with) the homeless kitties so they will be more adoptable :). I enjoy picking up little kitty cat knick knacks here and there, and love browsing Etsy for cute cats too.

Stained Glass Suncatcher

I absolutely love this orange kitty suncatcher over at livingglassart. I think the piece really captures this pretty kitty's personality and I love the design.



If cats aren't your thing (then you probably haven't even read this far) this shop makes tons of other styles of stained glass suncatchers.

Vinyl Decal


You just get the backside of this fat tabby cat. My kitties do the same thing when they are mad at me... Too cute! HouseHoldWords makes lots of fun decals like this and also takes custom orders!



Beaded Choker

I love this one by Gilliauna. This silver plated kitty cat makes the most adorable necklace!



Cat Toy!

Here's one FOR the kitties! I just love this little leopard print catnip mouse over at Doodlebug Duds. My cats go nuts for little mice like these! I love how this one is fuzzy!



Ok, one more!

Cat ACEO

I think this ACEO reproduction of an original watercolor piece totally captures the essence of a "street" cat! christydekoning's shop has the ACEOs priced to sell at just $5, with a special offer of 3 for $10. She has lots of others to choose from!



I hope you enjoy these Etsy kitty cats as much as I did!

Left Behind

This poor painting is getting left behind in Etsy views, so I want to give it a little love!




This piece is titled "Neuvas da Manha" in Portuguese, or Morning Fog. Reg kept explaining to me his "perspecTIVE" while we looked over this painting. He showed me where the light would be coming from and how he made it realistic with the light and shadows.

While I photographed, he pointed out how he carefully painted the light so it danced on the trees and rocks, and created shadows to portray the morning sun just rising up over the mountains.

I love the waterfall as a focal point - I can almost feel the cool mountain water running over the rocks, not quite in the sunlight just yet. It's still cold and un-tame this time of day, before the sunlight warms and brightens it up. Gives me a little chill, I must admit.



The fog is lifting and soon it will be a bright and beautiful day, but this is a special moment. This is the moment where the shadows have not yet retreated, and the eerie fog has not quite risen. I think the painting captures that special moment where the morning light is sacred, almost not of this world.

I hope you enjoy this work as much as I do!

Real Life Etsy!

I got out of the cold for a few days and spent this past weekend in Laguna Beach, California. This adorable little seaside town just south of Los Angeles is full of quaint little art shops, galleries, decor stores, vintage shops, and cute restaurants. I had a great time wandering around the streets, thinking Laguna Beach was like a real life Etsy! There were arts and crafts of all shapes, sizes, and designs. It's a beautiful setting for some very inspiring pieces!

This window display was in a store full of little hand-painted Russian nesting dolls. There were dolls of all designs and sizes, including this owl display.



This was the studio gallery of artist Wyland, who is famous for his marine life art and whale walls. His work is quite beautiful!



This gallery had a nice variety of paintings.



I especially enjoyed this artist's work. Argentine painter Fabian Perez. I found his art to be very passionate.



This adorable little restaurant courtyard caught my eye. This kind of outdoor space is very popular in the area. Many patios and courtyards also have nooks with chairs surrounding pretty little fire pits.



This little home decor shop had so many whimsical pieces for your place! I especially enjoyed the garden inspired items.



Laguna Beach is a lovely place to visit, and is especially nice for those that appreciate arts, boutique shops, and creative stores and restaurants. As a bonus, you can't beat the scenery, with the beautiful blue Pacific crashing in the background.

Any Feedback?

Reginaldo loves to paint adorable little scenes on little pieces of tile and things. I have quite a few of these cute little guys kicking around the house, and thought some of them might sell on Etsy.

I am looking for some ways to get some lower priced items in the shop, since I know many people just can't be spending hundreds of dollars on original wall hangings. I will also be looking into prints soon.

Anyway, please let me know what you think!







I could see doing a series of these. Currently I have 5 lined up on my mantle.







Note: the "tiles" are about 3" by 5" and a little imperfect in shape. I think it gives them character.

New Blog!

Bom dia! I decided to start this blog for a few reasons. One is to be more involved in the Etsy community, so I can feature some artists and crafters I have found. Another is to continue to promote our Etsy Store. But, I think the main reason is to have a forum to get a little more personal in the community. Let people get to know us, and get to know other Etsians outside the constraints of a shop.

So, I have written two about pages where hopefully you will get a better idea of who we are. Please see above for the links to those pages.

Finally, since I am totally snowed in right now here in Pittsburgh, I thought I would suggest a snowy painting for some snowy snowy weather.

I hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

~~Alone in Winter~~ Original Oil Painting (15.7 by 19.7 in)






One of my favorites!