Friday Feature Number 7

Good Morning folks,

Ok, you know the score, It's Friday which means Feature which means a cool shop with 0 sales which means you check them out and marvel at their talent.

So lets get down to business.

Today's shop is Fox and the Owl.

Now, I'm quite partial to a good tie. I love seing my husband wear one and I like wearing them myself from time to time. Imagine then my excitement when I found this shop. Oh.My.God I love her ties. They are just brilliant. She rescues vintage ties and makes them into......well....ummm....Oh have a look yourself....

This one is my favourite. I think, but actually I really like this one too..

Let's hear from the seller..

My name is Hermione, I just moved to chilly Angel in London from sunny Perth in Western Australia. I love the patterns on vintage fabrics, especially paisley, and they aren't found anywhere better than ties. Same goes for shiny polyesters, pure silks, thick pure wools, brooches, diamontes and other shiny things.I'm amused that the little variations in a tie dictate the fashion statement a man makes! and have made my things to let the ladies in on this...My favourite music - house, funk and soul, the Perth based Friday, Mama Cass and of course Shifty Translation.

See, she's cool,

Go have a look, tell her I sent you..

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Remember me?



Have you missed me?



I have been up to my big brown eyes in loads of very busy things which is why you haven't heard from me in soooooooooo long! But here I am and guess what?



It's FFFFRRRRIIIIDDDAAAAAAYYYY?



Yep, Friday Feature day, for those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, every Friday I choose a shop with 0 sales and do a feature on them. Some shops have even had a sale!



So, who have I got for you this week I hear you all yell?



Well, actually my husband found this shop and insisted I feature it. It didn't take much persuasion as you will see it's a great little shop.



The name in question is EmmieBean. She makes these delightful digital illustrations inspired by vintage 1960s photographs. They are full of colour and each one seems to tell a story or maybe two. Check out my favourite...

I think this one would look particularly nice hanging in my lounge!

Lets hear from the artist,

Who are you? My name is Sadie Raber. I run the etsy shop EmmieBean, which was named after my kitty, Emma. She is a sweet feline companion who prefers very strange foods, including cantaloupe, yogurt, and pad thai noodles!

Where are you from? I was born in Hawaii, but I was raised in Thousand Oaks and now live in Santa Barbara, California!

What do you do? The work I promote on etsy are my illustrations that are based on quirky 1960s vintage photographs. For my day job, I am a graphic designer who specializes in editorial design and I also instruct a class at the University of California Santa Barbara about how to design a magazine.

What else do you do? For fun, I love to take road trips along Highway 1, drink wine, peruse magazines, make sock monsters and other crafty things, walk around the neighborhood, and watch movies.

What/Who influences you? I have always been fascinated with vintage family photographs, and can often be found sifting through my relatives' old 1960s and 70s albums looking for potential material for my illustrations (They aren't always that keen on me painting them when they had afros and dolphin shorts, but I think they are flattered nonetheless). I also love anything whimsical, anything Swiss, and anything white!

What is your favourite colour? It all depends on what the project is. Red and pastels for illustrations, and white for interior design, clothing design, and craft projects!

What music are you currently listening to? Fleetwood Mac is back on tour in the U.S. so I have been a little obsessed lately. When I illustrate, I generally listen to The Sea and Cake or Iron & Wine because they relax me.

Who is your favourite Etsy shop? I find new favorites by the hour. Today I stumbled upon an illustrator named ashleyg whose work is fantastic.

So there you have it, go and check her out, she even does requests! How cool is that?

See ya!

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Friday Feature Number Six!

Morning Campers!



It's Friday, it's Feature time, it's another shop with 0 sales!!



Let's see what we have got today.....



Today's shop is bizarro. The shop is full of 18th-19th century vintage prints that have been long lost or forgotten about and most of which haven't even seen the light of day in the past 100 years until now. The prints are wierd, wonderful and sometimes slightly disturbing. Either way I love this shop, I love the feel of this shop and the strange world it takes you to.




Let's see what they have to say

Who are you? A caveman in a spaceship!

Where are you from? Born and raised in The Pacific Northwest of the United States.

What do you do? I'm an artist and animator. I make things fly around on TV screens for a living. I also like collecting and discovering weird things. With the exception of the one time I was at the beach and thought I had found a really interesting rock when a friend informed me that it was actually an old piece of dog poop!

What else do you do? I like building terrariums. It's very relaxing. I can imagine myself living inside one someday once shrink rays are invented.

What/Who influences you? I love anyone who has the ability to conjure up strange, magical world's and make them a reality. There are so many. Jim Henson is a good example.

What is your favourite colour? Turquoise has always grabbed my eye for some reason but I almost only ever wear black or neutral tones. I paint or color mostly in pastel colors. I don't think I have a favorite. I think more about what colors look best for the subject.

What music are you currently listening to? Mostly ABBA and Black Sabbath interchangeably. Sometimes simultaneously for maximum effect.

Who is your favourite Etsy shop? I really like misanthrope.etsy.com and his custom portraits that are purposefully unflattering.

So there you have it. Check out Bizarro's shop and have a nose, it's strangely addictive.

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Friday Feature Number Five!

It's Friiiiiiiidaaaaaaaay!!!!

Oh and you know what that means, oh yes indeedy.

So, who do I have for you this week I hear you scream (through one ear as the other ear is still blocked)?

It is Humusjan! He is a very talented illustrator from Jerusalem. His prints are quirky and somewhat surreal. He is well worth checking out. I especially love the Russian Dancers...

Here he is ......

Who are you? My name is David Roy Margalit

Where are you from? I am from Jerusalem, Isarel

What do you do? I am a visual communication student, specialized in illustration

What else do you do? I am a great hoster and my house is open to everyone all the time

What/Who influences you? I am influence by feelings, now i am influent from my girlfriend

What is your favourite colour? My favorite colour is black

What music are you currently listening to? I am listening alot to van morisson, nick drake, ahova ozeri - a singer and songwriter that she is playing on hindoo instrument that she learned from ravi shankari

Who is your favourite Etsy shop? I really love tushtush shop

So there you have it. Go and visit him, go on, tell him I sent you........

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Friday Feature Number Four!

Good Morning Folks!

It's Friday and you know what that means....Friday Feature! (You know the drill, I find an amazing shop which has 0 sales, you go check them out and maybe, just maybe pop their first sale cherry..?)

So, anyway this week let me introduce to you Post Modern Frog. He is a very funny cartoonist and I found him purely by accident on a day I needed cheering up.

His work has been seen in Best American Comics 2008, American Illustration 26, and Nickelodeon Magazine among others so you see, he is already very good. His pictures are hilarious and cleverly drawn and he also makes a selection of cuffs and collers that need checking out too.

Let's hear what he has to say,

Who are you? My name is Evan Larson. I'm a cartoonist, painter and illustrator.

Where are you from? Originally from outside Washington D.C., I now live in Providence, RI.

What do you do? I work a retail job part-time while I work on my drawings and comics. I'm currently working on an animation project with some friends in Los Angeles.

What else do you do? I also teach part time at Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, MA.

What/Who influences you? I like things that make me laugh. I've been a huge fan of comics for years so I have a variety of influences including Daniel Clowes, Peter Bagge, Sam Henderson— among many others. I also love black and white pen and ink work.

What is your favourite colour? Various shades of brown. There's a brown to compliment every color. I like that.

What music are you currently listening to? Ah! I'm really into this group from Monterey, Mexico called Bam Bam. I've had the latest album by the Swedish band Love Is All on heavy rotation. A lot of louder stuff too— Nightingales, Dirtbombs and Volcano Suns. I'm into so many things really; I could go on and on.

Who is your favourite Etsy shop? I'm still so new to the Etsy community, it's hard to say. I think my friend Maris Wicks' shop is really fun. She makes these great super-hero dolls. mariswicks.etsy.com. Of course I'm fond of my fiancé's shop as well. burrowburrow.etsy.com

Oh one more thing, all profits from his shop are going towards his wedding!

Seriously though, he is really good and did I mention, bloody funny.

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Friday Feature Number Three!!

OOOoooooohhhhhh have I got a good one for you this week!

(Hello by the way)

So this weeks shop, (which has had unbelievably 0 sales) is James Keniston. He lives in California but is originally from the U.K. He is an extremly talented artist who somehow, is able to make very technical, detailed, drawings of buildings look simple, blissful and beautiful.

There is something about his style that makes me keep going back to nose around in his shop and marvel at his work. I suggest you do the same, I promise you will not want to leave in a hurry.

Lets hear from the great man himself -

Who are you? I am James Keniston, a 26 year old artist (painter).

Where are you from? Originally from London, England, until I moved to southern California last year to settle with my wife.

What do you do? My main area of interest is in painting - oils and watercolour - and I am currently focusing on architectural renderings. The built environment is a kind of jumping-off point for my painting that allows me to explore line, colour, shape and form. But I have dabbled in portraiture and landscape similarly.

What else do you do? Currently I am a full-time artist but I have also worked in the visual arts for about 3 years as a studio assistant to various artists and a gallery technician putting up exhibitions etc.

What/who influences you? I always seem to find something inspirational in my surroundings so a lot of my work is a response to this. Nature, architecture and travel are probably things that inspire me most. I am a fan of artists such as Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg and Peter Doig - big painters!

What is your favourite colour? I gravitate towards blues a lot.

What music are you currently listening to? One of my favourite bands is the Black Kids. The new Coldplay album has become a favourite too.

Who is your favourite Etsy shop? sweetpeastudios.etsy.com is my wife's store - she makes great jewellery incorporating her photography. I also came across CB78.etsy.com the other week - a very talented illustrator doing great work.

So, go and have a look, and while you are there, go and check out his wife too, it is also a gorgeous shop,- wow, imagine what it must be like in their house, two talented people under one beautifully drawn roof...........

Keep up the good work James!

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Friday Feature Number Two!!

Watcha,

Well it's that time of week again when I feature a shop with 0 sales!

As I searched through the lonely, cold and forgotten shops of Etsy, it didn't take me long to find this hidden treasure. The shop is called Zando. They make gift cards and button badge sets. They are fun and quirky with cleverly thought out designs.

Here are my favourites!

Lets hear from Zando herself! -

Who are you? Zando is myself, Zoe, and my partner Dan, although at the moment it is only my work appearing on Etsy.

Where are you from? I'm from Hobart, Tasmania (Australia) originally, and have returned here via a 13 year detour in Melbourne! Dan is from Ballarat, in country Victoria (an hour or so from Melbourne) but is now in the clutches of Tasmania as well!

What do you do? For the moment, I am mostly a full-time parent to our 1yr son, though I come from a mongrel background of illustration and graphic art, linguistics and Spanish and odd-jobbing. Dan is a librarian-turned-furniture designer, and is studying full-time to that end. If by what do you do, you mean, what do I make for Etsy, well for the moment it is just a range of original handmade button badges and some handmade cards of my own photos. The photos are rather close to my heart. The character, Stella, is a bit of a pint-sized alter ego for me, who asks the questions from the existential to the utterly vacuous that I ask myself on a regular basis! However, there are handmade bibs coming up soon, inspired by my son's copious reflux as a younger tot! We have loads of ideas, it is mostly a matter of negotiating child-free time to make and fine-tune things.

What else do you do? Outside of parenting and making, I am a life model, a pram-walker, a reader, and can be seen regularly haunting my local library!

What/who influences you? I really like the work of Sloane Tanen (http://sloanetanen.com/), who I first came across way after I had developed Stella, but who I feel is definitely a kindred spirit. I also love the work of Melbourne artist Lara Cameron (http://kirinote.blogspot.com/), who designs gorgeous prints for fabric.

What is your favourite colour? Blue. A very specific shade of blue. The blue of the shallows of the sea on a hot summer day. I guess a kind of turquoise colour. It's just a colour I love to both wear and look at.

What music are you currently listening to? The last thing I listened to was a compilation CD this afternoon in the car called Manteca World Music...something, something. Can't remember the exact name, but it had lots of bluegrass and folk/country on it.

Who is your favourite Etsy shop? An acquaintance of mine, fellow Tasmanian Pippilangstrumpf, has a shop called Under the Shade of a Bonsai Tree, where she sells beautiful products using Japanese chiyogami paper. I don't tend to browse around Etsy too often because I don't have the means to go shopping at the moment, and there is so much fantastic stuff it's kind of torture to look and not touch!

Check out Zando's shop, go on, treat yourself......

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Friday Feature Shop

Each Friday I am going to feature a shop I like from Etsy with 0 sales.

Yes 0 sales!

My first one will be tomorrow and it is a beauty. So come and have a look!

The reason behind this is to get people buying from the little shops as well as the big ones. We all need a bit of help nowadays!

Check out my new listing - 'Apple Tree'...(see left picture).