Charming Phaulet

I first met Paula Gonzalez from Phaulet this past March at a 2-day show that we were in together and right away noticed her warm smile and her beautiful jewelry.  We keep bumping into each other around town, and then I found her on Etsy the other day and asked if I could feature her on my blog! Her resin pendants and earrings with collaged images from old books are different and lovely- I think the pairing of the modern format and the classical or vintage imagery is really feminine and playful.  There are two sides to each pendant, with two different images that seem to tell a story when put together.  Phaulet recently got featured in the Georgia Straight in an article that describes how her concept and background from Columbia play an important role in her designs!

shop Phaulet
website

Local Etsy Outfit...

It's nice to make connections online, and the other day I thought I recognized Heidi Denessen's name through her husband Ron, who I went to Art school with. Heidi has a sweet Etsy shop where she sells some of her artwork along with some great practical items such as fingerless gloves, hats, notebooks and decals.
On November 29 12-5 PM at 1495 Richards Street in Yaletown Heidi and her friend Jody of the Etsy shop Nanna are hosting a Holiday Sale. I think their work goes so great together, don't you?

Hold: for the Home

I'm excited to introduce you to a new local Vancouver Etsy shop called Hold! I think what first caught my eye when I stumbled on this shop were the great colours that Maria uses in her felted bowls! Modern and minimal but at the same time soft and cozy looking, I love the idea of giving these as gifts for those hard-to-gift people on my list, filled with nuts and a nutcracker at Christmas time.

I asked Maria to fill me in on some of the how and the why she started her shop. Here's what she wrote:
"I love the feeling of wool in my hands, and magical transformation of stitches into a felted fabric, sturdy and durable. It's a practice that allows me the equal satisfaction of working on a contained project from beginning to end. For the bowls, it takes several days to complete each one.
The process begins with colour selection, then wools are then crocheted into a floppy bowl. The bowl is then agitated in warm, soapy water, which causes the wool fibers to interlock more and more tightly. The result is a thick, felted fabric, a sturdy container. To complete, the bowls are blocked, dried, trimmed, then steamed one last time."

What a cool process and transformation the wool goes through to get to it's finished product! Thanks for the insight, Maria!

Shop: Hold

needle, hook, wear

I caught myself at the library the other day, picking up and looking through a 'teach yourself to Knit' book. Who am I kidding?
That said, I love hand-knit scarves and with the chilly fall weather coming up, this 'Nomad Cowl' by Seed Knits is exactly the sort of thing I want around my neck! I'm loving the grey hues and soft Peruvian wool! I also love the fact that you can pull it over your head like a hood as one side is wider than the other. It doesn't have any long scarfy bits that could get in the dishwater or clay, so I could wear it indoors too.
Stephanie from Seed Knits informed me that she will be at the Portobello West Market here in Vancouver November 28th & 29th! (I'll be there too:)
blog- seedknits.blogspot.com
Etsy- seedknits.etsy.com

I heart BC & Lucky Troll

BC Day, our Provincial August 1st long weekend holiday is coming up and in honour of this beautiful province of ours, I thought I'd highlight another great Vancouver Etsy shop: Lucky Troll! Since Canadians are notoriously provincially-minded, I thought the 'Home is Where the Heart is' Pendants were extremely clever and sweet. Each one is hand cut by jewelry designer Katty, out of silver in the shape of provinces or states, even Islands or continents for custom orders! I love the abstract, yet familiar shape of these pendants and with a cut out heart... well home really is where the heart is! I was really smitten with many other things from the shop and will certainly be back!

Etsy comes to Vancouver

It felt as though the Etsy Meet-up in Vancouver yesterday night was like a little bit of history in the making! Etsy certainly has taken the on-line handmade global community by storm in the mere 4 years it's been up and running, and I can't help but think that it's effect will be long-lasting. From their 'Quit your Dayjob' series which inspires so many makers to take the plunge, the featured Seller interviews which have the potential to plunge your etsy shop into a shopping frenzy, the Blog that includes 'trendspotting', spotlights on designer's and makers, videos of artist and makers at work- really the options on etsy could keep you screen-gazing for hours. CEO of Etsy, Maria, had a lot to say about what's going on 'behind the scenes' to create a viable and long-lasting entity called Etsy. Their list of 'To Do's' over the next few years sounds a little daunting, however, the room they are creating to grow, develop, and be better sounds pretty fantastic to me! It was really nice to meet the marketing director, Matt, and Anda - a few of us, invited by Jan from Poppytalk, were able to sit down with Anda and Maria at JJ Bean for casual introductions before the evening started, and, well, they were all so friendly and nice! Their concept of 'going on tour' and meeting people personally will certainly have long-standing effects on the growth and sincerety of this company- I truly do wish them all the best as they continue on!

Organelle Design

Your in for a real treat today in my 'local etsy finds series'! Organelle Design is the collaboration of Vancouver environmental and architectural designers Alexander Witko and Courtney Hunt, who have a flair for re-inventing the everyday object. I'm feeling some Brian Jungen in this work, but love that it's practical, clever, and environmentally conscious! A combination of discarded bike rims and hangers or waterbottles make up the materials for their 'Hangelier' series of Chandeliers. While the concept for construction remains the same, various bike wheel sizes create small changes between each individual 'Hangelier'. Their interest in salvaging material to re-use has also led them to community-minded approaches including some non-profit projects in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. Check out their etsy site and their website for more purchasing info!

My Vancouver Etsy Wishlist...

I love to see the local talent from Vancouver appearing on Etsy! It's very inspiring to find things I love on etsy that actually come from 'my hometown'! It makes me want to get us all together and have a little face to face, etsy vancouver team or something! Plus I really want to do some shopping and it almost feels funny to buy something on line when I could technically find them in the city and buy it directly from them.
Here are some of my latest Vancouverite finds and favourites:
Mary Jane house shoes- How great are these, they no longer come in this colour, but I love them, by Elephant and Chick Pea.
Brand-new to etsy: Salal Knits, with a beautiful knitted beret! When I saw this image (on Modish this morning) I immediately thought- that looks like Vancouver, and sure enough...
I love Noei's fabrics and am looking forward to seeing her at Portobello West Market June-August! I especially love her ginko leaf fabric that she designed and had manufactured in Japan before coming to Vancouver!
I met Colleen Baran at a local market, but first found her on etsy! I love the earrings I bought from her then, and am quite smitten with the 3 ring set above.