Today I collected from the post office a little present I’d purchased for myself - a lovely tripod bowl made by the very talented Shoshona Snow.

This is my third piece by Shoshona and I’m very happy with my little collection, as seen above - and I’m sure it will continue to grow! My new bowl is the one with the yellow interior.

I seem to be increasingly into collecting ceramics - which is odd because in the past I really wasn’t into this form of object making at all. But now I have a long list of very diverse favourite ceramicists and and many pieces which I covet. I now hope I’ll end up with a home full of them!

To most people August probably seems quite a long way from Christmas (and I’m sure many are are only concerned about what to get me for my birthday!), but for those who make things to sell the festive season may as well be a week or two away.

And I confess that I’m starting to feel every so slightly panicked about it.

So today I typed up my roughly scribbled out list of festive season jewelry making, which is intended to make sure I have plenty of components and finished pieces of handmade jewelry on hand to help me survive the season in one piece. Once printed out I pinned the list to my gorgeous brand new pinboard and whiteboard (as discovered on Mintd.com).

Ouch.

There are currently 1180 components and pieces on my list - not including quantities of new jewelry items which are in the pipeline. Of course many of the components particularly are relatively quick and easy for me to make, but quite a number of pieces will require a fair degree of effort.

So right now I’m wishing I could make like Cher and turn August back into June. But instead I will need to spend many hours at my bench doing nothing but holiday season making for the next few months. If anyone fancies applying to be my slave to help keep the rest of my life running, do let me know!

And, yes, apart from that I will be completing some new pieces as well, which I’m very much looking forward to, having been inspired by my recent travels. I’ll be sure to tell you about them here.

Don’t forget to check out this great pinboard and whiteboard (or blackboard) from Giggle Design - and the Mintd Lookbook I made for it. It’s so much better than the one I was about to order from a very boring office supplies outlet!

I’ve just created a Treasury list on Etsy called Mine.

Below is a screenshot of the list, which features items I selected for my theme which are currently for sale on Etsy.com.

Go there now! Treasury lists generally only last for a couple of days so soon enough it will be gone.

A while back I came across the most delicious vintage cup and saucer on Etsy which had been vandalised by one of my favourite Etsy sellers, Trixie Delicious - an artist from New Zealand.

I honestly felt that I had absolutely no option but to purchase it! And as I write this blog post I am sipping tea from this very cup.

Trixie Delicious sells an array of vintage crockery from various periods which have all been uniquely and beautifully vandalised with heat fused ceramic paint. Usually this involves beautifully scripted text, but sometimes images are used.

Given that I’ve already purchased one of my favourite pieces, I’ll show off a couple of others which are currently in the Trixie Delicious shop.

For instance, there are these wonderful ‘Ugly’ and ‘Stupid’ dessert bowls - the perfect way to let your in-laws know how you really feel about them. Or not.

And there are these perfect side plates, each one of the unmatched set of seven featuring a deadly sin. Be warned that I definitely have my eye on this set!

Trixie Delicious is good - go there now!

Well, not John Clark in person, but one of his wonderful illustrations!

In case you’ve not spotted John’s delicious work on Etsy, he creates film noir inspired illustrations which have been drawn onto pages torn out of mystery novels. Most of the illustratons are of dramatic-looking women and there is always a line of attention-grabbing text left exposed in one the mostly black areas of the drawings.

The first time I saw these I fell in love with the idea and I kept a careful eye on John’s shop for just the right one for my bedroom. And here it is, finally back from the framers, who have done a great job with it - note that the red border is deeper and less bright than it looks here.

You can see more of John’s great illustrations at johnclark.etsy.com - go there now!

Finally after days - probably weeks - of trying I’ve managed to nab a spot on Etsy’s Treasury.

I thought I’d go with a Valentine’s Day theme and have entitled my list Love Hurts, Baby. It’s a collection of lovely things found in shops across Etsy which all seemed to fit what I had in mind for my list.

This image has been temporarily removed - find out why. Images on this blog are protected by copyright law. Stealing them isn’t a good idea.

Remember that Treasury lists expire after 48 hours, so if you’re clicking on the link after that time has passed, then you’re out of luck, I’m afraid, and will simply have to look at my screen grab of it. Of course you should also just have a look around the Treasury and see what other wonders you can find!

I can’t remember exactly how it was that I arrived at Jen Maestre’s wonderful Etsy shop, but one day fairly recently I did. Wow … Jen works almost entirely using pencils - not to draw with, but as the actual material from which she creates objects. For her Etsy shop she creates art cards and jewellery using coloured pencils sliced up in a wide variety of ways, making full use of the bright colours both inside and out, along with the light coloured wood which has its own unique grain and texture.

COPYRIGHT SIMONE WALSH - do not use without permission.

I really fell in love when I first encountered this work - suddenly I was one of those pencil fans that Jen welcomes to her shop! And I just had to buy something. After agonising for some time, I went for this lovely little art card which arrived promptly and is currently living on my desk while I ponder a more permanent home for it.

But wait … there’s more! Jen also makes incredibly impressive three dimensional pencil sculptures which blew me away even more. You can find these on her website at www.jennifermaestre.com

Asteridae by Jen Maestre. COPYRIGHT JEN MAESTRE - do not use without permission.

They are created in a wide variety of sculptural forms, frequently using the pointy tips of the pencils. And they are wonderful - a really clever play with material and form.

Aurora (detail) - sculpture by Jen Maestre. COPYRIGHT JEN MAESTRE - do not use without permission.

So make sure you visit Jen’s Etsy shop and website - although, be warned, you too will soon become … a pencil fan.

To say that I’m fairly busy is a bit like saying that Jupiter is a fairly big planet. So I won’t report more about the relentless hard work that is my life right now, and will instead quickly share with you a new Etsy find.

Unicorn is a new Etsy seller from the UK who specialises in beautiful vintage china tea and coffee cups. And today I received this pair of deliciously beautiful and delicate coffee cups of my very own!

They arrived in a lovely and sturdy ‘Tea with Alice’ box which I’m looking forward to putting to use when I have time to think about how!

Make sure you check out Unicorn’s lovely wares on Etsy (that goes double for my favourite stalker!).

Now … back to my bench.