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.

I’ve managed to get another Etsy Treasury list up and running for the next (just under) 48 hours. This one is all about trees!

In my new list is this absolutely beautiful watercolour by rhradcliffedesigns.etsy.com. If someone wants to buy it for me as a gift, please do feel free – I promise I won’t complain even a little bit and will instead love you long time!

By the way this image is just a portion of the whole piece, which is entitled Rites of Spring.

My too much jewelry on etsy? Treasury list has been selected to be today’s Etsy home page list of featured work! Yay!!

I love that people are going to see that there really is some wonderful jewellery on Etsy which is definitely above the run-of-the-mill stuff and also isn’t limited to precious materials or metalsmithing techniques.

In case you didn’t read my earlier post, Etsy Treasury lists only last for 48 hours so you may find the link above no longer works, but there will be plenty of other engaging lists for you to enjoy nonetheless.

Now … back to work for me.

I’ve managed to get a list onto the shiny new Etsy Treasury which features some of my favourite pieces of jewellery for sale on Etsy. My list is entitled too much jewelry on etsy?.

Note that this list will expire in just under 48 hours of posting this entry so the link above will no longer be valid after that time.

As I have commented on my list, too much jewellery is never enough! Except when it’s rubbish of course … and there is a fair bit of that on Etsy, I admit. Although that’s just my very biased opinion, of course!

But amongst it all there really is a healthy amount of very beautiful, well made and clever jewellery – of both the precious and non-precious variety. Some of it is by makers who are already well known there for their engaging work, but there are also some very good and relatively undiscovered finds too.

One such find is howlindoggie, a fellow Sydney-based jewellery maker and someone who studied at the same place I did – Sydney College of the Arts, which is part of the University of Sydney.

Have a look at howlingoddie’s Etsy shop as there are some beautiful and beautifully made pieces to enjoy.

This is my delicious new Flicka laptop bag, handmade by the lovely Alice – you can find Alice’s shop at flickaalice.etsy.com.

It arrived yesterday and of course it looks even more gorgeous in the flesh than in photos. It’s very well made, certainly stands out from the usual laptop bags and my Mac Powerbook fits perfectly.

Given the love affair I confess to having with my Mac (even though it is getting on a bit now) I felt it was apt to get a really nice protective bag to carry it about in when I take it elsewhere to work – and now I’ve got one!

Flicka bags come in various sizes, with a myriad of fabric designs available and they are made for both Macs and PCs – although why you’d want to put a nasty PC in such a lovely bag is beyond me ;P.

(Note to self: must be less mean to PC users in public).

So that’s a hearty recommendation from me. If you’ve got a laptop or know someone who does, you should go shopping!