Cheerful, original art

Stephanie Levy, Etsy Shop ©

Stephanie Levy, an American living in Germany, makes some wonderfully cheerful and original art. I discovered her blog, by chance, and so enjoy seeing the colourful, bright and energetic work she posts.

Ms. Levy is now selling her work at etsy, daWanda, and several other on line sources. Her prices for these lively works are quite reasonable and affordable.

Handmade Journals: The Vespiary Shop

Vespiary Journal, 4-1/2" x 7" Red Snakeskin Cover, 100 pages

Via Notebookstories, I checked out Vespiary's etsy shop, and fell in love with her snakeskin journal, a winner at any price but at $18.00 almost a steal.

But having learned that I would like my journals to be multi-purposed, I sent AudraLoyal a correspondence inquiry about her papers. No, they are not fountain-pen friendly, but she will make journals in a paper of your choosing.

Charcoal Grey and White journal, 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" (bloggers)
with printmaking paper

This journal reminds me of one I had in 1993-1995; mine is charcoal grey and white and appears to have print making paper folios. It takes light washes, sharpies and yes, fountain pens without any discernible bleeding, feathering or show-through.

If I'm not mistaken I bought it on the Wharf in Providence. In those days, the Wharf was a regular weekend and summer weekday hang out and Ellen had her XoX gallery (long gone) on the corner. Up the narrow walk way towards the hurricane barriers was a gift shop that carried a great many paper products. Later they moved to North Main Street, tripled the size of the shop and raised their prices.

I wonder if they are still there? I couldn't find them doing a search, but then so much changes in cities they may have moved, gone out of business or changed their stock.

Mother's Day Coming - Broke my no buy commitment

When Etsy sent the Mother's Day finds today, I was compelled to buy two pair of these xo ear-rings for my two daughter mothers.

The designer's other jewelry can be found here.

Handmade Stuff

Have you ever wondered, "who made this?"

I often do.

But with Etsy.com, a site that has grown and grown, you always know who made it, and often how they did it.

You can enter search parameters, and find some of the most marvelous looking goodies: handmade journals, artwork that is affordable, houseware accessories, vintage articles and probably much more.

I haven't bought anything--yet--as I am on a tight budget until after 15 April, but I am sure I will be buying some of the articles our worldwide artists are making this summer.