Folksy November Sparks Week 2

The Sparks are no less sparky this week, despite the cold here in the UK!  Here's a selection of my favourite items.





1. Sparkly heart by Stars and Scars
2. Flowers for your hair by Crown and Glory
3. Colours of moonstone earrings by Alicia's Stones
4. Beautifully printed journal by Ellson Design Cards and Prints
5. Fused glass pendant by blue daisy glass
6. Pink cat brooch by Jings Things

I listed these holly berry earrings this week on Folksy.  I think they are quite sweet, even though I say so myself and I shouldn't!

Catch up with more November Sparks next week.

The Handmade movement can solve your problems!

I've said it before - the handmade movement has the potential to outshine all other retail in customer service.  Here's just a couple of recent examples of how Etsy and Folksy have solved dilemmas for me!

Problem: you want to send a little gift to someone you know from Etsy.  The person in question lives thousands of miles away and you don't know her address.  You don't really know what her taste in presents is.  What do you do?

Answer: You contact Christie at The Spotted Barn on Etsy who is only too happy to arrange a custom gift listing for your friend to come and choose what she would like from the fabulous selection of purses and wallets on offer in the shop.  Then you go back and buy a couple more wallets because they are such perfect Christmas presents - here's an example:

Problem: you need flowers in a hurry, to go to a close relative who lives a couple of hundred miles away.  You want beautiful flowers that will stand out and last.  You want to be able to send a card and have guaranteed and quick delivery. 

Answer: You buy these incredibly beautiful beaded flowers from Fleur de Perles on Folksy - or in fact, any of Megan's creations, which sometimes look so lifelike you have to check twice to see if they are alive!  Megan helped get these to my mum-in-law in double quick time, prettily packaged and with a personalised card and message.  It was quicker, easier and much more friendly than dealing with an big online florist. 

I love to give great customer service in all my shops, and I like to receive it even better. Thanks to both these seller for being a credit to the handmade movement.

BESTeam weekly feature: LeoandJunie on Etsy

If I had four words to sum up the jewelry in LeoandJunie on Etsy they would be chic, vintage, colorful and sweet. And every piece tells a little story!

Christine is the owner of this neat shop, based in Easton PA. She worked in the fine jewelry industry so she knows her stuff and you can see this from the pieces she crafts - vintage inspired but with a modern light and airy feel, fun and using charms, gemstones, crystals, sterling silver and brass.

Christine describes her home as 'pet friendly' - I counted 3 darling dogs featured on this blog post, they are real sweeties!

These are my hot picks from the shop:





These hair pins will keep you tidy, and you can see how they influence by a cup of coffee! A simple and classic pendant, with a modern twist - the Celtic knot charm with a moss green crystal is quite stunning.






Such a delicate color, these lilac lucite flowers with embedded crystals would suit any skin tone, making them a perfect present. Love the combination of orange and yellow in this sparrow and flowers necklace.


Check out more at the links below:

http://twitter.com/leoandjunie
http://leoandjunie.blogspot.com
http://facebook.com/LeoandJunie

Folksy November Sparks: Week 1

It's great to be back in the Folksy listings club - this month called the 'November Sparks' and seeing such lovely items every day is definately hard for a shop-aholic like me.  Thanks to those who've featured my items on their blogs this week :-)

Here are some of my favourite picks from shops in the club. Click on any of the images to visit the stores.







1. Pretty tree card from Lily's Night Garden
2. Sweet apple blossom brooch by noodleBubble
3. Snowy photo by Sprinkles
4. Lavender sachets by Vintage Dreams
5. Very trim trees by Swirlyarts
6. Funky fluffy handbag - and it's reversible! by NOfkantsCurios

And a couple of my new listings on Folksy this week!  Shameless self-promotion, I know, but I like these two a lot!

Busy, busy, busy

It's been a pretty frantic week, with orders pinging around from the US and the UK.  Love it, love the idea of people opening my jewellery on Christmas morning, and love the idea of people being able to sort their Christmas present shopping out early, so that it's not rushed or stressful, but just a pleasure to think about what everyone would like.  I'm trying to do the same, and have a couple of lovely purses from The Spotted Barn on Etsy this week which are going to be unusual and hopefully delightful presents for family members.

In the meantime, I've been featured in a couple of treasuries - thank you to MysticWynd and To love and to Cherish on Etsy who put these together. The BESTeam picks look fabulous, don't they, and I too want to dream of the same white Christmas! Click on any of the pictures or links to visit the lovely shops featured.

'New and Improved' by mysticwynd

Believe it or not, we're even better than we were before! We're the BEST (Boosting Etsy Shops Team) - and if you love blogging and promoting your fellow Etsians (and having some fun along the way), we're the team you want to join! Check us out...and then join in the fun!

Say Anything - CUSTOM W... LoveElycia $	NOVEMBER SALE 2T to 3T ... BabaMoon $20.40	Doggie Diva Parade Read... turquoiseangel... $16.00
Beyond bold large acryl... BlueForestJewe... $35.00	Pink Striped Scarf ParadisePurls $34.00	Purple Wood and Funky G... ellesbeads $12.00
PRE HOLIDAY SALE Waterc... ElizabethOHara $15.00	Espresso Yourself , vi... OffTheWallExpr... $14.00	Wink - Vintage Eye Brac... LeoAndJunie $22.00
Four Reversable Cat Fab... AllAboutCats $10.00	Darlingly Spiffy Neckla... ardentreverie $13.00	Not A Worry In the Worl... Danizabeth $15.00
Soap Popsicles sandyvern $4.95	Graffiti Personalized P... MyaBruceDesign... $15.00	Let it Be Painting wayfaringmagno... $16.00

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'I'm dreaming of a white Christmas' by Toloveandtocherish

Country Day Trees Chris... Middleburg $	White Poinsettia Eco Fe... TheBrightSide1... $25.00	White felted wool acorn... CityCrochet $
WHITE DOVE HOLIDAY PEAC... LBPaintings $15.99	Set of 2 Felt Christmas... LowellandSon $19.00	Yule Faerie Votive Cand... whitemagic $16.95
Limited edition 2010 Co... MeadowTea $15.00	Joy Pears, white plush ... lapomme $38.00	Dancer Reindeer Decorat... realicoulchris... $11.00
Winter Wonder Land- Sno... casualelegant $	Felt Rainbow Dove - nat... Rumpelfeltskin $11.00	Howlite, malachite and ... BlueForestJewe... $20.00
Saiko Cabled Scarf - G... KnitsCrochetAn... $30.00	Handmade Gift Tags Merr... nolan3863 $4.25	Snowy White Sparkle Sno... holditcuter $12.50

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.