etsy

etsy anthology: the bear necessities

December 10, 2009 by rainyd01 2 Comments

Our nearest and dearest all know what Lucy’s real name is. Sure, it wasn’t on the birth announcements or the You-Just-Had-a-Baby Certificate. But it is one that will probably stick with her till kindergarten. Or at least until she decides that she wants to be called “Talulah” or “Agent 41.” Which will probably be next friday.

We call her Bear. Or Little Bear. Or Lu-Bear.

No idea where it came from or how it started. All I know is that I gave birth to a baby girl and came home with a bear. Months later it was revealed that she actually has many bear-like qualities, so our nickname choice was validated.

1) She growls. Big, ferocious bear growls. I’m talkin exorcist-style noises coming out of that tiny package. Sometimes I half expect split pea soup to projectile out of her mouth.

2) She eats anything. And everything. Even the cat. Toss her in a river and she’d come out with a salmon in her teeth.

3) She’s got claws. I trim her nails all the time, and yet still still manages to scratch me on a daily basis. Some crazy animal force keeps her nails uncontrollably long at all times. She’s always ready for a brawl, that little bear ‘o mine.

So I got to thinking: lots of parents invest in what I call “baby swag.” You know, necklaces with their baby’s name on them. Letters to adorn the nursery wall. Tattoos. Keychains. Signage.

So what to do for a baby who is not really a baby?

Bear swag, of course. And my etsy friends have got me covered.

I could wear this cute tee with Lucy’s picture prominently displayed on the front. Plus, in case she ever gets lost, I can just point to my shirt. “Have you seen this bear?”

This cool t-shirt is from Zen Threads. I luurve the vintage-y yellow color, and the “Don’t Shoot” and the bottom is a cute touch. Plus, it’s an American Apparel tee, so you know it’s soft and comfy.

Alternatively, I could carry this cute-as-a-button notebook with me wherever I go. The folks over at Picklehead make this charming little number, and boy do they know my bear. She loves to read, she loves card catalogues, and when she opens a drawer hearts magically float out of it. Perfection.

Sometimes Lucy is actually a human. And sometimes humans go to masquerade balls. And when she does, what type of mask would she don? Duh.

This original hand-cut silhouette is made by the lovely (and steady-handed) folks over at The Little Chickadee. If I had a larger bank account, and an empty wall in my house, I would snatch up 50 of their bee-youtiful silhouettes.

Speaking of lovely artwork, this gorgeous print is made with love by the artsy folk at Ashley G (who also have a gorgeous blog, by the way–check out her Thanksgiving table!). This bear, like mine, is strong but gentle. The sad eyes kill me just a little bit, but she’s got a message, this bear.

Lucy tells me this all the time. “Mom, trust your instincts. My diaper is stinky.” “Mom, trust your instincts. I did just swallow that entire roll of toilet paper.”

There’s a bear on the loose in the living room. And it’s courtesy of Decor Designs.

This cool wall decal is sure to frighten any small child–but not my bear. She’d just break out the claws and her vinyl enemy would be going down. You can get it in any color you choose, but I love the white against the dark background. Modern and lovely.

Gives “don’t shoot” a whole new meaning, eh? This mischievous little bear is armed and dangerous. Don’t get me wrong–I don’t endorse the use of firearms in any way, shape, or form. Especially by bears. Especially especially by my bear.

But pewter bears? On a necklace? They can carry all the dang revolvers they want. Cuz it’s cute. I want him around my neck, stat.

Happy hibernating!

-RDG

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bear, etsy

etsy anthology: warm hands, warm heart

December 1, 2009 by rainyd01 5 Comments

It’s cold in here. Brrrrrrrr.

The Emerald City this week has highs in the 40′s. Next week in the 30′s.

Ummmm….is that you, midwesterners? I heard you snicker. And I totally deserve it.

I’m a pansy when it comes to the cold. I’ve been known to wear layers to bed and two pairs of sweatpants while lounging around the house. And by “lounging around the house” I mean “going to the grocery store,” “taking a walk with friends” and “going out to dinner.” Don’t judge.

Okay, judge a little. I judge myself for wearing sweatpants out of the house.

With all this cold, it came time to break out the hat and gloves. I was cheerfully wearing my matching set the other day when I tried to take a phone call. Much to my dismay, I couldn’t answer the dang thing. I had to take off my gloves and let my hands freeze just to let a solicitor ask me about my television service. There had to be a better way.

Then it dawned on me: don’t they make gloves without fingertips? Wouldn’t I be able to iphone in the cold without my entire hand falling victim to frostbite? Must. Find. Them. Now.

After a little exploration, my dear etsy friends had provided me with some sensible (and darn cute!) solutions.

Like these little beauties from Elfi’s Creations. I’m a little–okay, a lot– in love with the color. I’m digging the cable-knit look too–it’s Irish fisherman meets cozy cute. Lovely.

Speaking of Ireland, these gorgeous gloves are made by Crafts 2 Cherish in Dublin (I just love etsy–cool stuff from all over the world!). The soft pink flower on top of the grey just kills me–it’s such a nice little touch. They look so soft and cozy too. Bee-youtiful.

Oh, creamy white gloves. How I would like to think that I would not get you dirty in five seconds flat. But a girl can dream, and these dreamy numbers are made by the lovely Deb over at Rumstadt. I adore the ruffle. And the fact that they’re made out of fleece–so warm and soft, and I could probably throw them in the washer after I managed to get melted chocolate all over them.

Just sayin.

I got stripes, stripes around my fingers…

Okay, Johnny Cash didn’t really say fingers. But he would have if he had seen these cool stripey gloves from Mia Baggali. I love three things about these gloves:

1) They look like velour. And I love velour. Yes, I’m still a sucker for my Juicy track suit. When I’m not wearing two pairs of my college sweat pants, that is.

2) They’re pink and grey. And no two colors are cuter together.

3) They have stripes.

Nuff’ said.

These cute little navy blue guys are from K.M. Knits. They’ve got a slightly tough, military look going on, but they’re still soft and cute because of the knit. Adorable. But they could kick your butt, too.

And finally, we’ve got these chunky cable-knit little ladies from Homelab. I’m a little in luurve with the huge knit braid running down the middle. Gloves are usually so sheik and streamlined, it’s nice to see a little heft once in a while. I think I would put these on and keep them on until spring.

Happy hand warming!

-RDG

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: etsy, fingerless, gloves, pretty

etsy anthology: holiday banners

November 24, 2009 by rainyd01 2 Comments

The holidays are a month away.

Wait, let me repeat that, in case you didn’t hear me.

The holidays are a month away. One month.

I don’t know about you, but in the flurry that is the few weeks in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I look sort of like a cross between Cruella de Ville and the Grinch. Gifts to pick, buy and wrap, endless parties (for which I always offer to cook something, like a complete overachiever), cards to get out, relatives in town, 100 puppies to steal–you know, that sort of thing.

It all leaves me with very little energy to do what most people look forward to the most: decorating the house.

You see, normally this would be my thing. You would think that I would deck out the house, and the halls, for every major holiday and Flag Day to boot. You would think that I would love doing junk like that.

But I don’t. These days I can’t justify overhauling my entire mantle only to have to re-do it in a few weeks. I abhor the thought of stringing lights along my gutters and hanging a wreath on my front door. It all feels like too much work.

I am officially the laziest person on the planet.

So when I stumbled across one of this cute-as-pie holiday banners on etsy a few days ago, I had a revelation: I could just hang one of those. Poof. Holiday decorating done.

See? I could do that. This vintage-y beauty is from Jane Says (have you seen my wig around…). She’s got a killer shop and tons of cute Christmas stuff. I love the shape of the mittens–very 50′s. She’s also got a holiday giveaway coming up on her blog.

Here’s another throwback with the scalloped edges. I love the lime green–unexpected for Christmas and gives it a kitschy feel (in a good way). Abigail’s Hope Designs makes this fun little guy (and she’s offering a 10% shop discount if you mention me in a purchase note!) .

Oh, gingerbread men. You are so cute and delicious. This felt banner is made by Bee Love Lee, and she’s got a ton of pretty felt garlands in her shop. I would love this strung on my mantle, but it would also look fabulous on a tree.

Okay, it’s not quite a holiday banner. But I would hang this gorgeous vintage banner by Corrieberry Pie (who also makes stunning jewlery, by the way) in my house starting at Christmas and probably never take it down.

This pretty-as-a-picture candy cane Noel banner is made by the whimsical folks over at Monkey Moo Moo. I adore that it’s made out of card stock: simple and classic.

And finally, what post would be complete without polka-dotted owls? These fun little guys (and gals) are made by I Sew Lucky. I love this banner not only because it’s cute as all get-out, but also because owls have nothing to do with the holidays. It’s never been done before, and I dig originality, my friends.

Happy etsy-ing, and happy (month till the) holidays!

-RDG

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: decor, etsy, holiday banners

etsy anthology: here, piggy piggy

November 16, 2009 by rainyd01 Leave a Comment

At 5 am last Thursday morning, I was freezing my little (okay, medium-sized) tush off. I was wearing a thermal shirt, sweatshirt, puffy jacket, puffy vest, raincoat, knit hat, gloves, and one big ‘ol fleece blanket. And yet I was still freezing.

Why? Because, like the crazy overprotective mother that I am, I was waiting in line to get Lucy an H1N1 vaccine.

Normally I would not give into such madness. I’m a pretty rational person, or at least I used to be. But as all you moms know, as soon as you say hello to that little one for the first time all rationality goes out the window and you become a crazy, rabid mother bear, ready to sink your teeth into anything (disease or otherwise) that poses a threat to your cub.

I wish that being a mother bear actually came with the fur part, though, because I was freezing my little paws off.

Three hours of waiting in line gave me lots of time to think. Mostly about what songs they would sing on Glee next week. And a lot about how I really need to invest in some warmer socks. But a little bit about swine flu, and those poor little piggies that give that awful flu its name .

Make no mistake about it. They’re still the cute, cuddly, oinky little oinkers that we know and love. They’ve still got cute little piggy noses and whiskers (yeah–pigs have whiskers, which makes them even cuter in my book). They still roll around in the mud and snort and talk to spiders.

Today’s the day it stops. I, Rainy Day Gal, am here to bring piggies back. Swine flu, whine flu. Piggies are still cute and lovable. And I, along with some creative etsy-ing folk, am going to prove it to you.

See? I told ya. This adorable little hat is from knittinmama. Lucy would just slay me with cuteness in that thing. Look at that knit, people! It’s impeccable! If I tried to do something like that it would likely resemble a cross between troll hair and a bowl of spaghetti.

This awesome print is from bluebicicletta. Not only do I love the message, but I adore the modern simplicity of the drawing. The tiny little corkscrew tail makes me smile. Her entire shop could not be cuter, and her blog is gorgeous as well.

Speaking of cute, these little guys just bowl me over. I’m not a trinkety, Tchotchke type o lady, but I can just imagine little Howie and Homer (yeah, I’ve named them–judge all you want) on my bookshelf. Check em out and the rest of tracyemuller’s shop here.

Oh, little modern orange pig. How I love thee. This t-shirt design comes from the earth-friendly folks over at elemental. I would totally dig this design on a piece of wall art as well.

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And finally, there’s this little doll. I adore this guy. He’s so Charlotte’s Web–full of whimsy and classic design. I need him in my living room (apparently my goal in life is to have a house full of pigs. Go figure). Check him out and the rest of the cool modern prints at badbird.

And there you have it, folks. Pigs are makin’ a comeback. That nasty reputation was just a blip; a tiny scar on the long, long spectrum of pig lovableness.

But if you’re still looking for a reason re-embrace the little oinkers, remember this: pigs give us pork chops and bacon. And for that alone we should be eternally grateful.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: etsy, piggy, swine flu