The Art of Shopping

Today's Wonder of the World is...
The Ability to Shop and Browse Through Incredible Art...In My Pajamas!

I love shopping in my pajamas! Or in my slouchy writer clothes.
(Thanks, random cute children in footie pjs!)

Or I could have titled this post...

In case you're confused like I was at first, this says "I heart etsy."
(The heart is taking a little nap.)

Now you probably know all about Etsy, being as wise and sophisticated (not to mention stunningly attractive) as you are, but I had never heard of it until I started this blog.

I started visiting nice people's sites, and on the sidebar of several of them there was a little sign that said something like My Etsy Shop.
I like shops, so I clicked on it. And oh, how I broadened my horizons!

I entered a universe full of incredible artists with all sorts of amazing art--collages, paintings, really cool jewelry, birds made out of found objects, even clipboards decoupaged with vintage sewing patterns. Can you believe that? I LOVE vintage stuff. I LOVE cool stuff and handmade stuff. I was in heaven.

Computer window shopping was fun. And addictive. Whenever I should have been washing dishes, I would sneak into my office and dart from store to store. The dishes piled up, but they always pile up anyway when I sneak in to watch TV. And Etsy shopping is so much more light-hearted than Hardball with Chris Matthews. I love Hardball with Chris Matthews, but a person can only take so much news.

So I lurked in the dark corners of Etsy stores from sea to shining sea, and even across the seas. It was so satisfying.

But then one day I saw this.

I swooned.

The necklace was featured on one of my favorite blogs, A Bird in the Hand, written by my new friend Colette Copeland. She said she had just added it to her Etsy store. I hopped over to her store to lurk, I mean look.
I couldn't take my eyes off that necklace.

"Look at this," I said to my husband, who had crept up behind me and caught me in the act of swooning.
"That's beautiful," he said.
"I know," I said.
"Let's get it for Mother's Day," said he.

And so we did! It was easy. All Etsy needed was my email address, and the account was set up.

I just realized I sound like an infomercial. But it was easy! As simple as ebay.

I went back to Colette's Etsy store and bought it. I was happy because I was getting a necklace I was thrilled about and because I had bought it from a real live person who writes a cool blog. My husband was happy because he had bought me something that I love, and he didn't even have to go to the mall and wander around aimlessly, which makes him depressed.

A few days later I received a package in the mail.
You'll never guess what was inside.

Isn't it cute? A little purse! With a cute tag! (Sorry if all these exclamation points are giving you a headache, but I get excited about stuff like this.)

And get ready for this...
Inside the purse was this.

Except it looked neater before I got all thrilled and unwrapped it and then tried to wrap it back again for you to see.
A little bird card! And blue tissue paper!
Okay, no more exclamation points. But really, isn't that darling? And I love my necklace. I've worn it almost everyday since I unwrapped that blue tissue paper.

I just may buy all my gifts from Etsy and artists like Colette.

If you haven't ever perused Etsy stores, you could always go to www.etsy.com and search their directory for whatever interests you. But there are thousands of stores, so that seems intimidating to me. Allow me to direct you to some of my favorites that have merchandise at this moment. (Or at least they did Wednesday night when I put this post together.)

Colette's shop for my very favorite necklace, paintings, dolls, collages, all sorts of fun artsy stuff
Charlotte's shop for sweet cards, at the moment
Susan's shop for all sorts of artsy stuff--I love her collages. She made my blog banner. I'm a big fan.
Julie's shop the clipboards I was telling you about, and other fun stuff with vintage patterns
Jeanette's shop cool art made from found objects
Alicia's shop artist's aprons-love these
Britt's shop really interesting charms and jewelry
Grace's shop fun charms and handmade miniatures

And one more I just discovered...
Dollface design fascinating collage work

If you have an Etsy store that I don't know about, please leave a comment and tell everybody about it! And if you want to give a plug to a friend's Etsy site, come on and do it! Or tell me about your experience with Etsy. Or just say hello.

I live for your comments. (Did that sound desperate? I don't really LIVE for them. But they do make me happy!)

And before I go, here's an Etsy spot with Rachel Ray. It's delish!
Have a happy Thursday, everybody!
Love, Becky