From Etsy, With Love

Shopping online can be a bit of a cold experience: the clicking of the keyboard, the swirling of the mouse, the 'buy' and 'check out' buttons on your screen. It's not exactly tactile. But there is one site (mentioned here several times before) that thwarts all that technical coolness with the sheer warmth of its purpose: to market and sell handmade goods from crafters, sewers and artists all around the world. I'm speaking, of course, about Etsy.

I'm a member of the site (as a buyer) and I have a very small roster of favourite sellers so far. I recently added a new one to the list. Her seller name is Pinkcherrymama. If that's not enough to entice you, have a look at her wonderful crafts, below.

I adore her vintage, well-used, well-loved style. She embraces all things distressed and obviously has loads of fun recreating that look in her own paper crafts. I urge you to have a look at her store and puruse some of her designs. They are almost tangible.

These bookmarks are embellished with a ruby rhinestone.

Borrowing a design from the pages of a vintage book about Marie Antoinette, she manages to authentically create French elegance on these gift tags.

Here, too, she applies a royal touch.

Among my favourites in her collection is a series using "Alice in Wonderland" imagery from the first edition. Above is a set of tags in various sizes ($6.95) with depictions of Alice and her assortment of crazy cohorts.

The hare tags have a glittered heart.

She may not have been the nicest of queens, but at least she was a woman of her word. Here, too, the heart is glittered.

The seller has a gallery of ribbons to choose from.

She also makes gift bags with the images that have a timeworn patina.