Fridays Inspiration - Our under $8 gift guide

With all the economic craziness in Washington and on Wall Street, everyone is taking a closer look at their holiday budgets. When your holiday wallet gets cinched, you starts looking for ways to get the biggest bang for your hard earned dollars.

The Kansas City Etsy Street Team is a great place to look for unique, high quality gifts that will help you stretch your holiday budget to the max! Look at these great finds, perfect for hard to shop for teens and college students!



1. What Happens at my Locker Magnet by deannaburasco
2. Bottle Cap Pendants by Illustrious
3. Bath Taffy - Solid Bubble Bath by moodygurl
4. Key Fob by nicherndesigns
5. Magic Bubble Tree Bubbles Wand by Thyme2dream
6. The Bubble Ring by thefunkyfelter
7. Lip Butters by ajscountrycottage

Friday's Inspiration - Pink

For many October is filled with the beautiful colors of autumn - apple red, burnt orange, harvest gold - but for those who are and have battled breast cancer, October is pink. Pink because October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and thanks to the Susan G. Koman Foundation and Estee Lauder's introduction of little pink ribbons some 16 years ago, the color pink has become a national symbol of hope and support in promoting awareness and early detection. Like many of you, I am surrounded by strong women who are survivors and women who will soon join the ranks of survivors. This summer a dear friend was diagnosed with breast cancer, starting treatment early last month. September also marks the 7 year anniversary of when my mother was diagnosed. Thanks to early detection and good medical care, she's been cancer free now for 6 years.

Show your love and support for those battling breast cancer during this month of increased awareness by sporting a little more pink in your life.

1. Sweetheart Heart Pendant by thefunkyfelter
2. Anokhi the Gifted by threeredtrees
3. Caterpillar Pinks Bracelet by ExcessoriesKC
4. Cotton Candy Lampwork Ring by angelfireartglass

Inspiration: Arthur Rackhan's Faery World

I used to have a big poster of this painting on my wall when I was 16. All I knew about it then, was the caption said, "Queen Mab". Many years later, when I found it on the web it was entitled "Feeling Very Undancey Indeed," and when I researched it a bit more I discovered it was actually from Arthur Rackham's illustrations for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens.

Ah, so that explains why I loved the painting so much! I love J. M. Barrie. The world has lost way too much of its innocence these days, consequently I work very diligently to hang on to as much of mine as I can. Reading Peter Pan every few years is one of my favorite ways to accomplish this.

According to our beloved Mr. Barrie, dancey is how the faeries say they are happy... so undancey is faerie-folk language for a wee bit dispirited or some such thing. It is Queen Mab, and the reason she is feeling undancey is too long to go into here, but Dover Publications is issuing a new edition of the book with Arthur Rackham's original illustrations next month, so you can go and read the story for yourself if you are curious.

One of the things I love most about Arthur Rackham's illustrations of Queen Mab are the beautiful tones of ivory and burgandy that he used... it seemed only natural when I was asked to create a wedding set in these colours that they should be named after the undancey faery Queen.

When I finished the tiara, I went to find the Undancey picture again and was delighted to see how much tiara looks like it belonged to her! I have also made a hair clip, earrings, two necklaces and a bracelet in this series. They are my new personal favorites, and are available in my etsy shop, look for "Queen Mab's Wedding"


*Written by Thyme2dream.

Fresh New Beginnings As Spring Comes to the Heartland!

Heralding Springs arrival, the KC Etsy Team is busy creating new works inspired by the season of warmer temperatures, rebirth, and regrowth. We've asked several team members to share what they're working on these days, and how they are inspired by this lovely time of year.

"I find much of my inspiration from colors and nature, so when spring rolls around I'm thinking pastel colors like pink, light greens, robin's egg blue and love designs that include little flower beads or leaves," says Julie of JewlLi. "I've been working on torch-fired enamel pieces and am also using lots of pretty faceted gemstones like apatite, amethyst, blue topaz, phrenite and citrine. "

1) Little Flowering Hoops 2) Tourmaline Branch Necklace 3) Spring Blossoms 4) Swallow Necklace with Apatite

According to Karen of Karen Kay Art Works, "Spring for me is a time for new beginnings - everything starts out new again in spring. Trees get fresh new leaves for the summer and flowers pop up from the previously frozen ground to say 'Hey, I survived the winter!' I am working on some softer colored girls (pastelish with soft earth tones), full-figured (not just faces anymore) with new beginnings topics and words of affirmation and inspiration. New spring items will be in my shop soon, very soon!"

"Spring is such a time of renewal and new beginnings. Each spring I like to step a bit outside my comfort zone," says Sue from Angelfire Art Glass. "I like to try new techniques or work in colors that I am not usually drawn to or use a lot. The warmer days of spring allow me to just go out and try new things and simply play! I've been working in bright, juicy colors like orange, lime, yellow and red. One of my weaknesses is picking a limited color palette and working up new bead designs or making a variety set of beads that are all different, but coordinate instead of beads sets that are all the same. That has been my focus the past few weeks along with expanding my colors and styles of my Bloomkin series of pendants and rings!"

1) Colorways Lampwork Disk Beads 2) Speckle Pink Lampwork Ring 3) Blue Speckle Lampwork Ring 4) Lime Twister Lampwork Ring

AJ from AJ’s Country Cottage says, “The changing seasons are definitely a source of inspiration for me. When spring comes, I'm thinking about the bright colors and sweet fragrances of flowers. Spring also calls for fresh, clean scents and the earthy fragrances of the garden. I've tried to capture some of these concepts in my new spring soaps and soy candles. I wanted to create a soap that smelled like the earthiness, the herbal greens, and the sweet blooms of my garden, so I came up with my "Spring Mosaic" soap (pictured below left). I swirled earthy browns, fresh greens, and bright yellows in this batch to mimic the colors of my garden. I also created a soap that reminds me of strawberry patches full of ripe fruit. "Strawberry Fields" (pictured below top right) is both earthy and fruity, an elegant and sophisticated "grown-up" scent featuring deep burgundy swirls on a tan background.”
AJ also has great soy candles in many new fresh scents. AJ adds, “White Jasmine, Wildflower Meadow, and Dream Weaver are all lovely and elegant flower scents, and Country Clothesline, Ocean Breeze, Linen Closet and Summer Breezes are wonderfully fresh & clean fragrances. And I love fruit, so I've added the sophisticated and elegant Mediterranean Fig, as well as Strawberry Coconut, Monkey Business, Forbidden Fruit, and Satsuma Citrus to my line. Satsuma is my new favorite! It's bursting with energy.” Find all of AJ's new soy candles ... flowers, fresh & clean, fruits ... listed in her shop.

As you can see, The KC Etsy team members are ready for spring, and hope you’ll check out these and other great spring themed items in their shops!

See Karen Kay Art Works, JewlLi, Angelfire Art Glass and other KCEtsy team members show off more of their new Spring creations at our April First Friday's Show, April 4th at Shiraz Restaurant in the Gallery Room.

* Written by AJ of AJ’s Country Cottage and Julie of JewlLi