Etsy Roundup: Bird Art

I wanted to do a little roundup of my favorite art on Etsy but I ended up with about twenty pieces so I will probably have to do this in a few installments. I noticed a lot of the things I liked involved birds so here is the first round up, narrowed down to birds:

Pink daisybird screenprint by Roddy & Ginger

Peacock 8x10 Digital Art Print by Puffed Peonies

18x24 Mid-Century Bird Poster #2 by DeeDee 9:14

House Wren loose reproduction block print by  Anna See

A Little Peacock Print by Dekanimal

Birds 16x20 by Dante Terzigni

How do I decide?? And these are only the birds! What is your favorite?

Inspiration: Long-Necked Cats

I'm sure everyone has noticed those vintage cat figurines with the long necks. Did cats in the 1950's/1960's have longer necks than they do now? Who started making these to begin with that they soon became the standard for all cat figurines? Why did they eventually stop making them with long necks and start making cat figurines with regular necks? I have thought about this for a long time and my questions were renewed when my friend Gina gave me a new long necked cat that she spotted in a flea market and thought "Tricia needs that" (she knows me well, we have been friends for 14 years...):

New brass long necked cat

Here are some others in my collection:

Shadowbox cats

Wall mounted cats

These guys look like they are up to no good

Danish teak cats. Gift from Sara.

I tried to do a little internet research to find out what the origin of these figurines is, but came up short. I guess we can just chalk it up to a "trend" in figurine production in the middle of the 20th century. Whatever the reason, I think they are very cute and very inspirational. 

Adventure: Urban Bazaar

I had been hearing a lot from my friend Stephanie about Urban Bazaar in San Francisco. It is a new-ish, women-owned gift store that sells locally handmade and fair trade items. The store sells some of Stephanie's work, and I went with her and a couple of her friends to check it out Saturday morning. The store has a great backyard area and they were having a small craft fair while we were there.

The store itself is fairly small but packed with all sorts of great gift items including jewelry, art, cards, accessories, clothing...well, lots of things. 

Stephanie and Mark check out some goodies

Busy with shoppers

Stepping outside to the backyard I made a beeline for the succulents which the store has quite a selection of in these handmade rock gardens:

These wallet/card holders by Heathered were my personal favorite thing I saw in the craft fair. They are constructed out of a variety of materials including vintage maps, news clippings, postcards, recipes AND expired Muni Fast Passes (which have become popular with artists in San Francisco due to their interesting color schemes!):

The recipe picture ones were my favorite. "Vintage" Jello always has such great colors!

Of course while I was at the store I had to check out Stephanie's items, it was the first time I saw one of her glitter zipper pouches in person, and they are even more incredible when you see one right in front of you.

My camera skills not really doing the glitter pouches justice, but trust me!

Its nice to see a small independent business flourishing in San Francisco, as well as some fellow handmade artists. Check out Urban Bazaar next time you are looking for a unique gift. 


Urban Bazaar is located at 1371 9th Ave between Irving and Judah, San Francisco, 415-664-4422, http://www.urbanbazaarsf.com

Giant Corporate Retailer: West Elm goodies

I won't really take up too much real estate on this blog talking about major retailer stuff when there is so much amazing stuff to talk about from Etsy, but I did find a few cuties in the new West Elm catalog. I also feel like its okay to talk about them because West Elm actually does feature Etsy artists in their catalog, which I think is pretty cool for a big retailer to acknowledge independent people. With that, here are some things that caught my eye:

In my house these tea towels would get destroyed instantly, but they are awfully cute

LOVE the orange on these Biscuit Tins. I mean, LOOOOVE it.

Any one of these three sets of measuring cups is welcome to measure stuff in my kitchen any day:

Pop Color Measuring Cups

Owl Measuring Cups

Sea Measuring Cups

Lastly, moving out of the kitchen, I really love the simple modern patterns on these sheets:

I'll take one set of each!

Adventure: General Bead

A place that I like to visit when I am in a creative rut is General Bead in San Francisco. 


Completely unassuming on the outside, and at a rather hidden location (on an ally basically, in San Francisco's South of Market district), walking in unfolds a colorful wonderland for jewelry makers of all skill levels. I took my two friends there for their first General Bead excursion. My friend Megan, the lucky girl, lives a block away from General Bead so we met at her house for a pre-General Bead toast.

Once we arrived at General Bead, we were greeted by George, one of the store's two resident felines. The first thing you notice when you walk in is the crazy, colorful decor. Every inch of the walls that doesn't have merchandise on it is covered with some sort of decoration or picture. There are pictures of cats and French Bulldogs randomly hidden everywhere in the store. 

The first floor walls are covered by rows and rows of glass beads and supplies. Here is Megan trying to make a big decision on what type of earring setting to get:

Upstairs is a treasure trove of just anything you can imagine for making jewelry, as well as a selection of beaded curtains (so in case you were wondering where to buy a beaded curtain in the year 2011, look no further). I am also a huge fan of the "5 cents a gram" bead boxes upstairs. The three of us spent close to 30 minutes combing through the boxes for goodies:

Megan and Stephanie doing some treasure hunting

Unfortunately we got the boot when the store closed at 6 and didn't get to spend nearly enough time at the store (the last time I visited I was there for close to two hours!). It was great getting to share this little gem of a store with my friends, and I hope it made them as happy as it made me. Its almost impossible to leave this store without a smile on your face. 

My General Bead haul. Soon to be jewelry!

General Bead is located at 637 Minna St between 7th & 8th Sts, San Francisco, 415-255-2323

Artist Feature: Stephanie Bolton of Sincesass

I met Stephanie, owner and artisan behind Sincesass, at the retail company we worked at together. We shared a love of bling, Mad Men, finding great deals and of course, crafting. She also has a great style and personality which is clear in her product line. Incidentally, we also both attended University of San Francisco, although at different times (because I’m old, ha).

Sincesass features wine bags, zipper clutches and totes, all handmade by Stephanie. She’s been sewing since she was 11 years old, and I have to say I admire her patience since sewing drives me bonkers.

I am the proud owner of my very own one-of-a-kind Sincesass wine bag that was given to me on my last day at my job which says “bai”. I like to carry it around the house in case of wine emergencies, and let’s face it, wine emergencies DO happen.

Stephanie and I got together for a glass of wine and a chat:

What are your favorite things, crafting related or not?

Crafting is definitely one of my top favorite things ever, but aside from sitting in front of my sewing machine, I like to go to the movies, gallivant around San Francisco, happy hour, and talk way too much about Bravo reality shows.

Embroidered "Bling" Zipper Pouch. Love the zipper color!

What are your goals for your business? Or are you just doing it for the enjoyment of crafting?

I started crafting without any goals (or craft business knowledge) in mind so I really dove in head-first starting my shop. After having my business open for almost six months and consistently making products, I've only focused on small goals to keep me going. This could be a new product line or experimenting with ads on blogs. I opened my shop as an outlet for my hobby and basic curiosity of how to turn a hobby into business. I just really wanted to see where it took me. If you would have told me in November that I would be selling my items in two San Francisco stores and having even more than five sales on Etsy, I won't have believed it. I think that keeps me going with this business. It's already exposed me to different experiences and people that it can only get better from here.

Moustache Tote

Do you have any new product ideas in the works, or would you like to focus on your current product lines?

Yes, I'm working on launching wedding party wine bags! Based on the idea of my current wine bags, they will be a bit "fancier" and playful with weddings in mind. They will be made of upholstery material with a classy detail, lined, and finished off with webbing straps. There will be different options for men and women in mind. A buyer will have the option to customize certain features and the quantity (based on the size of the wedding party). I noticed after selling my wine bags, that there was interest in using them as party favors and gifts. I thought this would be a great opportunity to jump into the wedding world and see what happens. I also have a long list of other ideas that I have to figure out how to execute and the time to do it!

This wine bag isn't afraid to say what we're all thinking

With thousands of people participating, selling on Etsy can be difficult and discouraging. What do you do to keep yourself going?

I've learned that I can only focus on my shop and what I'm doing. It can be overwhelming if I spend hours just looking at shops similar to mine and seeing their sales and products. I figure my time is better spent making new items or working on improving my shop. I also believe to be a successful shop, you do need to promote it outside Etsy since the likelihood of a buyer finding you on their own is low. But on the other side, Etsy has created a great community of sellers that want to talk with each other and share information. I've learned the most from forums and becoming buddies with fellow sellers.

Zipper pouch in action

What as been your most popular/best selling line so far?

For my online shop, it's been my wine bags (mostly over the Holiday season). In brick and mortar stores, it's been my glitter oilcloth zipper pouches. The glitter oilcloth is difficult to photograph so in person, it's eye-catching and so pretty!

Bronze glitter oilcloth?! Yes please!

You mentioned that customers in San Francisco can buy your products in a few physical locations outside of Etsy, where can they find them?

They can find my products at Urban Bazaar (Inner Sunset) and Green Zebra (downtown). Fingers crossed more locations soon! I'm always updating my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/SinceSass) and Twitter page (www.twitter.com/SinceSass) with the latest info on my shop.

Finally, and really most importantly, how long do you give Don and Megan’s marriage on Mad Men?

The moment when millions of Mad Men fans simultaneously exclaimed "Whut?!?"

Oh, my heart is breaking that Mad Men will not be back until 2012! Not sure how I will survive. So many theories about this marriage, but it could be one that lasts until death do they part. Don will probably go back to being Don the Player and Megan will want to do the right thing and stay with him, but develop extreme bitterness towards him and their life together. For the most part, the characters in Mad Men can't be that happy so something has to go wrong. Or she could die in a tragic accident (jealous Betty?!). Either way, I'm staying tuned.

BIG thank you to Stephanie for being my first featured artist on Stellaspace! Please check out her Etsy shop, Sincesass. 

Inspiration: Succulents!

My succulent "garden"

I'm not a huge plant person, I don't know how to take care of them, and well, the plants of the world are just better off in other, more capable hands. I do have a weakness for succulents however. There is something so interesting and architectural about them, plus they are pretty low maintenance. 

Me, 1980

Perhaps my affinity for succulents began here in my great aunt's amazing backyard. Here I am at age two, hands on hips, contemplating something very important, I'm sure.

This one started off as a little guy I got at Trader Joe's for a couple bucks, and it grew like crazy. I have transplanted it three times already in less than a year.

The colors! The shapes! How to decide??

I spent half an hour staring at these at the hardware store trying to decide what I wanted. They are all so cute!

I know succulents in terrariums have become quite trendy, but they really are great for people who like plants but need something difficult to kill. I water this maybe once a month. 

I love these "aspirational" pots from Vessel USA. Maybe someday my succulents will be lucky enough for these fancy digs:

While I love the pots, the best thing about succulents is that they don't need these fancy containers to be inspiring!