Tag: etsy

Posted in Arty sparks, Sparky gifts

Bunny with a Toolbelt

Posted on by Cate

Yes, that caught my eye too. Bunny with a Toolbelt is the very cool name of Hilary Pfeifer’s business in Portland, Oregon, where the focus has been ‘making you smile since the late 20th century’. Hilary creates sculptures, animals and wedding cake toppers from recycled wood and other materials. And they are brightly coloured and very quirky. Hilary has also written a couple of books and sells t-shirts and mugs adorned with her work. This Bunny is busy.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

I’ll start with my favourite. This dog is made of painted, upcycled wood and stands about 4 inches tall and 11 inches long. The piece is called ‘Oh Happy Day’. And with this brightly coloured piece of magic in your home or office or classroom or shop, I’m tipping you’ll have a very happy day indeed. If you’re a deep kinda person, you can probably read something into the placement of the clouds, or the fact that the dog is happily supporting three animals of another species, all of different colours. But I just like it because it’s bright and cute.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

If you’re looking for a customised gift for that certain someone, you can help Hilary to design your own Mini Me. You send photos and thoughts about the subject to Hilary and she creates a mini version of them. In brightly coloured monster form. Uh huh.

And then there are the elephants that Hilary created to illustrate her first alphabet book – Elephabet. As you might expect, it’s no ordinary alphabet book. Y is for Yippie-ki-Yayiphant, S is for Sushiphant, R is for Radiophant. But my favourite is probably this guy: V is for Vice Versaphant.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

Oh, and the wedding cake toppers – not normally even remotely my kind of thing, but these have a quirky style. Granted, they won’t suit every couple, but for some people, I think they’re probably just perfect…

Like that really tall couple that you know.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

Or those two IT geeks who fell in love in the server room.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

Or that couple that took forever to make it down the aisle.

(c) Bunny with a Toolbelt

And with more than 60 varieties, there’s plenty more where those came from! You can check out the Bunny with a Toolbelt website here and the etsy shop here. Love your work, Hilary!

Posted in Arty sparks, Sparky gifts

Puppet People

Posted on by Cate

Puppets aren’t for everyone – some people are a little suspicious of their hollow centres, beady eyes and lack of a voice. And, you know, the fact that there’s a human hand inside. But I think there’s a lot to love about these puppets, made by Erica in Florida and sold at her etsy shop Sublimations. Erica’s specialty is customising puppets to look like their owners – so you can get a pair of lookalike puppets as a wedding gift, or a mini-me puppet for a friend. Erica reminds shoppers that she makes puppets, not photographs – she encourages people to ‘close their eyes and imagine they’re a puppet on Sesame Street’ to get an idea of what to expect.

Erica’s website features lots of pics of puppets & their people, so you can see just how closely they match. But since we don’t know those people, I thought I’d stick with some of the more famous faces (and half bodies) that Erica makes. Like Jimi Hendrix here. Down to the detail of making outfits for the puppet that match famous photos of the singer from back in the day. Brilliant.

And I’ve written before about the love that some people (not me) have for bacon. From toothpaste to bandages to wallets and everything in between. We can now add finger puppets to the list, as Erica includes a rasher of bacon in her range. Six inches tall, Erica says it’s the perfect gift for anyone who loves bacon so much they want to “BE bacon”. And I have no doubt that those people exist.

Here’s an example of a puppet couple. All you have to do is send a photo and a description of the couple in question (to get a sense of wardrobe, jewellery etc, I guess) and Erica will turn a couple of people into a couple of puppets. Such a great gift idea, especially for people who seem to have everything. Bet they don’t have small versions of themselves made from felt and wool and stuff. Yet.

Your furry friends are not forgotten – Erica is happy to turn your beloved pet into a puppet too. If you’re not into taxidermy, this could be a more fun and slightly less creepy way to ensure that the memory of Fido or Kitty lives on…

These are just a sample of the fantastic puppets available at Erica’s shop – you can check out Sublimations here. You’re welcome!

Posted in Arty sparks

Pet Confessions

Posted on by Cate

Do you sometimes wonder what your little dog and cat friends are thinking? Well, Christopher Rozzi can tell you. Mr Rozzi is an artist, a writer, and comedian living in NYC. And his tiny confessions range combines comedy with art. He asks dogs, cats and even monsters and robots the big questions and paints their answers…

Confession of a French Bulldog
[Christopher Rozzi]
Confession of a Cat
[Christopher Rozzi]
Confession of a Wolfman
[Christopher Rozzi]
Confession of a German Shepherd
[Christopher Rozzi]
Confession of a Labrador
[Christopher Rozzi]
And even…

Confession of Darth Vader
[Christopher Rozzi]
These are just a sample of the very funny tiny confessions range, which you can check out on etsy.

Posted in Arty sparks

Bonjour, monsieur

Posted on by Cate

Yann is a professional photographer based in Paris. Yann claims to specialise in many things: portraits, products, landscapes, reportages… But today, I wanted to share some of Yann’s prints that are for sale on etsy. Because I really like what he’s done here and I really LOVE the thought that there might be a teeny tiny chap in a top hat doing his thing without us even knowing.

The Threader
(c) Yann Pendaries
The Macaroons Hatter
(c) Yann Pendaries
The Seed Gatherer
(c) Yann Pendaries
The Snail Tamer
(c) Yann Pendaries
The Morning Ringer
(c) Yann Pendaries
The Shell Renter
(c) Yann Pendaries
The Coffee Stirrer
(c) Yann Pendaries

These are just a selection of Yann’s amazing work for sale in his etsy shop Photography Dream. I can’t decide between The Seed Gatherer, The Snail Tamer and The Shell Renter. Now if only Yann could find the guy who hides the socks in the washing machine, or the car keys when you’re in a hurry to leave, or your ringing mobile phone buried in your bag…

Posted in Home sparks, Sparky gifts

Wax on, wax off

Posted on by Cate

A candle can make a lovely gift – but some people think they’re a little ho hum. Unless, of course, it’s a Man Candle. Or maybe one of these candles – something tells me you won’t find these in every homewares store in the village…

This ‘Thing’ hand candle is eerily life-like. Yes, yes, you can apparently ‘see every wrinkle and vein’, but even better (or worse, depending on your feelings about burning hands), as the candle burns, red wax oozes from the wrist. Uh huh. How’s that for a conversation stopper at your next dinner party? It’s made by JohnnyBWilde in the UK and you can check it out on etsy here.

And here’s another candle I don’t quite understand – it’s a wedding dress. Presumably, if you’ve had a lovely wedding day, you wouldn’t want to set fire to a pretty white wedding dress (even if it is made of wax)? Perhaps it’s for a runaway bride to light to celebrate her escape. Or for bachelors everywhere to send a subliminal message to their lady of the moment that there will be no trip down the aisle. It was featured in a candle post a while back on urlesque here.

I love this Lego candle best of all. It looks as though it’d be long-lasting, although in fairness I’m not sure about the scale. I love it,as long as the people can be removed before you light the eight wicks on the brick – I don’t fancy seeing those three little people melting down as they can’t handle the heat. That’s not right at all. This was shown on Smashing Lists here.

Last, but not least, is the candle range from Hotwicks. Made in the USA, the range includes delicate scents such as Beer, Campfire, Leather, Sawdust and Whiskey. Oh, and Stripper and Urinal Cake. Uh huh. Somewhat tame in comparison, but still just as baffling, here is the Bacon flavoured candle. You can check out the range here.

This collection of bizarro candles just proves my theory that there really is a market for everything. And with that, I’m off to make my own range of candles – That’s My Boy, a stinky aroma of socks, wet towels & other signature scents, to soothe empty nesters who are missing their sons; Dry July, a treat for anyone giving up alcohol, it releases vapours of vino into the air (after all, the rules don’t say anything about inhaling alcohol); and Kardashian, a sickly sweet candle, with a combination of over the top scents competing for your attention – a minute after lighting this, you’ll be forced to switch off reality tv, blow out the candle and get out into the real world for a breath of fresh air. If you’d like to contribute to the EverydaySparks Candle Collection, please get in touch to share your ideas…