Shop of the Week -- FirebirdHouse

Introducing FirebirdHouse, the Etsy shop of Kristen Evans, and our Etsy Twitter Shop of the Week. FirebirdHouse offers books, jewelry, and home accessories. The common theme? Kristen loves using reclaimed and recycled materials as well as new. She says "I really love old things, especially books, and I am passionate about not losing a piece of history to the trash can or the landfill if I can help it." Her ultimate goal is to make everything that comes out of her studio a true work of art that is also useful and unique. It is not surprising that she is inspired by beautiful vintage items, everything from "furniture to an Art Nouveau book", she says.

Browsing FirebirdHouse, it is evident that her work is, by its very nature, unique and one of a kind. Kristen thrives on this variety: "When you work with vintage, you get used to the fact that every piece will be different. I am constantly challenged and inspired by what I do."

While Kristen is talented with updating vintage jewelry, her true love is vintage books. She is looking to move more into bookbinding and has just signed a gallery contract to do just that. How exciting to be able to do what you love most...and be recognized for your work! Congratulations, Kristen! She plans to migrate her FirebirdHouse inventory over to journals and other bookbinding efforts to reflect her changing focus.

Kristen is an accomplished Twitter user. Her only secret? "to interact as much as I can. My twitter-hood is a fantastic group of people, and I find them encouraging and inspiring." Conversely, to bring traffic to her shop, Kristen lists consistently (usually several times a week) and she uses posterous.com to post links to her new work in multiple places at the same time. "These are the best ways I have found for bringing people...to my shop."


FirebirdHouse is offering these SOTW discounts:
10% off all journals
20% off on all jewelry
No code necessary;
Prices will already be marked down!
effective October 11-17, 2010
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Etsy Shop: http://firebirdhouse.etsy.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/firebirdhouse
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/firebirdhousedesigns
Blog: http://firebirdhouse.posterous.com

Written by Judy of WellspringCreations

Shop of the Week - NovaScotiaBeachGlass

This week, the Etsy Twitter Team is featuring NovaScotiaBeachGlass for our Shop of the Week. NovaScotiaBeachGlass is the creation of Lori Stewart who collects seaglass from the beaches of Nova Scotia. She hunts the beach with her black lab, Willow, looking for beach glass, seaglass, driftwood and any other treasures the sea might reveal to her. She turns these treasures into lovely works of wearable art: pendants and necklaces.

Lori told me that beach glass is also called seaglass or mermaid’s tears. "This collectible is formed after years of tumbling in ocean waves, softening the sharp edges of shards of broken glass. Sea glass originates from man-made trash - bottles or jars tossed overboard ships or dumped with other garbage into the ocean, where they would break into pieces and tumble around. Most sea glass found today dates before the mid 1960's (when plastics became the norm). A perfectly smooth piece may have been in the ocean for decades, even a century. Collectors value the glass for its beauty and the mystery of its history - whose hand might have held the original item? What story might the sea glass tell?"

Lori appreciates the history and romance of her chosen material. She says there is nothing so soothing as to handle seaglass. In addition to her interest in recycling the vintage seaglass, Lori also expresses her artistic nature using resin. While she is always experimenting with new designs, this year she would like to improve her jewelry photography.

Lori ships worldwide and the interest in her work is ever growing. "I've been asked to do a home party...plus several stores have expressed interest in displaying my necklaces." On the Twitter front, Lori likes to keep people interested by tweeting a little about everything...not just about Etsy and her shop.

NovaScotiaBeachGlass is offering
Free shipping for the month of May to
Canada and the US
Also, a sale: 25% off orders over $100.00
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Etsy Shop: www.NovaScotiaBeachGlass.etsy.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/seajewelry
FaceBook:www.facebook.com/NovaScotiaBeachGlass
Blog:www.novascotiabeachseaglass.blogspot.com

Written by Judy of Wellspring Creations