with love from abu dhabi

{ everyday greetings collection in arabic and english by natoof }

hello from the united arab emirates! of course there are etsy crafters here.

both of the above cards are true: miss you much. and you rock.

thank you for your patience while i take a much-needed vacation to see dear friends and regroup. can you believe it's almost december? i can't.

tomorrow, dubai. inshallah. this is the furthest i have ever been from home.

happy thanksgiving to my friends in the states!

{each photo links to its shop}

50th: golden wedding anniversary gifts

{each photo links to its shop}

my stepfather's parents are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary this weekend -- 50! years! -- and i've been trying for several weeks to think of a gift. originally we thought to hire a photographer to come and take a great family shot, but then we found out they don't want a big fuss and want the party to be very low key. we're taking them to fancy dinner the day after the party, but what does one give a couple who has been together for so long, travels frequently, and is not lacking for much? what would be meaningful to commemorate 50 years?

maybe... a cd with top 10 hits from the year they got married -- 1959! -- or something with "gold" in the name that isn't a gold-rimmed plate or picture frame... and we don't have vintage photos, so photo/slideshow is out. any ideas?

evies: handmade ring pillows

{ chocolate and lavender ring pillow }

as part of catching up, evie wrote (back in *august*, mind you) with these gorgeous ring pillows, which you may have seen featured on stylemepretty around then --

i think these are *wonderful* -- am wishing you all success, evie!





for more, see evies.etsy.com

top ten vintage wedding items on etsy: nov. 1st

{each photo links to its shop}

11 reasons you should keep reading etsy wedding

{ where am i going? art journal kit by elisejoy }

i know, i know. i never call, i never write.
was in NYC last weekend briefly on a music adventure to CMJ, am planning a trip to dubai/UAE, doing some behind-the-scenes research for this blog... no excuses!

my readers, i need to get on a posting schedule. i have roughly 11 things on deck, some of them for months, some of them i'm embarrassed to admit to because i've left blog friends hanging.

looking in my drafts folder, they are:

1. bridal-party gifts for women under $20, to follow up men's gifts under $20
   
2. silver earrings post requested in august by meg of a practical wedding, who is already married and no longer needs it...
3. bridesmaid dresses you *might* actually like
4. eco-housewares worth registering for
5. real etsy wedding: dorie
6. call for entries: seeking 20 motivated etsy wedding vendors for the wedding show, jan 15-17, toronto, see http://www.theweddingco.com/thedailynews/2009/10/calling-all-etsy-sellers/
7. a really really great giveaway with a prize (a really good one!) that i have needed to post since *june*. 
8. a post on the wonderful twin oaks bed+breakfast, where we stayed in natchez on our road trip in september, and proprietor regina charboneau's amazing food writing (and recipes!)
   
9. polls: what do you want to see more of? budget features? top 10 vintage? individual seller features? also: if people offer me non-etsy products to review, would you like me to accept them in order to pass them on to you as freebies?
10. for hannah at the daily etsian, an interview she gave me weeeeeks ago....
11. plus a really good story i've been holding out on.

i hope that by listing them here it shows that i do think about you far more often than it shows the last few months. plus it's the first step toward finishing a few of them, for the love. i also purchased (months ago!) a domain name for the site: etsyweddingblog.com, but have yet to revamp the template and reorganize the resources now that they've grown. i need an assistant. perhaps an intern... (don't we all!)

being at fort point open studios and working with other artists reminded me why i do this: to connect couples with amazing craftspeople and artisans, and to give exemplary indie design a wider audience. i've been neglecting that job of late, and plan to be more mindful of your good faith in reading.

for all waiting to hear back by email, i am catching up slowly.
i thank you all for your patience and for reading!

greetings from fort point boston!

{ fort point open studios 2009 }

hello from boston! am back in my old neighborhood, at fort point's 30th annual open studios this weekend. forgive the slow posting, have been feverishly making jewelry for this weekend -- today was great!

if you're in the boston area and don't think the head of the charles in the rain sounds like fun tomorrow, stop by! 150 artists are open 11am-6pm -- i'm in the group space at 311 summer st., just across the ft. point channel from the south station T, or there's free parking.

for more info and a map, see fortpointarts.org, and thank you so much to everyone who came by today!!

sea glass jewelry for your wedding day

{ photo by christina friedrichsen, intimateweddings.com }

[as a special friday treat, please welcome today's guest host christina friedrichsen of IntimateWeddings.com, the go-to website for anyone planning a small wedding. not only a wedding expert, she's here to talk about sea glass, a fascinating subject i knew *nothing* about. etsy has a whole world of sea glass jewelry and supplies i'd barely even registered -- thank you so much, christina!]

Sea glass is my latest obsession. Not only is it a hot collectible—it makes gorgeous wedding jewelry.

Just in case you have no idea what sea glass is, it’s glass—mainly from bottles, but also from tableware, pottery and other glassware—found in lakes and oceans that has been smoothed by the sand and tumbling action of the waves.

A well-frosted piece of sea glass will have tossed and turned in the waves for several years. In fact, most of the good pieces have been in the water for several decades—and some rare pieces are more than 100 years old. Black sea glass can date back to the 1700s!

Some people call sea glass jewels of the sea, or mermaid’s tears. And some serious collectors travel the earth for rare pieces to add to their collections. Serious collectors will rappel off cliffs, scuba dive and kayak to very remote locations to find the most precious of sea jewels. As for me, I just scour the shoreline.

There are online groups devoted to sea glass (seaglasslovers.ning.com and seaglassartists.ning.com) and even sea glass festivals (The North American Sea Glass festival in Erie, PA will be held in October.)

One excellent resource is Richard Lamotte’s Pure Sea Glass. In sea glass circles, this book is often referred to as the ‘bible’ for sea glass collectors.

Sea glass makes gorgeous wedding jewelry. Everything from bezel cup pendants, to wire wrapped earrings. It’s even used to make flip flops for beach brides.

White is the most common colour of sea glass. Despite its prevalence, I think there’s nothing more beautiful than a perfect piece of frosted white. And it goes so well with a wedding gown!

Sea glass jewelry is also a lovely gift for your bridesmaids. You can choose any colour of the rainbow and a simple pendant can cost less than $20.

I’ve handpicked some sea glass jewelry from Etsy. And if you are interested in learning more about sea glass, please check out seaglassrocks.com, my new blog on sea glass collecting.






{each photo links to its shop}

please also check out christina's Intimate Weddings Blog for heaps of fresh ideas on planning an intimate wedding – and don’t forget to check out the Intimate Weddings Venue Finder for unique, intimate wedding venues. more on sea glass at seaglassrocks.com -- happy friday, everyone!