Building a Collection: Papernstitch



I don’t know what you talked about during Thanksgiving dinner.  But once we had exhausted family news and neighborhood gossip, the conversation turned to Etsy.  Yes, much to the chagrin and confusion of the fellas present, we discussed Etsy.  More to the point: we discussed how to find decent stuff on Etsy.

Etsy has grown into the largest marketplace for crafty things.  A behemoth, really.  Not unlike Ebay or Mall of America in scope and variety.  And since Etsy embraces thousands of vendors, literally, all describing their own creations, it can be extremely difficult to navigate.  For example, yesterday, a search for “Christmas pug” unearthed 802 items.  “Butterfly mobile” brought up 1,194 examples.  And “photographs of Paris” discovered an overwhelming 3,933 options for sale.

Happiness is Homemade by Alyssa Nassner

Plus, the idea of homemade or handmade is really diverse.  And expectations of quality are highly personal.  The beauty or cleverness of an object may be easy to spot at your farmer’s market, but it’s a little trickier to judge via your computer monitor or smart phone.  So what to do?  If you already have a favorite artist on Etsy, you could constantly check out what he or she loves.  Just follow the hearts.

But most of us involved in the Thanksgiving discussion trust blogs – blogs of friends, designers, reviewers, and even Etsy’s own blog – to sift through the huge selection and find what we actually want and like.

Papernstitch is a blog I trust.

Papernstitch is both an online exhibition space for artists and makers of handmade goods, many culled from the best of Etsy, and a blog about design and DIY craft.  Founder Brittni Mehlhoff takes curating the site seriously.  Exhibitions change at least monthly.  Jeff, her partner in life and work, keeps the dual endeavors running smoothly, both technically and visually.  Papernstitch regularly receives accolades from media, such as, Country Living, The Huffington Post and other well-known blogs like Apartment Therapy.

Papernstitch has featured my sister’s prints and photographs by Irene Suchocki.  Plus it’s introduced me to the following artists:

Sally Harless;

Stacie Bloomfield;
Lisa Zador;
Alyssa Nassner;
Derek Sullivan;
and Melissa Lund.

Sally Harless, also known as Sadly Harmless, is based in Bloomington, Indiana, and attends major craft fairs throughout the Midwest.  On Papernstitch and Etsy, she offers prints of her original drawings and watercolors, plus these clever shadow boxes.

Snow Drifter by Sally Harless

I like the somewhat Eeyore-feel to her images.  Life is an adventure… a little tragic and humorous and perpetually in motion, whether we recognize it or not!

Sally Harless' A Crawling Garden

and In My Own Way

Stacie Bloomfield, aka Gingiber, grew up in the Midwest and currently lives in Arkansas with her young family.  She has always been obsessed with animals, and her illustrations manage to capture the individual and the archetype in a minimal but charming style.  Pattern plays a big part.  Gemma Giraffe looks like Kente cloth.

Gemma Giraffe by Stacie Bloomfield

The stripes on Leo Lion mimic handprinted Adrinka cotton.

Leo Lion, also by Stacie Bloomfield

In addition to prints, Stacie sells greeting cards, wall decals and pillows based on her original illustrations.

and her Black Sheep pillow

Lisa Zador is one of the most established artists featured on Papernstitch.  An animal lover and avid collector of retro kitsch, Lisa has been designing textiles and packaging for over twenty years now.  But she may be best known for her Curious Portraits: exquisite paintings and surprisingly poignant portrayals of antique toys;

Steiff Kitten by Lisa Zador

vintage knick knacks;

Salt and Pepper Still Life by Lisa Zador

and rather dapper fauna.

and her Goose Gentleman

Once again, Lisa offers affordable reproductions of her paintings through Etsy and Papernstitch and sells her original pieces, including custom pet portraits, through more traditional venues.

There is no doubt that Etsy empowers crafters around the world and provides artists with a genuinely huge audience – much larger than any single gallery, craft show or wholesale market could supply.  And despite its clunkiness, it broadens our “local” shopping experience by introducing us to new work and helping us connect to craftspeople we hope to support.

Alyssa Nassner is an illustrator who successfully uses Etsy as a storefront and marketing tool.  Alyssa spends her regular workday in design and also freelances as Small Talk Studio.  You may recognize her drawings from Real Simple and Gemma Correll’s blog: What I Wore Today.

Alyssa’s prints, often developed from these extra projects, exude a can-do attitude and pretty nostalgia.

Fortune Favors the Brave by Alyssa Nassner

Let Yourself Be Free by Alyssa Nassner

Even her Mushroom Identification Chart is bright and cheerful compared to the old-fashioned lithographs that inspired it.

Etsy shines as the realm of women, especially young women, in tune to nature, fantasy, wit and the joy of crafting lovely, slightly ephemeral things.  And fellas like Derek Sullivan are significantly outnumbered.  Based in Seattle, Derek is another professional designer who utilizes Etsy as a creative outlet.  I absolutely love his alphabet flashcard prints, which seem influenced by pulp fiction covers and product advertisements from the 40s and 50s.

F is for Film Noir,

U is for Upside Down

and N is for Narwhal... all by Derek Sullivan

Cuteness-overload is an ailment that strikes me from time to time when searching through Etsy.  I become immune to the pleasures of felt and pale pink and almost miss something great like Melissa Lund’s photographs.

Taffy Six by Melissa Lund

Melissa’s whimsical little scenes are beautiful and beautifully crafted.  Sugary treats for the eyes.  But more than that, they draw us in.  The encourage us to look closer.  To pay attention.  And I think that’s what we should expect from art, whether it costs $25 or $25,000.

Pins by Melissa Lund

Cupcake Love by Melissa Lund

I don’t think I’m overstating things when I say these six artists remind us that life is a noble quest…

Sally Harless' Sail Close to the Wind

colorful…

Stacie Bloomfield's Confetti Cat

meant to be cherished…

Lisa Zador's Steiff Bunny Sleeping

full of possibility…

Alyssa Nassner's Be in Love

wicked fun…

Derek Sullivan's Y is for Yeti

and transient.

Melissa Lund's Berry Baskets

So, this holiday season, I hope you will shop Etsy for some of your gift purchases.  And employ Papernstitch as your handy filter and guide.

Precious Pepper

It was just about four years ago, on a ridiculously hot weekend in August, that we brought Pepper home from the SPCA.  And our lives have never been the same!

Pepper on her first day home

Both Walter and I have had wonderful cats in the past… brilliant, beautiful cats who were fierce hunters and defenders, who explored fearlessly and who grew up and grew old with us.  But I can honestly say that none were quite as joyful as Pepper or quite as entwined with our daily lives.

Pepper by Beate Casati

Pepper reminds us that it is often the little things, just like her, that bring the greatest happiness.

Pepper would tell you…

Eat when you are hungry… a bit now and a bit later is fine.  You don’t always have to clean your plate.
But lick your lips and drink a lot of water.  It’s okay if it dribbles off your chin.
Naps are good.  And you feel better if you stick to your same bedtime every night.
Clean between your toes.  And don’t forget to stretch.

Pepper still stretches like this!

Pay attention.  The world is an amazing place.

Smell the flowers, literally.  I often find Pepper face-down in a blossom.  Ajuga and Abelia are some of her favorites.
Speak up.  Let someone know when you need help or a cuddle.
In fact, cuddle every day.

Don’t be afraid to jump for a sunbeam, even if you look a little silly.

Sometimes you need to run all out.

And sometimes you need to lie down, right now, right where you are.

I’ve been known to worry aloud, “What if we never found each other?”  Not only was Pepper abandoned at birth, but by the time we discovered her at the SPCA, she had already been adopted and returned by a family who thought her too rambunctious.  Too rambunctious?  Umm… isn’t that the point of kitty cats?  Walter and I think so.

Pepper’s job is to play.

Although her favorite things tend to wax and wane with the seasons, they are all about play and include

• Sparkles:  She spends a couple hours every morning and evening chasing the sparkles on the wall cast by the reflections or headlights of passing cars.
• Squirrels:  We don’t talk about squirrels unless there is a squirrel for her to see.  It’s just too exciting.
• String:  As my brother says, “Man, that cat loves string.” She can entertain herself for hours with a shoe string… throwing it, catching it, running with it.
• Bees:  Yes, she gets stung every year.
• Butterflies are mesmerizing.
• Birds are fascinating too... but rather noisy, especially the tiny ones.
• And lately, she has been obsessed with snails and cicadas.

The truth is that she’s not a sophisticated hunter.  She’s interested in the search not the kill.  She’s inquisitive, within bounds, and always inventive when it comes to play.  I’ve watched her chase the shadows of big, fat bumblebees when the real things were beyond her reach.  Pepper loves to pounce on billowing sheets when we make the beds.  What fun!  Hiding, jumping, rolling.

My mother lost her patience on a recent visit.  “She needs to learn – not everything is play!”  Oh, I hope not.

Of course, we haven't been able to hang our glass Christmas ornaments lately.
But they look so pretty in bowls and cases.

A lot like shiny toys.  Right Pepper?

While Pepper may not always get her way, she never stops trying.  And we’re okay with that too.

If the word “spoiled” comes to mind, well, you can think what you like.  Pepper is allowed to keep her favorite stick in the dining room.  But it’s an absolutely PERFECT stick.  She has a bed, cat-size, of course, on each floor of the house, and a place to sit up high, at least table height, in almost every room.  Her daddy enclosed the back yard, mainly with a mesh fence, so she is protected from busy traffic but can still watch the goings-on.

And he just built a small flight of stairs so she can reach her favorite tall window.

It might seem like a lot fuss.  But what Pepper gives us in return is incomparable.  And I can’t imagine these past four years without her.