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Shopping blog featuring products made by people not factories.

Kristin Parsons Illustrations

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Creatures and beasties from another world is how you might describe Kristin Parsons‘ whimsical creations. Whether the creatures are fish-like, frog-like or totally unlike anything you’ve seen, kids seem to love these illustrations. Kristin worked as an inker at an animated cartoon studio in Barcelona in the mid 60’s and has continued to create work inspired by the little ones in her life over the last 60 years.

Over the years she’s had gallery shows, both group and solo, in the United States and Europe and has illustrated a couple of books. You could certainly imagine a picture book full of these critters. Each creature starts as hand drawings and then are scanned in and digitally manipulated to achieve the colorful finished product.

My favorite item from my Etsy shop is “Flower Inspection,” because it reminds me of my grandson, who’s four and always busy figuring out how things are put together.

An artist at heart, Kristin has been creating since she was 2 years old. While she has been selling her work offline for some time now, she’s just recently started selling online after discovering it as a way to share her work with potentially thousands of people every day.

A recent Florida transplant, she is currently only selling online. Kristin comes from a long line of artists – both her grandfathers and an aunt were artists, and, like them, she started drawing from a very early age. Growing up, she lived in three countries in Europe and stayed for art school.

She has one daughter with her husband, and a grandson who is a constant source of inspiration (and I gather from her conversation with me, pride). Her shop is truly Freshly Made, she’s only been listing for a few days and is working on adding more creative creatures. If you know of a kiddo who would love these funny fellows, make sure to check out her shop.

Barcelona, Spain

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Whenever I’m in need of a little design inspiration, a sure place to look is the great continent. I hopped over to Barcelona, Spain to see what the ladies of the Iberian Peninsula had cooking!

dolo grandfather clock stuffed doll

Misako Mimoko creates little stuffies – dolls, brooches, and necklaces – with lots of personality and a nod to the past. I followed a link in her shop announcement to find this little embroidery pattern, inspired by one of her dolls, that you can download and use to embellish a tea towel or pillow.

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Photography by Alan Todd

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Triarchy

Alan Todd is a Washington, DC based architect whose creative life and professional life are one in the same. His “day job” and hobby-turned-business are both about creating, and both about his interest in the built environment. Although his photographs cover a variety of subjects, his favorite and most successful works are about abstract architecture.

Back and Forth

Alan fell in love with both the artistry and practicality of photography while he was still in school, studying to be an architect. On a trip to Europe, he and his classmates were charged with recording individual design elements they felt were successful, while studying structures in Italy, Switzerland, Germany and France.

While studying the Roman Forum, Alan found himself relying more on his digital point-and-shoot camera than his sketch pad and pencil, and the photographer in him was born. He knew he could use his camera for more than just logging details for a class assignment. “For me,” he says, “the camera turned into a tool for creating, not just capturing.”

Polar Asymmetry

Although Alan continued his education in architecture, he remains mostly self-taught in photography. However, looking at the images he captures, it is easy to see how his education, training, and experience in architecture has influenced his eye as a photographer.

Stone Whirlpool

Alan had been taking photographs for fun for a while, without any intention to share them with the world, or sell them to anybody. At the suggestion of his brother-in-law, he began to consider the possibilities of online marketplaces like Etsy. Alan’s brother-in-law is an accomplished painter with a thriving online business, and with his encouragement, Alan opened his Etsy shop in December 2009.

Linear Technicolor 2

Images from Alan’s Abstract Architecture collection are definitely his customers’ favorites. Likewise, Alan’s favorite approach to his photography is primarily isolating elements from successful structures, and defining them with light and texture.

Anomaly

Despite his professional interest in architecture and built structures, Alan finds his approach to photography evolving to include natural elements. Rather than focusing solely on chronicling existing conditions, Alan creates his own “spatial composition through the specific qualities of each scene.”

Back to Your Roots

Specifically, he has recently become inspired to focus on trees and their root systems, and his portfolio also includes other scenes of natural beauty. This shift was not at all intentional, which only means that Alan’s photography will continue to evolve and change. Who knows what’s next?

Metal Basket

Alan’s work is available in his Etsy shop, where he regularly adds new images from his travels and from his favorite neighborhoods of Washington, DC.

Be involved in your own democracy

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Head over to President-Elect Obama’s Change.org site and vote up the “Save Small Business From the CPSIA” Idea for Change. The top 10 ideas get presented to Obama, and currently this one is number 6. Add your vote to make sure this issue stays at the top of the list so it can get the attention it deserves. You’ll need to register if you haven’t already, but it is very quick and easy. (And after you vote, check out the other proposals and vote for the ones closest to your heart.)

Thank you to The Handmade Toy Alliance for getting the proposal up there and providing excellent support to those wishing to change the CPSIA to accommodate small business owners. Here’s their concise summary of the effect of this law:

The CPSIA simply forgot to exclude the class of children’s goods that have earned and kept the public’s trust: Toys, clothes, and accessories made in the US, Canada, and Europe. The result, unless the law is modified, is that handmade children’s products will no longer be legal in the US. If this law had been applied to the food industry, every farmers market in the country would be forced to close while Kraft and Dole prospered.