Personalized Gifts from Kottage Kreations

Turquoise "Eggs" in a Silver Nest

This week's featured handmade shop from It's Better Handmade guild is the studio with the lovely name Kottage Kreations.  Taking inspiration from the materials that make up the jewelry, from nature, the stories of her clients, or dreams in the night, Kottage Kreations shapes unusual jewelry pieces, often with memories or personalizations used in the designs. Individual and personal are part of the specialities of this shop.


I love this wire and stone bird's nest  necklace with the inspiring "Soar" feather linked to the nest.

Visions of the Southwest Necklace

Beads and thread make good combinations in this unique set.













These earrings are Kottage Kreations original design. Elegant flowers dangle lightly from the ear but are heavy in beauty and style. Garden flowers, 1" in diameter are hand crocheted in satin sheen thread and hung on a steel ear wire. I can just imagine these worn with a tiered long skirt and peasant blouse to an afternoon tea party held in the summer garden.

Garden Roses Earrings

Natural materials feature in this necklace from a recent Twitter post.   https://twitter.com/kottagekreation

Hand Imprinted Metalsmithed Copper Heart

This metal smithed copper pendant is handstamped with a custom personalization which is one of the signature trademarks of Kottage Kreations.

You can find more of Kottage Kreations lovely work at:
Artfire Studio - http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/KottageKreations
Etsy Shop -
http://www.etsy.com/shop/KottageKreations
Facebook -
http://www.facebook.com/kottagekreations

The Creative World of Hippie's Creations

Pyrography Horse Portrait

Several months ago, I had the joy of stumbling across Hippie's Creations shop on Artfire. A Hippie in the 21st Century? Hmmm..... that's an interesting phenomena.  Let's take a look :-)

Hand drawn Doodle Bookmark

Hippie's Creations has a small studio located in the James River Region of Central Virginia, but thanks to online marketplaces like Artfire, even those of us who live far distant can enjoy this studio where all of the products are handcrafted in support of a small family who loves to bring excellent quality to their products.

Rose Woodburned into Tagua Nut

This shop has a lovely range of uniquely designed and handcrafted products, everything from crochet hats, garments, and toys to hand drawn bookmarks and unusual pendants and jewelry and woodburned plaques and portraits.

Hearts Bracelet

As I stepped into Hippie's Creations store, I was looking for some handmade bath accessories for gifts and loved the idea of these little facial scrubbies. 

Set of 4 Facial Cloths

I ordered a set and Hippie's Creations produced the 4 petite washcloths and mailed to me within 2 weeks just as promised. I was so pleased with these facial scrubbies. Both the crochet technique and the cotton yarn are of very high quality. The cloths are double thick and the person who received them as a gift along with a bar of glycerin soap is very pleased with these soft and pretty bath accessories. 



The quality and service of Hippie's Creations was wonderful; I went back for more. Here are a few of the other products I love and have purchased:

Bear Wash Mitt

 

Set of 4 Round Scrubbies

Our grandchildren love these wash mitt puppets

Crochet Laptop Cover

Vintage Deco Art Pendant

 As fascinating and various as the products of this shop, so is the background and life of its owner, Petra Monaco. Growing up in Germany, this creative woman has a diverse background. Petra early looked to crafts and became adept at crochet at a young age. Now she is a very busy Mom of boys - and you guessed it - these boys are also diverse in character and gifts. She holds degrees in Accounting and Mental Health Counseling, and she loves to spend her time fulfilling her longtime dream of owning and operating her own store where "art is created and art is sold."

Learn more about this artist at her blog - http://hippiescreations.blogspot.com/ or on her bio page on Artfire. You can also find her on Facebook, Flickr, Google + and she also has an Etsy shop. You can't go wrong in seeking a product from this high quality handmade artist/artisan.