There was a time when I knew this guy, Myke, who did wood working, and I used to sit for hours on end in his shop and watch him work. He made this kind of work into an artform. Every movement he made was like a dance with nature. With the wood itself. And the amount of focus he put into each task he did made him just fascinating to watch when he was at work.
Rarely have I seen any kind of woodwork 
that even compares to the pieces he produced in that little shed. Today's feature, though, reminded me of Myke from the moment I saw the first piece.
Natural Selection Studio is filled with breathtaking pieces made in natural woods through the art of turning. The artist who's filled this shop with such beautiful pieces is Greg Gallegos.
Each piece in Greg's shop is created from wood that's been selectively gathered from renewable sources around Michigan, where he's located. He then takes the wood back to his shop in Haslett Michigan to create the beautiful pieces you find in his Etsy shop.
Greg's profile, explains that each creation is planned and executed in great detail from the wood that is chosen to the finished piece. He takes great effort to be meticulous and precise in his work, just in the way I remember watching that long ago friend being with his work. Its this kind of dedication and talent and focus that inspire me and that I truly admire.
YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO VISIT GREG GALLEGOS' STUDIO AND TAKE A LOOK AROUND OR, IF YOU PREFER, CLICK RIGHT HERE.
Okay, I'm not usually a super ultra-femme type of girl although that might be hard to tell by this blog at times, but there are some days when everything I like makes it seem that way.
When I ran across today's feature, I knew it was going to be one of those kind of days. It was, too. All the way from the pink scarf over a black scoop neck shirt to the pretty shiny pink earrings that were recently given to me as a gift.
It was a girly day. *Gasp* Can you imagine?
In the I Luv U Tutu Much Children's Boutique, every day is girly day and this is an excellent shop to go shopping in if you have a little princess at home. Or even just a little brat that thinks she's a princess. (Be honest, now. They're not all angels, even if they look like it.)
I Luv U Tutu Much, as you might have guessed, specializes in Tutus. Their tutus can be made in several sizes ranging from infants and toddlers to teens and adult girls. And they have a wide range of styles to choose from in each of their shop's categories. Those categories include pettiskirts, tutu dresses, poofy princess tutus, ribbon tutus as well as a variety of hair accessories, complete outfits and much more.
Whether for ballet, photo shoot, costume or just fun play, every little girl should own a tutu once in her life. If you're shopping list includes the need to pick something up for a little girl in your life, this is a shop you won't want to miss.
TO VISIT THE ILUVUTUTUMUCH BOUTIQUE, YOU CAN CLICK THE PICTURES ABOVE OR, IF YOU'D RATHER, CLICK RIGHT HERE!
I know there's a "term" for this style or "look" but for the life of me, I have no idea what it's called. I have to admit that I love it though. That whole clean cut lines and cluttered but matching prints thing really attracts my eye.
Today's feature shop, Adore by Nat, is filled with this style of cards and paper craft too. Beautiful colors and patterns that are stylishly combined, there's a real talent here and an eye for "what works" that I could never hope to achieve.
You also will never find cards like these in the corner store or Walmart. The style is too intricate, the work and craftsmanship too detailed. The card stock is high quality and the love put into the design and embellishments on each card are obvious. This is the kind of work that can only be done by a craft artist and the results are spectacular.
Adore by Nat is filled with this kind of beautiful craftsmanship and attention to detail. There's a huge variety of different themes to browse through including not just greeting cards with a variety of themes but also magnets, gift tags and much more.
YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO VISIT ADORE BY NAT AND TAKE A LOOK AROUND OR, IF YOU PREFER, CLICK RIGHT HERE.
The scholarly. The literate. The intense.
There's a bit of all of this included in today's shop, Fatal Attraction. This is a shop filled with mystery and beauty. The pictures grab your interest and suck you in. The descriptions. Oh, there's no way to not be drawn once you start to read.
It's like wandering through a good book filled with attractively aged pages and leather binding. When you pick it off the shelf, it's the outer beauty you admire. There's a sense of anticipation and impending wonder, as if you know a book so beautifully aged and unique is guaranteed to be filled with mystery and wonder.
And then, when you open it and begin to read, you just don't want to ever put it down.
It's the perfect analogy for Fatal Attraction. This shop catches you from the moment you see it, and once you delve deeper it latches on and doesn't want to let go. Neither will you want it to.
In fact, whenever I write one of these posts, I always have the shop open in another window and I'm so intrigued and tickled by the shop that I'm having a hard time drawing away just to write my own article! This is a shop you're not going to want to miss and I guarantee the beauty and uniqueness you find there will give you an entirely new appreciation for artisan crafts and vintage pieces alike.
TO VISIT FATAL ATTRACTION, YOU CAN CLICK THE PICTURES ABOVE OR, IF YOU'D RATHER, CLICK RIGHT HERE!
Yesterday was one of "those" days for me. You know the kind. You can't find anything you're looking for and not a thing will go right. Throughout the day, even though you try to take it all in stride, you slowly become increasingly frustrated.
Yep. That was yesterday. At least until I discovered (a couple hours before bed, as it would happen) what it was that I needed to turn my day around.
Chocolate.
Did you know that over 98% of women love chocolate? It's not all that surprising, even at such a staggering number. After all, chocolate makes us feel loved and special and women are especially susceptible to this effect. This is because chocolate contains phenylethylamine, the same chemical that's released in the brain when we fall in love.
"Go Ahead & Indulge" by Nikid on Etsy is chalk full of tons of decadent treats involving this miracle ingredient, too. It's filled with a cornucopia of decadent and delightful treats that can make your mouth water by the pictures alone, in fact.
Nicole, the owner of "Go Ahead & Indulge", makes sure her treats are healthy too. She makes only all natural, preservative free products and she uses as many organic ingredients as possible.
She's very ecologically responsible too and is always be conscientious about who she purchases her products from. In fact, the majority of them come from local companies, farms, and shops. When that's not possible, she then buys from companies that are known to be eco-friendly/green themselves.
YOU CAN CLICK ON THE PICTURE ABOVE TO VISIT GO AHEAD & INDULGE AND TAKE A LOOK AROUND OR, IF YOU PREFER, CLICK RIGHT HERE.
Once upon a time a few decades ago, there was a really unusual type of art that was in style that just really struck a chord with me. It was those huge sad eyes that were brought back into style a few years ago by Puss-n-Boots when the first Shrek came out.
When I was little, I had some of those velvet prints on my wall in my room with this type of artwork. And in the 80's when the Eels came out with the album "Beautiful Freak", using big eyes on their cover art, I fell in love with the style again.
Just the other day, wandering the Etsy treasuries, I discovered a shop that once more brings to life that love I have for this style of artwork. And this is how I fell in love with today's feature shop, AdoptAnAlien and the artist behind it as well!
Now, I have to warn you. Going into Lindsey Banker's shop is kind of like wandering into the pound to visit the lost souls there. You go in to visit, and come out wanting to take every single creature inside home to love and care for.Not only is her shop filled with some of the 
most creative and inventive critters I've ever seen, but the colors are just breathtaking. Bright and vibrant, Lindsey's shop is filled with a cornocopia of beautiful shades that are sure to catch the eye and inspire.
Each little alien creature from Adopt An Alien is one-of-a-kind and comes with its own birth certificate; and the shop includes not just toys but has a selection of alien keychains as well.
This is really a shop you don't want to miss, you'll love the browse and you're sure to find an alien to fall in love with too. In fact, if you're like me, you might end up falling in love with all of them!
TO VISIT ADOPTANALIEN YOU CAN CLICK THE PICTURES ABOVE OR, IF YOU'D RATHER, CLICK RIGHT HERE!
