Merriweather Council

Another one of my favorite shops on Etsy is MerriweatherCouncil. The shop owner, Danielle, featured me in my second-ever treasury! I was honored as I began to see how honored SHE was with all kinds of front pages and treasury wins with Team Discovery. I fell in love with her shop once I checked it out, and I couldn't help but make a purchase.

MerriweatherCouncil features all kinds of unique fabric designs, from embroidery to quilted art. Danielle herself is an extremely talented artist with a degree in the fine arts with a concentration in fibers. (It's no wonder she knows what she is doing!) Check out her profile and learn more about her! After I purchased a beautiful little holiday piece from her, I can also attest to the fact that her work is meticulously well-done, and there isn't a stitch out of place! I would definitely buy from MerriweatherCouncil again, and I would encourage others to do the same.

The variety of items in this shop range from quilted and embroidered hoops to pendants and buntings, and even to embroidered charms for necklaces. Each item is unique, one of a kind, and

wonderfully made. Please, check out MerriweatherCouncil and tell Danielle that Crystal sent you :)

Oh, and here is a picture of the apartment decor (sorry the candlelight of the dinner table is a little dim!) so you can see how cute the little Christmas bunting looks on the narrow window. Thanks, Danielle, for adding to my awesome Christmas decor! :)

Lots of Etsy Love,

Crystal Lynn

About Your Artist

I have been thinking about how my followers, buyers and fans know very little about me and yet I've been showcasing fellow sellers on my blog. I think it's time to do a little self-introduction (and perhaps some shameless promotion, if you will.) I just want to give a few random facts about myself, my artistic inspirations, my life, my day job, my interests and hobbies, and maybe even give my readers an opportunity to ask me some questions back! Hope you enjoy.

First of all, I am the artist behind the Etsy shop TreasuredDetails. I create whimsical hair designs for brides, women, and artistic or fashionable individuals in general. I am a fan of creative details like silk flowers and leaves, delicate floral details, rhinestones and vintage buttons and beads, and feathers. I have recently become more interested in expanding my creations in the direction of millinery after being approached by my friend Laura with a crazy Mrs. Peacock hat request for Halloween. Since then, she has become my official customer of hats and I feel like I should start sharing those creative designs with the public. In my shop, I like to create things with the best possible materials (I will literally spend hours in a craft store in search of the most realistic looking flowers with the fewest blemishes) and I spend a long time designing the creation, assembling it, modeling and photographing it, and editing the listing. Admittedly, the photography and editing are not my strong points, which is a shame because my items are really so carefully created and wonderfully made. I vow only to give the best to my customers.

So, a little bit about me. I live in the Chicagoland area where I grew up. It's blazing hot here in summer and bitterly cold here in winter. Fall is my favorite season, but I didn't have time to enjoy it very much this year. I am a graduate student, just about finished up with my Master's thesis project (it is on two favorite authors of mine, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton) and will soon be an official M.A. holder. I am a college instructor at two colleges and I am a part time gardener. My boyfriend Nick and I like to go on hiking and backpacking trips together, and we love trying new outdoor sports of all kinds. I think my love of nature and gardening contributes to my inspiration for creating my floral hair designs within my shop.

I love to watch movies and hope to eventually write films that are produced. Writing is my true passion and the one area in which I hope to succeed eventually. I am an avid reader and I am a particular fan of Victorian and World War II era literature, but I guess I mainly like good writers. (That sounds pretty subjective, and really, there are no absolutes, but I can tell a "good" writer when I read one. My favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life, I have a wide variety of favorite musicians from Bon Iver to Bullet for my Valentine, I love to eat and to try or cook different foods, and I have a wonderful little dog who makes me very happy. I wish I were alive in the 1940s and I think part of me has always been disappointed that being grown up isn't more like living in the old movies.

What else do you guys want to know? Ask me anything :)

VintagePrecious

Today I would like to honor Athena of the shop VintagePrecious. She has a special place in my heart because she is the first person whose treasury put me on the Etsy front page!

Athena owns a shop which specializes in beautifully designed children's clothing, from simple skirts to incredibly ornate dresses that would make any little girl feel like a princess. She personally designs each dress (from conception to drafting patterns on!) and constructs it by hand! She has a lot of experience making these dresses, and she offers great customer service by including care and cleaning instructions with each design. (We all know this is a fantastic service, because all children get things dirty!) Check out her artist statement on her profile page to see what she is all about! Visit her shop, check out some of her great designs, and keep her shop in mind when you are shopping for that special little girl in your life.

Just a note: I think Athena's great artistic eye shows in the gorgeous treasury she featured me

in; you know, the one that hit the FP ;) Thanks a ton, Athena! I think that treasury got me a sale too!

Much Etsy love!

Crystal

New Listings in My Shop

I have listed some new hair accessories today after weeks of designing, creating, photographing and editing! I am looking forward to sharing these festive accessories and hope that they are suited to some of my wonderful followers' hair decorating needs!

The first is a scarlet lily comb that I made a while ago. I think it would be a beautiful piece to slip into a French twist up-do for a wedding or formal event. It would also look lovely behind the

ear. This piece could be worn

with a fancy dress, or even with casual jeans and heels for a night out with friends. This is a really versatile piece that shows off different details from each angle.

The second piece that I listed today was the bright gold-detailed poppy clips. This is a festive take on some traditional, casual pieces previously listed in my shop. I

added some gold berries and a little length of some beautiful, sparkly gold French net. I thought these details added a little bright festivity to a simple look. I have been looking forward to listing some more of these sweet cream clips and I am really excited about these pretty ones.

A third piece that I listed is one that was inspired by a brilliant piece of literature! I am an

English literature major and love to be inspired by lovely, poetic pieces. I have been inspired by

many of the scenic descriptions in L. M. Montgomery novels, and many of the beautifully written pieces by my idols, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edith Wharton, Oscar Wilde, and the Bronte sisters.Currently I am rereading an old Bronte favorite, Wuthering Heights. This hair piece is inspired by the romantic images of Cathy and Heathcliff's romance on the moors, wandering over Penistone Crag among the heather. I have designed this piece in dark tones to match the

dimness of the English novel, the dark sadness of Heathcliff, and the wintry grey of Cathy's hauntings. I have included sprigs of heather and soft dark feathers among the leaves. I hope that I have captured the beauty of the darkly romantic tragedy of Wuthering Heights.

Arm Candy for You

Meet Priti, of the awesome little Etsy shop, ArmCandyforYou. This shop is only a few months on the Etsy scene and still fairly undiscovered, and yet the artist behind the amazing handmade purses deserves some special attention. She experiments with all kinds of unique materials in order to appeal to all kinds of different purse-carriers, working with materials like pure leather,vegan leather,exquisite Indian silks & brocades. She is from India, and her rich cultural heritage can be seen in some of her exceptional designs. Please check out her profile to get to know a little more about her and what she has to say about her artistry and design.

All of Priti's purses are unique and original, and as she proudly tells her shoppers, they are one of a kind! Her careful attention to detail make these pieces special for each buyer. And she even takes custom orders! This shop is definitely one to consider when shopping for holidays, birthdays, or just because gifts for your fashion-conscious--or originality conscious!--friends.

Then again, I look at this shop as a place where I can go to consider gifts for myself... :)

Follow Priti on Twitter and check out her Facebook page for more updates on what she is doin

g in her shop. Visit her shop and check out her merchandise! You won't be disappointed.

WithAFlourish

My second feature is for April of WithAFlourish because she was the first person to ever feature me in a Team Discovery treasury, and it's been a crazy TD relationship ever since. The day she first put me in a treasury was the same day I made my very first sale, and a couple of days later, I made my second! I am so thankful to April for introducing me to the team and helping me to enjoy this great opportunity to get involved in the Etsy community.

I love April's bio where she describes her inspiration and thoughts about life and creativity. Her work is creative and unique--I truly think that some of her pieces are the most unique I've seen on Etsy! I am impressed with the (dare I say?) nerdy style and it appeals to my English major/English teacher sensitivities. She makes paper-inspired products such as earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, and even creates some lovely fascinators and pins. I am ashamed to say I have not yet purchased anything from her shop when almost everything she sells is in my "favorite" lis

t! Her gorgeous accessories are the perfect gift for a scholarly friend or a favorite teacher. (I should just go ahead and send this post along to my students, since Christmas is coming up...)

If you have a chance, drop by April's shop, WithAFlourish and her other vintage shop FlourishAndDebonair (which I will feature sometime in the future) and show her a little Christmas spirit love! Click around on her lovely items and do a little Christmastime browsing.

I think we all spend a lot of time looking at each others' items with treasuries in mind, but don't always give our serious shopping eyes to each others' great designs.

Thanks, April, for all you've done for me and my little shop! I really appreciate you!

Lots of Etsy Love,

Crystal

CraftedRoots

The first shop I would like to feature is CraftedRoots, a lovely little shop run by my friend Stephanie and her husband. I have to feature her on my blog for treasury appreciation first of all shops for several reasons!

First, Stephanie is one of the first people to encourage my love of Etsy when I discovered this lovely site early this year! She has been running her shop for a lot longer than I have had mine and I think the wonderful creations she sells there deserve a little more exposure.

This shop features a number of awesome, handcrafted ceramics, some macrame jewelry, and more recently, supplies such as beads and pendants. Please stop by and visit this couple's shop, check out their great creations, and of course, visit their profile for a little info on their artist statement! I love how involved this

couple is in art and creative processes; it really shows in the great pieces they have featured in their shop.

If you get a chance, remember to drop some of these goodies in a treasury you make sometime soon! These guys have earned this kind of appreciation.

And on to my second point; here's another great reason for me to show appreciation to CraftedRoots first of all other shops. Last week, this shop featured me in a perfectly lovely treasury, called For Your Christmas Wedding, and this gorgeous curation made it to the front page at 7:30 in the morning. By 7:33, my item on was sold! This day became one of my best sale days ever, where I went from 19 sales to 23 sales in one day! I also had the most traffic to my site to date on that day. From what I heard, this front page fe

ature also helped CraftedRoots to get another sale as well, and I am quite glad about this!

Thanks for your promotions, treasury features, and continual encouragement about my

struggling little shop, Steph! All of your advise and loving clicks and "favoritin

g" has been a great cheer to me and I hope you can get some traffic to your site as a result of this feature. Merry Christmas, and good luck with sales this holiday season.

Lots of Etsy Love,

Crystal

Treasury Appreciation Mission

I have been going through all of the treasuries that I have been featured in and I realize that I have been featured by over 50 different sellers, and I have no way of knowing whether I have ever paid back all of these people for their favors! I would like to spend some time appreciating each of these sellers for taking the time to use my items for their treasuries. I suspect that this appreciation will be a time consuming process and may not happen very quickly, but I would very much like to do this for them as some kind of promotional assistance.

This list is long and exhausting, as I've said, but I will agree to add all new shops to my list and feature them at some point as well.

In addition to treasury appreciation, I would like to extend a little shop appreciation to all those I have made purchases from! These appreciations will extend to my Facebook site as well. I hope you guys don't mind a little shameless [free] advertising. Admittedly, I get little traffic to my blog, but I am hoping that I can get people to visit me more often if I do this! Maybe those I feature will be able to appreciate the other sellers I feature as well. Many of these shops are members of Etsy Team Discovery, but I've been featured by other shops as well, of course.

Please follow this blog, follow me on Facebook, and feel free to favorite and purchase from any of the shops I feature!

And up front, THANK YOU for including me in all those awesome treasuries, everyone!

Tons of love,

Crystal