On the 3rd Day of Christmas...

... this blogger gave to thee...

... three Etsy Shops...

... two tuneful gizmos...

... and great soup for cold winter days.

Day three I'm going to share three Etsy shops with you that I like because I feel like sharing the work of some creative people.

First is Stoneware Studio U.K., based out of Fleet in Hampshire, and the hand thrown ceramics of Fiona Findlay, and I'm starting with her for one reason, I love her work. I own one of her nesting dish sets, my sisters and I have given my mum a set and we've given my gran two or three pieces of hers over the past few years because we're so enamoured of her simple, sweet and well made designs.

My favourite of her ceramics are the nesting dishes of tiny vessels. Some are pure white wheel thrown ceramics, glazed, like mine, in shades of pink and pale purple, but others she's made are in vibrant mixes of aqua, blues with a pop of yellow. The ones we bought my gran and mum are more subdued natural colours made of both light and dark clay, glazed in colours which enhance their natural texture.

I am, honestly besotted with my pretty pink set. Which I kept in their box for months until I finally found a space I felt safe putting them. I will, if she creates more of them, love to buy more of these in different colours or finishes, there's just something so special about their tiny size and the fact that the nest together that I love. Maybe it's my love of Russian nesting dolls and tiny containers which explains that.

Findlay's Etsy shop is full of small scale items which are just incredibly attractive and I keep going back to look at what she has in stock. There are tiny houses, Dutch style terraces, miniature tea sets and cake toppers in the shape of reindeer and Christmas trees, which are ludicrously adorable and then she has tiny flower gardens. Yet again another item which we bought for my gran but both my sister and I covet them. They're just little ceramic slabs with glazed flowers on silver plated wire stems, but they're so delicate, they look like the random wild flowers you see sprouting out of the cracks in the pavement.

I also can tell you from ordering from her, the service from this Etsy seller is top notch. Parcels arrived quickly, they're well packaged and her customer service is great. Spread the Christmas/New Years spirit and go visit her shop and at least have a look.

Etsy shop two is Past Your Porchlight and their delightful bears!

I love the whimsy of these soft sculpture felt bears, growing mushrooms or carrying their little vignettes. They're created by artist Jessie Cunningham and are inspired by the Canadian landscape she grew up in as a kid. She calls them her Forest Spirits and I think they're magic.

I have made a lot of things out of felt, from stars, pumpkins and teddies to cacti, giant egg yolks and No Face from Spirited Away. The egg yolks were for a window display at work, though I have made a felt Gudetama, exposed butt and all. The little sister gets some weird presents from me. But finding your own characters is not always easy, however there's something incredibly inviting about Cunningham's work.

She also creates enamel pins, and I do love and enamelled pin. Check her out.

Lastly the third Etsy shop I'd like to show a little love is Muddy Heart and the work of Melissa Paxton. Specifically I want to share her ceramic salt cellar monsters...

Whether you call it a salt cellar or a salt pig, we can agree this is ridiculously cute, right?

I'm not sure how many people even use salt pigs anymore, but traditionally they're round unglazed earthenware pots with a snout like opening, thus leading many people to believe this is where the term "pig" comes from, but the origin can also be traced back to the Scot's word for an earthenware pot. Which might explain why I've always know it as a salt pig and not a cellar.

Also, despite the fact that salt pigs are unglazed to absorb moisture and keep salt dry, our one at home hasn't had salt in it in years... instead it stores garlic. I assume Paxton's Monster, Dinosaur and Devil cellar's would be a tad salty about that.

Pete, in particular, looks a little shocked the revelation, standing open mouthed with his little spoon in hand and a mouthful of salt. He reminds me of Minion, and in amongst the range of colours you can order, you could have a little yellow Minion - without his goggles - selling you salt.

I'm pretty sure at some point I'll have to cave, swallow the international shipping fee and buy one (or two) of these, whether it'll be used for salt, beads or scrap metal I'm not sure, but I love them. They're weird and cute and all about that.

Muddy Heart has a lot of cute items in her Etsy store, she has jewellery holders, planters, yarn bowls and dishes, but these are what drew me in. Like the others all her links are below and you should have a look and show a creator some love.


I'm going to be real for a second. I'm writing this on New Years Eve, we've had a weird day at home and I'm sitting on my own taking a second and letting my brain whirl. Which is something I probably shouldn't do and probably something I shouldn't write about, but I feel like I should because even if no one's reading it, it still feels like saying it aloud.

Creative is something I really don't feel I am right now. I really don't think I have been for a while. It's not that I've not been making things, it's not that I don't want too or can't. I just, like I have done for so many years, felt stuck and held back by my own lack of confidence. I see the people I knew through school and college and uni doing well in their personal and work lives, getting married, having kids, creating brands and shops and... I got left behind. It's my own fault, cutting myself off from everyone (and I genuinely mean everyone bar my family) has completely stunted my life. I got so scared of failing. That at 33, I've failed completely and utterly.

I've cut people out of my life accidentally on purpose, I guess, because who wants to hear about my crap life or the fact that nothing's ever happened worth talk about? I don't have things to show or tell or be proud of yet, so I just stop going on Facebook or answering their emails because I was embarrassed of being me, embarrassed and ashamed of being jealous of their lives and ashamed of my own. It's embarrassing to admit that you don't know what the fuck you're doing when you're supposed to be an adult.

New Years always gets me down. I feel alone and pathetic and spend the night/day usually trying to work out how the fuck I get out of this seemingly life time rut. I'm feeling it - and trying, not very well, to hide it - more this year because of everything's that's been going on. I need 2019 to be the year that I change everything.

Anyway, I know that's probably inappropriately heavy to post just as we start 2019, but I'm not going to edit it out.

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year and you're resolutions are less intimidating than mine...

Happy New Year! Part four soon... 


Link || Stoneware Studio U.K. || Website || Etsy || Instagram || Facebook 
Link || Stoneware Studio U.K. || Pink Nesting Dishes || European Style Buildings || Christmas Tree Cake Toppers || Tiny Ceramic Flower Garden
Link || Past Your Porchlight || Etsy || Instagram || Facebook || DeviantArt || Tumblr
Link || Past Your Porchlight || Camping Under The Trees || Winter Wonderland Bear & Forest Spirit via Bored Panda || Whimsical Garden Bear ||  Christmas Tree Bear
Link || Spirited Away (2001) || IMDb || Wikipedia || Rotten Tomatoes
Link || Muddy Heart Ceramic Studio || Website || Etsy || Instagram || Twitter || Facebook
Link || Muddy Heart Ceramic Studio || Monsters || Pete || Danny the Dinosaur || Lil Devil 
Link || The History of the Humble Salt Pig via Yuppie Chef Magazine
Link || Salt Pig via Wikipedia

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Listening: Jealous Guy - Elliot Smith with Jon Brion (covering John Lennon)