I love this Kyoto print Tracy Tote bag from 144 Collection. This tote bag is HUGE, and I really love that it’s got plenty of pockets - two big exterior pockets and another one on the inside that’s big enough to carry a cell phone, keys and all your other necessities.

Launched over two years ago by designer Lesia Griffin, 144 Collection specializes in handmade bags and wristlets. What began as a hobby when Lesia started taking sewing lessons as a way to express her creative side has blossomed into a successful handbag business. And Lesia’s skills on the sewing machine have been well-honed through those lessons and plenty of experience: each bag is made to last out of the finest quality fabric.

You can custom order your own bag or shop from a selection of different purse, hobo, tote and wristlet styles in a fabulous array of fabric choices.

Check out the 144 Collection website or Etsy shop to shop for more bags or place a custom order.

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Kaleidoscope Style is a collaboration between two sisters who create one-of-a-kind embroidered felt jewelry and accessories that are super duper cute!

These pieces would be perfect for people who have metal allergies or sensitive skin, as they’re made entirely out of felt, yarn and seed beads, so there’s no metal to worry about! Even the clasps are made from felt and a crocheted loop. They’ve got necklaces, bracelets, brooches, hair accessories and even rings…all made from felt! How cool!

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I’ve become earring obsessed again lately!

These fleur de lis dangle earrings from the high contrast™ collection by Lynda Andrews-Barry caught my eye on Etsy the other day and I’ve been lusting after them ever since. I think I will definitely be purchasing these at some point in the future. Fleur de lis (a symbol of New Orleans pride) + bright, bold colors = perfect for me.

I’m also in love with these round bubble earrings in fuchsia by Jimmy Mann of Mann Made Designs. These are made from sterling silver and recycled aluminum, and I just love the combination of a simple design with a bold pop of color. (Many other colors and designs are available too, if you’re not into pink!)

Janick of Nea is celebrating her 2 year anniversary of selling on Etsy and her recent decision to pursue her business full-time by having her first ever sale in her shop!

For one week only (the sale ends August 15th), you can find her unique creations at prices already marked down either 10% or 15% off everything! No promo codes, no revised invoices, just browse & shop. Her Deploy goose feather earrings are still my personal favorites!

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Skydiving was awesome! I went Saturday morning, in a late celebration of my 25th birthday, and I’m sooo glad I fulfilled this lifelong dream. The only scary part was standing at the doorway of the plane, waiting to jump out. I kept thinking, “just jump, just go, just go”. After that it was AMAZING! Not like falling at all, but like flying! It was ridiculously cool! You can check out my photos on Flickr if you’re so inclined.

Thinking of my flight made me want to search Etsy to see if I could find any cool skydiving related goodies. What I found and fell in love with was this amazing steampunk inspired leather aviator hat and freaking awesome handmade aviator goggles!

Retro Brown Leather Aviator Hat
by LeatherheadOriginals
$56.99

Cream Steampunk Adventurer Goggles - Real Brass and Leather
by waywarddreams
$65.00

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Remember that fabulous giveaway I mentioned a few days ago? Well, here it is!

I was recently contacted by jewelry designer Ashley Nizolek of A.N. Original Jewelry. She wanted to let me know about her work and to possibly do a giveaway of one of her pieces here on MissMalaprop. I went to go check out her designs and immediately fell in love, so there was no question about doing a giveaway!

Ashley designs beautiful, modern, 100% handcrafted artisan jewelry using high quality materials such as semi-precious gem stones, freshwater and akoya pearls, sterling silver, 14K gold and brass.

The necklace one lucky MissMalaprop reader will receive is a silver Surrounded Scrolls necklace, like the one shown below. It’s actually one of my favorite pieces from Ashley’s collection. (And honestly, it makes me a little jealous that I can’t be eligible for this giveaway!)

What’s your favorite piece from A.N. Original Jewelry? All you have to do to enter the giveaway is leave a comment on this post with the name of and/or a link to your favorite item on Ashley’s website or Etsy shop. You’ve got from now until midnight on Friday, August 1, 2008 Friday, August 8, 2008 (Central Standard Time - go here to figure out what time that is where you are).

One winner will be chosen at random from the comments. Be sure to leave a valid email address with your comment, because the winner will be contacted via email to find out where Ashley should ship it to!

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There’s a couple of giveaways and sales going on that I thought you should know about. One of those giveaways will be happening here on MissMalaprop, starting in a couple of days, so stay tuned! (It’s gonna be a good one, I promise.)

The second giveaway is a collaboration between indie bath & body company mi SPA and Feterie - Modern Stationery (who I interviewed yesterday over at Styledash).

It’s this week and next, through August 1st and there will be a winner each week, who will receive a Pretty-mi-body set from mi SPA and from Feterie comes a WordPlay Greetings Sampler Set (week 1) or 2 sheets of Eco-Luxe Gift Wrap (week 2). Get more details and to enter, go here.

The Etsy BeadWeavers (EBW) Street Team is also having a sale! They’re a group of over 125 artists from around the world who share a common love of the ancient art of beadweaving. Many of their members have had their work featured in magazines, with some of them even gracing the covers! Every month the group has a challenge and the public gets the choose the winner. Check out the amazing entries from the last challenge, A Midsummer’s Night Dream, like this Worlds Collide Necklace by ThePreciousBeads:

You can vote for the current Art Deco challenge starting on August 9th. (I’m excited to see the entries - Art Deco is one of my all-time favorite styles!)

The group is currently in the middle of their first ever Midsummer Sale! It runs through this Sunday, and you can go here to check out all the details about deals on these designs. I’m so amazed when people make really elaborate, beautiful things out of these tiny seed beads… It’s gotta be so much hard work!

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Jessica of La Patisserie Jolie Bath Products contacted me recently and offered to send me some samples of her products to try out. When I received them in the mail, I could smell their delicious goodness before I even opened the package.

Patisserie Jolie began several months ago when Jessica decided to combine her love of baking with her love of bath products. This is a lady with a sweet tooth, so she knew she wanted to focus on sweet, dessert themed soaps. All of her products are vegan and are not tested in animals, and every single one of them looks good enough to eat! I’ve got to admit, just looking at her Etsy shop reminds me of my sister, who is a pastry chef.

I got to sniff and try out the yummy goodness of the oh-so-pretty Chocolate Serendipity Wedding Cake soap, Grapefruit Dreamsicle soap, Creme de cassis soap, and Cherimoya Sorbet soap (this last one was my personal fave out of the bunch). If you love sweet treats and dessert like scents, these are the perfect bath goodies for you!

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I’ve been sewing like mad the last couple of weeks, trying to finish my outfit for the Worn Again Fashion Show and fundraiser for Recycle for the Arts. If you’re in the New Orleans area, be sure to check it out next Friday, June 27th at the Republic. It’s going to be a blast!

Recent notable Etsy purchases include this awesome CD case made from a recycled license plate by OldRedBarn (I got this for my Little Sister’s birthday and included some mixed CDs I made for her) and a sample pack of mineral eyeshadows from PureMineralsSource. The shimmery June Bug shade is absolutely stunning!

I’d also like to direct your attention to my friend Raven’s brand new Etsy shop. Raven is an amazing artist and she’s trying to focus on her art full-time now, particularly doing custom portraits, which she is brilliant at! I encouraged her to set up an Etsy shop as another venue for her work, so go check it out.

Also of note: my friend Autumn over at Strange Folk wanted me to let everyone know that vendor applications for the 3rd annual Strange Folk Festival are being accepted now through July 6th! The 2008 show will be September 27th and 28th, Saturday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. This event is juried, and 120 vendors will be chosen to participate. There is no fee to apply. The vendor fee will be $65, and vendors will have the option of renting a table or bringing their own tent. Last year, Strange Folk hosted 100 indie artists and crafters from across the country in a one day event that attracted over 5,000 attendees from the St. Louis area.

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A week or so ago I was in a doctor’s waiting room back at home in Gulfport, Mississippi and I spotted the most amazing handmade mirrors hanging on the wall near the receptionist. It took me a minute to figure out what the designs around the mirrors were made of… then it dawned on me that these were small squares cut from old soda cans and nailed together to form these beautiful patterns. I fell in love immediately. They would have been beautiful either way, but the fact that they were made from recycled cans made me love them even more. Luckily, there was a business card for the artist on the receptionist’s desk and I picked it up and checked out the artist’s Etsy shop when I got home.

Kathy Taylor Gray creates jewelry from rusty keys and other recycled components in addition to her beautiful mirrors. There is only one mirror currently in her Etsy shop, but I asked her to send me some images of more of her mirrors so I could show them off to you guys. She does such great work, I just had to share!

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Jamie Noel’s carnival-inspired interactive jewelry pieces remind me of hot summer days on the boardwalk. Not only do they make you think of Coney Island and days gone by, but each pendant is like a little toy to make the minutes fly by while you’re at work and waiting for the weekend. (Personally, my four day long Memorial Day weekend was still too short.)

Check out this bathing beauty, watch some Punch & Judy puppet theater or get your fortune told by Zoltar. (Remember him from the movie Big?)

These pieces may make you feel nostalgic, but they also feature earth friendly materials! Each piece starts out as a bit of cardboard recycled from an old cereal box. Check out more of these charming designs at JamieNoel.etsy.com.

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I absolutely love this necklace. Maybe it’s the recycled vintage vodka label, maybe it’s because I live in New Orleans and we know how to hold our hard liquor… I don’t know but it’s pretty awesome. And it’s also available in scotch, rum, gin and brandy at dustDesignCo.etsy.com for $35. They’ve got plenty of other amazing repurposed jewelry pieces as well, including loads of steampunk inspired wearable art.

via GreatGreenGoods

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My old co-worker Erin recently got in touch with me to get some feedback on an Etsy shop she’s helping her friend set up.

I went to check it out and immediately fell in love with the enchanting artwork! Erin’s friend is self-taught painter and printmaker Mariann Johansen-Ellis who creates whimsical pieces inspired by childhood. One look through her Etsy shop or website is guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

Mariann was born in Denmark, has lived in southern Spain and now resides in Singapore, where she is collaborating with Sunbear Publishing to create a series of illustrated children’s books to illuminate the plight of endangered species.

To find out more about her work or see films demonstrating her printmaking process, check out her blog.

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In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I’m participating in a 2 day only Go Green Sale with some like-minded Etsy shops who feature recycled materials predominantly in their work. There are six shops participating, including my own shop, dismantled. The sale runs this Sunday and Monday, March 16 & 17 and each shop will have their own deals in store. For my part, I’ll be offering 25% off the listed price of everything in the shop for these two days.

For more details, visit the other participating shops. Here they are:

BananaSaurus Rex - bags, baby bibs, blankies and more

2ReVert - one of a kind jewelry pieces out of 100% post-consumer recycled skateboards (aka: old, used, broken skateboards)

Airport Road - jewelry, cuffs, and assemblage art

Maiden Love - plush toys, quilts and repurposed envelopes

Perpetualplum - jewelry and altered art

In other green shopping news, check out this month’s Poppytalk Handmade market, which is full of eco-themed items now through April 11. Poppytalk Handmade is a monthly online street market curated to showcase, buy and sell handmade goods of emerging design talent from around the world.

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