Red, White and Maple - Citizens of the World, welcome to Canada!

Last night I couldn't sleep, so I hopped on my computer and around 3:30am snagged a treasury. I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to feature, but being the Olympics, I thought it'd be nice to showcase some of the beautiful red and white handmade goods available from Canadian artisans. I did my best to feature artists that belong to the Chatham-Kent Etsy Team (ChristyDekoning, DancingJellybeanDesigns, TwentySix7, TwistedByShannon, London.Art.Girl, MunchkinBabyDesigns, PurplePeony, SunnyDayRain and me, JenMerritt) or the TransCanada Etsy Team. From across Etsy I searched for red items that were Canadian Made and caught my eye.
Which of these catches yours?

Go Canada!
xoxo Jen

A Spot of Colour by Jenny O

Jenny O of TwentySix7 did it again - another treasury featuring CK Etsy Team members! You may notice ChristyDekoning, PurplePeony, JenMerritt, SunnyDayRain, and TwistedByShannon. All aglory in red and aqua. Come visit us at A Spot of Colour.

Thanks Jenny!

Chase away the clouds - CK Etsy Team members featured in treasury

This treasury was put together by PersephonesPlunders and features artists from the Chatham-Kent area (and a bit beyond).


I have an item featured in this treasury! The sushi set (third row, second from the left) is mine. Other team members included are: Christy Dekoning, Brenda Braun, Shannon McDowell, Jess Wyma, Christina Seagrave, Laura Tetreault, Jenny Oriet and Steph Temesey. We would be grateful if you stopped by to visit the treasury, you see, the more views, the better! And who doesn't benefit from a bit of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day?

"Take a bit of sunshine and the whole world looks different."

xoxo Jen

Introducing: PurplePeony

Everyone give a little 'heeeey!' to Brenda Braun, who owns three etsy shops as well as a brick and mortar boutique at her home in Palmyra.


Shop Names: PurplePeony, Decadence2artbar, Justabrenda
Location: Palmyra Ontario (subdivision of Ridgetown)

Do you have a blog or other website you'd like to share? http://brendabraun.blogspot.com

What is your favourite material to work with?
sterling silver for sure, gemstones that are raw and rough or very elegant faceted gemstones. Gold is pretty fun too. I like to throw fabric or paper into the mix once in a while.

Tell us about your craft and/or the items in your shop.
Which one? Even though the stores are all different types, they all pretty much mesh together, facets of me?

What is your one wish for your Etsy shop/creative business?
That I get busy enough to hire someone to do the marketing and website work and to bring me coffee....lots of coffee....and I can hide away in my studio and just create.

What is your favourite Etsy shop? My own...I also haunt a few other metalworkers for eye candy and I scan through http://jenmerritt.etsy.com a lot...I like to see what she's up to! [awww thanks B!]

What's the most exciting thing that has ever happened to you on Etsy? I would say, selling my first truly metalsmithed item that was fairly pricey (compared to most items on Etsy)...for someone to purchase 'blindly' on the internet a jewellery item of mine out of the thousands available...I may have cried a little...really. I had a Sally Field moment (they like me, they really like me!).

Favourite colour? In gemstones, I've been known to drool over peridots, garnets and London Blue Topaz (google it, it's gorgeous)...in home decor, I melt over blue and brown together. In clothes I like plums, browns and purples. I've always loved purple, I blame that on Donny Osmond's purple socks (if you're under 30ish...google it).

You could make your own dream ice cream... what would be in it? oddly enough, my favourite ice cream is plain real vanilla. So...nothing?

Favourite place to be in Chatham-Kent? hands down, our house/property. It's my sanctuary. The ONLY thing that I wish we had was about 20 acres of woodlot...then it would be perfect! I also like to wander the local beaches but in the off-season, they are so much more interesting without humans.