Wreath, heart shape, dried roses and seashells - $29.00

A 18" twig heart wreath decorated with seashells, sea glass and mini pink dried roses accented with lavender and eucalyptus. Created in a smoke free home.

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Photo frame, nautical beach home accented with seashells and sea glass - $12.00

3.5" by 5" photo frame embellished with blue sea glass and seashells. Perfect gift for the beach lover. Photo frame can hang on wall or stand on table top either vertical or horizontal. This photo was taken in Rockport, MA.

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Shop feature - Kristine of Gulickkr on Etsy

Hair-pin/Shawl-pin

Purple and white amethyst pendant

Kristine of Gulickkr on Etsy has been creating beautiful jewelry since 2008.  It started as a labor of love and a way to support her dad's new-found hobby.  Her dad was inspired by a TV show and decided to go mining for gems.  He found many beautiful stones but also found that it was very expensive to have the stones cut and set into jewelry.

Sterling silver wire wrapped purple pendant

 To save money, he decided to join a rock club and took a lapidary class where he learned to cut cabochon out of stones. A cabochon, from the Middle French caboche (head), is a gemstone which has been shaped and polished as opposed to faceted.  He learned how to cut the stone slabs and grind and polish the stones into beautiful one of a kind pieces.  Kristine, along with her dad, then took a wire wrapping class.  Together they created beautiful jewelry.  Dad continued to make the cabochon pieces and Kristine developed her love of wire wrapping.

Sadly, Kristine's dad passed away from cancer in 2010.  She still has a few gems that her dad created but now she buys all her stones from fellow Etsy stores, rock and mineral shows, or jewelry suppliers. To honor her dad's memory, and to help raise money for cancer research, Kristine donates 10% of each sale to the American Cancer Society.

I asked Kristine, what advice she had for new Etsy sellers:
"Advice that I would give someone new to Etsy is to be patient and committed. It takes time for your shop to get noticed. It is frustrating waiting especially for that first sale, but it will come. Just believe and it will happen. The biggest thing that I learned since opening my shop is that it really is a full-time job. It takes time to make items for your shop, but it takes even longer to commit to marketing and getting yourself known. It is so important to invest that time in your shop."

Plum crocheted shawl

What's new in Kristine's shop?

Gemstone wire wrapped gemstone tree

"I  have started a few new lines since opening my shop. Since November, I have launched a line of chainmaille ornaments (seasonal item only), gemstone trees, and hair/shawl pins. The hair/shawl pins have been really popular, so I would like to continue adding more styles of these pins to my shop. Also, to compliment the pins, I just starting selling crocheted shawls (as of two weeks ago). I have loved crocheting since I was a little girl, and am having so much fun working on shawls now. So that is the main focus of my shop right now (building up inventory of the shawls)."
I have chosen just a few of the beautiful listings to feature here.  I recommend you take a moment and check out  Kristine's Gulickkr shop on Etsy. Click here for Kristine's facebook page  and here for twitter.

BESTeam Shop Feature

I have three shops to feature this week from the BESTeam on Etsy.  Here is an item from each of these shops.  Take a few moments and check out the other great items in these shops. 

Here is the first item from Joyflower on Etsy.  Joy of Joyflower creates beautiful hand painted silk scarfs and women's fashion accessories.  Check out the beautiful blue shades in this Azul Mother of Pearl pendant with Aigner gold chain.  Visit her shop and check out the vibrant colors she also uses in her silk scarfs.
Links: www.Joyflower.etsy.com facebook  www.facebook.com/Joysilk twitter: @JoySilk blog:    joysilk.blogspot.com/ flikr: www.flickr.com/photos/joyflower/

Azul Mother of Pearl Pendant

Azul Mother of Pearl Pendant

 

 Here is a unique pair of earrings from Cksilver on Etsy.  I love the blue lapis lazuli stones and freshwater pearls along with the sterling silver. 

Lapis blue and silver earrings

Cindy of CK Jewelry specialize in sterling silver, pearls, semi-precious stones, and Swarovski crystals.  Her shop is worth a visit to check out her other beautiful pieces.  Here are her links:  Shop: cksilver.etsy.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/cksilver Twitter: www.twitter.com/cksilver Blog: cksilver1.blogspot.com

Last but not least here is a cute and creative bag by Etsy shop Creativity Bugs. The Creativity Bugs are two sisters (Sandy and Sue) who have a passion for crafting.  Shop items include paper crafts & gifts, handmade cards, paper craft kits and supplies, holiday gifts, doll clothing and accessories, plus a whole lot more. This 6x6 bag can be used as a purse for a special little girl in your life or as a great gift bag.

Fun and flirty handbag

 Links for Creativity Bugs: Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/creativitybugs
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Creativity-Bugs-Crafters/165471840170137?ref=ts
Blog: creativitybug.blogspot.com/

If you are looking for a team that provides marketing support for each others' Etsy shops take a look at  The Boosting Etsy Shops Team. One thing we do is to write weekly features on our blogs for each others Etsy shops.  The BESTeam also encourages use of Twitter Accounts and Facebook Fanpages to promote each other. They  are now accepting new members so if you are interested here is the link to the team page. http://www.etsy.com/teams/5645/besteam-boosting-etsy-shops-team