Blog and Shop of the Month 8

This month I'm going to do something a little bit different.  I'm going to share a few of my favorite blogs and shops that I've discovered last month and then tell you which ones get the coveted free ad space.

Blogs:

Entrepeneur.com:  This is a pretty cool blog for small business owners, such as myself, to learn how to run their business better.  Some of the posts go way over my head, but there are a lot of really helpful ones too.

Design Your Own (lovely) Blog:  This one is all about how to make your blog pretty and unique and personalized.  There are a lot of great tutorials and free resources.

Love from Ginger:  This lady makes some cool stuff and shares a free stock photo every single Friday, which is something I can really get on board with, since a lot of my blog posts are photo-less but I haven't wanted to use a stock photo that looks like a stock photo, and I can't always photograph something for the post.

Lolaloop:  Life. Books. Geekery.  What more could you really want?  Humor.  It's got that too.

My Life as a Teacup:  I'll try not to gush but I completely in love with this blog and it is my Blog of the Month.  For starters, there's the design.  It's the prettiest blog design ever, in my opinion.  Kristin is all about books, nerdiness, being cozy, and wearing super cute outfits.  Plus she writes posts about awesome words, which I love so much!

Shops:

Cosmic American:  This shop has the most amazing dreamcatchers!  They also sell artwork and jewelry.

Nastalgame:  This shop sells the coolest acrylic jewelry based on stuff from video games like The Legend of Zelda, Pac Man, Starcraft, and Portal.  I bought a necklace from them and I love it.  I want so many more things from this shop.  Some of the jewelry, including the necklace that I bought, is even double sided!

Furrow and Feather:  My Shop of the Month, Furrow and Feather, sells shadowbox art.  The designs are made by cutting white vinyl and placing it on glass in a shadowbox frame, and they're quite lovely.

Shop and Blog of the Month: Darling Paracord

My blog of the month is Darling Stewie.  Like most of my Blog of the Months (no, not Blogs of the Month; I make the rules here!), I just discovered her blog recently and I love it.  Darling Stewie is an awesome geek girl and you should read her blog.

See, her awesomeness basically speaks for itself.  Just look at those Death;y Hallows earrings.

My shop of the month is Legion's Paracord.  It is a jewelry shop that sells cool jewelry for men and women.  I like the fact that he makes such original stuff, and so do his customers.  He just barely squeaked in under the under 50 sales mark.  He makes a lot of paracord bracelets and also lots of cool women's fashion jewelry.  Plus  since I last checked out the shop, he's started making jeweled tarantulas, which are pretty cool looking.

Blog and Shop of the Month: Moth de Lune and Rescued Threads

This month's choice was an easy one.  This shop and this blog were my choices as soon as I discovered them.  My shop of the month is Rescued Threads.  They take old clothing and fabric and give it new life in the form of really great clothing, art, and jewelry.  Their shop also supports some really great organizations, including Doctors without Borders and Habitat for Humanity.  If I had to choose my favorite item from their shop, I wouldn't be able to choose between this headband and this artwork.

You can find all of these great items and much more in the Rescued Thread shop on Etsy.

I found Moth de Lune through Rachael's blog and I instantly loved it.  Ella is so nice and down-to-earth and she always shares the coolest stuff, like this Break-Your-Own-Geode from Etsy, which I just had to purchase for myself.  I bought one, but I haven't opened it yet.  I'll share the results when I do.  I'm hoping to get some nice chunks to wire wrap and make into cool jewelry for my shop.  Ella likes to write about stuff like crystals, stuff she made, fashion, and her hobbies (which include going to old graveyards!).

Click Ella's shoes to go see the rest of her awesome blog.

Blog and Shop of the Month: Perfect Mode

I discovered a lot of really great shops and blogs in the past month, but once I saw Minimal Mode and The Perfect Pear, I easily made my decision about who would be my Blog and Shop of the Month this month.

Minimal Mode is a really cool Etsy shop that has only been open since November 2012.  They have some really unique and interesting sort of modern-meets-punk jewelry, as well as some really cool wire crochet necklaces.  (I can't even crochet yarn!)  I am personally wishing for this bracelet from Minimal Mode to grace my wrist.  To see all of the jewelry that Minimal Mode has to offer (most, if not all, with free shipping), check out their shop.

some of the jewelry made and sold by Minimal Mode

Lauren is the lovely lady behind The Perfect Pear.  To be honest, her lovely header drew me in, but then I stuck around for the content and the personality.  Lauren writes about projects, recipes, photography, and beauty.  She always takes really great photos and shares some really pretty things (including her outfits!).  You should check out Lauren's blog here whether you want to learn something, look at pretty things, or be inspired.  And check out this DIY post she wrote about how to make a Mini Book Necklace. So cute!

Exhibit A: blogger with personality

Blog and Shop of the Month: Lotta and Brit

I discovered so many amazing shops and blogs this month that it was really hard to choose!  I ended up choosing Brit + Co. as my Blog of the Month and Lotta Losten as my Shop of the Month.

I discovered Lotta Losten because Twitter recommended it to me as an account to follow.  I saw that it was an Etsy shop so I checked it out and it was amazing!  They make beautiful jewelry that's like a wearable sculpture.  I was happy to see that they just barely squeaked by my requirement for having 50 sales or less, with 45 sales.  So without further ado, feast your eyes on the amazingness that is Lotta Losten!

I discovered Brit + Co. just a few days ago while checking out a ton of new blogs.  She's been called the Martha Stewart of Silicon Valley and I'm sure you'll see why.  Besides sharing cool DIY ideas, style, health, tech, and more, she has a shop where you can buy craft supplies.  She also sells Brit Kits, which are a monthly subscription for a box full of supplies for DIY projects.  So far this is my favorite tutorial I've read on her site.  It's so simple but something I would have never thought of doing!

Blog and Shop of the Month: Tragic and Creative

My Blog of the Month was an easy choice.  I also found out that her birthday is this month, which is a happy coincidence.  I have been following her blog for quite a while, and she never ceases to make me jealous of her sewing abilities and laugh at her handrawn comics of conversations she has with her family and people at work.  She blogs for herself and not for fame, which is what I do too.  Kerry is my Blogger of the Month and you can find her blogging at The Tragic Whale.  Also make sure to check out her Etsy shop.  She makes the cutest purses, bags, and clutches.  I own a purse that she made and I love it.  They last a long time too.  Use the coupon code BIRTHDAY25 in her shop to save 25% off your orders all this week!


Blog | Shop | Twitter

I only discovered my shop of the month a few days ago while browsing jewelry makers on Google+.  She makes the cutest wood jewelry.  She only has two sales so far, so she is a perfect candidate for Shop of the Month.  Check out Sinead Creative for darling deer necklaces, heart and spike collar clips, and heart necklaces.   Now through February 11th, use the code Love20 to get 20% off your order.

Shop | Google+ | Facebook

Blog and Shop of the Month

This month's blog of the month is Decoy Betty.  I "met" Deidre a couple of days ago on Twitter after I figured out what was wrong with my stomach (which I'll tell you tomorrow).  She's super nice and I checked out her blog and I loved it.  Deidre is from America but lives in Australia.  She cooks lots of yummy food and her blog is adorable.  I love the orange and polka dots (orange is my favorite color!) and the font on her header.  She writes about a little bit of everything the same way I do, which I wish is something that more people would do.  People seem to think that if they have defined themselves as a fashion blogger or a beauty blogger, they can only talk about those things, but it's not true!  It's your blog and you can talk about anything your pretty heart desires!  Anytanget, you should definitely go check out Decoy Betty because she's super duper cool and also very nice.

blog | Twitter | Pinterest

The shop of the month is Whispering Sweetly.  Shane is a blogger who also makes really pretty jewelry.  The jewelry is partially bohemian and partially classic and all very lovely.  Here are four of the pieces for sale in her Etsy shop right now.

Pretty right?  And very colorful too.  So if you want, you should check out the shop and maybe share it or buy something, or just check out Shane's blog or say hi on Twitter, which she actually just got last month, or go look at her pins on Pinterest.

Blog and Shop of the Month 1

The first ever Blog of the Month is a blog that I discovered fairly recently.  It is called Eef Etc. and I discovered it through my discovery of Indie Gift Box on Twitter.  Erin is the mastermind behind Indie Gift Box, which I've blogged about recently.  She also shares my love of Supernatural and does amazing graphic design work.  She makes jewelry too.  She is a really nice person and has very good taste, so you should all pay her a visit.

Blog | Twitter | Pinterest

My first ever Shop of the Month is Beejou Designs.  I discovered this shop last week and fell in love.  All of the jewelry is so beautiful and well-made while still being completely affordable.  It also makes me wish I had a place to hammer metal but alas, my neighbors would not appreciate all that racket.  Emily has only been on Etsy since November.  If you still have some Christmas shopping to do, you should definitely stop by her shop.  Even if you don't have money, you should at least look at her gorgeous jewelry.

Each month I will pick a different blog and shop to feature.  You can find them in the upper right sidebar.  I really like doing this because it allows me to appreciate and share people who I think do great things.  It also works better than just tweeting "You guys should check this out; It's really cool."  I hope that you all enjoy this new feature as much as I do.  Congratulations to my first featured people : )