Elevate Difference

Reviews tagged etsy

Teatime in Bombay Earrings

Swingy, playful and pretty, the Teatime in Bombay Earrings also work well for cocktail time in Manhattan. Equally attractive is the quality construction and affordable price.

Turquoise and Carnelian Sterling Silver Earrings

You can’t get Mexican food in Kolkata to save your life. Sure, some places say they have Mexican, but when you get there all you find is some wack version of nachos that are so tasteless and bland that even the most spice-phobic person would beg for something to liven up the dish. You can get passable tapas if you’re willing to spend a pretty penny, but that's hardly the same. In other words, if you want the real deal, you’ve got to make it at home. This lack of Mexican food here makes no sense to me considering the abundantly similar ingredients used in Bengali and Mexican cuisines.

Pendant: Mr. President, How Long Must Women Wait for Liberty

Canadian artist Viki Ackland's handmade jewelry uses pop art, found art, and ransom-note style letters to create a visually appealing cut-and-paste aesthetic from 2-Mile Jewelry.

Lucky Jade Collection Ring

Lately I am most offended by one thing, and that thing is cliché. Cliché is so offensive to me because it is steeped in one’s inability to be creative. Whether Jon Stewart wearing a fat suit in order to get cheap laughs about American obesity or trolls who hurl sexist epithets on feminist-y blogs, my tongue goes into automatic clucking mode when the formulaic is, well, formulated.

Cherrystone Earrings

When I was a kid, my mom would stop at the same gas station every week to fill the tank. The spot was a local affair with a tiny convenience store attached that housed assorted odds and ends. I always looked forward to those trips to the pump because my mother's way of occupying my sisters and I during the seemingly endless flow was to give us a quarter each to buy ourselves a piece of candy.

Wise Owl Pendant

The Wise Owl Pendant is just the kind of jewelry I love. First of all, it’s unique. The pendant was obviously made with an artist’s eye for arresting images. While owls have become popular figure in hipster iconography, there’s nothing cliché about NoisyBirdStudio’s representation of the popular bird. Somewhere on the line between charm and intelligence, this owl is a conversation piece.

Freshwater Pearl and Blue Topaz Earrings

I’m going to my first Indian wedding this December, a celebration I am enormously excited about because of the sheer enormity of this type of event. Indian weddings are multi-day festivities filled with family, friends, fun, and (best of all) food. The wedding I will attend will be a particularly exciting culinary event; it is sure to include a sampler of delicacies from West Bengal, the Punjab, and Burma, a feast that is a reflection of the multiple and overlapping ethnicities of the bride and groom. Now, I’m not a wedding kind of gal.

A Case of Olive Jade Filigree Earrings

When I was in middle school, I became obsessed with all things macabre. From [R.L.

Lapis Birds with Malachite Earrings

I have to admit, I have a weakness for unconventional, handmade jewelry, so I was quite eager to own something from Black Rabbit Handmade Jewelry. The business is run by a mother-daughter team based in Vermont who have a passion for creating jewelry inspired by nature.

Resin Art Necklace

The oil-in-resin necklace from native Californian artist Michelle Stitz is a unique piece unlike anything I have come across. The pendant is in the shape of a cube measuring 1.5 by 1.5 inches. Inside the cube is an original painting made of layers of oils, paint, and resin. Mine resembles a conch shell colored with gold and a deep red, and outlined in black.

Mystical Orb Dangle Earrings

The sky dimmed and dark monsoon clouds began to roll in as I sat down to type out this review. I put on Bjork’s Vespertine to further capture what seems to my American sensibilities to be a melancholy mood.

Migration Earrings

Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near? Just like me, they long to be close to you. —Karen Carpenter This is the song that first came to mind when I admired the Migration Earrings handcrafted by Sheryl Pang of Bohème Jewelry.

Marimekko Iloinen Change Purse / Red Flashlight Pendant

To an outsider in search of a good meal, what is perhaps most striking about Helsinki are the vegan options. In every restaurant, you will find lactose- and meat-free meals without requesting special treatment. As this aspect of Finnish life becomes more greatly incorporated into the wider culture, it isn’t uncommon to find vegan designers like Pinkkis. Dainty donuts, plastic veggie brooches, and soft cloth pouches are all made from reused, recycled, and all vegan materials in her smoke-free, Helsinki home.

Chesapeake Necklace

Moonrise Jewelry had me at hello. The woman-owned and operated, Virginia-based, eco-friendly company doesn't simply produce amazing jewelry; they "design, manufacture, and sell high-quality handmade jewelry while adhering to values that contribute to a stronger and healthier global community." Are you in love yet?

Stark Ring

I love simple. - Stacy Christopher The Seattle-based jewelry maker of Stacy Christopher Jewelry does indeed. The beautifully elegant and thoughtfully minimalist Stark Ring arrived in a simple brown, tuck-top box with the image of a crow hand-stamped on its face.

Little Black Rabbit Necklace

Black Rabbit Handmade Jewelry is a mother-daughter team with a combined background of jewelry design, fine and graphic art, photography, and textile arts with a shared love of art, design, culture, and beauty. The duo says that they “hope, more than anything, that our jewelry will bring joy to the wearer, and will enhance her own sense of personal beauty.” I especially appreciate that sentiment because for me, self-adornment is a creative ritual.

Birds of Paradise Earrings

Not ever being one to splurge on jewelry, I’m often times frustrated by the cheap and mass produced items I find myself buying off racks in department stores. I am no stranger to a green finger, a necklace that breaks as I’m putting it on for the very first time, or an earring that manages to fall off in transit, which always provides for a few strange glances once I arrive at work.

Lean and Sexy Stiletto Green Pearl Earrings

Most of the time pearls remind me of housewives circa 1950. Well, maybe into the '60s too. I just started watching the first season of Mad Men, and pearl jewelry seems to be a common gift guiltily given to the suburban, home-bound wife after returning from an afternoon in the city with the bohemian, Beat-loving mistress, or to the sexy secretary banged by the boss.

Brass Angel Bracelet

Full disclosure: I borrowed three bracelets from Belle Style to review, and subsequently requested two of them as gifts. This one, while definitely an interesting and well-made piece, was not one of them. Of the three bracelets, this was the most masculine and different from many of the other pieces on the company's website.

Upcycled Box

When I met my friend Jo at Café Coffee Day, I brought a gift for her with me: York Peppermint Patties. My mom gave me a bag full of the tiny circular treats before I hopped on a plane to return to the place of my temporary residence. From time to time she sends me care packages with miscellaneous unattainable American goodies that can’t be found in Kolkata’s plentiful markets: grits, nutritional yeast, black beans.

Glass Bird Pendent Necklace

I live in a city so overrun by crows that some days I am sure I'm stuck in some Hitchcockian nightmare. Every morning I wake up to the birds' cacophonous squawking, a sound that is now lodged in my psyche in the most obnoxious way. I don't have to set an alarm clock; by 6 a.m. I am sure to be awakened by the ubiquitous chorus of caw.

Vulva Portrait Pendant / Gush! Menstrual Pads / Vegan Lip Balm

Would you send a photo of your vagina to a stranger online? Sounds like a MySpace porn scam, right? In one particular situation, you’d be totally wrong. As I write, I have a replica of my own vulva around my neck. It is amazingly accurate and arguably one of the more tasteful pieces of jewelry I own—assuming you aren’t offended by my own very special vagina. I’m not. My necklace—and matching charm—are based on a photo and description I sent to Vulva Love Lovely, an Etsy shop that celebrates all things vaginal.

Bit of Arts and Crafts II Ceiling Fan Pull

It’s hard to know exactly how to describe a product that is, at once, so lovely, functional, and distinct. The Trace Ellements ceiling fan pull is a handmade, sturdy item that consists of smooth moss green and deep caramel swirled beads held together by thick brass wire. It can easily fasten to most ball chains, and adds a nice burst of color and elegance to an otherwise undecorated ceiling fan. It doesn’t matter whether your fan has a wooden finish, though it certainly complements a brown backdrop.

Pamela Blouse

I'm not sure I understand why companies give clothing items actual human names. No doubt it is because the article unearths a memory from the depths of the designer's mind of some random babysitter long since forgotten or perhaps a high school classmate with whom they have fallen out of touch.

Found Object Necklace

Found object art first made an impression on me studying the Dada movement in a mixed media sculpture class.

State Quarter Necklace

Readers, Wabisabi Brooklyn’s State Quarter Necklace has got me feeling conflicted. You see, I've always had a fondness for small acts of rebellion: sneaking a few beers as a teenager, slapping "this is offensive to women" stickers on public advertisements, getting it on in the coed bathroom at an indie rock show. I know these things aren't going to change the world, but a little transgression makes for funny stories and hours of mischievous entertainment.

Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History Necklace

"Well-behaved women seldom make history," Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich wrote in an article about Puritan funeral services. Feminists embraced the sentiment and now the phrase (as well as the misquote “well-behaved women rarely make history”) can be found on a vast array of consumer goods, from coffee mugs to t-shirts, bumper stickers to compact mirrors.

Imperia Necklace

Have you ever heard a peacock scream? While I was visiting Kolkata's Marble Palace during last summer's monsoon, I happened across the mansion's hodgepodge collection of animals, which I am hesitant to call a "zoo" despite that being what it is. My friends and I were buying time since our trek across town to the museum was through knee-deep water, and we wanted the level to fall a bit before heading back on to the street.

Chestnut and blue bracelet and matching earrings

Amanda Yu—who runs several Etsy shops under her own name and the Exotic Flavour moniker and blogs about her latest creations—has an incredible eye for fun color combinations and visually intricate but simply made jewelry. All of Yu’s Exotic Flavour accessories have a similar look, but the pieces don’t lack their own special charm.

Bleeding Chanel Necklace and Microphone Earrings

What do a straightedge vegetarian German jewelry maker and I have in common? Besides our love of a drug-free lifestyle and animal-free eating, we like the punk-rock aesthetic—and if I do say so myself, a delightful mix of the ideals. PorcelinaZERO, an online boutique run by an exceptionally friendly woman named Tanja, is filled with cute charms, funky rings, brightly colored cameo necklaces, and hip earrings. As I type, lightweight miniature microphones dangle from my earlobes.
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