All right, Pottery Barn, Ikea, the BB & B — you're all swell, but dears, you bore me.
Readers, if you're on the hunt for new dinnerware, skip past the large chains and embrace your Etsy bookmark (seriously, it's gotta be bookmarked by now). While handmade pottery has been around for ages and ages and is definitely nothing to be ignored, the new hot thing in functional art is altered vintage dinnerware. Etsy is jam-packed with people redesigning old plates, bowls, and mugs both for functionality and just for the art of it. No need to use your search feature, here are four fab shops to check out.
First up is Beatupcreations. Angela recycles "abused, tossed aside, broken" items, turning them into new fantastic creations that absolutely burst with fresh life. With 10 pages of loveliness to browse through, there is certainly something for everyone in this shop. From celebrity plates (the Pee-Wee Herman plate is a personal favorite), to adorably bizarre animal/human hybrids, to zombie wedding portraits, this shop does not lack variety.Beatupcreations also sells very reasonably priced prints and stationery of lots of their images. And please(!) check out the excellent SALE section as well. You can get your very own Mr. T for 25 bucks for chrissakes.
(as always, an image click will bring you to the appropriate shop)
I am in love with Thestorybookrabbit. It's the kind of love that starts that look from across the bar then keeps you coming back for more possibly only because, well let's face it, the kid is just too darned cute for her own good. That is how I feel for this artist out of Sydney. Drawing her inspiration from her bunny Juno, Kelly of Thestorybookrabbit, creates fantastic little whimsical plates using transfers of her own drawings and adding bits of hand drawn detail and lettering. Her drawings are delicate and honest, instantly making you feel as if you have on the warmest, softest socks around (remember that love I mentioned?). This shop has lots to give, as her artwork is also offered up in jewelry form.
