Make Your List. Check It Twice. Expat Gifts Are Oh ... So Nice!

As the holiday season approaches, the Etsy Expats are working hard to bring you unique gifts from around the world. This gift guide can get you started on your shopping with a peek into our member shops. Remember, what you see here is just a small taste of what we offer. The categories suggest one type of gift found in each shop to help you get started, but if you see something you like be sure to click on the shop link to discover their complete selection!

compiled by: SilentMagician

WOMEN	.........
Addy's Vintage Antique & Vintage Engagement Rings and Jewellery	Antique Drop Earrings
Atelier Jen BRAVURA - new collection of unique statement jewellery.	Lightweight Earrings
Inspired Creations Reiki Infused Crystal & Gemstone Handmade Jewelry	Quartz Crystal Angel Bracelet
Made With Love By Karen Made With Love By......	Ruffle Scarf
Karen's Loom Hand woven, knitted and felted creations	Mohair Cardigan
BesoYT BesoYT	Sophistication Bracelet
MEN	.........
Boutique Fantastique Unique vintage clothes	Cashmere Sweater
Foulard Fantastique Vintage silk scarves and more	Classic Silk Tie
PETS & ANIMAL LOVERS	.........
Bloomingtails Dog Duds chic made-to-order fashions for small dogs and cats	Small Dog Harness
Tomaydo Tomato Limited Edition Prints, and Personalized Gifts	Custom Pet Portraits
Studio Emma Kaufmann StudioEmmaKaufmann	Giraffe Nursery Decor
HOME	.........
Tailorbird Tailorbird Designs	Cushion Cover
Aunt Amnesia French home decor, vintage fabric and home dyed linens.	Linen Towels
The Hope Tree french vintage and french antiques found in France.	Casket Jewelry Box
Chic Chix Chateau Handmade Home & Garden Goods for your Cozy Château	Pillow Cover
Ancienesthetique french vintage and french antiques	Cafe au Lait Bowls
Just One Look Fashions for today, reminiscent of yesterday.	Pillow Cover
ART	.........
SilentMagician Retro and Travel Art | ACEOs | Postcards	1920s Flapper
PRACTICAL GIFTS, UNIQUE STYLE	.........
Crafty Tokyo Mama Home of THE Original Tight 'n' Tidy Tote	Folding Shopping Bag
Nipnoos Soap Shop	Hand Crafted Soap
Fabrique Fantastique vintage and antique textiles	Wool Blanket
Sew Fine Fashions When You Look Fine, You Feel Fine.	Drawstring Pouch
FOR THE CREATIVE AND CRAFTY	.........
Lyla Supplies Unique Top Quality Turkish Jewelry Supplies & Gemstones	Black Onyx Beaded Tassel
KEEPING IN TOUCH	.........
Handmade in Israel Lisa Isaacs - Papercut Art	Guest Book/Photo Album
Stitch Mikki Textile art , Anime , Art cards , Fabric landscapes	Embroidered Art Card
Toko Dots colorful designs for everyday life	Embroidered Art Card

Member of the Month for August

Julie is our member of the month for August.

She has two Etsy shops:
AuntAmnesia and Dorsbien where you can find all kinds of lovely French vintage items for sale.
Some are as is and others have been updated with a dip in the dye vat.  All are exquisite.
The grain sacks are particularly enticing with their truly antique and authentic look like this one below.

Grain sack

This wonderful lace curtain can be found in Julie's Aunt Amnesia shop along with revamped and updated lingerie and shirts.

Antique Teal Linen Shirt

Vintage clothing and antiques of all kinds can be found in both shops.
   Mini copper cauldron


  Enamel tea kettle



Julie is very versatile and has many interesting projects going on.
You can follow Julie and her interesting 'how to' illustrations on her blog.

Julie also sells her fabulous wares at this site too:
http://www.vintagefrenchfabrics.com/

Click on to go browsing and buy a unique treasure.  Have fun shopping:)

Member of the Month for July 2014

Congratulations Heather!!

Heather of HeatherMcCawArt was chosen as our member of the month for July.

Here are just a few of her gorgeous pieces that we have chosen to feature on our team Pinterest boards.

Follow EtsyExpats's board Member of the Month: July 2014 on Pinterest.


I asked Heather about her life as an expat and her artwork.  Here is her response:

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" I live near Ramstein, Germany, where my husband is stationed with the U.S. Air Force.
We have been here about two years.
We enjoy this part of Germany for its wine, food, delicious bread and pastries, and the opportunities to travel to several other countries. Some of my favorite cities in this part of the world: Ghent, Metz, Cologne, Munich, and Berlin.

Something I miss most about home? I have to admit, sometimes I miss being able to pick up something from the store at night or on Sundays. :)

About my artwork:
My work is currently evolving. When I first came to Germany, I was enticed by all the pastries and bread, so I painted two series of very realistic bakery goods and sweets.

Doughnut Art Print

Colorful Abstract

After that, I felt like I wanted to explore abstraction in a serious way. For the past several months, I've been painting little abstractions inspired by my meditation practice and the forms, lines, and colors found in nature. In the meantime, I've also been learning printmaking, so you'll see an eclectic mix of work in my shop right now".

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To see more of Heather's work and follow her go to her sites.

Here are her links: 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/heathermccawartist

Blog: heathermccaw.wordpress.com/

Pinterest: pinterest.com/hmccaw/boards/

My official artist's website: heathermccawkerley.squarespace.com/

and a couple of my favs.......

Bird's Nest Painting

Oil Painting

Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats

Team Challenge: June: 'Off The Beaten Track'

Hello again.  

Here is our winner for the June Team Challenge. 

Our Winner!

We had plenty of interesting and varied items to add to this treasury.  All unique and individual.

A really good mix and difficult to choose just one.  

Our favourite and I'm sure you can see why, is Dom wearing one of Sally's cowboy/girl outfits.  

Sally of BloomingtailsDogDuds makes all kinds of cute doggie outfits and Dom the Pom is her adorable model:)  

We are doing something a little different for our next team treasury... 

Don't forget to check in next month !  

Are you an expat? 

Come join in the fun and chat @

Etsy Expats Team

Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats

June's Member of the Month:

Our Member of the Month for June is Alysen, who runs three Etsy shops together with the behind the scenes ladies, Peggy and Robin.
 
ChicChix&Champagne: 
ChicChixVintage:
and the latest one:
ChicChixChateau:

During the month, team members chose some of their favs to feature and here we will show you some of what we like.  There are many more items to view in their shops.

Follow EtsyExpats's board Member of the Month June 2014 on Pinterest.

Alysen is the lady we all know on the team as the expat who lives in France and therefore she is really our M.o.M.

Between them, they gather items from wherever their travels take them, selling vintage, re-purposing and recycling making into one of a kind items.  This makes for a very varied and interesting mixture of wares

Both Alysen and Peggy show their different creative styles in these shops.
Some items ship from France and some from the US.  







posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats

Double Take: May Team Challenge

May's team challenge was a really fun one,

So many wonderful items that fit this theme.  Check them all out for yourself in our treasury.

vintage cups and saucers

Many varied items and many varied opinions... lots of one and two votes for different things.
The most votes went to ancienesthetique with this great photo of their vintage cup and saucer set.  

Well done V and T !!!  A lovely set and unique display.  

Check in with us again at the end of the month for our June challenge:

Off The Beaten Track.  

Better yet, come and join in the fun.
Team member?  Then just post one appropriate item in our team thread.
Not yet a member?  Come join us @ Etsy Expats

Posted by Linda of JustOneLook for Etsy Expats

Member of the Month for May 2014

Our member of the month for May is Jackie of StitchMikki.
Congratulations Jackie!

Jackie is a very talented textile artist.  As you can see from her profile page on Etsy, her work is wonderful; interesting and varied.
 
Here is a short bio in her own words:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are an English family living in beautiful British Columbia. Before emigrating from the UK we also lived on The Isle of Man for 5 years, a rather extraordinary place.

I have always been creative ... I was knitting and sewing even when I was at primary school and have worked my way through a stream of hobbies ... cross stitch, oil painting, tatting, knitting etc. While we lived on the Isle of Man I had the opportunity to take a visual arts diploma as a part time student. It gave this mother of 3 small children a much needed creative outlet and really encouraged me to experiment with different media and that is where I really started playing around with textiles.




When we first came to Canada I participated in the local craft show circuit (including "Art in the Park" on Canada Day) for a while selling my cards and also handmade beaded purses. I was invited to join a local cooperative and so became a member of The Kamloops Courthouse Gallery for several years.



Last year we took the big step of building our own house. I took temporary leave from the gallery as I knew this would be a time consuming venture. I still wanted to have that 'creative outlet' though and Etsy has filled that gap for the last year and a half.





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Emily has been onboard with our shop since January last year ... I would not have been able to get going without her help as I couldn't even decide upon the name on my own ... let alone upload a banner!

Emily is currently an art student and has a particular interest in all things Japanese. She is hoping to eventually go to Japan and has been learning Japanese in preparation. The art she produces most is in the Anime style.... her drawings are very cute.

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So ... life as an Expat ... it has it's 'ups and downs'... even in a country which speaks the same language the cultural differences can be enormous. But living here we have had some incredible experiences and that is what I remind myself when I have a bad day - here is my list of the best things to do in Western Canada (from personal experience):-

Jackie

Go skiing or boarding in deep powder snow with the sun shining;
Camp by a lake with a salmon or AAA steak cooking over the fire and watch the sun set with a glass of wine in hand;
Explore the amazing wilderness and see bears, deer, wolves, moose, coyotes, bald eagles and osprey in the wild- very exciting - if a bit scary! - you can also go whale watching;
Go canoeing on a lake or paddle down river;
Go whitewater rafting if you are a bit more adventurous;
Relax in a hot spring pool - there is one called Ainsworth Hot Springs where you even go into a cave.
Sail on a BC ferry - sit on deck, soak in the scenery and enjoy the wildlife;
Visit Dinosaur Provincial Park and see fossils still in the ground;
Ride the 'Peak to Peak' at Whistler - over a 1000 feet off the ground and quite possibly the most amazing thing I have ever done!;
Attend an outdoor blues festival;
Tour wineries in The Okanagan;
In Vancouver visit the craft shops on Granville Island or hire bikes and cycle round the seawall in Stanley Park where there is also a fantastic aquarium.
Have a cream tea in Victoria.

You may have noticed a bit of a recurring theme with the food and drink there!

I have been trying to get more 'onboard' with the social media of late.
I LOVE instagram and have started using that to show pictures of work in progress. The other social media I do less of.

instagram.com/stitchmikki
www.etsy.com/shop/StitchMikki
www.facebook.com/Stitchmikki
www.pinterest.com/stitchmikki
twitter.com/StitchMikki
www.tumblr.com/blog/stitchmikki
stitchmikki.blogspot.ca
www.rebelmouse.com/StitchMikki this page lumps all my social media posts in one place.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks Jackie for this insight into your life as an expat and life in British Columbia... sounds like an amazing place!

Check out Jackie and the rest of the expat shops on our new Expat Showcase Link:
https://www.etsy.com/pages/etsyexpatsshowcase







Posted by Linda of Just One Look for Etsy Expats

'Spinning A Yarn' Monthly Team Challenge

Our team challenge for April was called 'Spinning A Yarn' and boy did we get some stories!

Great imaginations at work Team!!
 
Wonderful yarn crafts plus items with a story to tell.
From mermaid shells to story book fabrics.

Here is a list of our entries:
An Irish sweater.
Crocheted Earrings
Mohair Loop Scarf
Vintage Net Curtains
Poky Little Puppy PJs
Richard Scary Vintage Fabric
Mermaid Medallion
Celtic Knot Egg
Tasmanian Devil Necktie
Knitting Pamphlet
Hand Knitted Scarf
Textile Art Card
ACEO 1920s Woman
Crocheted Capelet

Click on individual items or see them all here in our fantastic treasury!


Everyone loved YarnBirdy's finger puppets and they were chosen as our winner.

Congratulations Alexis!!

Fairy Tale Finger Puppets

Thank you all for participating and giving us such a fun and lovely treasury:)

See you all next month for our May's Challenge:
'Double Take'






posted by Linda of JustOneLook for EtsyExpats

Netherlands: King's Day.

One of our expat team who lives in Holland, has written another interesting blog article.
This time about Dutch Koningsdag.  (King's Day).

Check it out here!

Thanks for the interesting read Shannon.

Member of the Month for April: Inspired Creations

The names were all added to our bowl (one of Monique's lovely creations) and the names were mixed and mixed .....
and the lucky winner is ......

 Yay!  Carole!!

Carole Fontaine is the owner and creator of
Inspired Creations.  Here is a short biography about her life and work:







Carole Fontaine (Spiritual Name: Nam Karan Kaur) got her BA in Graphic Arts in Montréal, Canada, and moved to Florida 20 years ago where she lives on a sailboat with her husband and Dozer the puppy dog.

After years of misdiagnosed medical problems, her search for holistic remedies opened her eyes - and heart - to the world of yoga, meditation and energy medicine. She studies Kundalini, Iyengar, Kriya and Raja Yoga and is a certified Reiki Master.

A few years ago she left the unsatisfying world of corporate deadline driven commercial art and started her own line of Reiki Infused Crystal Jewelry.

Besides making "Inspired Creations", she works as a freelance graphic designer, teaches Meditative Writing Workshops and volunteers in monthly women's healing circles as well as in her local hospital in Reiki Circles for Caregivers.

Her love for the holistic reflects in her fabulous handcrafted jewelry which has a high vibrational quality that will happily resonate with the wearer.
~ ♥ ~
Her jewelry is available at the HYATT REGENCY SPA66 of FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, USA
and at KIKAU School of Yoga in Ste-Foy, QUEBEC, CANADA
~ ♥ ~

Connect with her online!

www.facebook.com/InspiredCreationsInc
Pinterest: pinterest.com/carolefontaine
Twitter: twitter.com/ReikiCreations



Visit her Etsy shop where you can pick out your favourite jewelry.
here are some of ours.

Ancient Wisdom Amethyst

The expat team has been featuring Carole's lovely items online this month.



These are from top left to bottom right:
Drop of Ocean ... Pearls and abalone
Freshwater Pearls .. Goddess of the Sea
Turquoise wrapped pendant
Heart Chakra ... balancing and protecting

So many beauties to choose from.

Raw Crystal Points and Pearls - "Divine Goddess"

You really must stop by her shop!  Find these and lots more at Inspired Creations.




Check out Carole's feature on our new team page and visit the other team member shops too!
@ Etsy Expats Showcase




posted by Linda of JustOneLook for EtsyExpats