It’s a little early for Easter and bunnies, but appreciating this cute little guy (not to mention the craftsmanship involved) is absolutely timeless:

This needlefelted bunny is the work of Stephanie of Rivulette Craft. She is an extremely talented artist who does needlefelting and incredible glass work. And sometimes she combines the two, as in this piece from her jewelry shop:

(Yes, those are handmade glass beads!)

And then there’s the hand-blown glasswork like this:

Really, there are so many eye-popping creations in both stores that there’s just not enough room for all of them here! Stephanie’s attention to detail is amazing — it especially shows in her needlefelt figures — and she exhibits a high degree of skill in everything she does.

Everything is almost too pretty to use because you’d hate to break it. (Or have guests/kids/some other random friend or family member break it.)

I have extolled the virtues of needle, thread, fabric and felt before, and these fun items only reinforce my love of that combo:

These super-cute accessories can be found at fabulous fabulous!.

The main draw is all the brightly colored sewn goodies in the store. They range from the totally functional — iPod cozies, laptop cozies, patterned totes and even some stockings you can stock up on for next Christmas — to the plain ol’ fun — plush toys, mini monsters, even a wee non-pointy cactus.

You’ll also find crocheted hats and lots of felt-embellished tees and onesies.

Or maybe you just want that awesome-looking owl pillow above, which must have taken all kinds of time to cut those multiple pieces. The craftsmanship looks pretty sweet.

What’s a crafter to do when he or she has many talents and interests? Indulge all of them, of course! And excel at all of them.

That’s what Susan of Elbit Enterprises does. She makes jewelry, crochets, sculpts, makes dreamcatchers. Here is a sampling of her work:

Do check out the jewelry, crocheted wristbands and even runestones in the shop. Susan is bursting with creativity and bless her, she’s sharing it with the world! Or at least stop by to see what she’s going to come up with next!

I’ll admit, I’m jealous of people who can draw. And can draw effortlessly. And in different styles.

So that’s why I’m digging the work of Seattle’s Liz Wong and Eric Adler of Artghost:

The top two pieces are cards featuring Eric’s drawings, and the last piece is a painting from Liz. Their art features 50s-style images, animals, records, and some of the coolest schoolgirls you’ll see (and that you probably wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley).

At Artghost, you’ll not only find their art on traditional mediums (such as paper), but some of the illustrations wind up on some awesome limited-edition handbags. These handbags are Liz’s illustrations, which are then silkscreened onto the handmade bags.

It’s a wonderful collection of art, definitely worth taking a peek! It’s also a great place to check out if you love retro stuff.

Randi-Sue at Designing Diva hammered, glazed, baked, shaped and formed her way to these lovely pieces:

The Faux-Pal pendant (it’s Randi-Sue’s own original mixture — it’s pretty and shimmery).

The Three Pebbles ring.

Randi-Sue’s passion is creating unique jewelry from stones, glass, and precious metals. She displays a wide array of skills, from fused glass to metalworking to wire wrapping, and the result is a collection of jewelry that’s bold and bright.

She doesn’t use casts for many of her metal pieces (such as the Three Pebbles ring) above, so each piece has slight variations. You’re practically guaranteed a one of a kind piece of jewelry to let that diva in you come through.

Fine art glass is also a favorite medium for Randi-Sue, and you’ll also find glass items for your home and office at Designing Diva. Maybe you need a business card holder? Or wine bottle toppers?

Did you ever go to the library a lot as a kid and thumb all those awesome old books?

I don’t remember this from my childhood, but I think I would have checked it out if I’d seen it:

Hysterical title. Thank goodness the folks over at Attic Journals found this book and turned it into a journal.

At Attic Journals, old books find new life as journals. The covers are taken, then bound together with wire loop and filled with 75 sheets of fresh paper. There’s quite an eclectic collection, from a cover of a book called “Flying Animals” to a Hardy Boys book to this pretty awesome Spanish textbook cover:

You’ll feel like you’re in grade school or middle school all over again!

Warning: The following smell like and looks an awful like dessert. However, it is not dessert:

It’s dessert … for your shower, that is.

Welcome to the yummy world of Soap Cafe, where you buy yummy stuff and then come out smelling like a bakery.

Soap Cafe carries, as the name implies, bath goodies that look like food. The attention to detail is pretty amazing. Intricate layers, highly detailed fruit pieces — it’s all colorful and mouth-watering. They’re almost so pretty that you don’t want to rub them into little nubbins in your shower.

And the scent is amazing. Smells like chocolate. Or pie. Or whatever the soap is. I once owned a pumpkin pie soap slice, and it was practically attached to my nose for a day or two. (Made me want pumpkin pie. Seriously.)

Just one word of advice: If you decide to give say, the box of assorted chocolate soaps as a gift, remind the recipient that they’re not candy! You want your gift recipient to smell good, not wind up in the ER!

It never ceases to amaze me what ceramicists can do.

If you’re looking for some fun and unusual pieces for your home, you might want to take a look at these:

Not a bad final resting place for your sponge!

This is a bird feeder. The prospect of a bird flying into a fish’s mouth is somewhat ironic to me. But it’s a mighty cool-looking bird feeder.

Turning out these pieces is Lisa from Bailey Bowls. All her pieces are one of a kind!

In addition to the creature-inspired goods above, you’ll also find mugs, platters and dishes. Some of the kitchenware has an image of a dog etched into it; that’s inspired by her dog, Bailey (hence the name of the shop).

Lisa also makes ceramic colanders, all of which are unique and have different patterns for the holes. Here is a nice blue one:

I used to be a big Iron Chef watcher (and I’m talking the original Japanese version, not the sort of lame Iron Chef America that’s on now). I’ve always thought it would be cool if there was a crafty version. Like, “you’ve got a bunch of random materials and you’ve got to craft something now!”

OK, so maybe we don’t need the pressure of crafting in an hour. But people who take random things and make them into useful, fun and awesome things still amaze the heck out of me. Like erinzam over at Etsy, who made this wicked awesome book:

Dude! It’s a cassette! It’s Foreigner, for crying out loud! It’s, um, rather rad.

Found objects are the name of the game at erinzam. In her profile, she says she loves making journals from found objects. No cassette tapes around? No problem. Try on this journal for size, made from a drapery sample:

You will also find original prints and paintings in the shop, like this:

There’s a great selection of stuff … do check it out!

There are toy dogs and then these toy dogs:

Then again, these dogs are such amazing works of art that you definitely don’t want to consider them toys or anything that children should play with! (Besides, they’re awfully small and dangerous to kids.)

But if you want to put one on your shelf to admire, head on over to Kay’s K9s.

All these dogs are painstakingly needle-felted by the artist, Kay. They are all one of a kind comissions. She works off pictures of people’s dogs, and has depicted several breeds. Her attention to detail is amazing!

(If you want to see a gallery of Kay’s work, head over to her website and click “gallery.”)

Kay also does pins and keychains of dogs. Here’s a sample keychain:

This would be a great gift for the dog lover who has everything!

One could argue that credit cards are just a bad thing that’s contributing to the financial ills of many people. (But then again, how else could some of us be able to buy such great indie stuff?!)

Anyway, at least one person is making sure credit cards do more than just burn a hole in your wallet:

This neat idea — yes, it is an American Express Blue card! — comes from Sweet Stella Designs, who has other fun accessories in her shop.

(She’s also got another credit-card related necklace in her shop … check it out here.)

In addition to some of the silver and beaded jewelry, there are plenty of food-related polymer clay accessories in the shop. All the clay accessories are true to their respective foodstuffs and just might make your friends hungry along the way. Take your pick from breakfast to snacks to candy.

Enjoy!

Felted pottery has never looked so cool:

All these pieces can be found at Valerie’s Gallery. Many of the bowls, vases and lidded jars in Valerie’s shop are crocheted with wool and then felted (or fulled, if you prefer that term) for their final fuzziness. Some are also wet-felted. A few pieces, such as those above, also combine needle felting with the regular process to produce 3-D embellishments.

The detail in the house scene is really nice, and the other pieces in the shop that have extra decorations give the bowls nice texture. I like how things such as the grapes and the flowers pop out of the bowls. The pieces with the patterns crocheted into the bowls are also well-done.

If you’ve got some potpourri or dried flowers or even just some decorative rocks, these would be nice resting places for those things. Or use a lidded jar as a candy jar. Much more fun than just a glass bowl.

Did you ever have anything embroidered when you were younger? Maybe your initials on your lunch sack or gym bag? (Hello, L.L. Bean?) Or maybe you had an embroidered shirt, or hankerchief or something fancy when you were older.

I promise, this embroidered stuff is way more hip and whimsical and fun than say, your fancy embroidered oxford shirt:

I especially love the card; the embroidery is a nice little touch.

These goodies can be found at Pillowhead. All manner of things that have been embroidered can be found in the store, from cards (there are thank-yous and holiday cards for next holiday season …) to magnets to, as the name of the store suggests, pillows.

Every piece is hand-embroidered. And we’re not talking just simple three-letter monograms either! (After all, “thanks” is six letters.) You can even put in custom orders (for if you do want your monogram after all).

And true to the shop name, there pillow-related things on sale, even of the non-embroidered variety. Here’s a pretty pillow case:

Sometimes, you’re just looking for that perfect jewelry accent to go with your casual wear. Nothing super blingy and super shiny. Maybe something cute but low-key.

How about a pretty art wood/decoupage necklace?

You’ll find these and a lot more at Earth Expressions. The pendants are decoupaged onto wood and coated with resin to make them shiny and durable. A whole range of designs can be found in the shop, from Japanese papers (like this pretty blue floral pendant) to animal and bird motifs and even skulls.

Even the boxes the pendants come in are pretty! (If you click on a pendant listing, you will see a picture of the box.)

You even get a choice of stringing material — leather, organza ribbon, satin or suede leather cord — so you can nail down the look you want.

There are also copper wire jewelry pieces in the shop if you want something that’s not just square. Like this flower:

Knitting isn’t just for yarn, you know. Observe:

Oh, yes, they’re very pretty (and shiny)!

These bracelets were hand-knit by the talented Beth Brown. Look at Beth’s Etsy shop and you will notice that the banner says “Socks That Fit!” But Beth is more than just socks! (Just like knitting is more than just yarn and fluffy stuff! Like the correlation?)

Many things in the shop are labeled “Not Just … ” because really, everything there looks pretty and warm. If you’re still feeling the chill, you’ll probably find something that fits the bill.

If you’ve got some cold hands but you need your fingers (to either type, or maybe knit), check these out:

There are other wearables such as headbands, scarves, hats and of course, socks! Beth also makes custom items, which is always nice.

And if you do have a yarn fix, you can get that filled with the wide variety sock yarn — lots of colors! — in Beth’s shop.