Etsy.

So here's the thing.  I've bought exactly one thing off of Etsy, but I drool over the stuff!  The thing I bought wasn't even tangible-- it was my logo for Fowler Photo.

I'd seen Etsy before and liked what I saw, but just couldn't place my finger on why I didn't ever buy anything off of there.

Now that I live in Virginia, 430 miles away from Asheville, NC, I find myself wanting to buy everything I see on Etsy.

Why the difference?  Because so far, I haven't found any stores with all those goodies in them in my area.  I'm sure they exist, but in Asheville, every store is full of those types of items.  Greenville, SC was a lot the same way, but on a smaller scale.

They had stores like this, where everything in it is handmade and/or recycled (and it's actually cool/cute/useful).

And places where artists made stuff like this:

It's a teapot... see the spout on the right side of the pic?  And the lid on the opposite side of the head?  Yeah... I'm totally mesmerized by it!

And then of course... you can buy these large scrap-metal chickens all over the place in WNC now.

Don't freak out-- this is an old picture and that's little Rylie in there!

So until I find all those little stores in my new home, I'm thankful for Etsy-- even if it's just to window shop!  Secretly, though, I want to learn to make all that stuff, but without all the time and effort invested to it.  Ha!