Etsy
Stop laughing. I may lose all credibility posting a $20 owl pillow vs. some amazing $300 felt find from Hable Construction, but, you know what? I have to be true to my colors and post the darn thing anyway, dang it. We all have a 2-year-old trapped inside of us, and in my case, I'm willing to confess that I've got a thing for owlette. Look at him over there, eyeing you, wanting you, needing you so. He's sooo cuuute. He's soft. He's handmade. He senses you're attracted to his little retro self. You know you want to take him on the sofa right now and... (quick, cover your eyes!) totally cuddle him in front of your favorite movie!
Anyhoot...
This little guy can be your main squeeze if you surf the Etsy website, search for "pillow" and scroll until you spot him and his little owl buddies. Haven't heard of Etsy? It's the eBay for independent artists to just go nuts selling their indie line of cuteness along with some more serious hand-crafted items too, like fine art and furniture. Some sellers have $5K paintings up for grabs. Others, crochet kitten iPod holders with google eyes. The selection varies, but the heart and soul of the seller doesn't - you can tell everyone's got passion for what they do on Etsy. If you need another thing to do today at work, other than um...actually working, check out Etsy. It's only in it's beta stages now, meaning I'm not sure how established they are, but I'm willing to take a gamble and say that it's gonna be big. Really big. So big... oh nevermind. Besides offering unique finds, I'm psyched that it's not an auction site. You like it, you buy it. Period. Perfect for impulse buyers that don't want to sit around waiting all week for an auction to close, only to find that you got beat out by giantpurpleeater27, some maniac eBay sniper. On Etsy, you can get your craft on instantly. I'll always enjoy the thrill of the hunt on eBay, but Etsy is a lot more laid back and 100% tailored to the handmade crowd. It's free to sign up, and when you do, you automatically have your own free storefront at username.etsy.com. If you want to know how they stick it to you, well, it seems they don't. There's no unreasonable fees for listing something, no fees for your images; they simply charge a .10 listing fee and a flat 3.5% fee on the final sale price. Yup, that's all there is too it. It's a great place to support, so I say, hop to it! Tell everyone about Etsy, too... I'm all about supporting the small guys... even little Owlette, here.
"Owlette, do you think our readers think I'm nuts?"
"Why quite frankly, I do dear, and you are."
"Hey, don't be so wise!"