Featured Seller: Zeba

I don't wear much jewelry, but I find it alluring nonetheless...maybe it's one of those "ooh, shiny..." raccoon-syndrome things. Whatever is behind it, this necklace is another of my favorites.



It's by Sholeh of the Etsy shop called Zeba, and the center part isn't metal set with stones as I first thought; it's actually a man made Bismuth hopper crystal. (I can't resist things that are pretty and science-y!)

Sholeh came to the US from Iran in 1977 to get a computer science degree and ended up staying here. When she's not working at her day job or her Etsy shop, Sholeh is helping her husband with their kitchen renovation; he's building new cabinets, and she is using her other talent to make some stained glass panels for the cabinet doors.

Featured Artist: HightowerBotanicals

This is another item I ran across using Etsy's Pounce feature. It grabbed me because when I was in gradeschool I walked to and from school most days and along my route were several trees that dropped piles of these seed pods.

Julee of Hightower Botanicals is the artist behind this pretty pendant. When asked about it she said, "This Maple tree seed pod is a favorite of mine because as a child I played with the seed pods by pulling them apart and sticking them on my nose! And also of course, throwing them off of high places so they'd spin down to the grown like a helicopter."

Julee grew up in Washington state before going to art school in Brooklyn, New York. She currently works as an artist's assistant and makes huge casted and fabricated sculptures in many materials. She sees her jewelry work as miniature sculpture and especially enjoys working with plants and herbs.