Colorful and glassy … it makes for some eye-popping jewelry. Take a look:

And this isn’t big and bold, but it’s nonetheless really pretty:

You can find this jewelry at A Keeper’s Jackpot. Visit the shop and you’ll be sure to be mesmerized by the shiny, pretty glass beads.

If you’re looking for something bold and elegant, this is the place to look. Plenty of chunky bracelets and big glass pendants. There’s also some very nice wire-wrapped and wire crochet pieces in the store.

Custom items are also available, including some custom word bracelets.

And prices are really reasonable. That’s only a plus.

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Ah, embroidery. It’s not just for marking your initials on your clothing or a hankie or a bag anymore. It’s for adding pizazz to everything from clothing to some curtains to purses.

If you’re looking for really cute embroidery patterns, you might want to stop by and check out PimpStitch, a new site devoted to bringing folks original patterns.

PimpStitch was started by Tamie Snow of Roxycraft and Missy Ballance of Mohair Circus. They also recruited Amy Cluck of Peptogirl Industries and Lauren Brandy of Goody-Goody to contribute patterns.

You’ll find everything from animals to kitchenware to cute sleeping kids and something for your favorite homie (or homeskillet):

(Look carefully at the collection because the macaroni pattern there is also priceless!)

There’s also this cutie:

Another neat thing about PimpStitch is that some of the patterns have been adapted from other mediums, like this turtle. Tamie originally created the pattern as a crochet pattern and now has it for embroidery. You can create an army of turtles for yourself if you like.

Patterns are released every week, so there’s always something new to see. You can also keep up with the PimpStitchers on their blog, where you can even pick up a few free patterns.

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Maybe in a perfect world, we would be living on idyllic streets with colorful houses and perfectly manicured bushes and dainty flowers. It might look something like this:

(The houses are available for sale too!)

If you have a hankering for creating your mini village, check out Foxgloves, where you can find this landscape and other felted goodness!

You’ll find brooches, collectibles, jewelry, magnets and even a few art prints. Custom orders are also available.

Maybe you’ll be feeling one of these:

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If you ever sit around and debate with your friends over the old adage of “which came first, the chicken or the egg?”, you can get yourself a visual representation to make your case:

It’s actually a knitting pattern for a plush toy that turns inside out, from cracked egg to spiffy chick. How ingenious!

This pattern was dreamed up by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land. In her shop, you’ll find all kinds of fun plush patterns, many of which involve a) some whimsical character and b) lots of individual moving parts (the more for you to play with, silly)!

Among my favorites: Sleepy Snake and Mischievous Mouse and Sausage Dogs (I have a great love of Dachshunds).

And there are, of course, the stackable cats:

There are just so many fun things to choose from. And each pattern is a mere $5! Knit up some fun toys for yourself. If you don’t know how to knit, Anna occasionally has toys in her store, but that’s very rare, so you’re best served finding a friend to knit the toys for you.

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Want a jewelry piece that will grab some attention? This might fit the bill:

This fun, funky piece of jewelry is from Red Panda Chainmaille. You’ll find all kinds of linky goodness from the Nashville, Tennessee-based jewelry maker, and most of the pieces have a distinctive burst of color. It’s nice to see something so funky and colorful and not just your traditional all silver or copper or gold rings.

There are also some stretchy chainmaille bracelets, something I’d never associate with chainmaille, but a nice touch indeed. You’ll also find keychains and stitch markers among the jewelry. Fun stuff!

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If you’re looking for the perfect card for dad or just to celebrate summer, you might want to check these out:

These adorable handmade cards are from Puppy Love Creations. Many of the cards in the shop feature the cute little dog that’s also prominently featured in the shop’s banner.

But it’s not just all for the dogs. There are cards for every occassion, from plain ol’ notecards to sympathy cards to birthday cards to graduation cards. Singles are mostly available, but there are some sets to be found. And you can have your card’s greeting personalized too!

In addition to the hand-embellished cards, you’ll also find some elegant-looking embossed cards as well:

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How can you resist scrumptious-looking food? Maybe if it was made in a way that you couldn’t eat it.

Yum!

These lovely sachets are from Peep Accessories. Peep is run by a trio of ladies — Sally, Jane and Sandy — from New Jersey. According to their shop profile, the aim of Peep is to “make every home in the world smell like chocolate 24/7, and to find the perfect, personalized ‘it’ bag for every woman in the world.”

Not a bad quest, if you ask me.

In addition to the sweet sachets, there are the knitted and crocheted accessories that are indeed colorful and fun. For example, can you resist a robot?

Or hop along with this clutch:

If you want to take a peep at even more stuff — including knit and crocheted jewelry! — you can also head over to peepaccessories.com.

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… or pear or lemon or peach or what have you:

The above are awesome hand-crafted rings from the workbench of Ash Hilton.

Ash Hilton hails from New Zealand and has been making his own jewelry over the past five years. No only does he make the hand-cut rings, he also does a lot of metal etching and makes rings, pendants, brooches and cuffs. He tries to be as environmentally friendly as possible, recycling and even trying to fabricate his own metal.

Everything in his shop is made to order, and if you’re ordering stateside, it’ll take a little extra time to get to you, but what you get is a unique piece that’s well worth it!

You can also learn a little more about Ash and his jewelry at his website.

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There are those who can create art with brushes and pencils and pastels, and then those who create art with pixels and digital paint. Just ’cause it’s digital doesn’t make it