I’ve been quiet on Our Little Organic Life this year. Well, not ‘quiet’, so much as ‘absent’. There was a pandemic, homeschooling…you know the drill.

I’ll must admit to using Amazon much more than I’d have liked to in 2020. It was convenient and in all honesty there weren’t many alternatives for buying ‘non-essential’ classified items (such as homeschooling materials) in London for much of the Spring of 2020. But that being said, I also signed up to a local CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) fruit and veg box scheme and we started regularly using our local bakery, butchers, greengrocers and fishmongers – much more than we ever did. And those businesses have thrived.

But while some small businesses have thrived and tripled or quadrupled their usual profits over this past year, the arts and culture industry continues to suffer. Many small businesses run by artists and artisans are not thriving and they need our support if we’re able to give our patronage and business to these makers.

And so what better time than this to open my own Etsy shop? Yes, my lifelong hobby of making hyper-realistic miniature dollhouse foods now needs to pay for itself! I’m launching my shop, The Brighton Miniaturist today and it is now live on Etsy. Stock is increasing each day – can you imagine the teeny, tiny chocolate chip cookies, sponge cake, pancakes dripping in maple syrup and a variety of pies? They’re stinkin’ adorable, if I do say so myself. They’re all being prepared for the shop right now and if you ‘favourite’ my shop you’ll get notifications when I add stock to the shop. I also do earrings in my designs as well as custom phone cases. (The pancakes dripping in melted butter and ‘maple syrup’ on my phone case right now are ADORABLE!) You can always see what I’m up to, follow my stories and contact me for custom orders by following me on my second Instagram page @BrightonMiniaturist

And while I wanted to tell you about the launch of my own shop, I wanted to share a few other of my favourite Etsy shops to help promote small scale artisans during this time when they need our support and patronage the most.

notPERFECTLINEN

I recently bought one of their dresses (the EMILIE below) and I love it so much. It is the most comfortable thing I have ever bought and I can’t wait to buy another piece for my collection. They also do a beautiful range of home linens in their heavy weight Ukranian linen with a variety of colours and patterns. They also send you a free envelope of all their swatches when you make an order so it makes making your second order all the more enticing!

LumiereHandmadeGoods

These little drop earrings are actually on my ‘want’ list and I haven’t bought them…yet! Naoko has a small but beautiful range of jewellery crafted in Melbourne, Australia and as I am one of those rare souls without pierced ears I appreciate her natural stone options in a clip on/screw on option. I don’t wear earrings that often, but I’m looking forward to pairing these beautiful earrings with my favourite linen outfits.

JohnTheBlacksmithUK

I ordered a couple pieces of John’s work for my husband for Christmas a few years ago and we still love the pieces and have plans to order more. He’s incredibly nice and will make something bespoke for you if you ask him.

simplydita

Simplydita is based in Latvia and her Waldorf dolls and doll clothes are beautiful. My daughter already had her own Waldorf doll brought by Santa, but it was dressed in one of Dita’s beautiful and sturdy linen creations. I say ‘sturdy’ because if its seams and hems can survive the rough love of my 6 year old, it can survive just about anything! I adore the little coordinating bonnets, cardigans and lace trimmed slips she makes too!

WaldorfFamily

This next item has been in my Etsy basket for…oh ages. And one day I’ll actually buy it because its great for Waldorf homeschoolers, families with a child who attends a Waldorf school and really for anyone doing a nature-based curriculum who want to be more aware of the seasons and their relationship to nature. It is beautifully illustrated.

Conclusion

Well, I hope you’ll enjoy some of these Etsy stores which I’ve mentioned. You can check out my Favourites pages in Etsy for some more similar crafters and ideas. And I look forward to seeing you check out my store, The Brighton Miniaturist as well!

*This post contains affiliate links for Etsy. If you shop from Etsy using a link in this post, I will receive a small commission.