Shopping local: Dallas Etsy Artists

by Laura Evans

I’ll admit, I love to shop. But in a country where mass production and assembly line products rule the stores, it can be difficult to find those one-of-a-kind items with the handmade touch.

Etsy.com, built in 2005, is an online store where shoppers and artists can buy and sell their unique, handmade artworks and crafts. With over 200,000 artists, you can find anything and everything on this site. Dying for a vintage filigree poodle ring? Or perhaps you've been searching for a sweeper sweater? Etsy's got it!

And the best part is you can shop while supporting your local community. Just type in your city and state on the "shop local" page and up pops your local Etsy artisans. In this series I'll be going from town to town looking for local artists to feature, with the help of Etsy's shop local function. First up is Dallas.

Jennifer and Matt Christy are bringing fashion to the dog world with their “Haute Hound” dog accessories. Their Etsy store, Houndmade, features fashionable neckties, collars, leashes and leash organizers, dog beds, and custom dog portraits.

Jennifer has dabbled in arts and crafts ever since she was little. She began painting custom dog portraits 10 years ago and recently started creating and selling dog accessories in February of 2008 after taking sewing lessons at Make. Matt began creating his wooden leash hangers around the same time.

During the day Jennifer shares her love for art with the young minds at Highland Park ISD where she teaches kindergarten through 4th grade, while Matt works as a medical librarian for Baylor University Medical Center in Deep Ellum.

You can view their products at House of Dang in Deep Ellum.

Megan Mucci has gone from a self-confessed “doodler” to a full-time clothing line owner with the help of Etsy.com. While working in the corporate world as a product developer, she began looking for creative outlets during her off hours. After experimenting with the silk-screen process, she began selling a few onesies and toddler tees on Etsy. Eventually Megan expanded to adult clothes for both men and women, and quit her day job to work full-time on her clothing line.

Named after her two pups Harriet and Pippa Lou, Harrilu is Megan’s clothing line of silkscreened apparel and accessories for infants, tweens and adults. Megan draws all of her illustrations freehand and then uses the silkscreen to transfer the drawings to the clothes. Having only taken one art class in the 8th grade, Megan is a self-taught artist with a great imagination and a style that is fresh, simple and fun.

You can view her line in person at the following boutiques: House of Dang, Make Studio, Move Studio.

Beautiful and broken bloody pearl tooth small pendant necklace; killer cupcake with smile, sprinkles, bloody axe n’ meat cleaver 2.25 inch pocket purse mirror; zombie dead skeleton swallow sparrow with heart n’ rib cage pendant necklace.

That’s just a small look inside Jodi Von Rotten’s Etsy store Binge & Purge, a line of unique subculture and tattoo inspired art, jewelry, accessories and clothing, that is hand drawn, painted, sewn and screen printed. Jodi describes her artwork as a “characters and art that haunts and charms their audience into loving the ugly and believing in the bizarre.” This is most noticeable in her cute yet disturbing killer cupcakes series and zombie hello kitty series.

Jodi received her M.F.A. in Expanded Media from the University of Kansas, School of Fine Arts and a B.F.A. in Sculpture and Design Communication from Texas Tech University. She currently teaches graphic design and professionalism at the Art Institute of Dallas.

Jodi also sells her items on MySpace and Ebay, and you might even be able to catch her at the next Dallas Derby Devils game, or at local bar/concert.

Malgorzata (Margaret) Weimener has been selling on Etsy for just a short six months and has already sold over 400 items of clothing. Just goes to show reversible childrens clothes are all the rage; who knew?

Margaret was born in Poland and moved to the states at the age of six. She began sewing clothes two to three years ago when she took a class at Make, the Do-It-Yourself boutique that offers arts and craft classes to the general public. She operates under the name of Three Yellow Starfish on Etsy, showcasing her line of baby clothes that includes dresses, pinafores and bloomers for children ages six months to six years. Her designs are simple yet modern and of course freaking adorable, and with the reversibility of her clothes it's like buying two for one!

There are tons of local sellers in Dallas, and while I am only able to feature a few of them, I encourage you to check out who else is creating and selling in Dallas on Etsy.com or any other site you find. You can also find more Dallas Etsy artists at EtsyDallas.com

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