Etsy UK is having a – real-life – exhibition

I've found some pretty special art over the years on Etsy – these affordable portraits are particularly memorable, as is the work of this Israeli artist (I've since bought two of her mini canvases and love them very much). I've also admired some rather unusual portraits on the site, too.

And now Etsy UK is hosting its very own art exhibition – a real one, not a virtual one. And here's my favourite piece in it.

It's called Path to the Beach and is by Shetland-based painter Kristi Cumming who runs an Etsy shop called Islandla. It's also the painting used in the poster to advertise the show (good to know I'm on the same wavelength as those Etsy bods). And this inaugural event takes place in London (but they're hoping to roll it out nationwide before too long) and you can catch it in Clerkenwell over the weekend, from Friday 17 to Sunday 19 October.

More than 600 Etsy sellers applied to appear, from all over the country, but there was room for just 15 of them – from oil painters to ceramicists – at the show. You can check out the line-up and all the details at the Etsy exhibition page right now.

Object of the day: Kimmy Hogan's sleeping Dachshunds

This is pretty much the cutest illustration of a dog you will ever have seen. Right?

The print is titled The Dachshund. Appendix 4: Sleep Study and it was drawn by (no surprises) a Dachshund-owning artist named Kimmy Hogan.

Sleeping dogs, especially little ones, are particularly endearing and Kimmy has captured that aspect beautifully, in this very simple series of line drawings.

Kimmy, who is based in Australia, based the sketches on her own miniature dachshund, Rio.

And the good news? It may only be for sale in Australia, but Kimmy's stockist Elk in the Wood offers FREE WORLDWIDE SHIPPING. Woo! The print costs $40AUD (£22) for an A4 sized version and $75AUD (£41) for the A3 version.

Kimmy also has an Etsy shop, but she's on maternity leave at the moment. But you can still catch her at her beautiful blog, Whitewiththree.blogspot.co.uk. As I'm on a bit of a houseplants tip right now, I particularly enjoyed her inspiring latest post, on that very topic.

Post by Kate

Introducing... Durido

Isn't this a nice idea for brightening up a dark wall?

These colourful, graphic designs are the work of Mojca Dolinar and Marko Durini, AKA Durido, a new design company based  Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The pair explain online at their Etsy shop that "a lot of energy and positive vibe" is what goes into their work, and say that they hope it will "contribute to your happiness and joy". Nice!

The prints also come in the form of calendars (below). The prices for prints alone (minus hangers) is around £12.

Not all are the same, bold graphic style – I love Durida's illustrative work, too.

The nice wooden hanging bars are available separately in two different sizes, priced from around £15. They'd be handy for hanging all sorts of things – large wallpaper samples, pieces of fabric you love, classic second-hand silk scarves (or new ones, Abi has an incredible Grayson Perry scarf, a souvenir from an exhibition, in a big frame on a wall). There are other places that sell these bars in different sizes, or perhaps Durida can custom-make. If you're handy, you might want to make your own (there are instructions here).

Veering from interiors for a moment, they also run a fine line in these sweet t-shirts.

Bespoke orders are an option, so these drawings may well be available as prints if you'd prefer them on your wall to on your chest. Don't quote me on that, but do drop Mojca and Marko a line to find out more.

You can find them at: Etsy.com/shop/DURIDO

Object of the day: horse hangers

Perhaps inspired by Les Trois Garçons' haul earlier this week (particularly the wall-mounted unicorns), I have my heart set on these.

Regular readers will know of my fondness for an equine accessory. But is this a step too kitsch?

Neighhhhhhh! It is for sale in the US at Etsy (from a shop called Equine by Lauren) along with a range of similar designs featuring different horses (this, I think, is the best). Don't you just love the sense of dynamism?

Alas, at around £130, it more than tops the threshold for free imports into the UK (anything over £15 is chargeable) and so the tax would bump up the price. I'm still debating... but also considering making my own. I'll keep you posted.

The Friday edit: the week's best bookmarks

I'm dabbling with making this a regular Friday regular: a round-up of some of my favourite stories from around the web, the homes and design-y things I've bookmarked in the last week or so. 

Let's give it a go.

Clockwise from top left

1. Donna Wilson has designed the interior for the remote Fogo Island Inn, off the coast of Newfoundland. There's a lovely story behind it and the building is incredible. Check it out at Donna's blog, Leaves and Twigs.

2. Close-up images of skyscrapers blur the lines between graphic design and photography. See more of Alexandre Jacques's architectural photographs at PSFK.

3. This print (designed by Marcus Eriksson) appealed because, just like Anna Dorfman, book cover designer and author of the excellent (and also newly discovered) blog, Door Sixteen, I'm going to Sweden too – for the wedding of some friends of my boyfriend in June. Never met them. Never been to Sweden. Love this poster because it made me even more excited about it. And made me laugh.

4. A very 70s Californian beach house – featured on Apartment Therapy, it is the real deal, pile carpets and pine kitchen cupboards and all. Loved it.

5. Peruvian textiles meet mid-century Danish design at A Rum Fellow with their new chair collection. Prices aren't small (£325-£950) so if you, too, can't stretch to the chair check out their colourful Peruvian tape (£7 in the sale) and trim one you already own. Read more about them here.

6. Painted wooden spoons! So simple, yet so pleasing. These ones are from Canadian Etsy shop Storiebrooke.

Good weekend all. What you up to in this grim weather? I'm looking forward to seeing Bill Callahan...



...and other than that, staying at home out of the rain eating cosy food, seeing the lovely Jill and Terence who live in this amazing house, watching Shane Meadows' Stone Roses film with them on the sofa and employing the dog as a hot water bottle.

Post by Kate. Images: Fogo Island Inn; Alexandre Jacques; Marcus Eriksson; Apartment Therapy; A Rum Fellow; Jessica Helwick

The USB typewriter: would you?

Well, would you?

Old typewriters are beautiful things. And recycling beautiful old things is a beautiful thing. And this Smith Corona Sterling isn't the only old-school machine that Pennsylvanian techy inventor, Jack Zylkin, has transformed into a fully-functioning USB keyboard for any PC, Mac or iPad.

Look, here's another one he's pimped.

They go for around £400-700, depending on the vintage of the typewriter. "People love typewriters," Zylkin says in his Etsy shop profile, "and lots of people have them on their mantle or in their attic. But there is just no place for them on a modern computer desk. So, with the USB Typewriter project I am trying to rescue typewriters from garages and attics and put them to use again." He also sells DIY kits at $74 (around £48) so you can convert your own old typewriter at home.

The conversion is all about attention to detail: Zylkin has devised ways to incorporate non-standard keys such as F1-F12, and the Esc and Ctrl keys. On request, he'll also fix the typewriter's carriage return key (post-typewriter generation: that's the big key that goes "ping" in the office scenes in Mad Men, and moves you onto the next line on the paper) to work as a modern keyboard's enter key. The old machines will also work computer-less, for an extra vintage sheen, and can be used as iPod docks too.

It's a totally brilliant idea. Just like those old-fashioned telephone receivers you can get to plug into your mobile. But the only people who used those were fashion show front-rowers and early east London adopters – and as soon as the fad lost its new sheen, landfill was surely hit with a heavy load of bakelite and moulded plastic. So are these keyboards different? Would you use one?

Find the USB Typewriter shop on Etsy.