Etsy's Handmade Blog
Gift Ideas: Shop Local Scandinavia with syko
Story by syko
Published on November 18, 2008 in Spotlight 		Photo by

syko

Shop Local this holiday season and support independent craftspeople while reducing your carbon footprint!  We're going around the world here on Etsy's blog, so let us know where our next stop should be in the comments below. This post wings its way to you from Scandinavia, courtesy of Etsian syko. That's her, pictured above, next to the forest where she "finds the tomte-people." With a little help from these tomte, syko handpicked the sellers and their items displayed below.

This photo is by Elizabeth aka flyingrhymes from Denmark.
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"This photo was taken just down the street from my studio and home. It's a place I pass daily and the beauty of it re-energizes me after being in the studio for a block of time. Simple lines and bold colors found in Danish nature and architecture influence my print designs on pillows and tea towels."

 

This is Eva aka BeyondReason from Norway.
norwayBeyondReason.jpg
"This is the house i grew up in, in a little village called Feiring. Only ghosts and spiders live there now, and I sometimes go to visit them."

 

This photo is by Minna aka karuski from Finland.
karuskiFinland.jpg
"This picture was taken in our garden which is one of my favorite places with its apple trees, flowers and herbs. In the winter it is very exciting to see how many different animals have crossed the yard; the footsteps in the snow reveal them!"

 

This is Katrine aka KatrineK from Norway.
katrineutenforhuset.jpg
"This is me in front of the house where I live, my home. It was taken on a foggy, cold day of autumn, with winter just around the corner. I chose a picture of my house because I spend so much time there both living and working. Our house is situated next to a wood; I love to be surrounded by trees!"

 

This photo is by Amanda Yu aka Exotic Flavour from Stockholm, Sweden.
Amanda_Yu_Design_-_Sweden.jpg
"This is the street where I live in Sundbyberg in Western Stockholm. I love the area, which is convenient and has a lovely park with lakes nearby. The church in the background is one of the biggest and most beautiful ones in Sundbyberg. Although I am a Buddhist, I love the architecture of the church. If you look closely, you will see I am wearing earrings I designed in blue and yellow, the colors of the Swedish flag."

 

This is Sædís from Iceland.
iceland.jpg
"This picture is taken in Reykjavik where I live. I am walking my dog in Laugardalur, which means the Washing Valley. In the old times women came here from far away to do the laundry. You can see the steam coming up from the warm river behind me."

 

Please let Etsy's blog know about your favorite local Etsy artists. Pitch your town, state, country or region and let us know which sellers will fill their holiday-shopper-neighbors with glee (we're talking catalog-quality photos, 100% feedback, and top-notch items at a variety of price points); include a screenshot of your Poster Sketched picks and a link to a pretty photo of yourself in your neighborhood. Tell us why you love where you live and why these sellers are distinctive. We can't wait to hear from you!

Check out the European Street Team — a self-organized group of sellers. Make sure to update your geo info in your public profile so you can find folks in your area by using Etsy's Shop Local site feature. This is a great way for holiday shoppers to cut down on shipping time. Find out more about how Shop Local works. 

Tags BeyondReason, Denmark, Exotic Flavour, Finland, flyingrhymes, holidays, Iceland, karuski, KatrineK, Norway, Sædís, Scandinavia, Shop Local, shopping, Sweden, syko
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88 comments     Login to add your own!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:02 a.m. TeenAngster

I totally love this, as I live my fantasy Scandinavian life vicariously through all of you. Great piece! Great items!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:06 a.m. happykimono

Fantastic article. It's so nice to see the faces of the talent too :) x x x

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. yaelfran

wow, this is fantastic!!!! I love so much syko's shop!!!!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:12 a.m. esmeraldadesigns

Love this article and the images! I grew up in Sweden and the images and the stories bring fond memories that seem to reminisce in my metalwork.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:16 a.m. annarubyking

wonderful finds! and the photos are amazing!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:18 a.m. Lambert

Great feature, very talented craftswomen and nice to meet you all in pictures!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. roroism

hejhej! Greetings from STOCKHOLM.SE
thanks for great text.

..AND WELCOME TO MY SHOP ;)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:25 a.m. branda

What a beautiful is see the photos of our Etsy Scandinavian friends and their wonderful works!!! :-) :-)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:33 a.m. dogties

Great items & Awesome Pictures!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:34 a.m. degerkas

Wow I totally have seen that home in Feiring (my grandfather grew up in that town) when I was in Norway three years ago. This is a great article and some beautiful pictures. One day I will go back to this beautiful country and hopefully stay for good. Thanks for sharing!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:39 a.m. rikrak

syko is so fabulous! and i loev all of these wonderful finds! woohoo!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:46 a.m. thenoisyplume

Eek.
Loved this article!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:02 p.m. alibli

I've been living in Stockholm for a few months... Scandinavian air is inpiring!!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:04 p.m. TashaHussey

Great article ! nice to put the faces with the work.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:11 p.m. lisahopkins

How fun to see the pictures and learn a bit about these lovely artists. :)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:13 p.m. thecraftpantry

Love, love, LOVE! Feels so familiar!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:13 p.m. mykonos

oh, great article!!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. minihorse

ooo what a great article. i can never get enough of traditional scandinavian patterns and color schemes.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:35 p.m. HiJinx

Beautiful photos, great article... I want to live in the little house with the spiders and ghosts... makes me want to travel to distant lands :)
Thanks for this great entry.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:54 p.m. shecological

Love the idea of shopping locally although it is so tempting to buy from Scandinavia! I love Syko's stuff. All of these artists look as cool as their stores! Thanks for doing this article!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. matchstickgirl

totally brilliant well done !!! very very well found ...but you forgot Ingermaaike in norway !!! she makes amazing things too!!!!!!(i want all of them )

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:55 p.m. stephaniegibson

Love all the photos! What a great idea!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:56 p.m. nanouke

Woooow! Amazing photos, amazing artists!!!
Amanda Yu is so gorgeous! Those earrings of her look great on!
I would move to Scandinavia, but I like the sun light too much :)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 12:58 p.m. gunnelsvensson

Hej syko! So beautiful to read and see you and the other scandinavian girls and shops here.And thank you for inclduding my little ACEO :-)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1 p.m. desirapesta

i'm obsessed with Scandinavian design and Iceland. awesome.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:01 p.m. JustFeltHungry

I love this theme! Great picks!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:01 p.m. VKnO

Great article! So many fellow Scandinavian that I didn't know about. Brilliant done!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:02 p.m. BlackStar

What a wonderful post~

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:02 p.m. ArtMind

Super lovely pictures and great sellers!
Fun feature on the talent up north! :)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:03 p.m. froydis

excellent article! I LOVE Scandinavian design, and these sellers are tops!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:04 p.m. cozymemories

what wonderful picks, Kajsa ! How great to see other Scandinavian sellers ! Awesome article !! :)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:08 p.m. EJPcreations

What a great artical!!!! I love hearing their stoies!!! Really nice to hear about the craft community around the world.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. saidie

what a great feature! love the photographs and everyone's great shops!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:20 p.m. chakrapennywhistle

This is fantastic! I am a HUGE fan of syko! So many new faves here!!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:27 p.m. ingermaaike

So great to see my fellow scandinavians up here!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. joutomaa

Thank you so much Kajsa for including my Treasure -Print!
Your article is great, nice to see artists in there natural surroundings :-)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 1:29 p.m. DearDodo

Wow, this is was a great read! I love all the pictures and people you've chosen. I am especially impressed with BeyondReason's birth place! It will haunt me for a wile....

Nov. 18, 2008 at 2 p.m. syko

Hi and thank you for the overwhelming response everyone! I too thought it was so nice to meet all these talented ladies from Scandinavia in their favourite places! Of course I would have liked to include items from all Scandinavian sellers, it was much harder to chose this year than last year, the Scandinavian community on Etsy is growing fast!

Kajsa

Nov. 18, 2008 at 2:36 p.m. HazelnutDesigns

SOMEDAY I want to visit all these amazing countries! I love Scandinavian design!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 2:47 p.m. viltalakim

Sweden is our favourite vacation place to go! Such lovely people , always friendly and creativ!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 3:29 p.m. SquidInkKollective

Jeg elsker Norge ;) and I love the rest of Scandinavia too. Great article.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 3:40 p.m. SASessories

These girls are all so cute!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. whimdesign

Each of these photos are so beautiful. Great article.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:11 p.m. Stjarnkraft

Hello everybody and especially Syko, of course :) Nice job with the article and you're right, the Scandinavian community on Etsy is growing fast. I only wonder when we will be able to select "Europe" as a ship to destination when we list our items... I find it such a nuisance not to have that choice :(

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:14 p.m. XbyLeinaNeima

:) Lovely story and great artists!!!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:35 p.m. HeliS

Hi Scandinavia and terve Suomi :)
Nice to meet all you talented people up there!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:37 p.m. heidiburton

I'm 1/2 Finnish (1/2 British) and have been brought up surrounded by Scandinavian design, love the 'roots' behind these sellers, and those locations are beautiful (along with their items)!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:41 p.m. donkeypony

Hipp hipp hurra for Scandinavia! What a fantastic read!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 4:59 p.m. ExoticFlavour

This is really amazing, so glad to be chosen!! Thank you so much for syko and Etsy!!!! ^.~

Nov. 18, 2008 at 5:06 p.m. twolefthands

What a great article and a quaint and beautiful place to live! Thanks for sharing!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 5:35 p.m. iragrant

Very interesting article syko!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 5:50 p.m. deleteyourself

Very interesting, and I love the pictures:)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 5:54 p.m. coldtoes

Great article and fab photos! Nice to be introduced to some fellow Scandis :)

Nov. 18, 2008 at 6:10 p.m. glasfaden

Oh, those photos make me wanna to visit Scandinavia again - so lovely! And it's so nice to see the faces behind the names, as well to read the story of the photos. Thank you for sharing!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 6:22 p.m. nfall2rt

It's nice to see a bit about our sellers! Looks chilly there!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 6:29 p.m. LaveMeSoapCo

this is the best feature yet!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 6:31 p.m. tinyspecials

Too stinkin' cute! Love to read about sellers and visit people in "faraway lands". So fascinating.

Nov. 18, 2008 at 7:04 p.m. HModine

I live in a tiny town in New Mexico and we are trying to shop local....I love knowing other places are wanting the same thing.

All your your images are breath taking.... I agree with glasfaden, time for a trip to Scandinavia!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 7:22 p.m. Vanessa

This is one of my favorite posts of all time. Thanks for agreeing to do it, syko!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 7:35 p.m. JenniferMorrisPhoto

oh my skandinavian obsession/admiration is growing even bigger now!
such a lovely post syko..
congratulations!
xo

Nov. 18, 2008 at 8:28 p.m. TobinArt

i know! my scandinavian love is growing also (my mate is laplander/norwegian)....i loved seeing the pictures and the women and their work.

thanks!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 8:44 p.m. Lumpkin

wow, what a fun journey Syko!
Ooh, Ooh, Etsy...stop in Lancaster, PA next!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 9:29 p.m. leblancjoanna

Oh my gosh! What beautiful things!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 10:05 p.m. Unwaveringfaith

This was a really neat article. I wish there was more like them...from more countries around the world!!

Nov. 18, 2008 at 11:43 p.m. greensprings0

We vacationed in Iceland a few years ago, and it was one of the most beautiful places I have been to. Thanks for including it.

Nov. 19, 2008 at 1:27 a.m. BluCille

I love the dolls, they're so cute.

Nov. 19, 2008 at 3:11 a.m. dindi

Great article!!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 4:23 a.m. karuski

Excellent story, nice to make friends with Etsians all around the world! Thank you Kajsa aka Syko for including me:)

Nov. 19, 2008 at 5:08 a.m. SiebenMorgen

wow, this makes me want to go up north right now!!!
so beautiful places and great finds..thanks for sharing!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 5:27 a.m. felicitycrew

Great to see who's working here in Europe! Thanks for that interesting article.

Nov. 19, 2008 at 10:54 a.m. shellieartist

great photos of everyone...good job Syko putting this one together!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 11:51 a.m. LoveAppleBoutique

Wow, Some really great photos...It's great getting to see the faces behind the shops.

Nov. 19, 2008 at 12:14 p.m. peaseblossomstudio

What a great article! I love seeing artists "behind the scenes". And the items are just lovely!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 1:17 p.m. Niftycrafting

so great to see people from my nook of the world! great treasury!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 1:25 p.m. BigSky

I have always wanted to visit Norway because I am half Norwegian-now I REALLY want to visit all of Scandinavia!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 1:43 p.m. Ravenhill

Wonderful article! Well done Syko! Your little elves are delightfully cute!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 2 p.m. treasurefield

I love this article!
the photos!
the faces!
the creations!
the flavor!
Bravo!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 2:03 p.m. sweetestpea

What a great peek into the lives of these talented artists! Well done - excellent feature!

Nov. 19, 2008 at 8:01 p.m. dsbrennan

Great feature - and I love that cow pendant by saedis!

Nov. 20, 2008 at 4:27 a.m. makemesmile

Beautiful items (I love the black and red neckwarmer and the floral cats portmonee).
I really should visit Scandinavia (after all, it is just around the corner for me).

Nov. 21, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. YouAreYou

Wonderful Article! Whimsical Creations! LOVE!

Nov. 23, 2008 at midnight amyquarry

What a great collection! I think that Canada, specifically BC should be your next round up!

Nov. 23, 2008 at 6:55 a.m. Portemone

I love this article !! Great job Syko !! Thanks so much for the feature !! :)

Nov. 27, 2008 at 2:33 p.m. dividivadesign

I agree with Unwaveringfaith This was a really neat article. I wish there was more like them...from more countries around the world!!
As I am from Sweden I have my heart here also. But live now in Caribbean I would also love to read about Artists from the new Caribbean Etsy team

Jan. 25, 2009 at 11:35 a.m. gremillionleather

Wonderful article. Great to see fellow craftswomen from all over the world.

March 18, 2009 at 3:32 a.m. 99Lollipop

very cool, i love the pics and especially the first one

May 1, 2009 at 10:42 a.m. wearteresajane

What a delightful insite into the lives of the crafters, make me feel like I know them personally.

Oct. 2, 2009 at 3:55 a.m. uricrafts

nice design!

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