Indie Squid Kid

Alison’s octopus cuff, originally uploaded by Cryptonaut.

This is my friend Alison, and she is showing off her sweet double-bar cuff bracelet by ModCloth. POW!

This one is silver, but it is also available in antique gold. Did you know it’s only $15.99? IT IS!!! Buy it from ModCloth

Also available: My Pet Octopus Necklace

My wife makes her Indie Squid Kid debut!

Back in the end of December when I did my Xmas Roundup, I left out one important gift—Ryn’s nautilus necklace!

Ryn loves her nautilus!

You might recognize this necklace if you are familiar with the work of Sheryl Westleigh (aka Noadi) or if you saw my 2009 Holiday Shopping guide. While I was composing that post, Ryn saw the photo of the nautilus pendant and let out an excited SQUEEE! I knew then and there, that I couldn’t let anyone else buy it.

Brown Nautilus by Noadi

Speaking of Noadi’s fabulous cephalopod creations, check out this video showcasing her new line of steampunk-themed jewelery!

Back at the beginning of November, Cephalopod Tea Party held a contest to celebrate reaching 100 followers. To enter the contest, you needed to tell them your favorite cephalopod and why, send them a drawing of a cephalopod, and let them know your favorite CTP post. There were three separate prizes awarded, two twisty tentacle pins and a “pirate and tentacles” mini-print, and, long story short, I WON!!! (Via random selection, I’m pretty sure, but I think my entries were pretty good…) They plan to post the winning entries eventually, so my submission will remain shrouded in mystery for now.

My prize was one of the pins, and I opted for the tie tack option. The pin is made of cold cast bronze and is cast from an original sculpture by CTP contributor Sarah Dungan. If that name sounds familiar, it’s because I featured Sarah’s Industrial Fairytale Etsy shop in last week’s Holiday Shopping Guide.

You can see more of Sarah’s work at sarahdungan.blogspot.com.

Once again we turn our sights on Etsy.com, the nexus of all things creative and crafty on the Internet. A search for “squid jewelry” (for example) currently returns over 400 results, but I’ve isolated three sellers that epitomize the kind of awesome cephalopod jewelry that abounds on Etsy.

Noadi’s Art (www.etsy.com/shop/noadi)

Sheryl Westleigh creates amazing polymer clay and mixed media jewelry and sculptures, and I think she loves cephalopods almost as much as do. (OK, probably more!) Her shop has tons of great items in multiple styles and color variations, so if any of these pieces have sold, I’m sure you will be able to find something every bit as good. Not every thing in Noadi’s shop is cephalopod-related—look for trilobites, horseshoe crabs, and even a festive holiday platypus!

www.noadi.net

Deep Purple Squid necklace ($30)

Brown Nautilus necklace ($30)

Brass Steampunk Octopus necklace ($35)

Cuttlefish Specimen Jar necklace ($30)

Industrial Fairytale (www.etsy.com/shop/industrialfairytale)

Sarah Dungan is an illustrator, animator, and creator of some fabulous steampunk jewelery.

http://industrialfairytale.com

http://sarahdungan.blogspot.com

http://industrialfairytale.blogspot.com

She is also one of the contributors to Cephalopod Tea Party!

A Victorian Octopus ($45)

Cinnabar Octopus and Jade ($35)

The Nautilus and the Deep Blue Sea earrings ($15)

Octopus Me (www.etsy.com/shop/OctopusMe)

If you are looking for something a little more high-end, how about sterling sliver (and sometimes gold) jewelry made from real octopus tentacles? Here are a couple of examples, but there are many, many more in the shop!

Free shipping on all items until Sunday, December 7th.

Size 4-7 Tentacle Ring ($160.00)

Unmatched Octopus Tentacle earrings ($85)