Great Gifts From Local Artists on Etsy

Stuck for gift ideas? Look at Etsy, and look to your hometown. A search for “Northbrook” reveals nearly 400 handmade and vintage items for sale by local artists and fashionistas on the popular retail craft website. Above, you’ll find some of our favorite selections. Read all about the crafters below.

KATHRYN WINSTON

Kathryn Alm was a full-time artist for 12 years selling her jewelry at art fairs, stores and Bloomingdale’s trunk shows. Today, she supplements her income a little with a part-time retail job, but her one-of-a-kind jewelry incorporating semi-precious stones, pearls and sterling silver can still be found on Etsy (and at art fairs around the city).

“I truly love to help women feel beautiful by enhancing them with the perfect piece from my collection that brings out the most of their authentic self,” Alm writes in her Etsy profile. 

Buy a Kathryn Winston piece and you’re in good hands, she notes. “I’ve sold to newscasters, Cindy Crawford and the Kennedys.”

STACEY JONES

Stacey Jones creates modern works of blown glass and whimsical paintings made with warm beeswax for two separate Etsy shops—Number9Studio and WhatILike.

For Jones, making art is her “fuel.” She is drawn to the challenge of encaustic painting and is currently taking a portrait class. Her work on Etsy is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the mediums she has explored.

“I’ve worked with fused glass, lampwork, photography and drawing,” Jones writes in her Etsy profile. But, she adds, “These were building blocks to painting, which I am passionate about.”

MOL GALLERY 

Dorota Mol creates statement jewelry with bright colors and modern, abstract portraits using pastels. 

“In my portraits I am trying to depict the inner beauty of the painted person,” Mol says. “I love colors and textures.”

Mol’s jewelry also incorporates lots of colors, with bright blue jasper, red coral, green jade and turquoise among the materials she frequently uses. 

CHIARA 

Chiara has sold her handmade, vintage-inspired dolls on Etsy since December 2010. Her creations came out of her own search for a unique and fashionable doll to give to her daughter.

“I left the crazy world of advertising for the opportunity to raise my children,” she writes in her Etsy profile. “Twelve years later, fueled by espressos, the strong desire to do something other than laundry and a glass of red wine now and then, I find myself compelled to create.”

Her dolls are crafted with handmade dresses using cotton muslin, ribbons, felt and vintage lace and come in tulle bag.