We’ve still got moose on the brain here at our house – my girls are drawing pictures of the moose we saw while we were camping, they’re playing Mama and Baby Moose and so, forgive me, but I’m going to indulge the moose obsession a little more today!

The work of Anneke van Bommel (Touch the Dutch, on Etsy) is beautifully simple, with a sense of humour and nostalgia, especially in the Canadiana series, that spoke to me.

Anneke has been an Etsy Featured seller recently and shared a bit about the inspiration and themes behind her Canadiana series:

These works explore an “idea” of Canada, and allude to the souvenir. The desire to take a “piece” of a place home with us and to somehow authenticate a journey is a shared one. This common need allows us, to relate to one another across vast distances and to share our stories.

The organic shape of the antlers is truly beautiful!

A wee little brooch - love the "rings" swirled in the cut!

The icons featured range from lumberjacks, narwhals, the east coast lobster, wolves and, of course, the ultimate in Canadian symbols: the beaver! I’ll leave you to click through and discover just what, exactly, the “Secret Order of the Beaver Legionnaires Trophy Brooch” might be (other than the best product name EVER!) and show off my favourite of the flat-tailed creatures:

Ah, the beaver. A perfectly adorable little nod to Canadian cliché!

I almost feel like I need to do a separate post for each category in her shop, but for now I’ll share a few of my favourites from the rest of her line and encourage you to visit her shop for yourself!

Thrifted spoons are repurposed into functional works of art! Such unexpected beauty!

A little one-of-a-kind piece of art on your finger!

You can find Touch the Dutch on Etsy and in various galleries and shops. You can also follow along with her creative pursuits on her blog. Enjoy!

Cheers,
~Sarah