Collections, Etsy and Distractions...

As I find myself seated in front of the computer altogether *too much* these days (write, write, write :-), I am a bit like a kid stuck in a classroom daydreaming out the window and passing notes and doodling to pass the time.

I am easily distracted.

Because, I am a last-minute Sally, and was always the girl writing her essays at the last minute.
Indeed, I am an all-over-the -place kind of girl.
(At almost forty, can I still call myself a girl?).

Enter Etsy.

Enter the idea that I will search a single word on Etsy and see what comes up.

Enter the word matryoshka.

Or matriushka (the way I have always spelt it).

What is a matryoshka/matriushka, you might ask?

According to "take their word for it" Wikipedia: A set of matryoshkas consists of a wooden figure which separates, top from bottom, to reveal a smaller figure of the same sort inside, which has, in turn, another figure inside of it, and so on. The number of nested figures is traditionally at least five, but sometimes more.

As a little girl, I wanted a matriushka ever so much. I first saw these Russian nesting dolls on everyone's favourite, Sesame Street, which had a segment using them to help teach youngsters to count. I couldn't believe my eyes. I have always loved little things, and the way these little dolls could climb inside one another, ending with the mama, seemed magical to me.

When I had my daughter, I decided to order a matriushka for her/me and tucked it away in  her closet for the day I could introduce her to its charms. Move after move, the little doll(s) made their way with us, unopened, until this year when she came home from school describing a friend's recent purchase of "little dolls that tuck inside one another."

So, out came my/her matriushka and my obsession was reawakened.

Thank you Etsy.

Or not.

Because now I am pining after this, these and this, and these.

In one of my fits of distraction, I decided to being a collection based on my girlhood quest to own one (which I never did until I bought the one for my daughter). Except, I didn't want a big collection of dolls everywhere. So, for me, the little matriushka collectibles Etsy turned up are perfect for me. I have also rooted out some other ways to satisfy my new collecting bug. Because, you know, I don't want my new collection to be tacky and all-consuming. What's the point of that?

I picked up these key covers at Smeeks:

These nesting drinking glasses at Biscuit in Halifax:

and these (measuring cups) at Urban Outfitters.

And if I had a baby, this would definitely find its way to me:

And I love this pillow, found here:

So, I think my collection will stay rather small.

Oh, and if you are thinking that matryoshkas are sometimes also referred to as babushkas, you would be right.

And while we are on the topic, the word babushka always makes me think of this Kate Bush song.

(Loved her, but could never quite hit her notes. Shrieked along anyway. My poor mother!)

An all-round trip down memory lane!

So, has Etsy forced you into a new collection?