photo: Leah Sheely

I have a rough history with the ocean. I have a deep love of all things nautical and oceanic but nature has dealt me a cruel blow.  I suffer from horrible violent seasickness.  It truly would take a pirate knocking me unconscious with his wooden leg to get me to board a boat that is leaving the harbor.  Don’t feel too bad for me though, I am at peace with my affliction for I have found solace in the creation of imaginary nautical adventures. Helping me along my journey are some great items I found for sale on Etsy.

The above sperm whale ceramic sculpture is mounted and framed with specimen nameplate available from lsheely.

photo: Amy Earles

Amy Earles seems to share my obsession with storytelling and imaginary creatures. Her jointed paper dolls are available at her shop wool and water.

photo: Alison Murray Whittington

Alison Murray has titled herself the chief mapmaker for “The Interimaginational Institute for Fantastical Exploration & Cartography”. This hand drawn treasure map on wood is available in her shop Paint and Ink

photo:AmiralSlade

Even better that an imaginary nautical lifestyle is a custom one.  Admiral Slade makes custom 3-d miniature islands.

photo: Daniel Revere

Daniel Revere is a native New Englander who has been collecting driftwood from the beach and drawing on it since he was a child.

Check out his shop for more “Salty Seascapes Original Driftwood Drawings”

photo: Thrush

One of my very favorite things is a ship in a bottle.  Most of the ones I see for sale are vintage like the photo above, available at Thrush.

I’m a big lover of vintage but I’m hoping for a resurgence of ship in bottle making.   Boys Life Magazine has a nice tutorial if you’d like to get started on your own.