Etsy Fave! Animal Jewelry that Starts with a Doodle

Let's be honest, doodling on a notebook during the snoozefest that was math class was a heck of a lot more interesting than our jobs now. And all those teachers who said that doodling was a waste time should bite their tongues -- at least those of jewelry designer Mark Poulin.

Poulin has been designing adorable silver and enamel animal jewelry for almost 10 years and it all started with a pencil and paper.

"I'm a total sketcher, I just love to draw and I love cartoons and I love making little cute things," he tells PEOPLEPets.com.

Beginning with a block of wax, Poulin carves it into the perfect animal shape (octopuses! monkeys! owls!) and makes a mold for casting it in silver. Every January, he churns out new designs with the help of a small staff -- and lots of sketchbooks for inspiration!

Poulin's favorite piece is the understated silver hedgehog necklace ($46) but he admits "color [enamel] is what I'm into right now." Made using a screen-printing process, who can resist a colorful necklace featuring a precious kitty cartoon hanging from a clothesline ($60)? No will power here.

Check out Poulins's Etsy shop and get a necklace ($22-$60) or ring ($70) for yourself!

See something on Etsy that you'd like us to profile in this weekly column? Send us an email to editors@peoplepets.com or leave a comment below. Read last week's Etsy Fave, here.

Katie Kauss