Storque articles by Contests

Call for Entries: 1000 Handmade Greeting Cards

2007-12-14T11:04:00-05:00

Are you a greeting card maker? Feel like your cards really pop?

If so, you should enter your wares as an entry for the 1000 Handmade Cards book project by Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books. The publishers are seeking beautiful examples of handmade greeting cards, and you could be included in the published work!

Cards eligible must be:

■ Watercolors, acrylics or any painted media
■ Block prints, silkscreens, or stamped cards
■ Drawing and calligraphy
■ Paper art and scrapbooking techniques
■ Photography
■ Hand-sewn or hand-stitched cards
■ Collage and mixed media, anything
from paper, plastic, and fabric to
natural and found objects
■ The sky’s the limit as long as it’s handmade!

For more information, go here!

Update: The deadline is March 15, 2008, but it is advised to submit your work sooner rather than later, as categories fill up quickly.

Wanna talk about it? Go to the associated Forum Thread!

Costume-a-thon!

2007-10-02T09:40:00-05:00

Oh yes, my crafty ghosts and goblins, we’re holding the ultimate handmade costume contest, and awarding eighteen winners with over $2,000 worth of goods and prizes. Three winners will be selected in each of the following six categories: Pet, Kid & Baby, T-Shirt Costume, Sci-Fi, Green, and General Awesomeness!

Judges from Treehugger.com, Boingboing.net, Craftzine.com, Makezine.com, Babble.com, Threadless.com, and Tcritic.com are helping us pick the winners and donating cool prizes.

The Rules:
To enter make a handmade costume and put it for sale in your Etsy shop no later than 11:59 EDT, October 26, 2007.

All entries must be tagged 'costumecon'.
All entries must comply with Etsy's Terms of Use, Dos and Don'ts and other Site Policies.
Entrants must specify which categories they want their items to be submitted by stating so in their item description. All entries will be considered for the general awesomeness category.
Each Etsy seller may have up to three entries in each category, but may submit the same item into as many categories as they think apply.
Contest is open to U.S. residents only, due to dumb laws that we hate.
No purchase necessary. You can also send us your photos and a written description (See legalities).

Categories:

Green:

Enter your sustainable, upcycled, and eco-friendly costumes! The gracious folks from Treehugger.com will be helping us judge, so get your solar-powered thinking caps on! Treehugger will also be featuring entries periodically on their website! Entries will be judged based on quality of craftsmanship, originality, and eco-bility.

Judges: Etsy and Treehugger.com (Your one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information.)

1st Place: $150 Etsy shopping spree and a $100 donation, in your name, to Conservation International.

2nd Place: A big bag of limited edition Etsy goodies: T-shirt, poster, postcards, stickers, lip balm, buttons, and a tote bag.

3rd Place: A Limited Edition Etsy Totebag.

Pet:

Dress up your hedgehogs, turtles, pups, and kittens. Entries will be judged based on best animal usage, quality of craftsmanship, and originality.

Judges: Etsy & Natalie Zee Drieu from Craftzine.com, the first project-based magazine dedicated to the renaissance that is occurring within the world of crafts.

1st Place: $150 Etsy shopping spree and The First Year of Craft (vol. 1 - 4), courtesy of the good people over at Craft!

2nd Place: A big bag of limited edition Etsy goodies: T-shirt, poster, postcards, stickers, lip balm, buttons, and a tote bag!

3rd Place: A limited edition etsy totebag.

Kid & Baby:

Get those tumbling toddlers and chubby little baby legs into a handmade costume and enter to win! Entrants will be judged on their creativity, craftsmanship, and overall adorability.

Judges: Etsy & Babble.com, the magazine and community for a new generation of parents.

1st Place: $150 Etsy shopping spree and a feature in Babble.com's Droolicious blog for must have baby products!

2nd Place: A big bag of limited edition Etsy goodies: T-shirt, poster, postcards, stickers, lip balm, buttons, and a tote bag.

3rd Place: A limited edition etsy totebag.

T-Shirt:

Reconstruct, print and/or embellish a new or old t-shirt into a costume and enter it to win great prizes from Etsy, Threadless.com, and T -critic.com. Tees will be judged on craftsmanship and creativity.

Judges: Etsy, Threadless.com and Tcritic.com.

1st Place: $150 Etsy shopping spree and $150 Threadless bucks and a feature on Tcritic.com, the best t-shirt blog on the web!

2nd Place: A big bag of limited edition Etsy goodies: T-shirt, poster, postcards, stickers, lip balm, buttons, and a tote bag, $100 Threadless bucks and a feature on Tcritic.com.

3rd Place: A limited edition etsy totebag, $50 Threadless bucks, and a feature on Tcritic.com.

Sci-fi:

Alright, Sci-fi fans this one's for you! Put down those soft-core Star Trek pics, and start dorking out on your handmade Halloween costume. Makezine.com is one of our judges so you may want to include some special effects — I'm sure that will get you bonus points. Entries will be judged on originality, science-fictitiousness, and craftsmanship.

Judges: Etsy and the lovely Phil from Makezine.com.

1st Place: $150 Etsy shopping spree and Make volume 1 and volume 2 (over $100 value!)

2nd Place: A big bag of limited edition Etsy goodies: T-shirt, poster, postcards, stickers, lip balm, buttons, and a tote bag.

3rd Place: A limited edition etsy totebag.

General Awesomeness:

Sky’s the limit here. Make whatever costume you wish, just make sure it’s awesome. Entries will be judged on imagination, creativity, awesomeness, and craftsmanship.

Judges: Etsy and BoingBoing.net, ranked second popular blog in the world!

1st Place: $150 Etsy shopping spree and a surprise grab bag of handmade goods from Etsy sellers, courtesy of BoingBoing.net.

2nd Place: A big bag of limited edition Etsy goodies: T-shirt, poster, postcards, stickers, lip balm, buttons, and a tote bag.

3rd Place: A limited edition etsy totebag.

FAQ:

Q: What's the deadline?
A: 11:59 EDT, October 26, 2007.

Q: How do I tag my Etsy listing "costumecon"?
A: Use the first tag to determine which of the main categories your item fits in. Use the second and third tags to choose subcategories. The rest of the tags are descriptive. One of these should be your "costumecon" tag.

Q: What if my Etsy listing sells?
A: Even if the item sells, the judges will have a way to find your item, thanks to our brilliant engineers.

Q: Are non-US residents allowed to enter?
A: No, sorry! See the dumb fine print below. But know you aren't alone! Check out this thread!

Q: How many pieces can I submit?
A: Up to three per category (for a total of 18 tagged "costumecon").

Q: Can I enter one costume in more than one category?
A: Yes! Just remember to note this in your item description.

Q: Do I have to submit a full costume or can I submit an accessory?
A: You can submit an accessory — just make it amazing!

Q: How does the shopping spree work?
A: You will be given a $150 spending limit to pick from the Etsy shops of your choice! Etsy will also cover the shipping fees as stated in the item description.

By entering this contest I agree to the terms and conditions expressed here.

PlushTeam Scramble Hunt Contest!

2007-10-01T12:13:00-05:00

The Etsy PlushTeam has put together a fantastic contest for this first week in October — it's a scavenger hunt / word scramble, and it sounds very, very fun. The game is very easy: 14 PlushTeam members have hidden a version of their logo, PT Stitchy into their shops. Each logo has a different letter. Once you have found all 14 images you must rearrange them to form a phrase.

The prize consist of over $200 worth of plush love from some very talented PlushTeam members, and a thanks to the following team members for donating plush goods to the game: absolutelysmall, pattihaskins, DekvengaDelights, moogancreations, Zeldaloo.

The contest rules are simple.
1. You must have an Etsy account, or sign up for one on the website http://www.etsy.com.
2. Search the participating shops listed below to find PT Sticthy. Each shop has one PT Stitchy hidden somewhere. When you find one write down the letter, then move on to the next shop, then so on and so on.
3. When you’ve found all 14 letters, rearrange them to form a phrase send a convo to moogancreations, with your answer.
4. All correct answers will be placed into a raffle, with the winner chosen at random from all the correct entries.
5. The contest would start on Monday October 1 and last one week, ends on October 8 at midnight. The winner will be announced on October 10 on the team blog, www.plushteam.com and contacted directly.
6. As much as I know we all want to win the bounty for ourselves, PlushTeam members and their families are inelligable from participating.

Participating Etsy shops:
absolutelysmall, pattihaskins, DekvengaDelights, moogancreations, Zeldaloo, KasellKreations, dkoss2, LaurenSmash, nervousonion, moonscreations, ChristinaWard, slcstudio, susarto, Zzbeadz.

Enjoy playing and good luck!

Sew Useful Contest: Interviews with the Winners & OLPC

2007-09-26T08:35:00-05:00

This past summer, Etsy and Instructables held the Sew Useful Contest. It was a pretty intensive process to enter: contestants had to list a useful handmade item on Etsy and create an accompanying how-to on Instructables. The main thrust of the contest was to put your creativity and know-how forward for the greater good.

Etsy and Instructables also worked with OLPC (One Laptop per Child) to donate proceeds and how-tos. OLPC gives $100 laptops to children in developing countries and we had the chance to interview Lauren Klein who works for OLPC to collect education content for the machines. (Burdastyle is in the interview too, talking about an open-source sewing pattern for laptop cases!)

Following the Sew Useful Contest, Alison and I got in touch with the winners and interviewed them over the phone. What follows here are the stories behind their entries.

Turns out John, aka BlondietheBlond, entered the contest to impress a girl. Unfortunately it didn't work, but his Rain or Shine Solar Charger sure does! Listen:

La, aka caballera speaks about her motivation for sharing creative process behind the Fire skirt: bringing a little beauty into the world "Everyone should have a glow outfit." She actually got a marriage proposal from all the exposure she got from the contest. She politely declined. Listen:

Kerri, aka kerri9494, talks about her drive to make everyday, useful objects for her son. The Hearing aid drying pouch came out of his needs at summer swim camp. Listen:

donovanbeeson explains her compulsive paper-hoarding and her inspiration for the Envelope book. Listen:

Elli, abitabite links her motivation for making the Plushie Personal Boom-box / Goodnight Pillow back to when she was a kid. Her mother had to separate abitabite and the many foster kids they had growing up into two rooms: one for those who liked music while they fell asleep, and one for those who needed quiet. Listen:

Julia of pauljuliadesigns speaks about her drive to help elderly and share her Walker Bag designs with the world. Listen:

We also interviewed Darren of djlz about his Emergency Recordable Bag, which he decided to make after watching the confusion after Katrina. Many people lost their prescriptions, important phone numbers, etc, and the recording device would allow people (especially people who cannot write) to audio record a few quick messages as they weather a storm or disaster. The design ranked high in the voting. Listen:

We were also big fans of rabbitears27's Print Faux-co, her take on the Gocco printer, and wanted to find out how she figured out her design. Listen:

Big congrats again to the winners! We hope you are enjoying your sewing machines.

And congrats to my sister-in-law Kim, aka vanfan, whose entry ranked up at the top but was removed from the running for being a relation. She sold one of her Insulin Pump Garter Belts which are sew useful for diabetics! Oh, and she had a healthy baby girl, my new niece Ramona!

See the original announcement of the Sew Useful Contest winners. You can see all the entries still listed by searching with the tag sewuseful.

Eco Etsy Team Announces the Tree Huggin Photo Contest

2007-09-25T10:15:00-05:00

A new Street Team is on the rise called Eco Etsy. The team concentrates on reducing, reusing and recycling. Members of the team work together to practice good environmental habits by way of recycled packaging, literature and other materials and raising awareness in their craft and personal lives as well.

"We strive everyday to raise awareness about the health of our planet. We like to share tips and information with each other about what we can do each day to reduce waste," says the Street team's leader, Tara , from Project Felt.

The team recently announced its first contest open to ALL Etsy sellers called the Tree Huggin Photo Contest. Participants will photograph themselves hugging a tree. The goal is to use our creative minds to raise awareness about the severity of our earth's severe health condition. We can never take for granted the supply and demand when it comes to all things made from trees. It's time to take a few minutes out of our day, hug a tree and tell that tree how much you appreciate its existence. All photographs will be uploaded to the Eco Etsy Flickr group page created specifically for this contest. Everyone will be able to view all the photography submitted. The Contest began on September 17 th and runs till October 7th at 12 am EST.

All entries will be judged by three Eco Etsy members, Kateseyeview, Walkonthemoon, Julesmaeclothing . What will the winner receive, you ask? A surprise gift box filled with handmade goodies donated by the Eco Team members. A feature on the team's blog and a feature on the Eco monthly newsletter created by the team leader, Tara. This contest is a great way to for all of us to put down the needles and glue and get outside to do something fun and creative.

To learn more details about the contest , photo suggestions, and for entry requirements, please refer to the Team Blog. If you are a seller who makes a conscious effort to reduce waste and likes to recycle, you may want to consider joining the team. We have monthly chats and newsletters were the members get to offer coupons, get tips and facts about the environment, discuss promotions and learn more about each other. Promos swaps, monthly challenges, and other activities are in the works for the team. Please contact Tara if you would like to be a member of this exciting up and coming team.

You can also find all the doings and such of Eco Etsy on their Myspace Page.

Ich Liebe Etsy

2007-09-25T08:15:00-05:00

So I did a little contest on the Etsy Myspace. I asked people:
1. what does ich liebe etsy mean?
2. what is the storque?
3. why do you love etsy?

I sent out a few tees to the first few entrees!

1: I LOVE ETSY
2: The Storque brings great stories to us!
3: Etsy is my world!

*

1. I LOVE etsy!
2. An "e-zine"
3. I Love etsy because its specifically for art, you can buy, you can sell from people all over the earth, i love the geolocator, i love the search by color thing, i love that you list peoples birthdays on their seller pages! There are so many reasons why etsy ROCKS!!! ... but I gotta keep it quick cause I want an etsy shirt! lol :D

*

1. means "I love..."
2. the storque is etsy new and AWESOME e-zine, which also replaces the older etsy blog.
3. I love etsy because...I love it sooo much. I can find handmade stuff and sell my handmade stuff and meet new people and learn about many things! Etsy expands my universe!!!

*

I hope I'm not too late :)
1. Means 'I love Etsy' (and that I do!)
2.The Storque is Etsy's newsletter (I ahte that word, for some reason)...
3.Why do I love Etsy, let me count the ways! I can continue to stay home with my little hippy child while making money to buy toilet paper, coffee, and gas. I can tell people that I sew for a living. I now have yet another reason to bond with my ol' Granny (she's great for sewing advice!). My parents are starting to think I might grow into a semi-responsible adult one day. And, because you wished me happy birthday yesterday (granted, it was totally automated but damn, who cares?!)!

*

1. What does ich liebe etsy mean?
I love etsy!

2. What is the Storque?
News, blog, community info

3. Why do you love Etsy?
Because I've made so many friends there! and what a wonderful place to display your art -- for everyone!

*

1. I Love ETSY
2. The Storque is a rad online kinda magazine or newpaper on the ETSY site with stories,reviews & stuff.
3. I Love ETSY because it brings together this cool DIY community, and I can always find these cool one of a kind things that none of my friends have. And the ETSY labs was one of the coolest places I've ever seen.

*

1. "I love ETSY" in German
2. The Storque is ETSY's nifty blog with all kinds of crafty info and links.
3. I love ETSY because everything is handmade, original, and not produced by some multinational shadey corporation. It also gives me so much crafty inspiration my head may explode.

*

I love Etsy!
THe storque is the new improved admin blog and general newsletterish, etc space on etsy, including featured items and a showcase
I love etsy for the community it brings together, for eliminating the middle man, and the general attitude-- it truely is a community, not a service. I love it

*

1: I love Etsy!
2: The Storque is the new way to keep Etsians up to date with the latest Etsy news...love it!
3: Etsy is a great way for a shy person like me to sell my handmade art and there are so many other creative people around to learn from!

I'm sure I'm not one of the first 3 but I just wanted to answer anyway! Thanks!!

*

1 I love etsy!
2 etsy's new blog!
3 for single handedly making people aware of the hand made revolution!

Yay for Etsy!

*

1.) I Love Etsy
2.) The storque is the place to go to for all the crafty info. It's sort of like an etsy newspaper, showcasing items for sales, crafting events, how tos and news stories all about the crafting world.
3.) I love Etsy because everything for sale is one of a kind, obviously made by passionate people and very creative. I love being able to support fellow crafters and connect with energetic people from all over.

*

I LOVE ETSY

Etsy's very own editorial presence on the interwebz0rz

I love Etsy because I love Chris and Haim.

Etsy Mud Team's September Teapot Challenge: Pour Me Some Tea

2007-09-24T19:14:00-05:00

September 23-30, vote for your favorite teapot from Etsy Mud Team members at votigo.com. Contest details and links will be posted on the EMT blog on September 23rd, http://etsymudteam.blogspot.com. The winning potter will take home a fabulous teapot donated by PhenixPottery. Voters will be entered in a drawing to win magnet sets created by various Etsy Mud Team members.

The participating Etsy shops are almapottery, antb, dbabcock, seaurchin, EarthElements, intothefire, ginpins, averly, JudyBFreeman, khphillips, PhenixPottery, trpottery, montezumamudd, dgordan, vesselsandwares, lurearts, chARiTyelise, nkpdesigns, jeffmartin, JDWolfePottery, CeramicaBotanica, and MAKUstudio. Many of the teapots can be previewed on Flickr at the Etsy Mud Team’s group page, http://www.flickr.com/groups/etsymudteam/.

The Etsy Mud Team is a multinational group of potters are ceramic artists working together to bring more attention to the amazing ceramics on Etsy. The EMT members help each other with firing problems, mentor each other, share techniques and glaze recipes, and challenge each other to work outside their comfort zones.

If you are a potter or ceramic artist selling work on Etsy and would like to become a member of this fun-loving group, please contact montezumamudd and drop in on the Etsy Mud Team thread in the Etsy Teams forum.

The poster features teapots made by:

ginpins, CeramicaBotanica, seaurchin, dgordan, PhenixPottery, trpottery, antb, khphillips, EarthElements, JudyBFreeman, vesselsandwares, averly

The teapots on the poster are not necessarily the teapots the artists will choose for the contest.

October at Etsy. It's Going to be One Crazy Month.

2007-09-24T15:42:00-05:00

Get your costumes ready. Start mixing up that fake blood and thinking about pumpkins and candy corn! We have a fun and frightening filled month for you! Each week will have a theme and we're holding contests, featuring spooky sellers and writing delicious articles around that theme. So what are they? Here we go!

Oct 1 - 7 will be:

Oct 8 - 14 will be:

October 15 - 21 will be:

Oct 22 - 30 will be:

Stay tuned for details about the events, contests, features and more on October 1st! In the meantime I would suggest working on costumes ideas for you and your cute little babies and pets!

We Need Your Vote!: "Typography"-themed California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE) Contest

2007-09-07T08:47:00-05:00

Etysians! The CCCOE needs you vote today! A voter will be picked at random to win this pair of stately earrings. No, they don't have anything to do with typography, but they're real pretty and we didn't want to swaaaay any votes by posting one of the enties. So get out your vote on the forum thread before they tally em up Saturday at midnight! (Um, can admin vote?)

"The entries on the subject of 'Typography' are in! We need your vote on the best one! The California Crafters Club of Etsy (CCCOE) challenged its members in August and here are the entries:

View them all together at http://sandysimone.blogspot.com or http://luchicreations.blogspot.com or go through the list below for more detail.

Then return to the forum thread to vote! Remember * chat as you may* but vote only once!
---------------------------------------------------
One lucky voter will receive a gemstone pair of earrings from the shop of http://www.sandysimone.etsy.com and the winner can choose either sterling or 14k GF and whichever gemstone they want from the list. This is up to an $18 value! Looky here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6721902
---------------------------------------------------
Voting ends Saturday September 8 at midnight. Check Sunday in the forums for the winning entry and the lucky voter!

#1 Philosophy Bangle Bracelets, Set of 3 …by prettycheap
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6739923

#2 I love Etsy Box …by luchi
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6939910

#4 Charred Manuscript Mixed Media Collage Reproduction …by sarahwinklerart
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=589897

#5 Wardrobe Revamp …by sarahwinklerart
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6564701

#6 All Purpose Greeting Card …by paperandwords
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6903230

#7 Words of Wisdom from Hunter S. Thompson …by peggradyart
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6905426

#8 Love Words Sterling Silver and Tourmaline Necklace …by SandySimone
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6879762

#9 Encouragement Card – Thomas Edison Quote …by paperandwords
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6901497

#10 Congratulations Peace Crane …by localcolorist
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6876216

#11 Disappearing Bird Original Collage …by sarahwinklerart
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6695823

#12 Just Type Original Collage …by sarahwinklerart
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6705788

#13 Surly Eye Test Necklace …by surly
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6759279

#14 Casa …by peggradyart
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6813582

#15 Ransom Invites …by prettycheap
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6896362

Yikes! Yes, please check out ElenaMary's entry!
#16 http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5698979

Etsy Contest: Interviews with Upcycling Winners

2007-09-03T16:00:00-05:00

The Upcycling contest revealed Etsy to be a place where people can go full throttle into new creative territory. We had over a thousand entries! It quickly became clear that we had to raise the bar with our judging process, so we started poring through the items in search of something truly remarkable.

The winners spoke to us on many levels. Of course, there's the environmentally-friendly aspect of upcycling, but we were also looking for a unique vision and a creative process that would tell a story and have a social impact.

1st Place: JackRabbit

The first place winner, JackRabbit's "Wiener Bench," caught our eye because of its striking design. Christine Domanic (aka JackRabbit) posted a description detailing her creative efforts that was both hilarious (picking through the Philly trash for bits of furniture) and socially collaborative (posting a call for dumpster-bound sweaters on Craigslist). The Wiener Bench took materials headed for the trash and transforms them into something completely unexpected — a strange cross between furniture and art installation that emerged from interactions with strangers and their discarded waste. After she finished the piece, Christine got in touch with the sweater donors to show them the full-circle metamorphosis of their redyed yarn into 369 pink wieners.

The Wiener Bench is truly an amusing curiosity. It wasn't until we spoke with Christine that we got the full picture. The inquiring minds here at Etsy HQ had to ask the question everyone was wondering: "Are the 369 wieners REALLY, as your tagline reads, 'rock hard?'" ...To which she replied, "No, they're soft to sit on, and the bench is really comfortable!" So form and function can coincide!

As a student at the Philadelphia University of the Arts, Christine's work utilizes a "childlike sense of humor" to play with the status quo. Christine reveals the ridiculous in our culture's day-to-day acceptance of sexual exploitation and violence by means of a Third Wave Feminist twist. As Chrstine put it, "I like to take a taboo topic and bring it out in the open in a fun kind of way in order to get people talking about issues that really shouldn’t be any big deal to discuss at all."

Inspired by the crassness of back-of-the-newpaper sex worker ads, Christine "advertised" her Wiener Bench around school, posting strange and vaguely illicit flyers around campus. "Everyone is curious about sex and what goes on in those ads in the back of the city’s papers. Would my ads pique people’s curiosity enough to check out my work, and once they saw it, how would it meet their expectations?"

However, the school's interest was not adequately piqued, so to say. "I was postering for the Wiener Bench really obnoxiously. The school kept taking them down!"

If the campus powers-that-be weren't amused, Etsians have been laughing up a storm. "Making people laugh" was Christine's intention in the first place, but sometimes it's an unsettled laughter. Her other work includes a series of crocheted coffee mugs with the faces of sexual predators living in her city and handguns coated with hand-woven, brightly colored fabrics. Like the jackalope emblem Christine uses, her work is simultaneously lighthearted and disturbing.

Making people laugh and reminding them of the absurdity of modern life is a great way to use Etsy as a source of social commentary. Christine used to operate a brick and mortar store in Pittsburgh before returning to school to finish her degree in crafts (focusing on fibers and mixed media). The shop doubled as a gallery on Fridays, providing a convenient forum to sell her handmade items. However, since going back to a university setting, Christine has forged a community in school and on Etsy, where there's "an open critique." Since it took Christine 6-8 hours a day for a month to make the Wiener Bench, much of the advice she got from other Etsians centered on how to make more benches efficiently. However, Christine isn't interested in making more of the famous Wiener Bench — she simply wants to keep trying out new ideas. At the Bazaar Bizarre, she brought her show-stopper: a crocheted Atari Pitfall system.

2nd Place: Thimblescratch

Thimblescratch's Technofabulous PLASTICOAT TRASHION won second place in the Upcycling contest. We immediately coveted her jacket.

Tammy Lyons, aka Thimblescratch, discovered a new and revolutionary technique when she heat-fused the trash bags onto an old white blanket ("cigarette burns and all!"). The heat melted the plastic giving it a cool, semi-translucent watercolor effect.

At the time, Tammy was working as a SysAdmin, and pined about juggling a day job and sewing clothing, "you have to save up a bunch of money so can make the junk!" But she has since quit her dayjob to work fulltime on her designs.

Based out of Columbus, IN, Tammy designs and sews all handmade clothing, often with recycled materials and repurposed garments. She describes her living room/workspace as "totally trashed" during her preparation and production for the Upcycling contest. Tammy's coworkers were willing helpers for her Upcycling project, donating their trash for weeks as material for her undertaking. Tammy's home quickly filled up with what some might regard as garbage — but her cats enjoyed as their personal playground.

While having such lively cats is great companionship, Tammy sometimes feels alone in her area because she doesn't "know anybody around here who sews." On the other hand, space is relatively cheap and Tammy and a friend dream about "finding an abandoned factory and starting a workshop." For now, Etsy serves as a place where Tammy can seek out like-minded individuals. However, she'd also like to get the message out to mainstream America. She auditioned for Project Runway, a reality television show in which fashion designers compete for the chance to start their own clothing lines. She was not chosen [note: we are trying to get her to write a piece for The Storque about the experience!]

Because Tammy couldn't sew faster than she can sell and still find time to prepare for Project Runway, she graciously decided to donate her prize, a free booth at the Bazaar Bizarre, to the third place winner.

3rd Place: dismantled

Mallory, aka dismantled, won third place for her Fema dress. Based in New Orleans, Mallory made her first blue tarp dress for a post-Katrina charity event to raise awareness and funds for American wetlands. She says that a year ago "you would see blue tarps everywhere," which translated into an eye-catching and memorable theme for the fashion show portion of the charity. Mallory's offering was a Gone with the Wind-inspired blue tarp dress, which was auctioned off. One of Mallory's day jobs is working at the Louisiana State Museum in New Orleans, and "ever since the charity show, the curators started asking me to make another blue tarp dress" for an upcoming Katrina exhibit.

The Upcycling contest dress is made from an actual Fema tarp given to Mallory with a bundle of others after the charity show. "At first it took some time to figure out how to sew tarp material," she states. A self-taught seamstress, Mallory usually "just deconstruct[s] stuff. I like it when I can have rough edges."

Mallory pooled resources with the rest of the New Orleans Craft Mafia in order to attend the Bazaar Bizarre in May. "In the past, the members of the New Orleans Craft Mafia have talked about applying for out-of-town shows as a group and sending one or two representatives to set up. They'd bring along selected goods from each of the interested members, as well as their own products, of course."

While talking to some members of the New Orleans Craft Mafia, we came to understand that more than anything — more than money or supplies or equipment — the crafters, makers and artists of New Orleans need to get their message out. In a way, Mallory and the New Orleans Craft Mafia's presence at the Bazaar Bizarre could be "a mini-boutique bringing NOLA art to these out-of-town events ... We've been talking about how to get the word out about the NOCM to people in other areas, and this could be a good way to do it."

As Mallory explained, "a year and a half after Katrina, a lot of people in other parts of the country still have a really skewed vision of what things are like down here, both in NOLA and along the Gulf Coast (I'm originally from Gulfport, MS, which was also hit very hard by Katrina). The thing is, when I hear stories about people in other parts of the country, it seems like most people think either one of two things about the way things are down here now: that either everything is still completely and utterly decimated, in every part of the city and throughout this area, that we're not getting anywhere with rebuilding, etc, or they think that all of the work is over and things are back to normal. The reality is somewhere in between, and the amount of work left to be done really varies greatly from area to area, neighborhood to neighborhood. I think many of us though, myself included, are past the point of wanting or needing charity for charity's sake. Small business loans or grants and the like are fine, but I'm not sure that I want to encourage people just sending supplies as charity handouts and thinking that is all it takes to help this area's recovery (or even just the recovery of the artists in this area). I think most of us have recovered or replaced whatever supplies were lost and were immediately needed during the last year or so. I think now we're at the point where what we really need down here is the economic recovery that will be brought on in large part by the return of more tourism and more people patronizing locally owned businesses."

Honorable Mention: Inklude

We gave an honorable mention to Inklude for their cardboard chair. According to their Etsy shop description, Inklude Studio is a division of Little Friends, Inc. — currently operating as a side project of ColorBurst Screen Printing.

We spoke with April, a manager at Inklude, who explained that the studio provides an outlet for intuitive artists who are developmentally disabled. The artists work at ColorBurst filling orders for clients, and at Inklude, they turn their focus to their own creative projects. The artists collected leaves from outside and designed the pattern in order to screen print the Upholstered Cardboard Chair's white fabric with a green foliage design. The cushions are made from an old table cloth.

(photo from Nomadic Classroom credit: Michael Cataldi)

Rosten Woo, one of our guest judges who voted for the Upholstered Cardboard Chair, remarked, "I like that it's a replicable design." Hopefully, the Upholstered Cardboard Chair will inspire others to give cardboard a shot as a material. Rosten, an educator at the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), works with students to develops programs and exhibits for kids to learn about "places and how they change." One of CUP's projects was the Nomadic Classroom, an innovative project where students from the Academy for Urban Planning to design and construct "components of a classroom that could be assembled, disassembled, and re-assembled to 'house' the students anywhere they wanted to go. The furniture was made entirely of salvaged materials, manipulated with basic tools, and attached with simple mechanical connections."

For another project, "Garbage Problems," CUP worked with New York youth to design and exhibit their research and video documentary — an examination of New York City's waste management system after the closing of Fresh Kills Landfill. Check out the website for more info.

Above all else, the Upcycling contest winners and all of the entrants have inspired the Etsy community — as well as those who helped collect trash, who blogged about their favorite items and read about the contest in other press. As Tammy from Thimblescratch said, "The fact that you can buy non-sweatshop clothing" (and handmade just-about-anything-else, we might add) is the very thing we need "to educate the public about." We just need to let the world know there's a better way.

Further Resources:
CurrentTV piece on trashion

Trashion Street Team