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News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere: September 3, 2009

2009-09-03T12:45:00-05:00

"What do I know of man's destiny? I could tell you more about radishes." — Samuel Beckett

This week's edition of News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere has lustrous hair creations, beautiful bus rolls (my newest and most favorite of lists, with fonts that make my heart go pitter patter), and a textural take on portraiture that makes me ache to be a sculptor.

Read on!

Stylist and photographer Max Attenborough makes every type of house seem warm and comforting (and activates the covetous section of my brain). My big discovery from this? Bus rolls as decorative props. Who needs maps when you can have the written word? (And you can find them on Etsy.) [Via Desire to Inspire]

I think I have a new art crush. You see, I've always had a fascination with the face and its many varied representations in visual art (self portraits, dolls, etc.), and photographer Robyn Cumming has taken that idea and given it a vividly textural treatment. [Via Modish]

Mixed media and sculpture always gets my attention. There's something about the combination of materials and three dimensional scale that invites interaction...and maybe even touch. (I know you're not supposed to, but how can I not when there's hair or fur involved?) These pieces bring to mind Meret Oppenheim's work. Did I mention that the skull at the bottom is actually a sensory deprivation chamber? Can I get on the list for that, please? [Via Les Carnets du Design]

Wanna give me some more artsy, style or design blogs to peruse? Leave them in the comments! And check out past installments of News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere!

Top Modish BizTips for Etsy Sellers

2009-07-16T11:00:00-05:00

We all know that marketing and promotion are vital in order to make your shop a success. However, the constant focus on sales, marketing, photography, etc., can start to take a toll on your psyche. It's easy to get overwhelmed, and often we can work so hard we zap the very spirit that set us into self-employment in the first place. So, my goal today is to remind you that to truly make your shop a success, you need to go easier on yourself, don't get discouraged when you're feeling overwhelmed and above all, to remember that you're not alone. Here are my the top tips I have for Etsy sellers, all from my blog Modish BizTips.

Dealing with Distraction

How can you possibly focus on your Etsy Shop when there's family and pets and laundry and flickr and sunny days to think about too, not to mention your day job? Phew! I'm tired just thinking about it! It's easy to be distracted, but to get your business into gear, you need to get on course. If you're too distracted, pull yourself out of the situation to refocus. Make a list of all your to-do's (a really big one) to get them out of your head and where you can see them. And above all, don't be too hard on yourself when you find productivity is just not in your favor. A day of too much distraction can be your motivation to make tomorrow better.
Read on for more tips on dealing with distraction.

Photo by angrypenguin.

Are you Selling Your Creative Inspiration Away?

Turning one of your favorite creative hobbies into an income source can blur the lines between business and fun. What used to be your artistic escape gets tangled up with marketing, money, deadlines, and the constant feeling of needing to produce. Suddenly, it isn't where you escape to anymore; instead it's the job you wish you could escape from! It helps to keep a creative pursuit: make things just for yourself or friends, keep some of your favorite thrift finds for yourself. Don't always gear towards sell, sell, sell. Remember the passion that brought you to your work in the first place and make sure you don't successfully over-sell yourself into a creative rut. More BizTips here.

Photo by CosmicFirefly.

When you Feel Like You Just Don't Measure Up

As an Etsy seller, it's easy to constantly compare yourself to others, as you are literally surrounded by a hotbed of creativity and talent. The more people you discover and admire, the more you may feel like you just don't quite measure up. But remember what brought you to Etsy — you're creative and talented too, you have something special to offer that no one else can, and you only have yourself to answer to. Work at your own pace. Realize how much you've achieved! Give yourself a moment to feel accomplished and proud of your efforts — you deserve it. And remember, you're worthy of admiration too. More on this topic.

Photo by MadameCupcake.

Dealing with Competition, Resentment and Your Ego

On the flip side to being surrounded by all those other creative people, you may have moments when you feel jealousy or resentment towards others' apparent successes. These are moments when you can't understand why they are getting all the sales and attention, and you're not. That's your ego popping in to say "Hello, what about me?" We don't want to let our egos guide our actions. So, what do you do with ill feelings of competition towards your fellow sellers? How do you quiet the hater voices in your head? You need to stop comparing yourself to others. Realize that you can't control anyone else's actions or the success they may receive. Let things go. Find the joy in what you're doing and try not to let competition and comparison distract you. More words of wisdom on this subject here.

Photo by BigHelmetHead.

Learn to Say No

When you're in business for yourself, it's easy to say yes to any opportunity that might help you get more exposure. Saying yes to opportunity is a good thing. But when you say yes to too many things, you may find yourself in up-all-night and tired-all-day zombie work sessions that can lead to burnout. Whether your Etsy shop is your full-time gig or a way to make some extra income, it's important to find a balance. Weigh what you realistically can and can't get done depending on your other commitments. Don't take on too much at once. Don't feel bad saying no to someone if you need to. It'll make for a happier, healthier and saner you, which can only benefit your business in the long run. More tips for "When to say yes" on Modish BIZTips.

Photo by shesells.

Well, hopefully this post will be a little morale boost to help keep you going even when the going gets tough. You can catch me over at Modish BIZtips for more creative business tips.

Check out the Seller Handbook | Visit the Virtual Labs

Etsy Team Grants: Success!

2008-11-21T13:38:00-05:00

The past few months have been busy with lots of really fantastic Etsy Team events. Here's a wrap up of some of the wonderful Etsy Team Grant projects that have been recently completed, along with the sellers and their items. See here to learn more about Etsy Team Grants, and to learn how to join an Etsy Team, check the Teams Join page.

The Etsy Texas Crafters had a booth at Maker Faire in Austin, Texas, where they presented demos and gave information to Faire attendees. You can read a great blog post on the event with links to their participating members' shops and profiles here. Some of the members who lent a hand to the Team include TimaryArts, who makes crochet and felted items, like this Oatmeal Chubby Nesting Trio (on the left below), and crabappledesign, who incorporates vintage elements into her handmade items, such as this Vintage Paper Doll note card (on the right). Find more items from sellers in the Lone Star State by searching "TeamEtsyTX".

In North Carolina, the Hornet's Nest Team had great success with their "Craft Attack!" show in October. For great photos from this show, you can search "CraftAttack" on Flickr. The Team had beautiful weather, and below are items from a vendor and an organizer of the show. On the left is LazyDogPottery's Robin's Egg Blue Coffee Mug (on the left, below) and from HappyWhosIts, a Hyacynth Whypple - Hippo Hand Puppet - Crochet Amigurumi (at right, below).

EFA, or the Etsy for Animals Team, had a really great idea for celebrating its Etsy-versary. The Team organized a great ad campaign on fantastic shopping blogs, like Modish and Hostess blog. They tracked visitors from those sites by using a coupon code incorporated into the ad designs, so that they could tell how many sales the advertisements generated. You can show your support for this Team, which raises money for animal charities through their shops, by searching "EFA Team". On the left, below, is a set of Owls in Fables - Nesting Owls, by SavageArtworks, and on the right, the Offset Sapphire Ring from AlphabettiSpaghetti.

The Boston Handmade Team had a commanding presence at Boston's SoWa Open Market the weekend of October 16, and it was wonderful! They distributed business cards that were made up for the Team, and everyone loved the cards. They used the promotional cards to chat up Etsy, their shops and why buying handmade is important to everyone. Congratulations on your success at the market, Boston Handmade! Below is a Needle Felted Lobster, from Team member CozyCottageCreations, and a Poppy Princess Vintage Necklace, from Glamourpuss. Find more items from this Team by searching "BostonHandmadeTeam".

Thanks to all the wonderful Team members who make these fantastic events happen! We're looking forward to some exciting Team Grant events in the upcoming months. To find more information on Team Grants and learn how your Team can apply, be sure to check this Team Tip.

Team Grants | Featured Teams | Team Tips

Hip Handmade with Modish: Scarves

2008-05-14T13:28:00-05:00

Awesome style blog Modish has started a new series that really piques our interest: Hip Handmade. This series utilizes the idea of comparison shopping between the "big box" version of hip clothing and accessories and the handmade, Etsy-style version of said products. As Jena from Modish explains,

"Those big box stores are calling your name with cheap deals on hip clothes and accessories, home goodies that you just can't live without, beckoning you to become part of the latest fashion trends of the moment...it can be hard for the indie design world to keep up! But, they do keep up- it's just sometimes a little more difficult to find the hip handmade goods that rival the big box stores' goods in style, but far surpass them in quality, creativity and uniqueness!"

This post does a whole comparison on the lightweight summer scarves you've seen adorning ladies' necks.

All the handmade options came from Etsy! Check out Modish for more Hip Handmade comparison shopping.

News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere: May 1, 2008

2008-05-01T14:56:00-05:00

It's May Day! Gather round ye olde May pole and prepare for dizziness. However, before you adjourn to making your May baskets and leaving them on doorsteps, read on for but a few of the tidbits I came across in my style and inspiration search this week.

Good times!

Rare Bird Finds is an amazing resource for finding all the random cute stuff out on the internet. This week they highlighted this awesome tea cup set by TrixieDelicious, plus so many other great things, I can't even sum it all up! Check it out.

Spot-on fashion blog Vain and Vapid has a post on Vice Magazine's latest fashion issue. It's very astral lady, and I love it! Psychedelic mimes rule.

Dinosaurs and Robots is, hands down, just a great blog. Their mission is to "seek authentic, handy, rarefied, disgusting, illuminating, delicious, mysterious, intoxicating, commonplace, historic, intensely personal, entertaining and enlightened objects, both priceless heirlooms and exquisite trash." This week they highlighted the adorable work of Harry Whittier Frees, the o.g. of so-cute-it-hurts anthropomorphic animal photography from the early 20th century. (He positioned all those animals and waited to take the photos!) Frees, as well as Dinosaurs and Robots, is truly worth investigating.

Modish has a cool collection of mother's day gifts, many from Etsy. Take a look!

Brooklyn artist David Horvitz has totally captivated me. His work is a little bit Learning to Love You More, a little bit quirky wonderful. His "if" series highlights all the different things he will do for a certain amount of money. For instance, "if you give me $1,626 I will go to the small Okinawan island called Taketomi and send you an envelope filled with star-sand (don't worry, I've been there before, I know where to go). I will send it from there." You can also sign up for his mailing list and receive a different photo of the sky for each day of the year. Amazing!

That's all for this week! Check out past News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere posts for more links for your browsing pleasure. Let me know your fave posts in the comments! I'm always looking for my blogs to highlight!

News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere: April 17, 2008

2008-04-17T15:13:00-05:00

This eco-friendly edition of News from the Craft + Style Blogosphere coincides with the Storque's Earth Tones series. There are a lot of amazing things being produced from recycled and upcycled materials, and they're pretty stylish to boot. Enjoy!

Modish loves Etsy seller Bombus' wares, and so do we! She utilizes old maps, comics and other ephemera to make beautiful objects and stationery. I'm glad to see that bloggers are loving eco-friendly stuff! Check out the Bombus lovin' here.

Craft Zine found these beautiful bags made from recycled wool blankets — such an amazing idea, and a surprisingly comfy chic result. I'd want one made from one of those old horse blankets.

Wow. Design*Sponge recently pointed out an amazing interview with Nicholas Jones on The Design Files. Jones takes old books and creates the most delicate, innovative sculptural artworks — they really have to be seen to be believed. Check it out at The Design Files.

Design aesthetic, meet tires. These amazing tubs, made from recycled tires, would be a great display piece, as well as a conversation starter. Tires are so gosh darn versatile! (Via Apartment Therapy New York)

SuperCute (the blog) is pretty — well — super cute! Run by Etsians lorigami, glueandglitter and lizerati, this post is all about recycling fashion magazines that are gathering dust and repurposing them as bubble mailers for your Etsy products. Pretty smart! Check it out.

That's it for this week! Check out past News From the Craft + Style Blogosphere for more bloggy goodness, and leave your favorite eco style blogs in the comments! Make sure to check out our continuing Earth Tones series for more Earth friendly content!

EGCG | Trashion | EcoEtsy | Environmentally Friendly Gift Guides | Earth Tones Series

Recommended Blog: Modish

2007-11-15T09:18:00-05:00

Modish is coming up as next week's Trendspotter, so we thought it would be useful to introduce her blog. She highlights many Etsy shops and focuses on handmade and indie items.

What motivated you to start your blog?
At the time I had a little online jewelry shop of my own and was looking for ways to promote it. I stumbled upon (and eventually became obsessed with!) design blogs like design*sponge, decor8 and OhJoy!, but I couldn't find a comparable blog that was dedicated specifically to indie designers and handmade goods. So, I decided it might be fun to start one myself! I wanted to target online shoppers and design-minded folk who may not be familiar with the wealth of indie goodness out there and show them that handmade goods can be just as hip, fun, and affordable (and far more unique and inspiring!) as the mass produced ones that are shucked at all the coveted big box and chain stores.

What do you like to post about?
All handmade goods, baby! I like to focus on the things that are made by their maker, the things that aren't "produced" but created, the things that come from finding hours between school/work/life to be with yourself and be creative.

Any tips to others hoping to start a blog?
Just do it! Sign up, start up, write your first post and tell people about it. If you have other people reading it, it will motivate you to keep going. Make time for it! Try to post at least a few times a week if not everyday. Focus on a theme of some sort, whether it's your own life, your creative process, things you find that you think are pretty, and make it your own. Don't copy anyone else. Find a niche that hasn't been explored yet and run with it!

What's the one place you'd like to visit and why?
Japan! For the zakka and the kitschy cuteness! The fast pace, the fashion, the art! The bikes and the Buddhism! My boyfriend and I are both dying to visit someday.