Search results (tags) for: "storque"

Happy Two Year Anniversary, Storque-lings

2009-09-09T17:00:00-05:00

The Storque, Etsy's blog, is turning two-years-old this week. We, the Etsy Admin who fluff the Storque's feathers and keep her flying (Alison, Tara, EricB, our intern MichelleT and myself), celebrated today by munching on a plum torte I baked last night. We're still settling into our new nest; the new Etsy office in DUMBO is still a bit sparse — thus our picnic on the floor of the video editing room. (Yes, it's plum torte, even though it looks like deep-dish pizza in the photo.)

It's crazy to look back and think about all that has happened over the past two years. (Remember the newscasts?) We've published over 5000 posts and have had about 800 people contribute posts. We've honed in on certain series and let others go. But most of all, we want to say thank you to our readers who leave insightful comments or just comments that let us know we delighted you. Thank you to those of you who read our posts and watch our videos and share the links with friends. We now have about 2 million pageviews a month, and that is thanks to you!

There's much in store for the coming year. As we enter our "terrible twos," let us know if you have some advice or words of wisdom in the comments below. What's your favorite Storque post or series? What would you like to see more of or less of?

Find out who else on Etsy has a birthday today.

About Us: Vanessa

2009-07-24T16:00:00-05:00

Vanessa Bertozzi, a.k.a. Etsy blog editrix-in-chief Vanessa, is a beloved figure around these parts. This Massachusetts native is one of the most talented and driven folks I've ever known. While she always strives to get the job done, she simultaneously maintains an ever-optimistic, forward-thinking and friendly demeanor that is truly an inspiration. Vanessa is deeply committed to the Etsy community, their interests and stories, and is truly one of the most giving people I've ever had the pleasure to meet. I'm honored to call her both a co-worker and a friend, and without her, this blog may have been but a sparkle in Etsy's eye! Today's About Us is dedicated to the woman behind the blog. Check out our list of Fun Facts!

Fun Facts:

Vanessa only likes "untainted" chocolate. No peanut butter for this lady! She likes her candy pure.
"This sweet and warm-hearted lady grew up on farm and is a very gentle human being — maybe because of it," says Christina. (Aww!) She adds that Vanessa can make anything look good, especially her grandmother's clothes. (She rocks a metallic skirt!)
Adam says, "She has the most impressive education of any of us." Matt adds, "She went to MIT and starred in a one woman show where she played a single-celled organism." Vanessa graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, and received her master's from MIT with the Comparative Media Studies group.
Her brother is a well known comic artist and illustrator, through whom she met her husband, also a well known comic artist and illustrator.
Her American Gothic Wedding to said artist-cum-ping pong champion was really a sight to behold.
Always a master of transformation, Vanessa "made an awesome Tammy Faye at Halloween — I didn't recognize her," Christina says.
Vanessa is no stranger to costumes and makeup. Anda says, "Vanessa got knocked in the face with a falling hammer right before an Etsy party, so we accentuated her black eye with makeup so she'd look like she was in a bad fight!"

Speaking of looking roughed up: both Adam and Vanessa have lost teeth! Vanessa got a grill in place of her missing canine and rocked it like none before her. As Project Matt puts it, "She has an ICED GRILL."

Vanessa is a talented filmmaker. Her film, Secondhand Pepe (available in her Etsy shop!), has screened at the New York Museum of Modern Art and festivals. She's also appeared in Funny Ha Ha (with fellow Etsy co-worker Justin, of all people!).
Speaking of multifaceted talents, Vanessa worked for the award winning Kitchen Sisters on NPR prior to working at Etsy.
Vanessa is super optimistic and always sees the bright side of things.
Adam adds, "She's got that crazy decorative weapon thing next to her desk (a Ukrainian mallet she acquired on her honeymoon), yet never brandishes it." Beug silently disagrees with part of this statement.
Vanessa did the video and podcasts for Etsy in the early days. Check out this greenscreen gem, showing off the Etsy Labs.

Vanessa has trouble getting out of bed in the mornings, so her husband Mickey gives her coffee in bed. If she doesn't get her morning brew, her curly mass of hair "rises in anger," says Alison. (As Adam states, "Her hair is like an independent organism, especially in summer.")
Matt says "Vanessa's nickname is Loch Ness Monster.'" (Not really!)

Vanessa's formative years were turtle-necked and nerdy!

Check out this chubby cheeked babe! Aww!

Etsy has had quite a growth spurt in the past year, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. We've been posting a series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it! For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

Some favorite shops below...

Do You Love Etsy's Blog? Be Our Summer Intern!

2009-03-30T14:20:00-05:00

Hello faithful readers!

We are desperately seeking Susans! We at the Etsy Blog are looking for a summer intern to work with us May through August here in Brooklyn. We're looking for someone who is very detail-oriented (find the errors on the job page, please!) and creative. Most of all, we want to work with someone who is passionate about Etsy and blogging.

Because we are a small team, you'd have a big impact and be kept pretty busy. If you're interested, please check out the description here and send your resume to this address. (There's a little homework assignment at the bottom of the job description, so make sure to send it along with your resume!)

Unfortunately, we can only take candidates who are in New York or would be located here for the summer. Yeah, we know about the internet and working remotely, but trust us, it'll be a much better experience for the intern (and for us!) if you're able to work face-to-face with our team and with the other Etsy admin.

We are excited to hear from you!

— Vanessa, Alison, Eric, Tara

Etsy Alert: Scheduled Storque Maintenance

2008-11-17T21:00:00-05:00

UPDATE: All done!

We will be taking Etsy's blog, the Storque, down for maintenance on Tuesday, November 18, 2008, from 10:30pm EST until 12:30am Wednesday.

When you return to reading the Storque — as we hope you do obsessively — you'll find pages loading a lot faster. Many of the other changes we're making will likely be invisible to you: optimization fixes and admin panel features. However, you will see neat little widgets to add a post to Facebook or Stumbleupon.

Thank you in advance for waiting through the downtime and let us know if you see any problems when we come back online.

TechUpdates | Join Etsy on Facebook | Opt-in for Etsy Email Lists

Etsy Alert: Scheduled Storque Maintenance

2008-10-05T21:00:00-05:00

On October 7, 2008, Tuesday morning at 1:00am ET, the Storque database will be going down for five minutes of necessary maintenance. This should be just enough time for you to make a cup of tea (or for those of you in Australia, have an afternoon beer), listen to a favorite song, or read a short magazine article.

While this downtime is brief and many of you will likely not notice, we take any kind of downtime seriously and wanted to let you know in advance. We will be posting updates on fix.etsy.com.

Get the latest news about the site from the TechUpdates featured column.

Tech Update: Tweaks to the Storque

2008-09-25T15:27:00-05:00

Dear Readers, (sound of airhorn)

Did the new Storque reach out and bite ya? Have you noticed? We've made some tweaks to the Storque's layout:

The homepage of the Storque now defaults to the "all articles" lay-out. Many of you wanted a more blog-like layout in order to see the most recent posts at a glance. This will give you an overview of the 15 most recent posts (which is roughly two week day's worth of content). You can still use the brightly colored Sections to navigate through the various types of content.
Video embeds now show up right there in the list of articles. We were hearing that it was too hard to find videos, so we hope this helps. We also change the Section title "Multi-Media" to "Videos" to make it more intuitive. (Pssst! Don't forget to subscribe to our Youtube Channel too!)
We added the tagline "Etsy's Handmade Blog" to better communicate what we're doing.
We have a new "Hot Posts" feature on the left side bar.
We gave the Storque Showcase some design treatment to make it stand out as its own thing a bit more.
We adapted the layout of comments to better utilize space.

Change is good!

Let us know what you think in the comments below. We really, REALLY value your input, you lovely readers!

You be the Judge: Vuitton and Darfur

2008-09-09T16:00:00-05:00

This article was originally published on May 6, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

I’ll admit it: as Etsy's in-house attorney, I love reading legal disputes and thinking about what important issues each side should stress. I especially like to analyze pending copyright, trademark, and patent cases. I daydream about what points I would argue if I were the lawyer for each side and then I put on my imaginary judge’s robe and make a decision.

Well, here’s your chance again. If you were the judge, what would you decide on this real-life on-going legal battle? (Remember, this issue hasn't gone to court yet…and it will likely be decided in a Danish — not U.S. — court).

Nadia Plesner is a Danish artist. According to her website, the illustration “Simple Living” was inspired by “the media’s constant cover of completely meaningless things. My thought was: Since doing nothing but wearing designer bags and small ugly dogs is enough to get you on a [magazine] cover, maybe it is worth a try for people who actually deserve and needs attention.” One hundred percent of the profits from the Simple Living t-shirts and posters will be donated to Divest for Darfur.

In February, 2008 an attorney for Louis Vuitton Malletier (“Louis Vuitton”) sent Plesner a letter asking that she discontinue making and selling the Simple Living products. According to Louis Vuitton, the illustration infringes on the company’s intellectual property rights, in particular the Louis Vuitton Monogram Multi-Color Trademark, to which it is confusingly similar.

Plesner responded to the letter, arguing freedom of expression. She said she will continue her Simple Living campaign in order to raise money for the victims of Darfur. Louis Vuitton sued her and according to torrentfreak.com the company demands $7,500 for each day she continues to sell Simple Life products. Plesner found a lawyer to represent her free of charge.

UPDATE: Plesner started a Foundation to use her art to "raise funds and awareness for crisis situations/areas throughout the world, especially where children are victims." Plesner's art no longer makes any references to Louis Vuitton (the bag is gone!) and she writes "[t]hank you so much for all the wonderful support of my first Simple Living campaign and the lawsuit."

Hopefully Plesner's legal issues are a thing of the past. However, had this case gone to a Danish court what would YOU have decided? Was there risk of confusion? What about the fact that Plesner is raising money for charity? In the comments below, you be the judge!

Read Sarah's previous post in the series Apples to Apples and all her Legal Info for Artists pieces.

Team Tip: Success!

2008-09-08T14:53:00-05:00

This article was originally published on April 22, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

How do you measure success of your Etsy Team? Well, if you define success as meeting or achieving your goals, then it looks like your Team should be sure it has clear goals! Each Etsy Team is different. While Teams can be similar — for instance, two Teams formed of sellers working in the same craft or medium, or multiple Teams within the same state or location — all groups of creative people are going to be as unique as each person in the group. Since each Etsy Team is different, it only makes sense that Teams will have any number of different goals.

It's probably safe to say that most people join Etsy Teams ultimately to improve their Etsy experience — this might mean through garnering more sales, improving their skills or their Etsy shop, networking or simply meeting people to share common interests. These are all excellent reasons to join a Team and really great overall goals for Teams to have.

Let's get a little more specific, though, and consider some attainable goals an Etsy Team can pursue. Your Team might strive to have a really useful, well-read blog, like the Eco-Etsy Team's blog, which features different helpful environmentally friendly tips weekly. A Team might decide upon a mission to educate shoppers on the value of handmade, like the EGCG Team's mission to show people that handmade bath and body products are amazing. Perhaps the Team decides that they'd like to participate in local art fairs as a group, as the Plush Team decided to do when they applied to participate in the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this summer. If you're a local Team, maybe you can organize a handful of events, like classes, shows or workshops to engage your real life community in learning about local artists and the value of handmade work.

No matter what your Team's goals are, you should be sure that you've spelled them out clearly and that all Team members are not only aware of the goals, but can participate in helping the Team actively achieve them. Having a mission statement is great, but it's also important to determine how you will achieve it and what that means on a weekly or monthly basis. For example, if your Etsy Team's goal is to support one another, perhaps meet in chat once a month to do a group critique on one aspect of your Team's shops or share links to one anothers' shops on your personal blogs, social networking sites or even give them a shout-out in your Etsy profiles. The possibilities of goals and ways to achieve them are endless!

For more Team Tips, please check the Teams Resource page. Also, we discuss the Team Tips, news and ideas in the Etsy Teams email list! Keep up the great work, Etsy Teams!

Quit Your Day Job: rachelaustin

2008-09-08T13:03:00-05:00

This article was originally published on August 11, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

Rachel of rachelaustin was able to quit her day job after a year and a half of selling on Etsy. She and her husband made the decision together, and not long after, her husband was able to quit his job to help Rachel run her Etsy shop full time. They are now expecting their first baby any day (the due date is TODAY) and have been able to make a living from selling Rachel's paintings. Let's hope her husband is ready to take the reins in the coming weeks and months as the baby arrives! Please help me in congratulating them on their Etsy success, as well as the new addition to the family. Keep reading to find out how they do it and what Rachel wished she'd known when she first took the plunge.

When you first started selling on Etsy did you have dreams or goals of eventually quitting your day job?
No, I actually never thought I would want to do painting as my full source of income. I thought there would be too much pressure and stress to make ends meet and didn't want to lose the happiness I felt painting. My goal was to paint part time in addition to a steady part time job, but things ended up a bit different. Happily different.

How long were you selling on Etsy before taking the plunge into selling full time?
About a year and a half.

What was the deciding factor resulting in your pursuing Etsy as your full time job?
I was working part time in an office and part time painting for about a year. After a while I started selling more and more paintings. Eventually I was working my office job 20 hours, but coming home and putting another 40 hours a week painting and doing all the business things that go along with running your own business. I couldn't keep up — I was getting pretty stressed out and not sleeping very well. I was also making more money painting compared to the income in my 'steady' job. My husband, Jon, and I sat down and decided it was kind of silly for me to not be doing painting full time. And the fears of the unsteady income went away when I was able to devote all my time to painting and growing my business.

Things are going so well that my husband quit his job to come work for me part time last December. This has been such a gift to be able to work with my favorite person! He helps with the shipping, bookkeeping, and marketing, which frees me up to paint more. Sometimes we dress up and go out for breakfast to hold 'business meetings.' We have fun brainstorming ideas for our business and drinking lots of coffee.

I'm now pregnant and having a little girl (due August 11th!) and feel very blessed to be able to work at home and hang out with her.

Did you do anything to prepare ahead of time before taking the plunge?
By the time I committed to painting full time, I pretty much had all that in place. I did start setting aside more time for promoting myself — most everything before that was word of mouth or people finding me.

What are the most effective ways you have promoted and marketed your Etsy business and what's your best marketing tip?
I think being patient when building up the shop/business has been key. I don't think there is any quick way to make a sale (though being in a Treasury on the front page of Etsy usually brings a couple sales!). Some things I regularly do is post and renew items throughout the day to try and reach new people — often between 4-10 times a day. We also advertise on different design blogs like Modish and sfgirlbybay. I have links all over my website and blog to refer people to my Etsy shop. In addition to Etsy, I have shops and galleries that sell my paintings and usually do a solo or group show once a month. Another little marketing tool we've done is to print postcards with my paintings, website and Etsy address shown on the front. I always keep a stack in my purse so when I'm at a coffee shop or traveling I can leave them for people to find. I also try to make lovely packages when I ship and usually include a hand-written note as well as a little freebie (magnets, buttons, etc). We do end up getting a lot of repeat customers, which is so nice to see people return because they like my paintings.

What have you found to be unsuccessful promotion or something that's just not working for your shop?
When I first started on Etsy I thought it would be a place where I could only sell smaller and cheaper work, but soon found that my larger pieces could sell successfully on Etsy — having the variety made my whole shop more appealing, too. I also found it is really important to put on work that I love, instead of just putting on what I think others would buy.

Another promotion that didn't work so well for me was when I bought some spendy print ads and didn't seem to get much of a response. I've found internet ads definitely steer more folks to my Etsy shop and are more affordable.

Would you walk us through what a typical workday might entail being your own boss?

I usually start off with a latte, a homemade muffin and checking my e-mail.
I check my week's to-do list and add any new items for the day.
Some days Jon and I devote exclusively to chopping wood and building the panels I paint on and their frames.
For the map paintings, after the panels are cut, we glue on the maps, then we add a clear gel for the texture. That dries for 2-3 days, then I buff on a thin layer of oil that needs to dry another couple days.
After that, I draw my designs and then, finally I paint!
Most days are spent working on a little of each activity to keep the momentum going.
All day long, I'm checking e-mail and posting or renewing throughout the day.
I try to go to the post office 2-3 times a week, so some mornings or afternoons require a couple hours of framing and packaging.
In the evening, I try to do a blog post, check out other blogs and Etsy Forums and usually work on painting some more.

What do you enjoy most about not having a day job and is there anything you miss?
I like the limitless possibilities of being my own boss and being able to explore new ideas. I love the craft community and love talking with other artists and art-fans. It's definitely an exciting time to be involved in DIY culture. Over the last nine months, while I've been pregnant, it's been awfully nice to rest whenever morning sickness comes or tiredness sweeps in.

I sometimes miss being in a workplace where I was always around people — I turn into a bit of a hermit when left too long with my paintings.

If you could go back in time before you took the plunge, what advice would you give yourself knowing what you know now?
I didn't really understand the importance of marketing. It would have helped to have a good marketing plan in place when I first took the plunge. And I didn't have any smaller items when I started out either, but I now complement my paintings with map pendants, note cards and prints, magnets and mirrors. I think it is important to have different items at lower price points for those who like my paintings but can't afford the originals.

What advice would you give someone else thinking about taking the plunge to sell full time on Etsy?
I wish I would have taken the plunge sooner. If it is a possibility for you, it is worth taking a look at what you need and then working hard to make it happen. I've encouraged lots of folks to start Etsy shops and those that stick with it and stay active tend to be successful. Pay attention to the feedback you're getting from people around you — if that is consistently positive, that's a great sign!

How's it going so far? Are you supporting yourself?
Yes, supporting myself and our growing family. Hooray!

What goals do you wish to accomplish in the coming year for your Etsy business?
I would like to add some new designs and series this year — I actually have one new series (seed paintings) that I plan to post soon. I also want to expand my line of note cards and offer larger sets with better packaging. And I plan to paint more large works this year.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?
Thanks to all the Etsy staff and all my Etsy buyers. The site is wonderful!

Thanks to Rachel for sharing her story and business with us! Check out the related items below to see some of her items. You can find some of our previous Quit Your Day Job posts here.

Earth Tones: Giving It Up

2008-09-06T08:45:00-05:00

This article was originally published on April 18, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

This installment of our eco-friendly indie series Earth Tones brings us Mandy, aka moxiedoll. An example to all of us, she has undertaken an impressive exercise in restraint! She shows us how to live one's life with intention.

I have never been a very self-disciplined person. This personal flaw often leads me to overindulge in habits simply because I can. Last fall, though, I began to feel like some of my favorite things were beginning to consume me. At the same time it seemed like I was hearing more and more stories about people who had chosen to make life-altering changes either to better themselves or to serve some greater cause, or both. And so I began thinking — what if I decided to give up the things that I most enjoyed? What kind of impact would giving stuff up have on my life?

So I began telling people about my plan for 2008: I would give up something different every month to see what it was like to live without the luxuries I have come to take for granted, and in order to hold myself accountable I would blog (giveitup.wordpress.com) about my experience. My friends and family seemed to have mixed feelings towards the whole endeavor, but everyone was ultimately supportive and seemed eager to see if I could pull it off.

It took me a while to come up with twelve things that I felt could benefit me if I gave them up. But eventually I was able to narrow them into three rough categories: Food/Drink (coffee, alcohol, and chocolate); Technology (TV, the internet at home and my car) and Spending Money (I decided to consider buying only goods made in the USA, buying only used goods, not shopping at all, Etsy, no plastic – using only cash and not going out).

On the "Letting Go of my Lattes" phase:

"All of this is compounded by the fact that I am narcoleptic. Many people asked me how I was going to give up coffee, as if its my only means of staying awake. I take medication to keep me awake during the day, so I knew that I could sacrifice coffee and still function. However I have actually had doctors advise me to drink coffee when I need to and now I understand how much it does help me stay awake. It really does carry me through the slumps at work when I am tired and it isn’t time to take my medication."

Since I began in January I haven’t slipped up yet. But I have made some addendums to my original plan. Now at the end of each month, I determine if I think I can go the entire year without whatever I’ve given up that month. I was motivated to do this after I found myself very quickly resorting back to my bad habits of spending hours every day on Etsy.

On Etsy addiction:

"Now I still have 10 days of Etsy abstinence left, but I can pretty confidently say that this day most accurately illustrates the frightening attachment I’ve developed to this web site. There I was in beautiful, sunny Mexico lounging luxuriously next to the pool and all I could think about was how fun it would be to spend some time on the computer perusing my Etsy favorites with Megan? What is wrong with me?"

Like many others I have also been attempting to live a more eco-friendly life this year. And fortunately for me, I’ve found that giving things up has actually helped me do that. Although I’m only a quarter of the way through the year, with every thing I’ve given up I honestly have become more cognizant of what I’m doing on a daily basis and, more specifically, what I’m consuming. Last month I shopped only for items made in the USA, which was incredibly difficult and frustrating.

On Buying American:

"Occasionally I found a 'Made in Uganda' or 'Made in Argentina' tag, but Chinese citizens appear to be making the majority of what I buy. After reading that 'Made in China' stamp for the 100th time, my shopping spirit was sucked dry and I took the only American made item that I found, a pair of blue tights, and sadly went grocery shopping."

But the Buy American month forced me to think before I buy and to begin looking for longer lasting or biodegradable alternatives to things that are predominantly disposable. By doing so I have prepared myself for upcoming months when I might not be able to buy those disposable items that I might actually need, while also doing my part to help the environment.

And so I’ve chosen some great eco-friendly Etsy finds to assist all of you in your personal attempts to help save our planet.

pot scrubbers by starrz85

flatware set by ponyup

Cloth diaper by katnappies

Tee shirt bags by zJayne

Shampoo soap by naiad

Unbleached coffee filters by theScenicRoute

Reusable swiffer cloths by quiltingmama

Reusable snack bags by gnomeclothes

Natural laundry detergent by showertreatsoap

Crayon nubs melted down and reconstituted by ivylanedesigns

When she isn't crafting at moxiedoll, Mandy works as a fiction and audiovisual librarian in Oak Park, Illinois (www.genre-x.com) and consumes mass amounts of media and pop culture. All the clutter left over from her other mass consumptions led her to begin using only recyclable goods whenever possible. Follow her "fasting" at giveitup.wordpress.com.

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

Handmade Weddings: LoucheLab's Love Story

2008-09-05T14:00:00-05:00

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

[music by Barry London]

This article was originally published on March 28, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

If you're following the Handmade Wedding Series, then you probably appreciate a good love story. LoucheLab and her husband Ned have a particularly handmade story of falling in love (well, it's high tech, too). Blogging, artwork, photography, web cams, artist books and international romance all converged to get these two souls together. Below, you'll find LoucheLab's account and photographs, as well as a special video portrait we produced with them (which does have some spicy mature artwork by the artists, so be forewarned if you are watching this with your child — this is an adult love story, after all!).

Ned and I met by accident. (Which is a pretty big accident, considering that we lived about 7,000 miles from one another.) I was living in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Ned was living in the Meat Packing District in New York while packing up his studio to move to Brooklyn. We had both started blogging 9 months before — after painful break-ups. So Ned was surfing random blogs and got into mine, went to my Flickr page and looked at my art and then wrote me an email.

It was basically my art and his words that brought us together.

We spent almost a year apart; then I flew to New York at Christmas to meet him for the first time. Before I came he said, "I want us to make art together while you are here." My art was always very solitary, so I asked, "What do you mean?" and, he said, "I don't know, but we'll figure it out."

And we have: we made graffiti and paintings, and we took a lot of pictures of one another. After I went back to Israel, we kept on talking on webcam all the time; it was on 24 hours a day. He would wait 'til his midnight, which was my 7:00 AM, and we would talk before I would go to work, and I would rush home from the office to see him. It was like living in one apartment with a window into the other room where he was, without being able to touch one another — besides with words and art.

In the course of the months apart, we both created a lot, we expressed our love, the sexual frustration and the emotional roller coaster state with photography and paintings and street art and t-shirt making and computer art and so on. The whole relationship, between his blog and my blog and our Flickr accounts, was very public, and we had people all over the world encouraging us through the difficult times and happy for us, when finally, we made the choice of me moving to New York so we could start a life together offline.

[Me signing our Ktuba (illustrated wedding contract in the Jewish tradition). We wrote the text together and I illustrated it.]

We first decided to get married so I could stay in the United States, but as the preparation started, it became a very small part of it all. Because art was such a big part of our relationship, and because as a part of our relationship we beat all odds and made the rules as we went along, it was really obvious to us that our wedding would also be like that — intimate and important and very art inspired.

[This is me working on the Hupa. It's a big blanket like thing that in Jewish tradition serves as a roof the couple need to get married under. I spray painted about a 100 ravens on it, and my hand was sore for about a week after. The stars in the middle are tattoos we got together when I came to visit New York and met Ned for the first time.]

The theme of the wedding was ravens, because of — well, a lot of things, but also because they mate for life after having a relatively long period of just playing the field. (Below, you'll see me getting my wedding tattoo. I illustrated it.)

It was basically a Rabbi who is a friend and about 20 friends and family members in our studio in Williamsburg. A lot of what we made was a spur of a moment idea that took shape. Ned edited a cool music mix and we thought "this would be a nice give-away," which lead to me spray painting 40 CDs with a cool pattern, and us burning copies 'til 5:00 in the morning.

Our Rabbi told us that although we didn't want rings, we needed to exchange something of value. So we decided to get rings after all, and on the train on the way to the store, we tried to figure out what they would symbolize for us — and what being married means to us. We talked about learning and making mistakes and this being a beginning rather then a happy ending: we got both rings engraved with "Human" on the inside.

The idea of writing and illustrating our own Ktuba actually came from Josh the Rabbi, which I was really grateful about. I wouldn't have thought about it myself. Also, he suggested making some art or writing something to express how we feel about weddings and marriage, which is how the wedding book I made came to be.

We didn't have a DJ or a band or 300 people in fancy dresses or flowers or a white dresses: we had only people that we wanted there (including my sister on webcam from Israel). We had to deal with a lot of feelings and fears beforehand, rather than having too many arrangements to take care of. While the wedding was going I realized I forgot one of the decoration projects I wanted to do, but it didn't matter. After the ceremony, Ned's parents took everyone out to Union Picnic for dinner, which was at the time our favorite restaurant. Even still, we hear from people who were there about how significant and intense the whole event was, and how it's one of the most memorable events they can think of.

[Ned getting his wedding tattoo. He designed it.]

The handmade wedding theme caught on, and we got artwork from three or four artist friends as gifts, and Ned's dad designed and printed a book of the wedding pictures for us which we show off to anyone who wants to know what the wedding was like.

I always hated weddings before. I used to work for a catering service and the way so many wedding are about food or about showing off was really repulsive to me. With the way things went with our wedding, I can say that this was the best wedding ever, which is cool because it was mine!

[Married!]

What an inspiring love story. Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Watch our other Handmade Video Portraits and subscribe to our Youtube Channel!

Wedding Gift Guide | Wedding Category | Wedding Showcase | Handmade Wedding Series

Fresh Shops: LullabyLily

2008-09-04T16:23:00-05:00

Knit creatures make me happy. Lullabylily is a new little shop full of happiness: white winged horses, pink pigs and slugs — oh my! What do we have here? A brand new Etsy fiber artist after my own 12-year-old girl heart! (Yes, my heart stopped evolving at 12. I still really love ponies and sparkles.) I asked Lullabylily a few questions and I think I may have stumbled upon a someone who kinda likes Etsy: What do you think?

Here's a little interview we did with this Fresh Shop.

Can you tell us a little about the people behind LullabyLily?
My name is Flora Kennedy. I’ve been an Advertising Copywriter for donkey’s years. Now I’m thrilling to the knitting of donkey’s ears — how’d that happen?!

I guess like many other people, the leap came from having a child. Suddenly you have a whole other way of looking at the world — including a new appreciation of the detail of life and what you love to do.

I’ve always loved to knit, never valued it — well, it was kinda out-of-fashion for a while. But I still made clothes for family and friends' babies. A dear friend of mine told me the other day that the clothes I knitted for her three children ten years ago were used as clothes for teddies and dolls after they grew out of them. I can’t tell you how that makes my heart soar!

It's such a simple thing and it is the same, if not more so, with knitted (or any handmade) toys. I can’t get over how much my daughter loves the donkeys, pigs and even slugs I've knitted for her. She is, of course, the other person behind Lullaby Lily! My glorious assistant!

I believe children can sense the energy of things and people in a purer way than grown-ups, so perhaps their enjoyment of handmade clothes and toys comes from their sense that this toy was made by a real live person, not a machine, and they have an innate appreciation of that — maybe even a deep need. Who knows?

What inspires you as a creative person?
I think inspiration is an attitude that if you allow yourself to be ‘open’ you will find in everything — and often end up a bit deluged! As a writer I was trained in various techniques that help unblock creativity, such as connecting two utterly disparate things, and after a while these techniques become natural in a subconscious way.

While, yes, I am absolutely inspired by a yarn (particularly in my vestments shop), or a leaf or someone’s laugh, I have been shocked by the massive and powerful injection of inspiration I have received as part of the universe that is Etsy. The people I have connected with are just extraordinary.

I see fearlessness and bravery in the people who sell on Etsy and I am hugely inspired by those who make something that is very much a part of themselves, and then put it out there: artists like freedomRainbow, who is just incredible (and has inspired me so much that I opened ‘vestments’ directly because of her). It is no small thing to share something you have made yourself with the whole world, and I for one get a great deal of inspiration from the feeling of liberation I get from Etsy.

I am also inspired by sales! I love that my toys have made their way to Italy, Australia and the U.S., especially since I have lived in several countries myself.

How do you like Etsy so far? What are your favorite features of the site?
OK — if Etsy was a person they would have my undying devotion and love forever. No, really! I am not the only person I know who would like to live on Etsy Street. I LOVE Etsy — I could write a book about all the wonderment that this (Is it really just a website?! It feels like a whole world!) place offers.

And I say this having not even explored Etsy fully! I am stuck on Convoing, getting lost in a labyrinth of favorites, then last week I began an addiction to the thrill that is securing a Treasury page! My darling friend at beautiful Covetables tells me the Forums are brilliant with the warning that if I go there it could take over my life — but hey, Etsy has already done that, and I haven’t even been to the Forums!

Anything else?
I’d like to say thank you to the genius man who created Etsy. What a visionary! To me he’s like an online Oprah; the way he has helped people ‘use their lives’ and at the same time make the planet a better place in so many intricate and amazing ways. What a legend he is already.

WOW! Flora may love Etsy more than I do! "Online Oprah"?! I love it!

As a nod to the Best Of The Storque week, check out this sweet animation by Etsy's very own JimChesters that features a cute crocheted creature. We originally shared this video with you on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2008.

Looking for more Etsy newbies? Check out our previous Fresh Shops coverage or Pounce on some new shops here!

Handmade Portraits: 1AEON

2008-09-04T14:49:00-05:00

MP4 | Youtube | Blip.tv | Subscribe in iTunes

[music by The Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound, Jukeboxer, The Fucking Champs, The Mystick Krewe of Clearlight]

This article was originally published on May 13, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

Gabe Molnar of 1AEON says his designs often come from his dreams. The fantastical imagery includes lions, dragons, skulls and owls ("since before all the owl hype," as Gabe says). Working non-stop in his small kitchen in Brooklyn, this Hungarian-born artist is driven to be the best at whatever he does and to push the boundaries (maybe this comes in part from growing up under Communism?). But his passion and ambition hasn't made Gabe lose sight of his humble beginnings. We were very inspired to meet the maker behind 1AEON and hear his story.

Watch our other Handmade Video Portraits and make sure to subscribe to our YouTube Channel and Subscribe in iTunes.

If you're interested in all things Hungarian, check out this post on traditional and contemporary Hungarian crafts.

Gocco Printing: A How-To Video

2008-09-03T12:57:00-05:00

This article was originally published on February 12, 2008. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

It's an Etsy How-To Video with the wonderful julieincharge! This week we'll be talking about Gocco printing, which is a way of printing that uses a kit from Japan. If you've ever wanted to do screenprinting but have been too intimidated, Gocco is the way to go. I sat down with Julie and she walked me through how to make a sweet little Valentine card.

MP4 | HD | Youtube | Blip

First things first for your project ...

Supplies Needed for Gocco Printing

If you buy a new PG-5 kit, it should come with all of the following to get you started:

B-6 masters (screens)
Print Gocco Lamp (bulbs)
Riso Gocco ink for paper
Riso Gocco pens OR photocopy images (no larger that 3.5” x 5.5”)
adhesive blocking strips (optional)
2 AA batteries
Gocco cleaner
blue filter (for use with photocopies)

There are many different applications and ideas for Gocco: greeting cards, postcards, business cards, notecards, envelopes, invitations, stationary, napkins, tags, labels, stickers, bookplates, art prints, zines, small books … the list goes on!

Let's Go Gocco

Once you've got your supplies and an idea, the first thing you want to do is make your design. You can do it on the computer or by hand, but you're going to want carbon to be in the ink of whatever you do, so you'll want to photocopy your project or use a special pen. Some laser printers work, too.

Once you've got your design, it's time to make the screen. Make sure there are batteries in your printer and put the screen in with the blue part facing out. Load the flashbulb holder with two flashbulbs. (Make sure to wash your hands when you're done since they are toxic.)

Flash your screen, and you're all set to start printing. Apply the Gocco inks to your screen. If you're going to use more than one color, use the foam blocker that Julie shows in the video to separate the different colors.

Then start printing! I was super impressed by how fast this whole process went! If you have leftover ink on your screen, you can put it in a plastic bag and keep it for later.

Once you've got your cards, get them set up in your Etsy shop. A quick search for Gocco cards will give you an idea of the amazing and wonderful possibilities that await you when you fall down the rabbit hole that is Gocco printing.

I'm also on the lookout for Gocco tips and tricks. The next time you do Gocco printing and notice that you have a special way of doing things that isn't mentioned in the video, write us a note, leave a comment, or make a little video showing your Gocco skills!

Further Resources

Gocco Suppliers:
PrintAddictJapan.etsy.com
alittlegoodness.etsy.com
FeltCafe.etsy.com
pearlpaint.com
Paper-Source.com
think-ink.net (They sell a great handbook called The New Gocco Guide by Claire Russell)

Other Gocco-related Websites:
SaveGocco.com
www.Gocco.com
www.flickr.com/groups/Gocco

If you've got other suppliers or related websites you'd like us to know about, leave a note in the comments. Check out our past Gocco related posts — and items!

The Outsiders: Finding a Way into the Art World

2008-09-02T15:00:00-05:00

This article was originally published on September 26, 2007. We are reviving it as part of the Best of the Storque series. Enjoy!

When it comes to the art world, everyone always seems to be looking for the next big thing. If it isn’t an artist, it’s a concept, a style or a shtick. However, if there is one genre that exists solely to contradict the idea of trendiness, it is the often misunderstood, always intriguing, idea of outsider art.

As far as modes of artwork are concerned, "outsider art” (otherwise known as art brut, visionary, contemporary folk, naïve or intuitive art) has become a phenomenon that forces us to rethink the relationship between mainstream society and who is culturally "accepted" as an artist. Michel Thevoz, curator of the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, defines outsider art as “works produced by people who, for various reasons, have not been culturally indoctrinated or socially conditioned. They are all kinds of dwellers on the fringes of society. Working outside the fine art ‘system’ (schools, galleries, museums and so on), these people have produced, from the depths of their own personalities and for themselves and no one else, works of outstanding originality in concept, subject and techniques. They are works which owe nothing to tradition or fashion.”

Artists typically grouped under the outsider art umbrella are those who exist outside the confines of conventional society, with little to no contact with “high art”: prison inmates, the mentally ill, religious zealots, and the developmentally challenged. These intricate, often compulsive works are typically characterized by a certain “raw” quality: colorful images, recurring idiosyncratic patterns and a childish naïveté usually not present in the works of a “trained” artist.

These works were first documented in 1922 by Dr. Hans Prinzhorn, who collected thousands of works by psychiatric patients (including the incredible Adolf Wolfli) to publish Bildernerei der Geisteskranken (Artistry of the Mentally Ill). According to outsider art journal Raw Vision, struggling French artist Jean Dubuffet was so inspired by the these works that he formed the Compagnie de l'Art Brut in 1948, an organization that “strove to seek out and collect works of extreme individuality and inventiveness by creators who were not only untrained artists but often had little concept of an art gallery or even any other forms of art other than their own.”

Outsider art has since come into the public eye via institutions such as the American Folk Art Museum in New York and the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, showcasing the works of many disenfranchised individuals whose work had long been overlooked, often until after their death. (A prime example being brilliant visionary artist Henry Darger, recently profiled in In the Realms of the Unreal, a documentary of his life and work. An example is shown below.)

However, the idea of outsider art has changed in recent years. Artists that once lived and worked in the relative obscurity of basements and institutions are being brought to light and encouraged to produce via art programs built to foster their work during their lifetimes, such as the Creative Growth facility and National Institute of Art & Disabilities program based in California, as well as Project Onward and Inklude (who have an Etsy store, Inklude.etsy.com) in Chicago.

As a casual art student, I’ve been interested in the eclectic nature of outsider art for a while. When I first read about Art Enables, an arts-and-enterprise program for adults with developmental and/or mental disabilities based in Washington, DC., I decided that I had to visit and see the work that people were producing in the present. The inspiring facility functions as a studio and gallery space to those who are enthusiastic about working toward becoming professional artists. These individuals, affected by an array of disabilities ranging from autism to Down's syndrome to schizophrenia, are encouraged to work in the studio a few days a week to produce work, which is then marketed and featured on the Art Enables website and in their gallery for purchase.

This set-up allows the artists-in-residence to work in the entrepreneurial spirit while cultivating an income from their work during their lifetime. “Artists with disabilities have the same drive, the same ability to create, and the same desire to sell their artwork and earn an income from it as any other artist would. This program was founded on that model – to provide that marketing element so that people could earn money from their artwork, as opposed to just doing it for a recreational activity,” said Jill Scheibler, marketing associate at Art Enables.

Art Enables’ humble beginnings commenced five years ago. As executive director Joyce Muis-Lowery explains, “The program was originally designed as a vocational training program. The arts would be used as an employment training vehicle and people would be prepared for a move off into mainstream employment. [However], no one wanted to leave. They wanted to continue to create art as a permanent part of their lives. We shifted the focus and ultimately redefined ourselves as offering the opportunity for adults with developmental and/or mental disabilities to work toward becoming professional artists.”

Artists tend be referred to the program by other DC area programs, family members or simply by exhibiting the interest and motivation necessary to pursuing their love of art. As Scheibler states, “All of the artists in our program were already creating and working, and they came to us because they wanted a place to commit to their art and create an income from it.”

To the casual observer, the next question that comes to mind is how the Art Enables artists can be considered truly “outsider” if they’re working within the framework of a facility, producing work to market during their lifetime. Scheibler asserts that “[Art Enables] uses the rough heading of 'outsider,' with the caveat that, because people are working in this sort of setting, it doesn’t really fit the definition of outsider art. Traditionally outsider art is defined as working in private, without coming in contact with traditional art modes.”

Director Muis-Lowery was quick to add that “‘Outsider,’ in our case, is probably a more consistently accurate descriptor of the artists themselves than the art. Everyone in the program is in major ways cut off from the mainstream…Also, [it’s important to add that] we don’t teach. We facilitate. The role of staff is to be sure people have access to and are using the correct materials correctly, to help them when they get stuck, to make suggestions or push them out of their comfort zones, but above all, not to intervene in or encroach on the individual way of expressing themselves in images which they brought into the program…What is a constant source of delight and amazement to me is that not a single one of them ever tries to imitate someone else. They are just so wonderfully driven from the inside to make the art the way they make it.”

So just what is it that makes outsider art so interesting, so mysterious, so intriguing to collectors? For many, it’s the back story to the artwork — the fact that each of the artists exists in a unique world seemingly distant from the experiences of the typical audience. As Scheibler explained, “There’s a fascination with sordid stories and artists that are very compulsive…From the gallerists’ perspective, they want that intrigue, that romantic idea applied to artists like Van Gogh with inner demons and cutting off his ears. I think the public is entranced by that. However, there’s a trade-off there: if someone like Van Vogh had been medicated, his art would’ve been much more mainstream, but the quality of his life would have increased.”

Muis-Lowery added that the appeal of outsider art for the contemporary collector is “the biographical element: that so much of [the artwork] is borne of fundamental social, economic or educational deprivation or psychosis. [And] the fact of a lot of it is being legitimately [produced] from the heart rather than the brain.”

Ultimately, outsider art has become increasingly trendy in recent years, for a variety of reasons: the inexpensive nature of the pieces, the excitement and rarity of finding a treasure trove of self-taught work, and the “relatable” quality of the work. Art Enables artists Charles Meissner’s aerial views in watercolor and Paul Lewis’s odes to pop culture icons such as “The Munsters” are big sellers.

As Muis-Lowery put it, “Gallerists are in hot pursuit of new outsider artists because the first ‘discovered’ generation is dead or dying and their well is drying up. I personally think that one is unlikely to find a lot of ‘old school’ outsider artists today in developed countries for the simple reason that we no longer isolate people the way we used to. We have stopped hiding them in the woodshed or the asylums or leaving them to fend for themselves on the farm while everyone else goes off to the fields to work. In that sense we’ve come a long way.”

As of yet, few of the approximately thirty artists that work at Art Enables are self-sufficient. However, many are well on their way, as all of the artists make at least one sale each month, with some making sales of up to $1000 in a single month. There is even talk of certain artists being picked up by galleries. As Muis-Lowery put it, “Everyone makes money, but it isn’t a lot of money — although for about half of them, it’s their only earned income. The point is that they’re making money from their abilities and not by putting in time someplace, or by doing work that is created for people with disabilities of whom little is expected. We expect a lot. This is not a hobby. This is their job and they are wonderfully focused on doing it well.”

Outsider Art Resources
More photos from Alison’s trip to Art Enables
To meet the artists from Art Enables through video and see their work
What is “outsider art”?
What is "visionary art"?

Organizations
Art Enables
NIAD
Project Onward
VSArts
Inklude
Inklude’s Etsy shop
Gateway Arts
Gugging Center
Creative Growth

Museums
American Folk Art Museum
Folk Art Society of America
American Visionary Art Museum

Prominent Outsider Artists of Note
Adolf Wolfli
Howard Finster
Henry Darger
Bill Traylor
Martin Ramirez
William Hawkins

Academic Journals and Written Resources
Raw Vision
“Folk Art Notebook” article
Outsider Art Links
John Maizels, founder of outsider art journal Raw Vision, on raw/outsider art
“On Outsider Art and the Margins of the Mainstream”

Visit The Storque's This Handmade Life section for more inspiring stories, and check out the rest of our Best of the Storque content!

Happy Birthday, Storque!

2008-09-02T12:11:00-05:00

Wow! Can you believe that it's already been a whole year since we welcomed Etsians to The Storque blog?

We've come a long way in the past year: celebrating the aesthetic, talent and lifestyle behind the handmade movement in both video and stories, cultivating an ethical dialogue on going green, producing how-tos for running your own business and being an indiepreneur, keeping track of our amazing Etsy Teams, crafty tutorials from the Etsy Labs, as well as reporting Etsy news ... the list goes on! We also want to extend a sincere thank you to all the authors and guest contributors who have shared their special stories with us in the past year.

In honor of our anniversary, this week we will be reposting some of the articles we feel represent the very best of The Storque, including many old favorites that you may not have seen. Prepare to get re-acquainted with The Storque — the best is yet to come!

Happy Birthday, Storque! And thanks for reading!

Check out some of our all-time favorite articles, which we're tagging "Best Of The Storque" this week in honor of the Storque's first birthday!

Etsy Announcement: Heads up! Storque Maintenance Tonight

2008-07-29T18:40:00-05:00

We are doing a quick little bit of Storque site maintenance tonight from 7:30 to 8pm EDT. The Storque will be down, but only temporarily.

Thank you for your patience while we build the Storque a comfier nest!

Here's the related Forum thread (should we not get right back up, heavens forbid).

Introducing a New Etsy Project: Handmade Kids

2008-07-09T10:58:00-05:00

Dear Sellers,

This past Spring, we brought you the Handmade Wedding series, so ... bet you guessed what's up next! Handmade Kids.* We here at Etsy have noticed through our research that this special project has the potential to reach a lot of new customers and generate growth for children's sellers as well as Etsy in general.

Simply put, Etsy sellers have a ton to offer new families and we want to help spread the word! We'll be reaching out to the media in order to bring in new folks and wanted to give you the heads up to make sure your shops are ready for business. This special project will launch on July 14 and continue through to August 4, 2008.

Here's what we'll be doing:

Contest with prizes for sellers and buyers, open to US residents. **
Outside ads on targeted blogs and websites.
Original Storque content from Etsians as well as popular bloggers and websites with cross-pollinating posts.
Themed frontpage Showcase, going on sale on Thursday July 10 at 3pm EDT (see details about this here).
Periodic frontpages with kids themed content from the Storque and the Treasury.
Links to corresponding Gift Guides and curated content.
How-tos for the family (How-tos have proven to generate a lot of buzz and bring new visitors to Etsy).
Special landing page where kids' content is grouped. This will welcome first time visitors who click through from related outside ads and blog posts.

How can sellers get involved?

We want you to list your finest items for children, babies, new moms and dads, and make sure those are tagged properly of course! Michelle has written up this informative tagging how-to for you.
Many different types of items could fit in the Children's Category (for example, furniture for kids may be categorized in the Children's Category or in the Furniture Category). Now would be a good time to test out which category works better for your items and track your views and sales.
Clearly indicate if your items (such as toys) are intended for adults or children.
If you do custom work for new families, make sure your Alchemy announcement is set up.
The Children's Category Showcase will be getting increase traffic, so heads up on that.
The more buzz we get going about this series, the more links we get into Etsy, the better our Google search results. This is great for the whole marketplace. So let's all get together and blog (see these posts for help)!
Give us suggestions for sub-categories of the Children's Category.

Thanks so much and let me know if you have ideas or questions in the comments below!

*[No, the Etsy admin are not pregnant. But presumably a lot of our shoppers are! Etsy is 96% female and the average buyer's age is 32. Check out our survey results.]

**[This contest will only be open to US residents. Believe me, we are as frustrated by this as you are! As a US-based company, when offering prizes of any kind, we are bound by US contest law. We can't wait for the day when Etsy opens international sites and we can exclude US residents from contests. I joke... but seriously, we are looking into ways to legally include international Etsians in future contests. Please be patient with us, we love you!]

Tech Update: New Storque Functions

2008-06-03T19:27:00-05:00

Did you notice???

First off, the Storque is now "Blog" in the main navigation of Etsy, and no longer "News." We Storque admin are happy with this change and it's something we've talked about a lot. "News" seemed misleading because the Storque is a whole lot more than site news. "Storque" is perhaps too mysterious for newbie readers, and while we considered "Magazine" or "Gazette" or "Zine," those all pointed to print media in a way that might have been confusing.

The archives of our old blog, The Etsy Garden, can now be found at http://fix.etsy.com — and you should bookmark this link for future reference. In the event that Etsy.com goes down, let's all meet up over there (since the Storque will maybe be down too). More on that in this post.

Other new features: you now get a peek at the comments when you click on an article. We made this change to encourage folks to notice that you can indeed comment on Storque articles! Why not show all of the comments? Well, that would slow down the loading of the page, so we settle for the first five and then you can click to "read more..."

You can also now subscribe through RSS to comments on specific articles. And you can RSS the feed of the Multi-media section, if you just want to see videos and you don't subscribe to the Etsy iTunes feed. You can find out about RSS in general and why it's cool here.

A Flickr badge is a lovely new addition to our Events section. We think images of Etsy in Action makes the page a bit more dynamic and alluring, don't you just want to ...click...pictures...P.S. This is a place to pool your photos of Team events and to share with other Etsians what you're up to and how you did it.

Please join the Flickr Group and add photos of:
* craft fairs
* meet-ups
* crafty creative sessions
* skill shares
* anything else that shows your Team or Etsy sellers in action
Please do not post product photos here. This group is for Etsy event-related pictures only.

Thanks and leave your ideas for how to improve the Storque's site features in the comments below!

Tech Update: Showcase Living Large & Storque Upgrade

2008-04-24T18:14:00-05:00

Dear Sellers,

In the past, you could tell when a Showcase wasn't sold out: the items in it would look a little sad and lonely, there was white blank space... But we just put through an update: any Showcase that isn't sold out now looks a whole lot more full-bodied. The images expand to take up more room!

For info on Showcase, read 13.5 Questions About The Showcase or other posts on this topic here.

Dear Storque readers,

Bless the Engineering Team and QA! They made us a number of wonderful changes to our admin panel. And you readers will notice admin have badges by our author avatars, so you can better tell who is who. We can now put videos in the Featured spots on the homepage of the Storque!

For more on new site features, check out the TechUpdates Featured Column and subscribe to Etsy News Email alerts!

Call for Storque Articles: Etsy Pets

2008-04-22T17:41:00-05:00

Throw us a bone, why don't ya! We want to do a series of pet-centric posts next week and we're looking for pitches. Use our Pitch to the Storque Form to send us great ideas for animal and pet-related content you'd like to share. Make sure to include the word "pets" in your pitch so we can find you in our "box o' ideas that floweth over."

We have puppy fever over here! And bunnies and kitties and all sorts! We've been doing some posts off and on with the Etsy Pets Flickr Pool and we want to see your little ones. We want to feature some posts from animals lovers, links to great pet-lovers' blogs, people who make pet-related items, posts from Teams such as these:

Etsy Beagles Team
Cruelty Free Etsy
The Dog Mafia
EFA Etsy for Animals
Handmade4Hounds

We're already fawning over all the cute animals we've already seen during our "research phase." (CuteOverload.com, mostly!) Wow us with stories of your pets and the products that they love to use and play with!

Tech Updates: Storque Improvements

2008-04-10T18:09:00-05:00

Notice anything a little...different? The Storque has received some tweaks from our beloved engineers that make it a lot more user-friendly, and we couldn't be more excited. You'll notice that we've added a handy dandy "ALL ARTICLES" link in the main navigation, which allows you to see all of the Storque articles we've published in blog-like chronological order. (Excellent!)

We also now have a customizable pitch form, where we can specify what we're looking for in the near future. Check it out and see what is coming up on the editorial calendar, as it will be changing!

We've also added a tiny widget under the Featured Columns that allows you to toggle over to all of the Storque Related Items that are featured in the Storque, in a great 10x10 grid.

We are also enamored of the Google Calendar widget and have installed one at the top of the Events section.

Hope you like these little changes! More to come in the future.

About Us: Alison aka TeenAngster

2008-02-22T15:40:00-05:00

Etsy has had quite a growth spurt in the past year, and we have the awkward pictures to prove it. We'll be posting a series of About Us pieces to help you get to know the Etsy admin (and since many of us work remotely, for the admin to get to know each other!). You've seen the admin badge, and maybe you're a bit curious about the person behind it! For more on Etsy's mission and about the company, please see our About page (the link is in the little blue footer of every Etsy page).

This installment features — guess who — Alison aka TeenAngster! Alison works for the Storque Team at Etsy, producing original fashion content for the Spotlight section and other insightful stuff, as well as editing pretty much everything else with just lil ole me. You can see all of Alison's posts here.

Even with all the news whipping whirlwinds through the Storqueland nook of the Etsy Labs, she keeps her cool. She's played a huge role in making the Storque an insightful, entertaining and beautiful e-zine to read. For those of you have seen this style maven in action, you know what I'm talking about. Alison's collections and frontpages are always top sellers and for that, the whole Etsy community should be really proud!

I think Alison also buys more stuff than any of the rest of us admin do. She averages about two packages a day and we always gather round her desk to see what the next big thing is.

Just look at this lil lass from Ioway!

Adorable dogkins too!

See all posts in this About Us series.

Etsy Etsy Etsy Newscast

2008-02-08T18:47:00-05:00

MP4 | HD | Youtube | Blip

In this Etsy News video podcast you'll learn about some construction going on inside and out of the Etsy Labs, get an update on the book club's return from the dead, find out about some plans for a town hall meeting, get the "web-er" report, explore the new community landing page, and take a look into the workshop of an Etsy seller.

This is my first Etsy News report, and I'd like feedback. Check out one of the awesome newscasts that Shannon did. Are there things that she did that you'd like to see in future newscasts? Do you think I get too close to the camera? Do you miss the greenscreen effects? Leave your feedback in the comments!

If you watch and listen close you'll see a microphone wandering into the picture and hear cellphone interference. I'm going to try and avoid those things next time!

I wanted to include Etsians' user generated videos in the newscast, and so giantdwarf has a cameo in this months newscast. What kinds of Etsy user generated videos do you think would fit into the Etsy video podcast? If you've got something that you think would fit, drop me a line at bre@etsy.com.

This is the first Etsy video that's in HD! All in favor of more pixels, raise your hands!

Do you like to watch videos at Youtube? We're just getting the Etsy channel set up over there and it's only got 60 subscribers. If you like to watch youtube videos, subscribe after clicking to the Etsy Youtube page!

And stay tuned, because next up we'll have a special Valentine's How-to!

About Us: New Member of the Storque Team, Bre Pettis

2008-01-18T11:50:00-05:00

We're excited to announce that "silver fox/MacGyver chimera" Bre Pettis, our friend and neighbor, will be joining the Storque Team here at Etsy. We've known Bre for quite some time, as MAKE used to share space with us at the Etsy Labs in Brooklyn (Phil Torrone of the MAKE NYC outpost and Burdastyle are now just four floors below us the same building).

Bre had been working with MAKE zine to produce their Weekend Projects, a series of How-to videos with a techie bent. He garnered many accolades and fans, and often travels around speaking and presenting about all things DIY. Before his time as a videoblogger, Bre was a teacher in the Seattle public school system, and spent his time there inspiring "medium-sized" children to express themselves through art, theater, and writing.

Bre is not just a delightful and brilliant gentleman, he also is New Media. We're looking forward to working with him on expanding the interactivity, frequency, and general awesomeness of Etsy's video, podcasting and live virtual spaces! The Handmade Universe is busting wide open! It's crazy! We've already brainstormed many, many ideas, and we hope that Bre is resting up at his parents' place in Seattle right now, because when he gets back to NYC on Monday, January 21st, he's gonna have a lot of work to do ;)

We love you, Bre! Comment below to give him a hearty welcome! What videos do you want him to do first??

Further Resources:
Check back to this post on Monday, because we'll be adding his profile, proper.

Bre's blog imakethings

MAKE's videos

The Storque's videos

Storque Digest: January 9th - January 15th, 2008

2008-01-15T18:50:00-05:00

We've had quite the productive week around these parts. We're gearing up for Valentine's Day and keeping the love alive! Catch up on the headlines from the past week with the Storque Digest.

Hot Posts:

Etsy Presents: The Love Challenge!

Billing Alert: Reminder to Pay Overdue Bills

Tech Updates: USD added to item listing page

St Valentine's Day Showcase, Coming Soon!

Art and Science Converge: The Periodic Table Printmaking Project

Other News Headlines:

Vote for Etsy: Nomination for TechCrunch's Crunchies

Tech Updates: Showcase System Upgraded

Tech Updates: Etsy Search Browser Plugin

Tech Updates: Multi-Media Section of the Storque Launches

Can't Post New Listings? Overdue Etsy Bill

Contest At Stylemob!: Made it Myself!

We also started our "All About Etsy" FAQ series. Read here for all the questions you've had about Etsy!

Posts for Shoppers:

Featured Buyer: Kathy Malone of Brooklyn Indie Market

A thoroughly modern shop! Fresh Shops: kmaclean

Valentine's Day is coming soon! We're pumped!

A Very Jaded Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day: What Women Want

Valentine's Day: What Men Want

As always, check out our series of Etsy Finds, and subscribe to the Etsy Finds email!

Handmade Lifestyle:

Recommended Blog: Superziper

Handmade Correspondence in the Twenty-First Century

Crafting 365: Make 2008 Your Craftiest Year Yet!

And check out our continuing video series of Handmade Stories!

Posts for Sellers:

The Shop Makeover series continues!

SarahSays: Trademarks

Forum Decorum: Keepin' It Relevant and Useful

Etsy Success Stories: anapaulaoli

Etsy Team Tips: Update your Team's Web Presence!

How-to Network Offline: Increase Online Sales in Five Easy Steps

Etc.:

Multi-media Visitors to the Etsy Labs

We've been telling more about the admin behind Etsy in our About Us series.

Funny Forum Quotes: Valentine's Edition (with tiddyinks!)

Etsy Pets: Mosie and Tala

And just for our own personal curiousity: let us know what you think the most compelling article was this week! Post it in the comments!

All about Etsy FAQ Series: As the Storque Flies

2008-01-11T12:01:00-05:00

The Storque is still young and fresh-faced, having only been launched in September of 2007. We still hear people asking, "What is the Storque?" As part of our All about Etsy FAQ series, we're including this post: information about the Storque, how it works, how it serves the Etsy community and readers interested in the handmade lifestyle, and further, how you can get involved.

Upon reflection, we've come a long way since September of 2007. But the Storque editors feel that there are still ways to improve. We've just launched the video section as of January 2008, and we'll be making a push this spring to have a stronger Etsy video presence. Part of that includes getting Etsians involved: we want to see Your Handmade Stories and your How-to videos, and other video projects too. And to help support that, we'll be doing a series of How-to Make Your Own Video.

Editing the Storque is also a constant balancing act between content for Buyers and content for Sellers. Our hope is that this dual readership is interested enough in each other that you don't mind sifting through content a bit. We also plan to work more on syndicating content out and getting the Storque name out there into the wide world outside of Etsy.

All in all, Alison aka TeenAngster, EricB aka objecked , Tara aka weirdwolf and I love our jobs and we look forward to suggestions you may have in the comments below.

The Storque is Etsy's blog (what do you think we should call it?), for both buyers and sellers and readers interested in the handmade lifestyle. The Storque provides site announcements for users, as well as posts highlighting great handmade items for sale on the site and stories about makers. It's like a blog in that it's updated every day, throughout the day, and its content is organized into different sections, to better help you get to stories of interest to you.

Another special aspect of the Storque is the Related Items; these are listings from the marketplace linked at the bottom of each article. Most of the header images used to illustrate posts are from marketplace listings (some are from Creative Commons licensed flickr photos). In this way, the Storque can be browsed like a context-based shopping tool: a magazine embedded with handmade items for sale. Since we're telling the inspiring stories behind handmade items in our marketplace and sharing info from helpful sellers, it makes sense for the Storque.

How to Navigate the Storque

Click on any of the recent posts featured on the homepage of the Storque.
Search the Storque for articles by using the search bar (search by Storque tags only, tags and titles of articles, or tags, titles and body of articles).
Click on the main sections at left and they will take you to that type of content only.

SPOTLIGHT— Featured items and sellers from the marketplace.

THIS HANDMADE LIFE— Lifestyle pieces from the world of handmade.

CRAFTIVISM— Stories with a socially conscious mission.

HOW-TO— Indie-preneur info and advice as well as some how-tos for making stuff and help using the site for buying and selling

REVIEWS— Reviews of anything related to handmade: blogs, music, movies, equipment, shows...

ETSY NEWS— Updates about Etsy policy, new site features, press clippings

EVENTS— Heads-up and round-ups about goings-on in the in the world of DIY, handmade (especially events Etsians are organizing or involved in)

ETC— Fun, silly stuff like Etsy Pets and Funny Forum Quotes.
VIDEO— Get straight to a chronological list of the videos embedded within articles on the Storque.
Click on a Featured Column to get an even finer grained sorting of the content.
Click view all contributors to read the Storque by author.
Under featured columns, you'll see recent comments. Click on these to get right to what all the fuss is about.
Most Popular this Week and the Hall of Fame also give you a sense of what posts readers are finding most compelling.
You can click on that image "storque related items - 10x10 grid" to see the most recent related items we've curated on the Storque.

Once you've opened an article, you can:

Click on the tags at the bottom to see other similar content.
You can click on an author's avatar to get to a list of all the articles they've written for the Storque or to get to their shop and profile.
If you're a shopper, you should also click on related items to get to the listing page.
You need to be logged into Etsy to post your own comment.
Previous page and Next page get you to the previous or next article within the section.

As of September 2008, we post between 5-10 articles a day (less on weekends).

Here are just some of our Featured Columns:

About Us — Get to know the Etsy admin.
All about Etsy FAQ Series — Learn about how Etsy, the company, runs internally.
Art of Pricing — A series for sellers on figuring out how to price your work.
Competitions & Opportunities — Check this out for contests, promotions and other ways to get in on the action.
CustomerCare — Pieces from admin on the Customer Support Team, with everything from helpful tips on how to use Etsy to updates on site policy and billing.
Etsy Community Projects — Projects that Etsians do together to get to know each other, have fun or do something that makes a difference.
Etsy Finds — Every day, one of the Etsy admin posts one of their favorite items from the marketplace.
Etsy Handmade Heirlooms — Call for videos about your family's most treasured handmade heirloom.
Etsy Love Stories — Romance, Etsy style.
Etsy Success Stories — Interviews with successful Etsy sellers, in which they share their useful tips.
Etsy's Most Hearted — Posts about much beloved Etsians.
EtsyLabs — Find out what is going on in the Labs and how to get involved, even if you're not in Brooklyn.
EtsyTeams — All posts related to Etsy Teams.
EtsyinthePress — Keep up to date with news articles and other media pieces that cover Etsy.
Featured Buyer — Posted on Wednesdays, these pieces invite notables and bloggers to choose their favorite items from the Etsy marketplace.
Forum Decorum — Etiquette for participating in the Etsy Forums.
Fresh Shops — Our weekly series highlighting new talented sellers.
Funny Forum Quotes — Silly and insightful lines from the Etsy Forums.
Gift Ideas — Seasonal content for shoppers.
Legal Info for Artists —Legal information for artists and crafters from Sarah Feingold, Etsy's in-house attorney and jeweler.
News from the Craft + Style Blogosphere
Online Workshops — Notices for live multi-user events. Get involved!
Open Studio Tour — Visits to artists, both Etsy sellers and other notable artists.
Podcasting Series — Learn how-to podcast and suggestions for what to listen to.
Recommended Blogs — Suggestions for cool blogs to read
Shop Critiques — Posts related to the Labs' live critiques of sellers' shops.
Shop Makeover Series — How-to make your shop better looking, more effective and more self-confident too!
Storque Newscast — Our video newscast. Entertaining and informative.
TechUpdates — Site announcements pertaining to site functionality and features.
Trends — Hot tends for shoppers
Your Handmade Stories — Our call for videos from sellers and buyers telling us how making things has changed their lives or supporting indie artists makes the world a better place

For Buyers:
There's plenty o' shopping content. Click through the Storque as you would flip through a fashion magazine, checking out the related items at the bottom of each article. Best place to start is the SPOTLIGHT section.

Every week we post a Trends piece or a Featured Buyer piece in the SPOTLIGHT section.
Daily, we post Etsy Finds which highlight a unique item on Etsy.
We also feature Fresh Shops as a way to highlight newbie sellers.
If you want to get more into the lifestyle content, try THIS HANDMADE LIFE.
Look for Etsy EVENTS in your area; some of these are local to Brooklyn and related to our office at the Etsy Labs, but some of the events may be featuring Etsy sellers in your area.

For Sellers:
The Storque is your go-to place for site announcements and ETSY NEWS, as well as HOW-TO s for indie entrepreneurs. Etsy Success Stories and Quit Your Day Job in the SPOTLIGHT section reveal some of the best kept secrets from Etsy's top sellers. TechUpdates offer you the crucial info. The Seller Handbook is our compilation of all the how-tos about selling published on the Storque.

Writing for the Storque
The Storque is written by Etsy admins, special guests, and members of the Etsy community, so in a way, it's like a community newspaper. Etsians can pitch an article to the Storque by clicking the "Pitch to the Storque!" link on the Storque's homepage. We, the Storque's editors Vanessa and TeenAngster, will get back to you if your pitch fits the editorial calendar and if we think your post would be of interest to readers. We apologize that we cannot reply to every pitch: we are just too swamped! Readers can click through to authors' shops and profiles linked to by their by-line avatars.

Readers and authors alike look forward to reading the comments on articles. These comments range in tone from virtual high-fives to thoughtful critiques.

One of our readers anndouglas, for example, commented:
"I'm new to Etsy and loving The Storque. Thanks for your great blend of helpful tips, fun-to-read writing, and things I have to check out (and possibly buy)."

Like any online magazine or blog, the editors reserve the right to remove comments that we deem inappropriate or offensive. The Storque is a live, public space for editorial content, and we urge commenters to reflect on their tone and message before posting. For in-depth, Etsy-focused discussion, you may prefer to post in the forums. From time to time, in fact, we'll close commenting on a Storque post and redirect conversation to a forum thread. In part, we don't want to splinter information and the valuable insight that comes when important topics like site policy or bugs are discussed or diagnosed.

Reposting Content
The Storque is published under a Creative Commons license which allows you to repost articles wherever you like, and we hope that you do so, as long as you give the creators attribution and link back to the original post.

For Media & Press inquiries:
Please see the Etsy About Page and Press Page. If you're interested in developing a Storque story for newspaper, magazine or TV, please email storque@etsy.com or press@etsy.com.

Tech Updates: Multi-Media Section of the Storque Launches

2008-01-09T17:15:00-05:00

Give a big welcome to the latest and snazziest addition to the Storque! We've added a section called Multi-Media where you can get directly to our latest video content without having to search through articles. The Multi-Media section is a chronological list of videos; each of these videos can also be found embedded within Storque articles. They're listed most recent at the top, down the line to older videos.

You can find this Multi-Media section in light green right under the pink ETC and the other sections of the Storque navigation. You can also click on the thumbnail to the very bottom right of the Storque frontpage.

If you want to search for a specific video, search for "video" and another tag. For example, search for: video packaging. The search results will return articles with embedded videos that have been tagged with the word packaging. At this point, you cannot search just within the Multi-Media section (in other words, get search results as video sans article). Hopefully that will come into being sometime soon!

We hope you enjoy the videos and get involved! You can upload your videos to Youtube or blip or other hosting site and let us know about them by using the pitch form (make sure to include the link to your video when you fill out the form). Right now we have a call out for your Handmade Stories: see this post for more info.

Storque Digest: January 2nd - January 8th, 2008

2008-01-08T15:10:00-05:00

It's been a busy week! 2008 looks to be a swell year. Catch up on the headlines from the past week with the Storque Digest.

Hot Posts:

Etsy Year in Review: 2007

Survey Says: Getting to Know You & Getting the Word Out
Have you taken our handy dandy survey? Do it today!

Etsy in the Press: Best of 2007 and Then Some

Cracker Crumbs and Packing Peanuts: Insights from Work-At-Home Moms to Boost Your Productivity

Valentine's Day Gift Guide: It's Never Too Early for Love!

The Shop Makeover series continues! Check out this article on the "fine print" of your shop for more info.

Other News Headlines:

Tech Updates: Shop Page Username Changes

SarahSays: Contest Law

Posts for Shoppers:

Etsy Finds: Grocery Totes Save the Earth

Shop Local: Vermont

Fresh Shops: JacobsEye

Just for kicks, we had a season showdown, with the Northern hemisphere's weather pitted against the Southern.

And here's the Southern hemisphere edition!

Etsy Trends: Cookie Magazine's Nursery Art Round-Up

Handmade Lifestyle:

Your Handmade Stories: Peeech

Fundraising for Dawn's Boys

Etsy How-to: Screenprinting and You

Posts for Sellers:

Wednesday Online Workshop: Shop Makeover series

Etsy Success Stories: jacquelineknits

Etsy Teams Digest: What a Wonderful Year

Forum Decorum: Taking Time for a Time Out

Customer Care Update: Canceling Etsy Transactions

Etsy Seller Inventory Worksheet

How-to Sell Sell Sell 365 Days a Year: Make Everyday a Holiday

Etc:

Wanna know more about the folks behind Etsy? We'll be posting little tidbits of info in our About Us series! First up: Chris aka RevolvingDork

And just for our own personal curiousity: let us know what you think the most compelling article was this week! Post it in the comments!

Storque Digest: December 25 - January 1

2008-01-01T22:57:00-05:00

Welcome back from the holidays! Catch up on the headlines from the past week with the Storque Digest.

Hot Posts:
Introducing a New Series for the New Year: Shop Makeover ... Etsy sellers are ready to get to work revamping their shops for 2008! Get involved: document your progress with screenshots, upload em to flickr or your blog, and post the links to them in the comments of this series. We kicked it off with a post on tagging.

Buy Handmade Pledge: Confess, Cheaters! Share your post-holiday kudos and purge your mass-produced guilt!

Etsy in the Press: Jim Henson Honors. Looks like I'm not the only one who had a crush on Beaker!

Other News Headlines:

Looking Back at the Storque: 2007

Posts for Shoppers:
Thank You Notes: Artful Expressions of Gratitude

New Years Eve Special: Party Animal

New Year, New Stuff

Hot Trends: Winged Necklaces and Knit Berets

Fresh Shops: ecram1

And check out the Etsy Finds.

Handmade Lifestyle:

Boxing Day: Hidden Origins & New Traditions

An Etsy New Year's Eve!

Posts for Sellers:

Etsy Success Story: Working Class Heroes