Search results (tags) for: "theblackapple"

Etsy Finds Vintage: Reduce, Reuse, Reinvent

2009-07-19T10:00:00-05:00

As a vintage lover and treasure seeker, there's nothing more exhilarating than rescuing a piece of history from certain doom in a landfill. While I love to use and display the many objects that I collect (skulls, doll heads, quilts), there are inevitable leftovers that leave me scratching my head. What should I do with my beautiful-but-torn vintage lace doilies? How can I best reuse the antique drawer from an abandoned vanity? I inherited ten Mason jars, but what should I do with them?!

Today's Vintage Finds are dedicated to the thoughtful and resourceful reinvention of vintage objects. This collection is a virtual treasure trove of potential projects, so put on your thinking cap and get creative! Check out Etsy's How-Tuesday series for more inspiring how-to's and projects.

Vintage Fabric and Crochet

Vintage fabric sends shivers down my spine! I love the colors, textures and designs of old quilts, feed sacks, lace and doilies. There are a wealth of embellishment projects that can be achieved with these materials. theblackapple made a scarf out of vintage doilies, and DIY Life has a great how-to on making a crazy quilt pillow with scraps. Decorating on a budget? Spice up your celebration with a pennant banner made with vintage fabrics, courtesy of Sew 4 Home. Here are some vintage treasures to get you started.

Vintage Cutter Quilt Good Retro Fabrics

From frstyfrolk, $85.

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Vintage Lace Trimmed Doily

From teremok, $12.

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VINTAGE HAND CROCHETED DOILY

From sandisstuff, $21.99.

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Eight vintage embroidered towels

From foursquarevintage, $29.

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vintage salt sacks

From ThenAndNow, $6.

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Vintage Embroidered Table Runner

From CinfulOldies, $14.

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Vintage Drawers and Boxes

Storage receptacles are rife with reinvention possibilities. An old drawer can be reused as a planter, a makeshift bookshelf, or simply break apart the wood for a salvaged wooden frame. (Check out this crafty frame how-to from Bayou Salvage!) Why not use the exteriors of old drawers as clothing hangers? Check out the full how-to on Design*Sponge.

wooden vintage tool box

From bloomingmardee, $120.

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galvanized industrial steel crate.

From everyeskimo, $64.

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Two Drawer File & Divider Cards

From ethanollie, $50.

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Vintage Sewing Machine Drawer

From katecreativesalvage, $15.

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Weathered Perforated Crate

From 26olivestreet, $38.

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Vintage 1936 Wooden Box Crate

From goodbuyannies, $39.50.

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Vintage Letters, Numbers and Signage

Get creative with vintage letterpress pieces, children's alphabet blocks, and miscellaneous signage to spell out anything your heart desires.

Antique Letterpress - 75 Pieces

From TurnersCollectibles, $215.

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Giant Letter M

From tippleandsnack, $36.99.

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Metal Letter- V

By extravirginhome, $10.

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Vintage Wooden Box of Wood Blocks.

From funkeyfinds, $17.

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White Vinyl Sticker Letters-200

From gleancreativereuse, $6.

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BRASS Letter Y

From sweetshorn, $26.

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Vintage Jars and Baskets

Vintage housewares are easy to acquire and work with, so if you're a beginning crafter, these projects are for you! Design*Sponge has a snazzy how-to for making a pendant light with an old wire basket, and Craft Zine has easy-to-follow instructions for making a DIY terrarium using a Mason jar. Find all the materials you'll need to start below!

Vintage Ball Mason Jar and Jar Lifter

From LittleYellowDoor, $10.

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Antiqued Wire Basket in Soft Pink

From moxiesisters, $20.

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lovely vintage green wire metal basket.

By frisee, $22.

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Antique Ink Apothecary Bottle

From solsticehome, $12.

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vintage AQUA BLUE canning jar

From aimeesarmoire, $19.95.

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Vintage egg basket, yellow

From cabinwindows, $32.

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Vintage Toolboxes and Luggage

Old lunch boxes and tackle boxes make the perfect jewelry boxes, and bright suitcases are a great solution for bedside storage, a deluxe kitty bed or a Tetris-style installation. Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club has compiled a master list of suitcase projects that are sure to get your creative juices flowing.

Set of 3 Vintage Mini suitcases - red

From rubyfirecracker, $28.

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Vintage Tin Rusty Green Lunch Box

From NestaHome, $28.50.

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Blue metal tool box/organizer

From kewpiesfarmhouse, $16.

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Vintage International Train case / box

From Shabbylull, $24.

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American Tourister Round Suitcase

By happydayvintage, $47.

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Vintage Metal Tool Box

From epoca, $27.50.

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Unorthodox Display

Who says artwork needs to be in a frame? These vintage components will take any stray prints to the heights of display genius. Looking for more ideas on how to arrange your art collection? Check out Abbey of How Now Designs' helpful tips on the art of arrangement.

3 CHIPPY GREEN Vintage Flower Frogs

From birdie1, $28.

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Vintage Folding Ruler - Red, White, and Black

From foundpaperco, $12.

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Vintage Wooden Pant Hangers (2)

From vintology, $12.

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three vintage wooden pant hangers

From ModishVintage, $16.

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Vintage porcelain industrial glove mold

From beggarsandchoosers, $25.

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Old Expanding Ruler

From tippleandsnack, $11.99.

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You Tell Me!

Here's a wide assortment of vintage odds and ends that still have plenty of life in them. Their potential for DIY projects is off the charts! Perhaps the old garden implements could be used as a jewelry rack, the plastic doily as a stencil for screenprinting, or the balusters as the basis for a new chess set... What would you make? Leave it in the comments!

Victorian Period Wood Balusters

From VintageEmbellishment, $20.

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Chalkboard

By HausProud, $44.

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coal Fireplace cover

From FluffyFlowersVintage, $150.

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Vintage PITCHFORK Found Object

From sushipotparts, $15.

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Vintage Plastic Doily

From ponyparty, $8.

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Collection of 1950s Reels with Movies

From shihtzuwest, $170.

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What's your favorite project that resulted from vintage components? Leave it in the comments!

Looking for more Etsy Finds? Try these links:

Vintage Category | How-Tuesday Projects | Search for Handmade Items with Vintage Components

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One of Etsy's Most Hearted: TheBlackApple

2009-02-09T16:18:00-05:00

For Valentine's Day, we at Etsy's blog thought we'd seek out the Etsy members who are the most beloved (or rather, be-hearted). We tracked six of out of the top one hundred most-hearted users and sought them out for interviews. They were totally surprised and pleased to find out! The fifth in this series is theblackapple.

Emily Martin, alias The Black Apple, is a twenty five year old girl who lives among the giant fir trees of Portland, OR. Her fellow adventurers in this land of oversized trees are a boy named Josiah and a boy-cat named Miette. Scribbling, stitching, painting, and baking are certainly the things she does best. Also, it is important to note that she loves toy pianos, vintage sewing notions, documentaries, Little Golden Books, swans, and that her fondest wish is to live in a house in the forest. You can read her blog at theblackapple.typepad.com.

Tell us how you first got involved with Etsy:
I heard about it via Leah Kramer of Craftster fame in 2005, and since I had just graduated from art school and was crafting like a maniac, I thought I'd see what all the fuss was about. Little did I know...

What's your favorite Etsy feature?
Hmm...I do like the Storque. The "Time Machines" are neat, too!

How do you think you became so beloved in the Etsy community? (You've got a lot of hearts!)
Goodness, I don't know! I feel very lucky for all the love that has come my way, though. And I think I've just been around a long time (long by Etsy standards). I'm a bad penny.

Who are your favorite Etsians?
AshleyG, Kateblack, CleverNettle, TheSmallObject, artandghosts, and Skunkboycreatures.

What are you doing this Valentine's Day?
Probably cooking a really good dinner at home, or, since it's my birthday just the day before, taking a short trip to Seattle with my sweet pea.

Below you'll find some of Emily's favorites. Check out the other Most Hearted individuals here...

Etsy Finds Vintage: Ladylike with Emily Martin of The Black Apple

2009-01-17T08:00:00-05:00

This week's Etsy Vintage Finds are brought to you by Miss Emily Martin of The Black Apple. Emily is pictured above wearing a dress from ErinLiz and a brooch by SofieOriginals. You can keep up with the inner workings of her cottage industry by following her personal blog Inside a Black Apple and her specialized fashion blog, Some Girls Wander.

This little collection is just a smattering of very Emily-ish things: things that one doesn't necessarily need, but things that would be lovely to have just the same — a cabinet of little curiosities, if you will! They are mostly extremely ladylike (as that is my proclivity), but I tried to include a few things that might be of interest to the gentlemen, too. More and more, I just love poking around Etsy vintage and seeing what trinkets are uncovered. Try searching for a favorite thing, say, "green shoes" or "rabbit", and see the quirky mix that comes back to you!

Winter Twilight - Dusty Pink Vintage Felt Hat

From OhTwoVintage, $35.50.

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Come on...your suitcase is on the front porch...Lets go...

From HannahBellaMemories, $38.80.

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BERRY RED vintage BABY DOLL coat

From allencompanyinc, $200.

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The Brigitte Bardot Shoes

From Thrush, $45.

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Vintage handmade capelet in winter white

From buttonsnsuch, $18.

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Turn of the Century Acorn and Oak Leaf Brooch

From 5gardenias, $38.

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Sears Electric 12 Typewriter

From Ottertales, $32.

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Golden Honey Bee Pin Signed Sarah

From SurrenderDorothy, $13.89.

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blue patent leather vintage purse

From TROPHYclothing, $15.

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vintage taupe rhinestone cat eye glasses

From wickedpen, $45.

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Looking for more Etsy Finds? Try these links:

Gift Guides | Guest Curators | Trends | Gift Ideas

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Podcasting, anyone? theblackapple's Dorky Voice & Our Old Friend Antonio

2008-02-22T18:08:00-05:00

Theblackapple speaks! You can hear this Etsy seller and artist extraordinaire in a podcast by our dear friend Antonio Gould. Antonio visited the Labs and did a guest lecture on "global microbranding" (see the videos in this post). Stay tuned for audio podcasts from Bre aka brepettis and crew here at the Storque. Below, you'll find Theblackapple's blog post about her audio debut! Let us know in the comments if you listen to audio podcasts or if ya make them!

The very insightful and kind New Media/Marketing expert Antonio Gould (who some will remember from his visit at the Etsy Labs last year, which I believe can still be viewed on Youtube) has produced a 5th segment in his podcast series. They're each about different aspects of utilizing new, Internet/digital tools to build your business...and yours truly makes an appearance on the newest (Episode 5)!

You can listen to my dorky voice, and Antonio's thoughtful podcast here.
I feel very special that he asked me to appear on this segment...but now I'm a bit paranoid that everything I say sounds like a question.

Etsy in the Press: Etsy Seller TheBlackApple Voted Best Indie Business

2007-11-27T12:01:00-05:00

One of Etsy's sellers, Emily Martin aka theblackapple, has been voted the Best DIY Business by Venus Zine's Hot List. Thanks for voting!

You can pick up a copy of the magazine at your local newstand. Or see Emily's post about it on her blog, where you can get her PDF scan of the piece. To find out more about theblackapple, you can check out her Storque's Etsy Success Story.

Big congrats to runners-up BoyGirlParty and Renegade too!

Etsy Success Stories: The Black Apple

2007-10-15T12:07:00-05:00

You've seen those big sellers on Etsy who seem to be making sales left and right. You have to wonder how they've made it to where they are: can they actually be FOR REAL? What's their recipe for success? And just how do they do it? I've made it my mission to shine the Storque spotlight and bring these sellers to you. I'll be asking them all those questions you're just dying to know. They have been generous enough to share their secrets with us and we want to spread their personal success stories to everyone so they can learn from their business practices.

The Black Apple is Emily Martin, a self proclaimed curiosity peddler and picture scribbler, and boy does it show. Currently dwelling in Athens, Georgia, Miss Emily may arguably be the biggest success story I can currently bring to you on Etsy, judging by her instant success and recognizable brand here on the site. In little over two years selling on Etsy, The Black Apple has made almost 8,500 sales on Etsy, carved her path through the masses, and made a name for herself that we all know and recognize. It is an understatement to say that Emily is an inspiration we can all look up to.

Ok, on to the questions we've been wondering about but never got the chance to ask (drum roll please)...

How did you first hear about Etsy, and what made you decide to open a shop on the site?
I first heard about it via Leah Kramer and Craftster.org. I was so excited at the prospect of being able to leave consignment and really handle everything on my own! When I saw how user-friendly Etsy was, I knew it was a match...but I never, EVER, expected things to go so swimmingly.

What do you think is your key to selling success on Etsy?
I think that it is [a mixture of] listing frequently, creating new pieces, prices, customer service, packaging...and luck, to be honest. I am really fortunate that my work appeals to so many different people, from children to teenage/college girls to middle aged ladies, and of course, super cool guys who buy my work as well! I didn't know that going in...it seems to be something you can't really plan for.

Another thing that I think is helpful is that I'm always trying to think up something new...a new design for a tea-towel or card set, a new sewn doll, and of course, new paintings/drawings. I think it's important to keep your customers on their toes, and curious/interested in what new stuff you're dreaming up...it makes it more fun for everyone. Packaging is important, of course, but it doesn't take a ton of money to make things look fun and thoughtfully-designed. I think the key thing is to know your aesthetic, and keep it fairly consistent, as far as packaging and design goes.

I like to have a variety of prices in my shop and at shows...I think that's a key. The prints are obviously very affordable, so it's not a huge investment for a picture that's going to make you happy.

Essentially, I believe that if you make a good product, keep trying to improve, hold yourself and your work to a high standard (ie: that of an artist/business/person you really admire), and work really, really, hard it can't go entirely unnoticed.

I really believe in that, even though, crummily, there are people who don't get the credit they deserve, and vice-versa. It's in some ways a tough philosophy (there are people who, say, work hard, but might not have an intuitive handle on what makes something appealing/well-crafted/interesting, and that is pretty essential). But I think if you're firing on all 4 cylinders, people will notice and your work will find an audience of like-minded people.

How do you promote your shop?
I've been really fortunate in the support I've received from magazines/blogs/websites who are interested in The Black Apple. Word-of-mouth is my best promotional friend (and might actually be the best advertising, as hokey as the saying sounds). Most of it began with my Etsy shop and the exposure I get here (especially true in the beginning).

Now that I have my blog, and it has a pretty big readership, that helps people to find me...but most of my connections have come from people finding me on Etsy. That's why it's important to be distinctive, in a slew of other items. Hopefully, yours will catch the eye and take the person to visit you and your shop. Etsy as an entity and larger marketplace really does a lot to bring in thousands of people that would never stumble upon your work in the massive ocean of the internet...This is a much smaller, and more manageable piece of the ocean. An inlet, let's say.

As far as bought-and-paid-for advertising, I really only have business cards that I include with orders and (try to) keep with me. I think that supporting each other is a big asset of the indie craft world, and so making friends and finding work you like and promoting them is an important part of this community. (Hopefully other folks will do the same for you!)

How do you handle such a large volume of sales in your shop? What systems have you created to manage the orders?
It is difficult, for sure, but I just try to keep everything straight in my head, make notes when I have to, and correct mistakes when I make them! I do have a few little systems to filling/packing my orders, but they are boring, and would be difficult to describe via interview.

Are your orders mostly from repeat buyers or new buyers? What do you do to gain repeat buyers?
I think it's both...pretty evenly split. I see lots of new names when I'm writing out address, and lots of familiar ones. It's always exciting when a new person is really happy about/into what you are doing, and it's extra nice when someone stays interested in you and your work. I think that the blog helps people feel connected to me and what I'm up to, and I try to be warm and open with customers/internet friends/readers.

How do you stay motivated? Does it come naturally?
That's another thing that I think has helped me a lot in being a self-employed cottage industry...I'm (usually) really self-motivated. I feel awfully guilty being too idle, and I try to maintain the delicate balance of being tough on myself without beating myself up. Sometimes I'll be in a slump, but in order to get out of it, I usually force myself to think of something I'd like to do or make...and then get to it. I get depressed if I'm too creatively idle.

Do you "Etsy" full time?
Yes, proudly!

If you "Etsy" full time, were you able to quit your day job due to your success selling on Etsy?
When I started my shop, I was working at an indie video store in Athens. The busier/steadier my shop got, the more shifts I was able to cut...I kind of phased my day-job out. Then the independence of the shop allowed me to make my little move to Brooklyn, and when the time came, to move again. It's given me a fantastic flexibility, though being self-employed has its worries/hard things too.

What is your favorite current Etsy Feature?
The Storque, of course!

What features do you use most on Etsy?
The "Buy" feature. That's the real answer...but the most helpful thing added in the last year as a seller is the readily accessible invoices and little tick-boxes for "paid" and "shipped" in sold items.

What goals do you have for your Etsy shop one year from now?
I really hope to do a cohesive show of new work in the next year...I just have to find the right match in the way of venues. Also, I'm quietly working on ideas for children's books. And thinking of new Black Apple-ish things, of course.

To learn more about Emily and The Black Apple, scoot on over to her blog, The Black Apple...Just be careful, because once you enter her little world, it is hard to leave. You will find in the related items below some of Emily's top Etsy Picks, mixed in with a few of hers that we love!