Etsy's Handmade Blog
Your Handmade Stories: Chocolate and Steel
Story by chocolateandsteel, weirdwolf
Published on September 15, 2008 in This Handmade Life 		Photo by chocolateandsteel

The Etsy Video team at the Storque is always excited when sellers create their own videos, whether it be a portrait, promo or studio visit. Bre Pettis recently produced a wonderful series called Getting Started in Video to help newbies take the leap. Last week Christine Street of chocolateandsteel sent me this excellent promotional video she and her husband Dave created for their shop. I asked her a few questions about why she decided to make a video, how she did it, what she learned from the experience, and what tips she has for other people considering making a video. Here are her responses:

I decided to make a video because I'm looking for new and inexpensive ways to market my shop. I'm very fortunate that my husband, Dave, is an aspiring filmmaker and was really excited to work on this project with me. I recently took the leap to full-time self-employment so budgets are a real concern for me: Not just in business, but in my personal life as well. This project seemed like a great thing to do for many reasons. First, it couldn't hurt my business. Second, it could help my business. And third, it gave us a fun project to work on instead of spending lots of money going out to dinner or museums (although we did film a lot of it outside the LACMA).

First I told Dave about the feel I was going for. I wanted it to be casual, whimsical and have a fantasy element. He came up with the original concept and we brainstormed from there. It was a lot of back and forth of me saying "I would never say that" and him saying, "That's cheesy." Finally the concept and dialog were complete and now came all the fun stuff. My mom babysat our 2 year old one weekend and we first had a "craft day" to make all the props. Then the next day we filmed it.

I learned that lighting is super important. Either morning around 10 or afternoons around 4 have the best, most flattering light. Natural light is the best, as I'm sure everyone knows. Also, I think the music is really important because it helps set the mood for the video, but it shouldn't be too loud and the center of focus.

I think a great way to do this is to get your friends involved. If you are a creative person, most likely so are your friends. One of my friends helped edit the video with Dave, and another friend who is a musician created the music for us. The great thing about getting other people involved is that they too help spread the word because they are proud of their work.

We really wanted to do something that was unique and had a storytelling feel. Many of my jewelry pieces were created from a story that I came up with first and then drew the illustrations for. I wanted to extend that concept of story to this video as well. We are going to do some more videos about some individual pieces also. So look soon for Lady Bird Incognito to be transformed from Jackie O to a bird lady — this one should be really cool!

Oh, I forgot to mention that our total expenditures on this was $12.50. That covered the tulips ($7.50) and the Styrofoam ($5) for the trees. The cottage was made from a cardboard box, the curtains were catalog pages folded, the window pane was chopsticks and I had the wooden rose bead for the door knob. Just thought it would be of interest for people who are not looking to spend a lot of money!

Don't forget to subscribe to their Youtube channel (and the Etsy Youtube channel too!). Post in the comments if you have a video you'd like to share. You can always convo one of the Storque team too! (Tara aka weirdwolf, BrePettis, and Eric B aka objecked will help you out.)

Tags chocolateandsteel, filmmaking, jewelry, Los Angeles, promoting, selling, tips, video, weirdwolf, Your Handmade Stories, Youtube
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27 comments     Login to add your own!

Sept. 15, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. tinarice

a perfect video!
nice length, nice introduction, and adorable cuteness!

thank you!

Sept. 15, 2008 at 3:35 p.m. katelynjane

Cute video!! I want to make something like that too, thanks for the tips and sharing about your experience!

Sept. 15, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. jasonmseger

awesome video!!!

Sept. 15, 2008 at 4:24 p.m. missbatch

Hi Christine!
This video is so fun. I love your workshop. :)

Sept. 15, 2008 at 5:17 p.m. karencaseysmith

Really lovely! You guys did a great job with your video. It was nice to get to "meet" you. :)

Sept. 15, 2008 at 5:45 p.m. Tresijas

Loved this! That video is awesome :)

Sept. 15, 2008 at 6:19 p.m. PillowMonsters

Love that.

Sept. 15, 2008 at 6:21 p.m. ElementLux

Hi Christine! Clever and informative. Great marketing tool. You get a sense of your fun approach to jewelry design.
Enjoyed meeting you @ Renegade and again here. You and hubbie make a great creative team.

Sept. 15, 2008 at 6:48 p.m. Vanessa

Great job! This is such a creative use of that thang online video!

Sept. 15, 2008 at 8:42 p.m. secondstory

adorable! nice jewelry too....

Sept. 15, 2008 at 9:39 p.m. foodchic

so cool! and what a great way to get your husband involved. So many times, we do our business separately.

Sept. 15, 2008 at 10:43 p.m. MayaBella

Hey neato! I did a craft show across from her a while back. Her work is really cool. And her display was awesome. A So good to see you here!

Sept. 15, 2008 at 11:05 p.m. JoyandWhimsy

Thank you so much for sharing all this valuable video editing information with us. Much appreciated!

Sept. 16, 2008 at 2:25 a.m. thenoisyplume

I'm rather smitten with your little workshop!

Sept. 16, 2008 at 9:50 a.m. dogties

great work

Sept. 16, 2008 at 9:57 p.m. trailfilly

Loved it! Thank you for sharing this

Sept. 17, 2008 at 4:14 a.m. Cattoo

Wish I had a little workshop like that in my garden :-)

Sept. 17, 2008 at 10:02 p.m. InvitaPaperStudio

yay Christine! Her stuff is amazing and she is so creative :)

Sept. 18, 2008 at 1:39 p.m. BirdlandCreations

Christine! I love your video!!! It's just great. The perfect feel that all hangs together with your jewelry too. Well done to you and your hubby!

Sept. 19, 2008 at 11:11 a.m. Littlestenographer

Love it. Love the jewelry and the video. I think I need to go build a forest now :)

Sept. 20, 2008 at 12:16 a.m. MeadowbelleMarket

Wow. Great job. Are your husband and musician friend up for hire to other etsians yet?

Sept. 21, 2008 at 2:17 p.m. uncharted

cute video

Sept. 22, 2008 at 2:49 p.m. chocolateandsteel

meadowbellemarket, there's nothing my husband would love more than to be able to make fun videos like this for a living!

seriously if anyone wants help convo me:)

Oct. 13, 2008 at 2:42 p.m. bethtastic

christine i love you! your jewelry is so amazing, and i'm so happy that you were able to quit your boring day job...i can only hope the same for me, soon!

Oct. 13, 2008 at 9:08 p.m. ModFarmgirl

What fun! This video made my day! Thank you!!!

Oct. 31, 2008 at 3:04 p.m. HANDMADELINE

haha very cute and funny :)
i love your jewelry. it is beautiful.

Feb. 4, 2009 at 12:14 a.m. Magicgreen53

Your video is really sweet!
Inspiring post!
Thank-you

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