Highlights and headlines of recently published Storque posts and things to look out for in the near future.   Hot Posts, Posts for Shoppers, Contests, News, Announcements for All, Events, Posts for the Sellers, Lifestyle pieces, and Etc. Please leave your comments on this new format and let us know if this Storque Digest is helpful.   Enjoy!

Hot Posts:

Matt announced the BuyHandmade.org pledge. We now have over 2000 signatures.  Please spread the word! 

The Halloween Costume Contest was a hot topic this past week, as entries came pouring in for the deadline on Friday the 26th.  We'll be announcing the winners on Wednesday the 31st. See all posts related to the contest. 

 
KarmaRox's Hidden Treasure post got tons of comments. Congrats to glassbeach for being the first to call it!

Keep your eye out for the November Newscast, coming soon. HeyMichelle will be newscasting and we’ll have more weather updates from Charles (aka winenutnyc), another puppet interview from StaceyRebecca and sarawearsskirts, and other good stuff. Here are the posts with the September and October Newscasts, for your viewing pleasure. View all Etsy Newscasts.

Posts For Shoppers:

Important TechUpdate for Shoppers: When you're searching on Etsy, a helpful grey sidebar appears with tips for how to conduct your search. Really helpful for newbie shoppers! See The Storque TechUpdate about it here.

Alison aka TeenAngster is collaborating with Cuppycakegumdrops on a Trends piece all about houndstooth. Last week's trend was Mustard Yella. View all Trends pieces.

 Last week’s Featured Buyer was Amy from Greenjeans, a Brooklyn boutique that showcases finely crafted handmade items.  We hear from Amy about her reasons for buying handmade.  View all Featured Buyer pieces.

Etsy Success Stories series brings you an interview with DaisyCakeSoap. She's one of Etsy's top sellers and it shows. View all Etsy Success Stories.

Last week’s Fresh Shop series spotlighted Anda’s pick, groundwork. Mary will be picking one this week. View all Fresh Shops.

Shoppers should turn a keen eye to Portland, Oregon, where a group of dedicated Etsy sellers are making some great items. We hosted them at the Labs for a trunkshow and you can read an interview with them here.

We present to you a felting and fibers theme last week and this week. Our Recommended Blog was Project Felt, which highlights many Etsy sellers. Look for an upcoming Trends piece on felting.

Check out the Etsy Finds for a new pick every day, plus some other Shout-outs to cool sellers with ideas for fall and winter best bets...like leg warmers!

Events:

 
Majestica, an artist collective from Pluto (no, I mean Seattle) joins us at the Labs for an artist-in-residency.  Reptilians were manifested and you can see photos of that here. They held Online Workshops and brought their crazy stylings to the Etsy Labs Halloween Party zone (Saturday, October 27). See all the videos and posts relating to Magestica here. View photos from the Halloween party here.

Portland hosted an awesome PDX Team trunk show on Friday October 26th. It was a pleasure to meet these fine sellers in person. View some photos here.

Look to the Teams Digest for the latest on events put on and well-stocked by Etsy sellers around the world.

Posts for the Sellers:

Seller Tip: If you're a seller who is only interested in Storque's TechUpdates, click on the TechUpdates Featured Column by that name, or subscribe to its RSS. Check out the How-to here!

On the TechUpdates front, we’ve had a flurry of updates about tagging. The "bead" tag has been adapted to "Beaded" as a subcategory of jewelry. If you're selling earrings, please change the "earring" tag to "earrings." 

The Community Team is bringing you Forum Decorum, Team Tips and a Teams Digest of events and goings-on. Check out the Team Guide #1: How to Write a Press Release.

 
Bethela’s series on pricing aired a post on Price as Indicator of value last week. It continues this week on Wednesday, with her piece on Preparing for Wholesaling.

 
For those of you interested in legal info, SarahSays’ column will be on Infringement this Tuesday. View all posts from her column.

Showcase sales started again: Storque Showcase went on sale on October 29th, Main Showcase goes on sale Tuesday October 30th. Look for Showcase Heads Up on The Storque.

Etsy was featured in the Austin Chronicle. See all Etsy in the Press items.

For the Reviews section, we are looking for folks who’d like to write product, supplies and equipment reviews. Post your ideas in this forum thread.

Lifestyle:


Look to the Craftivism section for the latest on crafting-for-causes pieces, such as this one about Etsy For Animals.

We posted moogancreations' review of DIY Kids.

And Etc!

We launched a new gossip column in Etc, full of juicy tidbits.


anniessweatshop's pooch made it into the Etsy Pets series.

 
Funny Forum quotes from abitabite are alway fun. See all Funny Forum Quotes.

 
MrToastStore's comic appeared in Etc last week. We’re constantly on the hunt for great cartoonists, if you’d like to recommend any in the comments of these cartoon posts. 

Upcoming, another Wacky Recipe by artists-in-residence Majestica. 

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Please let us know if this Storque Digest is a worthwhile thing to do for you readers! Do you like it, love it?  Hate it? Shrug and say Ehhn? Comment below, yes, please do.