All the Teams have been busy bees, promoting their shops, their Teams and Etsy, this is just a sampling of their hard work.  Here is a summary of events from the Global Teams:

• The Bookbinding Team's charity drive for H.E.L.P. International  is doing fabulously! Six weeks in, they have raised $269.55 for the Books for Africa Literacy Project. Check out the Bookbinding Team Blog for more information. You can also find gorgeous books that members of the team created for the tri-monthly book swap pictured on the Blog! There are still three weeks left in the charity drive, so don't forget to do a tag search for "bookbindingteam charity" to find the rest of the charity books listed for sale, and check out the Team Shop for other wonderful handmade books!

• The new Etsy group Swarovski Crystal in Design is dedicated to promoting the brilliance and beauty of Swarovski crystals, among other things, and they do this through their work.  Mother's Day is coming up, and what better holiday to purchase beautiful items handcrafted out of Swarovski crystals, which are some of the best cut crystals in the world.  There are many, many more examples of perfect Mother's Day gifts designed and handcrafted by the members of Swarovski Crystal in Design. Wishing all a Happy Mother's Day!

Photo by CrystalWonder of the Swarovski Crystal in Design Team

• Sleek, chic, fun, serious, corporate, whimsical, formal, trendy, conservative…  If any of these words describe the mother in your life, the Etsy BeadWeavers Team members are confident they have the solution for your Mother’s Day gift giving, with hundreds of beautiful creations for your one-of-a-kind mom.  Lovingly and patiently created one bead at a time, each piece is art she can wear.  Many of the Etsy BeadWeavers accept custom orders, so you can request specific colors, sizes, and styles through Alchemy. The Etsy BeadWeavers conduct a monthly challenge open to all members, with a new theme selected each month.  Members create pieces designed specifically for the theme, expanding their range in terms of technique, design, color, and interpretation.  This month’s theme is Fire + Flowers, and you can visit the BeadWeavers blog from April 7- 14 to vote for your favorite entry.

• Mixed media artists of Etsy now have a community and an outlet to discuss, share, and network with each other: Mixed Media Etsy or "Metsy,"  a new team on Etsy with over fifty-three members so far. The Team formed by posting in a forum about various techniques used in their artwork, to make a group to make networking with each other easier.  There is already a Metsy blog! If you're interested in joining this fun new group of artists for friendship and support for Mixed Media crafts, please visit the Metsy blog for more information.

• The Eco Etsy team does a weekly Eco Tip every week on their blog. The new tips are posted every Sunday. It's a great way to spread the word about living a more sustainable life, and the Eco Etsy team wants to spread the word to everyone! We hope to one day create an Eco friendly book and combine all our tips we have collected over this year. You can see our Eco tips and what else our team has been up to at http://ecoetsy.blogspot.com.

Photo by LilFishStudios of the EcoEtsyTeam

• Grandmamas rule! 50 members and counting! The Wild, Wise, Witty Grandmamas is another ambitious new Global Etsy Team, off to a great start.  They're adding new members each week and are really forming a fun, supportive group of crafty Grandmas.  To join, contact Elenamary, their fearless leader. 

• Etsy Team MiniMakers is looking for dollhouse scale artists on Etsy!  The MiniMakers team creates collectible scale replicas for the dollhouse in 1:12 size, plus slightly larger for Blythe-size dolls in 1:8 scale, all the way down to the other end of the size spectrum at 1:144. In other words, really tiny! Their pieces are miniature works of art meant for adult collectors and are not intended for children to play with. Everyone from beginning artists to master craftsmen can be found in their ranks. All of them will be featured individually this month on the MiniMaker's blog, in a new weekly MiniMembers Spotlight article describing their art and photos showing some of their latest works If you create scale works of miniature art, check out the MiniMakers Team and convo Greenlupa about membership.

Photo by TrilliumArtisans

• Trendy Textiles is a group of designers who have an eye for spotting the next great fabric designer. Their mission is to seek out top of the line fabrics with new and fresh designs and then create amazing handmade items with these fabrics.  From March 27th to April 27th, Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson will be the focus of the designers’ attention. Jennifer Paganelli will also be featured in the very near future with her brand new line of fabric.  Want to know more about Trendy Textiles? Visit the Trendy Textiles blog.

• Everything old is new again! The Etsy Vintage Street Team has been growing in leaps and bounds over the past few weeks. Member shops have everything from vintage pyrex for your retro kitchen to poofy vintage prom dresses! The team is excited to announce it's new blog, which can be found at http://etsyvintage.blogspot.com. There are bi-weekly featured member shops, which run exclusive sales and promos for blog readers! The blog strives to capture the many design elements and infinite possibilities found in the world of vintage home goods, clothing and accessories as well as the inspiration behind and the essence of items hand made with vintage components. The Vintage Street Team is always welcoming new members and would love to hear your comments on vintage style, collecting and design on the new blog! 

• Interior Design Etsy is a new team that is open to all Etsy sellers who sell items in the Interior Design/Home Decor/Art/Furniture/Housewares categories. The team is welcoming new members. The main component of membership is active contribution. Additional focuses are on cross promotion and group sale events. The team's Bunny Hop Sale is going on now until April 6th. Each seller has their own sale offers so check out each shop announcement for sale specifics. To find out which shops are participating in the sale or to join Interior Design Etsy check out their blog.

• The biggest news from EtsyChai: they exist! It’s a team for the Jewish community (“Jew-positive, not Jew-only”) here on Etsy, and not just for sellers of Judaica. They’re less than a month old and already have over 50 members! With Passover fast-approaching, they’re putting together an “afikoman hunt.” In a traditional afikoman hunt, either the children or adults hide a broken piece of matzoh (the “afikoman”) and, when found, the kids get prizes. In the EtyChai version, the “afikoman” will be hidden in a participating shop and whoever finds it will get some serious discounts! So keep an eye on the EtsyChai blog for this and other great things from a very new team!

• Some Etsy sellers have recently come together to form the Wire Artisans Guild, a team of like-minded jewelry artisans who subscribes to the code of intricate, wire-wrapped pieces. This new Team's main goal is to educate buyers on the work intricacy and labor-intensity that goes into the making of each piece (and the consequent pricing).  We intend to increase awareness and knowledge of the various skills and techniques involved and invested into the making of a wire-wrapped piece, and promote the uniqueness of each and every single design, thus reinforcing wire-wrapped jewelry as collectible OOAK couture jewelry.

Photo by LuckyDuckDesigns of the EtsyGreetings Team

• The Jewelry on Etsy Team (JET), EtsyFAST, and ETSYGreetings teams have come together to offer their members a creative Wedding Challenge, which will be launched on the participating teams blogs on April 1st. Members are challenged to design a "jewelry," "fiber," or "paper" item inspired by a featured bride's wedding details. To ensure maximum promotional benefit for this challenge, the featured bride was chosen from another online community, Our Little Universe. The OLU community and the Etsy community will be invited to vote for their favorite challenge entry, beginning April 22. The entire Etsy community is invited to share this promotional opportunity.  Any Etsy shops wishing to contribute to this gift basket for the featured bride will mentioned on the 3 teams' blogs and on the OLU forums.

• Cruelty Free Etsy is proud to announce that they are a new team for all Etsy sellers who use cruelty free materials in their work. Cruelty free is any product that is not made from animal products or animal by products. For more information or to join please contact JaKRandomArt with your e-mail and a short description of your shop.

• Old World Shoppes is having a Mother's Day giveaway!  Visit the Old World Almanac for details on how to enter.

• The Old Farmhouse Gathering Team will be having a group Challenge starting on April 25th. The theme of the challenge is " A Tribute to Motherhood." Please come and see what the ladies come up with. There will be many very unique and original pieces offered you won't want to miss! We will have voting on your favorite pieces on the Old Farmhouse Blog.  Please come in and vote and let the girls know how well they did!

Thanks to all the Global Etsy Teams for their inventive events!  There are new Etsy Teams forming daily, so be sure to check the list of Etsy Teams to see if there are any you might be interested in joining, and browse the Etsy Teams Blog Ring to stay up to date on all the Teams' events!