As someone who is preparring to open up shop at Etsy soon, I was pleasantly surprised at all of the resources and articles available on the site to help newbies. The folks at Etsy know the importance of setting yourself apart from the crowd, and for anyone who's willing to do a little prepwork, they really have provided a fine buffet of articles for things like taking photos, creating great packaging, pricing your work, advertising your shop, adding videos to your site and more. There's also dowloads for buttons, banners and avatars. And check out this list of links for additional resources elsewhere.
And here I've been putting off opening a shop for so long because I didn't know where to start or what to do and I'm glad that all excuses have been nullified! See you at the market soon--what's your excuse?
(If you have any words of advice or tips to share from your own selling experience, please leave a comment here. I can use all of the help I can get!)
Here in Cincinnati, we are in the midst of a rare visit (a politically correct term for “infestation”) from an enthusiastic (a politically correct term for “relentless”) brood of cicadas. Every 17 years, they emerge from the ground to molt and to fly, to sing and to swarm, to explore the world above ground and to reproduce, to dive bomb innocent bystanders and to sneak indoors on the shoulders of unsuspecting pedestrians… but I digress. It really is an amazing phenomenon, if you can get past the initial squeamish stage that comes with the shock of their sheer numbers alone. The cicadas will be with us for only a short time, so it’s only fitting to commemorate them with a mixed-media roundup of cicada crafts here.
Hi, Christine here. I've always been a fan of the mid-century modern look in everything from furniture to housewares to artwork. So I was thrilled recently when the Crafty Ninja gave me a Charley Harper print for my birthday. Charley Harper is best known for his stylized animal images...
...but after attending an exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum, I was taken by his travel series. And it is a print from that series that I received. Hooray!
I love the chartruese paint glob trees and the teeny car motoring along at the top.
While the art that I make resembles in no way the artwork of Charley Harper, I still find inspiration it in, be it in the color choice or the simple detail. Do you have a favorite artist that inspires you in ways other than style? Tell us about it in the comments!
This morning as I was getting ready for work, a segment on Good Morning America caught my attention. Apparently a Wall Street Journal article had sparked a nationwide debate after a Midwestern company garnered unwanted attention for its dress code: Pantyhose were required dress of all women at all times (even under pants!), but ties were not required of the men. The article speculates, “As for fairness, it's hard to say whether ties or panty hose are more uncomfortable. One male reader of this newspaper, after making a bet with a female co-worker, attempted to discover the answer by secretly wearing pantyhose under his business suit for several weeks. He claims ties are worse.”
Personally, I disagree--and I'm speaking as both a former ballet dancer (tights are to pantyhose as a noose is to a scarf) AND a former waitress who had to wear a uniform of a starched white buttondown and, yes, a tie. But, after a wave of relief that my company’s dress code is relaxed (and a wave of cheers for Diane Sawyer admitting that she, like many of us, hasn’t worn hose in years) it did get me thinking that I’ve seen wonderful crafts made with both. And if we’ll all be wearing them less as Business Casual becomes more the norm, then it stands to reason we’ll all have fodder to craft with them more. So I ask you, which makes the better mixed-media projects: Ties Vs. Pantyhose?
Exhibit A: The ever-popular fan favorite Tie Skirt from Alexandra Underhill, as seen in AlterNation:
Exhibit B: Amazingly realistic figurative sculpture from talented artist Lisa Lichtenfels (soon to be featured in another North Light Book by Ricë Freeman-Zachery), made from, yes, pantyhose:
This last weekend I had my creative-energy stores refueled by attending a great annual event we have here in the Cincinnati area called Summerfair. Of course I saw many of the artists who seem to appear each year, including a few that I always look forward to, but it seemed that this year's group of artists was the best yet.
I was amused and inspired by the woodcut prints of Derrick Riley. I don't know that he'd appreciate me calling his robots cute, so don't tell him I used that word, but they were adorable cool.
I also was happy to stumble upon the work of Michael Babyak. His passion is clearly guitars and other musical instruments as a subject matter, but it was his abstracts that really entranced me. I wish he had his "slide" series on his website for you to see. It's similar to the White Series, but a bit edgier.
And then of course, I couldn't leave the fair without purchasing some jewelry, and my favorite booth was that of Greg & BJ Jordan. I had the most difficult time making up my mind! But I think I made a great choice and I hope to see these artists again at other events.
I hope your weekend was inspiring too. Anything you'd like to share?
