Roll Call Response List is Posted

I have posted the list of members/aspiring members we have received responses from so far. We are asking that everyone double-check the list for their name. We are going to give two additional days for responses to come in and then we will be "cleaning" the roster and ning. Thanks to everyone for your help!* If you need to respond to the roll call, you can find the requested info HERE.

FIND THE RESPONSE LIST HERE

Membership Roll Call - Quick Update

Just a quick note to all: I am in the process of creating a list of all members (official and aspiring) who I have received roll call info from. I am planning on posting it on Ning by tomorrow morning. You'll be able to double-check the list to make sure your info has been received. We are going to give an additional two days (after the list has been posted) for replies to come in - after the two days we will begin cleaning our membership roster and Ning. I will post here once the list is up:)

Membership Roll Call - Deadline for Reply is Almost Here!

For all who wish to remain on the EtsyPaper team: The deadline for reply to the membership roll call is October 30th. The roll call info request was sent as a broadcast message (to all members on Ning). For those of you who may have mis-placed or did not receive the email, I am adding the requested info below. You can just copy & paste the questions and respond to either me or Chrystal via etsy shop convo. Please feel free to ask questions through our Ning forum post HERE.

PLEASE FILL OUT THE REQUESTED INFO BELOW:

Name:Location:E-mail Address:
Primary Etsy Shop:
Etsy Username (if different from shop name):
Brief Description of Your Shop:

Any additional Etsy Shops (with brief descriptions of each): If directly related to your business...
Website:
Blog:
Flickr:
Other Sites:

Send to (either)

* Sarah Kinzalow (Paper Peddler)

* Chrystal Schilling (CS Paper & Beads/ Craft Studio)

Membership Roll Call - Deadline for Reply is Almost Here!

*IMPORTANT*ALL MEMBERS & ASPIRING MEMBERS: IF YOU HAVE NOT RECIEVED YOUR MEMBERSHIP ROLL CALL PLEASE CONTACT SARAH OR CHRYSTAL. WE WILL BE REMOVING MEMBERS WHO HAVE NOT REPLIED BY 10/30.
* MORE INFO
* QUESTIONS

EtsyPaper Team October Challenge - Give Thanks

Hello and happy October to all! We are back with a new challenge for the month and hope to have a lot of participation. We have a few team members who are in the military, have been in the military (me included), or are married to a soldier. We thought it would be nice (with Thanksgiving right around the corner) to let our men and women in uniform know how much we appreciate them. Chrystal (CS Paper & Beads & Craft Studio) is married to a Marine and they were recently getting fellow Marines ready for deployment to Iraq. We thought it might send a little comfort to all who are away from home, especially during the upcoming holidays, to send our thanks, thoughts and well wishes over to them. Challenge details are below - enjoy!

GIVE THANKS - EtsyPaper Team October Challenge

* Make a thank you card for our recently deployed Marines

* Themes can be American/Americana or Fall/Autumn, Thanksgiving

* Take photos! Add them to Ning with "October Thanks" as the tag (so we can easily find them) We would also love to have you post in our team thread once you have completed the challenge and add a link to view the photos

* The deadline to have the cards finished is October 22nd. You may then mail them to Chrystal and she will see that they get shipped out to our Marines. Feel free to write an encouraging note inside and/or sign your card.

* EVERYONE is invited to participate! Official & Aspiring members welcome.

* You may also create multiple cards - the more, the merrier!

* An event will be created on Ning and we ask that you "RSVP" if you are participating. We will use the RSVP list to send out Chrystal's address.

We will highlight the entries as they come in on our team promo thread and here on the team blog. I am also hoping to get enough entries to create treasuries,etc. and gain some much needed exposure for our team and members. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks to everyone in advance.

Sarah (contact here)

Here are a few Thank You cards I found from our team members:

Scrap Your Story

Lindas Paperie

EnviroMental

BBesigns

CS Paper and Beads

Pumpkin Sputnik

AJs Designs

Modern Card

Lady Gil

Jujus Creations

Details Delights

Articulations

EtsyPaper Team Membership Roll Call - More Info

We are getting ready to send out an email via Ning messaging system and/or convo so that we may update our membership records & roster. I have created an event through Ning as notice to everyone to be on the lookout for your email this week. The event will also serve as a reminder to all. There is no need to take any action on the event message. You will, however, need to respond to the next email you receive as to whether or not you would like to remain a member. There are also a few items you will need to fill out/answer so that we can update our teams page on etsy.

We are looking to have most of our "aspiring" members join us as "official" members by the end of the year, but the roster cleanup needs to be completed before we are able to add anyone new. ASPIRING MEMBERS: you are included in the email request so please be sure to fill out your information. This will save the hassle of getting it from you at a later time. We currently have 328 members on Ning (aspiring & official), not to mention shops/members that are listed on the etsy teams page who aren't on Ning. I can honestly say there is only a small percentage of which I regularly "see" or recognize their names and shops. We want to fix that and also hope to get a better idea of where we should focus our attention to benefit our members and team. We are also asking that if you no longer wish to be a member to please respond with that.

We are giving one full month to answer the request in case there are people on vacations,etc. You will have until October 30th to respond. After that date, we will begin removing (first) members who have conveyed that they no longer wish to be on the team, and (second) those who have not responded to the email. This is also going to help cleanup our Ning site as well. We're asking that you respond quickly (as possible) so that Chrystal and I can get things rolling and we can all go into the new year with better focus and with members who are happy and active. We have a forum on Ning for you to post questions (you may have questions that others are curious about so ask away), or you may contact either Chrystal or myself at the links below and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks to everyone in advance:)

CONTACT HERE:

*NING FORUM FOR QUESTIONS

* Sarah

* Chrystal

EtsyPaper Team Featured Member - Amy Vander Vorste

It's time for our next EtsyPaper Team featured member post! I am pleased to to feature Amy Vander Vorste of Avlor's Imprints. She is a valued member and also maintains our team Twitter account. Read her feature and visit her shop and blog (links can be found below). Enjoy!

Tell us a little about yourself:

(Waving to everybody) Hi! I'm Amy Vander Vorste and I'm a stay at home mom. My darling hubby and I have 2 wonderful kidlets under the age of 10, a runt fuzzball cat named Tuna and the rollie pollie Hammy the Hamster. Besides playing with paper, I enjoy fiber arts (knitting, spinning, card weaving, naalbinding, etc), learning about Japan, studying the Viking age, and tinkering on the computer. My shops take up most of my "hobby" time (and then some), but I try to do something non shop related every week.

Tell us about your shop:

* When did you open it?

Avlor's Imprints opened December of 2007, after nudging by a couple of my friends. It's been a fun journey so far turning it from just a little hobby to a business.

* What items/type of items do you sell?

At first I was all over the map with the items I put in my shop. But I've focused in on stationery (printed and print-your-own), labels and tags, and promotional items. Designing, adding a touch of whimsy and seeing the finished printed products is always a thrill.

Print-your-own stationery is what I started with because I like the convenience of just printing some when I need it. So my slogan for printable stationery was born - "Save money by having cards and stationery on hand! Save trees by only printing what you need! Include a personal note in your orders for an excellent presentation! Great for promos!"

I don't just print my own designs. Helping other sellers by making promo cards or graphics with their product photos is fun too!

My hubby even designed one of the sets - Spaceman M.E.L. (I keep trying to convince him to do more sets, but he's trying to get back to writing on his book.)


Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. Is there something that you've never tried with paper that you'd like to try?

Making my own paper. Someday soon I will slate the time to just try it with the kiddos. It sounds wonderfully fun and messy! Experimentation and exploration are incredibly important to being artistic. I like to encourage people to try new things and to not worry about being good at it right away. Try something new when ever you can. I've tried metal smithing, roasting my own coffee, spinning my own yarn, historical re-enactment, learning Japanese, designing my own stationery, photography, and many other things. Some things I am good at, some I'm terrible at (like smithing) - but I love trying them all.

2. What is your first crafting memory?

My grandparents lived with us when I was a kid. My grandmother taught me to crochet ... several times, because I kept forgetting it. But her patient persistence gave me a love of making things and a pride in accomplishments that has stayed with me to this day. She also gave me some of her good old German tenacity in the process. I hope to pass these on to my own children too. My son is asking to learn to crochet so he can make a stuffed tiger. I'm slowly teaching him, and it's cool to see the other side of learning the first craft I learned.

3. When did you join the EtsyPaper Team and what are your favorite things about being a team member?

This last spring is when I joined the team. It's the first team I applied to join and I chose it because there's a good community here. People here are very friendly and make you feel welcome right away. If you need help, advice or encouragement - you can count on the EtsyPaper team. I also like how we're professional but laid back at the same time. We promote each other - like we do with the business card exchange. I feel its important to be active and of help in any group we join. This limits the number of teams we can join, but it's more rewarding. I've joined only one other team (EtsyTwitter) and that's enough for me.

4. How has being part of the Etsy community changed your craft?

Being in the Etsy community has challenged me to:

* be more professional -> I "brand" now because if Etsy. I'm proud of the products I make and I want people to know it.

* plan ahead and schedule more efficiently -> So I can do more. Not everything, just more.

* try new things and ways of doing things -> I've tried several methods of cutting my stationery by hand and I know what works best now.

* add special touches -> Each product has a little something that makes it special. I also enjoy sending my products as a gift to my buyers.

5. Do you have more than one etsy shop?

Yes, I do. This summer I started a second shop because I wanted to narrow the focus of the items I sold in Avlor's Imprints. Having the variety of two shops is great. But two is my limit!

* Name of shop(s) & link:
Ojami - http://ojami.etsy.com/

* Types of items you sell there.
Otedama (Japanese juggling and jacks) game sets and Bento accessories (lunch Bags and Bento lunch box bands).
I started making Otedama sets after making sets for my son's class at Christmas one year. I was hooked on the little game. (True confessions - I'm not coordinated enough to be good at the game. But I keep trying because it's fun!)

Then the Bento related items came from a need in my own family. The school lunches here leave much to be desired. After reading Japanese lunch blogs and forums at justbento.com and lunchinabox.net, I got in gear to make healthy reasonably sized lunches for my kiddos and myself. (I posted about this on my blog, so I won't go into detail here. http://avlorsimprints.blogspot.com/2009/08/back-to-school-packing-healthy-lunches.html) I couldn't locally find resusable lunch bags that would accommodate the Japanese style bento boxes we use or the bands that hold them closed, so I made my own. I hope it will help others wanting to be health and eco conscious.

Find her here:

SHOP: Avlor's Imprints

BLOG: Avlor's Imprints

NING: Amy Vander Vorste

Ning Maintenance

Just a quick note for those you looking to get on Ning today - Ning will be down most of the day but should be back up late this evening. We will also have our next featured team member post up tomorrow so be sure to check back.

EtsyPaper Team Featured Member - Michelle Neuendorf

It's a new month, a new season, and EtsyPaper Team featured members are back! I am thrilled to feature Michelle Neuendorf of MichellenStamps. I absolutely LOVE her creative and beautiful cards. Read her feature and visit her shop and blog (links can be found below). Enjoy!

For those of you who aren't familiar with the featured members posts, our members have submitted questions they would like answered and our featured members choose five (so far we have over 50 questions!). Here we go...

Tell us a little about yourself :

My name is Michelle N. I am 39 years old, and a Wisconsin native. I've been happily married almost 18 years (wow, that sounds like a long time!), and have 3 kids: 15, 13 and 10(two girls and a boy). I am a Stay at Home Mom, and have been ever since my kids were born. I really love being at home, and am thankful that I can be.

Tell us about your shop:

* When did you open it?

I opened my shop in March of this year. I had heard of Etsy a while back, but had never really looked into it. When I make cards, I love having someone to share them with. I had been a demonstrator for a rubber stamp company for 6 years, so I had a venue for the cards I made. Once I quit that though, I still wanted to share what I made, so thought I would give Etsy a try. It sure has been a lot of fun too!

*What items/type of items do you sell?

Greeting cards are my favorite thing to make, so that is the majority of my shop. I have cards for many different occasions, but I leave most of them blank, so the sender can use them for whatever occasion they need.

I do have a small gift section as well, with some great notebooks with matching pens, acrylic post it note holders and ceramic tile coasters. I've just started adding some card sets and some Holiday gift tags and cards.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. Name top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.

If I had to choose just one thing, it would be my great cutting scissors. I love to cut certain elements of my cards out, and sometimes what I am cutting is very small. So a sharp pair of scissors is essential.

Which leads to item 2. I almost always raise the cut item up with foam dots. I love the extra dimension that gives to a card.

If you look through my shop, you will see that I also love ribbon. I think about 90% of the cards I make have ribbon on them. There are so many fun colors and patterns to choose from today!

One other thing that I must have, is loads and loads of patterned paper. I don't think I will ever run out of it, but I still keep buying more. It's so much fun!

2. When do you find/make time for your crafting?

I find it pretty had to craft when the kids are home. My ideal is to have more than an hour, and preferably 3-4 hours, where I can sit down and create. It always take me a little while to get started on that first card, but once I have that made, I can roll. When I demonstrated, I pretty much shut down for the summer. This year, I did back way off on my shop during the summer, but still tried to make a few cards a month. Now that the kids are back in school though, I will soon be in full swing. There are times when I spend the whole day at my stamp desk.

3. Do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?

When I first started rubber stamping, it was the kitchen table. But I always felt like I had to clean it up every time I used my stuff (we did need a place to eat after all). It wasn't too long though before I had my husband make me a spot in the basement. It was pretty basic at first, and still isn't overly fancy now, but I have a very nice sturdy desk, and lots of storage space. I love my stamp area! The best part is, I can walk away from the chaos without having to clean it up each time.

4. Do you remember the first item you made, and if so, do you still have it (or a picture of it)?

Oh yes, that is the beginning of my story :). I was pregnant with my second daughter, and went to a rubber stamp party (so that would be 14 years ago). I never considered myself artistic, but when I saw rubber stamping, I knew that was a craft I could do. After all who can't color in the lines. So I bought what I needed to make her birth announcements. That was right around when rubber stamping was becoming popular, and the line was, "Just think of all the money you will save by not buying cards!" Ha Ha Ha! I've invested so much money in my craft I could own a Hallmark store :) But, I love making cards just as much as I did in the beginning. Here is a picture of the announcement:
5. Are you a clean or messy crafter?

Like I said earlier, I have a nice stamp desk. It's at least 5 feet long and pretty wide. But it never fails that I end up with about 6 inches of cleared space while I am crafting. I get so busy creating, that I don't take time to put away what I am done with. So, the answer would be, I am a very messy crafter. Eventually, I can't stand it any longer, and I can no longer find what I need, so I have to stop and pick it all up before I start my next project.

Find her here:

SHOP - Michellenstamps

BLOG - Michellenstamps

NING - Michelle

Flickr Pool Friday

This card's beautiful color scheme reminds me that Fall is just around the corner:)

PHOTO: MichellenStamps

EtsyPaper Team is on Twitter!

We have a new promotion tool for EtsyPaper Team members - Twitter! Thanks to Amy of Avlor's Imprints for the needed push to help make it happen:) We also have a new admin position just for Twitter. Amy is our new Twitter admin (I consider her a Twitter expert), so please feel free to contact her (or me) if you have any comments, questions or suggestions for the team Twitter account. We figured the best way for our team Twitter to work is to have our members follow on the team page and in return the team will follow members. This will give us an easy way to find and identify members with Twitter accounts, as well as a new outlet for team and individual member promotion. We can also use this as a way to follow each other's individual Tweets. We look forward to seeing you - happy tweeting!

Team Twitter

New on Ning - An introduction and How to for the "Sell or Trade" Section

Well, it's been a while since I posted and Ning has gone through a few updates and changes. One of the new sections/features that has been added is a "SELL OR TRADE" section. Unfortunately, the only option Ning had for me to add was a "groups" section. I would have preferred to do a forum style posting but we are only allowed one forum and we already have one. So, I thought I would explain here why I added the "Sell or Trade" section and how to use it.

I know many of us (probably most of us) have supplies that are ready for a new home. There are always things you might like to destash, never used or barely used tools, embellishments, etc., but they aren't the kind of things you want to list in your shop. The "SELL or TRADE" section on NING is exactly for that purpose. We currently have close to three hundred members on Ning and are ever growing. Surely with all those paper crafters out there someone would find your destash supplies useful. The Sell or Trade section is a great way for our members to list what they have, possibly how much they would like for the item(s), and any other info that might help find their destash supplies a new and loving home. There are currently two members with plenty of items to offer so be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom of the main page on Ning to see what's on the offering table.

SELL or TRADE - How to add your own destash items

Listing your items is easy to do. Click on the "Sell or Trade" tab at the top of any page on Ning or click on the EtsyPaper photo under the "groups" box on the main page. All you have to do is click "start discussion" and go to town with your items and info. PLEASE DO NOT ADD A GROUP or your listing will be removed. I am also asking everyone listing to not add photos. You can provide photos via convos, email or Ning messaging.

PLEASE NOTE: This section is ONLY for items you think other team members may be interested in (ex. stamps, craft equipment,destash supplies, etc.) and not for regular items you sell in your shop. Any items NOT fitting the criteria will be removed by admin.

I hope this new section will give members a fun way to clean out their crafting space and also find something to fill it back up with:)

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions, suggestions or concerns. Now, go see what our members are offering and be sure to add your own!

Flickr Pool Friday

Time to feed the fish! I just love the tranquility of this - very soothing:)

PHOTO: Fubabee

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Member - Emma Wilson

We missed a featured member post last week but we are back with our feature this week. Our next featured team member is Emma Wilson. Emma is the creative mind behind Pumpkin Sputnik. She creates notebooks and cards using images from her own beautiful photography. Emma has been a member of our team since January, 2008. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Emma and her shop and she has chosen 6 out of all of the questions that were submitted by our team members on the forum post. Here are her answers to our questions - happy reading!

Tell us a little about yourself :

Hi! My name is Emma, I live in Glasgow, Scotland with my lovely husband and two gorgeous children. I have a degree in Design and Craft, so this is what I always wanted to do, however, the kids are my full-time job at the moment until they are a little older.



Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

I opened my Etsy shop in August 2007.

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I make lots of notebooks, note cards and writing sets. I've also made wedding invitations and change of address cards.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. Name top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.

PC, bone folder, corner stamp, printers, guillotine.

2. When do you find time for crafting?

I try to do as much as I can while the kids are at school, 3pm comes around really quickly though!!

3. Do you remember the first item you made, and if so, do you still have it (or a picture of it)?

One of the first things I made at school which really inspired me to do what I did in Art School and after was an enamelled copper pendant - I was about 9. I remember the day so clearly, I was so excited when the art teacher showed us what to do and how it would come out. It's a butterfly shape and yes I still have it. When I was in Art School I specialised in enamelling and went on to make silver and enamel jewellery afterwards until I had the kids. I've also always made my own greetings cards for Christmas and birthdays, even when I was small!

4. Do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?

I'm very lucky to have use of the attic room - I do have to share it with lots of stuff which needs stored away though.

5.Why did you decide to become an Etsy seller?

Gosh, I remember being so excited when I found Etsy - I could actually sell my stuff online at a really low cost and be in complete control - fantastic! And it looks great!

6. What do you have on while you're creating, if anything, and is it tuned to something specific? (i.e. tv, radio)

I always have either the radio on or some music, I hate it when it's too quiet. Music helps me relax and focus and the radio keeps me company!



Find her here:

SHOP - Pumpkin Sputnik

BLOG - Pumpkin Sputnik

NING - Emma

Craftcult Ads - A Review from Member Michelle Neuendorf

Hello Etsy Paper Street Team Members! Sarah noticed that I recently ran an ad on Craftcult (a.k.a. "HEART-O-TRON) and asked me to write a post about my experience. Before I share anything, I want to let you know how I view advertising. We all love instant feedback and instant results, but I look at advertising, this type especially, as exposure and future sales. That being said, here's how it went...

The owners of the site are great to work with! Communication was wonderful and they are very helpful. I chose to run the 4 day carousel/7 day sidebar bundle. The carousel was scheduled to start first, and the great thing is, you can change the image you have on there every single day! I ended up getting more then 4 days. I'm not sure if it was because of the holiday weekend (Memorial Day) or what happened, but I'll always take a bonus! My views were the highest on Saturday and Memorial Day, but on average I received 9 views per day from the carousel.

The side bar add started 2 days after the carousel ended. I'm not sure why, but my views increased the longer the ad was up. On average, I received 8 views a day from this ad. I wouldn't say either ad brought me a ton of views, but it was 8 people who didn't know I existed before, 8 people who were interested in what I sell enough to take a look, 8 people who will hopefully remember me when they need a greeting card.

I was hearted by 28 people over the course of the ad run. Even though hearts don't equal sales, I look at them as possible future sales.

My shop has only been around for 3 months now, so I don't really have a feel for what is "normal," but it does seem that my sales have been slower in May. I do think they will be slower for the summer months in general. I know I spend less time on the computer during the summer months. I had 4 sales during the run of the ad, but 2 were to a repeat customer, so I don' t think that came from the ad.

Would I call it instant success? No. Would I say the results were huge? No. Did my ad pay for itself? Not immediately, but it did bring my shop more exposure. Don't forget, people won't automatically come to your shop, they need to know you are there. Would I advertise again? Absolutely. I especially like the carousel ad, since you can show your actual product, and change the image.

I hope this information helps. Feel free to convo me with any questions you might have. Have a great day!

Michelle Neuendorf

FIND HER HERE:

My Splitcoast Stampers Gallery: www.splitcoaststampers.com/go/michellenstamps

Quality, Handmade Cards For Sale: http://www.michellenstamps.etsy.com/

My Stamping Blog: http://www.michellenstamps.blogspot.com/

Business Card Swap Update

I have finally received every one's business cards for the May/June Team card swap and will be dividing them up and mailing them back out tomorrow. Keep a close eye on your mailboxes because they should be arriving this week. I have to say that I have really enjoyed looking at all of the different cards and the variety of styles just proves what a talented bunch we all are:)

REMEMBER:
Participating in this swap is easy. When you sell something from your shop, send along one of your business cards and one from a fellow member's shop. It may take a while for you to "clear out" all of the cards (especially if you have a slower shop), but hopefully your customers will be curious enough to check out your friend's shop as well as return to your shop. For those of you who missed this swap, no worries. We will host another one in the future. I hope this is a successful promo for you all! Happy card swapping.

It's YART SALE Time!

It's time for the 2nd annual Etsy "YART SALE" again and there has been quite a bit of talk about it (and plenty of questions from some of our newer members) in our team thread. Having participated in last year's "Yart Sale", I thought I might offer some good points on preparing your shop for a successful sale.

What is a "YART SALE"? That's simple. It is like a yard sale but for your art and crafts. It's a YART SALE!

I found out about it last year, decided to participate and I can say that I really did see an increase in both traffic & sales for the week. Not to mention that I gained a few long term/repeat customers from it as well. I was excited to find out that it was yart time again and decided to start early. I have already sold twelve yart items from my shop! There is a good bit of preparation for the sale but, the time and effort you put in will pay off. It's also a terrific way to destash and clean up your crafting space. There are plenty of customers out there specifically looking for your yart items so jump in and have a great sale!

Preparing for a YART SALE - BASICS:

• Create a YART SALE section in your shop. This will group all yart items together and make them easier for customers to find & shop.

• Edit YART item listings in your shop. Another way to make these items easy for customers to find and shop. I recommend adding "YART" or "YART SALE" in the listing title and in item tags. People actually do etsy searches for "YART".

• Adjust your price and shipping (if you decide to offer a discounted ship rate). Remember you are trying to entice the buyer. Customers love to feel like they are getting an extra special deal on items that would normally cost much more. Sometimes even a small discount on shipping can be the icing on the cake and a deciding factor in whether or not items will be leaving your shop through a sale.

• Add info about your Yart Sale and specials in your shop announcement. Let the buyer know what you have to offer (ex. types of items, discount percentage, shipping discounts, etc.)

• Create a special YART SALE banner and/or avatar. I don't do this one because I think adding YART into the item titles and tags are fine, but plenty of sellers do and it is just another good way to advertise the fact that you are participating in the yart sale. I think it works really well for those of you who like to visit the treasuries and forums a good bit.

• ADVERTISE! Be sure to add a blog post or several throughout the week on your personal/shop blog. Post about daily deals you are running, have a contest or giveaway, just talk about it. You may be surprised at how many people look at your blog and head over to your shop to see what you have going on.

• HAVE FUN WITH IT! Just have fun. Be creative with your sale. I think you'll find that once those sales start rolling in, you will try to find more and more items to add to your sale section. HAPPY YARTING:)

The OFFICIAL Yart sale dates are Wednesday, June 10th - Sunday, June 14th. I don't think four days is long enough which is why I started early,lol.

YART SALE LINKS:

• STORQUE ARTICLES
• ETSY FORUM POSTS

Flickr Pool Friday

Not too scary, just a little bit "wild" - this has got to be one of the coolest paper cupcake holders I've ever seen:)

PHOTO: Missamyo

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Member - Kalla Vieth

Our next featured team member is Kalla Vieth. Kalla is the owner of Timeless Paper Arts. She creates an assortment of beautiful "scrappy" items and has been a member of our team since January, 2008. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Kalla and her shop and she has chosen 5 out of all of the questions that were submitted by our team members on the forum post. Here are her answers to our questions - happy reading!

Tell us a little about yourself :

My name is Kalla Vieth. I live in South Dakota, I'm married, have two kids and one dog. I was a hair stylist for fourteen years when I decided to leave the hair business to be home with my kids. Best decision I ever made!

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

Sept. 5, 2007

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I have all sorts of paper crafts...from mini note cards, altered items such as tins, binder clips and notebooks, to chipboard albums and scalloped tags..and more! Simple, yet elegant is how I describe my creations.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. Name top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.

Tonic guillotine cutter- the large one Doodlebug craft knife, Tombow Mono Multi liquid glue, Mini Glue Dots, bone folder

2. Why did you decide to become on Etsy seller?

In the beginning, I guess the "why" part was to sell my cards. I made cards for family members and it was actually my husband who suggested I sell my cards. I knew about Etsy... just needed to do some more reading up on it. I was nervous about putting my work out there for all to see, lol. Once I felt comfortable enough, I signed up. I had only cards in my shop when I first opened, and not very many. Today, I have more variety and probably will keep it that way as I am always looking for new and different things to create.

3. What is your favorite technique/ your "specialty"?

Altering. I love covering things with paper!

4. How did you learn your craft?

I've never taken a class of any kind...ever. I didn't have the Internet when I started nine years ago, so I learned scrap booking and card making techniques by reading magazines. Then later, as I got into more advanced things like altering, I searched the Internet for tutorials or asked on message boards.

5. How did your shop get its name?

It was challenging coming up with a name! I sat down one day with a pen and notebook and wrote down whatever came to mind. The ones I liked the best were already taken (I was doing a domain search too). I also had to find a name that covered everything that I do, and not just scrap booking. Since I consider myself a papercrafter, I liked how "paper arts" sounded...and "Timeless" came from the materials I work with- scrapbook supplies. Scrapbook supplies are acid-free/long-lasting...or "timeless". Put them together, and I have Timeless Paper Arts!

Find Kalla Here:

SHOP - Timeless Paper Arts

BLOG - Timeless Paper Arts

NING - Kalla

Flickr Pool Friday

These are just gorgeous and would be a perfect addition to a Father's Day Gift (hint,hint)!

Photo: A Scrappy Design

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers -Danielle Joeckel

Today we have Danielle Joeckel as our featured EtsyPaper Team member. Danielle is the owner of Pick Me Paper Designs. She makes wonderful cards, planners and journals and is a fairly new member to our team (but very active). We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Danielle and her shop and she has chosen 5 out of all of the questions that were submitted by our team members on the forum post. Here are her answers to our questions - happy reading!


Tell us a little about yourself :

I live in Gainesville, FL with my husband who is now in his 4th year of pharmacy school, and will be finishing next May. We have one poodle named Sherman, who we just love to death. I am a teacher by day, and I am also taking night/weekend classes to finish my teaching certification. And of course, a crafter! Between these activities, I stay very busy! When spare time rolls around, I love to read and run.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

I just opened my shop in February with a few items..I didn’t really know what I was doing or how to get the ball rolling! I have since changed it a little bit, and it’s in the past month or so that I feel more confident about what I want to include in my shop and how to do it.

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I have a few stationery sets and tag items, but my passion is books: wedding planners, baby shower journals, pregnancy books, things of that nature. I really enjoy designing fun and creative covers for these items that will make people want to carry them around.


Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. Name top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.

Paper, obviously! I absolutely LOVE picking out new and exciting papers. Also, stamps (another obsession) ribbons, and mini glue dots (love them, buy them all of the time!)
Oh and my Purple Cow cutter..I can’t live without that thing!

2. Do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?

Right now the dining room table does double duty. Honestly, we really didn’t use it that much anyway! We have a condo and not much room for crafts, or anything extra, so my husband graciously lets me take up the whole dining room area. It’s quite messy too, so I need to work on being more organized! One day I hope to have a whole “crafting” room.

3. What do you have on while you're creating, if anything, and is it tuned to something specific?

I always have something on while I’m crafting-I like background noise. Occasionally music, but I’m a little far from the itunes on my computer to hear. If I’m home alone, I will have on HGTV or something similar. If my husband is home then ESPN might be on instead!

4. Are you a clean or messy crafter?

Definitely MESSY. Like I said before too, I don’t have a lot of space, but I am still thrive best on organized chaos. Like I might have one piece of paper under five other things, but I always know where everything is. Now once I’ve finished a piece, I’ll tuck it away for safe keeping.

5. Do you have a day job? If so are you up all night crafting?

I do have a day job. I am a fifth grade teacher. So this time of the year is busy with graduation stuff, end of the year field trips, things of that nature. I am also in school myself working on my certification. I actually start a Saturday class on 5/16 for 6 weeks, so that is majorly going to cut craft time for a bit. L I am bummed about that! I try not to stay up too late. I just can’t function like that or the next day at work. Plus once my eyes get tired and I’m just wiped, I figure anything I make will not turn out the way I would like, so it’s better to stop and get some rest.



Find Danielle Here:

Shop: Pick Me Paper Designs

Blog: Pick Me Paper Designs

Ning: Danielle Joeckel

**Danielle also has a newsletter that you can sign up for on her blog!**

Flickr Pool Friday

Every Friday we jump into EtsyPaper's Flickr Pool. Here's what we surfaced with today:

Image: Missamyo
Let's motor ya'll!