EtsyPaper Team

Valentine Blitz! Items 13 - 17

2012-02-07T18:13:00.000-05:00

Round THREE!!!! Wonderful Valentine items from the EtsyPaper Team...

todayisasunnyday

BGardenCreations

MapleStreetPaperCo

anticipationcards

bbesigns

Valentine Blitz! Items 7-12

2012-02-05T21:02:00.000-05:00

Round Two of the EtsyPaper Team Valentine Blitz!

studioedowntown

craftstudiopaper

TorisCustomCreations

CharonelDesigns

FarAwayDesigns

2HeartsDesire

Valentine Blitz! Items 1-6

2012-02-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

The EtsyPaper Team members have created some GORGEOUS Valentine cards and other items. We are having a Blitz until February 14. Take a look!

SVaethDesigns

2HeartsDesire

PaperThinHearts

CharonelDesigns

2HeartsDesire

DustbinCards

Pick a Card - Any Card!

2011-12-01T20:38:00.000-05:00

The Etsypaper team is busy making Cards for this Holiday season... Check out these fantastic Cards!

Michellenstamps

ajsdesigns

thecraftycloset

PapermoonsDesigns

RedLetterPaperCo

November brings...

2011-11-05T21:57:00.000-04:00

It's November! Fall is in full swing, orange is the color of the season, holidays are around the corner. EtsyPaper team members are in a creating frenzy! Check out some of our team member shops:

dustbincards

ascrapabove

theowlandtheenvelope

sophienme

Scary Paper!

2011-10-23T20:41:00.000-04:00

The EtsyPaper Team continues to crank out some great Halloween themed items! Check these out!

From SnappiGirlCreations

From CharonelDesigns

From craftiechicks

From elteecreative

More Halloween-y stuff from EtsyPaper!

2011-10-10T19:32:00.000-04:00

The EtsyPaper Team has more than 100 items for Halloween! Check out these "BOOtiful" items and the Awesome EtsyPaper Team shops that carry them.

sophienme

ascrapabove

vhemingway

thecraftycloset

Halloween Season

2011-10-02T18:46:00.000-04:00

October is here and that means that HALLOWEEN is right around the corner. Check out our facebook page for the Etsypaper team Challenge for October. Submit your spooky, pumpkin-y, sweet (as in candy), ghoulish creations.

Here are a few Etsypaper team Halloween themed items to get you in the mood:

TheGoldenTrees

CamelsandCustard

CreativeZone

velvetonthepage

Check back for more Spook-tastic items from the Etsypaper Team!

EtsyPaper Team Rainbow Challenge Winner

2011-09-10T20:12:00.000-04:00

The Etsypaper Team recently completed it's first challenge. Our theme for this challenge was "Rainbow". We had many wonderful entries and with voting over, the winner is...

Sampanink !!!!

What a wonderful piece of art! Congrats to our WINNER and Thanks to everyone who voted. Be on the lookout for our next team challenge!

EtsyPaper Team Rainbow Treasury

2011-08-19T22:43:00.000-04:00

Check out our August Challenge Treasury!

Etsy Paper Team RAINBOW Challenge August 2011

Also, Don't forget to go by our Facebook page and vote for your favorite!

EtsyPaper on Facebook

Creative Zone

2011-08-14T15:07:00.001-04:00

This month our featured member is Mary with CreativeZone...

Tell us a little about yourself

I’m married to a fabulous husband who tolerates my paper hoarding (as long as it doesn’t get in his way) and I live in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I’m self-employed as a graphic designer and I work full-time from home, which works out perfectly because when my day job is slow it allows me the time to be crafty.

I also teach paper crafts at my local scrapbooking store. I started on their design team and that progressed into teaching at the store. I’ve been teaching for about 4 years now and I really love it, it has really opened up things for me creatively. My latest classes have mostly involved Copic Markers and the Silhouette Die-cutting Machine, but in the past I’ve taught rubber-stamping, scrapbooking and cardmaking.

When did you open your shop on Etsy?

Technically, I opened the shop back in November 2007 but then as a newbie I got discouraged due to lack of sales etc. and life got really busy so I went M.I.A. from Etsy. I’ve been back with a vengeance now since early spring.

Tell us about your shop:

I sell cards, scrapbooking mini-albums and notebooks/journals (which are my latest obsession).

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

1. ATG Tape Gun – because once the paper is stuck – it’s STUCK for good.

2. ScorePal – I’m pretty obsessive about this one because I’m a stickler for perfect scores and straight-lines

3. Tonic Guillotine paper cutter – perfect straight cuts every time. I have both the 12- inch and the smaller 8-inch version.

What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?

For me, it’s the possibilities. You can transform that 1 single piece of paper into a multitude of beautiful things. THEN, afterwards, it can be recycled and reborn again and again.

Are you a clean or messy crafter?

I’m an incredibly messy crafter – the more space I have the more mess I make and the more I’ll spread out. I never start off planning on making a mess but somehow “this” gets pulled out and then I want to try “that” out and then I think what about “the other one” - the next thing you know it looks like a paper bomb went off! I try to clean up at the end of every project to make way for the next idea AND to keep my hubby from complaining. (In my next house, I hope to have a door to my studio).

What was your biggest mistake you made when starting out on Etsy? How did you fix it?

When I first started selling on Etsy, I made a sale the first week and I was totally pumped and excited. Then everything stopped, and I got incredibly discouraged and I just let everything expire. I thought long and hard about the whole experience and then I realized why I was successful that very first week - I sold because my listing was near the top. It’s like that saying about a tree falling in the forest, if no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? The key to Etsy is to create a quality product that is unique, to promote on Etsy and off of Etsy, get involved with teams to stay motivated, list daily to be seen. At least then, you have a fighting chance because people will know your shop exists.

What is your favorite item to make, the one that makes you smile just thinking about working on it?

My favorite things to create by far are custom scrapbook mini albums. You get handed a bunch of photos, you have a theme and then you just go to it.

I especially love it when the client just says “do what YOU want”. To give the books that personal touch, I always incorporate blank pullouts and flaps so that the client or recipient can journal their thoughts and feelings in afterwards about the photo. Here is an example of a custom book I made for in honour of a little boy’s first birthday:

We know that Mary would love some comments. Check out Mary's Creativezone shop, too! If you are looking for other Etsy Paper Team members, all you have to do is go to Etsy and type in the key words Etsy Paper, or Etsy Paper Team.

You can find Mary at:

Creativezone on Etsy

Creativezone online

Creativezone on Twitter

Creativezone on Pinterest

Etsy Paper Street Team

2011-07-19T11:54:00.000-04:00

A Timeless Journey

2011-06-17T16:27:00.000-04:00

We, the Etsy Paper Team, are resurrecting OUR blog. We are going to be highlighting an Etsy Paper Team member once a month. So, for our first Etsy Paper Team Member for 2011 is...

...Laura with Timeless Journey. Enjoy the read and leave some love. Take a look at her studio! What a dream come true for Laura!

Tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Laura Cole and I am the owner and creator of Timeless Journey. I have been married to my best friend for 14 years and we have 4 boys from 6 to 13 years old. For my day job, I work part time as a preschool teacher. I teach Art, Music and Sign Language. I love teaching and interacting with others. However, I also enjoy getting away from the everyday commotion and spending time alone in my craft room.

When did you open your shop on Etsy?
I opened up my Etsy shop in March 2009. I realized I needed to find a way to support my habit of buying scrapbooking materials as well as bring in some extra money to the family. A friend told me about Etsy and then I was hooked.

Tell us about your shop.
I LOVE vintage items as well as making things out of recycled materials. The main items that we sell in our Timeless Journey shop are items made from paper and barn wood. Our main sellers are our pre-made albums, money organizers, and chalkboards.

When you look at some of the first projects you made, do you want to:
a. tear them up and start over;
b. get out your new product and add some new stuff to your old project;
c. sit down with a cup of tea and look at it lovingly for a while;
d. wonder where the time has gone?
I started scrapbooking when my first son was born 13 years ago. When I look back at the first pages I made, it always amazes me on how far my scrapbooking has come. The techniques and products that I use have also advanced for the better. A part of me wants to redo the pages. Then I look at them and think, just like the pictures that are on them, they too are memories.

Do you have a day job? If so, are you up all night crafting?
Yes, I work during the day and spend the evenings running all the boys to their activities. Because of my busy days, I have to do most of my work after they go to bed. I have even been up as late as 6:00am working on a huge order.

Are you a clean or messy crafter, do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?
I am defiantly a messy crafter. We moved last year, and one of the must haves of the new house was an extra area to use as a studio. Since I am such a messy scraper the family was tired of the kitchen table always covered. My handy husband finished off what once was a concrete storage room into a fantastic studio for me. He also added a closet/room to use for shipping. Because I live with so many men, I wanted a girly room with even a little pink chandelier.

Name top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.
The best part of my room is the fact that that I can have my items that I use every day right at my fingertips. My computer and printer, paper, trimmer, crop-a-dial, Scotch’s fast drying glue, and most importantly all my ribbon are used in just about everything I make!

Do you sell mostly online or at craft shows? How many different selling venues do you use?
I sell almost solely through our Timeless Journey Etsy store. However, I do one local craft fair every year. I’ve tried to do more local fairs but I can never seem to get enough inventory accumulated.

How do you package your items?
I think its fun to feel like you received a gift in the mail when a package arrives. For that reason, I wrap the items in brown paper and tie them with twine.

How did you learn your craft?
I learned how to scrapbook from trial and error. I have never taken any classes or and workshops. I have however, taught several in my home and at a local scrapbook store.

What equipment/supplies do you use? Where do you purchase them?
Most of the local scrapbook stores in my area have gone out of business. For this reason, I have to purchase most of my supplies online. A few times a year, I take a road trip with my mom to find new scrapbook stores. I try to stock up on as many items that I can then.

Do you prefer to work alone...or with a friend?
I prefer to work alone. Sometimes I like to have friends over to work on projects. However, since I’m a talker, I always feel like I could have gotten more accomplished if I was by myself. Plus, I love listening to music. It’s almost always Contemporary Christian. Although, if I’m working on Christmas items, I like to listen to Christmas music. Most of my friends think I’m nuts when the Christmas music is on in the summer. Yet another reason I like to work alone.

We know that Laura would love some comments. Check out Laura's Timeless Journey shop, too! If you are looking for other Etsy Paper Team members, all you have to do is go to Etsy and type in the key words Etsy Paper, or Etsy Paper Team.

Thanks for stopping by!
The Etsy Paper Street Team

2BadCats and their Scratching Post

2010-11-16T12:23:00.001-05:00

I feel like our team is getting a brand new start. This is very exciting! And thank you Chrystal for all your hard work!

Our member to be highlighted this month is Charity with 2Bad Cats. You really need to go by and take a visit. She does know how to pick the best vintage when it comes to paper. I had a really hard time picking out photos. I liked them all!

Tell us about you.
My name is Charity. I live in Terre Haute, IN with my husband of 13 years and my 6 month old daughter. I work part-time for a university and am a part-time stay at home mom. I have had a love for art since I can remember, and a love specifically for paper since I was young as well. I loved buying stationery and writing letters to pen pals and friends when I was growing up. I love old books and vintage cards, too. I only recently, within the last year, decided to start exploring the world of selling my ephemera collection and finds, and also some of my handmade paper crafts and goodies. I started with Etsy on the last day of 2009, but I have taken a less aggressive approach to marketing my goods recently, because of the birth and adoption of my daughter Eden. She is 6 months old and I put most of my marketing efforts on hold when she arrived. Now that she is getting older and I am adjusting to being a new Mom, I am about to begin listing new vintage ephemera and new handmade crafts in my shop! I am also on a personal journey to return to my letter writing ways, and I encourage you to try it, too. Pick up a pen. Open a beautiful card. Write. It's that easy.

How did you get your start in the world of art?
I always enjoyed the process of creating. My mother was a very creative person, and we did a lot of projects together, mostly drawing and other random crafts like sewing, pottery, etc. I've dabbled in all sorts of art forms, including writing, painting (NOT GOOD!!) and drawing. Now I mostly create random hand sewn crafts and paper stationery and greeting cards, but I do like found object art as well.

Do you have a ritual you perform before you start creating?
I look for inspiration before I begin a new project, but don't have any rituals because I am so random with what I do. Sometimes I plan things out a lot, other times I dive right in. It is fun to start at one point in a project and find yourself ending up in a totally different place!

What do you like best, the creative process or the final creation?
They both hold a special appeal for me. I enjoy creating because it is something I can DO...an activity that uses my mind and my body to create a tangible object. Even when I am writing I consider the words, the story, the tale to be a tangible outcome to my efforts. That whole process is enjoyable in and of itself, but there is also special joy in getting to the end of the project, looking and what you've made and realizing you feel pride. You can say, "I made this."

What are your favorite art media, tools, and supplies?
I like all sorts of things when it comes to art, but I have always enjoyed working with paper, stamping images, cutting, assembling, etc. But I also like sewing and felt crafts as well. My projects are simple, and because I also focus on finding beauty in vintage items, I feel that is also my art. To find an old greeting card written by someone 75 years ago, or a beautifully preserved, unused postcards from the last century... discovering those treasures and appreciating their beauty and perseverance for existing all these years later, even in their fragile paper forms is wonderful. That appreciation is also my art form.

When a creative block happens, what process do you go through to get the creative juices flowing again?
Again, I find myself looking for inspiration. I might go back to old projects, or look at books, magazines, and websites...seeing the direction other people have gone can show you hidden paths that you might choose to take, projects you might want to explore. Sometimes though, just stepping away and taking a break can help.

What do you hope your art says about you?
I hope it says I care. I really think that the basis for my ephemera collection and for the handmade items I sell is my desire to see people connect with one another again. People don't write letters any more. Then don't pen cards, and most certainly don't hand craft those cards if they do choose to send one through the postal mail. Email has taken over, but I want people to return to the simpler way of connecting with someone. I want people to take the TIME to sit down, and write a letter by hand that will reach out and touch someone else when they open it. I know the instant gratification of email and instant messenger clients will be missing, but the gratification of taking the time to show someone they are important and that you care is so much more fulfilling.

What is your greatest dream and greatest fear as an artist?
My greatest fear is that someone will think what I've done is crap. LOL. Basically, being judged. My greatest dream would be that I could sell some of my vintage items and make some money to finish paying for my daughter's adoption. That's ultimately why I started my Etsy shop...to create a new revenue stream for myself so I could work part-time instead of full-time outside of my home. If I can excite people to buy my handmade cards or my vintage ephemera, then I can be self-sufficient and encourage letter writing at the same time!

What are your goals in art, and in life?
My goal in art is just to do a good job. To write well received pieces when I write, or to have people enjoy the items I have presented to them. If they are touched by what I offer and it inspires them to connect with other people, then I have been successful. In life, the goal is to be happy. To be content, to love, to share, and to leave a legacy. I hope I can achieve those things

What is the name and link to your Etsy studio?
I have an Etsy shop: The Scratching Post, by 2badcats http://www.2badcats.etsy.com/

Do you have any other online shop, a website, a brick and mortar shop, and/or a blog?
I do not have a brick and mortar shop. I work out of a spare bedroom that is my crafting zone and my vintage ephemera supply vault! LOL
I do have a Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/2badcats
I also have a blog, but I had to put that old hold when the adoption process ramped up LOL: http://2badcats.wordpress.com/

Thanks so much for stopping by! Leave some love for 2BadCats!

HampshireRose and Memories

2010-04-13T13:03:00.001-04:00

Meet Sharon with HampshireroseMemories. Sharon has been scrapbooking for over 20 years. When you take a look at the pictures that are posted you can tell that she enjoys creating albums for family, friends, and now YOU. Sit back and get to know Sharon. You might find a little mini album that is just what you need.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a fulltime caregiver to my mother who has Alzheimers, I have been doing this for the last five years. We live in Lake Forest, California. I am divorced, and have a 26 year old son, yikes I'm getting old! LOL I have been scrapbooking for over 25 years.

When did you open your shop on Etsy?
I opened my shop in July of 2008. I have always enjoyed creating albums for family and friends, and my sister suggested I give Etsy a try. I had never thought of selling my creations before. Etsy has been a great experience for me, not only am I able to make a little money, but creating my albums helps me to relax, de-stress and realize that I'm not just mom's caregiver, but my own person as well. I have met the nicest people on Etsy, and have to say it's really been a lifesaver for me.

Tell us about your shop.
My Shop HampshireroseMemories http://hampshirerose.etsy.com specializes in all different kinds of mini albums. Mini albums are so popular right now, there are so many uses for them, carry them in your purse, display on your desk at work, or at home. And, of course, they make great gifts for family and friends. Mini albums are quick and easy to make, which is great for me because I never know how long my free time will last. LOL

Do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?
I am lucky to have a separate area for my scrapbooking. I have taken over the living room. This arrangement works very well for me, except that's it's the first room you see when you come in, so I have to keep it clean. I can’t just shut the door!

How much time do you spend daily/weekly working on your craft?
I usually try to get in a couple hours everyday creating my albums. Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. My sister comes over and spends the day with mom, so I get the most uninterrupted time on those days.

How did your shop get its name?
My shop HampshireroseMemories is named for my mother she was born in Hampshire England and Rose is her middle name. Memories…that’s what my shop is all about…preserving your memories.

What's your emergency craft kit consist of?
Chocolate and Diet Coke!

What have you learned the most about life from your craft?
It's all about your memories. Life IS about the memories you make and the ones you share with your family and special friends. The other day my sister and I found a couple boxes of 35mm slides that had been hidden away. We had the best time looking at those old slides crying, laughing, remembering our childhood. It's an afternoon I will always treasure.

Thanks for stopping by. Please comment and let Sharon know some of your special memories. And she just might have the album for those precious memories.

Tina and her found passion!

2010-03-23T15:58:00.003-04:00

“Find your passion, and do it well.” That is Tina’s favorite quote. And after selecting her pieces of art for this interview, she does do it well.

Tina, Ruthie's Girl Designs, inherited her creativity from her late mother, who, in her mother’s time, made clothes for her and her siblings. Her mother also made various crafts and Tina has held onto vintage supplies from her mother’s stash. Just imagine what she is holding onto. Tina also enjoys sewing and jewelry making.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy your visit with Tina.

Tell us a little about yourself.
I am a married mother of two 19-year old children. No, not twins! My husband and I have two children from previous marriages. We currently reside in a little town called Converse, Texas right outside of San Antonio.

When did you open your shop on Etsy?
I opened my Etsy shop on April 3, 2007. I waited a few days because I figured if I did it on the first everyone would think it was a joke.

Tell us about your shop:
My main shop, Ruthie's Girl Designs consists of hand crafted (pieced) invitations, greeting cards and stationery. Pipkin Paper Co is another paper shop of mine, which specializes in Baby Shower Invitations and Birth Announcements.

Name top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.
I cannot live without my various cutters (guillotine, slide cutter, rotary), my modge podge, or my glue gun.

What inspires you?
The thing that inspires me the most, especially when making wedding invitations, are the bride and groom themselves. I like to talk to them and see what really moves them emotionally. I am also inspired by other paper artists' work. I love looking at techniques they have learned and try to learn them myself.

What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?
I have always loved paper. ALWAYS. I used to make these 3-D pictures, so to speak, out of shoe boxes with a hole in the far end, then the top cut out with blue paper on the top and then do a scene within the box. I did that in the 4th grade as an art project and got 3rd place at the Art Fair. I was pretty much hooked on paper then. Paper has so many personalities! It's one of those things that, even if it has a design on it, can become something more than a flat sheet of paper once you have molded it into something you want it to be.

Is there something that you've never tried with paper that you'd like to try?
I'd also like to try to use gesso in some of my designs. It's pretty versatile and I'd like to see where I can go with it.

When do you find/make time for your crafting?
I'm currently unemployed, so I have a lot of time in the day to create or search online for inspirations to create. When I was working, I created whenever I could find the time. I'd also carry a mini composition book around in my purse and would draw pictures of card ideas that came to mind. I also use my phone to take photos of commercial cards (NOT TO COPY!!!) that have a technique on them that I'd like to go home and try.

Do you have a special space for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?
I'm very fortunate to have a dedicated art room. I have about 100 sq. ft. of space to work in so I have lots of give room. Before that, I used the dining room table. We never had a place to eat for over 2 years. It's amazing how clean my house stays now, with out all the bins of paper and glue etc all over the place. It's amazing.

Do you remember the first item you made, and if so, do you still have it (or a picture of it)?
I count this baby shower invitation as the first thing I ever made, in terms of Ruthie's Girl Designs. I currently sell it in my PipkinPaperCo. Shop. It's a baby shower invite I made it with beautiful textured paper (called hapsack) and hand stamped flowers with textured paint centers.

How much time do you spend daily/weekly working on your craft?
I probably spend about 40/week or more.

Why did you decide to become on Etsy seller?
I decided to become an Etsy seller because I wanted to be part of the handmade movement, and to try to make a little money doing what I love best.

What is your favorite technique/ your "specialty"?
I don't think I have a favorite technique or specialty, but I've been told many times I do hand tie the perfect bow.

Do you have a favorite crafting book, magazine or TV show?
The Carol Duvall Show will always be my favorite show. Unfortunately, I don't think it's on anymore!

How do you create the perfect balance between family, house-hold duties, work and paper?
I keep everything in perspective. Family first, no matter what. We usually get up and feed the animals, do household chores, then I move on to my office. It's not the first place I go to in the morning.

Do you sell mostly online or at craft shows?
I sell mostly online. I need to start doing craft shows!

How many different selling venues do you use?
I sell on Etsy (3 shops), Ebay occasionally and Shop Handmade.

Where do you go to first when you need ideas?
I go online to some of my favorite blogs and look at what they are doing at the time.

Who is your biggest fan?
My biggest fan hands down is my husband. He's always encouraged me to keep at it even when I doubted myself.

Are you a clean or messy crafter?
Now that I have my own dedicated space, I am a clean crafter. Although my work space (table) may get a little messy, I always clean it up at the end of the day. I like walking into my art room and it's clean. It keeps my mind from getting overwhelmed with clutter.

Do you have a day job? If so are you up all night crafting?
This IS my day job!

How do you get the word out about your products?
I can't promote much right now, or even relist. I try to keep my flickr account up to date with what I have going on at the time and by being a presence in Etsy when I can be.

How much planning do you do before you create?
It could be spur of the moment, or it could be days. I guess it all depends on what it is I am trying to make at the time.

Is there someone in your life that may have inspired your creativity?
Ruthie, my mom, was a crafter.

How did your shop get its name?
I dedicate my shop to my mother, Ruthie, who was a sewer and all around crafter.

What is your favorite item to create and why? Tell us about it.
I like to create boxes from scratch. Be it a box for a set of stationery, a gift, anything. I love to make boxes. I made one for my husband's birthday gift. I just like to take a bunch of flat nothing and turn it into something.

Do you have more than one etsy shop?
I have THREE shops! Two of them are going slow, but Ruthie's Girl Designs is my baby: http://ruthiesgirldesigns.etsy.com/ -Here I sell handmade greeting cards, stationery, and gifts. Pipkin Paper Co.- THis shop specializes in hand made baby shower invitations and accessories. http://pipkinpaperco.etsy.com/ . This shop has everything else that I like to make. So far, it's really pretty hair pins with sparkly centers. I plan on starting on some sewing projects and other crafts that interest me: Atenshn Deficit Design- http://www.etsy.com/shop/atenshndeficitdesign.

What has been your most successful marketing technique to date?
I really don't have a marketing technique, which is why I probably don't have as many sales as I should. I just try to be myself and always tell people what I do. I usually tell them I make custom communications, which interests them to ask me more.

What's your emergency craft kit consist of?
Gum ....seriously.

Why do you do what you do?
I do what I do cause it's cheaper than therapy.

What have you learned the most about life from your craft?
I've learned that no matter what, you we are all multi faceted and we don't have to spend our lives doing just one thing. Explore your options. Start over even if you are 55 or older. It's never too late.

Leave a comment or two about Tina and her work. I know she will appreciate it.

Mechelle Designs with an attitude

2010-03-12T14:40:00.003-05:00

Mechelle with Mechelle Designs is one of those artists who knows how to use color. Those colors that she chooses makes you want to see more of her work. Her talent in illustration has led her business life to freelanceing. She has also worked for companies as a graphic artist.

I was reading her profile and she has sold her work at the Smithsonian Institution gift shops. That had to have been a wonderful feeling to receive that recognition!

I have picked out a few of my favorites from her online Etys studio. I really like the “birds with attitude.” Enjoy the sites!

Tell us a little about yourself:
I am a wife and mother of three children ages 12, 10, and 5 years old. We live in a suburb just outside of Atlanta.

When did you open your shop on Etsy?
I opened up my Etsy shop in December 2007

Tell us about your shop:
I create original art, prints, note cards, journal/sketchbooks, tags, pendants, and magnets.

What inspires you?
I marvel at the beauty of God's nature when I observe plants, animals, trees, and flowers. These creations inspire my work tremendously, but in a humorous way.

What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?
I love the fact that I am able to use my artistic ability to create a piece of art in a functional way.

How do you create the perfect balance between family, house-hold duties, work and paper?
That is an ongoing struggle since I have a child that goes to school a half a day. Time is very limited.

Do you sell mostly online or at craft shows?
I sell online primarily but also at fine art and craft shows

What do you have on while you're creating, if anything, and is it tuned to something specific?
I love listening to talk radio while I create.

If you could learn a new craft, what would it be? Why?
I think soap making looks like so much fun to do. It is almost like baking a dessert.

Please leave a comment and let Mechelle know how you feel about her work.

Thanks for stopping by our blog,
Aletha

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Member - Aletha Williams

2010-03-02T07:00:00.003-05:00

* This is a re-post of our most wonderful Aletha of AJs Designs. She will be taking over the team's featured members posts for us and I wanted to recognize her and her terrific shop once more. Be sure to give her a BIG THANKYOU when you see her on Ning and our team threads! Thanks Aletha!!!

Our next featured team member is Aletha Williams. Aletha is the creative mind behind AJ's Designs. She creates gorgeous cards, artwork, and really intricate mandalas (my favorite). Aletha has been a member of our team since November, 2008. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Aletha and her shop and she has chosen 7 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 am now residing in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I am married to a wonderful man. (I count my blessings every day. And, I make him count at least once a week.) We have two beautiful children, a daughter and son. Our daughter has given us two grandsons who are now age 14 and 11. Our baby, well he’s 27 now, just married in January to a beautiful woman. No grand kids there yet, he is still in law school.

Tell us about your shop:*

When did you open it?

I opened my shop in February 2007. I really got busy with it in 2008. I still do not have everything posted.

What items/type of items do you sell:

I sell collage art, hand bound journals, mini wall art (collage on stretched canvas no larger than 5”x7”), art cards, greeting and note cards, mandalas, mandala art cards, seasonal items such as ornaments and holiday cards. Just about everything I create involves paper and rubber stamps.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions (or 7,lol)

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

I cannot live without rubber stamps and paper. I have an over abundance of both and I still keep collecting both. If I every decide to have a garage sale, just to clean my studio, I would probably be able to make the next two house payments. The other items that I could not live without are my X-Acto knife, paper trimmer, watercolor brushes, and rulers.

2.What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?

I have always been drawn to paper. We cannot live without it. It is part of our everyday life. I remember growing up and making my own “little books.” Some were small enough that Barbie could hold them. And then I did grow up and was lucky enough to land a job in a print shop. Thus began my career in graphic arts and print production. I was introduced to typesetting on some of the first photo type computers (I’m getting ready to show my age here). And I gained experience in operating printing presses. I realized then that some of the art that I created I could reproduce. Reproduction involved typesetting, dark room work (shooting negatives), burning printing press plates from those negatives to make the positive, getting the press ready to make the job complete. The most fun was choosing the paper for the job. I could not wait for a paper salesman to come and peddle their wares. They brought the most beautiful poster samples that was printed on “the stock of the month.” Now began my career in collecting paper. The fire marshal would probably have a few words of concern.

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

I do have a studio. It is a 6’x8’ attic room. I have spilled over into the attic for storage. Whatever project(s) I am working on seem to over flow onto the stair landing. If I am doing a lot of tearing and meticulous trimming I will be in the living room and/or sun room. The dining room table I use as a catch all and packing for art festivals. I store my inventory in the spare bedroom closet. My shadow box frames are stored in the downstairs hall closet. My husband and I share an office with our computers. He’s the Director of News and Analysis for RigData and he telecommutes. He’s also a writer. Hmm..two creative people living together 24 hours a day. I do allow him to have his own desk in our office and he gets to use the kitchen table in our sun room. Hey, I had to learn to not talk to myself…he thought I was talking to him!

4.Who is your biggest fan?

I have to say that my biggest fan is my husband. You probably can tell that by now. He has to live with me. Next will be the kids. They check Twitter to see if I have posted anything new and if I haven’t, they ask why. Then there are my parents, the rest of the family and friends, who always gets something handmade as gifts.

5.How did you learn your craft?

My craft is rubber stamp art and I am self-taught. I was needing a creative outlet and during a year of watching Carol Duvall and the rubber stamp segments I kept repeating to myself, “I could do that.” I guess that my husband got tired of me talking to myself and bought me my first rubber stamps as a gift. I already had all the paper stock and he knew my creative side. He did create a monster. He asked me “just how much paper and how many stamps do you have?” Needless to say I changed the subject.

6. Do you have more than one Etsy shop?

No, I have the one Etsy shop: http://ajsdesigns.etsy.com/
I do have three other online shops and a blog. They are:
http://ajsdesigns.artfire.com/
http://ajsdesigns.1000markets.com/
http://zibbet.com/ajsdesigns
http://ajsdesigns.blogspot.com/

7. Why do you do what you do?

This is a very good question! Through the years ( I hope there are many more), I have realized that one of the biggest sins you can commit could be against yourself and others. That sin is not using your creative talent. What I mean by that is…be it God, the gods, nature, evolution, or just being human…if you do not use the talent that is given you, and nurture and let that talent grow, you are performing a disservice to yourself and the world. Let it shine! Practice one hour, four hours, or 24 hours a day. Just don’t let it go to waste. “That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.” —Dennis Miller

Find her here:

SHOP - AJs Designs

BLOG - AJs Designs

NING - Aletha

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR NEWEST "OFFICIAL" MEMBERS

2010-02-16T09:34:00.000-05:00

Be sure to visit their awesome shops!

* Funny Sky - Funny Sky

* Kim F. Aucher - Kimosabe Scraps

* Tiffany Burks - Tiffzippy

* Terri Moore - Terrbear37

* Kerry Downes - Erin and Celeste

* Kimberly Garner - My Creative Side

* Tina Price - Ruthies Girl Designs

* Julie aka Elves in the Attic - Elves in the Attic

* Gregg O. Byers - Greggs Goodies

Decisions were based on the date these members signed up as well as their participation level during that time. Our next membership announcement will be in early April.

Creating Your Own Designs using the Cricut

2010-01-27T07:58:00.001-05:00

By Gregg O. Byers

My Shop: http://www.greggsgoodies.etsy.com/
My Own Blog: http://greggsgoodies.blogspot.com/
Etsy Paper Street TeamPage: http://etsypaper.ning.com/profile/GreggOByers

Why I wanted to use the Cricut Machine

When I kept seeing those infomercials about the Cricut Expressions machine,my constant question was, “Can I create my own designs and transfer them tothe Cricut Expressions Machine?” After doing some “googling” online, I found that the answer is YES! This article is all about how you can do the same. I love Scherenschnitte and using the Exacto knife to create multiples of a design in a timely manner, just isn’t feasible. So finding a software that helped me to produce multiples of the same design was a wonderful find!

Making sure you have the correct version for Cricut

First, you need to have the Cricut Expressions machine, of course AND it

needs to be updated to the 1.3 version. The only way to find out is to

have the Cricut Expressions Design Studio and through that you can find

out and update through the internet. There are easy steps for doing this.

Getting the Tracing Program: Inkscape

Next, you need to have a free program called Inkscape,

which can be downloaded from inkscape.org. It is a

program that takes your design and traces it and makes it

such that it can be used in another program that directly

works with the Cricut Machine. The next page shows how

the Inkscape program looks when opened. The only use I have had for the Inkscape program is for the tracing of the designs I create. So the only choice I have had

to use is Path and File, which will be discussed later.

Getting the SureCutsALot Software

The other program you need is called SureCutsAlot. This

program must be purchased, which I did through the internet

and you are given a program key to change it from a trial

version to your personal version to use. It now has the trace

feature like what is done with Inkscape above, but I’ve tried it

and I still like Inkscape’s tracing much better. The particulars for

this program are found at craftedge.com.

Creating Your Design

Now that you have the programs, you’re ready to CREATE!

First, you can do a line drawing and then scan it to make it a .jpeg. After

scanning, I use a program called Paintshop Pro to use the FILL feature

to make areas in my design black. Note: Think of it this way: Anything

that is black will be traced as an object and that part will stay in you

design. All of the white will be cut away in the end. This concept is

important to internalize, because if, for instance, you have a design with

a “floating” dark object inside a white area, but it isn’t hooked to the edge

of another black area, it will be cut away and not show in your final

design. Think about it as an eye that you might draw on a face. It would

be isolated with white around it and therefore if traced in the Inkscape

program and then cut out in the SureCutsAlot program, the eye would be

removed because it was not connected.

This is the logo for the program I use to work with the designs I

create. Especially with designs for cards, I like to put a border

around the design, which helps secure the design if it will

become a part of a card. (That may be another article.) But, I

seem to learn more and more from this program every time I

use it. It has been a very good buy for my needs.

Tracing Your Design using Inkscape

Once you have a design that you have created and scanned to make it a

.jpeg, you are ready to have it “traced” by the Inkscape program. Below

is a screen shot of the program after opening it.

Double click to open the Inkscape program and you will see a blank box.

Click on FILE and choose OPEN to find your .jpeg and CLICK on it.

You will see your .jpeg design in the box. If the box doesn’t have little arrow marks around it, CLICK on the box to activate it for tracing.

Next, find PATH, CLICK on it, and then CLICK on TRACE BITMAP within the list of PATH choices..

Clicking on Trace Bitmap will open a small box. To see your .jpeg in that little box, CLICK UPDATE. And the design should show in the box.

This screen below shows the design after clicking update.

CLICK OK in that same box and the program shows the design in a traced fashion, which means you have been successful. Now CLOSE the box (just click the X in the upper right corner of the small box.

Last, to save the design to be used in the program, SureCutsALot, CLICK FILE and choose SAVE AS. A box will appear with the name of your design with the .jpeg at the end. Use your mouse to highlight the .jpeg

and REPLACE that part with .svg, which is the extension SureCutsAlot looks for to cut the shape. CLICK SAVE to save the file with the .svg.You will still have the file in .jpg, as well. Now you can close out of

the program HINT: If you plan to do a bunch of designs at once, it’s great to just minimize the program to be used again. Also having the .jpeg file allows you to go back and use the file later for other projects you might think to create using the same design.

Using SureCutsALot to Cutout Your Design

Open SureCutsAlot. (it looks much like the Cricut Expressions Design Studio Program) You’ll see lots of symbols at the top. To bring the design into the program to work with, CLICK on FILE and then choose and CLICK on IMPORT SVG. Find your design now with the .svg at the end, CLICK on it and the design will show on the grid of SureCutsAlot

Now you can expand the shape to the size you need it to be. If you notice that when you click your mouse when over the shape, a box appears to the right where you can change the dimensions. I had to use my calculator to change fractions (and made a chart for this) to decimals, which you will need to do so for example, if you have a shape you want to be 4 ½ inches wide, then you will type, next to the W: 4.50. And if the shape needs to be 5 ¾ inches long, then you will type next to the H: 5:75 . You will see the changes as you change the shape size right after typing in the numbers.

Below shows the changes made. You will also have the ability to change how the shape can be placed on the mat, as well as being able to turn it and also copy and paste it to create duplicates on the same mat if you have the space. (See the program directions built into the Help section for copy, paste, cut, etc.) You will then, once you have manipulated the shape how you want it and whether you have made duplicates, cut it out by clicking on the SCISSORS icon.

Some Helpful Notes:

•I now have over 40 designs for blank cards, and so as I began to

realize the amount of designs I was accumulating, I decided to

create folders within my folder, CricutCuts (as I called it) to make it

much easier to find each type of card design. Examples of folder

categories: Objects, Animals & Birds, Trees & Plants, People,

Christmas, Boxes, Envelopes & Cards, Halloween, Valentines Day,

Early American Designs, etc. It has really helped when searching for a design.

•This is just an idea that happened with the mats used in the Cricut

Machine. To prolong the life of each one, I use a lint roller to gather

up all the paper lint that adheres to the mat. It does keep the mat

tacky and I can use them longer.

•Dover Books has many public domain graphics that I have adapted

to cards I have created. At the least, the books give great ideas for

my own creations.

EtsyPaper Team Featured Member - Joy Charde

2010-01-12T09:10:00.019-05:00

Hello & Happy 2010 to all! We are getting back into the swing of things and have our first featured member of 2010 (drum roll please).....Joy Charde, the creative artist and owner of Art of Joy! I absolutely love Joy's beautiful artwork and am very pleased to feature her here on our team blog. Having purchased one of her gorgeous calendars, I can truly say her attention to detail is fantastic and the quality of her products is top notch. Be sure to visit Joy's shop to see more of her wonderful items:)

Tell us a little about yourself:

My name is Joy Charde. Currently, I reside with my wonderful husband of 11 years and my almost one year old rolly-polly guy in the freezing cold Upstate New York. I work full time at a public library... so between work, baby and my etsy shop, I'm super busy!

Tell us about your shop:

* When did you open it?

I opened my paper shop on July 31, 2009

* What items/type of items do you sell?

I sell cards, stickers and other paper goodies!

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

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

Any time the baby is asleep (fortunately, my little one loves to nap).

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

I don't have a space for crafting, so yes, the kitchen table is my "studio".

3. Is there someone in your life that may have inspired your creativity?

Aside from his claim that he's my biggest fan, my husband is a great source of my inspiration. He is always giving me ideas and encouraging me to try new things! Sometimes, he shops at the craft store with me, so I can find just the right tool to make my creative life easier. He also gave me the idea for my shop name. I frantically called him one day while he was at work, and demanded a shop name... He came up with "The Art Of Joy" - because my stuff is fun and "Joy" is my name. He's so awesome!

4. When did you join the etsyPaper Team and what has been your favorite thing about being a team member?

My favorite thing about our paper team is the support we are always giving each other. You guys rock!

5. What is your favorite item to make, the one that makes you smile just thinking about working on it?

I absolutely love making my stickers! They bring a huge smile to my face just thinking about them!

Find her here:

SHOP: The Art of Joy

BLOG: Creative Mamma

NING: Joy Charde

Roll Call Response List is Posted

2009-11-02T17:12:00.004-05:00

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

2009-11-01T10:08:00.004-05:00

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!

2009-10-22T11:20:00.004-04:00

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!

2009-10-13T08:48:00.004-04:00

*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

2009-10-01T08:42:00.038-04:00

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:

EtsyPaper Team Membership Roll Call - More Info

2009-09-29T08:18:00.009-04:00

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

2009-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

2009-09-23T08:28:00.003-04:00

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

2009-09-08T07:00:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-07T10:38:00.006-04:00

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

PHOTO: MichellenStamps

EtsyPaper Team is on Twitter!

2009-08-05T17:32:00.006-04:00

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

2009-07-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

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

2009-07-10T07:00:00.002-04:00

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

PHOTO: Fubabee

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Member - Emma Wilson

2009-06-16T08:45:00.000-04:00

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

2009-06-13T10:32:00.008-04:00

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

2009-06-12T09:47:00.005-04:00

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!

2009-06-09T10:31:00.000-04:00

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:

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-06-05T00:45:00.005-04:00

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

2009-06-03T11:19:00.019-04:00

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

2009-05-29T08:00:00.001-04:00

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

2009-05-25T09:54:00.015-04:00

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

2009-05-22T08:00:00.001-04:00

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

Image: Missamyo
Let's motor ya'll!

EtsyPaper Team Business Card Swap

2009-05-18T08:57:00.008-04:00

Time for a team promo! This month, we are having a team member business card swap! Sign-up (RSVP to the event) by the May 20th and send a S.A.S.E. (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) along with 5-10 or more business cards to me. I will be giving my address to those who have signed up by the 2oth. The business cards will be mixed and divided up between participants and will be mailed out in the provided envelopes. When you send an order out from your shop, you'll send one of your business cards and one of your teammate's business cards. It's that easy!

This is a really easy way to promote your shop and your fellow team member shops. It takes minimal effort so I am hoping we will have a lot of participation. I have had a couple of members contact me about my address - I will be sending it out to all participants on the 2oth. If you have a need for it sooner, contact me and I'll go ahead and send it to you. Thanks to all who have signed up so far:)

May/June Promo Forum Post

Event RSVP

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers - Jess Bradlee

2009-05-15T19:49:00.015-04:00

Today we have Jess Bradlee as our featured EtsyPaper Team member. Jess is the creative mind behind Modern Card. She creates beautiful cards with a simple but elegant style. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Jess and her shop and she has chosen 5 (actually 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 :

Aside from creating cards, I am a mother, a wife, a town clerk, a cook and a waitress all rolled into one. I grew up in the restaurant business (literally the apartment upstairs). My family and I live on the island of Martha’s Vineyard year round.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

One day I was surfing the Internet, looking for these particular seersucker pants for our son to wear on Easter. I was led to this great blog called chic mommy finds. One of the featured sellers on that site was someone who was selling baby blankets from this cool website named Etsy. I spent the rest of night hooked on Etsy and wondering what I would name my imaginary shop if I were to start one. The next day (March 14, 2007) I opened up Moderncard with 3 cards for sale.

*What items/type of items do you sell?

Modern paper goods – one of a kind cards, gift tags, invitations and embellishments all with a modern flair.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. What is your first crafting memory?

Hmm….my first? I guess that would be licking the watercolor paints because they looked so delicious. I was three.

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

Both. I have a space for crafting and then I end up on the kitchen table because it’s free of paper scraps, so I start a new pile there.

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

I have HGTV on in the background, along with a 3 three year who gently snores.

4. Are you a clean or messy crafter?

Ha. I guess I’m somewhere in between. I have a very low tolerance for clutter and mess around the house. Basically I like things in their place, but for some reason when my craft space is all neat and organized, I’m not as inspired to sit down and create. When it’s a disaster, I push stuff to the side and create my most favorite cards on a 6 x 6 inch area of free space, on the corner of my desk.

5. Where do you go to first when you need ideas?

Fashion Magazines. I look for the latest styles or trends and try to blend some of those colors in my cards.

6. What or who is your biggest inspiration? Do you have an inspiring story you’d like to share?

My friends and family are my biggest inspiration. Usually what happens is I end up making a card for someone because they have some special occasion coming up. With them in mind, I create the card based on what I think they would like. Once I create that card, I try to duplicate it with the same process. I then name that card after the particular friend or family member that inspired me.

Find Jess Here:

Shop: Modern Card

Blog: Modern Card

Ning: Jess Bradlee

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-05-15T08:30:00.000-04:00

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

Image: Winemakerssister
This image makes us feel good! Energized. Time to go get crafting!

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers - Dolores Raml

2009-05-13T09:53:00.019-04:00

Our next featured EtsyPaper Team member is Dolores of Crafty d's Creations! Dolores is one of our team admin (Promotions & other general tasks). She makes terrific felt embellishments, ACEOs, cards and other pretty paper goods. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Dolores 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 have been crafting for many, many years and have tried many different things. My husband and I have been married for 36 years, we live just outside of Sioux Falls, SD and have three grown children, (all close by) and three grandchildren.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

I started my Etsy shop after going to craft shows for about 35 years looking for something a little easier than setting up a booth all the time. I opened my shop in Aug. of 2007 and after a very slow start things finally started to pick up about 6 months later. I love to make paper creations but a little over a year ago I started making felt embellishments so now sell some of each in my shop. I still do about 8 craft shows a year but only one is a booth type show.

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I started out my shop with all paper products but have gotten into making felt flowers and other embellishments after my daughter needed some unique embellishments for her Scrapbook Kit Club (ZanyZinnia) I also make ATC/ACEO cards and love trying new techniques on them.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. What is your first crafting memory?

My first thing that I made was doll clothes for my dolls after I got a sewing machine for Christmas one year.

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

I would love to try some waxed and freezer paper techniques that I have seen, I have the supplies so would like to try them soon.

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

I mostly craft at my kitchen table, I have a room set up in the basement with my supplies and get my exercise going up and down. One thing about crafting at the table my space gets cleaned up often.

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

Mostly I listen to Country Western music on the radio but occasionally I turn on the Create channel and keep an ear out for interesting things while I'm working.

5. Are you a clean or messy crafter?

I'd have to say I'm a messy crafter and usually end up with only a tiny work space. I guess I live by the Motto of "A Creative Mind is rarely organized".

Find Dolores Here:

Shop: Crafty d's Creations

Blog:

Ning: Dolores Raml

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-05-08T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: twhelan
Where the paper grows...is where EtsyPaper visits.

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers - Alycia Morales

2009-05-07T11:26:00.013-04:00

Our second featured EtsyPaper Team member this week is Alycia of Peek A Boo Productions! Alycia is one of our team admin (Promotions & other general tasks). She makes gorgeous paper pine cones and other pretty paper goods. We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Alycia 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 currently live in Alabama, enjoying life close to a major city. We have a house in Upstate, NY, though, which is where we come from. I am very happily married to my husband, Victor, and we'll celebrate 11 years in October. I have a wonderful step-son, Zachary, who is graduating high school this year. We have four children together, Ezra, Caleb, Hannah, and Gideon, who are between 9 and 4.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?
August 27, 2008

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I sell an assortment of paper items, ranging from cards and stationery, to scrap booking supplies, ornaments and bookmarks.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. What inspires you?

I am inspired by my children, nature, and God. I love looking around me for ideas. I will be driving down a road and pass a field of wildflowers and think, "Hmm...those colors look so naturally perfect together. I think I'll try this." In my humble opinion, I think God's creation is filled with the perfect color blends and patterns. There is so much inspiration to draw from in it. :) My kiddos are very inspiring, as well! Hence, the watercolor stationery in my shop. My kids love to watercolor, and I hate to throw everything away. They do such a beautiful job! But, we all know how quickly their paintings pile up, and sometimes it's a piece of paper with a splash or two of color. One day I was cleaning up the piles and decided to share them with others, rather than waste them and throw them away. So, I turned them into stationery! :)

2. What equipment/ supplies do you use/where do you purchase them?

I use a lot of paper, and I tend to favor Stampin' Up! card stock. It's really thick and sturdy, and they have great colors! I buy mostly solids from them. I love K&Company's prints and colors, as well. I usually get most of my supplies from Stampin' Up!, Creative Memories (can't beat their tape runners, cutting tools, and scrapbook albums), Michael's, and Hobby Lobby. I use my 12" Trimmer from Creative Memories a LOT, and I love embellishments (ribbons, brads, flowers, buttons...pretties).

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

With four kids, a husband, and a household to run, it's definitely a challenge to find time for my crafting. Plus, I tend to get caught up in the Etsy community, keeping up with threads in the forum, checking on the FP, and such! :) LOL...So, I have to manage my time really well. Right now I don't have an outside career, but I have been looking to go back to work, so that will add in another challenge to the timing in my day. Currently, I set my priorities for the day, keep up with my morning routine of getting hubby to work, having coffee and reading my Bible, getting the kids up and out the door for the bus, and then I take care of business for the house, take care of business for my Etsy shops, run errands, and hope that I have time to work on my crafts before the kids get off the bus. If I have a chance, I may take an evening or a Saturday afternoon to work on my crafts. I think the most time consuming aspect of running my Etsy business is listing. Between shooting the item, touching up the pictures, and getting them into the shop, it is time consuming. Family and church are my priorities, so I make sure that I plan my day out well. That allows me to find the time to craft. You could say my crafting is my "vent". My dear hubby is great at recognizing when I need a few moments to myself. When I get time to craft, I'm less grumpy about the everyday running of the home! :)

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

I have always loved to craft, and I was looking for someplace that I could sell my items, without the fuss of a lot of footwork and having to pay a lot of money to design a website (I'm so in love with using images and writing, that I'd have to do it myself, and I wasn't sure back then how much it costs to start a website of your own for sales purposes). I kind of "stumbled" upon Etsy. I think I was surfing the net one day when I came across the site! LOL :) As soon as I saw it and that the fees were very reasonable, I was in! I really enjoy the simplicity of it, and the encouragement and support is fantastic! I love the community here.

5. Do you have more than one etsy shop?
I do! :)

* Name of shop(s) & link: God's Glory Photography at:
http://www.godsgloryphotography.etsy.com/

* Types of items you sell there.

I sell photography at God's Glory Photography! :) I also sell cards of the photographs, ACEOs of the photographs, and I'm considering adding more items to the list! I would love to add the option of purchasing a coffee table book of my photographs, complete with quotes and such. Please stop by to check it out! It's a fairly new endeavor for me. I try to capture life's moments, without a lot of "foof" and changes to the shots.

Find Alycia Here:
Shop: Peek a Boo Productions
Blog: Peek A Boo Productions
Ning: Alycia

A NOTE: We have a great blog post from Alycia on how to make her beautiful paper pine cones - Give it a try!

EtsyPaper Team's 1st Featured Member

2009-05-05T10:25:00.013-04:00

Our very 1st featured EtsyPaper Team member is Chrystal of CS Paper & Beads! Chrystal is one of our team admin (membership & other general tasks). She makes the most wonderful handmade paper (I speak from experience so, be sure to check out her shop). We have 3 questions that tell us a little about Chrystal 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 am married to a Marine and we have one daughter. We are currently living in Jacksonville NC but have also lived in Orange County, CA, Houston TX and Lubbock TX.

Tell us about your shop:

*When did you open it?

Opened shop in Sept of 2007

*What items/type of items do you sell?

I sell handmade papers, crayon papers, beaded necklaces and beaded crosses. I have also made beaded headbands, journals with my handmade paper and greeting cards. Some things I make need work to make them better and I am always thinking of new things to list using my papers.

Getting to know you - 5 Questions

1. Name the top (3-5) items (for crafting purposes) that you cannot live without.
UHU glue stick
deckle and mould
paper punches
paper shredder
iron

2. What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?

I love that there are so many things you can do with it: paint, tear, punch, rubber stamp, glue, fold, etc.

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

I made my first batch of paper the night before my daughter was born. (almost 13 years ago) I still have the paper. It is very, very thick! The paper I make now is much thinner. No Photo.

4. Who is your biggest fan?

My husband is wonderful and always interested in what I make. He always encourages me and even bought me a paper shredder for my birthday. :) Best gift ever! LOL.

5. How much planning do you do before you create?

I like to make Christmas cards. Sometimes I will sit and sketch out card ideas and then will pick 2 or 3 designs to use that year.. I think that is the only thing I plan. Everything else is made pretty much on the fly.

Find Chrystal Here:

Shop: CS Paper & Beads

Blog: CS Craft Studio

Ning: Chrystal

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-05-01T09:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: Octavine Illustration
Mod! Wood block print on recycled French paper....even mod-ier!

CHALLENGE REMINDER: Submissions Due Tomorrow

2009-04-30T09:16:00.008-04:00

O.K. everyone! We had a lot of buzz and excitement over the idea for our "April Earth Day Challenge" but have only had two submissions (one being my own,lol). Dig out those empty ribbon spools because the deadline is tomorrow at midnight! We have a super talented group of paper lovers so let's see what you've got. Come on and put your creativity to the test and your spools to good "green" use.

Here are our two submissions so far:

*Michelle Neuendorf of Michellenstamps

*Sarah Kinzalow of PaperPeddler

See more photos here

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-04-24T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: CutHerePaperCraffts
It's ARBOR DAY! Please be respectful with regards to the paper you use and the amount of consumption that will not be recycled. Plus, owls need homes.

EtsyPaper Team Weekly Featured Sellers - We NEED your help!

2009-04-23T08:00:00.002-04:00

*This is a current forum topic but I wanted to make sure everyone saw it. I also want to open this up to some of our team blog followers who aren't members. If you are not a team member or an aspiring member but would like to submit a few questions, feel free to send me a convo (Paper Peddler). We would love to include everyone!

O.K! So, we have made space for our weekly featured sellers and I am ready to get it going, starting next week (fingers crossed). Here's a quick rundown - each week team admin will choose two of our team members to be featured both on ning and our team blog. Their names and shop links will be added to our Ning main page "featured sellers" box and remain there for 1 month. I think it would be much more fun to include everyone in the process. The more interactive, the better. This is what I've come up with & also where I'll need help from all of our members. Here's my idea. Let's do a kind of Q&A session for our sellers. The way I would like to work it is to have a series of questions that I send out to our "chosen ones" and let them answer and send back to me. Now, to make it more fun and a little more interesting I want our members to come up with the questions. And the twist is that I will send about 10-15 questions out and the featured seller will choose which 5 they want to answer for our blog promo/interview. This way, we'll get answers to questions you guys have and it will be a surprise each week because the sellers are choosing the questions. We could end up with quite an interesting mix! So, to get this started I would love it if everyone would add some questions to the forum post for our sellers to answer. Put on your thinking caps and make it interesting!!! Any thing goes (well, remember we are a "clean" team/family friendly,lol). What kind of music do you listen to while crafting? What is your favorite item to make? etc,etc..... So come on over to Ning and post your questions. Let's get this show on the road! I hope everyone likes this idea:)

2009-04-22T20:33:00.001-04:00

Changes to NING (and a few other things)

2009-04-20T09:24:00.012-04:00

NING - the EtsyPaper Team's social networking site

Our team site on ning was taken offline yesterday for some much needed updating. Here are a few of the changes that were made and also some of the things we are working on for the near future. I hope these changes will help us work toward becoming a more successful team and better serve us all as sellers and crafters.

NING UPDATES:

Changes on the main page - our team description was edited and updated and the admin list received their own box to give a more clean appearance and to better distinguish the two areas.
Our welcome and how to join messages were updated. All "aspiring" members will be able to create a page but admin will have to approve it before it goes online. We have had an issue with a few people not interested in the team but trying to advertise and junk up our site with non-craft related pages. They didn't have etsy shops and were adding inappropriate photos and comments to our site. So unfortunately, we had to take this step.

NEW on NING - You may notice that we have a new box on the main page titled "Featured Members". We will choose 2 team members a week and feature them on our team blog. Their shop links will appear in the "featured" box. We will add the 2 new links each week and leave them up
for one month. Hopefully, we can bring some much needed and deserved recognition not only to individual members but also to our team as a whole.

TAB CHANGES - "MEMBER" tab. If you run your mouse over the "MEMBER" tab, you'll notice a drop down sub-tab that reads, "OFFICIAL MEMBERS" and "ASPIRING MEMBERS". It will take a little work, but each member and aspiring member will be listed in the appropriate section. This should help make members easier to find and will also aid our membership coordinators when it's time to update our team roster and verify new official members.

TAB CHANGES - "TEAM SHOPS" tab. This idea has been in the works for a couple of months and we are getting ready to start working on it more seriously. The tab will have a drop down box that will be divided into sections (like the members tab) and will serve as a shops directory based on what types of items our members sell. For example, a few of the sections may be "Handmade Cards", "Art & Illustrations", "Books and Journals", etc. We will need our members help for this to work. More info will be coming soon so be on the lookout.

TEAM ADS - The team ads were removed but only temporarily. We will be bringing them back! We have quite a few issues and "kinks" to work out before we will be able to provide this service. We do think they are a great idea, it will just take some time - please be patient with us on this one:)

We are working very hard to improve our team while making it a fun group that everyone can benefit from and enjoy being a member of. As always, please feel free to contact any member of admin if you have any questions, suggestions, criticisms or comments you would like us to address. Thanks to all for being a part of the EtsyPaper Team - we appreciate you!!!

EtsyPaper, Earth Day & April's Team Challenge

2009-04-17T12:54:00.007-04:00

O.K! Who's ready for the next team member challenge? I was doing some "forced" cleaning (you know, the kind where you make a mess trying to get to something that's packed away, everything spills over and makes a mess that you are "forced" to clean up) and I ran across a bunch of empty ribbon spools I have been saving. I am thinking "green" and have been saving them for a while just knowing that I would one day find a new use for them. I was getting ready to tuck them back away (for who knows how long) and it hit me.....these empty ribbon spools are the inspiration for our April challenge. Read on:

In honor of Earth Day (Wednesday, April 22nd) and finding new uses for "old" things, our April challenge is to see what you can create from an old ribbon spool/spools. Anything goes here so be creative! All members and aspiring members are welcome and encouraged to participate. I will also post photos and shop links of challenge participants here on our blog. If we have enough entries, we will try to grab a treasury. The deadline will be Tuesday, April 28th. Don't forget to add your photos to the NING site and our team Flickr photo pool (if you use Flickr). Tag your photos "AEDC" (for April Earth Day Challenge). I hope everyone has a good time with this one. We're looking forward to seeing what you come up with! HAPPY CRAFTING:)

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-04-17T10:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: APunkinCardCompany
Hoppy through the poppies!

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-04-10T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: Annamatic
There truly is no place like home!

Congratulations to Our Newest OFFICIAL Members!

2009-04-08T12:21:00.001-04:00

A BIG CONGRATULATIONS to all of the participants of our "aspiring members" ACEO/ATC Challenge! We had six aspiring members submit challenge entries and a few submitted multiple entries. We hope you guys had fun with this one! As promised we had a little something special in mind and decided that their challenge participation (as well as the fact that these members have been extremely active with the team and on ning) deserved to be granted "OFFICIAL MEMBERSHIP" on the EtsyPaper Team! They have shown that they are and will continue to be valuable contributors and members to our team. Thanks to all & congratulations!!!

Here are our newest "official Members":

Debbie Brown of PaperQuick
Cindy Weatherford of Nellie's Girls
PickMePaperDesigns
Mandee Adams of ReverieCreations
Karen Whitehead of BlissedPaperArts
Avlor's Imprints

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-04-03T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: Agent Mermaid
You need paper to make buttons. These are super kawaii (that means super cute in Japanese!).

A New Paper Project from Team Member Alycia Morales

2009-03-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

We have a great "how to" project from EtsyPaper Team member and admin, Alycia Morales of Peek-a-boo Productions. She makes these gorgeous paper pine cones and is sharing her "trade secret" with us!

SUPPLIES:

A styrofoam ball (example is 3"around)

12 x 12 scrapbook paper/card stock - 2 sheets

Straight pins (I buy them in packs of 250)

Ribbon

Scissors, Paper Cutter

Thimble (You will want this for your forefinger from pushing the pins)

THE FUN PART:

Step One - cut your paper. You will want to line your paper up with the 2" mark on your paper cutter first. Cut a strip that is 12" x 2". Then, line up the 12" strip with the 1" mark, and cut. You will have rectangles that are 2" x 1" when you are finished. You will need approximately 60 of them for a 3" styrofoam ball, give or take a few.

Step Two - fold the paper rectangles into paper triangles. To do this, start with the first rectangle face down on your work surface. Next, fold one side of the rectangle in to make a small triangle (see photographs below). Then, fold in the second half of the rectangle, making them meet in the middle, forming a triangle with your paper. You may wish to use a bone folder to crease your triangle, especially if you are using thicker paper. This will make it "tight" and not sloppy.

Step Three - start your pine cone...First, pick up your styrofoam ball, and find a starting point. (It's round, so you really can start anywhere.) Place your first triangle on the ball, and place a pin into the tip of the triangle. Take your second triangle, line it up next to the first one, with its tip touching the middle of the ball, like the first one (you are basically making a square on the bottom of your styrofoam ball...). Do the same with the third and the fourth triangles. You are pinning them only at the point right now. (See photographs for more detail.)

Once you have that completed, start pinning down the other corners of all of the triangles. Some may overlap just a tad. That is okay. You will be covering those corners up with the next row of triangles, anyway.

Step Four - Now we start the second row of triangles going around the ball. Line the first one up with its point directly at the meeting point of one set of your already pinned triangles. It should sit so that the point is at the midsection of the bottom layer of triangles. (See photo.) Pin only the
TOP 2 points, leaving the bottom point free.

Place three more triangles around the ball, with their top corners almost touching, if they don't touch. (It will depend on your skill how close together they get.) They should be in a straight line around the ball, and your rows will start to alternate as you go further up the ball. Every row will have four triangles, until you reach the top.
(In the following photograph, you will see that I added ribbon to my ball. It is due to the design of my ball that I did this so early. Normally, you will not add ribbon until your triangle rows reach the mid-section of the ball. I will tell you about that step once we get there.)
Next, you'll add the third row of triangles. Choose a spot between two of the second row of triangles, line up your point with that second row, and pin the top two corners down. Do this all the way around the ball, placing each triangle between the two triangles from the second row. It should look something like this (minus the ribbon):

The fourth row of triangles will be place above the third, overlapping the second, like this:

Continue on around your ball, alternating and centering rows until you reach the midsection of the styrofoam ball. In the following picture, I am holding the ball by the ribbon. This is the point in time that you would add your ribbon, cutting it approximately 12" long, so that you can make a loop for the ornament to hang from. Use as many loops as you'd like. Use as many colors as you'd like. Place one end of the ribbon flush with the row of triangles. Pin it down. One pin will be enough, as you will pin paper triangles over it for the remaining half of the ball. Next, pin down the other side of your ribbon, directly across the ball from the first half, keeping it flush with the row of triangles that you last completed.

You're half way there!

Continue with your rows of triangles, making your way up the rest of the styrofoam ball. You may want to start using your thimble by now. I know that my finger is tired of being "pricked" by the pin points at this place in the process!

Once you get to about the spot where you have formed a small square on the top of your styrofoam ball, you will want to decide how you will finish it. I usually continue adding triangles until I have a triangle-made square at the top of the ball, with two triangles forming it and my ribbon pinched between them, forming the hanger. In this design, I chose a different approach:

Step Five - cut two squares, the bottom one being 2" x 2", the top one being 1.5" x 1.5". Pin the larger one down first, placing your pins toward the middle of the square, inside your row of triangles. Then pin the top one down, layering it directly over the first, so that it makes a framed effect.

This is the point at which I chose to add my hanging ribbon on this particular ornament. I simply pinned it down in the middle of the top of the ball. The bottom ribbon that I displayed previously, I chose to turn into "lapels", hanging out of the bottom layers of the triangles. I cut them off at the midpoint of the ball, removing the "loop" I had been holding it by.

Here, you may choose to be finished with your ornament, or you may want to add some detail to it with the help of any type of pins, beads, etc. On my example, I added a loop of the black ribbon that I had used in the lapels, making it take the shape of a tie around my loop. I then pinned it with a straight pin and some beads, as finishing touches. Here is my final product:

Simply beautiful Alycia - thanks for sharing! If you would like to see more of Alycia's gorgeous Paper Pine cones, visit her shop "Peek-A-Boo Productions. If you decide to try your hand at these, we would love to see the results! This is a great rainy day project for the weekend - enjoy & happy crafting!

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-03-27T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: ScarletStationary
Take a seat! It's Friday!

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-03-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: AScrappyDesign
Just getting lost in the forest this Friday morning, the first day of spring, ya know.

"Aspiring" Members Challenge - So Far...

2009-03-17T21:07:00.021-04:00

We have had some great entries in the "Aspiring" members challenge so I thought it would be fun to add the photos to our team blog for everyone to see.

The challenge is to create an ACEO/ATC with Spring as the theme and to include flowers somewhere on the card.

The challenge deadline is March 20th (Friday). If we have at least 12 entries, Brenda (Ragqueen) will create a treasury to feature them.

We have had a couple of "aspiring" members with multiple entries - multiple entries are welcome!

Don't forget to add your photos to the ning site, and our Flickr group photo pool.

Be sure to tag your photo(s) "AMC1". I will add them as a "featured" photo on ning. Join us on the team thread and let everyone know when you have submitted your entry.

We have something special in mind for all of our challenge participants!

Thanks to all who have entered so far:

Debbie Brown (PaperQuick)
Mandee Adams (ReverieCreations)
Danielle (PickMePaperDesigns)
Cindy Weatherford (Nellie'sGirls)
Karen Whitehead (BlissedPaperArts)

SAVE MONEY - Use Your Inactive Listings on Etsy

2009-03-16T08:30:00.003-04:00

WAIT! Don't delete those unwanted listings, use them!!! I have found a great way to save money on your etsy shop listings and thought I would share. I have a few pages worth of "Inactive Listings" in my etsy shop, things that I change my mind about selling or someone purchases them in a custom listing, or things that are close to expiration. I have started to use these inactive listings to my benefit. I figure why not? I have already paid for them. So, one of the main things I use them for are custom/reserved listings for customers. I usually use an inactive listing that is really close to expiration, say in a week or so. All you do is go into the listing you want to use and edit the information to fit your needs. Because this custom listing may be far along in your shop search results, I would suggest you convo your buyer with the listing link once you have set it up (so they can find it easily). I also find inactive listings are great for items that are a day or two away from expiration - things you want to give a little more time but without putting them at the front of your shop and without paying a new re-list fee. I even use them for some "leftover" or "destash" items that I prefer to just slide into the shop. Sometimes I just don't care about certain items rolling through the front page on etsy and I don't want to add another fee to my bill. Remember, you have already paid for your inactive listings so USE them to save a little money here and there!

It's easy!

Go into your "inactive listings"

Choose one with an expiration date that will give you the amount of time needed for the newer listing

Edit and add the new listing title, description, photos, price ,etc

Finalize and your done

Save money!

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-03-13T11:00:00.000-04:00

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

Image: Sycamore Street
Why hello! Such lovely faces you have!

EtsyPaper on Blockhead Radio Live - A Review

2009-03-11T09:51:00.010-04:00

As the majority of you are aware, our friends at Blockhead Radio Live featured our great team on their radio webcast on Saturday. The wonderful Katy (K is for Calligraphy) acted as the show co-host and representative for the team. All who participated had so much fun! Blockhead Radio has done a really nice job of creating a friendly & interactive program to help promote independent musicians and artisans/etsy sellers and teams. Not only can you listen to excellent live streaming music and talk programs, but listeners can go into the website chat room where they can add comments about the music and programs they hear. The show host(s) can then chat with listeners in real time. The whole concept is just too cool!

The etsypaper team was well represented in the chat room and we had even more members who were listeners only. Katy did a phenomenal job co-hosting. She talked a little bit about the history of the team, what we're "all about", our vision for the team moving forward and also what kind of shops and items our team members have to offer. She was also able to give out links for listeners to find out more about the team and our shops. All in all, I would say that the show was a great success!

Thanks so much to Blockhead Radio Live and Tulip's Treasure Box (show host) for your hard work & effort to help promote Indie Musicians & Artisans - we know it's a labor of love & we really appreciate it!!!

*If you missed the show, it will be re-broadcast today at 11:00am Eastern Time. Click on the "Blockhead" link above or the radio badge on the sidebar. Happy listening!

EtsyPaper on Blockhead Radio Live

2009-03-09T09:29:00.006-04:00

Did you miss Katy on the Blockhead Radio Live webcast? No worries - they are re-broadcasting the show today (Monday 3/09) at 11:00am Eastern and again on Wednesday (3/11) at 11:00am. I will post a show review on the blog later today!

Paper Talk - Join us on Blockhead Radio live!!!

2009-03-07T08:58:00.014-05:00

Today is the EtsyPaper Team live radio webcast on Blockhead Radio Live at 1:00 Eastern Time and we couldn't be more excited! The lovely and talented Katy Jamison (K is for Calligraphy) will act as co-host and Paper team representative from 1-3pm. If you haven't already, please head over to the radio website and sign-up for a user name. You will be able to listen to the show live on your computer and join in discussion on the Blockhead site chat room. WE REALLY NEED YOUR SUPPORT & PARTICIPATION so PLEASE BE SURE TO JOIN US!!!! Hope to see you all there!

A Little "Paper Love" - Our most wonderful Katy found some terrific songs with a PAPER theme. Looks like our team members aren't the only paper lovers out there. Take a look at the list of songs she found:

The Beatles - Paperback Writer
Beck - Paper Tiger
Def Leppard - Paper Sun
Guided By Voices - Paper Girl
Jay-Z - Paper Chase
Cream - WRAPPING PAPER
Fiona Apple - Paper Bag
Belle And Sebastian - Paper Boat
Frank Sinatra - Paper Doll
Sesame Street - Paper Makin'
Ella Fitzgerald - It's Only a Paper Moon
Anna Nalick - Paper Bag
T.I. - Paper Trail
Fleetwood Mac - Paper Doll
Talking Heads - Paper
Emerson Lake And Palmer - Paper Blood
MIA - Paper Planes
Chameleons - Paper Tigers
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Pen and Paper
Nirvana - Paper Cuts
James Taylor - Paper Moon
PM Dawn - Paper Doll
Green Day - Paper Lanterns
Kylie Minogue - Paper Dolls
Live - Paper Flowers
Gene Watson - Paper Rosie
Roy Orbison - Paper Boy
Roy Orbison - Pretty Paper
Blind Melon - Paper Scratcher
Gillian Welch - Paper Wings

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-03-06T11:00:00.000-05:00

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

Image: SouZouCreations
Washi paper writing pads. From Japan, with love.

Blockhead Radio Live features the EtsyPaper Team!

2009-03-05T09:24:00.009-05:00

WOW! Blockhead Radio Live (webcast/podcast) has given the EtsyPaper Team a wonderful opportunity to promote. We will be represented by the lovely & talented "team calligrapher", Katy Jamison (K is for Calligraphy). She will co-host the webcast live on Saturday, March 7th, at 1:00 p.m Eastern Time. Team members (and "aspiring" team members) can listen in and participate by signing up for a user name (don't worry, it's free) at http://blockheadradiolive.com/ . On Saturday, you will be able to participate in the cast by going into the website's chat room. This is a rare and wonderful opportunity for all of our member shops and the team as a whole. We NEED to have tons of member/aspiring member participation & SUPPORT so please be sure to sign-up for a user name & join us on Saturday. We are excited and looking forward to the cast. I hope to "see" you all there - let's show everyone what the EtsyPaper Team is all about!

GO GET 'EM KATY!!!! GO GET 'EM ETSYPAPER TEAM!!!

Not sure when 1:00 Eastern time is? Check here for your local time: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/

ETSYPAPER TEAM "ASPIRING MEMBERS" CHALLENGE

2009-03-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

We have had so many new "aspiring" members join us on ning in the last two months that we thought it would be fun to have an "aspiring members challenge". This should be a fun one!

The CHALLENGE is to create an ACEO or ATC using Spring as your theme and inspiration. The only guideline (other than following standard rules for creating ACEO's/ATC's) is that you have to include or incorporate flowers somewhere on the card. We are asking that you post a photo of your card on the ning site and also on our paperteam group on Flickr (if you use Flickr). Please be sure to tag your photo(s) with "AMC1". If we have enough participants, we will also have a thread in the teams section on etsy so everyone else can share the ACEO/ATC love. The deadline for the challenge is March 20th. In addition to having fun, we will also have a vote for our favorite submission and a great prize to the winner. The prize will be announced later (but admin knows what it is, lol). So let's get into a creating mode and have some fun - I hope everyone enjoys this challenge and maybe even learns something new!!!

Wondering what an ACEO/ATC is? Need a few examples? Read on for a little info and inspiration.......

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals and they are small works of art that are a standard measurement of 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches (6.4 cm x 8.9 cm), roughly the size of a standard playing card. They are an affordable way to collect wonderful, original works of art by your favorite artists. They are also the same as ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) but ATC's are only traded and not sold. The back of an ACEO/ATC should also include a date, artist signature, and a title and edition # (if there are multiples of the same). These are so much fun to create! We can't wait to see what our "aspiring members" come up with - create away!!!

Follow these links for examples & inspiration from your fellow Etsypaper Team members:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=16610732

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5272489

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20885763

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-02-27T11:00:00.000-05:00

Every Friday we jump into EtsyPaper's Flickr Pool. Here's what we surfaced with today:
Image: radrb8vicki aka PaperBeadGirl
WOW! You should see what she makes with these paper beads. Oh Happy Friday!

Flickr Pool Friday

2009-02-20T11:00:00.000-05:00

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

Image: Steffen Tuck
Geez we love paper. This makes us want to go scream our love.

Welcome to Etsypaper!

2009-02-16T14:51:00.000-05:00

Image: La Ola

Why hello! Welcome to the Etsypaper Street Team Blog! This is where we feature our members little labors of paper love, hold contests, post promotions and events, and give a lil paper DIY every now and then. We're just getting the paper party started here, so please excuse the vacancy. So, please, do come back and visit, paper pal!