DelEtsy Craft Shows

Hi Team!

I've been thinking of a way for the Delaware Street Team to be active in the community and came up with the following idea.

There is various craft shows occurring year round in Delaware, we could make teams of perhaps 2 - 3 people per opportunity and purchase a booth space together to display and sell our creations. Or perhaps if the team is larger to get two adjacent spaces/booths and make a collective display. Each person would have to code their items so we know what money goes to who and be very organized with the inventory.

Other opportunities to display your work are through Trunk Shows, Networking Sites (Plumdrop.com, Facebook), creating a blog!

It's an idea! An if you are friends with another DelEtsy member, why not working together. A shared booth would cut expenses for both. In addition, participating in shows gives you the opportunity to network with others and promoting your business in the community. Make sure to create cards and flyers!

If you know of upcoming shows and contact names to sign up, feel free to post them in the comments that would be a start!

I know this Spring the Hodgson Vo Tech School, you can find out more information at www.eventlister.com

Featured Artist: ScrapStampSew

· What is your etsy user name? SCRAPSTAMPSEW

· Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff: MY NAME IS KAREN COOK. I LIVE IN MIDDLETOWN WITH MY HUSBAND AND 2 SONS. I LOVE TO SCRAPBOOK, STAMP, AND SEW.

· Apart from creating things, what do you do? I ENJOY TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS, COLLECTING JAPANESE CRAFT BOOKS, AND PLAYING WORLDS OF WARCRAFT.

· What first made you want to become an artist? I COME FROM A FAMILY OF CREATERS. MY INTEREST IN CREATING STARTED WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CHILD. I STARTED NEEDLEPOINT WHEN I WAS 9 AND LEARNED TO DO MACHINE SEWING IN HIGH SCHOOL. I BECAME AN AVID SCRAPBOOKER & PAPERCRAFTER ABOUT 12 YEARS AGO AND STARTED SEWING AVIDLY AGAIN ABOUT A YEAR AGO.

· Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc. I LOVE FABRIC! USUALLY A REALLY NEAT FABRIC INSPIRES ME AND THEN I CHOOSE A PATTERN THAT I THINK COMPLIMENTS THE FABRIC AND VIOLA! OTHER THAN THAT I USUALLY CHOSE MY PROJECTS BY GIFTS I WANT TO MAKE FOR SOMEONE AND I TRY TO MAKE MULTIPLES. I’M A SAHM AND BOTH OF MY BOYS ARE IN SCHOOL SO I CREATE DURING THE DAY AND AT NIGHT WHEN THEY ARE IN BED.

· What handmade possession do you most cherish? MY MOST PRIZED HANDMADE POSSESSION IS THE CHRISTENING GOWN MY AUNT MADE FOR ME AS AN INFANT.
Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy. I LOVE ALL KINDS OF MUSIC. I LOVE EVERYTHING FROM THE BEE GEE’S TO YANNI TO ANDREA BOCELLI TO QUEENSRYCHE. I ENJOY ANY BOOKS WRITTEN BY STEPHEN KING. SOME OF MY FAVORITE MOVIES ARE: THE LOVER, FUN WITH DICK AND JANE, BRUCE ALMIGHTY, THE GODFATHER, HEAT
SOME OF MY FAVORITE WEBSITES ARE: WWW.FATQUARTERSHOP.COM, EBAY, OVERSTOCK.COM, FLICKR, & POTTERY BARN

· What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy? CREATE AND LIST, CREATE AND LIST, CREATE AND LIST, IF ONLY I COULD TAKE MY OWN ADVICE, LOL.
· Share any ideas you have for our street team.. or plans, hopes.. MY HOPES ARE THAT THE DELETSY TEAM WOULD GET LARGE ENOUGH TO HAVE LOCAL CRAFT SHOWS LIKE CRAFTMAFIA. I ALSO HOPE TO MEET OTHER CREATORS FOR INSPIRATION.

· How do you promote your work? I AM AN AVID FLICKR GROUPEE AND I ALSO PLAN TO MAKE ENOUGH STOCK TO DO CRAFT SHOWS IN 2009

· In ten years I'd like to be... DOING WHAT I’M DOING NOW WITH MORE PRODUCTIVITY ON MY PART.

To those who are interested

To those who are interested in blogging here about ideas, info, etc, please leave your e-mail in the comments. That is the only way I can add you as an author of this blog. Or e-mail me at samanthamariie at gmail.com Thanks!

DELETSY needs help

Hey guys. I would love some sort of help with this blog. There is currently only one writer on this blog but I can add others who are interested in blogging here.

A couple things we are interested in seeing blog posts about are: Ideas you have for this team, & Local craft show info. Pretty much anything to keep us active.

Are you interested? Just comment and I'll add you to the list then you'll be able to blog here on this blog :)

Delaware Today Magazine

I just wanted to let everyone know that a DelEtsy member has a couple items featured in the December 08 issue of Delaware Today magazine!

It happens to be my scarflettes :)

Please comment and let me know what type of publications you've been in!

Oops! Flyers not working...

Please forgive me, my friends. I accidentally deleted all of the flyers!! If anyone has them saved on the computer please email me them so I can put them back up. I don't even have them saved.. :/

Email samanthamariie (@) gmail.com

Sorry!

FEATURED SELLER Drag0nflyDesigns

What is your etsy user name? Drag0nflyDesigns

Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff. My name is Katy, I live in Newark (obviously DE since I'm part of DelEtsy...) I have a wonderful boyfriend named Rick, and a great puppy named Maggie (a Jack Russell). I've lived in Delaware all my life- Raised in Townsend, moved to Newark when I was 20. And here I am still : )


Apart from creating things, what do you do? I work for a great company - Nixon Uniform Service and Medical Wear.. we supply patient apparel, sheets, towels, scrubs and labcoats for medical companies in NJ, PA, DE, and VA. I work in the call center taking calls from the customers when they have problems or need invoices, etc. It's a pretty easy job, but I love it (it is SOO much better than retail!! ... I worked at FYE for 4 years prior to this job..). Other than that- I play with my puppy, hang out with my boyfriend and friends... you know-the usual stuff.


What first made you want to become an artist? I have been creating things for as long as I can remember. My dad is a mechanic who owns his own business (Delaware Chassis Works) and he builds (and races) race cars. He has a bucket in his shop of spare screws, nuts, bolts, and lots of other strange pieces that I could not even tell you what they are actually called... anyway, I used to play in that bucket when I was a kid.. making what ever I could from those scraps. Plus I would rubberstamp, sew, crochet, draw, paint and actually do every craft thing I could get my hands on. My mom was very creative and she always influenced me to express myself in creative ways. The reason I started SELLING the stuff I make, is because of a bracelet that I made with an urn pendant (click here)That bracelet has some of my mom's ashes in it (well not the one in the picture.. the one I originally made..that I wear everyday..lol). I made it using a necklace pendant from Madelyn Company, I sent a picture of it to the woman who founded the Memorial Gallery website, and she got me into contact with Madelyn Co. Now I make those bracelet pieces for them. That was when I realized that I have potential to make money doing something I love.... so I started making jewelry and selling it on Etsy :o)

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc. Well... I work my full time job M-F till 5... so my jewelry making usually begins after that during the week....or on the weekends. It all depends on my mood. Sometimes I'll be half asleep sitting on the couch at night and I'll have an idea-and I'll go to work. If the piece I have an idea for is a wire design (those are my favorite right now..) I always make a test one in copper or craft wire... (it's cheaper than messing up with silver or gold filled!!) If I come up with something I like.. I'll usually wear it and see if I get any compliments. Then I'll photograph (I usually do my photographing on a Saturday or Sunday) and list!

What handmade possession do you most cherish? My urn bracelet :)

Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy. Books- Anything Chuck Palahniuk... Movies-The Departed, Lucky Number Slevin, Iron Man, Love Actually, Home for the Holidays (That was tough...I have too many favorites..) Musical Artists-Sara Bareilles, Jamie Cullum, Nizlopi, David Ford, Fiona Apple (Also have to many favorites there...) Websites- Rarebirdfinds.typepad.com, Cuteoverload.com, Google.com, Myspace.com (because I'm an addict..lol), and Cafepress.com

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy? Pictures are really important.. make sure the pictures of your art are clear. I built a lightbox which helped me a LOT. These are the instructions I used.. only I used fabric for the background instead of poster board (but fabric collects a lot of debris so you have to use a lint roller before each photographing session - See here. The light box is really important, but so is having a tripod. Clear pictures depend on a steady camera. Other than that.. get involved in the community on Etsy.. forums, chats, groups, etc.

Share any ideas you have for our street team.. or plans, hopes.. I hope to be ready for a craft show soon! I think it would be really cool to be able to get everyone together for something like that. I hope to make new friends that share my passion for crafting! An idea I have- We should make up small flyers that we each can print and put in with any items that someone purchases from our shops.. that way it will get the group some more exposure and let people know that Delaware IS filled with artists!

How do you promote your work? Word of mouth, myspace.com, myjambi.com, the forums/chats on Etsy. Ecrater.com, shophandmade.com, wearing my pieces/business cards, craigslist.org, flickr.com, facebook.com, that's all I can think of right now...lol


In ten years I'd like to be... Living in a house with my boyfriend (hopefully husband by then) and dog and possibly child? (10 years is a long time from now....) I also hope to be a graphic designer/jewelry designer with my own business. (Not necessarily my own store...but just business- a lot can be done through the internet this day in age). And of course I hope by then I will have paid of my student loans, etc. :0)


{Featured seller's shop is temporarily deactivated due to her moving. She will have it back up soon and shop mini will go here - Samantha}

Nudge

Just a nudge to get you folks to submit a featured artist profile for this blog. I haven't received any yet...

Featured Artist

Hey! A new layout is featured on the blog today. Also added was more instructions on how to add our link to your site (in post before this one.)

Guess what! We will now be featuring Delaware Artists on this blog. Their shop's "mini etsy" will also be featured until the next artist is featured in one week.

We'll just make it easy and take the questions from Etsy's featured seller, and have the featured artist's answers here, as well as their mini etsy shop.


HOW TO BECOME A DELAWARE STREET TEAM FEATURED ARTIST:


ITS SIMPLE! Please send your answers to samanthamariie @ gmail.com to the following survey. All I ask is that you answer with honesty, and well thought out, helpful answers. Please do not post answers in the comments.

What is your etsy user name?

Tell us a bit about yourself name, location, affiliations, personal stuff.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

What first made you want to become an artist?

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?

Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?

Share any ideas you have for our street team.. or plans, hopes..

How do you promote your work?

In ten years I'd like to be...

{Please send a picture of you, your work, something to put at the top! Thanks!}

Add us to your blog!

Here is a little link to add to your blog/site to advertise us. If you'd like to make more images for us, please do! Email them to samanthamariie @ gmail.com





Here is the code to copy and paste:

<a href="http://destreet.blogspot.com"><img border="0" src="http://i263.photobucket.com/albums/ii148/nestinbloom/dest.jpg"/></a>

P.s. Per request I am posting more info as to how to add this type of thing to your blog.

For blogger (blogspot) you go into your blog's "layout" by clicking on the layout tab when you go to your blog's dashboard {or to post a new blog}. Let the page load fully, and you will then see boxes in the form of a layout for your blog/page. At the top of that page it says "Add and Arrange Page Elements. Click and drag to rearrange page elements on your blog." So, here you can move around the things on your sidebar and even add things under where you write. To add our link to your sidebar (side of your blog) click "Add a gadget" that is on the side. If you'd like to put our link under you blog, click "Add a gadget" that is wide and under the box that says 'Blog Posts'. After you click "ADD A GADGET" You find the one that says "HTML/JavaScript Add
Add third-party functionality or other code to your blog." And when that one pops up, put in the HTML coding that you found in the beginning of this post under the image. Then, click SAVE and then click SAVE on that layout page also. From there you could always drag and move things around.

If you're using wordpress or other types of blogs, you will usually find the way to add a widget, or edit your sidebar.php All you need to do is copy and paste that code :)

P.s. Please feel free to post directions in other blog sites. Thanks!