Featured Member: TOADSTOOLSNSTREESTUMP

What is your etsy user name? ToadstoolsNTreestump

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

My name is Sarah, I live in St. Georges, Delaware. I am 5 houses north of the C&D Canal. My Etsy shop opened Black Friday Weekend 2008, I am currently a member of the Fantasy Artists of Etsy team (FAE Team) and am waiting to be juried into the Art Dolls Only team.

Personally - I am a full time mom (2 children 11 & 13 years old), part time art teacher among other things. I graduated from the University of the Arts in 1989, with a BFA in Crafts/Metals.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?
I read, teach a bit, volunteer, help with homework, listen to instrument practice... I have been a member of the Society of Creative Anachronism (SCA) since 2001, where I am known as Sarra the Lymner. Thanks to the SCA I have learned the skills of a medieval calligrapher and illuminator/painter. For my 40th birthday my husband bought me a harp, something I've wanted since I was 10. I don't practice as much as I should, especially since I am teaching my self, but when I do play it brings me great pleasure. The harp is a wonderful instrument, since even when you play badly it makes pretty sounds.

What first made you want to become an artist?
I have been creating things my entire life, I have had jobs in other fields, sometimes I even enjoyed them. The materials and styles I have worked in have changed over the years, but I always seem to be creating with something.

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.
When I'm making a new line of dolls I spend a lot of time looking at fantasy images, human figure art (sculpture and 2 dimensional) and start sketching shapes for pattern pieces. Once I have the shapes designed I draw the shapes directly onto the back of the fabric. Until last year every stitch in every doll was hand sewn, but I finally made friends with my sewing machine, and now most of my seams are machine sewn. After the parts for several dolls are all sewn, they get cut, turned, stuffed and closed. Now I get to play with possible fabric and pose combinations. When the combination feels right I pin them in that position and sew them all together. Some dolls I hand paint their "attire" sometimes they are designed to look like they are in leotards, and sometimes I sew clothing on them. All my dolls hair is needle felted on and finally I draw/paint their faces and choose their accessories and embellishments.

When I'm not making dolls I also enjoy making jewelry and working on my calligraphy and illumination projects.

What handmade possession do you most cherish?
After living and working in a community of student and professional artists for 10 years and 14 more years of creating since then there are just too many handmade objects in my home. If forced to choose I'll say my wedding band.

Name your top five books, movies, songs/musical groups, and web sites besides Etsy.
Books - Pride & Prejudice(well really almost everything Jane Austen wrote) , Jane Eyre, Hobbit/Lord of the Rings Trilogy, the Harry Potter series, and Rosamund Pilcher's later works.

Movies: Pride & Prejudice (all versions), the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, most of the work of Hayao Miyazaki, most movies with Katherine Hepburn in them, and Love Actually

Musical groups: The Mediaeval Baebes, Susanne Vega, Loreena McKennitt, Caryn Lin, new age & classical music, and some jazz.

I don't really haunt a lot of web sites, but I do a fair amount of shopping on Amazon and ABEbooks (love the used book searches on both of those sites)

What advice would you give to artists who are new to Etsy?
I'm still pretty new, but the advice I try to keep to heart is that it takes time to build a reputation, make the best stuff you can, list often and be creative about how to get your name/shop name out there.

Share any ideas you have for our street team.. or plans, hopes..
I'm new to the street team idea but I am hoping to get and give support to teammates and learn effective ways to promote our shops as well as share good sources of supplies, information and inspiration.

How do you promote your work?
Promotion is my biggest challenge. I recently discovered the forums and etsy chat, my google analytics numbers seem to go up when I spend any time on them. I made bookmarks with images of my work and my etsy shop address on them, soon I'll figure out how to distribute them. My sister has a pile of my business cards and has mentioned me on her facebook & myspace pages.

In ten years I'd like to be...
A recognized and respected name in the world of art doll makers.

DelEtsy Team Meeting

So far these are some ideas of activities we could do in order for us to "meet":

• Party Lite Party
• Open House
• Victorian Tea Party

More ideas are welcome, remember to comment and leave your Etsy Shop Link so I can contact you!

Have a great week!

Claudia

Face Book - Networking

Hi everyone!

How fun to get to know each other and network through Face Book! I recently joined as Antica Treasures! It's free! If you would like to join the fun visit http://www.facebook.com/

All DelEtsians have a great weekend and Happy Valentine's Day!

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}