900 feedback and not counting...

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  FABRIC LETTERS - 2 PANE...

  madeforfun

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  MOVING SALE / have fait...

  UnderGlass

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  Veggie Garden Handspun ...

  jesspins

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  Looking Inward...Raku S...

  wondrousstrange

I had a friend ask me this weekend if I knew any sellers on Etsy that do inlay work so I went into my favorites and purchases and looked around. I didn't find what I was looking for but I did discover that I have recently crossed over into 900 positive feedbacks. I'd say about 70 of them are from buyers but that still leaves me over 800 purchases since I joined in April 2007.

I never know whether to be embarrassed or proud of my ever growing buyer history on Etsy. Today I've decided to embrace it and showcase some of the sellers that I return to again and again for my handmade fix. I made a treasury east here with some of my favorite sellers most of whom I've made multiple purchases from through the years.

That includes a whole lot of supplies when I was on a yarn, button, and bead buying frenzy a few years ago. I have bought 75% of all the gifts I've given the past few years on Etsy as well as the majority of my bath and beauty products. I am always on the prowl for sales and I have a Saturday evening ritual of shopping the Saturday Night Specials thread in the forums. It has really faded away to just a few die hard sellers but they include some of my favorites.

This Saturday I treated myself to one of Under Glass's spoon pendants which was on a huge markdown for her moving sale to 40% off. Her SNS was a free pendant with purchase which is perfect since I love having one of her pieces to gift as she wraps them up so beautifully. I also found her SNS secret item so I got a free pair of earrings. So that means for $25 I got two handmade pendants, one for me & one for a gift, and a pair of earrings like these that will be perfect for my niece Kate. I would say that I'm pretty darn good at shopping if I do say so myself.

Southwest Dreaming!

So I was playing around during my lunch hour with the new treasury east on Etsy. This is their new method for curating treasuries which allows you to create a treasury at any time and it will stay active indefinitely. You can have as many treasuries active as you care to waste your time making and keeping filled. As I was doing my EC drops today I checked out the Etsy shops of the handmade bloggers I frequent and put together a Southwest themed list.

My vacation to New Mexico is less than a month away and I am getting super excited! I found some amazing items in rich colors of the Southwest including but not limited to turquoise and deep orange, two of my favorites. I tried to copy and paste it here but it came in with them one at a time. You can see it in all of its glory here, click on the items, and leave comments if you so choose.

Lenox Knit's Blog Buddies Southwest Theme

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  Colors of the Desert Co...

  Alterity

  

• Batik Butterfly Handbag

  kreatedbykaren

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  Copper and Turquoise Be...

  arosebyname

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  Rising Sun - Beaded Nec...

  ThreeFatesDe...

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  Joy - a faux mosaic

  ArtByKristin

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  Bright Rainbow Temari

  luckygirltrading

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  Handmade Wristlet with ...

  TiLTcreations

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  Handmade Tipi Treasure ...

  storybeader

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  turquoise and red fring...

  randomcreative

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  JEWELS of the SOUTHWEST...

  SplitRockRanch

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  SALE - Turquoise Earrin...

  BrokenTeepeeD...

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  No Horsin' Around - Ric...

  happygoatsoap

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  Ziangle (2)- Hot chilli

  daxdesigns

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  Margarita Lime Bubbling...

  thesoapseduction

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  Shades of Turquoise Gla...

  WillOaksStudio

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  Knit Clutch in Desert S...

  nfall2rt

I also found some shops with great specials going on and I thought I'd share them with you:

Alterity Button Jewelry:
******Spring Special******
FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE

Three Fates Design:
FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING. All sales go to help pay for Yoda's surgery and after care. Please stop by my blog for more info and updates.

Dax Designs Bead Art:
NEWS FOR MAY - FREE SHIPPING.
I've introduced FREE shipping to celebrate reaching 200 shop hearts this month.

Random Creative:
May 2010 special: Take 15% off and get $1.00 shipping on any item tagged "turquoise." Refunds will be issued via Paypal. Please convo me if you don't see a turquoise item that suits your needs/preferences. I'm happy to create a custom listing for you with the same deal.

Happy Goat's Soap:
Shop Special:
~~~4oz BARS 3/$11~~~3oz BARS 3/$10~~~6oz BARS 3/$15~~~

Broken Teepee Designs:
FREE worldwide shipping is included

TiLT's creations:
Clearance sale going on now on all discontinued styles...

Handmade Under the Tree!

Merry Christmas everyone! We will be going over to Mike's Mom's house in a few hours to celebrate Christmas with the in laws. And then tomorrow we'll head down to the farm for a few days to celebrate with the Lenox clan. I thought I would share a few of the handmade goodies that will be under the trees this year from me.

I just got Betty's Hershfeld pendant in the mail yesterday. It is so absolutely adorable. It's in black and white and is practically a work of art. You can see examples of The Lost Earring's work in the shot above. She was so sweet to work with and made sure I got it on time even though I ordered it rather late and it was a custom job.


Speaking of amazing custom pendants, I got my Mom a Circle of Love custom family pendant in gold from Mu-Yin Jewelry. It has all of her kids and grandkids birthstones in order. It was heavy on the green and purple stones. So when I found Gray Cat Designs on a trade thread and saw these gorgeous earrings in gold with all the same colors and stones I asked for a trade. She fell in love with one of my scarves and a perfect trade was made. She was so sweet to include a pair of earrings for me in moonstone which just so happens to be my all time favorite stone.


I'm sure that my ultra conservative sister will not be thrilled with my gift to Savannah, my 3 year old niece who loves to dress up. I got her a custom made hot pink and black tutu and a matching tee shirt from Punky Monkey Kids. I choose a slightly less wild tee shirt, hers has a guitar instead of a skull but it is definitely still a very punk look.






I also got a variety of Kawaii jewelry from Fighting Dreamr Designs for the girls including this fun pendant with a real dried beetle inside for Kate. She loves insects right now, especially round ones, her words not mine. I got Jess a pendant with candy sprinkles inside and I also got Kate some cute earrings including some pink tiny koosh balls which I know she will love.

That is just a sample of the handmade goodness under my tree this year. I hope you get all the treasures you are dreaming of and more this Christmas. If not than I'm sure you can find some one perfectly willing to make it for you on Etsy!

13 Hours a Day?

It's totally feeling like Christmas all of a sudden. It got bitterly cold this week and there is that nice stillness on campus right before the holiday break. (Just as I typed that line someone started drilling right outside my window. Irony in action!) The Winter Shimmer scarf above would make the perfect accessory for this time of year. It's a mix of hand spun wool and a super soft acrylic yarn.

I came across a really interesting article on the NYT's Style Page about Etsy and the myth or reality of earning a living with your craft. It's titled "That Hobby Looks Like a Lot of Work" and it describes how some crafters have been able to turn their passions into a full time income through Etsy and other venues.

They featured one knitter who described her day as including 13 hours of knitting and then multiple other hours on-line with buyers and promotional duties. She actually has a wholesale contract with Urban Outfitters to sell her handmade cowls. She claims to be earning $140,000 a year which I wonder is gross or not. But either way I don't think it's worth it. I have spent 13 hours in a row knitting on the weekends before but I honestly can't imagine doing it every day. It would drain the joy out of it real quickly and my hands just couldn't take it. As great as the dream of making a living off my craft sounds, in reality it would likely be a nightmare.

There was another feature in the summer on Slate about the fantasy of making a living and how Etsy "Peddles a False Feminist Fantasy". I was insulted by some of the ideas implied in this article but the reality is much of what she says is true. There was a lot of controversy about this article and if you go back to the first pages of comments you can read some angry reactions from Etsy sellers.

I'm happy with were my business is at the moment. I had a great craft show season and had an increase in sales over last year which not a lot of businesses can say in this economy. I've found my place in the indie shows and my target market. I'm not happy with my Etsy shop but that is a different post. Online sales are just not my priority. I'm glad that I still enjoy my hobby but I'm thankful that I don't have make a living from it.

Big Ass Wrap Up

I took no decent pics from the Big Ass Indie Show yesterday but they have a whole photo montage on their Facebook page here if you are interested. The above was my view from my perch yesterday afternoon as I guarded the dressing room. This was a rack of mostly my scarves. I think it was a good show, not necessarily a great one for me but I really can't complain at all. I haven't seen my actual numbers yet but just reviewing what I didn't come home with I can estimate how I did.



It looks like I sold over 10 of the higher end scarves which is what I was hoping to move at this show along with the majority of my lower end scarves. I think I sold only 2 scarflettes which was surprising to me until I started thinking about it. They had the majority of them buried in a wheel barrow that they were using as a display instead of arranged on a table so I really don't think people were willing to dig through it. Not a big deal since I need something to keep my Etsy shop going until I can get more pictures taken.

I started the season with 2 large tubs and 2 medium tubs stuffed to the brim with my inventory. After my last show I could probably fit everything into the largest of the tubs if I stuffed it tight. I'm very happy with how it all went and couldn't have asked for a better 3 shows for my work. I'll do a more complete wrap up later with my thoughts on how to improve things for next year.









There were some really amazing vendors at this show including a few that I'd never seen before. I got a Flesh doll by Michael Baird that I'm absolutely in love with. Mike says it is probably the weirdest thing I've ever bought which is really saying something. It has the coolest eyes in it with a long tail that I can use to hold it while I hit Mike in the back of the head, only when he deserves it of course. The leather is so soft and smooth I actually found myself cuddling it last night while laying on the couch watching TV under my blanket.

I always go into a knitting funk after my last craft show of the season. It's like I get all the frantic work done and I don't know what to do with myself after it's all done. I've knitted a few Christmas gifts and I'm going to give myself 1 week to not knit and then hopefully I will get some inspiration back. I really am wanting to work on some hat designs for next year and hopefully that will get me going.

Handmade Thanks!

So one of my primary roles as crazy Aunt Paige is to instill an appreciation for all things handmade. While Ani was over tonight we started making some Thank You cards for her birthday gifts. I got on a card making kick 5 years ago and still had some card stock and stamps. We embellished with ribbon and buttons. She didn't really like the one I made with buttons so we compromised by agreeing that it was for Grandma Lenox and not one of her friends.

She cracked me up when she said "What is happening? We must be growing apart." This was because she liked doing it one way and I liked another. I think it's a sign that she's growing up and has her own ideas which is actually a good thing. She can't just like what I like forever or that would be pretty boring.

I've started doing some Christmas shopping for the nieces and nephews and my main focus for this year is going to be on buying things they can make with their hands. I got Kai some drawing supplies and I will be getting the younger ones some kits to explore different creative outlets. Any suggestions for such gifts would be appreciated.

Scarflettes in the Wild

I have gotten over my etsy rage from yesterday. Sometimes I just get a wild hair and can't help myself. As I replied in my comments I really don't have anything against the gift guides per se. I've been in them twice that I know of and it was great exposure but I just didn't like the idea of people being redirected out of my shop after I've done the work to get them there.

I'm staying home today and tomorrow to get the house ready for Ani's birthday party on Saturday. I'm starting to question my sanity for offering to do this. I still have no idea how many girls are going to show up. I've only had 3 RSVP to me but there could be as many as 9 actually show up for all I know.

I also need to get my inventory lists in order for the next two craft shows coming up. They are both boutique style shows so I don't have to actually be there but I do have to let them know weeks in advance what I will be bringing. I have everything tagged, counted and folded nice and neatly in tubs by type. I need to do the spread sheet and I should be good to go. I think I will focus on getting some more wire wrist cuffs made between now and then since my supply of those is pretty depleted and they go pretty fast.

I thought I would leave you with a few shots of scarflettes growing in the wild. I took these in October on one of the few moments without rain right before all of the leaves turned brown and fell. They were both made with an amazingly soft mercerized cotton that I love from Chili. If you are interested in them let me know as I don't have them listed in my shop.