Day of the Dead & Halloween 2012

Display

As a proud member of the Etsy Austin street team, I have been working hard to prepare for our festivities during South by Southwest (SXSW), one of the most popular weeks in the capital city-- and a must-do event for anyone interested in independent films or up-and-coming bands. With so many people converging in our beautiful city, our team will have a tent set up at Hill Country Weavers on South Congress Avenue. We'll be selling the fruits of our artistic endeavors, demonstrating craft techniques, and giving out promotional items from noon to 7 pm on Saturday, March 14; Sunday, March 15; Friday, March 20; and Saturday, March 21. With lots of our Etsy Austin team members participating in these festivities, and the need to fit many of us in the small space of your typical vendor tent, we each took on the challenge of designing our product displays to fit on the footprint of an 11" by 17" piece of paper.

To show off my jewelry, I had to visualize my display with some height. I sketched out my idea noting the dimensions and showed my husband. After a trip to the nearby home improvement store for some boards, screws, spray paint, and hooks, he took the task to heart and turned my sketch into a budget-friendly, space-constrained display for my handmade wares. While this setup maximizes height, the boards open up to a width of 11 inches and they are 17 inches across, neatly fitting within the required table space. The hooks can be arranged and re-arranged to suit the products I have left after each day's sales. I've included some of my best-selling jewelry on the display--each tagged on a business card--including my "Yarnballs" earrings, bright orange "Tangelo" earrings, and lots of mini pottery shard necklaces.

If you're in Austin either of these weekends in March, I hope you'll stop by our tent at Hill Country Weavers to say hello, see our goodies in person, do a little shopping with us, and maybe even watch one of our members give a craft demonstration. If you can't make it, please check out our goodies at http://www.EtsyAustin.com or shop online with me at http://polishedtwo.etsy.com for pottery shard jewelry and whimsical accessory designs.

Tees

As a proud member of the Etsy Austin street team, I am excited to tease you with some information about our activities during South by Southwest (SXSW), the highly anticipated event of the year in the heart of Texas. Members of the team have been working our tails off to recycle our friends' cast-off T-shirts into messenger bags that we're screenprinting and stuffing full of awesome crafty goodies including earrings, brooches, postcards, soaps and lots of other samples of the wares we artfully design and sell at http://www.etsyaustin.com/.

Not only will we be handing out over 300 of these handcrafted messenger bags-- we will also have a booth set up at Hill Country Weavers on South Congress Avenue where we'll demonstrate some of our favorite crafts, such as finger-knitting a pretty scarf (no needles!). We'll also be selling some of the products you see in our online shops. Our booth will be set up from noon to 7 pm on Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15 and we'll be back out on Friday, March 20 and Saturday, March 21, 2009. Look for us in our cool blue Etsy Austin T-shirts that have been screenprinted with our team logo. The shirts make a great souvenir and can be purchased for $18 at our booth. *hint, hint*

While you're out and about enjoying all of the parties, please come by to say hello, do a little shopping, and show the love for the hard-working, creative, and friendly Etsy Austin team members.

Thanks

One of the great things about the Etsy experience is the handmade touch. Everything handmade is made with a bit of love--and that makes your buying experience extra special. I keep this in mind when I pack up my jewelry to send it off to my customers. Before I seal their package shut, I personally thank each one of them. Each purchase means so much to me, and I want my buyers to know that.

I am so excited to extend the handmade experience by now using handmade thank you cards with my orders. I'm using these beautiful Asian-inspired mini cards by Jennifer of http://lillypea.etsy.com. She lovingly handstamped these images on premium papers. I have always loved paper and these feel so wonderful to write on--making the thank you process a real pleasure to complete each mailer. I also love them because the orange and brown combination is a perfect match with the colors in my business cards.

You can find the "Tracy" mini cards, blank greeting cards, and adorable sets to use for any occasion at http://lillypea.etsy.com.

Yarnballs

Tonight I was setting up for the Etsy Austin meeting when I received a link to a customer photo. My beautiful customer Karly of www.shesewslovely.ca is modeling her new pair of Yarnballs earrings purchased from my etsy shop. Karley is a 25 year old Canadian who is an avid crafter, knitter, scrapbooker, and quilter. She sews the cutest handmade nursery wall hangings, felt owl brooches, felt baby books, and coffee sleeves.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=14169598

Tangle

I started making a necklace called "Tangle" to coordinate with my best-selling "Yarnballs" earrings. I was so excited to see my necklace modeled beautifully on Jennifer Tanner McGuire, one of my first "Tangle" buyers and a fellow Austinite! The necklace is an 18-inch-long sparkly ball chain with a messy ball of wire.

Photo Courtesy of Jennifer Tanner McGuire. Read her blog at http://www.mamasingstheblues.blogspot.com/

Valentine

This is just a little note to spread the love and wish you a Happy Valentine's Day! I have been inspired to make some love-themed jewelry, posting my latest creations in my Etsy shop. If you need a little something for a great gift, be sure to visit http://polishedtwo.etsy.com to see my latest creations, like these red and white coin pearl earrings called "Valentine."

Treasury

I have had the great fortune of being included in some gorgeous Etsy treasuries over the past week. Treasuries are a beautiful showcase of the amazing array of talent found while shopping on Etsy and I am always excited to be included with the other artists chosen for these aesthetic masterpieces. Sometimes I find myself going to Etsy just to see what treasury they have featured on the front page-- and you can do this often because they change nearly every 20 minutes!

The treasury shown below features green and purple goodies and is a showcase of Austin talent. Each item above was made by a member of the Etsy Austin street team.

This beautiful treasury of blue and yellow goodness includes "Flourish"--one of my one-of-a-kind Ming Dynasty pottery shard necklaces.

My "Yarnballs" earrings were included in this selection of shimmering handmade goods. It was a real treat to be included along with all of these artists.

This red and gray selection of beauties made it to Etsy's front page. That was an exciting moment for me! Treasuries are just one reason that the Etsy community has been a great home for my jewelry for the past two years.