Favorite Places: Knitalatte

(by Minna from Karuski)

Last month we started a new series showing favorite places of talented artists and artisans. Our first guest was Andrea of littlebighead. She wished to know a bit more of Margie of knitalatte, amazing Canadian artist who creates unique treasures for home and body by combining vintage crocheting with natural elements such as stones and acorns. Her photo prints are beautiful too. A big update is coming to her shop very soon. You can read follow ups on her resurrection fern blog. Enjoy this story of hers!

One of Margie's favorite places: Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada

Another beautiful view from Canada's northeastern coast

Summery meadow with wild flowers

Enchanting forest in autumn season

What made you choose this your favorite place? What makes it special to you?
My favorite places are never made from brick or mortar but created by most creative architect in the world, nature itself. I live in a town that is just about 30 minutes drive from on of the largest cities in the world, Toronto and yet I can walk a few minutes down the street or ride a bike and find myself in my favorite natural places. This is where I go to be inspired, breath deeply and find peace.

Cosy porch setting with flowers in vases from Margie's home


Sweet paper & lace garlands decorate the kitchen beautifully

What do you find the most comfortable at your home and why?
At this time of year I pretty well live on my wrap around porch. We relax, read, create and play with the kitties and eat almost all our meals there. I do live in Canada so in the winter my favorite place is our south facing, sunny kitchen. It is cosy and warm with a little woodstove in the corner.

Would you like to name a place anywhere in the World that makes you feel good?
Some place you have already visited or would love to explore one day?
I love to travel and I always find amazing places to explore. This past year I have been to New York City, Vienna and Baden Austria, Lyon France, Quebec and Nova Scotia. I just about fell head over heels in love with Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. I can even picture myself buying a small house high on a grassy hill overlooking the ocean and living there one day.

I would love to visit the few places in Canada I have yet to discover. I have been to every province except Newfoundland and I would also love to visit the Arctic, the land of the midnight sun.

Whose favorite places you would like to see here?
I would like to name Lisa of Lou Lou and Oscar or Abby of Infusion Fibers

Thanks so much Margie!

Member feature: Fleurfatale

Greet Tanghe from Fleurfatale was a full time graphic designer, and then she became a full time mother. After 4 years with kids and home she felt, that "I needed to lay my egg" as the Belgian saying goes. Though I have no idea about the exact meaning of this saying, I feel, that she managed laying her egg: she runs a successful shop with unique mixed media jewelry, and it suits her family life perfectly.

When did you start making jewelry? Why did you switch to full-time jewelry maker from your original profession, which is graphic designer?
For almost 15 years I have been working as a graphic designer. I had my own studio and did mostly creative work for non profit organisations: theatre, ministry education, organisations like Plan International and Oxfam.

When my 4th child was born, I felt the need to take a break, I had to cope also with the handicap of my 3rd child (that has Down syndrome), so it was time for a sabbatical.In the beginning I enjoyed doing all those family things: the kids, cooking, the household, I had not done it for years (because of my job) and now it gave me some rest: no deadlines, no rush, ... just being there for kids and hubby. I did a lot of sport in those days too: running and gym.

Yet after 4 years, I think I had enough of it. In Belgium we say: 'I needed to lay my egg'. I really felt the need to be creative again!! Creative cooking or playing with the kids did not satisfy me any longer... I knew it would not be easy to start a regular job again, especially with my four kids (one with handicap) and a hubby who is a lot abroad (he works at the veterinary faculty of Ghent University). Starting again as a graphic designer would have meant: working fulltime again, lots of deadlines, stress..., that would have been too much for me :-) I was also turning 40 at that time, and I felt I needed a new challenge. During my 'home' period I had taken some courses for jewelry making and felting, papermaking and bookbinding, I even did a workshop 'crochet' with Veerle (Nevousinstallezpas) as my teacher.

I discovered Etsy in January 2008 and was overwhelmed by the beautiful creations I saw there. The idea began to grow to open my own Etsy shop. I could start low profile, just selling a little bit of my handmade stuff (jewelry and handmade cards) and I could work from home, also a great advantage! That's how 'Fleurfatale' was born. I chose for a french name, because to me French sounds artistic. And flowers are a constant in my creations. Fatal Flowers would have sound cool too, but there was a Dutch rockgroup already named like that :-)

Can you use your knowledge from your previous profession in jewelry making? If yes: in what ways?
I do use my Graphic Design knowledge in my jewelry making: color choices, color combinations, concept thinking, compositions for my photography... I am very aware of 'what you see is what you get' thanks to my previous profession. I got my 'photographic eye' by assisting lots of photoshoots in those days.

I was used to work a lot with Photoshop which helps me now a lot now to brighten up my pictures (and I have to do it a lot as the weather in Belgium is often grey :-() Thanks to my graphic design skills I can design my own business - and notecards and other Stationary for my Fleurfatale shop! I also have always a sketchbook with me (which I did in my previous job too) to write down little notes, ideas, small drawings, all little things for maybe future designs...

Also the promotional part is an advantage from my graphic design job, I know a lot about peer groups and how to reach them. For instance the homeselling I did some weeks ago was a great success, also due to the well-thought promotion we made. Also, my shop name is well-thought: I wanted a name that everyone would understand and could pronounce, something that speaks easy and that matches the things I create. I did quite some search for finding a catchy shop (or artist) name.

My blog is also related to my Etsy shop, it's not only a way to document my creations and creative search for myself , but is also a promotional tool. My aim is to reach a lot of readers (that in the end can be customers too). By doing this worldwide networking I also try to promote my European and Etsy friends by blogging about their shops and creations and by dropping their links in my blog, in that way we help each other to promote our shops!

You have four kids, a husband and a house to keep clean. How do you manage to find time for jewelry making? Can you give an example of your daily or weekly schedule?
In fact I am crafting all the time, my head is always full of ideas. If I walk the street I always see something that inspires me, even grocery shopping or my garden can give me creative vibes :-)

My four kids go to school now, from 8:30 till 15:30, and they take their sandwiches to eat at school. Only on wednesdays they are at home in the afternoon. The school is at only 5 minutes by bike. Hubby brings them in the morning and I get the kids at school in the afternoon. On fridays and mondays I have to take my kid with Down to the therapy. So I have two days with 7 hours to craft, and about 3 hours the other days. when my kids are in bed then I am still crafting (felting, sorting beads, cutting fabric...), sometimes while watching tv :-)

I am a very chaotic person: I am busy with several projects and often start working on something new when I have not finished the previous. I really could use some organisation! I do have some tricks to make the household with 4 kids easier and to save time:
here they are:
- I don't go to the hairdresser: she comes to our house, that is a lot of hours we spare doing this. (and it's cheaper!)
- I only go two times a week for grocery shopping: you bet my cart is overloaded then!
- I try to cook healthy and time saving, I have a lot of very easy and quick recipes and I am a big fan of one-pot cooking!
- I do not iron at all :-))) (I am lucky hubby wears t-shirts at work)
- I only do the laundry in the weekends, otherwise I should be washing all week. And in the weekend hubby can help my folding the clothes and putting them in the wardrobes :-)
- I shop mostly online (not only supplies :-)
- a visit to the dentist is always with the four kids togheter: one after the other :-)
- we have a jungle-type garden, (we only do the grass mowing once in a month :-) and the kids just love playing in it, when mummy is on the terrace busy with felt or other stuff!

If there is somebody behind you and your business, can you introduce him/her a little. Tell us in what ways he/she is helping you!
The only help I have is a cleaning lady for my household. She comes to help me 6 hours per week, as my husband insisted to it :-) She has nothing to do with my jewellery business, but if I should not have her, I could not do what I do now. So I am very thankfull to her!

And I may not forget my hubby! When he is home, he really tries to help in the household. he is the kind of person that is never stressed. I ask myself sometimes if he knows what stress is :-)
At my vernissage he turned out being a very good waiter for serving drinks to the guests. He really can deal with my Etsy addiction and my artistic endeavors and I must admit he is very understanding when I need to sit in front of my laptop staring my screen for grabbing a treasury, LOL!!!

What are your future plans (personal and/or business)?
I am not a big planner.
I actually live now, and not in the future (I learned this when I gave birth to my daughter with Down, when you have a kid with a handicap, you just better not look very far in the future, you just can't, you have to enjoy every day, step by step ...)

I want to stay fresh and excited about my designs. I don't like repeating the same creations.
I am always on the hunt for original findings and new materials. Using scraps and vintage material makes my creations more unique and non repeatable, and also eco friendly. So thrift stores, flea markets and my mothers attic are my favorite shopping places :-)

It is true that selling motivates to create: the positive feedback you get (from your on- and off-line customers) gives a lot of stimulating vibes. The EST challenge (founded by Kreativlink) is also a great creative stimulator: it really helps me to grow and evolve in my designs!

I often got the question for doing wholesale, but I really can't, I would have the feeling to work in a factory. I feel also that handmade does not cooperate with wholesale. I have my Etsy shop for one year now, and it went pretty well. But I don't know what next year will bring.....

I don't think I will pick up a job as graphic designer again. What I do now is fixing better with my family life: I work home and the Post office is only a few streets ahead :-))) And I enjoy the virtual relationhip with my sweet EST and ETSY friends very much! I just keep on doing what I do and I know I am very lucky my hubby is there to bring the necessary income.

Sometimes I think I have to choose for one discipline: beading or felting , metalwork or textile jewelry. But I just can't!.... I do love working with lots of materials and combining them. I think this mixing of disciplines and materials has become my style, it reflects also the chaotic person in me: I feel my creations are very very me!

Favorite shops?
A very difficult question: I have so much, the following are only a few of them:
My heart goes to:
Birribe
Nevousinstallezpas
Lilarubyking
Vadjutka
Lapomme

...and of course all my lovely EST friends

New series: Favorite Places

(by Minna from karuski)

News: We are starting a new monthly series "Favorite Places". We are eager to introduce you a bunch of interesting artists and artisans, taking a little peek into their lives and favorite places, getting to know them a bit under the surface. The fun part is that each guest selects the next artist we will be interviewing. We find this a nice way to get to know talented people's work and make friends all around the Globe. We hope you will enjoy these tours!

Our first guest is Andrea Gutierrez, she comes from La Mirada, California. Andrea makes most wonderful and magical art work under the name littlebighead, you can find her beautiful originals and art prints in her Etsy shop. If you want to learn more of her, please visit her sweet blog. Enjoy her story!

Andrea's favorite place in her home town: La Mirada Regional Park

Why did you choose this your favorite place? What makes it special to you?
Living in a small suburban city, sometimes it is hard to find the wonders of being outdoors so I do my best to find the wonder in simple things, in small things. I do like a couple of parks that we live by, one of them being La Mirada Regional Park. It's nice to walk around, looking at the trees and the roots that weave beneath and over the earth. To listen to the birds secretly nestling in trees. I especially like it because it has a few man made lakes where various ducks and other birds like to gather. I love taking pictures of them and I can never help myself from picking up a few feathers!

Cosy corner with wall art and kitty dolls from Andrea's home

Little ones enjoying themselves


What do you find the most comfortable at your home and why?
I suppose just the familiarity of it. My family moved here (La Mirada) when I was fifteen years old. When I got married and later pregnant, we decided that I would stay home and take care of our daughter. We ended up selling our small condo and moving back in with my parents and brother. There was some adjusting especially when you are trying to separate my previous life here with the life I am living now. It has it's rewards too, like my daughter growing up so close to her grandparents. It's funny to see our three generations and how we are similar and not too. So here we are, one big extended family!

Would you like to name a place anywhere in the World that makes you feel good? Some place you have already visited or would love to explore one day?
Besides the magic and wonder of Disneyland where it does not matter how old you are (and it is only 20 minutes away!), I think my most favorite place is anywhere where there are a lot of trees and wilderness around. I love camping and I just can't quite describe how amazing, magical and close I feel to God when I am outdoors and in the woods. There is so much to explore and discover, it's like mini-adventures! One of our favorite places to visit and camp at is Yosemite and I am always thrilled when we catch a glimpse of a deer in the meadow or a baby bear up in a tree. The night holds a magical place in my heart as well. When you look up at the vast array of stars without any artificial light to blind you from their magnificence, it's mind blowing! Being oceanside at night too has that effect on me as well.

Whose favorite places you would like to see here?
There are few I'd like to see:
Margie Oomen of resurrectionfern
Amber/Sasha of violetfolklore
Heather of intheforestlove

Thank you Andrea!

Design Read

(by Minna from karuski)

Last Saturday I went to library to return books and get some new ones too. I was very happy to find a book about Finnish textile industry, focusing on printed fabrics, From Cretonne to Print (Kretongista printtiin), published by Maahenki Oy, 2008. Wide and proud history of textile industry started in Finland in 1820's. Finnish design started to florish after WWII, it pursued for functional, high quality items good for every day use right from the beginning. Textiles didn't make an exception. Happily this book is bilingual (in Finnish/English). It would make a great read to anyone interested in Finnish design!

I picked a few prints from the book, just to give the idea what the Finnish textile printing is all about.

1. On book cover Edward Terzibasiyan's printed fabric for Tampella, private collection
2. Kukka by Marjatta Metsovaara for Tampella in 1963
3. Metsänväki by Kristina Isola for Marimekko Oyj in 2008
4. Katve by Hanna Kerman for Fokus Fabric in 2006

All times Scandinavian designs have been inspired by nature and it's quite incredible how modern 50's-60's designs look. They could be made today. What part do you personally cherish in your country's design history?

What are banner ads good for?

(by Judit from vadjutka)

Let me start with a personal confession: back in my technology journalist past, I was clearly against banner ads. "No one clicks on them, and they are rather a nuisance than something useful for the internet users" I thought. Now, as I manage my own online business, I changed my mind. They definitley do have a place under the Sun, but they are not going to bring traffic and sales directly. So what are they good for?

The success of a banner ad is measured by the so called Click Through Rate (CTR): throught the years it has declined significantly from around 5% (in the 90s) to less than 1% (nowadays). This CTR number is the ratio of the number of users who clicked on an ad on a web page and the number of times the ad was delivered (impressions). According to a longitudinal analysis of 5000 websites across Europe, done by tech group Adtech, the preformance (CTR) of ads are low: they vary between 0,35 and 0,24%. Not much, hm? Experts say, that it can be much higher (1-2%) if the ad runs on a targeted site: for example in the case of a banner of a film on a movie site. Also, the performance of the banner depends on number of other factors, like the design of the ad, the size of banner, the place of the banner on the site.

The table below shows the click-through trends of the last four years
(by Adtech)

This means, that we should not expect sales directly from a banner campaign. I think that banners are good for showing your face to the public, to show that you and your shop exist. It is good for image and branding purposes, as part of a mid-term strategy; or at least this is what my experiance of using banners says. (I had banner campaigns on several sites like Glibea's Blog, Indie Shopping Blog, Scoutie Girl and Paper'n'Stitch.) Spending your money on banners systematically may result in sales, but first of all: visitors of the hosting site will learn your and your shop's name slowly.

OK, so if you decided to run a banner campaign what factors you should consider when choosing the host for your banner?
- type and thematics of the site
If you have a jewelry shop - like I do - it is more likely you will be noticed on site about fashion, lifestyle etc., though you may consider running a banner on a paper art site...after all its readers are likely to be intereseted in jewelry as well.
- traffic of the site
The more popular site you use, the more chance you have for being noticed. BUT: usually these sites have more banners than others, so the "banner noise" is bigger.
- cost of the banner and additional services
Some of the sites - with themes about handmade, fashion, design etc - offer blogpost mention or some kind of mention embedded in the content.

Member feature: Swiedebie

"Call me Swee"

Swee Leng from Swiedebie is a Singaporean Chinese now officially residing in The Netherlands, because her husband is a Dutch. She creates mainly sock monsters, and other than that, she has a mixture of other little crafts made out of felt and printed fabrics.

How did you end up creating sock monsters?
Since Swiedebie started in September 2008, I was exploring with little crafts like card-making, books, felt cakes, bags, little felt dolls, etc. Gradually, I developed into making felt monsters, which contains immense attraction and charm to the younger market and from there on, I moved on to whipping up socks into monsters. I made the very basic sock monsters in November for a little gift fair. The demand is high, and I see the potential market for the young in The Netherlands. So, I decided to give my sock monsters a chance to dive into this market by creating a sole trademark of my designs. This year, I move away from the typical scarey monsters look to a new-designed sock monster, called the Kapooshi. They are innocent, adorable, original designed, characteristic, inspiring, educational and fun loving.

How does your crafting life relate to your "previous" fashion-designer life? What aspects of that life are useful now?
My whole life has always remained the same, be it pertaining to my passion for fashion or crafts. Fashion is a vague description and it’s means “what is accepted by most people at a given time”. It can be anything, from food, furniture, clothes, houses, cars and even any hobbied crafts. I am now a full-time homemaker and a mommy to a beautiful and adorable 3-year old toddler. Deep in me, I know I do not want to give up my passion for fashion. I have to keep the ball rolling, the wind in my head blowing. With these, I decided to bring on my decade of fashion knowledge and experience on to my craft life of today. As you can see from my current works, I play with colours and prints, executing my knowledge of sewing techniques I learnt back in school & the industry onto my little weirdos, making clothes & accessories for some of them.

A fashion designer life is hectic, and not as glamourous as many people think. It is real hard work round the clock if there is a need to, and always be daring to keep yourself updated with the current trends, people, media, etc... I have also dealt with sales, and learning that satisfying clients’ needs, wants and demands are important focus points that one must not miss. Many people associate fashion designers as egoistic artisans. Oh well, I agree to a certain extent, and it
is dependable on each individual. I been through almost the hardest way while in the fashion industry, and survived through it, learning that sometimes taking advices/critiques from the public does help in a way to self & business improvement. What are useful from the aspect of a designer’s life to my crafting life now are perserverance, hard work, patience, be experimental and daring, innovative (do not copy) and most important, LISTENING and accepting critiques with open arms.

Can you implement marketing techiques used in fashion industry in your personal business? If yes, in what ways? If no, why?
I must say there are definitely lots of marketing (sales and growth) techniques in the fashion industry, that I can bring over to my personal business. Like many other business owners, we want to grow more than just our business. I learnt from this marketeer’s beliefs and stick by them.

“If you stop learning, there will be trouble in the short term.
If you stop strategizing, there will be trouble in the mid term.
If you stop innovating, there will be trouble in the long term.”

I shall name a few… as there are too many. In fashion or any other industry, learning skills are the most important in this arena, and of course in any business we embark on. We have to learn to invest enough time to brainstorm, which means being hard at work to think. Learning from multiple sources is very important as they can provide you essential information in the marketing (& business) arena. Research, hardworking, plan the time well enough, innovate and not copy.

Another point in the fashion industry, one need to have the energy, enthusiasm and excitement to be with driven people who are at your level or higher to strive toward your goals every week. It is very necessary to do so. My friends in the fashion industry and Etsy’s teams (including my most active team European Street Team) are one of the group of people who motivates me to move on. Bringing these over to my personal business, I believe I can build it well.

What are your future plans (personal and/or business)?
My future personal plan is to establish myself in my Dutch, my business degree, and of course, to travel to many countries (so I can buy supplies… ;P) My future business plans is to bring my works to a higher level in terms of exposing them in high-end stores, registering Swiedebie as an official business in NL and Europe (hopefully in Asia too, yes that will mean internationally), and of course, the biggest dream is to have my own shops, and factory to call my own. That is a big dream, and I will work hard in hope to achieve at least one of these soon.

If there is somebody behind you and your business, can you introduce him/her a little. Tell us in what ways he/she is helping you!
Yes, I have someone behind me. It is not only one, but 3 of them. First, my husband is my pillar of support. He is always enthusiastic and motivating me to go on with Swiedebie. He has a good foresight for the Dutch industry, and keeps me going on by encouraging and being the most understanding person I ever known. Without him, I will not have done up so many Works. Why? Well… he babysits my daughter every weekend so I can have the days full to myself on my Works.

The 2nd person, is of course my little girl. She gives me so much happiness and joy, inspiration and ideas. In my Works, the bold coloured monsters, depict my love for life and happiness. She is the ONE who makes me move into working plush monsters for kids! I done only women’s wear back in my fashion days. It is my daughter who brings my childhood back to me.

Last but not least, my mother, who has been my teacher since I was born. She is a very meticulous and creative designer, who never fails to give up her passion for fashion. It is her who taught me how to hold a needle, how to use a machine, how to wash and iron different textiles. It is her who pats me on my back when I graduated from fashion school. It is her who smiles at me when I come home exhausted from my work as a workaholic designer. She is far away from me now, in her heart, she has not given up on me, bringing with her smiles whenever I have achieved a small sale. I can never be who I am now without her.

Favourite artists? Can you name 3 of them, let it be on Etsy or off-Etsy?
Yes, I have so many favourites…colours are my favourites always. Only 3? Let me see.
Pretty Little Things – www.prettylilthings.etsy.com
Matilou – www.matilou.etsy.com
Tiddlywinks – www.tiddlywinks.etsy.com

What do the numbers tell? III.

A jump into the world of Google Analytics - Part III.
(by Petronella from Kraplap)

This is the third part of the small Google Analytics Survey of 21 EST members done in January and February. I will send you these data also personally, together with your own colour and number.

In Google Analytics Survey Part 1, I gave graphs for three characteristics: the number of daily visits to the shop, the percentage of visits that are from new visitors, and the duration of each visit in minutes. In Google Analytics Survey Part 2, I looked to the relation of these traits with the shop size and gave graphs for the number of daily visits per shop item and the duration of each visit per shop item. A higher visiting frequency and/or duration tells of course nothing about the height of the selling frequency in these shops, therefore I will give here the relation of visit frequency and duration with selling frequency.
The first graph shows the selling performance, expressed as the number of sold items over the period that we had the Google Analytics running, against the shop size expressed as the number of items listed per shop. The stippled orange/pink line is the trend line, indicating an increase in the tested period of the number of sold items with the shop size. However, you can clearly see that shops number 2 and 3 with the highest number of sold items lay far away from the rest of the shops, influencing the trendline enormously. Therefore, I also made a trend line for all the shops without those two shops, which is the solid orange/pink line. The result is almost a disappearance of the positive trend between the number of sold items and the shop size (solid line: 1 sold item more for every 33 extra listed items).


The second graph shows the selling performance against the number of daily visits per shop, averaged over the same period we had the Google Analytics running. The stippled orange/pink line is the trend line, indicating an increase in the tested period of 10 sold items per every 100 extra daily shop visits. Leaving out the three shops with the highest number of daily visits (numbers 1, 2 and 3), which lay far away from the rest of the shops, does not make a big difference in the trend: an increase of 12 sold items for every 100 extra daily shop visits (solid line). In conclusion, there is a strong positive relation between the selling performance and the shop visit frequency.

The third graph shows the number of sold items against the duration of the visits per shop in seconds. Similar as in the first graph, the trend lines show a positive relation between selling performance and visit duration (stippled line: an increase of 8 sold items for every 100 extra seconds of shop visits). But this number is halved when shops 2 and 3, laying far away from the other shops, are removed from the trendline (solid line: an increase of 4 sold items for every 100 extra seconds of shop visits).
Because of the positive relations of the number of visits and the visit duration with the shop size, seen in Part 2, I am also giving the last 2 graphs adjusted for shop size, hence the average number of daily visits and the average visit duration, per item and not per shop.

The fourth graph shows the selling performance against the number of daily visits per item, averaged over the same period we had the Google Analytics running. The stippled orange/pink line is the trend line, indicating an increase of 36 sold items in the tested period per every 10 extra daily item visits. Leaving shop numbers 2 and 3 out again, this trend sinks to an increase of 14 sold items in the tested period (circa 2 months) for every 10 extra daily item visits (solid line). In conclusion, the positive relation between the selling performance and the shop visit frequency remains positive after adjustment for shop size.

In contrast, the positive relation between the selling performance and the visit duration seen in the third graph disappears after adjustment for shop size (no graph given because no trend visible anymore). Hence, that relation was fully explained by shop size.
I don’t show graphs with the percentage of visits that are from new visitors either because no or only very weak relations were found.

Overall conclusion: visiting frequency (i.e. number of daily visits per item) and, to a much lesser extent, shop size (i.e. number of items listed) both lead to more sales ! Visit duration and the proportion of new visits do not seem to be important for sales. And apart from that, shop numbers 2 and 3 show that there is much more under the sun !!!

day picks

What do the numbers tell? II.

A jump into the world of Google Analytics - Part II.
(by Petronella from Kraplap)

This is the second part of the small Google Analytics Survey of 21 EST members done in January and February. The very thick lines in the graphs with the orange/pink colour labelled with "average" are the average performances of our 21 participants. I will send you these data also personally, together with your own colour and number.

In Google Analytics Survey Part 1, I gave graphs for three characteristics: the number of daily visits to the shop, the percentage of visits that are from new visitors, and the duration of each visit in minutes. Because I suspected that shops with more items will likely have more and longer visits than shops with only a few items, I decided to look into that question first.

The first graph shows a plot of the number of daily visits per shop, averaged over the period that we had the Google Analytics running, against the shop size expressed as the number of listed items. The stippled orange/pink line is the trend line, indicating an increase of 9 shop visits per day for every 10 items listed extra. You can clearly see that the three shops with the highest number of daily visits (numbers 1, 2 and 3) are in their own league, not showing much of a trend. Therefore, I also made a trend line for all the shops without those three shops, which is the solid orange/pink line. This trend line is weaker but still shows an increase of 3 shop visits per day for every 10 items listed extra. In conclusion, there is a positive relation between the number of visits and the shop size.

The second graph shows a plot of the duration of the visits per shop, averaged over the more or less stable period starting from the 26th of January (see the third graph in Part 1), against the shop size expressed as the number of listed items. Similar as in the first graph, the trend lines show a slight positive relation between visit duration and shop size (an increase of 2 to 4 seconds per shop visit for every 10 items listed extra).
Because of these positive relations of the number of visits and the visit duration with the shop size, I decided to adjust the graphs in Part 1 for the number of items listed in the shops. This means that the following graphs represent the number of daily visits and the duration of a visit in seconds, per item and not per shop. Again I have smoothed the trendlines a bit like in Part 1. I don’t show the graph with the percentage of visits that are from new visitors again because a percentage is a relative number and, therefore, remains the same per shop and per item.

The third graph shows the number of daily visits that an average item in your shop had in the period that we had the Google Analytics running. The average number of daily visits per item lies around 3 and 4. There is one participant who lies very clearly above that (number 3; with daily visits ranging from 12 to 16 per item); then there is a group moving around and above the average (numbers 1, 4, 6, 8, 14, 18 and 21; daily visits ranging from 1 to 8 per item), and there is a group that lies under the average (numbers 2, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 19 and 20; with daily visits ranging from 0 to 2 per item). In conclusion, shop number 3 has not only a high visitor score in the shop but also per item, which makes this shop a clear winner when you talk about visiting frequency!
A similar conclusion can be made for shop number 1, only a bit less striking. These two shops must have some attraction of their own, maybe such as the product type, the way of advertizing, the product quality, the picture quality etc. As a contrast, shop number 2 has a very high shop visit frequency because of the very high number of listed items. But also shop numbers 4, 6, 14, 18 and 21 are doing well, being relatively small shops with a bit higher than averaged visit frequency. As a contast, shop numbers 7, 15, 16 and 17 are doing not well, being relatively larger shops with a lower than averaged visit frequency.


The fourth graph shows the duration of the visits per item. The trend remains decreasing in January and pretty stable in February; visitors stay for an average of about 10 seconds per item at the start of January, falling rapidly to an average of about 4 seconds per item in February. Participant numbers 3, 6 and 18 are always above the average, with values up to more than 18 seconds per visit. Participant numbers 1, 12, 13, 14, 20 and 21 are most of the time up or above the average duration of 4 seconds per item, with values up to 9 seconds per visit. Participant numbers 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17 and 19 are most of the time under the average duration of 4 seconds per item, with values coming from 1 second per visit. In conclusion, the relatively small shops 3, 6 and 18 do not only have a high visit frequency but their visitors do stay longer than average too ! As a contrast, the relatively large shops 2, 7 and 17 do not capture their visitors long.

A higher visiting frequency and/or duration tells of course nothing about the height of the selling frequency in these shops; the relation with selling will be dealt with in part three of the small Google Analytics Survey.

A shift towards community marketing

A few days ago I bumped into Kristin from FlyingButtons in the business forums, where she "held a speech" about what are the imporant steps in this "handmade-marketing" world. As a wild bloodhound I started to search for her on other platforms (like her blog), and soon learned: she was a professional PR-person for companies like Amazon.com or Microsoft. Okey-dokey, I am sure we can learn from her - I thought, and convoed her immediately.

A quick introduction: who are you, and what are you doing as a crafter and as a day job (if these two are separate)?
My real name is Kristin Kline, and I run the shop FlyingButtons on etsy. My shop mission statement is to make people happy, whether it’s by reading my item descriptions, visiting my shop, or wearing my Happy hair accessories or fun jewelry. I have a strong background in marketing, public relations, sales and journalism. I have done all four on professional level, sometimes all at once when I am consulting. I definitely use all four of these jobs running my shop on etsy.


You mentioned in a forum post, that you worked for big multinational companies as a PR, marketing professional. What campaigns do you consider your most successfull works, and why?
I worked for public relations agencies who handled big multi-national companies like Microsoft, Garden Bottankia, Amazon.com., etc. My most successful marketing campaign was when I launched Amazon.com in 1995. My boss went on vacation, and I was given this account by his boss to see what I could do with it. It was the first pr ever for Amazon. In fact, we had a bit of a snafu because there was another bookstore called Amazon in existence. We had to wait to make sure we could go ahead with the name Amazon.com.

I was so excited about it! Imagine: You could order any book in the world that was in print, and have it delivered! Jeff Bezos was so nice: I had to pitch him in order to win him as a client. Just a very nice, great man who had a bunch of books in storage he was selling on the internet. I remember asking my boss if he was single, because I thought it was so cool to meet a man who loved books that much.

I just got on the phones and started talking. Children’s book editor? I would walk her through finding out of print Betsy & Tacy books. Hot Rod Magazine? Wow, you could be alerted whenever a new book was written anywhere in the world on engines. I ended up getting promoted over this account. I got so much publicity for amazon, even in Time magazine. I had to walk all the editors through getting on the internet, because no one knew how to use the internet then.

Do you think, that the PR, or marketing activity of multinational companies are applicable for the handmade business as well?
There is a paradigm shift going on right now in marketing. It has become blog-based and grass-roots. Gone are the days of sending out press kits and things to the media: now it’s all about building relationships in the community. You can use all the same pr/marketing acitivities of a big business in your handmade business: that is how Martha Stewart, crafter, became Martha Stewart, Inc.

Obviously, you can’t afford what a big company can do. When I did public relations I was billed out sometimes at $200/hour. There is no way a little company can afford this. But with the paradigm shift to an internet community, an ordinary person can have good results marketing.

Can you apply your knowledge in managing your shop? In what - maybe measurable - way(s)?
Everyday, I write down my number of etsy shop hearts, the number of people on my blog, and look at my facebook group page to see if anyone has joined. I pay attention if people have added me as a friend on twitter. The more people who notice you, that is showing you are getting the word out about your shop.

You mentioned, that you "have been working on a marketing module addressing how we can all "go foreign" and start relationship building across the globe". What is this module?
I’m formulating this right now, but basically I believe we are entering a new era of community based marketing and selling, and the internet is disintegrating boundaries and distance and making the world a giant marketplace. There is such a big, huge, wide opportunity for us to sell if we overcome the intimidation of selling to different countries. My very first sale on etsy was to Lithuania! I was so scared at first to go to the post office and figure out how to do this. The buyer walked me through, and it only cost me $1.50! I’m not sure how much this is in your currency, but it’s the equivalent of the cost of fountain drink. We need to cross-promote, develop partnerships, and get a new market bases. I am amazed by the number of people I meet who won’t do foreign sales. It absolutely baffles me! I want to know all my foreign friends, and buy their products and have them buy mine.


Finally: how did you end up on Etsy?
I will gladly share this story. Almost two years ago, I did my first triathlon. And immediately after, I started breaking bones easily, and my fingers swelled up and became painful. My nails separated from my fingers. I became totally unable to use my fingers. I had to create a hook out of a coat hanger to button my pants!! It turned out I had a very rapid onset case of psoriatic arthritis. I didn’t think I would ever be able to craft again. I was totally disabled in my left hand, and partially in my right. The pain was intense…it felt like I was giving birth out of my fingertips over and over!

As this was happening, the biggest thing that went through my mind was how much I regretted not using my artistic talents more. That there were so many things I could have done and created and I would never get the chance.

I ended up going on some strong medicines, and now I am almost back to normal! The one side-effect from the medicine I am on is it does create a bit of fogginess and my writing and grammar are not razor sharp like it used to be. I had a column in the newspaper for a long time, and I couldn’t do that right now!

But…the important part….my fingers are okay and I can craft again! I was so happy I could use my fingers I knew I wanted to create art. I kept hearing about Etsy, and something inside of me told me I needed to do this. So I started my shop and haven’t looked back. I think any day I can be creating art is the happiest day ever! That is why the mission statement of my shop is to make people happy.

Recession: what to do?

I just found a very interesting post on the Etsy Twitter Team's blog: the theme of their Shop Talk Friday was Recession. Here is an excerpt.

"Recession. It’s an ugly word, and as the media points out to us, on a daily basis, it means that no one is buying and the economy is frozen as solid as the food in your freezer. But the actual truth is a bit more complicated because people are not as predictable as statistics.

In the height of the depression, two things continued to sell well - jewelry and makeup. The reason for this was actually very practical - they were easy ways to “fix yourself up” for a very small amount of money when the cost of new clothes was out of reach of your budget. It helped people feel better.

Faced with some difficult economic times of our own, we can learn a lot from the marketing techniques used during the 1930s and 1940s. Here are some crucial things we can take away and apply to our own businesses in 2009."

To read the whole post CLICK HERE.

What do the numbers tell?

A jump into the world of Google Analytics
(by Petronella from Kraplap)

When I got my first Google Analytics data in January and February I thought, yes that's all very nice, but where do I stand ? How do I achieve in comparison with others ? Is my number of daily visits high, low, or average ? That's why I started this questionnaire in the EST forum.

This is the first part of the small Google Analytics Survey of 20 EST members done in January and February. We are all individually drawn in each graph, all with different colours and numbers. The line with the orange/pink colour labelled with "average" is the average performance of all 20 participants. I will send you these data also personally, together with your own colour and number.

I have made graphs for three characteristics: the number of daily visits to the shop, the percentage of visits that are from new visitors, and the duration of the each visit in minutes. All three go up and down a lot, over time, and that makes the graphs difficult to read. To deal with that, I have smoothed the trendlines a bit. This makes the pictures more quiet, and easier to compare between the 20 participants. So we are looking at the average time trends, practically every participant has a few days with a much higher peak that do not show up here but have been included into the final trendlines.

The first graph shows the number of daily visits that each of us had in the period that we had the Google Analytics running. The average number of daily views goes from about 120 to 160. There are three participants who lay very clear above the average daily visits (numbers 1, 2 and 3; with daily views ranging from 310 to 660); then there is a group moving around the average daily visits (numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 14, 15 and 16; daily views ranging from 60 to 230), and there is a group that lays under the average daily visits (numbers 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19 and 20; with daily views ranging from 15 to 90).

Furthermore, it seems that the more daily visits a participant has, the more fluctuation between days she has too. This is probably a result of a positive relation between number of visits and treasury appearance; i.e. the more daily visits, the higher your chance to appear in a treasury, i.e. the higher chance to appear on the front page, which causes peaks in the number of views for those days that those events happen, so more fluctuation in the number of views between days.

The second graph shows the percentage of daily visits that are from new visitors. There is an overall decreasing trend in new visits in those two months (except for numbers 9 and 20, of which the first even shows an increasing trend); the average percentage goes from 35% to 18%. There is one participant who lays clearly above the average percentage of new visits (number 10; with new views going from 57% to 32%); then there is a group moving around or slightly above the average new visits (numbers 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 20; new views moving from 38% to 15%), and there is a group that lays under the average new visits (numbers 2, 4, 5, 6, 12, 14,16, 18 and 19; with new views moving from 34% to 9%).

The third graph shows the duration of the visits in minutes. The trend is decreasing in January and pretty stable in February; visitors stay for an average of about 8 minutes and 20 seconds at the start of January, falling rapidly to an average of about 3 minutes in February. Participant numbers 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 15, 17, 18 and 19 are most of the time above the average duration of 3 minutes, with values up to more than 6 minutes per visit. Participant numbers 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 16 and 20 are most of the time under the average duration of 3 minutes, with values coming from 10 seconds per visit.

Because shops with more items will likely have more visits than shops with only a few items, I will also produce these same graphs adjusting for the number of items in the shops. That will be part two of the small Google Analytics Survey, coming soon.

EST Business Series - part three
(by Zsuzsi from panyizsuzsi)

The third part of our business series is about company identity.

• Does your company has an identity?
• Do you have a unique, but consistent look?

If not, it is start to think about it.

It is important to create a company identity, in order to brand your company. Wikipedia says: brand identity is fundamental to consumer recognition and symbolizes the brand's differentiation from competitors.

What belongs to company identity?

• visual elements, like logo, web site, anything that is printed, packaging
• your signature product line
• mission statement
• considering, the fact that it is a one-woman business: YOU (they way you look, talk, ect)
• social responsibility of your company (environmental issues, fundraising, volenteering)
• your company communication, including the customer service)

Please do care acout these, make them unique, consistent and I am sure it will help you to get recognised!

99 feelings - mini-interview with Mitsy from Artmind

(by Judit from vadjutka)

100 minus one feelings from Mitsy, aka Artmind, and all of them different from each other. She made a respectful journey mainly into her own soul, and by doing this she managed to overcome some of life's difficulties. And above all: she also taught something (to me): she became my English teacher for the so many feelings out there in the world.

When and why did you start this 99 mini feelings project?
I started this 99 about 3 months ago. However, I had the idea already for a long time.
These nine babooshkas have been part of my subject for my final project at the academy of fine arts. The assignment was to create a self-portrait. The idea to make a few Russian dolls and to add a feeling to them, appealed to me. So I made 9 of them for that project. You can find them listed in my Etsy shop. When there was a presentation at the end of the year, someone asked me if I would be interested to attend an open house exhibition with my work. Then the idea came to mind to make a project of 99 feelings. I started off at home making them but I only finished about 6 or 7 before getting caught up in other things.

In the fall of 2007, my EST friends stimulated me to make mini-feelings. So I made a mini mould and started off making mini's but again, I was not able to finish it. Somehow, life always got in between. Last fall, I picked up my clay again and managed to finish it.

I have been through some rough times and this helped me to get through it. Having lots of people following this process & giving feedback really helped me to actually go through with it. Feedback for me is important to grow as an artist. So, I'd like to thank all who have been part of this 99 feelings-journey, I couldn't have done it without you!

Which feeling(s) was (were) the easiest and the hardest to embody? Why?
I had a list of feelings made and as I went along, lots of feelings were added. I think making this project in the English language gave me much more opportunities to embody some feelings.
However, it was not always easy to define them. Sometimes, I had a clear vision on how I should make it. Sometimes, I made it and then I thought about what feeling it could represent.
The interaction with online friends has been a very important part of this process, as it helped me with the language and with viewing it from a different perspective. The easiest to embody was certainly the feeling 'numb' as it has no texture.

The hardest to embody was the feeling 'chaotic' as I used the mould for that and it was just very difficult to know when it was the right time to open it and to hold it. I re-did this one perhaps 5 times... :)

What are your plans with them?
This set it my personal set and I will never be able to sell it. It contains so many of my feelings that I would love them to be a reminder of hard times and how I managed to cope with it.
However, I would love them to be in an exhibition some time, so I hope that I will be able to find a gallery or so who would be interested in showing my work.

I plan to make reproductions of them to sell in my Etsy shop and off line. I also would like to make postcards from the pictures so that people could actually 'send-a-feeling'. :)
And I have some other plans in the pipeline which I can't reveal yet as they are still in the making. However, if you sign up for my newsletter, you will the first one to find out about all these plans...

day picks

MYTV interview

Hi, I'm Teresa Venezia and I'm the hand and mind behind the shop MYTV - Local disaster

Where are you located (city/state/country, etc)? This is not really easy: I was born in a small town in the South of Italy, called Montescaglioso, where I spent most of my childhood, then I moved to Rome, where I lived and enjoyed being there, for several years, then I moved to Los Angeles, where I spend more several years, and become a huge fan of the Indie culture....Now I'm back to Rome (Italy)...but really don't know for how long

Where do you sell? I'm very new at selling, I've been creating for years but never thought about selling.So, at the moment, I'm only selling on Etsy, but I'm in touch with some boutiques in Rome and Milan to start selling my line

What do you create(material)? I create jewelery mostly with metals and rhinestones, sometimes I also use stones

Why did you choose your medium? I looooove metal chains and rhinestones together, they are so rock 'n roll!

When did you start creating? I start creating many years ago, but I have to tell you this, I started as a photographer and collage maker, I love putting together part of my pictures to create a chaotic but also pleasant imagine.I start creating jewelery about one year ago, and I'm really enjoying it and I'm trying to learn more and more every day.

Where do you create? This question is kind of embarrassing :) ...I'm creating on my kitchen table (I know, not a romantic inspiring pace...) and everyone hates me especially at lunch or dinner time. But I'm working on getting a more appropriate space :)

It's very hard to pick some favorite sellers on Etsy, here are a few of them:

imadeyouabeard.etsy.com (Portland)

BiChen.etsy.com (London)

matilou.etsy.com (France)

HeliS.etsy.com (Turkey)

HidenSeek.etsy.com (Yorkshire, England)

nosideup.etsy.com (Oxford)

and the list can go on and on...

About websites, I have my photographic one , here is the link:www.teresavenezia.com

Barcelona Show

Das Hertz von St. PauliGroup show curated by heliumcowboy artspace.

nina braun

Feat.: 56K, Nina Braun, Alex Diamond, Christophe Lambert, Arturo Sandoval III (from Friends With You) and Stephen Smith/Neasden Control Centre

Opening 17/01/2009 until 17/02/2009

Iguapop gallery C/ Comerç, 15 08003 Barcelona

Life as such: to quit or not to quit?

(by Judit from vadjutka)

Guisy from Guisypatch wrote a letter to our team's list: she hates her dayjob, to sit in front of a screen 8 hours a day. She wants to spend more time with crafting, but she needs to earn money.

I think it is a familiar problem to many of us: we have a job to earn money, we craft at night - or in spare time -, and dream about earning enough money from crafting. But after a certain point we become our own barrier: we don't have time to deal with the shop, to explore new markets, to market the product, so it becomes quite a struggle to earn more money from crafting. On the other hand there are the hard facts: bills to pay, food to buy, a house/flat to maintain.

And there comes a point when we have to decide which way to go. What are the dimensions that we have to consider when making this decision? How long is the "I give it a chance": months, years? What are the signals that tell us to continue or to stop crafting full time? How big is the pressure on the other - crafting - side for earning enough money? How does that effect creativity? How do we cope with uncertainity?

What do YOU think?

Secret Santa in Europe

(by Judit from vadjutka)

Here we go: an "all together" picture of the Secret Santa game, organized by Mitsy from Artmind. The idea was simple: little Xmas gifts were travelling all across Europe to a destignation, that only Mitsy knew. The result is shown on the picture:
I tried to reconstruct the route - not in geographical terms - of Secret Santa gifts in a very schematic picture.
And how did we write about when we got our little package?
Kreativlink, Artmind, Guisypatch, Matchstickgirl, Fleurfatale, Vadjutka, HeliS, Chichi, Meltem, Ravenhill, Dina Fragola, Gufobardo, Knittingmette, CreationsbyEve

Lately, more photos arrived...

happy new year!!

EST Business Series - part three
(by Zsuzsi from panyizsuzsi)

Hi! Our todays topic is about Financing your Business. I divided it to two major parts. First is the starting costs. This is the money you have to have to start the business. The other part is the monthly expenses, that you have to pay even evey month, no atter what happens.

START-UP COSTS
This term covers all the initiall costs of your new business.
Materials
I am not going into details here, since this is one of the most specific part of your business.
Machinery
Many of the craft businesses require some kind on initial investmens in tools or machines. I recommend to buy reasonable quality items to have long lasting and stable background, otherwise you will spend a fortune on buing only a little bit better.
Marketing materials
There are two major parts here, on anf off line. The on-line is the domain, web site design, while off-line covers business cards, flyers, tags, stickers ect. I will talr about this in a bit more detail in the next part.
Legal expenses
This covers etabilishing, registering your buseiness at the state or county. If you have several choice, like indie business owner or incorporate. If you have a business plan, thet I truly hope by now, you do, it is worth paying a specialist for the advice.
Setting up an studio
Many indie craft businesses are started and run by home. This is the best thing you can do to save on the start-up costs. Still, you might have to alter yout basement or attic, to fit your nees. You will be spending lot of time here. Make it a space where you like to be!
Deposit
My idea is, when you start a buseiness please deposit at lest six month of tax. You might not be selling like crazy from the first day. Back up yourself, it can be distracting when you have to cover expenses from the family budget!

MONTHLY EXPENSES
These are the regular expenses and the first three of them you have to pay even whe you haven't sold a piece of your work. Most people who fail maintaining a business did forget about this part in the begining. Be aware of it!
Your salary
Be reasonable, but give yoursefl what you worth!
Health care
In case you are doing your business full time you better take care of this part.
Taxes
This is the thing you will definitely not like, but you have to pay them.
Upgrading equipment
Sometimes they do get old and wotrn. If you save up money for them than it will not be considered as an extra cost at that moment. Be prepared.
Legal advice
Sometimes you need advice, if you do not have a attorney and an accountant specialist in yout family.
Cost of goods
This is the money you spent on materials, outscourcing, ect.
Fees and memberships
Like the money you have to pay to that association that organizes the best craft bazaar in town or the subscription of a special magazine.
Overhead
This is what left at the end. In the begning it is a smart thing to invest it to your business to improve!

Did you put all this on a paper? I hope so.
Please put it into the binder with your buseineess plan!

Claudia

A few days before Xmas Night, Claudia - aka MundoGuminola - went to another world.

Today morning - when I opened my mailbox - I was shocked to hear the sad news: her heart flew away, and took her to the skies, to unkonwn territories, maybe to meet the Animal Ladies she created.


She had lot of friends in the Spanish Etsy Team, but most of us in the European Street Team did not know her personally, but she was very much present with her outstanding art, and her own and unique world of graphics. I knew almost nothing about her - except for one little fact -, but sensed her through her sensible art, and one occasion of trade; her Love drawing became a wedding gift for a very good friend of mine.


The one little fact about her I knew, was that her favourite color was red.

MIA (emma) got secret santa from Karlita

and she is very happy :)

I saw the package when i was leaving the house, and i was so exited i had to open it on the bus

a beautiful felt scarf, black and electric blue

i love this blue, and i have to say its a very warm scarf

and a delicate and beautiful porcelain flower necklace

yesterday i have already used it , i love it

day picks

newbie feature- woolitbe

My name is Oliwia Drozd and I'm a Polish graphic designer living in Belgium.

I use two identities:

• Wool it be" as in Wool it be the Finest Creation is my brand for feltwool, carded anddyed wool used for felting (woolitbe). This is my first brand which is created to encourage peopleto felt great things.www.woolitbe.be (turn your sound on)Woolitbe"

Gallery:http://www.flickr.com/photos/woolitbe/Woolitbe"

blog;http://woolitbe.blogspot.com/

• [ odd ] (oddcreations) is for my woollen, wetfelted creations, scarves, skirts, dresses, handbags,jewellery and interior objects, but also for other things I might create (I used to be busy with fashion too):odd.accessories, odd.hats, odd.bags, odd.toys etc. [ odd ] these are my initials. (oddcreations).[ odd.blog ]http://oddcreations.blogspot.com/

I sell most of my creations to USA, probably bacause of the etsy shop.Even despite the higher shipping costs it's more popular there, then in Europe, I think.

What do you create(material)?

I sell wool AND felt. My focus is rather on form and design (pure innovative projects is what we call "design" in Europe). I look for different modern essential forms of felting,felted things rather then felting a rectangular scarf with flower pattern on it. Like the Loop.scarf Besides that, I also design and saw bags, clothes, whatever comes up and I want to try it out.And as I love photography and graphic design I've been trying lately to combine these areas.Although I don't sell any graphic works I make them to present my work, my felting, to share a certain feeling I have about a particular thing, like my latest Peachers.skirt...

Why did you choose your medium?

I discovered felting while looking for other ways of creating fashion during my classesFashion&Theater Costums Design. I suggested a lesson for the whole group and when it occuredthat the merino wool is very expansive to experiment with felting I opened my new businessimporting the wool, whwich was prepared and dyed according to my specifications. And it swallowed me.I felt simple wearable things but have also few new prjects on my mind like soft toys and graphic works.I made already few toys which can be seen in Woolitbe gallery on Flickr.

When did you start creating?

It's been 3 years that I'm exploring felting but I was always kind of a creative child. I used to makemy own toys out off paper, saw dresses for my dalls or just dream about decorating my room, abouthaving other clothes. My favourite kind of dreaming was designing my own house. I was always designingeverything all over again in my mind. That's fun... creating your own world.

Where do you create?

As a graphic designer I work at home, where I have my own office and an extra room for a lot ofcontrolled yet creative mess: my atelier. I work/felt mostly during the day within the working hours,so that I can keep the rythm and motivation.[ odd ] blog about living in Belgium:http://odd-in-belgium.blogspot.com/

Have you been Eurofied?

The Ultimate Handmade European Sample Box has finally arrived and boxes go on sale form 1st December at geteurofied! Don't miss this unique opportunity to grab your box filled with amazing samples from Independent Artists & Crafters from all over Europe. The Get Eurofied Team has been hard at work to make this Grand Opening sale a big one! These sampler boxes make a great gift this holiday season so grab yours before they're gone! For more details please visit geteurofied.com.

Speaker: Scoutie Girl forum!

Now we can speak up: Jan from Scoutie Girl has just opened a forum on her site to post there sales, incentives, giveaways, or just to discuss the everyday adventures of indie designers and buyers.

Plus here is another bulletin board to post: write a mail to Marichelle from Heart Handmade!

newbie featured ALADINE

Actual name: Daniela O.

My store's name is aladine because its an anagram of daniela.

I am located in Berlin, Germany.

I travel very often to Mexico and NY.

In Berlin in some boutiques (jewelry), and on etsy. I also do commissions (portraits, paintings), but I usually get those through word of mouth (friends of friends, etc)

I create jewelry and drawings/collages/paintings. I use everything I find that catches my eye, which, I admit, is a little vague. I think I have some sort of impulse that drives me to manipulate every sort of material I can get my hands on, until I achieve a form that pleases me. This can be seeds or rocks found on trips, plastic bags, fabric scraps, anything really. A coffee stain on a napkin is a half finished drawing to me.

As for when I started creating, I can't even remember. I was born into a family whose interests are very artistically inclined (artists, photographers, architects, designers), so fortunately, fooling around with materials is just normal to me.
Where do I create? Everywhere! On my way to school, during university lectures, when I get back home too. I can't stop it, really.

Some of my favorite stores:

I love everything that is different or original.

jenmaestre.etsy.com
because I adore color pencils

idea2lifestyle.etsy.com
young chinese deisng

charmschooldesign.etsy.com
whichgoose.etsy.com
these two because I love putting stuff in my hair

fuzzybunnystew.etsy.com

the polaroid necklace kills me, I would love to have it

day picks

I got my secret Santa gift
(by Britta from Birribe)

"The other day I was really surprised when I got a big parcel from Greece. Now realised it could be the Secret Santa gift. But before I opened it I had to ask Artmind who is the organiser.
Back home I opened it up and found a beautiful Christmas wrapping. The gift was from Evelyn aka creationsbyeve . She has a lovely shop full with cosy knitted and felted soft things. Inside there was a scarf and a hat, in the loveliest greyblu, teal, and blue colour nuances. They was so soft and cosy and my colors indeed. "

A lovely Xmas-promo for European Shops by Ainhoa, from Gilbea

Agua de Valencia

(by lola from lusitania)

Ingredients for approximately 1 1/2 litres

- 1 bottle of Cava, Spanish champagne

- Orange Juice

– freshly squeezed if possible but a carton works almost as well

- Cointreau

- Ice

Preparation:Put a good amount of ice (a couple of handfuls) into a large jug or punch bowl. Add the bottle of Cava, plenty of fresh orange and some Cointreau (play it safe with the Cointreau as this can become a very potent drink). Obviously you can experiment with the quantities of each liquid to get it just the way you prefer.

Cheers ... Salud!

warm!

Member feature: Gilbea, alias LarumbaDesigns from Pampalona, Spain

Gilbea - the shop - has at least one thing in common with Star of the East: both run by mother and daughter.

Who are you (actual name and/or shop name)?
Complicated to explain, but here it goes! My mother, Loli, is the mastermind and total artist behind the shop GilBea. I handle the shop for her since she doesn't speak english. However, she is the creator of all the items and art on it, and she answers every single convo (using me as translator hehe). And I am Ainhoa, and just set up a shop of my own LarumbaDesigns for catalog designs.

What do you create? (Concerning your 1st shop)
Silk accessories: scarves, necklaces, earrings, shirts and paintings.

For how long have you been on Etsy, and how long have you been painting silk and making clothes out of them?
Over a year now, we joined September 2007. Painting silk for about 10 years and making clothes with them only the last 2 years. It is a lot of fun!

What do you think the most difficult is in selling clothes online?
Sizing is very difficult, definitely. And also that people can't really appreciate clothes in a photo,sometimes is important to be able to feel them, to touch them. Probably that is why we sell so many shirts at home and in shops and so few in Etsy.

What is your favorite way to market your crafts?
I really like to blog, and recently started buying some advertising spots in different blogs. However, I think word-of-mouth advertising is the best way!

Why did you decided to open a 2nd shop?
I had been working on my mother's shop catalogs for a few years now and decided it was time to offer them to everybody, since catalogs are a great way to market your items to retail stores. However, it didn't look right to place them among all the silk accessories so opened a second shop.

What do you sell there?
I sell pre-made catalog templates (designed by me) or design a custom catalog template for the client (taking in mind the client's shop logo,colors, topic, etc)

You also have a blog, that you plan to turn into a fashion blog. Why did you decide to put energy in it?
At first the blog was only to market the store. As I am not a big blog reader, I soon realized that very few people would be interested in reading a blog that only talks about the latest creation of the artist (unless the artist is very famous, which is not our situation), that it wouldn't have many return readers. Lately I had been reading a lot about fashion and decided the combination of fashion and handmade items was a great idea and not handled by many blogs, so it could attract some readers to it. Plus, it is a lot of fun!

How do you envision the future of your fashion blog?
Right now I am working on the first newsletter. I got some contributors to write on it and this first issue we will talk about: making soap, scarf patterns, a great recipe, hairstyles and of course fashion! I recommend that anybody who likes the blog subscribes to it =) I am really into this new project and hope it goes well. Apart from that, I just hope it grows bigger and to keep writing about handmade fashion because I love it. And I hope many other people love it too. Of course I am open to new ideas for future articles!

Which fashion blogs do you consider as your contestants?
You would be surprised, but there are not that many blogs that write about fashion from a handmade point of view. Most of them talk about mainstream fashion, so my blog is a little different. One I really like is Fashiontribes (mainstream fahsion), and New Found Lust (she mixes handmade and regular fashion items).

For those who have read the whole interview :-): Gilbea is giving away a beautiful scarf, on Fashion Fling. You can enter untill 11th November.

EST Business Series - part two
(by Zsuzsi from panyizsuzsi)

The Business Plan is our next topic we will discuss here on EST blog. If you are being crafty, selling your stuff and knowing ho you are sellin it to you have to make a decision: is it a hobby with minor, irregular income, that you do for fun ot it is BUSINESS? If you decided, that you are doing business, keep reading! Business you can do two major ways: full time or part time. Even being a part time business person with a nicely paying job, I strongly recommend you to make a business plan!

Why? Because that sets you apart from charity! You can not run a business without planning how much you are planning to spend and to make.
Thing that you should include in your plan:

• Why are you doing business?
• What are you selling? product or service
• Where are you selling? on-line or off-line
• To whom are you selling to? target market
• How do you deliver?
• Who are your competitions? What sets you apart from them?
• What motivates you?
• What is your Mission?

You can change these later as you move on, but believe me to have a good business plan is like to have a GPS in your hands when you entering an exciting unknown forest!

New Series: Men Behind Women
Sicko is behind Deepindigo

Most of the artists in the handmade-business are women*, many of them with 1-2-3-or more kids, a house to keep, and quite often a job to do. Indeed, it is true, that women can handle multiple challenges, but more often than not, there is someone behind them: helping, giving support, inspiration, or just making a cup of tea in the middle of the night. This new series is dedicated to these invisible persons in the handmade-businesss: husbands, boyfriends, lovers, boy-friends, partners, adventures, or to sum it up: Men. The first one showing her supporter is: Claudia from Deepindigo.

"His name is Sicko - yes, I know, a kind of weird name -, loving father of four, a bit nerdy and a bit obsessive, enjoys strange tales and fun facts, loves reading tarot cards and good wine. "

*Of course there are men in the handmade-business, so when time comes, and we get photos of women behind men artists , the title will change accordingly.

music for today

newbie feature MIMIPEA

Behind mimipea is Monika, mum of Zoe and Nell, and pretend-mum of Olivia, her lovely friend from Aotearoa.

After moving from New Zealand, Monika now lives with her husband Andy and the kids in Switzerland (Basel) for a while.

I create childrens accessoires, mainly kindergarten bags and dolls (buddies) out of fabric and embroidery. I sell here in Basel on markets, from home and on etsy.

mimipea is a passion, which evolved out of love for fabrics, design and children. A midwife by trade, I started in 2007 creating baby booties and kids accessoires on the quiet nightshifts in delivery suite. First it was just an occational hobby, but it gradually developed into a small business.
My studio is in our basement. Like many other artists/crafters I am dreaming of a nice studio of my own, but at the moment the basement does the trick.:o)

I'm a proud member of European Street Team and Etsymom.

Links: www.mimipea.ch

Useful links: Hey world, here I am!

(by vadjutka)

Xmas is approaching at a relatively fast pace, everyone is busy making products and plans to sell them. Some of us even might think of doing sales, special prices, promos or any naughty trick, that draws attention. But how will the world know about these tricks? Here are some links that might be useful to let the world know about your wonderful prices and products.

purplepinkandorange.com: fill out the submission form of any sales and promos...and see the result.
Modish Bulletin Board: lists sales, art shows, craft events, giveaways and special announcements for the handmade community.
The Sampler: Each month, independent crafters, artists, shops etc. who run web-based businesses send samples and promotional materials to a contribution pool. All the samples are photographed, posted to the site and then are portioned out, put in little packages and sent off to Sampler Subscribers, other Sampler Contributors and members of the Media all over the world!
Get Eurofied: The Ultimate Handmade European Sampler! This fab-filled sample box will be available for sale Dec. 1!! Just in time for your holiday shopping! Grab yours and be the envy of your friends! Or better yet, pick one up for her too! Have you been Eurofied?

Europe around the world: ToMelimania, painter and jewelry maker

In this series, we feature artists living overseas (overseas, compared to Europe in geographical terms) , but with European origins. Our second artist is Anabel, who lives in Kansas City, but was born in the Dominican Republic, and has Spanish roots.

What do you create?

I've always been the crafty girl in my family. When I was 9 years old, my mom took me to my first painting class, and I felt in love with the art of creating ever since. I graduated from college with an Art Degree in painting, and then I started to work for a graphic design company. Later, I discovered the world of jewelry making. Although I am fairly new to metalsmithing, I am enjoying every bit of it. There is something about the hard work and the reward of seeing the finished piece. I am always at awe, as if the piece is a creature on its own, of an unknown origin, mysteriously existing. In my store, you will find some of these one-of-a-kind creations, as well as beaded, colorful jewelry. I am very happy for returning to work in my art, after a little lapsus of time, and I hope to resume painting in the near future to start exhibiting. Who knows! Maybe I even get another shop!

In what way do you relate to Europe?

My parents are from Spain. They moved to the Dominican Republic with my sister, and a few years later I was born. I am considered the Spanish girl in my country. Still, I am the Dominican girl in Spain. It is very hard to define myself because I will always have both cultures in me. I feel I belong to both countries, but at the same time, to none. My parents have had a restaurant since before I was born, and therefore our food is very traditional, very Spanish, and I love it. So, my upbringing was a mix of Caribbean music and Spanish food.

In what way European origin affects your art?

The almost lost craftmanship that you can still find in some small towns somewhere in Europe brings me to life. I also enjoy the old architecture that is so present anywhere you go, so full of history. But even though Europe is so rich of the past, I think the contemporary designers are a great inspiration as well. I love the inventiveness of the people, whether old or new school, and Europeans are wealthy on that.

Have you ever been to Europe? Where/when?

My parents took us almost every summer vacation to Spain. Then, when I turned 11, they decided to go back to live to their hometown of Asturias. I lived in Asturias and finished my schooling years there, getting all the "missing pieces" I had to complete my Spanish heritage. When we were there, my sister and I took the train and visited different cities and countries. That opened up my vision of Europe. I got to learn how diverse it is. We went to France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany, as well as other towns in Spain. A few years ago I visited Italy, one of my favorite places I must say. I haven't experienced Eastern Europe just yet, or the Northern countries, but time will provide.

Which are your favorite shops out of your country?

It is hard to choose just a few, because there are so many and so diverse. I am going to name some of the stores I have in my favorites list.

yaelfran.etsy.com (Argentina),

kiwihandmade.etsy.com (Belgium),

carambatack.etsy.com (Norway),

mogwaii.etsy.com (Scotland),

kjoo.etsy.com (Portugal),

and tummymountain.etsy.com (Australia).

Which is your favorite design/craft/handmade blog?

elmundodelreciclaje.blogspot.com (shows clever/fun ideas other people have come up with by recycling stuff).

elsita.typepad.com (I love what she creates, and all the stories she shares from her life).

clubazul.blogspot.com (very poetic, real life findings).

studiomelablog.com (I enjoy her writing).

How-to make...a shiny new chair out of the old one

(by Myrte from MirthQuake)

What to do if you are bored with your old chairs, and friends are couming over for dinner? Renovate them with some georgeous fabrics, like Myrte did!

I had this fabric in my house for nearly 2 months now, and this friday friends are coming over for dinner. This would be a good motivation to get those chairs done. I will do this in 3 steps, the stripping, the painting and the upholstering. In this tutorial I am going to show you how to convert an old chair to a new one. It isn't hard, as long as you prepare prepare and prepare.


What you need for the stripping:
*Sanding paper very coarse and very smooth,
*Sanding machine is great,
*Hammer,
*Knife of some sort,
*a scredriver to save you fingernails,
*a wood file, different sizes and shapes are recommended,
*Something to scratch paint off wood, I have this triangle shaped thing.

Step 1: stripping
I have 6 chairs, 4 of which I have redone before, but lost interest in, they needed a change. In our new house I want a new mood and feel, so they all had to be stripped down. But the problem then is, do they look the same underneath that paint, or did the white paint colour the wood slightly different than the old chairs? Read more here...

Step 2: painting
First what you do is check everything once more. Remember, for a good covering paint, you need to remove all paint. I am going to paint the chairs with a coloured varnish or stain. The colour must match the colour of our table. So I picked an oak colour. You can get all kinds of colours. Read more here...

Step 3: upholstering
What I do first is cut the cotton in the right width and length. I then place it over the area and pin the cotton on the old fabric(now it comes in handy) With a pencil or pen with soluable ink I mark the edges and cut them. I now have the right shape. I cut the shape out of the printed top fabric an iron everything very hot!!! I want as much shrink out of there are possible. you might think it is better to iron the fabric when it's on the chair, so it fits on there tighter, but I tell you, it leaves ruching at the sides. Read more here...

Step 3+1 Enjoy the dinner with your friends on your brand new chairs!

How much does a banner cost?

(by vadjutka)

A few days ago we were chatting about marketing ideas on the Etsy's EST Thread, and some of the members reported: they decided to try banner campaigns. So they have bought some banner spaces on design blogs, and now now they are waiting for the result.

While I was at home with my ruined ankle during the summer, I wanted to spend time usefully, so I started to collect data from design blogs about their banner prices. I think it is very useful when someone wants to spend money on advertising, and has a limitied budget (who hasn't?), but wants to maximize the reach. Of course if one has less money, than there is a decision to make: which site (with bannerspace) will reach enough people, potential customers. The chart bellow - with banner prices and sizes - will not tell this, but can help in starting to plan one's banner campaign. But! once you have decided to run a campaign on a given site, don't forget to ask the owner about the number of visitors the blog gets daily, weekly or monthly.

Pumpkin "malfatti"

(from Jeanne fron Mellyrnshire)

In Italy we define "malfatti" a special kind of "gnocchi", made by directly dropping a soft and fluffy dough into boiling water with the help of two spoons. "Malfatto" means "badly made": in fact the resulting balls have a really irregular shape because the dough is softer than the one used for gnocchi and usually includes an high amount of soft cheese or vegetable pulp.
I often make malfatti with ricotta cheese (a whey cheese) and spinaches or with pumpkin.
This is the recipe for pumpkin malfatti, but the procedure is very similar if you want to make them with other vegetables or cheeses.

Ingredients:
- flour
- pumpkin (the harder, most sweet and least moist you can find)
- 1 egg
- salt
- pepper
- parmigiano
- optional: nutmeg and cinnamon

Clean, cut and steam or oven bake the pumpkin (I prefer to oven bake it if it's very moist) until it's soft. Mash the pulp and combine it with 1 egg, some grated parmigiano, salt, pepper and enough flour to obtain a soft dough. Try not to add too much flour, or malfatti will become little tasteless stones!
Leave the dough to rest about half an hour and then try to make a single malfatto. With the help of two spoons (teaspoons are better) drop a little amount of dough (about the size of a walnut) directly in boiling and salted water: if it doesn't melt in the water the dough is ok, otherwise try to add some more flour and try to make another malfatto, until you reach the right firmness. Drop in the water a few malfatti at a time, and let them boil until they float on the surface.
Pull out ready malfatti using a perforated spoon before dropping in the next batch. You can serve them with melted butter and sage or you can add some fresh cream and parmesan and gratinate them in the oven.

cute!

dinafragola

heliS

krize

lookmamamadeit

tizzalicious

the house of mouse

ravenhill

newbie feature Elves Garden

My name is Malene and my shop name is ElvesGarden.etsy.com.

I also have another jewelry shop: MKaae.etsy.com and a supply shop: MKaaegems.etsy.com

I live in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark.

I sell on Etsy and to friends, collegues etc.

I make jewelry. My "old" shop features precious metal and gemstone jewelry. In my new shop, ElvesGarden, I sell vintage and vintage style jewelry. I use genuine vintage and as well as new materials. This summer I found a lot of really cool old materials at antique markets in central Copenhagen. I am starting to incorporate some of these into my designs.

I originally started making jewelry around 8 years ago when I was looking for a present to say thank you to a woman (actually my boss) who had helped me a lot in my first years after university. I found that almost all jewelry I could find in regular jewelry shops was the same style. Then I came across an Islandic jewelry artist who made some more original or unusual items and bought a necklace from her. My boss loved the necklace. From looking at it I got the feeling that I could do something similar and that became the start of my jewelry making. It started out as just a fun part time thing, but during the last couple of years it has become more of an obsession for me. I think about jewelry designs, materials, my shop on Etsy etc. many of my waking hours, and sometimes even when I sleep, I dream about it and wake up with new design ideas.The only problem seems to be finding enough hours to create. I work as a clinical psychologist with traumatized refugees and it is a very meaningfull and rewarding job but can also be very demanding. I find that making jewelry helps me unwind after a long day at work and it recharges my batteries.

We recently moved to a new and bigger apartment and we are in the process of renovating it, well my boyfriend is doing most of the work, I must admit. So untill the new study is ready, I create in our living room. I am so looking forward to having a space for all my materials and tools and have it organized, but for now it works okay to create in the living room.

Scandinavian team blog: www.creativescandinavians.blogspot.com

Recipe - Arroz con Leche (Spanish Rice Pudding)

(by lola from lusitania)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 litre whole milk

• ¼ litre milk cream

• 115 gr. rice

• 100 gr. sugar

• 4 cinnamon sticks (whole)

• 2 strips of lemon peel

PREP TIME/ COOK TIME Approx. ½ hour cooking on the stove top

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large pot, add the milk, the cream, rice, cinnamon sticks, and lemon peel.

2. Cook over low heat for 1 hour, stirring every couple minutes to prevent burning. The milk should just barely be simmering.

3. After about an 30 minutes of cooking you will notice the mixture is noticeably thicker. At this point use a slotted spoon to remove the lemon skin and cinnamon sticks. Add the sugar and stir gently until mixed.

4. Transfer the mixture to a bowl for cooling. While this recipe is traditionally served cold after several hours of refrigeration to thicken, you may also serve it hot off the stove.

5. Dust lightly with cinnamon before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

day picks

gilbea

karlita

arctida

AnnleeDesigns

aula 46


loobyloucrafts

larimeloom

Weekly Challenge: CUTE!

The winner of last week's challenge - with the theme revival, and hosted by Matilou - was Artmind, who wanted to make things more difficult with a tough theme. In the end, she changed her mind, and chose a so-called easy one: cute.

The winning revival item by Artmind

newbie feature: redpossum

My name is Sarah and my shop is called redpossum.

I live and create in Dublin, Ireland and at the moment i am selling on Etsy and through word of mouth, i'm only new at this!

My favorite things to create are tiny, but beautiful clothes for babies, using vintage fabrics, buttons and or patterns. There is something about the way things used to be that really appeals to me. Especially with the fabrics and buttons i often wonder what it was or where it was or who enjoyed them in a former life!

I hope each of my pieces is something that people enjoy as much as i do making them.While i have always loved making things, especially sewing, i guess i inherited a bit of it from my mum, who was a seamtress/designer and used to make wedding dresses. Unfortuately, until recently, this creativity was suppressed by the need to work a normal job. Recently i had a baby, and so i'm at home now, and able to create again.

At the moment, i create in our small lounge room, but i have dedicated a corner to it and have all my stuff organised to i can think clearly! I'm really enjoying it!

-Few of my favorite shops! very difficult to choose just a few i love so much on etsy!

skinnylaminx.etsy.com

miriam.etsy.com

kiwihandmade.etsy.com

-I am very new to blogs, i have one my self, but i'm only starting to find ones that i like now. here is a really good local one www.homebug.net