a swedish christmas

I'm not Swedish, I've never been to Sweden, but I love the idea of a Swedish Christmas. I imagine clean, bright colors + rustic straw ornaments all popping off of a whitewashed background filled with a mix of chippy Gustavian antiques and IKEA furniture. I imagine modest but well-designed handmade gifts, simply wrapped and the smell of gingerbread in the air. I imagine clomping around in some red clogs, wearing a ragg wool sweater. I have no idea if I am accurate in my fantasy, but I found a few things on the internets that fit my vision...

vintage red & white wallpaper-from smilemercantile
illustration of Stockholm- by annasee
traditional pepparkakor cookie recipe (thinner, crispier version of gingersnaps)- by The Wandering Cook
dala horse pillow- by LittleputtStudio
dala horse appliqué onesie-by chirp & bloom
Swedish clogs by Troentorp- from shoebuy
traditional Swedish straw ornament- similar on ebay
vintage dala horse- similar on Etsy

I find the dala horse especially charming, so I made up an appliquéd onesie for the shop. I always like an excuse to use my floral ribbons.

God Jul!

mothers day ideas from etsy & beyond

click picture to enlarge

Have you gotten your mother anything for Mothers Day yet? I found ideas galore while searching for my mom's gift online- no time to leave the house while preparing for the Art Star show. Heck, I'd like any of these for myself. I'm a mom too, come to think of it!

clockwise from top left:
-Large recycled coffee bean bag tote- WoodstockBeanbags -an ecofriendly shopping tote with character
-SunBRELLI  umbrella by Pamela Zonsius- MoMA Store -handmade in a family owned factory of renewable, sustainable biodegradable plastic, bamboo, and cotton
-Apple Green Decorative Trivet- AmyGeerDesign -heavy cast iron with a vintage patina
-Spring Bee Letterpress Boxed Notes, set of 6- DingbatPress -designed and made by a fellow mom
-Hills Tea Towel- leahduncan -hand printed on fair trade cotton
-Bushnell H20 10x26 binoculars- EMS -birdwatching anyone?
-Custom Mommy Necklace- peacesofindigo -handmade by a fellow Curation Nation teammate & stay-at-home mom
-Hens & Chicks print- anopensketchbook -just plain delightful next to the potting bench
-Sarah Midda’s In & out of the Garden book- Amazon -irresistible reproduction of a watercolor sketchbook

Less than 2 weeks left....

the rainbow connection

I've had this sweet song in my head for a few weeks now. I seem to be into rainbows at the moment. They are so cheerful and remind me of my 1970's childhood. I am compelled to make some rainbow purses. (Just listed here in the shop).

The great thing about an indie handmade business is that whatever is percolating in my mind, I can make, bring to market, and get a reaction to in a relatively short time frame. There is no having to predict whether rainbows will be a valid trend a year from now, no justifying my rainbows in meetings with executives, no waiting weeks to receive the first of many prototypes, no risking of other people's money to see the idea through. The immediacy of handmade is so so freeing!

 

The rainbows are fabulously satisfying to lay out and appliqué.

With this batch, I tried a new fusible web and am completely sold. I was using Heat 'n' Bond Lite, but I've switched to Lite Steam-a-Seam 2. It's lighter weight, making the finished appliques less boardy, yet still has excellent staying power. It also has a slight tackiness to the backing that allows appliqué pieces to stay in place or be moved around before ironing them permanently in place.

The indie biz down side: making my own production runs. Since I have my first craft show coming up, I need to build up some stock. By working in batches, I hope to save at least a little time just on the cutting. Still, I have the constant interruptions of stay-at-home-mom life, so it's hard to measure.

More delicious rainbows found on Etsy...

clockwise from top left:
rainbow bunting- therainbowroom
rainbow clippies- allthingsgirly
vintage 70's rainbow dress- stylebook
vintage 70's rainbow tote- jessamity
nebula mobile- thewonderlandstudio
vintage rainbow suspenders (nanoo-nanoo!)- forestdaydream
children's rainbow stacker bowls- applenamos
rainbow stack of books- thevintagecup

Cheers!

a very etsy birthday

I celebrated a very nice birthday last week starting off the morning with one of my items being featured in a front page treasury on Etsy!

I've become easier to buy for now that I've been making treasuries and bombarding my family with them. Mom & Dad gave me this card from a sweet little Etsy store called {paper & type}, which goes nicely with the pretty poppy tee they gave me.

It's from another Etsy shop called Uzura. I had featured the shirt in a treasury a while back, so they knew I would like it.

Then I kind of bought myself something... these hand block-printed birds from Anna See on Etsy as well. To make these muticolor block prints requires several blocks, careful registration, and skill by the artist.

I had bought the robin a couple of months ago and loved the texture of it and the little details. She inspired my robin coin purse. After I got it, I knew I would have to buy a few friends for her. My intention is to create a sort of aerie using the birds in our attic guest room once the repairs are finished.

This is the "before" of the room. The futon bed has to stay because of the narrow turned staircase leading to this room. I'll keep the side tables too. I'm thinking of making a padded headboard and hanging the birds above. I'll have to think of a cool way to frame them so the deckle edge of the paper shows.

But first these leaky window wells have to be repaired once the weather warms up a bit more. This will be our 4th try with yet another contractor! It's always something with an old house. Hopefully they will be fixed by the time I am done with the Art Star show and have time to devote to the project...

delaware etsy finds

I can count on one hand the number of people I've mentioned Etsy to in Delaware who actually know what it is. Happily, I manage to get them interested and some have even gotten accounts and started exploring all the unique wares.

I recently joined The Delaware Etsy Street Team created to pool resources to promote Delaware-based Etsy sellers. I already know a few DE sellers, but it was great fun to find even more through the "shop local" tool that Etsy has. I made this treasury today featuring only Delaware Etsians. Great finds, no?

valentine's day gift guide

I do a lot of Etsy treasuries these days now that I've joined the Curation Nation treasury team. It's an even more addictive pursuit now that I'm part of a team. It's almost like a sport. This week I experienced a phenomenon with my innocent little Valentine's Day gift guide. Being on the team, treasuries tend to get more views because we all make a point to visit each others treasuries. But this one made its way to page 1 and then all the way to the #2 slot where it stayed for several hours. 5,000 views later it made it's way back down and retired itself to oblivion. I'm afraid the views are mostly from other curators rather than buyers, though. I really think these are good, reasonable gifts for people to consider BUYING.... have a peek!

front page exposure!

What a week! A few days ago I had an item featured in a front page treasury on Etsy, then last night my treasury "storybookland" made it there. Both are firsts that have eluded me this first year in business on Etsy. Having items and treasuries you've curated make it to Etsy's home page is pretty much the holy grail of Etsy shop owners. Why? Besides being featured in a major publication or blog, it's the biggest way to drive traffic to your shop. Shoppers land on that opening page, see items, and start clicking.

Since these two events happened so close together, I was able to compare apples to apples to see what is better: and item feature or a treasury feature. Hands down, it's having an item featured. And being on the front page in any form beats renewing items often which is what I was doing a lot of in early to mid December. Click on the Google Analytics graph above to see what I mean.

Ironically though, it was the constant renewing in December that resulted in actual sales. That's December versus January for you!

fun with etsy treasuries

All of us sellers on Etsy have to find ways to be found in the haystack of it all. One of the funnest ways is through curating your own and being featured in others' treasuries. It's sort of like creating a mix-tape was back in the day. You want to have variety, but for all the choices to work next to each other and together as a theme while at the same time showing off what good taste you have. And you can't include yourself in the group. But that's OK because if people think the collection is interesting, they click on the curator's shop out of curiosity. At least I do anyway!

All treasuries wind up here (or go to etsy.com > buy > treasury) and make their way up or down the ranks as time and number of views dictate. I've never made it higher than page 4. Some treasuries go viral, make it to page 1 for a spell, get tons of views and hopefully sales for the featured shops. Some get selected to be on Etsy's front page for part of a day which is a badge of honor for curators as well as the featured shops. I've never had either happen to me, but I did win a "treasury challenge " this week hosted by Curation Nation, a treasury making team! I'm not on the team, but sometimes I enter their challenges just for fun since they are open to all. The challenge was to make a holiday hostess gift guide of which half of the items needed to be from team members' shops. It was totally enjoyable and got me looking forward to party season. I'm going to buy a few of these too!

Rustic Raffia Wreath Balsam Fir Sachet by bstudio

Pineapple Rhubarb Jam by bovinebubbles
Daring Young Girl Blank Moleskine Journal by marysgranddaughter
Calendula Castile Handmade Soap by Blushie
Personalized wine identifiers by HattieRex
Screen Printed Organic Cotton Kitchen Towel by ohlittlerabbit
Ceramic Drink Coasters by GlazedOver
Recycled Silk Kimono Tree Ornaments by SewnNatural
Vintage Wooden Teardrop Bowl by DovieMoon
Bird with Ribbon Letterpress Cards Set by pistachiopress
Blackberry Sage Soy Wax Candle by aBreathofFrenchair 
Sock Monkey Magnets Set by katieleroy
Maple Granola with Dries Cherries & Spiced Walnuts by marasmaples
Ceramic Bottle/Bud Vase by khphillips
Raspberry Sables by zugarhaus
Betty Crocker Vintage 1959 Entertaining Book by MatildaFairDesigns

Or just click here to view the actual treasury.

I've heard of some people who habitually put together a treasury every single day. I'm not one of those. I like to do a "rough" in poster sketch first. Sleep on it. Tweak. Sleep on it. Start over. And so on. If I made one a day, I'd have no time to actually make stuff for my shop!

On that note, I'm going to head down to the studio to sew something...