Tuesday, July 31, 2007

OMG my pics are on Explore (all two of them!!!)

cripes! two of my pics made it onto Explore on flickr

tangled web treasury



Wire crochet rules!

This amazing treasury list was composed by Chemagne (who is also an accomplished wire crochet artist - check out this beautiful cuff which I included in my competition entry and this amazing aquamarine and freshwater pearl cuff in silver crochet) and features some favourite wire crochet found on Etsy, including (ahem) my seaglass custom choker.

It is a beautiful list and I'm completely struck by how different Chemagne's is to mine.

There is a lot of talent on Etsy!

.... and check out the middle picture in the third row down! A certain little sister is going to be soooo pleased her cuff is in a treasury list and among such awesome company.

PS: One of my constellations seaglass chokers (this one) is currently on sale at Devil May Wear in Vancouver, BC. So you can see it "in the flesh" ... and buy it.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

one click shopping for ebb and flo



OK - this is what's been keeping me busy and away from blogging recently (and also a visit from my lil' sis, aka honeybeedz, from Scotland.

As some of you will know I had a scarey moment with Etsy in April, as have quite a number of sellers (and even one buyer) since then. In essence I decided to diversify, take all my precious eggs out of the one basket they were in and make ebb and flo less dependant on Etsy.

So I set up other online shops (see clickables on the left for details) and also started consigning at a B&M in Vancouver.

... which leaves a bewildering array of shopping venues from which to get your grubby little mitts on ebb and flo goodies ...

... so for you (and just for you) I have set up a website using Googlepages to pull all these venues together. If you click here you will be transported miraculously to a list of links for each of these selling venues and from there you can shop till you drop.

I'm planning many more things for the website, inlcuding downloadable discount vouchers, special offers and web exclusives (since I've also been playing around with adding a PayPal cart to the site too!!! oooo excitement). There will also be a gallery of what's available where (including the B&M) and sneak peeks of what I'm working on.

Go on, click here - you know it makes sense!

PS: Eventually there will be a clickable link at the top of the blog too - just need to work out how to set it up!!!

Monday, July 23, 2007

button and pendant stash

I am definitely not having much luck with markets (see previous ranting-type post for more info here ).

This weekend one of my three appearances at PoMo market got cancelled, all because the city works have dug a huge hole or two at the netrance to the plaza. Since it has been raining like the floods are coming for the past week work has been stalled and the holes have filled with water. So ebb and flo goodies were not available to the good people of the TriCities here in Lower Mainland BC.

There is however a silver lining to this cloud (and we are once again in the middle of a cloud halfway up the mountain this morning) as it meant my Thursday did not have to be spent prepping for the market. Instead I got to play with all the other little projects which fascinate. My polymer clay got out of its box and came to play. I'm quite pleased with the results!

The pendants and buttons need a little sanding to finish them off, and I'll probably highlight some areas with varnish ..... then they'll be off to list on my ecrater shop .

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Supplies Treasury

A gorgeous list of supplies found on Etsy, including some handmade ones too. Many thanks to thereserve.etsy.com for including my sterling silver earwires in the list.

Saturday, July 21, 2007

glass playground treasury


This time it's willowglass's awesome bright blue and green cab's turn to sparkle in a treasury.


This one is curated by Brian of westernartglass (from the edge of reason) who culled his list from the members of the flickr group glass playground.


If you have a serious glass addiction this is one place i seriously recommend you hang out for a while.


Glass Playground was set up by Shoozles and brings together some damn fine glass artists who post their latest creations. Despite the fact that I am not a glass artist, merely a wirer who loves to play with their creations, I have a spot on the membership list and post my pics too.




My latest stash of glass came from Shoozles and already I think they are good enough to wear!

Friday, July 20, 2007

poster girl for Etsy?


Treasury time again for the sea glass cufflinks and this time they are in an absolutely stunning 'white on white' treasury by the talented jmillen who pulled an incredble list together as an entry for the treasury poster competition.

The list is described as white on white with a touch of grey and black thrown in for contrast, but check out the orange etsy button* bottom left for a complete surprise. Stunning!


stunning abstract twirled zinnia card from jmillen








* - (which BTW may be illegal to sell thru use of the Etsy orange and logo tho' I'm getting conflicting info on that one currently)
a while ago in the forums there was some discussion about the use of Etsy orange and the logo. after to-ing and fro-ing by admin the edict announced was that sellers should contatc Etsy for permission to use the logo etc in products and fill in a release form. So I contacted admin for the release form only to be told that the form didn't exist and would be out once the consititution was drafted and they would keep us informed ................ since then a deafening Etsy orange silence.

Sound familiar?

Thursday, July 19, 2007

in love once more

Pitcher by Daisy Dog StudioPitcher

sigh!

The wee guy and I and Aunty B visited the ceramic studio on Hastings in Burnaby last week to splosh some paint on the blanks there. Aunty B had to guide the wee guy thru painting a new piggy bank since his last one got smashed (damn those yuppy granite counters!) and I had two espresso cups to decorate.
We had a great time (and we always do at Adobe). Aunty B also decorated her own plate so we all got to be creative.

... and then while checking out a new site (to me at least) I spy this awesomely designed pitcher (teapot and cup set to match). I love it .... alot! Oh my Daisy Dog Studio - you have some awesome stuff!

Friday, July 06, 2007

something a little greyer for the weekend .....




The Etsy mute machine has rolled itself out of the corner it has been lurking in again, this time slapping a good old time out on a buyer!

All I can say is WTF?


I'm not particularly eloquent but it appears that this buyer has been judged to be critical of the Etsy regime and in la la Etsyland that kind of thing is not tolerated.


Badnono


So for voicing opinion, being critical and having an incisive, sharp and intelligent personality Etsy has muted this forum poster (click the title for further details).


Who is it in the admin that has such a sensitive demeanour and is easily brought to tears by postings in Forum? May I suggest that they are not cut out for the job and should quietly back off into another position where contact with other human beings is avoided?


This muting seems to set a pattern on Etsy where questioning the running of the site, being critical or using sarcasm, and refusing to kow tow with admin will warrant you a muting.


Never mind - I put my anti-muting insurance into play this morning by posting in the latest hugs-and-kisses ra ra Etsy thread so hopefully I'm a good girl for at least today.


Happy shopping!


PS: Did you know that mintd charges only 6% commission on sales from it's site if you pay the 20 AUSD fee for the lowest of its seller plans? It may also only be neccessary to have a personal PayPal account to receive money from them too as all money from buyers goes thru the mintd PayPal account first. Therefore as a percentage of the selling price, sales fees and PayPal fees are only a flat rate 6%. This contrasts with between 56.4% for a $1USD item and 7.4% for a $50USD item on Etsy. Hmmm ...............

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

something grey for the weekend

This Sunday the VanEtsyChicks are meeting up for coffee and yack (see this thread www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5144750 for details) or, as my ?better?half calls it 'VanEtsy Chicking'.

Anyway, last time we had a mini challenge to create a cool ID pin so we would recognise each other. This time our mission is to create something representative of our shop using shades of grey!

Well this is mine! It has everything in it - metal, fibre, glass, wire crochet, embroidery - all the things that make the ebb and flo world spin on its axis. Finsihed at last and fresh out of the washer.

materials: upcycled metal mesh disc, left over steel beading wire, shetland wool, eyelash yarn, glass beads, silverplated wire and a brooch pin on the reverse

... and it very cutely says "ebb" across the front
ebb and flo by pomo mama design click to shop pomo mama design online!