Great New Stuff on Etsy

I have found this great new thing on Etsy, called "Treasury". Maybe it isn't new, I just never really noticed it, but no matter, it is totally great! It is almost like adding crafters to you "Favorite" section, but stats are counted up on how many hits you get for your choices, and other members can comment on your selection. It brings notice to your shop as well as to those you feature. A win/win if you ask me. I know, you didn't, but I'm saying anyway.

You 've been Punked

 

 

  http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d7ead6354f56d91d3447c30/you-ve-been-punked


Now I haven't read the details on exactly how it works, I just jumped right on in and started adding stuff. My first Treasury was started a few days ago, and I have 14 views and 4 clicks.  I have even been included in Viki's Ruby Red Treasury! I don't know what the "clicks" mean, so when I find out, or if any of you do hit me back with the info, I will also include an update to this post with it. It also becomes adictive. You only get thirteen spaces to fill for the treasury, so if you have a theme, you may have to add other treasury pages to get your fix.

You've Been Punked, Again

 

 

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d7fc73b1efe8eefe77e5a58/youve-been-punked-again



Ruby Red Polymer Beads as featured on my etsy page

    http://www.etsy.com/people/creationsbikimberly?ref=si_pr

There is also this "Activity " button that directs you to your Activity Feed page. You can choose how much content you want to share with the world. This page basically is a tell all to what you are into on Etsy. It has a really nice look when you add your favorites, circles, and treasury. All this assuming that you are a member of Etsy.

 

    http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperpiecesbyvicki 

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4d7d7a7ac8478eef5584a01d/ruby-red?index=0

I am so sorry, some of you may be new to crafting, and may not know of what I rant. Etsy is a site for the crafty or the craft deficient. If you have a talent for crocheted toe warmers (ooo, I just came up with a new project!) and you want to share with the world at large, and get a little cash as well, Etsy is where you go. It is also the place for finding that special one of a kind, not your every day inspired sloth motor cycle seat cover.
   
Now I'm sure that there are a hundred, million trillion sites out there like that, but some mentioned this to me years ago, and I have not strayed from the path. Oh, I might look at a wannabe web page that offers art, crafts, supplies, and the like, but I always come home.

They have great marketing advise, informative blogs, featured artists, forums,  and very reasonable pricing for listing your items. Even if you don't sell a particular item the first time out, you have spent less than a buck to list your item! You can even request items to be made, or bid to make that item. The best offer, or the one who comes closest to what the client wants, gets the bid. Awesome all the way around.

You can even have a Showcase. This is where you book a spot to have your items featured. They usually go by themes, and if you have product that fits, I say book it! There is a great online safety system for buying and selling, so no worries. Etsy also makes it way easy to pay your bill.

I always open up etsy on another page while I'm listing a project. It is sooo cool to see your stuff just pop up on the screen!

There is so much to inform you of on Etsy, that I just can't list it all off the top of my head. I have included the link here so that you may check all that the craft world has to offer, or at least what Etsy has to offer.

Happy crafting!

http://www.etsy.com/?ref=si_home

Beads and Shrinky Dinks

Beads and Shrinky Dinks

 There are glass beads, clay beads, paper beads, plastic beads, and now, there are Shrinky Beads! Ok, Shrinky Dinks is plastic.  I just thought that had the sound of something cool being discovered. You say that you don’t know what Shrinky Dinks plastic is. Are you serious? Member when you were a kid and the commercial would come on with two kids at the kitchen table drawing on clear plastic, cutting it out, then their mom would put the pieces in the oven. The camera moves in, and we see the shapes curl and magically shrink to the size of the dime? The two kids shocked, they witnessed this never before seen phenomenon. Seriously? Member when you bugged your mom for them? Member when you got them you just used the whole pack because it was so fun to see that it actually worked, begging your mom for more. Member? Member?

Ok for those of you who have grown up not knowing what it’s like to actually get up from the couch and turn on the t.v. set with a knob, and not a button, or actually go to the library and find a book using the Dewy Decimal System, or heaven forbid, walk to school, Shrinky Dinks were all the rage during, well, way before your parents were parents, and a apple was just a fruit, not a computer company ran by some super nerd who laughed his way all the way to the bank. Strictly for children, until they needed adult supervision for the oven in which the wonderful fun began. 

So, back to the Shrink Beads. Now these lovely beads that you see were left over whole punches from a pair of earrings and a bracelet made from shrinky plastic. Keeping with my effort to reduce my carbon footprint, while still creating something nice, I wondered what they would look like if I shrunk them. I stuck the little suckers in my toaster oven I rescued off of a street corner across from my son’s middle school last year, and BAM!! Shrinky Beads!  These little beauties are light, easy to work with, and can be used a variety of projects.

I liked the way these came out so much, that I plan on making some intentionally! I have already saved the punched holes from other Shrinky Dinks projects that I am working on according to color, and I will be putting them in the oven as the need arises.