August Shopping Extravaganza

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is proud to announce the "August - Weekend Shopping Extravaganza".

The August event will be Saturday, August 1st and Sunday 2nd, 2009.

Come and Join us. Post a comment and link your shop.

ALL ETSY SHOPS - HANDMADE, SUPPLIES AND VINTAGE - are invited to participate by placing an announcement in your shop and joining in with promoting on the "Official" Promotional thread in the Etsy Forums. This will be a “Shopping Event” similar to a Public Marketplace. There will not be a "Overall theme" since Etsy is a Global Marketplace hence, the seasons, cultures, holidays, etc. can vary quite a bit. Although not required, we do strongly encourage shops to have a feature, theme or sale as this can pique interest and help you to draw people to your shop. You do not have to participate for the whole weekend simply join in when you can on the Promo thread in the Etsy Forums.

Here is the Promo thread in the Etsy Forums: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6236075 The only requirement is that you have a shop on Etsy and help promote by joining in and bumping the thread throughout the weekend. Talk about your shop and what you have to offer our shoppers. Those of you who blog or twitter can post and/or tweet about it and promote to people that are off Etsy to visit us. It will provide the Etsy community with publicity, making our shops more visible, and hopefully creating a monthly event shoppers will look forward to. If you have any questions please convo http://www.etsysupplystreetteam.etsy.com/.

Activities For a Rainy Day with Small Children

by Deirdre Ryan - BlackbirdsCloset

i love rainy days. add thunder and lightening and some wind and i'm ecstatic! of course this does add some challenges when you have a 2 year active little girl/boy. having my mom being a retired para professional with kindergartners helps. here are some activities that we do:

go to michael's or ac moore and find the super marked down pre-cut wooden flat shapes. we found some that were .29 cents and .15 cents each. then small bottles of tempura paints in different colours. we found a 6 pack that was perfect and cost $4.99. the paint we then squirt out in little cups or this little crayola fingerpaint thing that we have been re-using. the great thing about tempura paint is that its washable!

we also use my paper shape punchers that i have for my business and use construction paper to cut out shapes with. then using non-toxic glue sticks with you can get super cheap at the dollar store, she can glue the shapes onto each other and larger pieces of paper. we also use the colourful circulars from the sunday papers for her to glue with too. then talk about the colour, sizes of shapes and what the cut out items are as you glue them.

make sure though that you use a newspaper on the table surface to protect things with ;) and although tempura paint is non-toxic and washable, make sure to have the little ones wear a painting smock or apron :)

reading books from the library, playing "put things away" by shape and colour and dress up. that works with boys too. i have items from my "before years" that we can play with.

then as a treat for good behavior, i let her watch some noggin :D

for the seasoned moms out there, i'm sure this is all nothing new. but perhaps someone else can use some new ideas ;)

please share and post a comment on what you do with the little ones during rainy days!

Flowers...

Let's Meet Plurfection!

Get to know Plurfection!

*What do you sell? Beads, Pendants and Findings

*What's your favorite item/line that you sell? The faceted amethyst briolettes. I wish I could keep them all.

*Give us an idea on how to use your products. They should be used to make wonderful handcrafted items.

*How did you choose your user name? from the phrase PLUR (Peace, Love, Unity and Respect)

*Street clothes or Pajamas? Street Clothes

*Biggest indulgence or guilty pleasure? Chocolate!

*Favorite food? Definitely Sushi

*Favorite craft website (not Etsy)? Pandora.com, Mycraft.com

*What is one thing that nobody would know about you.that I like having breakfast for dinner

*What are your plans/goals for 2009? To sell all of my supplies

*Where else do you sell? Other IDs, sites, local shops, etc. I have two other Etsy shops: My gemstone jewelry shop http://www.jewelicide.etsy.com/ and my bright, funky and sometimes kawaii jewelry http://allysin.etsy.com/

Greening Up Your Art/Supply Business – A Checklist

Mary Beth Beuke - WestCoastSeaGlass

You’re like many conscientious, artsy people. You care about the planet and you have a growing desire to run an ecologically responsible company. You’ve probably made a few changes but are ready to do more.

The handy checklist below was recently put together by the U.S. government to help business owners get started and I’ve included examples of how these steps can move your art supply business continuing toward your “greener” pursuit. Whether you’re managing a multi staff company or a one-person craft room, most steps can be used by all of us. If you can’t tackle all 10, consider focusing on 3 or 4 for starters. Even the baby steps make a difference.

First, let’s consider the advantages. Greening up your small business can:
• Reduce costs
• Attract customers
• Keep the environment healthier.
• Enhance productivity.
• Build a positive image.

1. Comply with environmental regulations: Each and every industry has its own set of environmental regulations. Before you start exploring ways to go green, start with the basics. Make sure your company is working in compliance with your particular industry’s regulations.

2. Develop an environmental management plan: Is your workplace and craft area energy efficient? If not, jot down an action plan, share it and model it with those around you. Post your mission (but only if you’re really doing it) on your blogs, your websites and at your art shows.

3. Buy green supplies: Your company or craft business consistently uses a few, same products on a very regular basis. Begin the process of “greening up” your supply purchases. Be patient, and spend a couple extra minutes searching for more ecological supplies. Going green is on the increase across the globe, so products are getting easier to find all the time. When shopping for everything from packaging supplies to jewelry metals to light bulbs we always seek out the most ecological products we can find first.

4. Conserve energy: My coworkers and I are coffee heads. But after 9:30am once everyone’s arrived and coffee’d up, we shut the coffee maker off – otherwise it would stay on until noon. When you leave your workroom(s), turn off printers, lights, computers, monitors (and don’t forget the speakers if they have a separate switch) whenever they aren’t being used.

5. Prevent pollution: Every person produces waste and so does every business. For example, limit postal runs to cut down on gasoline emissions. We used to make a special trip into the post office daily. Now we’ve consolidated that to just three times a week when one of our employees (who has a less polluting vehicle than mine) takes the packages to town on her way home from the studio. I did the math. With that one change, we are conserving almost 9 gallons of gasoline a month. That’s a significantly less amount of pollution!

6. Create a green marketing strategy: Use the internet and email invites more and printed flyers and mailers less. When you do print, use soy ink and recycled paper stock. Market your events and shows with others who are vending also. I belong to a group of thirteen local artists and instead of each of us putting out our own individual flyer about the same event we put out one page which features each of us.

7. Recycle wastes: Most companies already do this. Put your recycle receptacles in an easily accessible locale. I sit with a simple 9x11” sized box between my desk and the other designer’s in my studio. Anything paper that’s recycle-able goes in. And remember, nothing is too small to recycle. We cut a lot of our own jewelry display cards and even the ½” scrap margin strips are dumped into the recycle bin. Recycle packaging materials. Recycle metal scraps. Now there are companies that you can ship your scrap metals to at no charge.

8. Conserve water: Use the new gadgets that are out there like low-flow faucets in your work spaces or other hardware that can save your company money in the long run.

9. Join industry partnership and stewardship programs. Do some research on affiliating your company with organizations that donate funds or time to ecological causes. Find an organization that’s congruent with the industry or supplies you’re involved with. My ocean-related business belongs to a non-profit organization that donates thousands of dollars annually to shoreline restoration groups. This is something that your customer public would want to know about and makes for a positive marketing point for you.

10. Build green: Any time you start a new larger project from scratch, including buying equipment, furniture and storage space etc., make sure you start with greener products; lighting, printers, appliances, even shelving.

Mary Beth Beuke is collector, artist and owner of West Coast Sea Glass, a full time seaglass jewelry company in the Pacific Northwest. Her Etsy supply store is: westcoastseaglass. She works out of two studios and with a small, part-time staff of 4.

Thank you yarn2spin!

By Evie's Tool Emporium

As the Etsy Supply Street Team Promotions manager I am so pleased to introduce you to a very important member of our team! yarn2spin recently was a 'Super Bumper' during the 2nd Annual Yart Sale. I appreciate her efforts promoting the team as a whole by keeping the promo thread 'bumped' by being creative and innovative!

yarn2spin is known around Etsy and the fiber world as a supplier of quality fiber art materials!

This truly is 'sparkling white' Sparkling White Icicle Roving !

What a great price on this half pound bag of Lichen green Merino and Silk blend of Top Roving!

This purple heart handled orifice hook and diz can also be used as a plying guide!

Thank you so much yarn2spin for the time and effort you put into promoting the Etsy Supply Street Team!

Michelle @ Evie's Tool Emporium