Get To Know - Matur Suksema

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
Matur Suksema (mah toor sook sah muh)

How did you come up with that name?
It means thank you in Balinese. More literally it means to give good feelings. I was looking for a name that no one else had that had meaning for me and hopefully for my customers.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
Genuine, direct for the artisans Bali sterling silver beads and findings. Also direct for the artisan hand carved bone faces in lots of sizes and shapes. Fairly traded, BTW. I actually know several of my artisans personally. And because of that we can do custom work.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
Lots of them. For selling, Artfire and Zibbet.

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
Not anymore. I did when I was younger but I realized I never finished anything so I quit starting. It’s called ADD! The fun is in the planning and starting and then I get bored. I just found a pair of pillow cases unfinished in my “hope chest” that I started when I was in grade school and I just turned 64!

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
I take groups to Bali and hope to have a group next year that goes to Komodo National Park, one of the national parks in Borneo where the orangutans are, and to a national park in Sumatra where the endangered tigers, elephants, and rhinos are. Those are all in Indonesia.

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Take-out Thai food!

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
To continue to grow my sales

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
eBay, World of Good by eBay (things I can’t sell on the other venues), Artfire, and Zibbet, all with the ID matursuksema

I have wholesale and quantity discounts on the bone items but the buyer needs to contact me before buying so I can do a custom listing.

Things I Need - Etsy Treasury Curated By ShelsJewelrySupplies

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by ShelsJewelrySupplies.

How To Identify Vintage Milk Glass

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is very lucky to have a very diversified group of sellers. Each seller brings a level of expertise to our team with their unique business backgrounds. I'm excited to share with you today the expertise of Amanda, of 32NorthSupplies. Her shop is filled with amazing Dresden trims from Germany, fancy fabric trims and other delightful finds. Today Amanda is sharing with us how to identify vintage milk glass. So many people love and collect milk glass and either dabble in or are full on collectors of vintage, she thought it might be interesting to tell a bit about identifying vintage milk glass.

Identifying Vintage Milk Glass:

First produced in Venice, Italy in the 16th century, milk glass is made white by adding an opacifier - either tin dioxide or bone ash. In the United States, one of the premier manufacturers was the Westmoreland Specialty Company, founded in Pennsylvania by two brothers in 1889. Their focus was pressed glass and, in 1921, the name changed to Westmoreland Glass Company.

Milk glass of many colors was mass produced beginning in the 1940s. Pieces from the Victorian era are lighter and more finely detailed. The best way to tell the difference between an earlier piece and a mid 20th century piece is to hold the piece up to the sun. An older piece will glow pinkish at the edges and a new piece will show blue. I've tried to show you the pink glow in the photo below, but seeing it for yourself in real life is most illustrative. Once you compare two pieces, you'll be able to spot the difference easily.

Thank you Amanda for sharing your expertise with us!

Spring Flowers - Etsy Treasury Curated By Memories Mosaic Supply

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by MemoriesMosaicSupply.

Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - Appreciates Their Customers

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

As supply sellers on Etsy each of our shops have stories of wonderful customers. We would like to take the time to recognize one of them today!

This creative artist is a wonderful customer of ESST member Shels Jewelry Supplies. First a little bit about Shels Jewelry Supplies. She opened her shop because she longed for good quality jewelry findings and components - especially earring wires - that weren't mass produced and that looked great with the jewelry she was creating. She believed others were looking for the same thing she was. Her earring wires are created using .999 fine silver, .925 sterling silver, 14K gold fill, copper and/or brass 20g round wire and the type of metal is mentioned in each listing.

The customer of Shels Jewelry Supplies that we would like to recognize is GarrettReed Designs by MonkeyBaby1777. Andrea has always had a passion for art of any kind...whether creating, admiring or purchasing!

Andrea purchased Gold Filled "Signature Style" Earring Wires and created these gorgeous Lemon quartz and aqua chalcedony on 14K gold filled earrings...Summer days!

Andrea purchased Sterling Silver "Mini-Swirl" Earring Wires and created these fabulous Glass teardrop earrings - Fruit basket!

Andrea purchased Oxidized Sterling Silver "Norm Style" Earring Wires and created these lovely aqua chalcedony briolette and carnelian earrings! The oxidized sterling silver norms are just her norms and then folks can add the listing for 'oxidize me' to their cart if they want the darkened metal. Super cool idea!

It has been fun sharing with you earrings that have been created with supplies from Shels Jewelry Supplies. Please be sure to check out her shop and the other lovely creations that this wonderful customer, GarrettReed Designs by MonkeyBaby1777 has created.

Get To Know - Woolenmore

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
woolenmore

How did you come up with that name?
Having a name that would sum up what I have. Since I feature wool fabric and more, my husband dubbed it years ago.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
I offer wools for crafting and the home seamstress. Most of which are wool fabrics that are manufactured by Pendleton, plus my hand over dyed woolens.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
It is hard to pick just one, but I prefer websites that are about sewing, primitive crafts and home construction.

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
I do, is there a supplier who doesn't? I love to construct clothing, and do craft a variety of things. From primitives to decorative painting, sculpting and carving. About the only thing I haven't ventured into is jewelry and knitting!

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
There probably isn't anything, maybe that’s a bad thing.

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
I try to avoid cooking, if I think about it it is going be frosting.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
I really would like to find the time to list everything, where IS that extra minute?

Team Treasury - Etsy Treasury Curated By Kimonos

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by Kimonos.

Easter Craft Supplies From The Etsy Supply Street Team

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is very lucky to have a very diversified group of sellers. Each seller brings a level of expertise to our team with their unique business backgrounds. I'm excited to share with you today the expertise of Cindy, of sisforsupplies. Cindy's shop is filled with cool, unfinished wood supplies! Cindy not only has a shop on Etsy, she is also the ESST slideshow curator! Thank you to Cindy for her time and efforts in promoting ESST! Now please sit back and enjoy the show!

Make your own picture slideshow

Black and Red at Ya! - Etsy Treasury Curated By Buttonalia

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by Buttonalia.

Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - Appreciates Their Customers

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

As supply sellers on Etsy each of our shops have stories of wonderful customers. We would like to take the time to recognize one of them today!

This creative artist is a wonderful customer of ESST member 32NorthSupplies. First a little bit about 32NorthSupplies. Her shop is filled with amazing Dresden trims from Germany, fancy fabric trims and other delightful finds.

The customer of 32NorthSupplies that we would like to recognize is HummingbirdTraveler. HummingbirdTraveler is inspired by glitter, vintage christmas ornaments, french country, pow wows and the outdoors. She sees magic in all of these things and experiences. Her shop is an eclectic mix of vintage pieces and her own works out of cotton batting.

32NorthSupplies love seeing their supplies in action and are always so excited to see the beautiful creations coming from HummingbirdTraveler's studio. From fanciful cotton batting flower girls to handsome mice dressed in their finest royal attire, her work combines Victorian era details, Native American inspiration and the best of 18th century France. With meticulous attention to detail and a flawless execution, we're sure you'll become big fans too!

It has been fun sharing with you items that have been created with supplies from 32NorthSupplies. Please be sure to check out her shop and the other lovely creations that this wonderful customer of 32NorthSupplies has crafted.

Get To Know - Grams Vintage Buttons

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
GramsVintageButtons

How did you come up with that name?
My Mom's Mom was very special to me and we named this shop after my gramma Boyea. I was her first grandchild and I had a chance to live with her just before I got married. Our time together will always be a favorite memory for me.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
We sell buttons for crafting and collecting. At an auction we were lucky enough to get an old picnic basket full of vintage black glass buttons from the Victorian era. Now Mom (my business partner) and I are on the look out for old buttons to add to our shop.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
I am kind of addicted to Facebook. My kids are on it and most of my huge family (I have over 40 first cousins) and I love to play Farmville! Bad girl!!

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
I used to make jewelry with my Mom. We sold our jewelry at home parties. I have issues with my hands now and the wire work that I enjoyed is now difficult to do. I also love to do scrapbooking. I have several going right now, one for each son ( I have 2) and I am redoing my wedding album.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
I have a tatoo! Shhh...;)

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Chicken pesto - my kids love it and it is easy to make with a store bought pesto.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
To list, list and list some more! I have found that listing new items brings in shoppers plain and simple.

I also have 2 other Etsy shops.
CarDonCreativeDesign where we sell jewelry making items and LottieMaesVintage where we sell most everything vintage.

Sipping Pink Lemonade on a Tahitian Beach - Etsy Treasury Curated By Art Passions Design

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by Art Passions Design.

Quit Your Day Job - Congratulations To Snapcrafty

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is very lucky to have a very diversified group of sellers. Each seller brings a level of expertise to our team with their unique business backgrounds. I'm excited to share with you today the expertise of Sandra, of snapcrafty. Snapcrafty carries uncommonly cool vintage beads, flower cabochons, flower beads, vintage lucite, czech glass, and lead-free findings.

Sandra was recently featured on the Etsy Blog. She was chosen to share her story on how she quit her day job and turned her Etsy shop into her passion. She decided to leave science after taking a serious look at my priorities and desire for happiness and balance. Congratulations Sandra!

Thinkin' Spring - Etsy Treasury Curated By Grams Vintage Buttons

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by Grams Vintage Buttons.

Spring Craft Supplies From The Etsy Supply Street Team

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is very lucky to have a very diversified group of sellers. Each seller brings a level of expertise to our team with their unique business backgrounds. I'm excited to share with you today the expertise of Cindy, of sisforsupplies. Cindy's shop is filled with cool, unfinished wood supplies! Cindy not only has a shop on Etsy, she is also the ESST slideshow curator! Thank you to Cindy for her time and efforts in promoting ESST! Now please sit back and enjoy the show!

This picture slideshow created with Smilebox

Get To Know - Findings Leslietsy

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
My supply shop is Findings
My original work is on The Creative Block

How did you come up with that name?
Both names are descriptive but slightly punny: Findings of course refers to jewelry components, but also to other interesting stuff I find and list.
The Creative Block is a place to create, but it also refers to that dead spot every creator experiences from time to time.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
Mostly jewelry supplies--findings, of course, lots of vintage, both new and used, gemstone beads (in assortments and for eurostyle/pandora), some sterling (especially chains at great prices), quite a few Jewish, Buddhist, and Wiccan items. I sell only things that I would use myself.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
Couchsurfing
Facebook

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
These days I mostly make jewelry, for both humans and ball-jointed dolls, but that's partly a function of mobility limitations and a house that seems to be an ongoing construction project. I knit and crochet in the car and sometimes at meetings, etc. where I can't work on jewelry. I also love to sew, often my own designs, often using recycled fabric, but at the moment cutting space is limited.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
Actually a fair number of people, but not too many on Etsy, know that I'm the mom of 5 kids (now adults) adopted from foster care at ages between 8 and 14 -- and now also have 5 grands, ranging in age from 23 to 6 months, 4 of whom are girls.

What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
Anything quick, simple, healthy, and delicious.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
Amazingly to me, Findings has been largely self-supporting since around the end of its first year, and making enough to pay for a lot of my personal supplies since then. I'd like to cultivate more bulk and repeat orders, to maintain the level of personal attention my customers talk about in feedback, and, of course, to turn more stock over faster. Findings is at around 950 sales - I know we'll reach 1000, but would love to hit 1500 or even 2000 in the next year. I'm also working on being well enough organized so that we can travel and someone else can pack and mail orders.

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items?
Other than etsy, I sell only at a few Art/Craft fairs and one local coffee shop, which turns out to be the best venue, especially for my handmade items, that I've ever had.

I do post works in progress and occasional items not listed on Etsy on my blog, Those Blue Remembered Hills and each shop has a Facebook fan page, on which Findings has a monthly drawing entered by posting a photo showing something you've made with anything from the shop.

In addition to all of the above, I belong to several etsy teams besides this one. The newest is Couchsurfing (not sure if it's etsyCouchSurfing or CouchSurfingetsy), + a CouchSurfing team for Etsy sellers. I highly recommend these--with CouchSurfing you can travel all over the world visiting friends you haven't met yet, and what better than having them also be Etsians?

You Can't Create Without Supplies - Etsy Treasury Curated By Grimmlynn

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by grimmlynn.

Tutorial - How To Make A Crayon Pouch

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is very lucky to have a very diversified group of sellers. Each seller brings a level of expertise to our team with their unique business backgrounds. I'm excited to share with you today the expertise of Shannon, of smallgrapes. Small Grapes is your source for fantastic fabrics in fat quarters, half yards, yards, and assortment packs! Shannon specializes in great prices, friendly service, and fast shipping.

Here is a creative crayon pouch tutorial from Shannon. She features the colorful Spring Elephant Dots from Urban Zoology by Laurie Wisbrun for Robert Kaufman fabric for the tutorial. Please check out her tutorial on her fun filled Small Grapes Blog.

Thank you Shannon for your wonderful tutorial!

Fly Away - Etsy Treasury Curated By Trimgoddess

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

This lovely treasury was curated by trimgoddess.

Popalicious Too And Her Adventures At The Etsy Success Symposium

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST - is very lucky to have a very diversified group of sellers. Each seller brings a level of expertise to our team with their unique business backgrounds. I'm excited to share with you today the expertise of Andrea, of Popalicious Too. Her shop is filled with cabochons, 1 inch buttons, wood cutouts and more supplies!

Recently Andrea had the opportunity to visit Brooklyn! Here are her thoughts on her adventure!

Well everyone, I wanted to share with you my little trip into Brooklyn back in February. I decided to venture in to feel the Etsy Experience at the Etsy Success Symposium. I didn't go with an agenda, I just went to get a feel for our community in "real time". First of all walking through Brooklyn is always an experience that I love and this time was no different. I approached the large building and went inside up to the 5th floor and I knew I was in the right place as I saw many people with hand made name tags sporting narwhals, bunnies and more! So I went to sign in and all ready I had met some really friendly people.

Well we shared a continental breakfast and chatted for awhile and then the festivities began and WOW it was a jam packed day. We shuffled from lecture to lecture packing in as much knowledge and ideas that we could. Many of the subject matters were very familiar to me since I have been on easy for some time now but yet I was still able to extract some helpful hints. I love the idea that was given to us to picture our "ideal" customer -- name them -- come up with a history behind them and then think about how they would like to be treated and what they would enjoy, it really was very interesting and helpful and really got me in touch with my customer. Everyone on our Street Team has something in common and that is that we sell supplies, tools for the artists so the more practical and creative the product the more demand. We have a built in audience which is a precious thing so just take a peek around and see what is happening and what people need to create their art. Give it a try, it is actually fun!

One of the main reasons for traveling into Brooklyn was to see if I could get a feel of where ETSY was going??? You know, with all of the rumors, all of the changes, all of the posts, all of the…you know what I mean. I thought it was a good thing to try to formulate my own opinion by being there at the heart. Well I did get a sense and that was one that tells me that Etsy is going to forge ahead, follow the newest and most innovative trends, inject as much new technology as they possibly can and in the end be around for a very long time. We may not always agree with the administration (come on does that ever happen in life lol!), we may not always "embrace" the changes but I feel as though it is imperative that we come to terms with everything and step forward. All of the craziness about privacy and such was truly overblown, so many of us went private with so many elements and in the end I think we lost out on a lot of networking. I now feel as though circles are a wonderful thing, if you use them responsibly they can bring you MUCH activity on your site and someone that never saw you before may find your shop and become a regular. The one drawback is sometimes I get so involved with it I loose track of time when I should be working!

So, if you have a moment in time…take a peek at the Etsy Success Symposium Storque Article! You may think you have heard and seen it all, but honestly you just might learn something, even a tiny tidbit that might set off a light bulb in your head. It is worth a look! One thing that was hammered home over and over again are the obvious and they are a good clean look, the most fabulous pictures that you can take, simple but yet descriptive titles and service with a smile, remember that your customer loves to hear from you so take a moment to send that thank you for shopping with us note in the beginning. Everything else you do is just more sugar on top!

Andrea of Popalicious Too.

Get To Know - Rose's Buttons

By Michelle of Evie's Tool Emporium

What is your Etsy shop name?
My etsy shop name is RosesButtons

How did you come up with that name?
Well, my first name is Rose and I started to sell vintage buttons.

What sort of crafting supplies do you sell?
In addition to the vintage buttons, I also sell vintage fabric and patterns,and embellishments. I have two other business names From Grandma's Tree selling vintage Christmas decorations and Rose's Sundries selling mostly ephemera and other objects I find interesting.

Favorite website(s) aside from Etsy?
I sell on eBay and am a big fan of both etsy and eBay. I also have my own websites for each of my identities http://www.rosesbuttons.com/, http://www.fromgrandmastree.com/ and http://www.rosessundries.com/. I also have facebook pages for each of these identities as well as squidoo pages.

Do you craft yourself? If so, what do you like to make?
I do craft, but most of my crafting now is making props for my local community theater. This is fun because you never know what you can find that can be made into something else for the stage. I learned to embroider from my mother and learned to sew in high school home economics class. As a child, I used to love going through my grandmothers sewing basket. She had all kinds of interesting notions and saved all the buttons from every piece of clothing that came her way. I inherited her sewing basket when she passed away. It is one of my most treasured possessions. I also have my mother's button stash. I'm a self taught knitter and have yet to tackle crocheting and tatting. I dabble in jewelry making and would like to learn more. I'm thinking of taking a glass blowing or lampworking class.

Please tell us one thing that nobody would know about you.
I love to sing and act. And I didn't start doing either until I retired and moved to my present location. I sing in my church choir and have had parts in plays put on by my local community theater. I've been taking voice lessons by trading for time spent maintaining my voice teacher's etsy shop.

What goals do you have for your shop over the next year?
I have a house full of stuff that I want to get listed online so I can have my space back. My goal is to reduce, recycle and reuse if at all possible. And if I can't, I want my customers to do so. That's why I love selling vintage. Putting these lovely reuseable or repurposeable items in others hands brings me joy.

If you sell on other venues, where else can we find your items? In my eBay store or on my websites.
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-....m-Grandmas-Tree
http://www.rosesbuttons.com/
http://www.fromgrandmastree.com/
http://www.rosessundries.com/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/httpwwwrosesbuttonscom/134821616135
http://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwfromgrandmastreecom/128067404088
http://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwrosessundriescom/120499736635
http://www.squidoo.com/rosesbuttons
http://www.squidoo.com/rosessundries
http://www.squidoo.com/fromgrandmastree