By Contributing Columnist Jay aka HaffinaCreations

One of my favourite things to do is lose myself in a well written fantasy world, filled with magic and mystery and all manner of creatures, so naturally I am drawn to artisans who create items drawn from fantasy. One such artisan is Meri Greenleaf from Elfing Creations. She kindly agreed to answer my questions

What will people find when they drop into your studio/store? What types of items do you sell?
Fantasy art and accessories, but everything is very eclectic: crocheted art dolls, runestones, costume ears (like elf, hobbit, faun, etc), horns, hemp jewelry, chainmaille, cartilage earrings, dreadfalls, crocheted bracers and cuffs… all sorts of randomness.

How did you come up with your studio/ shop’s name?
Elfling Creations comes from my fantasy alter-ego who is half-Wood Elf/half-Halfling (an Elf/Halfling or Elfling for short); this is also where my alias Meri Greenleaf comes from- that’s the name of said alter-ego. Since almost everything I make is inspired by fantasy, it works well for my shop.

How long have you been selling online?
I started selling some art (mostly crochet) here and there on Etsy in early 2007, but I didn’t really start concentration on my business as more than a hobby until 2009.

What lead you to join Etsy?
One of my friends had mentioned Etsy- I can’t remember if she had already opened a shop there or had just been buying things, though. Anyway, it sounded like a great idea, so I started listing my jewelry and crocheted things there.

What is your favourite feature on the site?
The street teams- I love being able to interact with other artists who share my interests.

What tips/advice would you give to others considering joining the site?
Definitely work on your photography to get good, clear, bright photos. I’m still learning how to take good pictures (my early ones were so terrible I’m amazed I sold anything), but when selling online it’s vitally important to be able to show off your work.

How do you want people who visit your studio/shop to feel, what mood are you attempting to create?
Like they just stepped into an elven forest, into a world of fantasy, magic, and color. That’s what I’m going for, anyway!

What types of things do you do to try and create that feel/mood?
Almost everything I make is fantasy-related, and I have a tendency to work in greens and browns with lots of leaves and flowers. I’m a wood elf through and through so I have to remember that people do like colors besides the greens, blues, and browns that I gravitate towards.

What is your favourite tool or material to use at the moment?
As much as I love all the art I do, I think crochet is my absolute favorite. I love how you can do pretty much anything with a ball of yarn and a hook; I can turn it into clothing, ears, dolls, accessories… pretty much anything.

Are there any skills or techniques that you would like to learn, or materials that you would like to work with, aside from what you already do?
I’d love to learn how to spin on a spinning wheel someday. I can spin on a spindle, but I’d really love to be able to use a wheel, too. I’d also love to learn how to crochet wire (I crochet and I do some work with wire, but I haven’t combined them) and I’d love to learn more chainmaille weaves. And drawing- I’d love to get better at that.

Are you still selling the same kind of items as when you started selling, or has it changed with time?
Definitely changed- I made a lot of simple crocheted things like wristbands to start, but as I’ve gotten more practice I’ve been making more intricate crochet like dolls, and the regular earrings I used to make have switched over to mainly cartilage ones. I can do a lot more types of art now than I could to start, so I’m making a wider variety now, too. (I have a very short attention span, lol!)

Which part of being an online seller do you find the most challenging, and what do you do to deal with that?
I have a really narrow target demographic, so my main challenge has been getting the people who are looking for fantasy accessories and art to find my shop. I cater to the Renfaire population, I think, and I’m not entirely sure if they’d know to check Etsy for things like that. Thank goodness for sites like Google, which I think is how people are finding me- and I’m assuming search engines help people find out about Etsy too, so it’s win-win!

How do you balance your online and offline life?
By not having much of an offline life, lol. I have health problems so making and selling my art is my job right now; otherwise seeing friends is pretty much the only other offline thing I’m up to doing right now, and they don’t mind when I bring my craft supplies along. Being creative with my art and writing (I do some fantasy short stories and run a “Dungeons and Dragons” game) helps keep me sane and gives me something fun and distracting to do while I work on getting better.

What kind of supplies do you always seem to buy, even if you do not really need them?
Yarn. Ye gads, it’s like my yarn stash is spawning- and the fact that friends and family will sometimes gift me with found or randomly acquired yarn is *awesome*! I can never say no to yarn because I can always find a use for it, and usually pick up a skein whenever I’m at the craft store. I always end up with more yarn than I could possibly use- yet I never seem to have the color I need on hand, so that means I need to get more. There must be fiber-imps stealing from my stash while I’m not looking.

Delve into the world of Elfing Creations on Etsy. You can also find her on ArtFire and her own website.
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Noodle Soup and Fried Egg charm--one of many Christmas in July items from MiniFood on Etsy.

Contributing Columnist Nicole M., Sugar Shox Craftsaka
Nicole M., Sugar Shox Crafts

So many sales, so many items…so little time! The Christmas spirit is in full swing on Etsy this month during the site wide Christmas in July sale.

The Christmas in July sale is a long-held tradition among many Etsy sellers. It is offered on an individual shop basis, with each shop offering its own special offers. These offers can range from free or discounted shipping, percentages off on sales, free items with purchase (“Buy One, Get One Free,” for example) to special items that are exclusively listed for the CIJ sale.

CIJ has a huge list of participants this year. The sale’s organizer, Cindy (aka DesignedbyLucinda), said there are at least 750 shops participating in the sale and more are signing up for it daily. Interest in the sale grows each day—the original post in the Etsy Forums that announced the sale has had 2,687 replies at the time of this writing, and continues to be resurrected each day on the fast moving Business Topics message board.

Anything allowed to be sold on Etsy is on sale as part of CIJ.

“Soaps, jewelry, vintage, food, holiday items, clothing, art—you name it, someone is probably having a Christmas in July sale for it,” said Cindy. “Some shops even have Christmas in July sections dedicated to the event.”

The CIJ sale is a handy marketing tool for sellers, as well. Historically, it is a retail marketing plan for boosting sales during a month where business would normally be slow, Cindy said.

“It feels like Christmas to sellers, because July can be one very slow, broke month,” she said.

Don’t wait until Christmas, though, to take advantage of CIJ! The official sale only runs until July 25th. Luckily, many sellers like Minifood and The Whirlwind are extending their sales to at least July 31st. A more extensive list of sellers who are extending their CIJ sales can be found here.

Here are a sampling of even more extended Christmas in July sales from other sellers; Crochetize is offering 20% off orders, and also free shipping when two items are purchased. Purchase any 4 items at SupplyOwl’s shop featuring paper goods and embellishments, and receive a free item (no limit!). Finally, Dishhandbags is having a “Buy One, Get One Half Off” sale on everything in her shop!

Still interested in participating in CIJ as a seller? It’s not too late to sign on! Sellers can keep their sale up for as long as they’d like. There are no sign up forms to fill out to join in, just follow these steps:
• Tag the items you are offering for the sale with christmasinjuly and/or cij tags.
• Mention your sale in your shop’s announcement message.
• Add a short passage about your CIJ sale in your item descriptions, if you’d like.

Don’t forget to promote your sale! Use your blog, Facebook, Twitter, the Promotions Forum on Etsy…the sky’s the limit to all the ways to promote it, and it’s up to each seller to get their name out there!

“Spread the word yourself, because that brings the best results…ultimately we have to create our own buzz,” Cindy said. “People won’t know about the CIJ online sale unless they know it exists, so shout the word!”

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Written by columnist Linda aka LindaGJ
Photo courtesy of Texas Eagle

I’m sure most of you remember making sand castles at the beach when you were young. I sure do, yet my favorite was dripping the wet sand over and over again until it made a huge lumpy mound.

A couple of weeks ago, a couple of friends and I drove to Galveston,TX to see a sand castle contest event taking place. With the crowd, and the long line to the shuttle buses, I admit, I did not see these sand castles, until the very end of the day, but it was well worth the effort. I was able to capture some delightful photos to share with yall!

“You really don’t know what the teams are going to do. I kinda have an inside track because I get to see the spreadsheet of all the categories the the teams are signing in at – most hilarious, most lifelike, or something like that – but when you go out there and see what they’ve sculpted out on the beach, it’s amazing how tall they can sculpt the sand” Rudy Del Bosque (Sand Castle Committee Chairman)

For over 20 years in the first part of June, Houston area architects, designers, engineers, and contractors take their tools to the East Beach in Galveston for what is considered one of the world’s largest sandcastle competitions. AIA is the American Institute of Architects who sponsor this annual contest where 60 teams, along with their shovels, buckets, and a beach load of sand and water, aim to win the prestigious “Golden Bucket” award! There is even a kid zone where children can try their hand at building their very own sand castle.

In this 24th contest, teams begin months in advance generating ideas, developing designs, and assigning duties. On the very date of the event, the teams stretch along the beach sculpting their sand piles and working non stop for ONLY 5 hours!

The judging of the sand castles is rated on originality of concept, artistic execution of the concept, technical difficulty, carving technique, and utilization of the site. In addition to the Golden Bucket award, awards are also given 8 different themed categories, as well as for the best team T-shirt design, best signage, best costume, and public favorite, but I was strictly looking for a good aim for a photo of a castle and rushed through the less than 60 sand castles.

In addition to fun in the sun, the competition also has a “green” side to it, requiring teams to recycle plastic and aluminum at their sites at the end of the of the event, and also they were not allowed to use generators to pump water to the sand castle construction site. Instead, the rules encourage teams to be creative and find alternate methods of carrying water between the surf and their sites, including-but not limited to-wind power, solar power, the tides and good old fashioned human power.

In the slideshow, you are about to see some of the sand castles. Of course I’ve seen more amazing ones, but I think these amateurs did fairly well, in only 5 hours and all of them are at least a lot of fun to look at!

Enjoy!!! And remember creativity comes in all forms, sometimes for sale, sometimes not. If you do sell your work don’t forget to prepare your shop when you go on vacation. Helpful hints may be found here.

Edited by Barbra aka: All About The Buttons

By Contributing Columnist Lauren aka Jewels Of Saraswati

Just the other day I was meeting with a good friend and got inspired by an enthusiastic discussion of music….various genres, styles, bands, personas, fashion. Being a professional musician myself (and an Etsian!) things can often get way too focused on business and less focused on fun! So I decided to compile an eclectic collection of some of my favorite musical related items.
Ahhh.. the joy of scoping Etsy for some of the hottest finds!

So hard to resist was this Ukulele by Celentano Woodworks, also a recent featured seller on Etsy.

If you want to see this baby in action, you can find a great video here!

Let’s get graphic…..this Headphones Tee by Critters Jitters will do the trick!

And if you are geared more toward the classical end, try this eco-fabulous
Piano Black Keychain made from a recycled vintage piano by The AntFarm.

These days it seems like the Twitter bird is everywhere….but this bird has a swagger way cooler and it is nursery art! Check out this limited edition print of this Bird Spinning Vinyl II by Barking Bird Art.

Music should always be played from the heart. Now this personalized Hand Stamped Guitar Pick by Gracen’s Designs let’s you do just that……

And if you are lucky enough to have a space just for your music, these casette decals by Beepart are perfect!

Can’t figure out what to do with all those old compositions? Little White Dog came up with a great way to recycle unused music and be fabulously decorative!

So rock on my friends!!!!

Slide show photo courtesy of GalleriaLindaLoft
Edited by Barbra aka All About The Buttons

Photo courtesy of The Daily Foto
Columnist Michelle aka Little Toad

Art Tales: Mary has always been enamored with plushies and stuffed animals and after being given bags of scrap fabric from her Mom, she quickly came up with the idea of making creatures. She is also lucky that this is not only her passion but her full time job “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I love that I can schedule my own time and that I can create things at my own pace.” She gets her unique fabric from a variety of places. “My Mom collected fabric for years, in hopes of future projects. During a craft room clean out, I became the new owner. My favorite way to purchase fabric is at thrift shops. Golf pants and old suits are the best plush material. Now that it is getting warmer, I can’t wait for the yard sales to start popping up.” Mary promotes her Etsy shop mostly with giveaways.“I think shops that are generous with what they create are remembered better than those that just sell.”
{ Q&A }
Have you ever created a plush that you got attached to and it was really hard to sell or you ended up not selling it? Almost all of them! I actually take several out of my shop each month because I just can’t part with them. We decided to buy a whole new bookcase just for the plush that we keep
What is your guiltiest pleasure? Definitely cream cheese! I love it on bagels and made into dip.
What can you not go a single day without? The internet, I constantly check my e-mail and Etsy.
What is your favorite place in the whole world? My favorite place I’ve been to is Texas. My favorite place I haven’t been to is New Zealand. Two different extreme climates but both beautiful in their own way.
If your creations came alive what would you do? Ask them if they want 2 eyes? I would probably be more worried if my Tribal’s came alive, they are equipped with weapons.

simplyhibiscus: Thea kind of just stumbled on the idea for her shop and creations. “I picked up a book one day about making plushies and it intrigued me plus it was only $5. So after looking through that and finally having a place to set up my new sewing machine I went to work.” She uses mainly fleece to create her items and a little bit of felt for some of the details. Thea has just finished up a custom order and now is working on a line of animal tots and continues to promote her shop through friends, Facebook, Twitter, Etsy chat rooms, threadbanger, and flickr.
{ Q&A }
Have you ever created a plush that you got attached to and it was really hard to sell or you ended up not selling it? Yes, the last custom order I did, I had a really hard time sending it out. It was so cute and I’m totally making one for myself.
What is your guiltiest pleasure? Ha-ha, browsing online for things I wish I could buy.
What can you not go a single day without? A lot of things, a little down time with my game cube, a piece of crystallized ginger, and a kiss from my wonderful boyfriend.
What is your favorite place in the whole world? My godfather’s house in Fairfax, Santa Monica on a sunny beautiful day, and San Francisco.
If your creations came alive what would you do? PARRRTTAAAYYYY!!

Cutesy but not Cutesy: Diane started out making traditional hand-stitched ornaments for the holidays and donating the proceeds to local charities. She got such a great response that she decided to go larger and get much more creative with them. “I’ve always loved monsters and misfit toys so the ideas just came naturally for me.” She is lucky enough that this is her full time job. “Being a full time monster maker is like having 5 jobs all rolled into one. I have to be the designer, the creator, the marketer, the customer service rep, quality control, etc, etc. I work A LOT but it’s more than worth it to be doing what I love.” Diane uses a variety of faux fur, polyester fiberfill, felt made from 100% recycled post consumer plastic bottles and a needle and thread for her creations. Diane promotes her business by using social networking sites like Facebook, twitter, blog, etc. “I also always carry around business cards and you’d be surprised at how many I hand out at the strangest moments. Meeting new people online and at shows has also helped with promoting the shop, networking with other artists is always really wonderful.”
{ Q&A }
Have you ever created a plush that you got attached to and it was really hard to sell or you ended up not selling it? Part of the fun of creating my plush is knowing that they are going to new homes and meeting new people in places that I may have never been. I like the idea of sending them out on little adventures of their own to experience people and things that I can’t necessarily do on my own. Plus it makes it fun to reminisce about where any number of my monsters might be on any given day, like a little piece of me and my creativity exists in hundreds of homes all over the world!
What is your guiltiest pleasure? I watch the Gilmore Girls religiously.
What can you not go a single day without? I usually can’t go a single day without thinking about monsters, of course. I also usually have some form of chocolate at least once a day. Both are good for the soul.
What is your favorite place in the whole world? I’ve traveled a lot and been a lot of places but nothing ever makes me feel quite at home as when I’m in the mountains somewhere.
If your creations came alive what would you do?
If they were to actually come to life, I’d probably be shocked briefly, laugh, and then do some kind of dance of joy. After that, I’d call a select few people to let them join in my rejoicing and then I’d probably just go about my day as normal.
Slide photo courtesy of Freckles Fairy Tales
Editor: Barbra aka All About The Buttons

By contributing columnist Donna Knox of GlassandWireGems

Amber and her studio, Collar Up Pup, are fairly new to ArtFire. Amber has a heart for animals. She is a 32 year old native Californian who is proudly owned by three wonderful dogs and two cats (Brandy, Zeppelin, Samson, Doc and Callie). You can see their pictures in her ArtFire Bio. She started making collars because she loves crafting and wanted to be able to make something fun and personal for her dogs. When you enter her studio and see her work, you can feel the love she has for her pet family

I asked Amber the following questions to get to know a bit more about her and her studio.

How did you come up with your shop’s name? I thought about quite a few different names and “Collar Up Pup” was cute and hadn’t been used by anyone before. I also thought it was something fun that would be easy to remember.

Why are you selling on ArtFire? What makes it a special place for you? A good friend of my sister is a seller on ArtFire She turned me on to it. I love that for a Pro account it’s a set monthly rate.

What do you like most about your handcrafted items? The best thing about them is getting to see them on my customer’s dogs! They send me pictures and I love it.

Do you have a favorite item? I don’t really have a single favorite item. They are all so different. I get excited about each of them as I make them.

How do you create your items? Explain a little bit your creative process. Well it all starts with shopping! I’ll find a ribbon or embellishment that speaks to me. Then I’ll come up with a plan, you know, what color would compliment this, what style I should do, what size, what kind of hardware.

Do you have a favorite material that you like to use? What is it about this material that makes it your favorite? For my collars it the ribbon that is my favorite thing but I love fabric. I’ve made a couple of quilts and that’s a big hobby of mine.

When someone looks at what you’ve created, what would you like to hear them say? How well made my collars are and how much they fit their dog’s style and personality.

In a similar vein, if someone came into your shop (pretending it’s a bricks and mortar business), how would you like them to react? I would want them to be excited to try different colors and patterns on their dogs.

What do you do for your on-line shop to get that type of reaction? Talking to the customers! My descriptions let them know that if they want any single part slightly altered, I can do that. Letting them know I will custom fit the collar to their dog helps too. That way they aren’t as worried about trying out a new style of collar.

If there was one thing that you could hope for, for you personally and then for your business, what would it be? More time in the day so that I had more time to create new designs.

Is there anything special that you’d like to let people know about you or your business? Oh yes! My best friend makes dog tags and I just talked her into starting an ArtFire shop. She has done well on Etsy. She has made tags to match my collars and we are offering discounts to customers that want a set, a collar from me and tags from her. Here is her shop: http://www.artfire.com/users/metamorphdesigns.

Take a look at a sampling of “Collar up your Pup’s” work!

Amber also mentioned that she is a huge fan of the animal rescue site: “I click to give food to shelter animals everyday and you can too” found at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=3.It doesn’t cost anything, just click to donate!

She proudly offers discounts for CGC certified, SAR, K-9, and Service Dogs. Contact her studio for details.

To see Amber’s studio go to http://www.Collar_Up_Pup.artfire.com.

You can also become a fan of Collar Up Pup on Facebook

By Contributing Columnist Nina of Mamaslittletreasures

So remember, If you would like to receive these two appliqué designs FREE, just leave me a comment and I will send you the PDF files that you can download and print off to use on your next creative sewing project.

Picture image courtesy of
Thomas Flynn, Photographer

H A P P Y G I V E A W A Y S

By Susan Rosen, Publisher

Funny, that when you are involved in online selling these days, you find that Contests or Giveaways are the hottest thing going! While thinking of ways to get your name out, you must provide your prospective customers a sure fire way to visit your shop. Most of the giveaways that I’ve been involved in and have entered usually ask you to visit their shop and then leave a comment on their blog with your favorite item. This is when the customer starts to dream about owning one of your items!

So what happens next? You’ve now devolped a repore with the customers that have visited your shop, they have have left a heart or two and you never know….they may have found an item to purchase. If anything the shop holder now has some added views.

You may also find that the contest holder will provide more entries to their customers by asking them to Twitter about their giveaway, post in in Facebook and even do a post on their blog. Some of these postings can result in 5 or mor extra entries! Plus it now gives you as the contest holder more visibilty!

Since giveaways have been growing within the Indie community, Indiesmiles has just started their new section “Happy Giveaways” it’s a place for all of us to find the recent giveaways that are out there! So, when you stop by to read an article or to peruse the advertisers…you can also check out the “Happy Giveaways”. And most certainly if you have a giveaway that is going on in your online shop just purchase a listing for $1.00. We enjoy providing advertising for $1.00, after all the online craft business has taken a beating with a slow economy; so we at Indiesmiles want to make it easy on you and your budget!

Lets take a look at some current contests!

What a clever method to present a contest! Pinareis is amazing. You have got to, got to check out her video contest! It is AWESOME, along with her prizes! She is giving out 4 different designs to 4 different winners! So take a minute or two, watch her video and join in her fantastic contest…and the chance to win one of her fabulous prizes. I adore the scarves, they are incredible!

I spoke to the gal who runs Pinareis by email, she was so sweet and so appreciative of the “Happy Giveaways” listings!

Another fun contest is Adelle’s Resin Bangles! Her blog is so colorful and so are her Bangles, infact to win one of her bright and fun bangles you need to let Adelle know which color is your fav. Join in the fun here!

In the happy world of giveaways, you will also find that bloggers enjoy hosting giveaways for other artists! So is the case for Amazing Mae as she hosts the giveaways for “Grace Hester’s” Family prints. Now this also an awesome giveaway!

There are several other current “Happy Giveaways” and I do wish I could mention them all, but the fun is in the winning…so off I go to Twitter about one, Facebook post about another and don’t forget…comment…comment…comment!

Stop back often to see the new giveaways, there are always contests being posted in Indiesmiles…so don’t miss out!
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