California Crafters Club of Etsy

Summer of Independence Challenge Winners!

2009-07-12T07:28:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our "Summer of Independence" challenge winners!

First Place TIE:
Fireworks in the Night Sky by Tresijas

Soldier/Officer Silhouette Fused Glass Hanging Tile by Navarro Creations

Second Place:
Patriotic Owl Ipod Touch Case by EvelynX

Third Place TIE:
Sunny Skies Ahead Necklace by Sora Designs

Old Fashioned Fourth of July Hoot Owl by buttercupbloom

July Member Announcements

2009-07-11T07:59:00.000-07:00

Raven Hanna, aka molecularmuse, will be selling her molecule jewelry at the Crucible's Fire Arts Festival in Oakland on Friday July 17. For more information: click here

peacefu1 and ShiningLightJewelry are participating in the Folsom Thursday Night Market in Folsom, CA. The market is in old town Folsom on Sutter Street. Look for them in the center of the street between Decatur and Wool St. June 18th, June 25th, July 9th, July 16th, July 30th, and August 13th.

CCCOE member floresflorestanis is helping to put together the Red Rabbit Arts & Crafts Market which will be held Sunday July 19th at the Los Angeles Arboretum. This show will feature all handmade items by artists, craftspeople, crafters and designers. Visit redrabbitworkshop.comfor more info.

TheChainmailleLady will be at PASADENA BEAD & DESIGN SHOW
July 30th - August 2nd
The Pasadena Hilton
168 S. Los Robles Ave.
Pasadena California
In addition to selling her work she will also be teaching classes in chainmaille. Please visit the website for more information.

CCCOE member corriesullivanshares with us: "'m excited to let you know about the first embroidery classes I will be teaching on August 8th and August 15th. These classes are open to everyone from all skill levels and will be fun and interactive. I have a degree in textile design and embroidery and look forward to sharing with you my love and passion for textile design." See her flyer below for details.

CCCOE members who would like their events listed in next month's member announcements please convo your information to shellmitchell.

Family Celebrations

2009-06-27T06:36:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our May "Family Celebrations" challenge winners!

1st place: Wedding Vase by Maidofclay

2nd place: Neptunes Bridal Cuff by nansglam

3rd place (tie): The SLAVKO Permanent Peace Crane by localcolorist

3rd place (tie): Get Organized Daddy-o by Tresijas

There is still time to get your entry for the June "Summer of Independence" challenge. Post your entry here by midnight June 30th. Good luck!

June Member Announcements

2009-06-18T05:47:00.000-07:00

peacefu1 and ShiningLightJewelry are participating in the Folsom Thursday Night Market in Folsom, CA. The market is in old town Folsom on Sutter Street. Look for them in the center of the street between Decatur and Wool St. June 18th, June 25th, July 9th, July 16th, July 30th, and August 13th.

TheChainmailleLady will be at two shows July and August:

INT'L GEM & JEWELRY SHOW
July 3, 4, 5, 2009
Pasadena Convention Center (Main Building)
300 East Green Street
Pasadena, California
Visit the website for more information.

PASADENA BEAD & DESIGN SHOW
July 30th - August 2nd
The Pasadena Hilton
168 S. Los Robles Ave.
Pasadena California
In addition to selling her work she will also be teaching classes in chainmaille. Please visit the website for more information.

ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

Ocean Avenue Silks has created an exclusive line of scarves for the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art. For the duration of the exhibit they are available only at the museum and their online gift shop. The exhibit is called Illuminations and runs through September 6th. Information on the exhibit can be found on the museum's website.

CCCOE member corriesullivanshares with us: "'m excited to let you know about the first embroidery classes I will be teaching on August 8th and August 15th. These classes are open to everyone from all skill levels and will be fun and interactive. I have a degree in textile design and embroidery and look forward to sharing with you my love and passion for textile design." See her flyer below for details.

CCCOE member floresflorestanis is helping to put together the Red Rabbit Arts & Crafts Market which will be held Sunday July 19th at the Los Angeles Arboretum. This show will feature all handmade items by artists, craftspeople, crafters and designers. Visit redrabbitworkshop.comfor more info.

CCCOE members who would like their events listed in next month's member announcements please convo your information to shellmitchell.

San Francisco Meeting with Etsy's Maria (by Savor)

2009-06-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Savor graciously allowed CCCOE to post her notes from the June 9 meeting with Etsy's CEO:

Thanks to a heads-up from Brenda at Phydeaux Designs we got news of an Etsy meetup June 9 in San Francisco! I left work an hour early and Mike and I headed over to a very cool cafe (Crossroads) next to the Embarcadero — it had a nice open space, perfect for the large gathering. It had a great coffee and artisan tea menu, lot of food goodies, and Etsy graciously picked up the tab. There wasn’t a lot of other traffic, so we were not interrupted and everything ran quite smoothly.

The meeting was very organized, but not stiff or stifling. Each speaker introduced themselves first — I know Maria (CEO), Chad (CTO), Carrington (Finance Guy) and Sara (VP of Products) were there, and Jesse, the business development lead*. It was a fairly large group so I didn’t always catch everything that was said. We also heard briefly from CB, the “database guy” who actually lives here in Marin.

Everyone did a lovely job, Maria really shone. She’s got a natural talent for running meetings, that’s for sure! She made a point to talk about not only handmade, but hand-selected — including the suppliers and vintage sellers in her discussions.

She said (I’m paraphrasing) that Etsy is definitely a global business, with 159 countries represented. A quarter of the business generated with at least one non-US party — and I have found that statistic matches my own store, of having approximately 25% of my sales to non-US customers.

At the top of their priority list is the buyer’s experience. We all know we want certain seller tools, and Ian at Etsy Hacks has sure done a fantastic job of picking up where Etsy’s lagging. But Maria stressed that we need to have the buyer experience as fluid as possible before we get our fun toys. I can agree with that (but I will not give up my hacks!!).

Related to this is continual work on the search results, and for optimizing Etsy itself for searches off of Etsy (namely, Google). Along those lines are features like “related searches” and spellcheck, which I think are fantastic. I often tag with mispellings to try to catch some of those searches.

She’d like to have us able to organize our favorites into lists, and refine checkout so that newly signed up buyers don’t have to stop and confirm their email during the purchase process (they would confirm it later I think).

Chad focused on how the tech side is going — he stressed that (and so did Carrington) people are working hard behind the scenes during down time to really improve the stability of the site and improve the structure so that we can have all these fun tools in the future. The new “re-arrange your shop” tool that is in Beta is part of this. He said that there has been a 200-800% increase in the site’s stability, even as traffic has nearly doubled, in the last 9 months or so. He said they are also writing the software that helps them write future software for the site.

Maria talked then about advertising Etsy as a whole. They have no desire for TV ads (too expensive is what that boils down to), so they’re focusing on what I’d call more passive things like search engine optimization (SEO). They do sponsor on NPR (you get a little fifteen-second segment when you do that) and she talked about the recent Good Morning America feature on Etsy and selected sellers. She is fond of email marketing tools such as Etsy Finds, social media (Facebook applications, handmade videos, etc). During questions, I asked if we could integrate our shop newsletters with our Etsy site to make it easier for people to sign up and for us to send them, and that idea seemed well received. The provider for their mailing lists might be able to offer something similar to store owners — but not in 2009, although hopefully in less than a year*.

They moved on to Paypal, and Carrington and CB both said that currently Paypal is simply the best solution — however, we’ll need an in-house payment system for things like site-wide gift cards. They tossed around an idea of having a pre-paid Etsy debit card (like a Starbucks card) but I think most sellers are underwhelemed with that idea (I definitely am not fond of it).

I don’t sign up for Etsy emails, but a couple people talked about that, with Maria and Sara. Some people don’t get the emails, so they’re going to chat with Chad to see if that’s a technical issue or what.

All the needed seller tools, like batch listing, scheduled listings, auto-relist, etc., are things that are in the works but need the stable background that they are building now.

There were a couple questions about wholesale and how to do that on Etsy (which I think is sort of dumb, I don’t want Etsy to have a cut of my wholesale, that changes my pricing structure!). But I DO want a fixed catalog of all my items so that shoppers and retailers can see my product lines even when something is not in stock. I want to be able to organize by scent, or product type, or whatever, so that people can see the full range of what I do. Searching through my sold items is not practical! Maybe have a password-protected area for retailers to visit to “shop” wholesale.

Someone brought up that it’s often difficult for buyers to know they are in one store, and to return to that store’s main page if they’re on an item listing (I say, keep the shop banner on all pages and have it clickable!). I think it was Jill from Scabby Robot. I definitely liked that idea, and Maria said the item pages do need a makeover.

Chad then took up the Etsy outside development issues — and stressed that they are welcoming third-party devs with open arms. There are two iPhone apps now, and of course Etsy Hacks and some others out there.

The issue of flagging was brought up, including that horrible item that was up the other day (not gonna rehash that one). Anyway — in a nutshell, they do their best. While they didn’t say this, I just think it’s a lack of staff for all the flagged items. Maria said instead of focusing on the after effects, they want to look at more ways of preventing resellers/forbidden stuff. Make it maybe a little more tedious to sign up? She said it was something that she personally has a renewed attention on at this time.

They briefly touched on some other areas, such as site personalization — ie, if you only buy jewelry on Etsy, to sort of “block” the rest of the site if you wanted to customize your experience on the site. CB asked if people would use some kind of Etsy-hosted accounting interface, and I asked if it would be possible to integrate an inventory feature (the answer was, sounds good, maybe in a year).

It was a (long) and great meeting. I got to meet a bunch of great sellers too

If you’ve made it this far (long post, sorry!) I’d love to hear from you especially if you’d like to talk about your experience as a buyer, and how this might be improved!

*made some edits, thanks, Maria! Clarified the last speaker’s name and the newsletter “hopeful” timeline

Allie from AlliesAdornments also posted notes in this forum thread.

CCCOE Members at the Bazaar Bizarre Maker Fair

2009-05-22T10:11:00.000-07:00

Join AlliesAdornments, mscraftypants, 2dy4, Petals, Pineblossom, ohmay, and buttercupbloom (fellow CCCOE members) at the 4th Annual Maker Faire Bay Area: Re-Make America.

Date: Saturday May 30 (10 a.m. - 8 p.m.) and Sunday May 31 (10 a.m. - 6 p.m.)

Place: San Mateo County Expo Center, Cypress Hall

Following on President Obama's call to "begin again the work of remaking America", Maker Faire 2009 will be organized around the theme of Re-Make America. Held in the San Francisco Bay Area on May 30-31, Maker Faire celebrates what President Obama called "the risk takers, the doers, and the makers of things." The fourth annual Maker Faire will showcase individual creativity and grassroots innovation in the largest festival devoted to DIY culture and technology in the country. Bazaar Bizarre Maker Faire 2009 will feature over 90 indie crafters and designers from across the country. Approximately half of our vendors are new and emerging talent in the indie craft community. Expect to find a smorgasbord of handmade items, many cleverly made with recycled materials. Something for everyone-jewelry, toys, lotions, art, glass, fiber arts, ceramics, handbags, baby items, even crafting supplies.Check out our talented vendors at the Bazaar Bizarre Gallery. Learn more about the Artists and Crafters on the Baz Biz Blog Vendor Interviews

For ticket information and details about Maker Faire visit the Maker Faire FAQ page.

Make your own mailers from recycled materials

2009-05-17T08:27:00.000-07:00

Hello all! In this section I will be showing you how I turn my cereal boxes into mailing envelopes. Since joining etsy, I've learned a lot about reusing, recycling, and saving money. We all want to save more money in the present time and here is a great way to do so! By reusing cereal boxes I have not purchased a mailing envelope in a very long time! Be sure to view the slide show below and get started in reusing your cereal boxes!

Thank you for viewing the slide show! Remember that you can reuse cereal boxes, brown paper bags, which I will make a slide show for in the near future, Large heavyweight paper and also envelopes that you receive from your etsy purchases!

This tutorial is courtesy of Ren from Raghouse International.

Red Rabbit Arts & Crafts Market Vendor Opportunity

2009-05-16T09:49:00.000-07:00

CCCOE member floresflorestanis is helping to put together the Red Rabbit Arts & Crafts Market which will be held Sunday July 19th at the Los Angeles Arboretum. This show will feature all handmade items by artists, craftspeople, crafters and designers and we've still got tables available for anyone interested in participating. Here's our website for more info and applications: redrabbitworkshop.com

May Member Announcements

2009-05-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Check out what's happening with CCCOE members!

LuckyZelda will be at:
PATCHWORK INDIE ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL
Sunday May 17th 11am-5pm
2202 N. Main St
Sana Ana 92706

Visit the Patchwork Show Website for more info.

TheChainmailleLady will be at two shows July and August:

INT'L GEM & JEWELRY SHOW
July 3, 4, 5, 2009
Pasadena Convention Center (Main Building)
300 East Green Street
Pasadena, California
Visit the website for more information.
If you are interested in free tickets to this show e-mail your name and address to QJDesigns [!at] yahoo.com

PASADENA BEAD & DESIGN SHOW
July 30th - August 2nd
The Pasadena Hilton
168 S. Los Robles Ave.
Pasadena California
In addition to selling her work she will also be teaching classes in chainmaille. Please visit the website for more information.

ORANGE COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART

Ocean Avenue Silks has created an exclusive line of scarves for the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit at the Orange County Museum of Art. For the duration of the exhibit they are available only at the museum and their online gift shop. The exhibit is called Illuminations and runs through September 6th. Information on the exhibit can be found on the museum's website.

CCCOE MEMBER SALES

BKD Signature Boutique is offering free shipping through May 10th in celebration of Mother's Day!

CCCOE Team member announcements are being made here monthly. To have your show, sale or even posted in June's announcements please convo your information to shellmitchell.

Summer Gift Guide Announcement

2009-05-05T05:38:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Handmade In California Summer Gift Guide is here! There are a number of exciting changes from the Holiday Guide so please read carefully.
·The Summer Gift Guide is optional and all California based Etsy sellers are invited to participate.
·The cost for each shop to participate in the California Summer Gift Guide is $10.00, which includes 6 images per shop, listed under 3 different and appropriate categories of your choice. If you have more than one shop, each shop must pay $10.00 to be included. If you have more than one shop, sharing items between your shops is not allowed. (For example if you have Shops A and B, you cannot combine items from Shops A and B and pay only $10.00.)
·To reserve your space, go to http://www.handmadeincalifornia.net/guide-reservation.html
·Follow the reservation instructions
·Once you reserve your space and categories, you will receive an invoice to pay for your listing within 48 hours.
·All spaces are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Upon making your reservation you will be guaranteed your first category choice.

·No shops will be added after May 15, 2009
·Each category will be limited to 20 shops. The categories are as follows:
Adornments
Art Aficionados
Décor
Eco Friendly
Fashion Forward
Etc.

Gifts by Price Range
(choose a sub-category):
Under $25
Under $50
Under $75
Luxe – items $100 and over

For Her
Fun in the Sun (I like this-summer related items)
Mining for Gold in California (Vintage items)
Tot to Teen

Jewelry
(choose a sub-category):
Necklaces
Bracelets
Earrings
Rings & Things

Paperie
Spa
Special Occasion
Father’s Day
Summer Holidays
Indulgences

·The front page of the gift guide will rotate and each member should be on the front page 1-2 times between launching and August 31, 2009 depending on the number of participants. These will also update automatically from Etsy. Each store is marked as a favorite when they sign-up to be certain that the items rotate often.
·A press release will be sent to several newspapers, tv and radio stations and stylists throughout the state. If you would like your bio sent with the press release, please forward to anniek at anniekclothing [!at] gmail.com. Some newspapers thought the press release was not relevant to their readers without having a shop in their area.
·Money collected from guide listings and advertisements will go towards promoting the Summer Gift Guide via web ads. i.e. project wonderful, blogs and other places that the PR Committee determines to best suit the advertising needs of the Gift Guide. Suggestions are also welcome. During the Spring Gift Guide, ads were run on thru Google, Project Wonderful and various blogs/websites.
·The guide received 5000 hits from January-April and we expect traffic to grow with each edition.
·Other expenses such as payment of the graphics and other items will also be used from the fees.
·Advertising will be accepted for the front page and each category. Ads will be 125 x 125 pixels. Front page ads cost $ 25 each and category ads cost $15 each. Ads will run May 15 through August 31, 2009
·The Gift Guide will accept advertising from all California-based Etsy sellers regardless of participating in the Gift guide. The PR Committee reserves the right to refuse any and all ads.

NEW CHANGES

For the Summer Gift Guide vintage items will be included in the Gold Digging in California.

The first 30 participants to reserve space on the guide will be featured on the front page under the new "SpotLight" section. Shop Spotlights will run for 3 days. Members who reserve their space after the first 30, will be featured on Spotlight sections under appropriate category pages.

The "Chatterbox" is a new section where buyers can find sales, promotions and the latest news. Guide participants may email their news and shop updates to: info [!at] handmadeincalifornia.net

During our Spring edition over 250 new members signed up for email updates and of course, a chance at the giveaway.

Please review the guidelines carefully and feel free to contact AnnieK at anniekclothing [!at] gmail.com should you have any questions.

April Challenge Voting Going On Now!

2009-05-02T08:04:00.000-07:00

The April challenge voting thread is up in the forums. Stop by, cast your vote and support your team! Voting ends Thursday, May 7th at midnight. We had 37 fabulous entries - check them out here. Thanks to everyone who participated in the April challenge!

Don't forget to Vote and Start Working...

2009-04-05T20:21:00.001-07:00

The March Challenge Voting Thread is up in the forums, but you only have till the end of Tuesday to cast your vote. There are lots of great entries this month.

You can see all the entries together in the CCCOEteam Favorites section.

The April Challenge Thread is up too.
It's time to begin working on your entry for the April challenge -- "Mothers Day".

Items
will need to be tagged 'CCCOE' and 'aprilchallenge' (one word) so that
we can find them and add them to the buyer account favorites and voting
thread. Deadline for entry is midnight (Pacific time) April 30. Voting
will take place the first week of May.

Renegade Craft Fair

2009-03-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Call for Applications in LA and San Francisco.

Deadline is May 1st.

Go to the site for more info and the application.

CCCOE Member Studio Tour: Featured Artist: Pacific Paradise Soap Company

2009-02-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

Dead Sea Bath Salt Soak Scrub

Custom Order

Tell us a little about yourself and how it all began.

I have been a very creative person my entire life. For fun, I took a soap making class with 2 Chemist friends from a lady on a farm out in the country more than a decade ago. The 3 of us would get together and make soap for Christmas presents over the years. Last year, after 23 years as a Senior Scientist, I experienced a Company wide lay off. A few friends & relatives suggested I should start a Soap Company. I thought working from home would give me more flexibility with my hours & allow our Son to not be in daycare. I’ve always been organized & really motivated to excel at whatever I do. I surely do not miss the hour and a half daily commute! Working from home is really a lifestyle. I really love what I do & it’s a good thing because I’m almost always working. That’s how Pacific Paradise Soap Company was born.Soap Rack and Soapmaker

Where do you work? Show us your space please!
Anita labeling her soap

While vacationing last summer my Brother-in-law asked me “Where in the house do you make your soap?” and my Husband quickly interjected “Everywhere!”. I was shocked! But after I thought about it for a bit I realized he was right. Soap has taken over the house; the office, the spare bedroom, the hallway, the garage, the laundry room, the kitchen…one entire room in the house is filled with drying racks, flowers, lavender my Mom has grown, colored paper, boxes, ribbons, bags, salts, and soaps. I label soaps on the counter in the hallway where you are suppose to fold laundry. When I’m making a batch of soap I take over the kitchen, the laundry room & the garage. My husband can no longer park his truck in our 3 car garage because of the racks of soap. I also keep butters, oils, shipping supplies, molds, essential oils, fragrance oils, wooden bowls, gift crates, colorants, the gazebo & tables for craft fairs & farmers markets. The laundry room also has shelves of fancy molded soaps.
12 soap bar cutter

What is your favorite tool?
My favorite tool is the log cutter my Dad & I made. He assembled a 3 sided square with smooth wood & drilled 2 holes that I put a guitar string through. This tool makes the first cut that reveals the beautiful end result of my labor of love. I also really like my 12 bar cutter & my edging tool.

What time of the day are you the most productive/inspired?
I am most productive while my Son is in school for obvious reasons.3 Bar Soap Sets

What inspires you?
I wake up inspired with so many new ideas pouring out that I now keep paper & pen on my headboard. I am always thinking of new products to add to my store. I am inspired by Mother Nature. Sometimes I am inspired by customers needs or something said in conversation.

How do you promote yourself and your shop?
I promote myself, my shop & my team by communicating in the forums on etsy, Flickr, Team Blogs & at Craft Fairs.
How long have you been on Etsy?
I have been selling on etsy since October 2008.

What else do you enjoy doing other than creating?
I also enjoy gardening, doing yoga, making cards, aqua aerobics & going to the beach.

What would you like to see happen/change with CCCOE?
I would like to see more people buying from CCCOE.

What is your favorite thing about CCCOE?
My favorite thing about CCCOE is all the support & camaraderie. I also love the monthly challenges.

What is your favorite food?
My favorite food is chocolate J I also really enjoy ethnic foods like Thai, Vietnamese, Mexican & Italian.

Favorite book or movie?
My favorite book is The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Ann Worwood. My favorite movies are The Thomas Crown Affair & National Treasure.

One thing you absolutely cannot live without?
I absolutely cannot live without happiness

Lastly what piece that you have created is your favorite and why?
My favorite piece is a Fancy molded soap that says “Love” in a wooden dish. My Dad turns wooden bowls & platters on a lathe & I use them for my fancy molded soaps. I think Love says it all.

Thanks so much to Anita of Pacific Paradise Soap for sharing her space and her work with us! Be sure to stop by her shop to treat yourself.

Exhibition: "Among Friends" (Ventura, CA)

2009-02-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

Red Brick Gallery just opened their newest show! Come out on Saturday Feb. 7th from 6-9pm to meet the Artists and see them create.

"Among Friends"
January 26th - March 1st 2009

Red Brick Gallery
328 E. Main St. (at Palm), downtown Ventura
805.643.6400
http://www.redbrickart.com

Hours:

Monday 11 - 6pm

CLOSED Tuesdays

Wednesday & Thursday 11 - 6pm

Friday & Saturday 11 - 8pm

Sunday 11 - 6pm

Call for Artists: Lark Books - Mixed Metal Jewelry

2009-01-26T20:03:00.001-08:00

Mixed Metal Jewelry
Author: Mary Hettmansperger
Editor: Marthe Le Van
Entry deadline: March 16, 2009

http://www.larkbooks.com/submissions/artist-submissions

Author Mary Hettmansperger’s newest book, Mixed Metal Jewelry, will be interspersed with beautiful gallery images, and we hope you’ll submit images of your jewelry for consideration! We’re looking for pieces that mix metals—silver, gold, copper, iron, bronze, aluminum, etc.—in interesting and creative ways. Combinations of all forms of metal, such as sheet, wire, clay, and recycled materials, are welcome, as are all techniques. Your work will serve as an example and as inspiration for readers. Mixed Metal Jewelry is due for release in April 2010. Submission to the book is free. Download entry form here.

CCCOE Member Studio Tour: Featured Artist: HideABook

2009-01-20T18:25:00.001-08:00

Japanese Plum Blossom Book Cover
Tell us a little about yourself and how it all began.
My name is Shanna Vaughn and my shop is HideABook (http://hideabook.etsy.com). I make vinyl book covers with attached ribbon bookmarks to hide and protect paperback books. I love to read romance novels but I find many of the covers to be goofy or embarrassing. I also like
to take a book with me pretty much everywhere I go so that I can have
something to read while waiting in line at the Post Office,
doctor's office, etc. I wanted something pretty to cover up my books
and to keep them nice while bumping around in my giant purse. I
couldn't find anything stylish out there so I decided to make my own
covers. Other friends who are readers loved my idea so I figured that
random strangers might too. I've been a shopper on Etsy for a few years
and I knew that it would be the perfect place to set up my online store.

Where do you work? Show us your space please!

I share an office in my apartment with my husband who is an IT
professional. I'm working on annexing his space :) My dream (and goal)
is to eventually have a nice big work space where I can have some elbow room and plenty of space to lay my delicate papers flat.

What is your favorite tool?
My favorite tool would have to be my super sharp guillotine I use for paper cutting.

What time of the day are you the most productive/inspired?
Definitely evening, my brain doesn't start cranking until at least noon.

What inspires you?
I get inspired by gorgeous handmade papers. The Paper Source store is my favorite place; I could spend hours browsing their amazing Japanese and Indian papers.

How do you promote yourself and your shop?
I have two book blogs that I use to run promotions and ads for
Hide-a-Book and I stay involved with communities of romance readers
online. They're my peeps but also my customers.

How long have you been on Etsy?
Since May of 2008

What else do you enjoy doing other than creating?
Whenever I get some free time I love to read. Just give me a comfy chair and I
can lose myself for hours in the fantasy world of a book.

What would you like to see happen/change with CCCOE?
I recently got to meet some other OC/LA area Etsy sellers which was
really cool. I would love to regularly get together with people who
share the same goals, joys and frustrations that I do. I'd like to get
advice from sellers who have been doing this for a while and have
wisdom to share.

What is your favorite thing about CCCOE?
Everyone is really friendly and helpful. I couldn't have asked for a better group to join.

What is your favorite food?
Mexican food for sure. I could eat it every single day.

Favorite book or movie?
I think my favorite book would change depending on what day you ask me, but right now I'd have to say Outlander by Diana Gabaldon.

One thing you absolutely cannot live without?
My iPhone. It allows me to compulsively check my sales when I'm away from my computer and to read ebooks.

Lastly what piece that you have created is your favorite and why?
I love my Japanese bunnies book cover in gold. The bunnies are just so
cute and the contrast of the pink and the vintage gold is so pretty.
The ribbon I used for the bookmark matches just perfectly.

Thanks to Shanna for taking the time out to share her studio and work with us. Be sure to check out her shop on Etsy.
And if you are are a CCCOE member and want to be featured simply copy these questions and send your answers along to Heather or I.

CCCOE January challenge - AMORE! EXPRESS YOUR LOVE!

2009-01-19T10:58:00.000-08:00

Entrants for this challenge must be CCCOE members. For non-CCCOE members, we would love for you to participate by voting the first week of each month. We will reward you with undying love, discounts and a spot in a treasury!

CCCOE members, It's time to begin working on your entry for the January challenge -- "Amore! Express Your Love".

Items will need to be tagged 'CCCOE' and 'januarychallenge' (one word) so that we can find them and add them to the buyer account favorites and voting thread. Deadline for entry is midnight (Pacific time) January 31. Voting will take place the first week of February.

One entry per shop please. When you have your entry listed, please post its title, YOUR SHOP NAME and a link to the entry in this thread. Please copy those already listed and add yours to the bottom of the list.

Most CCCOE Members are offering a 10% or more discount to voters during the week of voting. If you wish to participate in offering a discount please convo VisionQuest on Etsy with your shop name and amount that you would like to offer.

Exhibition: Track 16 Gallery - Santa Monica, CA

2009-01-16T17:44:00.000-08:00

Track 16 Gallery
Smart Art Press
2525 Michigan Avenue, Bldg C-1
Santa Monica, CA 90404

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Laurie Steelink
310.264.4678

HYPERBOLIC CROCHET CORAL REEF
by the INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING AND COMPANIONS

CURATED BY MARGARET AND CHRISTINE WERTHEIM

JANUARY 10–FEBRUARY 28, 2009
Opening reception on Saturday, January 10, from 6–9 PM

5 December 2008, Santa Monica—Track 16 Gallery is pleased to present HYPERBOLIC CROCHET CORAL REEF by the INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING AND COMPANIONS, an exhibition curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim. The exhibition runs from Saturday, January 10, through Saturday, February 28, 2009, with an opening reception on Saturday, January 10, from 6 to 9 P.M.

One of the acknowledged wonders of the natural world, the Great Barrier Reef stretches along the coast of Queensland Australia, in a riotous profusion of color and form unparalleled on our planet. But global warming and pollutants so threaten this fragile marvel that it may well be gone by the end of the century. In homage to the Great One, Christine and Margaret Wertheim of the Institute For Figuring have instigated a project to crochet a handmade reef, a woolly testimony that now engages thousands of women the world over.

Vast in scale, collective in construction, exquisitely detailed, the Crochet Reef is an unprecedented, hybridic, handicraft invocation of a natural wonder that has become, in itself, a new kind of wonder spawned from tens of thousands of hours of labor. After major exhibitions in Chicago, New York, and most recently a smash success at The Hayward in London, Track 16 is proud to present the first West Coast showing of this giant, ongoing, evolutionary, fancywork experiment.

As a response to the ecological crisis facing marine environments, the Crochet Reef project has been called by Ren Weschler “the Aids Quilt of Global Warming.” What began as a tiny seed in the Wertheim’s home in Highland Park has morphed organically into a worldwide movement – Sister Reefs have now been made in Chicago, New York and London, with other efforts currently under way in Sydney, Arizona and Latvia. For the first time, in this exhibition, Crochet Reefs are brought together from around the globe, massing into an archipelago of stunning craft finesse.

Also on show is a new expanded version of the Toxic Reef, a gigantic, riotous agglomeration crocheted from plastic trash. An industrially malevolent, post-modern sibling to the classical, domestic beauty of the yarn-based Reef, the Toxic Reef, responds to the escalating problem of plastic trash inundating our oceans and threatening marine life everywhere.

Surprisingly, the roots of the Crochet Reef project are to be found in the realm of mathematics for the Reef also celebrates a geometry realized throughout the oceanic realm. Loopy kelps, fringed anemones, crenellated corals and curlicued sponges are all manifestations of a structure known as hyperbolic space. Though mathematicians had long believed this space impossible, nature has been playing with its permutations for hundreds of millions of years. In 1997, Dr Daina Taimina at Cornell, realized how to make models of this geometry using crochet, a discovery that astounded the mathematical world.

Building on Dr Taimina’s techniques, the Wertheim sisters have been evolving a taxonomy of reef-life forms. Just as the diversity of living species result from variations of a genetic code, so too a huge range of hyperbolic crochet ‘species’ may be brought into being through modifications in the underlying crochet code. Anyone who takes up this work can begin to develop his or her own woolly species and the project has become a kind of ongoing collective evolutionary experiment, involving women (and a few men) from all walks of life. Participants include Evelyn Hardin, a madly creative Dallas housewife; Sarah Simons, a Culver City book-maker and museum curator; Helen Bernasconi, a computer scientist and sheep farmer in rural Australia; Vonda N. MacIntrye, a science fiction writer in Seattle; Shari Porter an African American mother in San Bernardino; Rebecca Peapples, a master beader in Michigan; and Kathleen Greco, an industrial designer in Pennsylvania.

HYPERBOLIC CROCHET CORAL REEF will be shown concurrently with Harriet Zeitlin: ALL HANDS ON DECK. For more information please visit www.track16.com.

More information about the project may be seen at the IFF website: www.theiff.org

--------------------------------------------------------

Margaret Wertheim and Christine Wertheim, co-curators and wranglers-in-chief to the Crochet Reef, are co-founders of the Institute For Figuring.

Margaret is a science writer and author of books on the cultural history of physics, including “The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet” and (forthcoming) “Lithium Legs and Apocalyptic Photons” about the life and work of outsider physicist James Carter. From 2000-2005, Margaret wrote the Quark Soup science column for the LA Weekly, and her work has been published in magazines and newspapers around the world. Christine is a faculty member in the Department of Critical Studies at California Institute of the Arts, where she teaches experimental writing and feminism. Her books include “+I’me’S-pace” a poetic anthology that explores the intersection of language and logic, “Noulipo” a compendium of new constraint-based writing, and Feminaissance (forthcoming). Both twins learned handicrafts from their mother Barbara when they were growing up in Brisbane, Australia.

INSTITUTE FOR FIGURING
The Institute For Figuring is a Los Angeles-based organization devoted to the aesthetic and poetic dimensions of science, mathematics and the technical arts. (www.theiff.org) The IFF hosts lectures, publishes books and curates exhibitions on subjects such as mathematical paper folding, logic crystallography and the anatomy of insects. Recent exhibitions include, Inventing Kindergarten at Art Center College of Design, The Business Card Menger Sponge at Machine Project, and The Logic Alphabet of Shea Zellweger, currently on show at the Museum of Jurassic Technology. The IFF’s work has been acknowledged in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, The Nation, The Times of London, The Guardian, Make Craft, and many other publications.

This exhibition is supported by grants from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, the Norton Family Foundation, The Daniel and Joanna Rose Foundation, and Bella Meyer.

2009 Annual Glass Art Society Conference

2009-01-15T22:24:00.000-08:00

For more information:
http://www.glassart.org

Exhibition: "RE-FASHION: Plastic Bag"

2009-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

Exhibit at The Tucson Bead Show

2009-01-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

Exhibit at the Hottest Bead Show in Tucson The Tucson Bead Show at the Doubletree February 7 – 9, 2009

The Tucson Bead Show is produced as an adjunct of the legendary To Bead True Blue. It brings together two-hundred fifty of the finest artists, artisans, and wholesale trade suppliers for an intense three-day show. Exhibitors are chosen for traditional skills in art jewelry and bead design, wearable art, polymer clay, enamel art, metalwork, fiber arts, lamp work, lapidary, designer components, glass arts, gold and silversmithing, textile weaving, handmade clothing, clay arts, handwovens, art couture, precious gems, collectibles, interior décor, plus beading and jewelry trade supplies.

Attendees come from across the U.S. and thirty-eight countries, to meet contacts, place orders, and attend workshops. This opportunity will bring you both domestic and worldwide clients. The availability of space for the show is very limited. The Tucson Bead Show is a production of Garan-Beadagio.

www.thetucsonbeadshow.com

The Tucson Doubletree Reid Park, 445 South Alvernon Way, Tucson, AZ 85711

The new version of Aurlaea® is now up and running.

Please visit www.Aurlaea.com

For Information on Exhibiting Contact Us: (530) 274-2222 | tucsonbeadshow@msn.com

Apply to Exhibit

2009 Handmade In California Spring Gift Guide is here!

2009-01-11T09:59:00.000-08:00

There are a number of exciting changes from the Holiday Guide so please read carefully.

The Spring Gift Guide is optional and all CCCOE members are invited to participate. All participating shops in the Gift Guide must be CCCOE members.

The cost for each shop to participate in the CCCOE Gift Guide is $8.00. This includes 6 images per shop, listed under 3 different and appropriate categories of your choice. If you have more than one shop, each shop must pay $8.00 to be included. If you have more than one shop, sharing items between your shops is not allowed. (For example if you have Shops A and B, you cannot combine items from Shops A and B and pay only $8.00.) You can see an example of how the guide pages will look here: http://www.handmadeincalifornia.net/samplelayout.html

·To reserve your space, go to http://www.handmadeincalifornia.net/guide-reservation.html and follow the reservation instructions

Once you reserve your space and categories, you will receive an invoice to pay for your listing within 24 hours.

All spaces are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Upon making your reservation you will be guaranteed your first category choice.

No shops will be added after February 1, 2009 unless you are a new CCCOE member.

Each category will be limited to 15 shops. The categories are as follows:

Art Aficionados
Décor
Eco Friendly
Fashion Forward
Etc.

Gifts by Price Range
(choose a sub-category):
Under $25
Under $50
Under $75
Luxe – items $100 and over

For Her
For Him
Tot to Teen

Jewelry
(choose a sub-category):
Necklaces
Bracelets
Earrings
Rings & Things

Adornments
Paperie
Spa
Special Occasion
Indulgences

Supplies are not included in the Gift Guide. Some categories are empty until shops are added to that category.

The front page of the gift guide will rotate and each member should be on the front page 1-2 times between launching and April 30, 2009 depending on the number of participants. These will also update automatically from Etsy. Each store is marked as a favorite when they sign-up to be certain that the items rotate often.

A press release will be sent to several newspapers, tv and radio stations and stylists throughout the state. If you would like your bio sent with the press release, please forward to anniek at anniekclothing [!at] google.com. Some newspapers thought the press release was not relevant to their readers without having a shop in their area.

Money collected from guide listings and advertisements will go towards promoting the Spring Gift Guide via web ads. (i.e. project wonderful, blogs and other places that the PR Committee determines to best suit the advertising needs of the Gift Guide.) During the Holiday Gift Guide, over 250 ads were running consecutively. If the budget allows, we will also print postcards to hand out at shows, with packages, etc. Suggestions are most welcome.

Other expenses such as payment of the graphics and other items will also be used from the fees.

Advertising will be accepted for the front page and each category. Ads will be 125 x 125 pixels. Front page ads cost $20 each and category ads cost $10 each for CCCOE members. Ads will run through April 30, 2009

The Gift Guide may also have advertising from non-CCCOE shops, but still must reside in California and be handmade. The PR Committee reserves the right to refuse any and all ads from non-CCCOE shops. The price for these ads will be $25 and will also be 125 x 125 pixels.

NEW CHANGES
The pages of the guide have been redesigned to allow more exposure for shops and better ad placement!

The first 30 CCCOE members to reserve space on the guide will be featured on the front page under the new "SpotLight" section. Shop Spotlights will run for 3 days. Members who reserve their space after the first 30, will be featured on Spotlight sections under appropriate category pages.

The "Chatterbox" is a new section where buyers can find sales, promotions and the latest news. Guide participants may email their news and shop updates to: buttercupbloom [!at] gmail.com. During our last giveaway, 100 new members signed up for email updates and of course, a chance at the giveaway. More information to come on the giveaway.

We have added Twitter and Facebook pages for the Spring Guide. When the guide launches, links to these accounts will be sent to CCCOE members, please share them with friends and mark them as favorites.

Please review the guidelines carefully and feel free to contact AnnieK or Wrenay should you have any questions.

Bring on YOUR craft game in 2009!

2009-01-11T09:30:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends!

CCCoE is excited about the upcoming year. We have lot's of fantastic things happening behind the scenes that are sure to be hits with members and friends alike.

Our Spring Gift Guide is currently under development and our Marketing Team is anxious to launch later this month. There is still time to enter our giveaway for fantastic goods valued at over $200. Giveaway ends 1/15/2009.
http://www. handmadeincalifornia. net

Kiss 2008 Goodbye, Hello to 2009! CCCOE has the first event of 2009 at your door!
WHAT: 'Love thy Neighbor (and thy Friends)' - a pre-Valentine boutique
WHEN: Saturday, 1/24/09 (all day, set up and break down times tba)
WHERE: Calabasas (between Los Angeles and Ventura) at the home of Jackie, http://appliedwithlove.etsy.com
WHO: Any CCCOE team member invited to have a table.
HOW: Interested to sell? Any CCCOE member who is interested! Reserve your spot by sending Jackie a $10 deposit (email her at appliedwithlove [!at] gmail.com for the address to send a check or other forms of payment). Vending tables will be provided (paid by the deposit). This is an outdoor, but overhead covered event. Rain or shine. Refreshments for guests will be provided completely by Jackie and her mom. Additional info will be given to sellers (such as set up details and small volunteer duties as developed).
Or just come and meet up! Expect a sophisticated crowd of neighbors and friends inside this upscale gated Calabasas community. Your guests are also completely welcome as long as they RSVP when the time comes so Jackie notifies the gate attendant!
Sign up soon, don't miss your chance to start 2009 off with a lotta love!

Check out our Flickr Group which has a set of new discussions!
http://www.flickr.com/groups/cccoe/discuss

We are always accepting new members which are processed monthly. Check out http://cccoeteam.etsy.com for more information.

Many of our artisan members have lot's of exciting things going on in their individual creative circles:

The Chainmaille Lady (I166) and Surly-Ramics (G234) will be at the Pasadena Bead & Design Show which features 250 Exhibitors & Workshops. January 15-18, 2009 10am - 6pm. The Pasadena Hilton, 168 South Los Robles Ave, Pasadena, CA.

ElenaMary's twig ladder with deity was chosen as one of the 30 winners of the Indie Craft Contest! It will be shown at the Craft and Hobby Association Winter Convention January 25-28 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.

Our old member Blackbird72 of Deirdre RyanPhotography has relocated to the east coast and now has her beautiful creations available to the public at The Mew Gallery in Philadelphia, PA.

Please convo PalleikoDesigns or AmandaKLockrowJewels on Etsy with your current projects, gallery openings, trunk shows and other events. We are still accepting Studio Tour questionaire's too; so be sure to send those in so we can feature you.

(Image featured is from Craft Magazine. If you would like to subscribe to craft magazine click here.)

Lark Books: CALL FOR ARTISTS

2008-11-28T16:18:00.000-08:00

500 Found-Object Works
Juror: Suzie Millions
Editor: Suzanne Tourtillott
Entry deadline: March 15, 2009

Lark Books seeks one-of-a-kind images of found-object art to publish in a juried collection representing the most creative examples in this exciting genre. While material options are endless (recycled/repurposed wood, paper, plastics, electronics and the like), we will accept only professional quality photography.

Due to trademark considerations, very few works featuring recognizable brand names or logos will be accepted. This publication is scheduled for release in Fall 2010. There is no entry fee. Download an entry form here.