Archive for October, 2008
Oct
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Posted by
Kristy | Category:
Teams
The Artisan Beaders Street Team (of which I am a happy member 
) is pleased to present a little holiday present from us to you! Starting October 20th, participating team members will be sponsoring a giveaway of their fabulous handmade items. New giveaways will be posted to the Artisan Beaders Street Team blog each Monday, and winners will be announced the following Friday.
This week, the lovely Meri of Elbit Enterprises is giving away an adorable flower brooch! With purple and green, this brooch can transition with you through the seasons. The flower itself measures 1.5 inches wide, and the entire brooch measures 3 inches wide and 2.5 inches tall.
How to enter to win:
Visit Meri’s shop, then leave a comment here* on the ABSTeam blog with a link to your favorite item. We will be picking the winner** on Friday, October 31st, at 5:00pm EST, so you have until then to leave a comment. The winner will be announced shortly after, so make sure you check back Friday afternoon. Thanks for playing!
* If you don’t have a Blogger account, please leave your email address or a way to contact you if you win.
** Winning name will be randomly chosen by using Random.org.
NOTE: Please don’t leave your comments on my blog. To enter the giveaway, you must leave your name and contact info at the link above on the ABSTeam blog. Thanks!
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Oct
My experience with purchasing handmade sewn items from etsy sellers has been hit or miss. Like jewelry making, there is DEFINITELY a quality difference available.
I recently purchased two handmade totes and two handmade cell phone bags from Janine King Designs on etsy and couldn’t be happier with my selections. The fabric is vibrant and of very nice quality, the measurements stated in the description are accurate, and the stitching, including the box pleated corners, is very, very high quality as well. If I had to state one possible improvement, I wish that both totes had a loop sewn to the inside to which I could hook the cell phone bag. When one has a day planner, an umbrella, assorted letters, some matchbox cars, and biscotti, as well as one’s usual accoutrements inside, finding the cell phone bag at the bottom of the tote can be a bit problematic.
Additionally, my purchase was shipped very quickly and my convos were answered in an expedient manner. Very professional. All in all a very positive experience.
My only regret? That I really could only afford two bags right now.
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Oct
It is with a heavy heart that I write this post to notify fellow etsy artists that Corinne Portalatin of ccdesigns passed away Monday morning, Oct. 27. Cori was wonderful friend and a fellow member of the etsy Artisan Beaders Street Team. She will be sorely missed….
Please keep her friends and family in your thoughts.
“You and I will meet again, When we’re least expecting it, one day in some far off place, I will recognize your face, I won’t say goodbye my friend, For you and I will meet again. ”
Tom Petty
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Oct
I admit it…I’m a dessert junkie. I love cupcakes, pie, icecream, brulee, pretty much anything chocolate, the darker the better. So did you know that in addition to art and handmade items, etsy also has some VERY talented bakers and chefs? Really! And, lucky for us, these talented culinary etsians sell their mouth watering goodness online to be delivered right to your door. Here are some that I thought looked better than scrumptious. Just click on the image to visit the etsy shop responsible….
Happy gnoshing…
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Oct
I was on etsy’s front page! Thanks to
fiveforty for featuring my
dark horse hoop earrings in this treasury. Yay!What is a treasury? According to
sweetestpea, the “Treasury is a member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each (plus four alternates). It functions as a high-demand (and pretty!) promotional tool that many devoted Etsians fight to get. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just however they like. The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion, but instead to acknowledge and share the many cool things for sale on Etsy. Admin often choose an exceptional Treasury list to promote on the home page and occasionally make them to tie into Storque articles or special events and occasions. ”
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Oct
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Posted by
Kristy | Category:
Teams
The Artisan Beaders Street Team (of which I am a happy member ) is pleased to present a little holiday present from us to you! Starting October 20th, participating team members will be sponsoring a giveaway of their fabulous handmade items. New giveaways will be posted to the Artisan Beaders Street Team blog each Monday, and winners will be announced the following Friday.
This week, we have a gorgeous pair of earrings from Patty of Broken Teepee Designs. These sweet beauties feature prasiolite (green amethyst), mystic blue topaz, and gold filled findings. They measure 1/2 an inch long and are darling!
How to enter to win:
Visit Patty’s shop, then leave a comment here* on the ABSTeam blog with a link to your favorite item. We will be picking the winner** on Friday, October 24th, at 5:00pm EST, so you have until then to leave a comment. The winner will be announced shortly after, so make sure you check back Friday afternoon. Thanks for playing!
* If you don’t have a Blogger account, please leave your email address or a way to contact you if you win.
** Winning name will be randomly chosen by using Random.org.
NOTE: Please don’t leave your comments on my blog. To enter the giveaway, you must leave your name and contact info at the link above on the ABSTeam blog. Thanks!
Want to be notified of the latest ShinyAdornments artisan handmade jewelry news, sales and special events? Sign up for my newsletter.
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Oct
Simple sterling handmade hoop earrings. Nearly a wardrobe staple I think. These are both handcrafted of sterling silver, hammered, filed and tumbled for comfort.
One pair is oxydized for an earthy feel, the other pair has been left au naturel, and then tumbled to really bring out the shine.
I used 20ga sterling wire and measure about 1 1/4 inches (3.2 cm) which makes these ever so easy to wear, with nearly everything. To purchase, visit
my online shop.
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Oct
Just in time for Halloween! I love these examples of artisan handmade jewelry I found on etsy. They are creepy and wonderful at the same time, aren’t they? I really admire the way the artists use the eye forms in their designs. Different mediums, different designs, all gorgeous and great execution of a handmade vision.
Click on each image to check out the artist’s shop on etsy.
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Oct
A couple weeks ago, I posted an entry about my very poor experience as a shop owner on Ruby Lane. You can read it in its entirety here
That post has received a plethora of responses, including some from other former Ruby Lane shop owners with similar poor experiences. Additionally, I’ve received a number of email messages from shop owners telling me their tales who didn’t want to post them. Sadly, what I discovered was that my experience was far from unique. My original post did NOT berate or in any way make derogative comments about the other shop owners on the site.
Yesterday, I received this comment from another Ruby Lane shop owner, who, whether he/she wanted to or not, speaks volumes about the Ruby Lane vibe. Unfortunately, this alleged Ruby Lane shop owner didn’t leave an email address nor a shop URL link, so I can’t respond to him/her directly. I’ve not edited any content and am publishing in its entirety.
***Lavender says:
Kirsty, I’ve been on RL for years and can say nothing but good about the site and the CS personnel. I can understand their viewpoint. They are managing with the same level of staff, but have to deal with this explosion of little shops who are trying to make some money by stringing some beads together and who obviously don’t possess a background in jewelry making. I am not saying your shop was like that, but RL has too many of such shops, making the same types of jewelry. The reason there is an artisan jewelry section is because there is demand for all types of artisan jewelry, even the simple string the beads together. But at this time, maybe because of the economy, or maybe because of sellers exiting eBay and trying other avenues, there are way too many such shops for this stringing beads type of simple jewelry.
I can understand the frustration of the RL customer service, because they get asked the same stupid questions over and over again, and most of it comes from the jewelry shops. You merely have to click into the Forums to read the published questions and all of the articles they take the time to write about everything the jewelry sellers are doing wrong. Yet strangely, there are very few articles written by the CS staff about the antique shops. All I am saying is I can understand the CS side of it and empathize with their workload. There are some very good artisan jewelry shops on RL and I am not referring to the shops that string beads together; I’ve made quite a few purchases from a few of the better shops and I can sing their praises.
Anyway I love RL. I make a lot of money on the site. The eBay type of sellers who open a shop tend to last just a few months and then the shops disappear. The shops who are really skilled and knowledgable are able to last and endure with steady and constant profits.**
and then, one more from my pal Lavender:
**
Lavender says: I should add it was another RL antique shop who passed me this link, and she got it from another RL shop, so the link to your expression of dissatisfaction towards RL is making the rounds among the better antique shops on RL.
I wish you luck on this site.
**
All righty then. As I stated in my original post, Ruby Lane has been around for 10+ years. By outward appearances, a respectable, well organized, established online shopping site. Those things were part of the reason I opened my shop in the first place. I expected a level of professionalism and customer service that I did not receive. Clearly, Lavender places the blame for my poor experience on the artisan jewelry shop owners, not the Ruby Lane staff. If I received less than stellar service, then, well, it was my own fault apparently.
If Ruby Lane feels like these new artisan jewelry shops are too small-time for their site, or that they are overwhelmed with “small” shops asking “stupid questions over and over again”, then perhaps Ruby Lane should consider more strictly jurying the site. As it stands, RL took my fees and did not, in my opinion, live up to its proclamation of “excellent customer service” as stated on its “Why Sell With Us” reasons.
I’m pleased to know that my blog post is “making the rounds among the better antique shops on RL”. I also checked today, and, you remember the link error that started this whole thing? It’s corrected, sort of, finally NOW. Power to the little people. LOL Hooray for the power of blogging. (The shop page STILL says “Ruby Lane is home to over 1900 independently-owned online shops from around the world, showcasing exceptional Antiques, hard-to-find Vintage Collectibles quality Fine Art, and fabulous Antique & Vintage Jewelry. “ Artisan jewelry is not mentioned in this tag line UPDATE 11/6/2008: RL has finally added a link to the shopping page for Artisan Jewelry.)
My original message of Caveat Emptor remains the same. Additionally, artisan jewelry shops should probably be aware of the animosity towards your art that exists with some of the older Ruby Lane shops.
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Oct
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Posted by
Kristy | Category:
Teams
One thing that etsy does well is to bring together like minded individuals in its Street Teams. I belong to a fabulously talented group of jewelry artists called The Artisan Beaders Street Team (ABS Team) . Our Mission Statement is “Begin with a passion for beads. Combine with creativity. Mix with encouragement. The result is Artisan Beaders; a charismatic group committed to providing the knowledge, resources and support to help members succeed in their entrepreneurial dreams.”
The ABS Team has created a holiday shopping gift guide to present our choices for the perfect holiday gift for the jewelry lover in your life. The Shopping Gift guide provides a catalog of handmade jewelry options for your perusal. To purchase any of the fabulous handcrafted artisan jewelry found in the guide, please visit the ABS Team member’s etsy shop by clicking on the images in each shop’s display.
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