Trunk Show Nov 30th & Dec 1st!

Etsy Lab Rats Team is hosting a virtual trunk show!  

What does it mean & how do you participate?

There will be many of our teammates offering deals online in real time (you have to be there to get the deals).  Some will even get on their webcam so you can meet the artists "face to face".  No, you don't need a webcam.  You can just spy on us ;)

You do need to sign in to your Etsy account.  The event will begin at 8PM EST on the 30th & 1st, if you get there a bit early you can get a good seat & chat with everyone in the room.  To find us... you can click on the Community tab, then Virtual Labs tab, then join us in the Moon Room (click the orange box).  Don't click on anything until the page loads fully, you might get kicked out & meet the error hamster... if this happens just try again.  You'll see a lot of little avatars in the white squares, click on an empty square to "take a seat".  Once you've taken a seat you can type in the chat bar at the bottom.  

Sit back & enjoy the offering of all our teammies :) 

What will WE be offering?  You'll have to join us to find out!  

Mike & I will (hopefully) both be on webcam on December 1st, so come on out & support the shop!  

We'd really appreciate it :D

THANK YOU!!!

Mini Gallery; { inspired by pixar's UP } by guest littletoad

WOW.  

This treasury seems to be made up of little snippets of UP, the movie, and shows us that you can indeed find the most wonderful things on Etsy!  My only question is why o why hasn't this made it to the front page yet?!  

Come on Etsy!  Up with Up!

We all need a little adventure!

Curated by: littletoad 

Mini Gallery; Birdies, Bunkers, and Bogeys by guest PapersandProse

The PGA is in town, so in the spirit of the game I am posting a treasury curated by PaperAndProse

To see her full treasury CLICK HERE

Our most recent throwing demo...

We got the sound bugs worked out.  Now I just have to figure out how to get Mike to shave these down to about 30 minutes.  Once he gets started...

More on the marriage of the shops...

In case anyone missed it, Mike & I are combining our shops and just sticking with NightOwlCraftworks.  I can give both our items more attention that way & it's just fun.  Mike got right to work with creating a new stamp for his new pieces.  His old items will still have the LampLightPottery stamp on them... so they are sort of a limited edition :D  There are items in his old shop that I will be systematically transferring over.  Check back for all of our exciting updates!

Mini Gallery; Mixed Media Collage by guest JennaDesigns

This is such a fun gallery & I hope it gives it's curator, and my readers, some inspirations for their own projects... 

Thanks so much JennaDesigns!

Look what I found today, import Virtual Labs to your google calendar...

I can't believe I haven't seen this before.  Maybe it's because until now, the calendar on the Community Page of Etsy annoyed me.  This is really going to help me to plan my week and not miss the important labs.  I am not in the Eastern Standard time zone, and when you add the labs calendar to your Google calendar it automatically changes to your time zone!  

Sweet niblets, where have I been?  Apparently living under a ROCK!  As usual... lol.

If you have been living under a rock too, first I promise I won't tell.  Next, go to the Community tab on Etsy, on the calendar there is a cute little button that says "+Google Calendar".  Click on that and it will give you prompts.  You can add Virtual Labs, Etsy Team Events, or both!  I opted for just the labs.  

And viola!  Now you're cool too!  :D

Focus on... beadsandbotanicals

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…

Carla: I like rocks. A lot. I get fired up about the legends of stones, the possibilities with stones, the colors, textures and variety of stones. They seem alive to me, and that is very exciting.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your shop?

Carla: I’m constantly in awe of entrepreneurs. Doesn’t matter if they sell handcrafted alpaca-fiber ponchos or car parts. There is something magical about those who are passionate about what they do, and committed to taking good care of their customers.

Sally: What item/ product do you like to work with the most and why?

Carla: The gemstone beads are my faves, of course. I also really enjoy working with packaging and promotional items that go in with each shipment. The colorful tissue, ribbon, thank you stickers and other items that go in each box are fun to work with.

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Carla: I’m a free-lance writer as well as a “bead lady.” I write about non-profit and public organizations that help people. As often as possible, I spend time on the hiking trails and beaches of the Lake Michigan shore.

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?

Carla: Dance. Look good in a bathing suit. Wind surf. Speak HTML.

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps, or an item that you keep coming back to?

Carla: I’m addicted to the hair bands and fabulous personality of Marisa at www.purplelicious.etsy.com.

Janelle at www.scrapwithstyle.etsy.com is amazing, and I’m not sure I could ever thank her enough for the time she gave to me, a stranger, to help me get settled in as an Etsy seller. She also carries awesome grosgrain ribbon.

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?

Carla: Etsy is a wonderful place to find people I didn’t even know I was looking for. By maintaining a shop, keeping it stocked and updated, I find new customers, new mentors, and new inspiration.

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…

Carla: I wish I could say, “don’t sweat the small stuff.” But I do sweat the small stuff. A lot. I think it is the little things that allow us to add quality and value to our customers’ lives. Whether it be pretty packaging, super-prompt shipping, a convo to notify the customer when the item will ship, or helping someone find a source for something I don’t carry, the small stuff helps me let customer know they are very much appreciated. 

Focus on... MilkandHoneyHandbags

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…
Amanda: Hey there! My name is Amanda and I am the creator of Milk and Honey Handbags. Sewing makes me feel good and I love it. It truly is my passion and I love everything about the process: selecting fabrics, cutting, pressing, and stitching. Sewing just feels right.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your creations
Amanda: I love looking at color combinations found in nature and bringing them to my designs. I am also really inspired by fabric and color, and ribbon obviously :)  I will find a really great print lining fabric or beautiful color ribbon that will inspire a whole design.

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Amanda: My favorite item to work on would definitely be my Ribbony pouches. I love picking out the exterior fabric, ribbon, zipper, and lining. There are so many different combinations, the possibilities are endless.

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Amanda: When I am not at the sewing machine you can find me reading, snowboarding, hiking, and watching movies.  I also love spending time with friends, family, and the love of my life, Pat.

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Amanda: I would really like to be able to sew faster without sacrificing the quality of my work. I put a lot of care and time into each piece but I am working on producing things a little bit quicker. That way I can get more done and get started on the hundreds of design ideas I have in my sketchbook!

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps, or an item that you keep coming back to?
Amanda: My brother Zak has a shop on Etsy, doodlekaz, where you can find amazing unique digital art and more. I love my Summersville journal; the patterned covers are so lovely it was hard to choose just one. I love Zipit where I go for all my zipper needs, so friendly and my zippers always arrive so quickly! RememberWynn is where I get my beehive and honey dipper buttons.  I am always amazed by the detail in her pieces.

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?
Amanda: Wow. I love a lot of things about Etsy: the treasuries, the forums, the featured seller articles. I guess what it really boils down to is Etsy is a wonderful venue where you can find amazing things from a lot of talented people.  I love shopping on Etsy because every purchase I have made has been fabulous. You almost get spoiled shopping on the site. I am often disappointed with customer service when shopping on the internet. On Etsy I know I will receive great communication from a lovely person, fast shipping, and impeccable packaging. It really is the way shopping online should be!

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…
Amanda: Do what you love, love what you do. Also, dance like no one is watching :)

I am really excited to be adding a new design to my shop this week-The Hobo. I have been working really hard to make this bag and am so happy that it is finished and it is perfect! 

Focus on... ANOriginalJewelry

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…
I’m Ashley! (*waves*) I’m a 25 yr old NY based Indie Jewelry Designer with a deep love for laughing, music and animals, and a soft spot for frosting of all sorts.

Sally: Who, or what inspires your creations? : 
Ashley: I’m inspired by pretty much anything. That’s not to say I look around and have a constant stream of creative tunnel vision triggered by every sight, sound and touch but I do not discriminate my inspirational avenues. I never really know what will stir up some inspiration in me, it always happens suddenly and without warning. Funny enough a lot of my “inspiration” comes from joking around about things that I think are fun or quirky, or childhood memories. To be fair, a good amount of my ideas come to me thanks to songs with great lyrical themes :)

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why? 
Ashley: Well, I have developed a fun obsession with quirky tiny stud earrings. I think it’s fun to challenge myself to see how detailed I can get in a tiny scale. It doesn’t always work out in the end but I’ve really come to appreciate the comedic struggle between my brain, my hand and my jewelers saw :) More recently however I’ve taken a keen liking to working on higher end one of a kind items, so stay tuned :)



Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?
Ashley: Hmmm, good question! Not much! Hehehe :) I try to have a life outside of my work but sometimes when it comes right down to it, my drive to grow my business and my brand just outweighs my drive to go see the newest Brad Pitt movie. I love to spend time with my family, in the Summer you can find me basking in the beauty of Lake George and I love to hang with my dogs :) More recently I’ve been a bit better at juggling my personal and professional lives as my very best friend has just gotten engaged and I have had the coveted “Maid of Honor” title bestowed upon me, so I have wedding things to attend to :) We just call them “MOH Things” are here...

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better? 
Ashley: EASY! Bookkeeping! I am THE WORST. Everyone says ‘Yes, yes, be diligent about your books!”. Well, I just can’t seem to subscribe to that school of thought, so instead, I leave all my bookkeeping duties for the very last minute, about 2 weeks before the April tax deadline :) Don’t try this at home kids, I can testify that it is most unpleasant, but alas, I’ll just never learn...

Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps, or an item that you keep coming back to?
Ashley: I have a Miniature Dachshund and that has fueled a weird obsession with all things “Wiener Dog” so I’m constantly doing searches on Etsy for cool little “Doxie” trinkets, art prints and whatever else I can manage to find!

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy? 
Ashley: My favorite thing about Etsy... I love that you get back what you put in! Etsy is a tool for success! If your willing to really buckle down and try to make a real go at a legit indie business, chances are you will be able to build one here. Etsy is fabulous, it gives you all these great tools and tips and tricks, etc. BUT, that’s not to say just because your on Etsy you will be an overnight success. You really have to work hard, day and night, night and day...not only at your craft but at your branding, your packaging, your advertising, your networking...it’s all interwoven in an Etsy success story. I tell people all the time, you CAN make a living on Etsy BUT you have to commit yourself to it just as you would having your own B&M Shop. There really aren’t any shortcuts, it’s blood, sweat and tears all the way.

Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…
Ashley: Well I guess I kinda answered this question in the previous question but here’s another tip... ALWAYS REMEMBER that your interactions on Etsy (and in life) don’t only represent you as a living breathing human but also your brand, your work, and your livelihood. Just look at what Jon and Kate Gosselin shenanigans did to the TLC/Jon & Kate Plus 8 Brand! They essentially set fire to their future brand security and watched it burn to the ground because they forgot that their “brand” and their “selves” are interwoven no matter where they are whether they like it or not. You really never know who might be behind that user name on Etsy, so always be respectful, be kind and most of all be professional. Etsy is a pretty casual place but you can’t treat it like a “Yard Sale” and expect it to be successful. And of course, that goes for everywhere you go in life, always remember that if your a business owner you are representing something bigger than yourself. In my case, I’m not only representing myself as “Ashley” but also my brand, Etsy, young women entrepreneurs and the entire handmade movement as a whole. I know that’s a whole lot to represent, and maybe I’m only representing bits and pieces of those things, but that doesn’t make it any less important. 

Show & Tell: BySaraLynn

It's always so nice to see what people are doing with their journals, and to gain inspiration, to journey forth and keep creating these hand bound beauties.  I thought I would start to share with my readers how other people are using their journals and sketchbooks to record their adventures and lives for future generations.

From the flickr pool: http://www.flickr.com/groups/nightowlcraftworksshowandtell/

One of my very good... excellent customers, BySaraLynn was kind enough to post pics of her journal in use on the flickr pool I created.  Check out that song list... there's a wedding to be at!!!

Sara is a great Etsy community member.  She is not only one of my best customers, but she is part of the LabRatsTeam, and has a beautiful shop of her own! 

Sara, thanks for letting me share with my readers!

Focus on... StephanieFizer

Sally: Tell us who you are… what makes your crafty passion tick…
Stephanie: My name is Stephanie Fizer and I'm a fulltime illustrator.  Right now I run my Etsy shop (http://stephaniefizer.etsy.com), do some freelance illustration work and teach my e-course, Flourish.  My work is almost entirely digital now, although I love incoporating handmade textures, patterns and brushes. 

Sally: Who, or what inspires your creations?  
Stephanie: Well, I'm inspired by practically everything these days, it seems that I've constantly got new ideas popping in my head.  So many actually, that I can never quite find time for all of them, so they get scribbled down in my idea book until I find time to start developing them.  I'm definitely inspired by nature, I grew up in a rural area so I spent a lot of my childhood wandering through the woods and making up stories about the animals.  I'm also inspired by vintage illustrations and teacups. 

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?  
Stephanie: Well for me, no matter what product is the end result, it all starts with an illustration so my favorite thing is that journey from the first doodly sketch to the actual finished illustration.  But beyond that, I love dreaming up new stationery designs for my shop.  I think the world of email, Facebook and Twitter, we often forget who delightful it is to give and receive snail mail and I hope that my sweet notecards will encourage more people to start writing letters and litlte notes instead of just jotting off a quick email. 

Sally: What do you do besides working on your passion and shop?  
Stephanie: I'm pretty much always working or at least thinking about my work; I thrive on staying busy and find that oddly I am most creative when I have the least time.  But when I do take breaks I'm an avid reader and music listener.  I also love to cook, it's so a wonderful stress relief for me.  I'm a vegetarian and I live in a town that isn't exactly friendly to that diet choice so instead I always search for exciting new veggie recipes to try out here at home.  As I'm typing this, I've got a vegan cinnamon crumb cake baking in the oven!

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?  
Stephanie: I think as a general rule, I avoid doing things that I don't do well, but then I think everyone does that.  As far as my work goes, I'm terrible at hand-lettering and would love to have the time to really study and work on that.  



Sally: Do you have favorite Etsy peeps?  
Stephanie: Yes!  I really dig Belle & Boo, Sarah Jane Studios, Nella Designs and Gorjuss right now.  All lovely, sweet ladies and very talented artists. 

Sally: What’s your fav thing about Etsy?  
Stephanie: I love the sense of community and the face that I can really get to know my buyers.  


Sally: One tip you could give, about life, about Etsy, about the weather…  
Stephanie: More than anything, it's so important to maintain a positive attitude and avoid letting yourself get stressed out, especially about things you just can't control.  There was a time when I would absolutely turn into a bundle of nerves when my Etsy sales were slow or when I didn't have any freelance gigs lined up and I would find myself just languishing in stress and misery.   Now I've learned to just push the nerves out of the way, stop worrying and instead just focus my energy on creating new work and thinking up new ways to promote myself. 

LampLightPottery... inspired by bibs...

I love all the lovely bib necklaces on Etsy, but why should fabric have all the fun?

Inspired by all the wonderful bib necklaces on Etsy, we made our own version.  

So?  What do you think?

Mini Gallery; Getting a bit excited for "Alice in Wonderland"!

craftgawker...

Cool! I submitted my Bumbling Bee Journal to craftgawker, and I was accepted!  Yay!  

For anyone who hasn't heard of craftgawker, it's a free site to submit your work to.  For more info go to the craftgawker about page!

Introducing Velcro, the studio cat...

I think she's up to something...

Click for more pics of the studio on flickr...

Custom work for a special person...

This past week I have been working on a few custom orders.  This one is for BySaraLynn's finance.  She ordered a planner for herself also, they both came out looking VERY nice.  I've been pretty excited to get them done.

Here is the book cloth, binders board, and signatures prepped for construction.  I screen printed onto the book cloth in black textile ink.  The PDF for the signature pages were purchased from droplet.  I fiddled around with it a lot at first... then got the signatures all settled.  The PDF was great to work with.  Fun yet simple.  Perfect really.  I glued, cut, glued some more, poked holes, and started binding the book together.  They came together very smoothly.  

Looking pretty good, don't cha think?

She hasn't gotten them yet... I hope they like them!  :D

THIS IS MY 100th POST! dedicated to my best friend...

Sorry for shouting, but it's pretty exciting.  In the beginning I was grasping at straws, trying to figure out what to post, who wants to hear about me & what I have to offer.  Answer!  I don't care!  Ok, I care that you love reading my blog, and I care that you are interested.  But now that I'm hooked on blogging I think I'd blog even if I had no followers and I was talking to myself :D  I'm very grateful for my fans and followers... so I'm not actually talking to myself, I LOVE YOU GUYS!

So, I wanted to blog about something extra special for my 100th post.  It took a few hours to figure it out, but when it hit me I got SOOO excited!  I talk a lot about my husband's shop, and I seem to talk about Emily (my middle girl) a lot, and the baby some.

The person I'd like to dedicate my 100th post to is my oldest daughter, Ashley.  

She is my best friend.  

She is my rock.  

She is my inspiration.  

She is my advisor.  

She is my 13 year old "little girl".
I could go on all day, so I thought some pics of her gorgeous face could say the rest...

She is has such a great spirit.  She loves Etsy more than I do... that's saying a lot! She has her own shop, LittleLelly.  She loves elephants <3  She changes her mind often about the look of her shop, and what she sells.  She wants so much to be a good Etsian and a great part of the community.  She does everything for her shop on her own, taking pics, listing, and packaging.  She is a VERY responsible person!   

She loves to shop on Etsy.  She proudly rocks her clips and jewelry and pouches when she goes to school.  It makes her so proud when someone asks her where she got something and she pimps her Etsy loves to all of her freinds.  She's even talking some of her teachers into starting up Etsy shops!  She's AMAZING!  Single handedly educating her school about our handmade community!

Mini Gallery, Clackity Clack...

Featured Etsian... blueberryshoes/ imfromthewoods!

Sally: What brought you to Etsy?

Hollie: The fact that I love creating more than anything, am confident in my craft, hate the 9-5 thing and am very driven when it comes to promoting. Etsy just works out perfectly for my personality. It's a venue that was introduced to me through my good friend ohvotrecoeur :)

Sally: Who or what inspires your creations?
Hollie: -Dark fairy tales and history. Little Red Riding Hood and The Little Mermaid are my favs.
-Fashion: street, couture, futuristic, spaceage, medieval, victorian. I love period clothing. The weirder the better. I adore Alexander McQueen.
-Music: Gaga, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush, The Smiths, Tori Amos, etc)
-Girly Nostalgia: Barbie, old dusty dolls, frill and lace you'd find in grandma's trunk in the attic, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. I love glitter, pink and kittens.
-John William Waterhouse, Alphonse Mucha and Edmund Dulac. They introduced me to pond nymphs, half clad curvy women with long hair and sad eyes.
(see the pics I attatched)
-Life experience, especially the sad parts. I would not create the pieces I do without that bit of longing and sadness. Call me dramatic, but it's true. This is especially applicable for my illustrations. They have a depth about them, and it just wouldn't be there if I had a perfect life. Thank god for hard times, I'm a fan of the maturity it's brought into my life.

Sally: What time of day do you work best and why?
Hollie: Definitely at night! I rarely create a thing in the morning/midday. I like being in the dark. Alot of nights I'll go to bed with my hubby, but jump right back out once he's asleep cause I have an idea I just have to get out. This happens way more than I'd like to admit, lol.


Sally: Who do you market to? Who do you see buying your work?
Hollie: I market to indie types, fashionistas and those who care for the earth and recycling. Sometimes my drawings go to the most random people. Usually people who feel deeply and have that longing I talked about. The bows go to girls and women who love high fashion, Gaga and Japanese street style. So pretty much all people I love! A good amount of young girls love the bows too, which is AWEsome. I'm a huge fan of little girls. They're little princesses I can play dress-up and make believe with :)

Sally: What item do you like to work on the most and why?
Hollie: Definitely the bows. They're tangible, and can be worn as many times as you want. They're like the gift that keeps giving. I absolutely adore hand sewing, bunching the fabric and seeing each piece turn into a cute lil' piece of their own. I love thinking of what outfits they would match and where my customers would wear them. A recent bow went to a girl who was going to wear it to a Gaga concert, and that totally made my day! The illustrations are very emotional to create. I literally have to block everything out around me. No one can be around. I blast my music and get into the zone. It takes me about an hour to do an entire piece and it flies right by. I can't really draw well when the mood hasn't hit. It has to hit me hard and then I know I'll churn out a few pieces that I'm happy with. Music is really important to creating great pieces.

Sally: What are your 3 favorite books?
Hollie: I have so many. But I really love Catcher in the Rye (of course), Handmaid's Tale and Day of the Triffids. I like autobiographical novels with a bitterness and sarcasm about them, medieval or period ficion and then science fiction.

Sally: What is something that you don’t do well that you’d like to do better?
Hollie: Omg I can't draw hands. If you notice my illustrations, all of the hands are hidden. For some reason I have never enjoyed doing hands and thus they're stuck in the 5 yr old drawing style phase. I've never practiced them and so they suck, big time. But I have gotten such great feedback on the pieces WITH hands, that now I know I have to work on them and really include them in more pieces. I have a hard time with arms as well. And I'm pretty bad at drawing men. They look like manly women. It's pretty sad. But I do want to get better at these, cause I'd love to do some really deep maiden and knight pieces!

Sally: If you could interview your main influence who would it be and what would you ask?
Hollie: This is tough. It would be a tie between Morrissey, Lady Gaga, Tori Amos and John William Waterhouse. All I care about is what moves people. I would ask a million questions based on what they love, long for, went through and are moved by. 

Sally: What do you listen to while you work? While you don’t work?
Hollie: I have an itunes list called "Crafty" and I play it everyday. It's filled with songs I never tire of and that continually move me. For sewing I've got alot of old school Madonna, Gaga, Heart, Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Wham!, Smiths, Billie Holiday, YYY, etc. When drawing I listen to stuff like Arcade Fire, Dead Mans Bones, Sunset Rubdown, Gaga.

Sally: Do you have any deals or promos to share?
Hollie: For readers of this interview, buy either a bow or an illustration and recieve a second one half price :) Just type in "Blog Interview" in the notes to seller :)