Jack's Pick: Creative.Hodge.Podge's Peanut Butter (and) Jellyfish Original Drawing

Each Friday I select an item created by a member of the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team(RNEST). What criteria do I use? I look for great looking items that I think are well made offered for a great price!

As I was looking around the RNEST universe this morning along came a jellyfish. One of the newer members of the RNEST team is Creative.Hodge.Podge and among the many original items in her shop is a wonderful drawing called Peanut Butter (and) Jellyfish.

If you look around etsy it is flooded with unique, off beat items like this featuring jellyfish, octopi, and many other invertebrates. This one speaks to me especially though!

First, I love the colors. Something so comforting about the colors of brown and purple. It really captures that comfort food of peanut butter and jelly. Then juxtapose a creepy and dangerous jellyfish in that equation, and you have wonderful contrast that is very alluring. I love art on re-purposed materials also, and Sarah found a page from a first aid manual that is addressing a jelly fish sting. Come on, how cool is that!

Can't say enough about this one! Great job Sarah!

Wednesday Wellspring: Peaches Products

Bubbling up from the newly-repaired well for this week's giveaway is Peaches Products with an absolutely adorable hand felted owl! This needle felted owl, Big Tufts Needle Felted Purple Owl, is handmade by Casey (the Peaches) stands about 4" tall. Just in case you're not sure what needle felting is, Casey has provided us with a short description of her process:

Needle felting is a soft sculpture process that starts with loose fluffy roving wool. Using special barbed needles, the wool fibers are poked by hand hundreds-sometimes thousands!-of times to weave the wool into a finished product. I don't use a pattern for any of my felters, so each one is unique and has it's own personality.

Now, for the rules (This giveaway is open to US only):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Casey's Etsy store, Peaches Products, heart her shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.

MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):

1. Follow the Peaches Products' blog.

2. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, March 2 and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Make- it Mondays: Fortune Cookie Fun

From Buenahelena!
Today's tutorial was inspired by this great gift my friend got me on Saturday night : Make Your Own Fortune Cookies. The kit is meant for making real cookies and your own personalized fortunes, but it got me thinking about using the cookie as a template in other materials. The fortune cookie could carry messages like:

Love Notes
Surprise Announcements ("It's a boy!")
Song Lyrics
Clues for a scavenger hunt

& for your Etsy business...

Your etsy shop address
Your blog address
Your studio or store location

It could be a fun way to promote yourself when you mail out sold items. You could also leave them out on a cookie tray at a craft market. They're simple and easy to make in paper or fabric. It's a good opportunity to use scraps and recycled newspaper. All it takes is the ability to cut out circles, fold them and invent witty phrases on strips of paper.

1. Cut out circles of any size, however many you want. You can use a compass or trace household items like bowls or plates.

2. Fold the circle in half. Keep the crease round. Don't press it flat.

3. Slide your fortune on a narrow strip of paper into the round crease. You can hand write or type them.

4. Push the outer edges towards the center. Again keep it round, not creased flat.

5. Glue/Stitch/staple ends together to reinforce, but leave an opening to get the fortune out.

Try it! A great tutorial for the fabric version can be found here.

Each Friday I select an item created by a member of the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team(RNEST). What criteria do I use? I look for great looking items that I think are well made offered for a great price!

My pick this week is Sugarfoot's wonderful baby hat, the Creme De La Creme Ear Flap Hat and Neck Warmer.

OK, so I have a 9 month baby girl, so maybe I'm totally biased, but this

number is CUTE!

This is a wonderful example of great

photography really selling the item. Not only are the pictures adorable, but the description of how soft the yarn is equally awesome.

This is a great price point too. Great job!

Wednesday Wellspring: Flooded Out

The well has flooded, literally, and needs to take the day to make repairs (my hot water heater exploded and flooded my basement!) But, I cannot let the week pass without congratulating #5, Mrs. Milne for winning Something from Nothin's awesome organizer! Congratulations. We'll be back next week with a great giveaway from Peaches Products - hopefully with a dry basement, too!

Etsy Success - Tip #1

This is the first of a series of articles I will write in the middle of each month. These articles will help provide tips & challenges to help you and your etsy shop be a success!

Some members of our local etsy group have been asking for hints & tips for making their etsy shops more visible. After reading How To Prosper on Etsy, Etsy Tips and blogs including Timothy Adam, I have suggestion #1-

List at least an item a day. Listing items daily helps your products remain in the top pages of etsy searches. Items are listed by those most recently listed, so it makes sense to keep your shop current. For example: if someone searched "Geisha" "Pottery Shard" "jewelry" they would find the most recently listed Geisha necklace first. There are a few sellers on etsy who sell pottery shard jewelry. If I have not listed anything recently, it's possible you wouldn't even "find" an item from my shop, or the link to my shop itself within the first few pages of your search. In fact you might never see one of the geisha necklaces listed in my shop!

We have started a challenge, to help improve business in our etsy shops... The challenge is simple, and it starts today!

List an item a day in your etsy shop! Relisting does not count... It needs to be new and "fresh". I've listed my item and tweeted about it. I'm calling it my "Item of the Day". Todays item of the day is TWEET a cute one of a kind pottery shard necklace.

Here is the list of the shops participating in this etsy challenge:

The Quilted House RNEST member
Heavenly Creations pgh
Braggin Rights Bath
Just Ice Jewelry RNEST member
Buena Helena starting 2/15 RNEST member
Karols Treasures starting 2/17
Cocos Green House New Recruit, starting 2/22

Click on a shop listed above, see if we've listed our item of the day, See if we're keeping up on our challenge!

If you want to join, head on over to my blog and sign up! There is one catch... If you fail to list your "Item of the day" you must send a gift to the shop above you on the list! Also, as your shop becomes busier, you'll probably need to go to the post office more frequently, to send your items off to their new homes!

Wednesday Wellspring: Something from Nothin'

Congrats #17, Bethany, winner of last week's Duncan Creative giveaway!!

And now, bubbling up from the well for this week's giveaway is Darlyne from Something from Nothin' with an organizing solution for any bag! Darlyne has created a multi-pocket organizer that makes switching bags a breeze! It has handy spots for business cards, credit cards, your phone, hand lotion, tissues, lipstick, and the list goes on and on! The lucky winner of this giveaway gets one of these beautiful organizers in her choice of any of Darlyne's selection of colors and patterns.

Now, for the rules (This giveaway is open to US and Canada!):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Darlyne's Etsy store, Something from Nothin', heart her shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.
MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):
1. Follow the Something from Nothin' blog
2. Become a fan of Something from Nothin' on Facebook
3. Become a fan of RNEST on Facebook.
4. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, February 16 and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Make- it Mondays: Our Biggest Team Meeting Yet

Where's the party at? Spot Coffee's RNEST Meetings.

We had a blast at tonight's meeting! To date we have never had so many team members make it to one meeting. Attending were: founders Just Ice Jewelry & Lauren's Lovelies, Jack Bear Stamps, Happy Olive, The Quilted House, Duncan Creative, Gocks Frocks, MF Crafts, Peaches Products, Beadwork by Amanda, Sarah's Amiables and me, Buenahelena. We were also honored to have extra guest Emily Shearing, who is a reporter for the Democrat and Chronicle Newspaper. Publicity, yes!

Our awesome ATC's

We took the chance to test some new team projects including an ATC (artist trading card) swap and a long term, team craft project. Our ATC's showed off the many styles and talents growing within our group. Sarah of Sarah's Amiables called it "twitter for art". At the January meeting we decided that it would be fun to create a Rochester themed item for a blog giveaway crafted by many of our members. Our item is....drum roll please.....a Garbage Plate! The plate was made by Michelle of The Quilted House this month and the meat will be created the next month by Karen of Duncan Creative.

Pile up some craft meat on this plate!

Good things are happening. Tidbits are passed. Opportunities are shared and made. With an article in the D&C there may be even more to come!

Jack's Pick: Just Ice Jewelry's Scarab Earrings

Each Friday I select an item created by a member of the Rochester NY Etsy Street Team(RNEST). What criteria do I use? I look for great looking items that I think are well made offered for a great price!

This week I have picked a pair of Scarab earrings made by Just Ice Jewelry!

The first thing I like about these is that I had to do some

research about what these are, and what they represent.

Most people know that scarabs are insects, and used in Egyptian motifs. Here is what Wiki says:

Ancient Egyptian scarabs were popular amulets in ancient Egypt. Modeled upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, the scarabthe ancient Egyption mythos, the sun (Ra) rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls. The dung beetle's rolling of dung into a ball for the purposes of laying eggs (which would be later transformed into larva) was seen as an earthly symbol of this heavenly cycle. This came to be iconographic, and ideological symbols were incorporated into Ancient Egyptian society.

Some people might find that weird, but I think it's totally awesome.

Next thing I needed to look up was what a howlite lapis beads are.

Howlite is:

Howlite is a white stone with streaks of gray or black, called inclusions. Because of these inclusions and the fact that this stone is easily dyed due to its porous nature, it is often used to create imitation turquoise as well as lapis lazuli.

Lapis lazuli is a type of blue mineral, but is often used as:

It was also ground and processed to make the pigment ultramarine for tempera paint and, more rarely, oil paint. Its usage as a pigment in oil paint ended in the early 19th century as a chemically identical synthetic variety, often called French Ultramarine, became available.

So, these beads are a howlite bead, colored with lapis lazuli. Neat huh?

The bottom line is...they look great, and they have a great story behind them. Nice job Just Ice Jewelry!

Wednesday Wellspring: Duncan Creative Amigurumi Giveaway

Congratulations #32, Renee, winner of Sarah's Amiables' awesome scarf!

And this week, the well overflowed with amigurumi goodness from Duncan Creative! Karen creates the most adorable amigurumi foods and creatures, play foods, shawls, jewelry - pretty much if it can be created out of fiber, Karen can create it! Her extraordinary work is currently featured in the winter edition of Child Style magazine and this week she's offering one lucky winner the choice of any amigurumi set, up to a $13 value.

Now, for the rules (This giveaway is open to US and Canada!):

MANDATORY ENTRY #1: Go to Duncan Creative, heart the shop, and then leave a comment here telling me your favorite item.
MANDATORY ENTRY #2: Become a follower of this blog and leave a comment letting me know- or if you are already, leave a comment saying you're a loyal follower.

BONUS ENTRIES (leave a separate comment for each):
1. Become a fan of RNEST on Facebook.
2. Tweet and blog about this giveaway and leave a comment here with the link.

The winner will be chosen using the random number generator on Tuesday, February 9 and will be announced in the next Wednesday Wellspring.

Make- it Mondays: Mardi Gras Tree

From Buenahelena!

Post Hurricane Katrina, Mardi Gras Graffiti shot by my trip in 2009

So it's February and I still have my Christmas tree up...but I swear I have good reason. This year Mardi Gras falls on February 16. Since I don't have the money to go this year, I have decided to keep this NOLA tradition in my Yankee heart by putting up a Mardi Gras tree. So whip up some Zataran's and join me!

1. Keep your Christmas Tree! Small, colorful, fake ones are the best.
2. String on tons of Mardi Gras beads. Don't have them? Most craft store carry a variety of colors.
3. Add some throws. Throws are items that are thrown from floats during Mardi Gras parades. If you don't have real ones, consider plastic coins, masks, plastic cups, and toy whips and spears.
4. Keep some Mardi Gras gifts under the tree. I'm displaying a highly coveted Muse shoe and a memory case I have made from my trips to New Orleans for Mardi Gras.
5. Last, enjoy a bottle of Abita Mardi Gras Bock with your other friends stuck in NY. This could become a fun tradition up here.

VOILA!