Craft Test Dummies » etsy

Celebrity Crafter Rosie O’Donnell Sells for Charity on Etsy

Jenny — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:33:13 +0000

Just ran across this interesting tidbit- Rosie O’Donnell has an Etsy site! I knew that she was crafty, and has appeared on Martha and such, but I didn’t know that she made items to sell.

The money she raises goes to her charity Rosie’s Broadway Kids, which funds creative arts in NYC to low-income kids. From her blog:

Rosie’s Broadway Kids was inspired by Rosie O’Donnell’s life-long concern for children, love of theater, and dream of teaching. In 2003, thanks to the generosity of Rosie and Kelli O’Donnell, Artistic and Executive Director Lori Klinger created RBKids, dedicated to providing quality instruction in music and dance at no cost to New York City public schools or students.

Her listings include boxes decorated with polymer clay, painted ceramic tiles, and 3-d sculptures called “munnys” which are painted and signed. Prices run from $75.00 for the boxes to up to $400.00 for the sculptures, currently.

Rosie also states on her shops’ homepage that she matches all money, dollar for dollar. Cool, no?

I really like this 3-d collage sculpture called “icarus’ wife“- it’s kinda shrine-y.

Lastly, I should mention that she has a section of her blog called “Crafty U” and she’s got some how-to’s, information, and video clips. She also has a craft book out: “Crafty U- 100 Easy Projects that Whole Family Can Enjoy All Year Long” which is available on Amazon.com.

I’ll be checking that one out, so0n…..

Naftali’s EZ Bead Changer Necklace- Fabulous!

Jenny — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:50:21 +0000

I was surfing through some Etsy Polymer Clay artists’ sites, and I ran across a jewelry maker who goes by the name of Naftali. In addition to some lovely polymer clay beads and jewelry, she also sells these EZ Bead Changer necklaces. I bought one on Monday, and I was delighted to receive it on Friday afternoon.

It came in a little organza pouch with a couple of Tootsie Rolls, and in box with ribbon. Nice presentation. I got the sterling silver version, which also came with a wire mesh necklace. It was $37.00 plus the shipping, but it came in under $40.00 all told.

There is a little bead “nut” at the bottom of the changer, and it just slides on and off of the post- kinda like one of those earwire nut thingies. I immediately raided my “orphan” bead box for some of those big wonkin’ beads that I made, but just couldn’t figure out what to do with.

HA! At least 5 of them will be AWESOME on this necklace! The mesh necklace part is about 3/8 inch wide, so it’s nice and substantial… and balances out the big wonkin’ beads!

I immediately took it over to Eva at GRB, and she loved it, too! We’re going to offer a class around these, and we’ll have a great time making….wait for it……BIG WONKIN’ BEADS!

Learning Curve- Items Listed On Etsy

Jenny — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 19:28:52 +0000

I spent the AM posting things on Etsy, listing some of my handmade polymer clay beads and guitar pick jewelry

What? You’ve never heard of Etsy? Let me school ya…

Etsy is a site for artist/crafters to sell their creations… and for folks to love to buy unique, hand-made or one of a kind (OOAK to the uninitiated) items direct from the artisans. It’s wonderful because you can search so many different ways: by material, kind of item your looking for, theme, color, etc. I am amazed at how many fab-u-lous items can be had there… and at so many price points. Don’t expect your run-of-the-mill craft bazaar here!

If you are like most artist/crafters, at some point you have so much *stuff* that you’ve made, it would be great to sell some of it off to earn money for more craft supplies. So here’s some of the dish on listing:

It’s cheap to list. Only .20 an item. with free pictures! (Take that, Ebay!)
You can take Paypal, check or money order, and set your own price for shipping. And decide where.
They have a great step-by-step process for categorizing your items- and helping you select tags so folks can find your work.
It is NOT an auction. (Take that Ebay, again!) So you set your price. And you can change it if you want.
They have some discussion groups, so you can caucus with other artisans who make what you do.

So, go take a peek, wander around, get inspired…and maybe get selling.