Thursday, December 23, 2010

Interview with Gypsy Blue Designs

Meet Cheri of  Gypsy Blue Designs:

Who are you?
Hey! My name is Cheri and I am the creative (or crazy) mind behind Gypsy Blue. I have a recently acquired degree in Interior Design with a focus on Historic Preservation, which, sadly, I only use for myself and a few close friends/family. I would consider myself a Southern girl with a very short attention span and an extreme love of travel, design and history.


What do you create?
Gypsy Blue is my little line of handmade one of a kind purses, totes and handbags, some handpainted pillows and occasionally a fabric based Gypsy Chandelier. Basically, “Adventures in Textiles”! I try to use as many upcycled fabrics as possible along with what I call salvaged samples (small cuts of textile remnants and samples that normally would be thrown away from textile companies & designers) and then mix in a few purposely bought fabrics to mix it all up.

How did you come about your store name?
Gypsy Blue is all about me….. Gypsy because I move around frequently with my little caravan of four legged, drooling, barking, furry children. Blue is from my love of Blue water and never being too far away from it. And there you have Gypsy Blue!

What is the crafting utensil you cannot live without?
Silly, but a really great pair of super sharp scissors and a stitch ripper (for when I change my mind).

What is your life like outside of Etsy? (family, work, other hobbies)
Life outside of Etsy is about to change drastically. By the end of November, I will be self employed for the first time! I gave my notice the beginning of the month and I am now going "all out" to make Gypsy Blue work. I have Art & Craft shows planned every weekend for the next 4 months or so, and I will be increasing my Etsy and online presence with all of my free time (insert giggle here). Lucky for me, I am single without kids (except my four legged ones) so I don’t have to worry about providing for anyone other than myself right now. But still, keep your fingers crossed for me please!

What do you enjoy "window shopping" on Etsy on your free time?
I love to window shop for beachy jewelry, I love a great painting and sometimes browsing vintage clothing (I love the 60’s & 70’s stuff right now). I also love to see what makes it to the front page, it keeps me inspired!

What other interests do you have?
Outside of Gypsy Blue, I have a passion for numerous random foods, sports, activities, which are listed below in no particular order…..

Cheese (it makes everything taste better), really good buttery Popcorn, Music, NASCAR, Football, History, Travel, enjoying a great bottle of Wine, putting the top down & road tripping on a warm sunny day and Flip Flops!

What are some other sites to find out more about you and your art?
Right now I have a website (which needs some loving attention from me) and a Facebook page (which also feels neglected) which will soon be updated/upgraded with my new found freedom!
http://www.gypsyblue.net/
www.facebook.com/gypsybluedesigns

What animal would you like to be for one day and why?
An animal for a day…… tough one. Either a Pelican, a Dolphin or a Wild Horse. All of them have a gracefulness, beauty and freedom that I long for (maybe in my next life?).

What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
For me, it’s not crazy, but if I get a whim to pick up and move to a new town/city/state, I usually just do it. I just love to go and see and experience new things & places, and I tend to dive in headfirst. I think all totaled I have lived in 7 different states and moved about 17 times.

If you were a dessert what would it be?
Easy! Homemade chocolate chunk bread pudding with a bourbon cream sauce and pecans! (Oh wait, the question was what dessert I would be, not what I want to eat???)


Saturday, December 18, 2010

Share Time



Cr8tivity.com is a pretty cool site, they offer Etsy sellers an extremely simple way to view things like who hearts you and your shop statistics, we've seen these things right. Well at Cr8tivity.com  there is an Inventory helper, which is an Excel file download (csv format) of your current listings as it is returned by the Etsy API. You can open it in MS Excel or OpenOffice. It contains the columns Listing Id, State, Title, Creation Date, Number of Views, Price, Expiration Date, Quantity, Section Title, Sold?, Listing Fee, Selling Fee, Shipping Fee, and Date Sold. Use it to keep track of your inventory.

Also offers you a simple way to pull up an item in your shop (it carries over your listings for you) and with a simple click you can create a flyer to print and use. It also allows you to edit your listings description and cost for the flyer: very cool!! But even COOLER is the slide show widget - (*so exited*), they automatically pull up all of your Etsy listings and put it in a slide show, you need only copy and Post the html into your blog layout!! YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY IT!!! You can see mine in the upper right hand corner, I did it in 2 minutes: REALLY! and you don't even have to go through all that registration/sign in stuff.

THank you Cr8tivity.com, today - you are my hero :)

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

December Challenge Entries!

In the midst of the hectic holiday season, some of our members have still found time to enter our December Challenge - the themes are Tanzanite or Traditions. And you can vote for any that you like! Have fun and voting is open until Dec. 31st at midnight. Look for the vote poll on the right side of the blog.










Friday, December 10, 2010

Share time:

Sometimes I think that the internet is a huge booby trap! I get online just to check to see if I have any sales and and a couple of hours later~ with multiple web pages open, fixing emails, checking forums, twitting and chatting on facebook all while I'm laughing at some adorable product I found on Etsy

at Rear Gear or that adorable kitty that has his head stuck in an Easter basket ~I remember that I have to make dinner !~


Well, I just recently found this wonderful app at http://etsytext.com/ !
You can sign up for a free and easy service that sends you a text message to your cell phone every time you make a sale on Etsy!
I have been using it for about a month and a half now and think it's great, so I just thought I'd share!

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Interview Blue Eyed Designing

Meet Nancy of Blue Eyed Designing:


Who are you?
I am a newly single artist after 32 years of marriage. I've been pouring my heart and soul into creating for the past 9 months.


What do you create?
I usually create late at night and work into the wee hours.


How did you come about your store name?
My daughter Amanda thought it up


What is the crafting utensil you cannot live without? My kiln and E6000 glue


What is your favorite material to work with?
I love to work with fusing glass! I also like ceramics but I am just learning how to do that.



What is your life like outside of Etsy?
I have 4 young adult kids who just the best! I also have 3 dogs and I love them to pieces. I have 2 golden retrievers and a little rescue dog poodle. I hope to go to law school next year and I have been studying for the LSATS.


What is your favorite feature on Etsy?
Everything! I love to spend time looking at raw materials that look interesting and that I want to try.


Is there an online "tool" that you like to use?
Facebook has been a big help too.


What other interests do you have?
Bike riding, dog walking, art shows, going to rock music concerts, video production


Where in Florida do you live?
I live in Boca Raton which is about 30 minutes from West Palm and 30 minutes from Ft Lauderdale. I have been here for 22 years.


Could you recommend a fun activity near your Fl home that other members might enjoy?
The Festival Flea Market has great homemade pickles.


What are some other sites to find out more about you and your art?
I help produce a rock music teen tv show www.sweptawaytv.com and www.loonatictv.com
Facebook Nancy Rich
artfire: steampunkspecial


What “super” power would you like to have and why?
 I would love to fly to get through traffic faster.



What is the craziest thing you have ever done?
…. My girls and I snuck into the 2000 Grammy awards and sat in the 3rd row until they made us move to the back. We walked in on the red carpet without a ticket. We also went to the Arista music Grammy party and sat next to Macy Gray without an invite.


If you were a dessert what would it be?.....anything chocolate!









Sunday, December 5, 2010

Care for Some Simply Divine Dessert?

Florida Etsy Street Team has the good fortune of having members who love to blog, so in an effort to share their posts and features we will be "reblogging" here on EtsyFEST! Our first is Chris, owner of Memories in Mosaics. Her blogspot is called "Chris' Comments" where she features her mosaics because that is her passion. She also blogs about her family and friends, vacationing, how-to's of easy home decorating, recipes and personal observations.

Chris recently interviewed Sharon who is the owner and baker behind Simply Divine Desserts  on Etsy.  She is a fellow  FEST (Florida Etsy Street Team) member and resides in Sarasota, Florida.

Here is her interview with Sharon:

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m a brown-eyed girl, strong in mind and body, with a Christ centered spirit. I am a happy, busy, productive, strong willed, organized, unemployed, single mom. I have two grown sons, 25 and 22, who are the biggest blessings in my life (along with my new daughter-in-law!). I was a home school mom for 16 years, and they were some of the best years of my life. I’m an active member of a great church, I love music, the beach, and going to the movies.


How long have you been baking?

I’ve been baking for most of my life. I grew up loving to be in the kitchen with my mom and grandmothers, not only for the great food that was always being created, but for the warmth and comfort that it brought. My older brother started calling me “Bake” when I was 11, and for some reason the nickname stuck and to this day, I am “Bake” to my family and many old friends.

What made you decide to sell on Etsy?

I decided to try etsy after a dear friend of mine kept poking and prodding me to give it a shot. I sold books to homeschoolers on ebay for many years, so I’m used to online selling, but the thought of starting an online bake shop seemed strange to me at first. But now that I’ve made some sales and have sent my goodies to various parts of the country, I’m excited to see what the future will bring.

Read more about Sharon...

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Happy Birthday Kelly Warren

Happy Birthday Kelly!
Please visit her Etsy shops by clicking Here for her Jewelry & Accessories store and Here for her art photography shop
or check out her blog Here

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

And the November Challenge Winner is............

AudreyGardenLady for her blossom earrings - with an overwhelming 34 votes! Congratulations, Audrey! You win a choice of an interview or your Etsy Mini on the blog for a month!

Now, it's December already! Time to start on our December Challenge! Our Themes for December are Tanzanite (December Birthstone) and Traditions. This is a busy time for all of us, but I know we have so much talent just oozing out of Team Festies, so I'm looking forward to some wonderful Challenge entries!

Here's a link to the Etsy forums to post your entry: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6702547