Order from Auberginen Art on Etsy

Even though I'm on a bit of a spending ban, I couldn't resist buying these adorable things from Auberginen Art on Etsy. I've been reading Dominika's blog for a couple of years and also following her Instagram, and I told myself that when she next released her knitting-themed badges, I'd get myself some.

The parcel was nicely packaged, with cute washi tape decorating the outside, and also sealing the clear cellophane which enclosed the goodies inside. It was sent very fast - the day after I ordered (though it could even have been the same day with the time difference!)

The badges I chose were Cats & Knits, Knitting & Witchcraft, and Hogwarts Knitting Club, all things I adore. In the past I haven't worn badges or brooches very much, even though I have a growing collection. I want to start wearing them more often, and these will be the perfect way to encourage me to do that.

I also chose the set of 3 Herbal Tea Fairies prints, though I had trouble choosing between them and the Japanese Tea Fairies as they are all so pretty. They are printed on thick matte card and I'm looking forward to adding them to my inspiration wall in my hobby room when it's set up.

Dominika also very kindly added a lovely note, plus a sticker and a packet of jelly babies. I'm obsessed with stickers at the moment, and this is going straight into my Hobonichi art diary. It will be the perfect way to remember receiving my parcel in my diary. I was so thrilled with this order and will definitely follow Auberginen's future offerings with interest.

Decoden Etsy Shop Review and Project

Yesterday I was moving some stuff around in the hobby room, and I came across a haul of decoden supplies that I'd bought from MissSapporo on Etsy last year and never done anything with. I must be in a very crafty mood at the moment, because I had a sudden urge to deco things, straight away!

But first I will write about the shop itself a little bit. When the supplies first arrived, I took some photos of them, so why not do a review? I have ordered from MissSapporo twice now, and I was absolutely 100% happy with the whole experience both times. Here is my most recent order (well, May last year actually, but who's counting!):

The parcel arrived very fast from Japan. In fact, everything I order from Japan comes amazingly fast, compared to the U.S. and even closer places like China and, ahem, other parts of Australia. Everything was parcelled up very carefully with bubble wrap, and there was a lovely note. From the words Yuriko had written, it was clear she remembered me from last time. It was really lovely.

Along with my order, there was a little parcel of extras! I wouldn't order anything Barbie-themed normally, but I loved the other items. Yuriko also has another Etsy shop dedicated to fabrics, which I have ordered from once and had the same wonderful experience. She also seems to have regular sales and discount codes available. I would definitely recommend purchasing from her!

Now for the decoden project. I needed something to decorate, and fast! I chose this powder compact from Daiso. Even though it's a cheap compact, it works really well for me, so I can see it being in my life until it's all gone. But as you can see, it's in a prominent spot on my makeup stand, and it's boring!

Boring!
Gathering my supplies. I used a toothpick to apply the glue in small patches. I made myself a gem picker with a chopstick and some gaffer tape, but I ended up using the toothpick to place the gems as they were so small.

I decided to use one of my square cabochons in the centre, and I chose a colour that would match the hot pink gemstones. I put the bunny and rose on at this point to add extra interest:

Getting there! I was working on our coffee table, and leaning over became a bit painful after a while! It was getting quite late by this point, so I left the rest for the next morning.

Finished! The gems were a bit uneven on the edges, but I don't think it looks too bad. Next time I think I'll start at the outside edge and work inwards.

Back where it belongs:

No longer boring!

My Planners, and Etsy Sticker Purchase

It's taken me a long time to find a system of organising myself that works for me. I've tried to-do lists, spreadsheets and apps. I've tried dividing up tasks in various different ways. I've read articles and books on organisation and time management, and even been inspired by a dream.

For years I had a Filofax, but I started to find it increasingly tredious to find inserts for it. Plus it was boring having the same cover year after year. Having a whole new diary every year appeals to my sense of starting fresh. My diary this year is from Typo.

As a treat for myself, I purchased some stickers from Violet le Beaux's Etsy shop to decorate it with:

These sticker sheets were a huge amount of fun to work with! The high quality prints are made from Violet's watercolour illustrations. They're cut well with no white space around the edge, and come in lots of cute themes, like kitchen, craft and woodland animals. She also sent so many bonus mini sheets, I was overwhelmed! I would definitely purchase them again. Shopping local too, for the win!

Back to the planners. I use my diary (or perhaps more properly an alamanac?) to record events that happen every year, like birthdays and festival dates, as well as one-off things like lunches and appointments. I have it set up at work where I can easily see the current week's page and grab it to write in new appointments. Each day I cross out the previous day. I will only take it home with me if I'm having an extended break or a very busy weekend where I might not remember everything I'm doing.

The other book I have is my Ralph book. The name is a long story, but it comes from the dream I mentioned above. I'd much rather call it that, than something horridly sensible like an organiser. Ralph is just a normal hardback notebook from Daiso. It's basically my weekly to-do list. I take it with me wherever I go, and write down things I have to do in it as soon as I think of them.

At the top is a pre-printed insert that I glue in. I made this up in Excel and I print out copies in batches. It has everything that I want/need to do on a daily or weekly basis, to save me from having to re-write it all every week. It's evolved over time depending on my interests and habits.
Underneath is a free text section. On the left hand side I write the things I should/need to do. The right hand side is for fun or non-essential things, though I'm not hugely strict about the side things should go on. I do it this way because then I have a shorter list of things I have to do, and I feel less pressured.

Every Monday morning, I tear out the previous week's page and copy over anything still to be done. Sometimes if there's a lot, I just cut out that part of the page and glue it onto the next page! I write suggestions for blog posts on a sticky note to make it easy to transfer them to the next week. The inside of the front cover has sticky notes with other things I want to keep track of, like online orders that haven't arrived yet.

Supporting this, I have a master spreadsheet. I had this idea about a year ago. My Ralph book is designed to work week by week, but it was getting bogged down with activities and ideas to be done further in the future. My list was getting filled with more and items that I couldn't/didn't want to do yet. It was frustrating. So I moved them all to a spreadsheet which I check once a week as I'm making up my new Ralph book page. If I think of anything during the week to go on the master list, I write it on the back of the current weeks' page in Ralph and add it to the spreadsheet the next time I look at it.

A couple of days ago, I re-did my whole master list. I now have the 9 life aspects from the square I mentioned in my last post as headings. Although I'm not completely sure that this is the best way to categorise my to-dos, I'm glad I overhauled it because it gave me a chance to re-think about old ones and add new.

So that's how I organise my life. I hope this post wasn't too boring, but I've spent over 5 years working on it, so I thought there might be some useful ideas in it for someone out there.

Etsy Shop Haul : Ananda Beauty

Update: Unfortunately this Etsy shop is now closed.

I'm a complete sucker for a cat-in-need story, and when I heard that Etsy indie beauty shop owner Jill was raising money for her cat Roland's vet bills, I just couldn't resist making a purchase. (~~Note: I placed my order a few months ago, so the promotion is over now.~~) Ananda Beauty stocks a range of hand-made tinted lip balms, mineral eyeshadows and eyeliners, hair balm and other goodies. All products are vegan and tested on humans only. The aesthetic is metallic and sparkly, with shades of grey, bronze, peach, red and pink.

I chose the Lip Tint in Ripe Shimma, Hair & Body Balm in Woodsy Scent, and three eye products: Cumulus and Taupe Eyeshadows, and Black Amber Eyeliner powder. Ordering through Etsy was easy and safe as always - the hardest part was choosing which colours I wanted most! The order arrived quickly. My parcel was carefully packed in a bubble-wrap-lined bag, and the items were wrapped in sophisticated black tissue paper, with a lovely thank you note. There were also 4 free samples, which is very generous: Raw Brass and Blue Velvet eyeshadows, Rosalina Highlighter and Sunset Blush. They are all colours that I can see myself using, so thank you to Jill for choosing well!

The Hair & Body Balm is marvellously thick, and once warmed between my fingers and smoothed on, made a difference to my dry ends. The Woodsy scent, with cedarwood and patchouli, is a delight. The only eye product I've used so far is the Taupe Eyeshadow, and I was pleased with its colour payoff and longevity. Here are some swatches!:

Photo taken indoors in sunlit room.

This was my first purchase of beauty products from Etsy and from an indie beauty brand. I was very happy with my experience and would definitely purchase from Ananda Beauty again.

Glitzology Glitter Nails from Etsy

Update: Unfortunately this Etsy shop is now closed.

Before Christmas I decided to treat myself. After reading a blog pot on independent nail polish creators, I somehow got the idea into my head that I didn't have enough glitter nail polish in my life. After a lot of backing-and-forthing, I finally decided to make my purchase from Glitzology.

There's such a huge range of polishes available from Stacy's shop, that the only thing I could do was get the 6-bottle bundle. And then spend another half an hour deciding which colours to get! It was a lot of fun, though. These are the polishes I chose:

Normally I don't like cheesy names for things, but I found these variations quirky and fun. They are (left to right):
Nebula - a black jelly base with blue, purple and silver hologram pieces. Reminiscent of the night sky.
Cotton Candy - a subtle lavender base with pink, purple and silver pieces in a mixture of shiny and matte textures. A cute and girly look.
Blue Lagoon - a clear base with a mixture of different shades of blue. Like swimming through the ocean.
Sherwood Forest - a blend of green, yellow and brown pieces. This makes me think of looking up through the forest canopy on a sunny day.
Bad Things - a deep red base with silver, pink and black pieces, and red hearts. Inspired by the TV show True Blood.
The Island of Misfit Toys - red, yellow, blue and green pieces set in a clear base with silver micro glitter. It's like an explosion in a toy factory!

I love these polishes so much! The suspension of glitter is extremely generous. Making the purchase was easy, and my parcel came fast. The bottles were carefully packed, and included a page full of tips with a discount coupon for my next purchase. I've decided to showcase each glitter in a separate post. So here's the first:

Single coat; under daylight lamp.
The Island of Misfit Toys is set in a clear base and features the primary colours - red, yellow, blue and green - in various shapes including large squares, medium-size hexagons and small dots. There are also a few pastel yellow squares thrown in. The whole is set on a background of silver micro glitter. As I said before, the inclusion of glitter is much more generous than other brands I've tried - I only used a single coat for this mani!
I have presented the polish here over a neutral-ish base: Adoree Brown Gaucho. The photo was taken indoors under my daylight lamp.

I'm not sure when I can show you the other glitters in detail. My nails are pretty weak at the moment and need a rest. I hope it will be in a couple of weeks. Meanwhile, look out for more haul posts and perhaps a review!

Bye Bye Artfire

Artfire, the site where I host my secondary online shop, is closing their Basic (free) account option. From 15th August, I need to either upgrade to a Pro account, or let my shop fade into the aether. I 'missed out' on all the special offers, so I would have to pay US$9.95 per month to keep my account open as a seller.

(In comparison, on Etsy, you pay US$0.20 to list an item, and 3% ... (something like that anyway) ... when you make a sale.)

They've been plugging the Pro account option at me hard, for almost a year now. And they've been adding more and more features to the Pro account, and none to the Basic account. Now, I've sold a grand total of 6 items since I opened my shop there 3 (or more?) years ago. I will not be upgrading to a Pro account. The amount of money I would lose is staggering. It's just not worth it.

(In comparison, on Etsy, I have sold approx. 90 items in the last 3 years. I don't want you to think I'm bragging or anything! I'm just comparing the two sites.)

It's a shame, really. I did a comparison of the two sites a while back, and Artfire had some really useful pros over Etsy. (Sorry, I haven't been able to find that post. I'll try again later!) But things have gone downhill since then. There are an increasing number of messages saying, "this feature is available to Pro members only". Last last time I tried to re-list a sold item, (in May of this year), I couldn't for the life of me find out how to do it, whereas previously it just took one click. (Perhaps that's a 'Pro-only' feature now, too. Grrr!)

Yes, Artfire has been going downhill in the last few years - for the seller holding a Basic account, anyway. The site is harder to navigate, and the lack of features means my shopfront looks boring and daggy compared to a pro seller's. The last email I was sent encouraging me to upgrade pointed out that 85% of sales are made by Pro sellers, and only 15% by Basic sellers. Instead of using that statistic to encourage me to upgrade, perhaps they should have been looking at the site management practices which resulted in that statistic? Just sayin'.

When you think about it though, it was really just a matter of time. Artfire corners a much smaller section of the market than Etsy. It's less well-known. Speaking just for myself, I have 20 posts on my blog tagged 'Etsy love' and not a single one tagged 'Artfire ... anything'. I have to admit as well, that I've only bought one thing from Artfire in all that time, and it was from someone whose blog I read (the lovely Sparklebluefaery). Artfire itself didn't have anything to do with me finding out about this seller. They just don't have the word-of-mouth that Etsy has. Whether that's anyone's fault is anyone's guess. There's only one thing left to say:

Bye bye from me, Artfire.

Source: etsy.com.
(Ironically, this picture is from Etsy!)

P.S.
This article from October 2010 also has a comparison of Etsy and Artfire. However, it was written before the news that the free account on Artfire was to be abolished.

{Ditzy Tuesday} Friday Edition!

I know it's not Tuesday, but I just wanted to share with you this lovely necklace I just bought from Etsy. I also bought a half-matching teacup ring and I can't wait til they arrive!

Etsy Purchase

Perhaps it's a little late to talk about the Christmas present that I bought for myself, but I love the items I bought from Sparkle Blue Faery's Artfire shop so much that I wanted to talk about my purchase anyway.

I bought a handmade journal and a zine about recycled crafts. (The exact name escapes me now, and everything is packed, so I can't check the details.) The zine has some great ideas for re-inventing ordinary household items which I'd like to try. The journal is very high quality and was obviously made with care and love. It's the second one I've bought from Karis, and I'll enjoy using it as much as I did the first. The cover is decorated beautifully: she has a great eye for colour.

She also included some free gifts - some smaller zines, ACEOs and handmade postcards. I was thrilled with these as I love to have a bookmark for each of my special books, and these will definitely fit the bill. The whole came packaged in the most gorgeous parcel, which you can see in the photo peeking out from the edges. I can't describe how excited I was when I saw it in my letterbox!

This photo was taken a few weeks ago, in my new photography light tent!
Only two days now til we move house. Then perhaps I can get on with some good, hard crafting!

Fashion Obsessions #3 : Bags!

As the 8-week mark until my trip to Europe nears, I've naturally started to become focussed on what I'll need to take, what I'll wear, and of course what bag/s I'll use. Cos I'm such a girl. I've been trawling Etsy for a bag, the type with a long strap that goes over one shoulder. The trouble is, I'm not really sure what they're supposed to be called. Sling bags? Satchel bags? Messenger bags? Shoulder bags?

These were my favourites:

Credits:
Column A	Column B
Caffeine Structure Messenger Bag by Craftie Robot.	Shoulder Purse Bag with Flap by 8smake.
Across Body Denim Bag by My Pretty Shadow (Australian!).	Chinese Red Dragon Print Messenger Bag by Happy Family.
Grey Flowers Shoulder Bag by Koej.	Blue Tie-Dyed Mushroom Bag by The Mush Room.
Bright Pink Dandelion Purse by Ner Designs.	Ruffle Corduroy Bag by Blue Corduroy.

---

Previously In This Series:
#1 : Scarves
#2 : Slouchy Hats

Etsy Eye Candy: Things I Wish I Could Afford

Today's goggle-inducing themed mosaic is Things I Wish I Could Afford. Some of them aren't that expensive really, but I'm in extreme savings mode at the moment for my forthcoming trip to Europe (did I mention that? woohoo! I'll try to not mention it in the next post.)

Credits:
Column A	Column B
double ruffle necklace by lilian asterfield.	"Knit 2 Tog" painting by shoofly.
Metta Zine by ihanna.	sushi bar diorama by cattleyasminis.
"mini cats in space" painting by lookability.	silk bellydance costume by theora's dance costumes.
journal with knitted cover by mumblepeg.	chased silver bangle by hiwahiwa treasures.

---

Previously In This Series:
Stationery
Egg Cosies

Trends in Craft #1 - Cupcakes!

Welcome to the first of a 10-part series on Trends in Craft. Since I joined Etsy two years ago, I've noticed there are certain themes and motifs in craft that are insanely popular. Some are cute, some quirky, and some are in fashion seemingly for no reason whatsoever. I thought I'd start with what is quite possibly the number one theme of the last couple of years - Cupcakes!

I've never made cupcakes myself, and I rarely eat them, but I really can see the appeal. They're small, rounded and colourful, and therefore cute. Their round shape and simple lines make them relatively easy to reproduce in knitted, crocheted or illustrated form. They can be decorated with an almost infinite variety of embellishments to suit the occasion: holly for Christmas, pastel colours for Easter, a candle for a birthday, etc. Plus, anything with icing on it is a good thing, in my books!

CREDITS:
TOP:
L: Cupcake Necklace by A Jewelry Boxx.
C: Christmas Snowflake Monogram Fondant Cupcake by TwoSugarBabies.
R: Confetti Cupcake Newborn Hat by NinisHandmades.

MIDDLE:
L: My Little Cupcake Collection by babychickdesigns.
C: Cupcake T-Shirt by KillTaupe.
R: Cupcake Girls Original Art Print by jennysbakeshop.

BOTTOM:
L: Mini Pink Frosted Dark Chocolate Plush Cupcake with Rose by cherylasmith.
C: KEEP CALM AND HAVE A CUPCAKE Print by jennysbakeshop.
R: Minty Chocolate Amigurumi Cupcake by anapaulaoli.

Changes

Sorry about the lack of posts lately. I actually wrote this one up at the start of the week and forgotten that I hadn't actually posted it until today. Oooppps.

I mentioned a while back that I wanted to do a major overhaul of my craft projects. Finally, it has begun!

The one-third-finished Mohair Beret from the Cleckheaton book I won at the Knit-In-Public day two years ago?

Why on earth did I ever think I'd wear a beret??
The Heirloom Baby Blanket that I haven't worked on for a year and can't remember what row I'm up to?

What a giant pain in the butt!!
The half-finished Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Tomten Jacket that I was once so enamoured with?

As if I'd ever finish that, with all those loose ends to weave in!!
That last one was the hardest. I was almost half-way through the knitting. (That picture only shows the beginning - I had actually knitted about 120 rows.) It's a shame to waste so much work. But then I looked at it again and realised it would be ridiculously too big for a newborn baby. That annoyed me. So..... RIP!

I turned the blanket into a jacket, and I turned the jacket into a blanket. That gave me a perverse sense of satisfaction.

I'm still making an Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Tomten Jacket, but now it's in the Panda Baby Lustre that I was using to make the old blanket. I'm calling it the Snow Elf. I'm using 3.25mm needles instead of 4mm, so it should be much smaller and more suitable for my new niece/nephew.

The Snow Elf, in its infancy.
I still wanted to make a baby blanket, but a simpler, less annoying one. I happened to have a copy of Jan Eaton's 200 Knitted Blocks just lying around. I'd borrowed it from the library on a whim and it just happened to be the perfect book for what I wanted to do. Serendipity! The great thing about this book and its sister 200 Crocheted Blocks is that you're basically designing your own piece. Along with the 200 patterns (each of which is for a 15cm square), there is a section on combining textures, colours and shapes, and one on sewing them together and finishing them with various edgings. The sample blankets are amazing and quite drool-worthy, but the way they are presented - not as a finished blanket, but as a series of squares next to each other - reminds you that it's really your choice to combine the squares in any way and any colour you choose. It was very exciting! I chose Block No. 17 Checks and Block No. 83 Heart In Frame, and designed the Your Chequered Heart baby blanket.

The first block off the rank.
I will have to knit 36 squares, sew them all together and add an edging. It's a little daunting, but it's a hell of a lot less daunting than that white, lacy, double-stranded nightmare on circular needles and bristling with stitch markers that I was confronted with before. I actually do like the Henry's Baby Blanket pattern, but my head's just not in a place where I can cope with it. I'd like to give it a go one day, though.

Finally, the old beret is now this:

Fuzzy!
It's a skinny scarf that's *very* loosely based on one I saw on Etsy. The original is knitted, not crocheted, and it's made sideways, not lengthways, and it has even ends, not a stepped ends, and it's orange, not pink. So yeah, I can see the resemblance! I'm pretty happy with how mine turned out. The only disappointment is that it's way too hot to wear a mohair scarf now. But come winter, I'll be all scarfed up!

Etsy Purchases

Here are some things I bought recently on Etsy:

First, we have some zines and a handmade journal from Sparkle Blue Faery. I'm so glad she's started posting her art journal entries in her blog. I love her work - it's nature-based and has an authentic feel. She added in some extra zines and art materials as I was a repeat buyer. I was so thrilled when I opened the parcel! I'm torn between racing through the zines and reading them slowly to make them last longer.

The second photo shows some zines and a bookbinding kit from Craft Leftovers. Kristen puts out a zine and kit every month, but these are the first I've purchased. Her zines have a how-to theme, with a different craft featured each month. The zine-and-kit combos sell out pretty quickly, but back issues of zine only can be bought any time. I'm still deciding if I want any of the back issues. And, er, yes, that is an accidental but very lovingly-applied wine stain on the cover of the top one.

I've been home sick the last two days, and, throbbing head and burning throat aside, I've really enjoyed reading and pottering around and reading and a little writing, which I'm sure hasn't made any sense. If this post doesn't make any sense either, then I apologise.

Etsy Eye Candy - Egg Cosies

A little breakfast-time fun! It's my favourite time of day.

Shop Credits:
makeyourpresentsfelt
bigsister
juja
handylittleme
ColetteAtHome
romeria
Homini
hughesandnordberg

Etsy Eye Candy, Part 1

I've decided to start an occasional series - Etsy Eye Candy.

I'll choose a theme to share that appeals to me at that moment, whether it's a type of product, a colour or picks from my favourites list.

Today, it's cute, drool-worthy stationery!

Shop Credits:
1. YeeHaw
2. macaroniandglue
3. Etsy
4. Etsy
5. GoMakeMe
6. BrambleberryLane
7. GoMakeMe again
8. InkspotWorkshop

My Etsy Purchases

Top Left: notebook bookmark. Top Right: coptic-bound sketchbook. Bottom Left: art card. Bottom Right: handbound journal.

As you might have noticed, I'm a bit obsessed with paper goods at the moment. After umming and aahing for a while, I finally decided to buy some things from Spacedog Studios on Etsy. She has some innovative and pretty things. I love the idea of a bookmark with a notebook built in. It's one of those things that made me think - why didn't I think of that! I gave the little coptic bound sketchbook with the faux bois (fake wood) fabric cover (so hot right now!) to Boy. He might have to put up with me stealing it back and cradling it lovingly in my hands from time to time, though. It's so beautifully made. The journal at the bottom right has a more simple binding, but it has a few inserted decorative pages for inspiration. That one's for me. And the little art card with the Japanese lady on it is just a treat!

My new order of pens from JetPens arrived last night too, with my special new fountain pen in it. I was tired when I got home, but I perked right up when I saw the box! I'll post pictures later.

I hope everyone else is feeling inspired, too!

This....

Louise Just Knew that Her Soul Mate Was Out There Somewhere, She Just Hadn't Met Him Yet, originally uploaded by viviennestrauss.

This is the kind of embroidery I want to do!
How whimsical, how sweet, what a witty title! What composition, use of different stitches and materials! What a large amount it was sold for!

*sighs*

Of course, I can't do work exactly like hers, cause that would be cheating now, wouldn't it?
To be honest, I really don't like it when embroideries are presented on the hoop. To me they feel unfinished. I'm looking around for other options.

It's been too hot to do anything lately, even hold a book up to read at times. I've been doing a bit of 'head-crafting' (I just made that word up) where I spend time thinking up ideas or imagining that I'm making stuff. Sometimes, when I'm at work or in other situations where I have to be doing something else, I imagine that my hands are knitting or crocheting something. It can be almost as calming as the real thing. I hope that doesn't sound too pathological. Other times, like when it's 45oC, my brain won't even do that.

I have to write a zine by tomorrow. Crap.

Zine Time

It's all about the zine right now for me. I've been working away on writing my travel zine. One reason I'm writing it is that joined a(nother) swap on Swap-Bot for a longer zine, and this is the topic I most want to write about right now. The swap is due on 2nd January. I hope think I can finish it by then!

Sister Diane's Christmas Digest zine arrived in the mail tonight too:

It has a hand-cut cover with genuine Christmas wrapping paper decoration, and a personal message from Sister Diane. What a sweetie! I'm having a lot of fun reading it.

I'm also well into my Etsy Swap item. It's a mini monster. One of the ideas was to make a smaller version of something you normally make, so I ran with that. He's in a lovely, sparkly festive colour. Sorry it's a bit fuzzy - I was on the phone at the time I took the photo:

All my monsters seem to have something sticking out of the crotch during the creative process. What's the go with that?

In other zine-related news, I've set up a free (basic) account on ArtFire and listed my zines on it. I'm just waiting to see what happens (if anything). It's interesting to compare ArtFire with Etsy:

Fees
Etsy - US$0.20 per item for 4 month long listing, plus 3.5% commission on sales.
ArtFire - Free account: can list up to 10 items. Paid account: flat rate of US$7 per month. No listing fees or commission fees on individual items. (At that rate, I'd have to list over 50 items per month for ArtFire to beat Etsy on fees. That's not taking Etsy's commission into account though. I'm not very good at maths.)


Listing
Etsy - Have to fill out 5 separate pages, so it can take a while. Tagging system is quite good though - it gives you suggestions to refine your tags. Categories are very straightforward.
ArtFire - All fields are on a single page. So for example you can download photos while filling out other fields. Very fast. Also has extra features such as 'Inspiration' field and how many hours it took to make the item. Much better! Category system is a little confusing, but they are refining it with user feedback, so I'm sure it will improve with time. With the free account, you can only list one copy of each item, so I'll have to be quick off the mark to relist a zine once it sells. Don't know yet if it has the 'relist' feature that Etsy has or if I'd have to start from scratch each time. ArtFire is more obviously geared towards artists that make one-off items.

Establishment
Etsy - Has been around for about 5 years; has a lot of word-of-mouth marketing and a huge seller base. Does some advertising in magazines and websites based in the U.S., but many people complain that they don't do enough marketing.
ArtFire - Has only just begun (it's still in Beta, I believe) and is a bit buggy. Not very many sellers yet. This could be a good thing though - not too much competition! However, they've done a huge amount of marketing geared towards buyers already: they've purchased the back cover of Craft: Magazine for the next year, advertised on TV shows in the U.S., etc. People are very happy about this!
Also, thanks to Twitter (where the admin of ArtFire have an active account), I have noticed that they are listening to/acknowledging requests from users, and often tweaking the site to accommodate them, sometimes within just a few hours. There have been very few user-initiated changes to Etsy in the time I have been using it.

Exposure
Etsy - When a potential buyer does a search, the most newly listed items come up first. Because there are literally millions of items for sale, if your item was listed some time ago, there's practically no chance of a buyer sifting through enough items to find YOUR little gem. Many sellers are tempted to renew items regularly to push them to the top of the list, instead of waiting the 4-month period for them to expire. Of course, this costs US$0.20 per time, eating into one's profit margin. It's a dilemma.
ArtFire - Apparently every item that's listed appears on the front page for a certain amount of time, giving every seller some great exposure. The seller base is expanding rapidly though, so who knows how long this will last.

Features
Etsy - Has the bog standard forums and favourite list. Many people complain that the search feature is a bit crap. Sure, you can search by colour or sellers that have recently sold something, but you can't search by base country of seller. What the? Features such as the Treasuries seem to be more for sellers to play around than for buyers to find what they are looking for.
ArtFire - Has all of the standard features of Etsy, plus a few others such as Badges and a Karma score that can be earned. (I haven't managed to find out too much about these yet.) A big one is that you can customise the currency you want the prices shown in. Some terms are different, e.g. 'shop' in Etsy is 'My Studio' in ArtFire, and sellers are referred to as 'artisans'. There's much more of an inclusive, community feel to it. The categories are slightly different and have more emphasis on different materials and artforms. ArtFire is definitely geared towards artists - of all kinds.

Whether one site is 'better' than the other remains to be seen. This post was a lot longer than I intended it to be, as per usual!

More updates as they happen.
Bye!

Mosaic Monday - Softies

So sure, it's Friday. But that pretty much reflects my whole crafty activity schedule lately.
Goals - uncompleted. Thoughts - unthought. Ideas - unhad. Crafts - unmade.

Here are a few things I've been obsessed with though:

Softies! How wonderful are they? I can completely understand why people collect them. Here's a quick summary mosaic from Flickr:

Today I also joined Twitter. At first I thought, what on earth is the point of this site? But then people started adding me ('following me' is the term they use, as if I'm some kind of goddess! Heh!). So I started looking at their profiles, and their shops or blogs, and who follows them, etc etc. And I guess that means that some of them are looking at my profile/blog/shop, hopefully!

P.S. Stephen Fry is following me!!!! How surreal!

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Photo Credits:
1. Georgette & Lisette - Conjoined Twins plush, 2. Handsome Devil and P.T. Stitchy, 3. E, 4. horned ghost, 5. australian shepard plush, 6. Petronilla Oetingerilla, 7. Blue Mommy softie and kitten, 8. for etsy's upcycling contest, 9. Softie Mclovely Dinosaur "I'm ready for my close up", 10. for etsy's upcycling contest, 11. Frederick The Panda, 12. Puppy Forget Me Not, 13. Creature Feature: Alien - amigurumi, 14. jellimo kid dex, 15. Bjorn @ etsy.com, 16. reindeer oobees!!, 17. Striped bean softie, 18. Blue Siamese Kitty, 19. three chaps, 20. Dinosaur @ etsy.com, 21. new dolls, 22. Cute Face, 23. Prancer,Cupid & Donner, 24. Family :), 25. Luke The AstroNaughty

Dreaming

This morning I was so inspired by the pale sunshine on the trees as I was walking to work that I wrote a haiku. My first one in about 4 years. I want to write more as I find it a very relaxing and spiritual experience.

Then when I was (illicitly) browsing Etsy a little while later, I came across this Mini Book of Haiku. This got me all fired up for bookbinding as well as haiku! The method of folding the binding papers and enclosing the printed pages within them is absolutely gorgeous. How special the poems must be to be enfolded within such beautiful patterned Japanese paper.

Then I saw that the same seller is offering kits on making your own! Well, that was just too much for me. I haven't clicked the "Add To Cart' button - yet - but my head is swimming with beautiful papers and smooth waxed twine and ribbon and words.

And I have 5 hours to go until I finish work! *sighs*