Featured artist: Caliopescaprice fine beaded jewelry

Browsing over our top 50 repeat winners lately I spotted a shop with really unique jewelry items... Caliopescaprice, which just opened at the end of March. Everything was so colorful, and so beautifully photographed, I had to blog about her and ask some questions!

72nd place May 26th, 2012
May 26th! Items from $26-$26.99.
Necklace polymer clay Green, green game necklace, polymer clay necklace, green beads necklace
by caliopescaprice

Tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Sara, I am a 26 years old spanish girl. Nowadays I live in Utrecht, Holland, making a master's program about physical oceanography and meteorology. I live here with my couple that sometimes, helps me with the jewelry, in a very small apartment. It is so small that I had to choose between use polymer clay or beads for jewelry making!!. I am here since 2011, and I like it too much, very different than my own home, I thing is a nice experience.

Featured June 6th, 2012
Welcome Wednesday! The newest Etsy shops' items from $1-$50.
Pink white earrings, sweet tubular long peyote pieces.
by caliopescaprice

What got started making handmade items?
4 years ago, I guess, I was helping to get money for a student trip. Usually for it you make parties, sell t-shirts, food and handmade items. While I was looking for handmade items to do, I found a website talking about beaded items, how to do it, the materials you need. I thing I fell in love since the first moment. And I started to learn how to do them with internet. 4 years later I am still in love with it. Two years ago I started to work with polymer clay too for a short time, then for personal reasons I had to stop making jewelry till this year.

Featured May 23rd, 2012
Welcome Wednesday! The newest Etsy shops' items from $1-$50.
Necklace beaded two faced, long necklace, two faced pendant, round peyote pendant
by caliopescaprice

What got you to open your shop on etsy?
In Vigo, my city, I used to sold items to the people I know, family, friends... But here in Holland, I lost my circle, then I began to accumulate a lot of pieces. I decide to try etsy as a way to sell the things I made, but to be honest, it is no working pretty well.

15th place May 16th, 2012
Welcome Wednesday! The newest Etsy shops' items from $1-$50.
Blue and brown beaded bracelet, blue squares bracelet, blue and brown beads bracelet
by caliopescaprice

Any other links to yourself on other websites you'd like to share with us?
I would like to share with you my blog: www.caliopescaprice.blogspot.com a place where I share with you the things I made as well as the tutorials I used for them or tips about how to do them.

Green red necklace, beaded beads, striped balls
by Caliopescaprice

My etsy pet peeve of the day: all the jpeg shop banners

It's no secret that the average etsian is more likely to be a good photographer than a computer expert, and that's okay. We're all good at what we're good at. But something has been bugging the CRUD out of me lately: jpeg shop banners that should NOT be jpeg.

The jpeg file format was optimized for compressing photographs... images taken of real life, where colors merge and shades change and backgrounds blur. For product photos, it's super.

But lots of etsians don't use photos in their shop banners, they want a professional clean "website" look. The banners have digitally created text, smooth lines, perfect gradients... stuff that doesn't occur in nature, just publishing. And that's okay! If you use the right file format.

When jpeg compression sees a perfectly straight line with contrasting colors on either side, it doesn't think the cleanliness is all that important. It approximates the colors on either side of the line... that's why you get jpeg "artifacts", or the little blurry dots and squares on the edges of an otherwise clean field of color.

They can be subtle... but they always look like crap.



So what format should you use?

If your banner consists of very few colors, like text on a plain background, gif will make for an accurate representation without using a whole lot of kilobytes. The fast-loading image will make people happy.

If your banner has lots of colors, but consists of mostly digital components like text, gradients, lines and shapes drawn in your graphics program, .png may work the best. While the file sizes can be slightly larger, .png is a lossless algorithm so your lines will stay crisp. Play with it a bit, see what it does to your file size.


by Louis Brandy

If your banner is a mix of photos, textures, and digital components, .jpeg still might be the best choice but be sure to check the compression settings when you save the file. If your quality is lower than 95 or so, you could end up with a cheap looking banner.

We work so hard on shop cohesion and lovely banners, it's a shame to think of losing quality because we pick the wrong option when we "save as". Don't be afraid to drift away from jpeg, even if it's the format you've known and loved for years. There's no such thing as the perfect tool for everything.

my scrapbook paper generator

One day I wanted to print off some cute little bunting flags for another project and was having a heck of a time finding basic pattern images... we're talking stripes, chevrons, POLKA DOTS for heavens sake. So I started making my own. Then realized, since php has a nice simple colorizing filter built in, it'd be faster to write a program to set up my colors than it would to open each one individually. Then I realized, hey the rest of the world might like this too.

So that's how spacefem's scrapbook generator has been born.



It's pretty darn simple... you enter or click a color on the first page, it uses that color on all the patterns I've uploaded, and there are quite a few. Then if you like a pattern, you can click it for a bigger tiled version, or to see it in more colors.

Here's a nice Moroccan lattice quatrefoil that it came up with, I made the pattern myself and just liked the brown, but it's also available in other colors:



And here are ever-important chevrons, in blue... here they are in lots of colors.



So you get the idea. Whatever images you generate from the page are public domain, you can use them for whatever you darn well please. I felt like that was the nice thing to do. I can't believe some of the simple patterns that people are selling on etsy... I guess if you want to buy that stuff it's up to you! But I just needed something easy and customizable, and am happy to offer it out to the world. If you use it, or if you're into scrapbooking, I'd love some feedback and comments. And it's really easy for me to add new patterns, so if you want to contribute a tile or two let me know.

The week in coupons

Earlier this week we hit 500 coupons on our big huge list of etsy coupons which is pretty exciting, thanks to all of you with shops who are offering us some great deals! Here are some of the highest scoring items with discounts that I just love:

1st place June 15th, 2012
June 15th! Items from $15-$15.99.
Dark pink jade and silver wire wrapped ring free shipping
by Amayeli

Coupon code: facebook 15% off

6th place June 14th, 2012
Theme Thursday! Flag items from $1-$50.
Patriotic Rag Wreath
by ATPitman

Coupon code: TAKETEN 10% off

6th place June 10th, 2012
Swanky Sunday! Items from $100-$249.99.
ON SALE Druzy Necklace, Freshwater Pearl Necklace by Amanda Lynne LUXE
by amandalynneLUXE

Coupon code: SUMMER30 30% off

31st place June 10th, 2012
Swanky Sunday! Items from $100-$249.99.
Handmade Morganite Black Tourmaline and rose quartz necklace
by pagancellarjewelry

Coupon code: ILOVEVINTAGE 25% off

25th place June 9th, 2012
June 9th! Items from $9-$9.99.
RED BLUE YELLOW squares printed Wallet
by efratul

Coupon code: HOLIDAYS 20% off

98th place June 15th, 2012
June 15th! Items from $15-$15.99.
Fresh Pizza Coaster Set
by cecrafts

Coupon code: TEAM10 10% off

65th place June 10th, 2012
Swanky Sunday! Items from $100-$249.99.
Amethyst, Pearl, Swarovski, Vermeil Statement Necklace Womens Gemstone OOAK
by loveactuallyjewelry

Coupon code: BigEtsyContest 10% off

90th place June 10th, 2012
Swanky Sunday! Items from $100-$249.99.
Anniversary Wedding Engagement Wind Chimes Custom Doves Snowflakes, a Wedding Chapel and Hearts
by LaurelArts

Coupon code: EC25 25% off

Featured artist & inteview: jarg0n

We have over 2700 shops signed up for the contest these days, wow! And the one with the highest winning average out of all of them is jarg0n, a geeky knitter from yorkshire with wonderful things to say. I'm happy to be learning more about this shop, her items are absolutely delightful!

June 3rd, 2012 - featured
Knitted teapot cozy novelty red devil horns tea cosy knit unique unusual cozies Made to Order
by jarg0n

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m 42 years old and was born and raised in the North of England, a true Yorkshire lass.
I live with my partner Mick, my 15 year old son and our two cats Betty and Pixel (known as Fatty and Meanie, respectively).
I've home educated my son for the last 3 and a half years with help from a charity called “Red Balloon” who work with severely bullied children and try to get them back into education.

Monster beanie crazy hat unique unusual monster knit hats handmade critter beanie in deep pink with eyeballs
by jarg0n

What got you started making handmade items?
My mum and gran used to craft stuff all the time, so I guess it’s just something I’ve been brought up with. These were craftswomen from a tougher time, back when crochet was a fine art and there was no wool that couldn’t be knitted. I learned to knit at a very early age and was always more creative than academic.
As a teenager I was really into the punk and goth scene, and since most shops were reluctant to sell leather neckbands I made almost all my own clothes. I remember one of my outfits was created from a school blackout curtain and part of a cricket net I cut down one break time (sorry Mr. Thomlinson).
When I left school I did art at college before going into care work as a job. However for some reason they never appreciated my ability to knit baby hats blindfolded, so my creativity was put on hold for a few years.

May 31st, 2012 - 15th place
Bow scarf knitted ascot scarf retro 50s style scarflette neck warmer in beautiful rainbow colors
by jarg0n

What got you to open your shop on etsy?
When I began to home educate my son I found I had more time on my hands at home, so I reentered the crafting world with just a few balls of wool and a couple of hat designs. My partner mentioned etsy, so I took a look round the site and loved it! My mum had just recently retired so I asked if she wanted to open a shop up with me on etsy with her doing the crochet and me the knitted items. We have enjoyed every day since!

What is your home like?
We have a small terraced house very close to the town center. Since I opened the shop our living room has turned into a maze of bookcases, drawers and boxes stuffed with enough wool to make an alpaca cringe!

When I moved in the only thing I wanted was to shell out for the dining table of our dreams. Unfortunately those dreams have just been crushed by my partner Mick, who’s started using the table for his two laptops and a 3D printer he’s using to start his own Etsy shop (“because who needs family dinners, anyway?”).

Anime cat ears headband knit animal ears brown ear warmer cute chunky cat hairband
by jarg0n

What inspires you?
Lots of different things. It can be a cartoon, or a picture, or (in the case of the shrunken head bags) those old black and white horror movies about monsters beating up hysterical teenagers.
Knitting has always been classed as a pretty old fashioned craft and I try to push the boundaries of what can be created.

Knit frilly scarf ruffle flamenco cancan burlesque scarf in rich purple and burgundy berry reds
by jarg0n

Tips for other etsy artists?
Create what you love and enjoy the downtime when you are not selling, this is the time that you can create many new things for your shop without pressure. :)

New project: EtsyTrades.com

I made a new website over the weekend: a big database of etsians who love to trade! I've blogged about trading before and how it's such a spectacular way to combine my love of getting new things on etsy with my love of sending stuff I make OUT OF MY HOUSE but there's never been a great way to search for interested traders.

There are trade teams, of course, and some of them have a tag they encourage people to use on items, but lots of folks might not want to use a precious tag on something the average etsy shopper won't search for (and I have to say... I've had almost no search hits based on my use of team tags). There are other teams and blogs that attempt to compile exhaustive lists of traders and what they're looking for, but the information is out of date almost as soon as it's down, and it depends on one person doing so much work... just not a practical, sustainable solution, I think.

So now there's EtsyTrades.com! Each shop owner enters their own wishlist and a sample of items they want to make available for trade. The database is searchable, and it automatically makes you a page of people who are looking for your items, and similarly priced goods up for trade.

I AM SO EXCITED!

Oh, and all the information automatically expires after it's 30 days old, so you know everything on there is fresh, the traders are recently interested, the shops are open for business and your odds are good.

If you have suggestions I'd love to hear them, but I'd like to invite all trade-happy etsians to sign up and tell us what you want to trade. There's no better way to show your love of etsy, I say!