Our first ever Inland Northwest Treasury Challenge!

Welcome to the very first Inland Northwest Team Treasury Challenge.  For those that have not participated in a challenge before, let me give you a run-down of how it works.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/76795601/sun-medallion-with-recycled-glass

THE RULES:



1) Use the item above in your treasury. This item is from the Etsy shop SeeingIsBelieving. Your treasury can have any theme you like as long as it includes this item.

2) This item MUST be placed within the first three rows of your treasury.

3) Tag your treasury with “inwchallenge” (all one word). We recommend you fill all of the remaining 17 tags with descriptive words pertaining to your treasury, as this will increase your treasury’s exposure.

4) You MUST post a link to your treasury as a comment on this blog post.

5) In the description section of your treasury you MUST include the URL for this blog post.

OTHER NOTES:

- You can make as many challenge treasuries as you want (as long as they include the featured item).

- You are not required to be a Inland Northwest Team member in order to participate in (or win) these challenges.

- Participants are allowed to win more than once.

- PLEASE make sure you don’t forget guidelines #4 and #5 listed above.

- If any of the above guidelines above are forgotten your treasury could be disqualified from this challenge.

You have until Sunday, July 3rd, to create your treasury (or treasuries). The winner will be announced sometime the following week.

If your treasury is chosen as the winner you will be notified as soon as possible. We’ll ask you to select one of the items from your shop to be featured in our next challenge. If you do not have an Etsy shop we’ll ask you to nominate a shop. We will also ask you to select the winning treasury for the challenge in which you (or your nominated shop) are featured.

Thanks for playing! Good luck!!

Interview with Lori Cook Of Kilted Woman

I enjoyed learning more about Lori and her unique and exciting shop. She also shares some wonderful advice on how to market your shop.

First off so everyone can get to know each other better what is your 'real' name? And where do you live? Tell us a little about yourself.

Lori Cook, I live in Richland, WA with my husband and two sons. My husband is from Scotland and right now I am sitting in the local Aryshire, Scotland library using their internet service. I am originally from a small town in Oregon. I met my husband on match.com and we have been married for 6 years. We enjoy traveling back to Scotland about every two years to visit family, beach comb and take pictures. I really enjoy old cemeteries and artful stonework found in the graveyards here. I have been a registered nurse for about 20 years. I currently work with the elderly but previously I worked in a state hospital for the mentally ill for 13 years.

How did you learn about Etsy? How long has your shop been open?

My friend Dana was selling her jewelry on Etsy and I decided to give it a try. I began in November. I had picked up many pieces of sea glass and sea pottery on previous vacations in Scotland so I started making necklaces with it. Now can't seem to stop creating things! My shop only has a portion of what I have made and I am nearly at 300 items listed!

How did you come up with you shop name?

I started Scottish highland dancing two years ago and I wear a blue tartan dancing kilt. Originally the dances were only performed by men and only men could wear the kilt. It was a novelty to see a woman in a kilt and was considered very daring. I thought Kilted Woman would be a good representation of what my shop was about.

What do you like most about your shop appearance? What would you like to improve? I like my banner. I took the picture in Dunure, Scotland which is the location of one of my favorite ruined castles. I need to improve the brightness of my pictures. I have some pictures I took in full sunlight which turned out well but I find I run out of time to retake the rest of them.

What is your creative style? Is your work area neat and tidy or a disaster? What inspires you? I like to keep things tidy, I have little labeled drawers where all of my things go. (Sort of like a nurses medication cart!) I like to look at a piece of glass or pottery and imagine where it has been and who used it for what purpose. I put things together one way and then take them apart and put them together a different way. It might take me several tries to get what I like. If I wouldn't wear it then I won't sell it. I am inspired by Scottish history, architecture and scenery. It is full of depth and layers.

What is your favorite Etsy story? (ie: a funny sales story or customer interaction.) I can't think of anything funny that's happened but I have met many fellow TriCities sellers and have made some new friends through Etsy. I find that really the most enjoyable part of this site. I just sold some wine charms to a lady in Scotland and sent them by mail from Washington before I realized I could have pretty much hand delivered them to her this week!

Do you have any advice you’d like to share?

Take great pictures, that is the key to selling things people can't actually touch or see. Use the Etsy application to make a catalog of your things and leave the catalog in the break room at work. Buy a purse with windows in it for photos and use it to display your wares-works well for selling jewelry.

Enjoy some of the wonderful treasuries created by the INWTeam featuring Lori's items.

Craft Party Wire Wrapping

Adults in this photo: Sarah, Sarahndippity; Coleen, ByrnesJewlers; Megan, FlowYogaMats and CountryBlossom; Tera, CreativityisMessy; Ivy, DistinctlyIvy; Tera, TeraBliss
To celebrate the 6th anniversary of Etsy, we got together and learned something new. Sarah of SarahnDippity was our expert teacher and she walked us through making her lovely Baroque pearl pendant. I was really impressed with everyone's results.

There was also all kinds of yummy food supplied by the attendees. Rachel of OrangeThyme couldn't make it, but she gave us each a lip balm and a fragrance sample. Thank you!

Tera, CreativityisMessy, gave us some fun bottle cap refrigerator magnets. I supplied the name tags that turn into magnetic picture frames for the fridge.

We all agreed that we should do something like this again. Thanks again Sarah! And thanks to Coleen, ByrnesJewelers, for being our gracious host.

Maybe next time we can play more with fire - I think Sarah would like that! Check the StudioCherie blog if you want to see what I made at the craft party.

Who's ready for a Craft Party?!?

This Saturday, June 18th, the Inland Northwest Etsy Team will be having a Team Craft Party in the Spokane Area!!  This will be an awesome opportunity for members to participate in a fun "craft" project, eat some delish food, receive a very special goodie bag of gifts, and meet and hang out with fellow members of the INWTeam!

A big thanks to Coleen, of ByrnesJewelrs for allowing the team to invade her home.  And to Sarah, of Sarahndippity, who will be teaching the project.  I hope you both know what you are in for!

Details and photos will be posted on the blog after the party.  Stay tuned!

Featured in Summer Issue Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine

Ed and Linda of ArtsontheVine are featured in the Summer issue of Belle Armoire Jewelry Magazine. Click on the link to see a preview of the magazine. Their article is called luxurious lampwork. Congratulations Ed and Linda!