Spring Challenge

Here are the entries for the team Spring Challenge. Do 2 things here.

1. Use the poll in the sidebar to vote for the winning prize.
2. Leave a comment at the bottom of this blog post to enter to win the prize. Make sure you are signed into an ID that has a way for us to contact you if you win, or leave a way for us to contact you in your comment.

The prize will be the item that gets the most votes in the pole, so vote for the item you want the most! Anyone can vote, so there may be more votes than comments.

Everyone who is inside the US and not on the Eastern Washington Etsy Street Team is eligible to win the prize. Deadline for voting is Friday, March 27th at 5PM Pacific Daylight time, so do it now! Winner will be chosen by the number picker at random.org. Comment entries will be numbered in the order received. Chances of winning are one in however many comments are received. You must be in the US to comment.

Entry #1 Pin Cushion Caddy (tools not included) from LCS Cottage

Entry #2 Palm Wax Candle and Painted Holder from GlitznGlass

Entry #3 Greeting Card from Random Scraps

Entry #4 Handmade Journal from Ragnazidnar

Entry #5 Framed Poem Magnet 5.5" x 5" by That70'sShoppe

Entry #6 Jewelry Set from Fashionably Adorned

Entry #7 Coin Purse from StudioCherie

Entry #8 Earrings from BeadedSplendor


Entry #9 Choker by DanaBurger

Entry #10 Coin, Cell Phone, Etc. frame pouch by SeamsVictorian

Etsy Marketing Primer-vera

For those of us who are serious about our Etsy marketing, this is a must-read article in the Storque. It is written by Etsy's new marketing consulant, Lou Sagar. Here is an exerpt from his bio:

A few years ago, I wrote a book "Zona Home". My vision was that Home is Sanctuary. It is where most of us enjoy the opportunity to be creative and expressive. We tell stories about our family, our heritage, and our loves...I work today as a brand strategist, and I love what I do.

If you are busy making things like I am, make things that will get the most attention on Etsy, the article lists the holidays and themes that will be highlighted. An easy one to work into just about any product would be gardens. Update your tags, if you haven't already. I don't think having winter as a tag will get much attention this season.

As always, photography is the major issue for online sellers. Here are some quick tips that you can use right now. Use a cyc. This will create a background that is not distracting from your product. For small products, a 12 inch square of scrapbooking paper can become your cyc. For larger items, get a roll of paper or of fabric. When using fabric this way, wrinkles and folds create a distraction, so I like to use suede or a well pressed piece of linen.

The other thing you can start using immediately is a reflector. Anything that is large and white can be used as a reflector. The lid from a large rubbermaid container works great. Sometimes you need helpers to hold these for you while you shoot the photo. If you have a tripod and a timer, you can be the photographer and the assistant yourself. Try holding the reflector at different angles and pay attention to how the light changes. The idea is to bounce light back up from the source (usually a window for me this time of year) onto your product.

Above is a little example of using the cyc and the reflector. I left the table uncovered for contrast, but you might want to cover the table in something white, to reflect more light. In the last shot, you can barely see the pincushion I used to prop up the glass case.

Of course Etsy has a ton of photography tips as well. Here is a handy link to those. I found instructions for a cool trick that some of you might like to use on colorful items to make your photo look like this one with the background black and white and the item in color. The instructions are for photoshop. The place where I found them, photo.net, could be a good resource for you.

The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown Down

Who will pick it up? Our first team challenge is on, here are all of the details. (I don't make gauntlets, so I am throwing this bag down, and we can all pretend it's a gauntlet - it's my entry too.)

Theme: Spring
Craft an item relating to this theme. It can be any size or type of
item and does not have to be something you carry in your shop.

Cost Limit: None
You can spend as much or as little crafting this item, but make sure it is within your comfort level for a giveaway item. One person will win your entry if it receives the most votes.

Deadline: March 20th (the first day of Spring) 12pm
Please submit your photos no later than 12pm on March 20th to be
included for judging (by voters on this blog.) Any late entries will not be included. You may
send them before (please do!) but not after this date and time.

Submit to: Cherie of Studio Cherie via email: cherie@...
Please include one high quality image of your item to Cherie. To keep things uniform, please crop your photos to 3 x 3 inches and keep them between 100 and 300 dpi.

Judging Begins: March 20th 5pm
Judging will begin the evening of the deadline. Cherie will have our team's challenge on our team blog by 5pm on March 20th to kick off the first day of Spring. The photos will be posted and numbered, and there will be a poll in the right column of the blog where people can vote.

Judging Ends: March 27th 5pm
Exactly one week for judging. All comments left before this date and time will be counted and will be entered into the raffle to draw a person to win the winning entry.

Voting Restrictions: Voters must be at least 18 years old and US residents.
Anyone may vote by leaving a comment on the blog. Voting is open to team members and non-team members alike.

Prize: Randomly chosen voter (from outside the team) receives the winning entry.
The challenge winner will receive a lengthy feature on our team's blog and will have bragging rights as the Spring Challenge Winner!

Other useful tips:
-- Good photography is just as important as creativity. Make sure to
take well designed, clear, crisp photos of your entry. It is all the
voters will have to go off of.
-- Those not participating in the challenge can still help out by
promoting it on their blogs and various web pages. Help draw people to
our team blog!
-- If you cannot participate in this challenge, there will be many
others. Our next proposed challenge will be "Easter" and the deadline
is, you guessed it, Easter!
-- Got a great idea for an upcoming challenge? Contact our team VP and
Challenge Leader, Andi.