Stellar Seller---9/28/07---DinnerTimeChimes

The Stellar Seller for this week is DinnerTimeChimes, also known as Erin :) All of you Owls reading this be sure & show her some love :) Any non-Owls reading this show her some love too!!!

Check out her shop at http://dinnertimechimes.etsy.com/

Tell us all about you, as much or as little as you'd love to share with the Etsy world.

Hi! I’m Erin. I’m 27 & I was born & raised in Winston-Salem, NC. Thanks to my parents, as a kid I had the opportunity to be into everything from soccer to girl scouts to animals. Over the years I took several classes introducing me to various art forms. While I enjoyed learning the arts of photography, ceramics, pottery, jewelry making, basketry, etc. I’ve rarely done anything with those arts since shortly after the classes finished. Thanks mainly to the many days I stayed with my grandma, I still enjoy quilting, sewing, felt appliqué, embroidery, scrap booking, and I’m sure there are others tucked away in my craft room---but I can’t bring myself to part with those finished projects! While I was still in school I LOVED entering my crafts & baked goods in the Dixie Classic Fair, which happens to be the second largest fair in our state. When we went to the fair as a family, I always wanted to walk through the exhibitions to see what ribbons I’d won first. I went to college at Campbell University, earning two degrees in Clinical Research. I met & married the man of my dreams in 2006 and now live in a small town in eastern NC. I’ve recently started a new job, which I love! When I’m not working at my *real* job, I’m either working in the yard (I really enjoy gardening too!) or working on crafts. I’m happiest when I’m busy making something.

Tell us about your shop and how you got started:

My daddy & I started making the wind chimes when I was at least in high school as way for me to have extra spending money. It also gave me something else to search for at flea markets, yard sales, & estate auctions. The chimes sold like crazy since they made a unique, inexpensive gift. However, once I went to college & started my career I didn’t have any way to make the chimes. Recently I convinced my hubby to buy a drill press for his shop. He was quickly introduced into the crazy world of silverplate silverware searches & making chimes--& the rest is history! I opened my Etsy shop in July on a whim, as another way to market the chimes. In the shop you’ll also find a few other silverware creations (key chains, bookmarks, recipe card holders) & other attempts of mine at recycling. I participate in a few local craft shows when I have time & have the chimes in a few stores in the Winston-Salem area too. The best part is seeing the look on people faces when they turn around & realize that the beautiful sound that they’ve been hearing is coming from these chimes which were made from recycled forks & spoons!

What inspires you to create?

I have to be doing something or making something to be happy! I enjoy searching for vintage silverplate that has seen better days, taking it home to polish it & then transforming it in a wind chime that be enjoyed by someone for years to come. Whether it’s making chimes or working on one of my many other sewing projects there’s something peaceful about it.

Describe yourself in 1 word: Creative

Favorite...

Book: The Great Gatsby

Movie: Pretty Woman...although we saw Good Luck Chuck last weekend and it was pretty good!

Song: Because of You by Reba & Kelly Clarkson

Round One Is OUTTA HERE!!!

Okay, Round One of our Three Part **New Media Challenge** is over. The winner was Jamie's Ribbon Bracelet, pictured stage right, with an amazing 21 hearts!!!


This competition was VERY close, with Lora's Glass Marble Magnets getting 20 hearts and Sharon's Chunky Scarf logging in at 17. Great job ladies!!!



The next round will start very soon, with two-three more entries, & then next week will be one more round with some more entries, and then in two weeks we'll have a face-off between the final three. Stay tuned!!!

Stellar Seller---September 21st---Suenosdejmi

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Suenosdejmi, also known in the physical world as Jamie, is this week's stellar seller. She's V-P of the Etsy Owls & has been on Etsy for almost a year. Check her shop out at http://suenosdejmi.etsy.com/

And read her interview!!!!

Tell us all about you, as much or as little as you'd love to share with the Etsy world. :)

Well, I'm Jamie, I'm 24, & I'm a college student born, mostly raised, & living in East Tennessee. I've been crocheting for, seriously, as long as I can remember. I learned from my mom & my grandmother (my dad's mom), both of who are awesome craftastic women. I have a blanket I've been crocheting since I was that little...probably 8 or 9 or so, and it's only just now reached around 3 feet wide (it's about 7 or 8 feet long...). You can look at it and see the progress I've made over the years with my crocheting. It's quite amazing.

If that didn't clue you in, I really don't do well with projects that take a long time...I have a seriously short attention span. So, I enjoy making scarves because they're fairly quick & creative. :)

Um...what else? Okay, so college student. I have my Associates degree in Spanish, and I'm almost finished with my Bachelors in Cross-Cultural Sociology & Spanish. Hopefully, I will be spending my last undergraduate semester in Spain! (So buy things from me, because it'll help me get there!!!) After that, I'm probably going to graduate school at East Tennessee State University for Appalachian Studies.

I'm not married, but hopefully I will be eventually, to my total sweetie of the last 2 & a half years :)

What is your shop about & how did you get started???
Well, my shop is all about crocheting, and the occasional

beaded/buttoned/tied piece of jewelry. I like experimenting

with jewelry, but I'm not into it enough to make it full time. I just buy lots of beads & pretend :)

I opened my Etsy shop up last November, but didn't really get active until this past June or so. I started my shop as an outlet for my crocheted scarves, because I got totally into the habit of making them in classes & wanted an excuse to keep crocheting habitually. So, now I have my excuse, & I'm having tons of fun with it. :)

What inspires you to create?

Color. Lots of color. I see a certain color combination somewhere, like in a bouquet of plastic flowers, and suddenly I'm inspired to see them poured out in stitches across a scarf. I like lots of color in my pieces, so it's quite rare that I'll make a scarf with just one color in it. I'm sort of a biased designer in the sense that I design for what I like, and less for what others might like. I have to be in love with my pieces, or I can't keep going. I suppose my creation process is the same for my writing (I write poetry), I get inspired by what's going on in the world around me. I want to push all that activity into a poem, or a scarf, or a unique little bracelet, & send it out into the world to exist. That's the magic that is art.

Describe yourself in 1 word:

Just one? I'm always horrible at these....I would probably have to say....eclectic

What's your favorite:

Book: there's sooo many...but, Harry Potter (either 3, 5, 6, 0r 7), Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich, or about 100 others...:)

Movie: again, HP 3, which is Prisoner of Azkaban, or Coyote Ugly. I'm picky about movies so not quite as many as books, but definitely more.

Song: Can't pick one. I would have to say Natalie Imbruglia "Troubled by the Way We Came Together", and almost any song by Jewel, Evanescence, or Shakira. :)

New Medium Challenge (Week of September 16)

The challege for this week was to create an item out of materials you have never used before. It was a chance for us to all get out of the box and do something a little different!

Only three of our members participated in this challenge, & the "voting" is going to be done by how many hearts each item gets---so if you like one of these items, click on the link and ♥ it!!

(we'd all welcome a purchase too!)

Lora's Glass Marble Magnets:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7103740

Sharon's Harvest Festival Scarf:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7105458

Jamie's Ribbon Bracelet:http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=7105111

September 9th Stellar Seller---KnitAndPearl

KnitAndPearl, a.k.a. Kristen, is the treasurer of the Etsy Owls & winner of the Wedding Challenge, which part of her prize includes being featured as this week's stellar seller. Read her interview & check her out at http://knitandpearl.etsy.com/

Tell us all about you, as much or as little as you'd love to share with the Etsy world. :)

Well... I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago with my parents and two younger sisters. I was one of those kids who was involved with everything. From girl scouts to choir to basketball to figure skating to drama to rock 'n' roll drumming... I'm exhausted now... :) But I've always been interested in the arts. I love to create and share what I've created with others.I've met the love of my life and I married him in January of 2005. No babies yet... but hopefully soon! I've been managing a restaurant for almost 5 years now. It's the second love of my life. Most of the time I complain about it, but I wouldn't trade it for any other job in the world. I have an amazing staff who I am proud to consider my friends. Every day going to work is enjoyable for me. What's more enjoyable is coming home and sitting down to create a new necklace or knit up a scarf! I've been making jewelry for about 3 years and knitting for about 1 year. I also enjoy pulling out the Ol' Singer and seeing what turns out! Anything craft related - I've either tried or is next on my list to try. I am happiest when I'm putting the finishing touches on a project.

Let us hear all about your shop & how you got started...

I opened my shop at the beginning of July. I've been wanting to do this for a long time and a friend of mine told me about Etsy. I've been in love ever since.I've tried for years to come up with a good name for a shop. I've had several prototypes that I always felt embarrassed to say. As soon as knitandpearl came to me, I knew it was the one! (For those of you who don't know... a PURL is a backwards knit stitch. When you are making a "rib" stitch you knit 1 and purl 1) So that's where I am :) Hopefully, I will have a fruitful year on Etsy! SO far it's been GREAT!

What inspires you to create?

I am most inspired by wild color palettes. I like my jewelry to feel like a work of art. I like to use big bold colors in my knitting and crocheting. I make the best stuff when I'm listening to good music!

Describe yourself in 1 word: Abnormal

What's your favorite:

Book: Eke... I love books... OK it's a three-way tie between "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving and "Haunted" by Chuck Palahniuk although, I'm sure more "favorites" will come later

Movie: "The Goonies" YES! BabyRuth!

Song: This is hard too because I love music... "The Entertainer" by Billy Joel, "I'm Waking Up to Us" by Belle and Sebastian and "Chance Dance" by Ulele (Check them out BTW - super cool)

Stellar Seller of the Week - knotartwa

http://www.knotartwa.etsy.com/

This week we are featuring one of our own OWLS, Rita. She's better known on Etsy as knotartwa! Here's what Rita says about herself and her art.

I started macrame when I was 5 yrs old in Russia and made curtains and traditional items into my 20's. I moved to America 2005 and with the support of my husband we started a small stay at home business, this has allowed me the chance to explore my art and I am bringing it to you. I am most inspired by my new life, my wonderful daughter, and my husbands designs for me have really got my creative juices going. So far my favorite items are the matching stone and hemp necklace and bracelet sets, I really like the natural look and simplicity.

I am 27 and live north of Seattle Washington, I am a young homemaker and love being mom. I left my family and friends to pursue a life with my American man in 2005, it was scary and exciting all wrapped into one big adventure that unfolds every day. I aspire to make enough as an artist to bring a good life to my 15 month old daughter, who is everything to me.

My favorite color is blue.
My favorite song is "wind of change" by the Scorpions
My favorite movie is "Dragonfly" with Kevin Cosner
My favorite food is Sushi
My favorite book is "Hard Boiled" by Frank Miller