Art Jewelry magazine Editors' Blog : etsy

Jennifer Kahn's Etsy video

Jill Erickson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:31:00 GMT

Jennifer Kahn is a young, accomplished jewelry maker who works in traditional metals and metal clay. When Hazel found a snazzy video that Jennifer made, I just had to call dibs on it for blogging! Check out Jennifer's fast-paced, syncopated Etsy video that features the creation of a metal clay pendant.

For a slower paced video on how to use a handheld butane torch, go to the Art Jewelry magazine video demos!

Have a great week. Cheers, Jill :)

Halloween vampire ring on Etsy

Jill Erickson — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:13:00 GMT

If you're a bit of a Halloween fanatic, you'll probably appreciate this polymer clay ring posted on a seller's Etsy site. Knowing how much I enjoy the ghoulish holiday, Addie forwarded me the link. I love getting personal email notices with links to stuff I like. And I like to reciprocate when I come across a site that I know will resonate with a certain friend or someone in my family. Back in the day, we used to send snail mail post cards or newspaper/magazine clippings. Now we can keep in touch "across the miles" as those old greeting cards used to say...with the tap of our keyboards.
Happy Halloween!
>..< (that's supposed to be a bat!) Cheers, Jill

All about press releases, information from The Storque at Etsy!

Addie Kidd — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:00:00 GMT

If you're an artist trying to make any sort of money by selling your jewelry, self-promotion is key. But let's face it, talking about yourself can be tricky — what do you say, whom do you tell, how do you show off without sounding like a show-off?

Press releases are one of the most tried and true ways to drum up excitement, and possibly publicity, about your work.

We get our fair share of press releases here at Art Jewelry. And let me tell you, from someone on this side of the equation, we're grateful for them. Seriously. There's a lot going on out there, and unless it's brought to our attention we in the press might miss some of the good stuff.

If you've never dabbled in press releases, the folks over at Etsy have written up a great entry with all sorts of tips and information about press releases. It's part of their Storque section, which has tons of other fun and useful articles and information for artists and creators.

Happy self-promoting!

~Addie~

Etsy Finds: Wear Audrey Hepburn on your wrist and Sonny and Cher on your ears with these cool pieces of jewelry!

Katie Streeter — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:41:00 GMT

I always enjoy seeing what new things the artists on Etsy are creating. I inevitably find something that's extra clever and creative and deserves some recognition. Today, jewelry influenced by movie and TV stars caught my attention.

First, I found these cool seed bead bracelets. I usually don't get into seed beads, but these were too cool to pass by without a second look. Pink Pooch Designs uses seed beads to stitch the likenesses of famous actors and actresses, including Audrey Hepburn (left), Lucille Ball, James Dean, and many more.

Pop Bangles was my other find of the day. This artist prints images of celebrities on photo paper and seals them in plastic. Sonny and Cher (below), Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz, and the women of Sex and the City are a few of the stars available in Pop Bangles' earrings.

––Katie

Buying and selling jewelry online

Hazel Wheaton — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:11:00 GMT

After reading my post of 12/19 about the wonders of handmade gifts and the growing etsy.com phenomenon, a reader sent me a link to another great site where independent jewelry makers (and, indeed, makers of all kinds of things) sell their work. Just as jewelry artisans might sell their work at trunk shows, now they can sell it at trunkt.org. The site has much in common with etsy.com (including some of the same artists), but I find the trunkt.org layout more user-friendly in minor ways — I personally find it easier to navigate, and so far I've been quite impressed with the consistency of quality of artists.

I have to admit, I was a bit behind the curve when it came to online jewelry sales. I'm continually being reminded that when it comes to the Internet era, I'm part of the Old Guard. I still remember Usenet, and the primitive message boards that we used at my college. And when personal Web sites started appearing, I was firmly of the opinion that jewelry was one of those things that wouldn't do all that well online, because buying jewelry is such a personal — and often very tactile — experience. In order to buy a piece of jewelry, I felt, a buyer had to be able to pick it up, fondle it, try it on, feel its weight. Pixels on a screen couldn't ever hope to replace that, surely!

Well, things have obviously changed. I now happily buy all sorts of things online that I never thought I would. I'm a dedicated online catalog shopper, and boy, did I miss that particular boat! How could I possibly buy clothes if I couldn't try them on first, I thought. Now, avoiding the crowded dressing rooms is one of the things I most appreciate about online shopping! And jewelry is no different. I vastly underestimated how personal personal Web pages could get, how much of a sense of the designer's style and personality could come across on a computer screen. I don't think online jewelry shopping will ever completely replace the bricks-and-mortar experience (although I should learn not to make such absolute predictions!), but there's no doubt that online adornment buying is alive and well.

Web sites aren't the only ones who are getting it — one of my favorite recent discoveries is a catalog (along with a Web site) called The Artful Home. They're proof that catalog shopping can exist side by side with limited-edition and one-of-a-kind work by highly individual artists. Browsing through the jewelry listings is like looking like a recap of my old favorites, names I've known and respected for years, with a healthy dose of new recommendations thrown in. Did I ever think the day would come when I could buy jewelry by Eleanor Moty in a catalog?

(If you're planning on selling your work online, either through sites like those I'm mentioned or through your own personal Web site, here's one very small piece of advice from a dedicated online buyer. Let me know how big the piece is. Give measurements, or include a commonly recognized household item for scale, so that I can judge how it'll look on me. If it's a ring, it's less vital, because I can estimate the real size by the shank, but when it comes to a brooch or a pendant, size does matter!)

What person wouldn't love the word "handmade?"

Addie Kidd — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 21:01:00 GMT

Certainly not I. I adore handmade things! I "smith" my own gold, knit my own scarves, and sew my own duvets. I rarely "chef" my own meals...but that avoidance is another story entirely.

One of the greatest things to happen to the handmade art world in recent history is Etsy. If you haven't explored it's crafty depths, I suggest you click now. (No need to navigate away; just open a new browser window. I promise ArtJewelryMag.com and Etsy.com can play nice together on your screen.) Etsy is an online collection of independent artists gathered for your shopping (and/or selling) pleasure.
On it you'll find:

finished jewelry
jewelry components
tools for jewelry and other handwork genres
sculptural objects
fiber creations
yarn, fabric, and other raw crafty ingredients
unique clothing
antique and vintage items
craft supplies
artwork

It's that last point that brings me to my blog today. Usually Etsy leads me to jewelry, but this time I ended up with fresh artwork for my home instead. Earlier this week I received in the mail some of the prettiest artwork I've bought in a long time. And I love-love-love that it's handmade, one-of-a-kind, and completely mine.

I found the artist, Racheal Anilyse, through the "Suggestions" feature of Etsy. As you browse the wares available on the Web site, you can click on your favorites. Then, Etsy will suggest new thing you might like based on your preferences. That led me to a sweet little illustration of a red bee balm flower that Racheal had for sale. I emailed her with a request of 4 more unusual flowers to go along with the lonely bee balm. I was met with an enthusiastic response, and a mere few weeks later I now have my handmade garden!

Racheal even liked the flowers so much that she turned the images into a notecard set. What a great way to spread the "handmade-ed-ness" around! I suppose it's sort of like sculpting a beautiful ring, and then creating a mold from it. More than just one person gets to enjoy your creation and labor that way.

Have any of you tried Etsy? Do you sell, buy, or simply find inspiration?
Do you have and tips or tricks about how to stretch your handmade capacity, or are you strictly a one-off creator? Tell me your handmade stories!