Friday Feature

Friday friday ya'll. What a better way to start up the morning

than with a deep breath of the summer breeze as it carries the birds morning song through the morning sky.

or

The warm fuzzy feeling as you discover your correspondence holds a Bay breeze design card for

It's as good as a morning summer breeze? You bet it is. Creative, innovative and dashing designs

in your mail box. Wow what a great start to this wonderful friday.

Shop : http://www.baybreezedesigns.etsy.com/ for your summer breeze.

As captivation and inviting as a baybreezedesign card is the treasure lies further off the page and into the heart of their creater.

Even more dynamic is the majestry of the creative and here is her story.

Introducing;
BAyBREEzeDEsiGnS

My name is Pam Wachowicz and I’m a stay at home mom of a beautiful 19 month old girl who is my source of inspiration and motivation! My Etsy shop is Bay Breeze Designs where I make handmade invitations, card and gift tags. My husband and I celebrated five years of marriage this past May and we also have an adorable Jack Russell Terrier named Jazzy. Before becoming a mom, I worked in the corporate world in the field of marketing, but always enjoyed being crafty. I loved planning my wedding! Working on the invitations, dinner menus and programs was so much fun! I knew designing invitations, programs, menus and other items was something I enjoyed doing and hoped to have the opportunity to do it again.

What first item started you in your craft?

I began rubber stamping 4 years ago as a way to unleash my creative side. I made an invite for my sister-in-law’s bridal shower and was asked by a few of the attendees if I sold them. At the time, I was honored by the compliment, but never gave it much thought. Then along came my daughter. My husband and I wanted me to stay at home and I needed to find a way to supplement the income. I’ve been creating invites & dinner menus for family and friends for a few years and decided to give my dream a go.

What is your favorite technique and what tool do you favor the most in your shop?

I work primarily with rubber stamps, punches and die cuts. Currently my favorite supply when creating my invites/cards are the 3-D foam squares. I love bringing dimension to a card any chance I get.

What inspires your creations and what sparks your creativity?

Weddings, babies and any other special events. I just love to see the pure joy on people’s faces during these special moments in their lives. I love to hear their story and see how to capture the essence of the special event!

Name a favorite item from your store and why is it so dear to you?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/42606663/bridal-shower-invitations-with-matching
This matching bridal shower invite and thank you card set as it is where it all began! It also has been one of the favorites in my shop. I love this stamp set as it provides me with the versatility to use with multiple colors beautifully!

What are your future goals as a shop owner/crafter?

My future goal is to grow my shop. I’ve been selling on Etsy for a little over a year. My goal is to reach 100 sales by the end of this year. After reaching that goal, my long term goal would be to go back to my original dream of incorporating graphic design into my shop and possibly intermix the two techniques.

Where can we find you .. etsy .. facebook... blog... etc.

SHOP http://baybreezedesigns.etsy.com/
BLOG http://baybreezedesigns.blogspot.com/
TWEET http://twitter.com/baybreezedesign
FACEBOOK http://facebook.com/baybreezedesign

Any special advice, comments, wisdom or thank you's that you would like to share with us.

My advice is to never give up. If it was not for my good friend, Lisa, over at http://www.etsy.com/shop/Craftbusplus, I would have given up awhile ago. Stay motivated, stay connected with teams like the EtsyGreetings team and know it takes time for things to start happening. Just love what you do, stay focused, & have fun!

Enjoying the delight of summer.

Blogged by: Cisnexpressions.etsy.com
Inspired by: Baybreeze designs.com

Paperpath

In my daily treasury ventures I came across some great treasuries in which I found one of our very own members, Rachel Smith of Paper Path.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c25732e778c6d91722991d7/traces
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c3b07a678206d91c4ad10cc/blue-and-red-with-no
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c3b0084cff58eef5a11874b/you-heart-me-like-red
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c2d22a624d48eef0e875d34/feeling-bookish?index=3

Rachel's artwork is a vision in motion of artistic delight. Her pieces liven the sences as abstract and aestetic illustrations collaborate into works of artistic mechanics.

Today she is sharing her love and wisdom with us. We are glad to have her.

Tell us a little about yourself

My name is Rachel Smith and I am currently living in Idaho with my husband, Taylor and two cats. I love to zip around on our scooter, take photos with vintage film cameras and scour thrift stores for inspiration. I'm about to begin my third, and final year of graduate school and will finish with my Master’s in Fine Art. I am particularly drawn to things that are left over by society and repurposing those items to create new implications and contexts by reorganizing preexisting images, texts, texture, etc. My etsy shop, Paper Path, is a nice reprieve from some of the tedium of studying and stress of graduate school. I have found it to be a great creative outlet that challenges me in a completely different way than my fine art installations and collages. I am enjoying the challenge of making cards, collages and crafts that are not oriented around a gallery setting, but still creative with a small business twist.

What was the first craft project that began your Etsy venture?

I have been making art for as long as I can remember. So to be perfectly honest my first item that started my craft was crayons applied to my parents’ living room walls. Now a days found objects and materials motivate most of my artwork. I am constantly collecting bits and pieces that are discarded by people. I’ve always made unique gifts and cards for my friends and family and when I discovered etsy it was a perfect way to expand my audience and make a profit off of my craft.

What is your primary technique & what tool do you favor the most in your shop

I work primarily in mixed media/collage. My process is "cut + paste" making my favorite tools glue and scissors and lots and lots of collecting. I collect papers of all kind. Anything I encounter in my day-to-day life, travels and thrift store hunting can become fodder for my next project.

What inspires your creations and what sparks your creativity?

Memories and nostalgia play a huge role in inspiring my work. Found objects and imagery are essential to my work, because I feel that such items retain traces of past ownership, which directly reference memories. I am also drawn to imagery representing systems. Maps, anatomy illustrations, sewing patterns and grids are items that I’m constantly using.

Name one favorite item from your store and why is it so dear to you?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49119721/storybook-collage
This collage is currently my favorite item on my shop, because I feel like it encapsulates everything that I want my work to be about. I find the tension between intimacy and exposure of the found images and texts to reference ideas of personal and collective memories already embedded in the items while continuing to create a new narrative.

What are your future goals for you personally and as a crafter?

My future goals are to finish up my final year of graduate school with a strong show and thesis next spring. Sometime in the future I would love to start a gallery and restaurant with my husband who is a chef. What’s better together than food, wine and art! As for my shop I would really like to continue to expand it to include a wider variety of handmade paper items. I would also like to start to incorporate more of my fine art collages and projects into my store.

Find This Weeks Featured Shop @

etsy store paper path:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperpath

as well as my blog paper trail:
http://rachelsmithart.blogspot.com/

special advice, comments, wisdom from this weeks featured shop

Keep colleting, creating and caring.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Inspired by Paperpath.etsy.com

Created by www.Cisnexpressions.etsy.com

keep it real ~ keep it handcrafted ~ keep it Etsy Greetings

Greetings Friday - FionaDesigns

Good day to you all from Etsy Greetings!

Today we have a treat of a bargain and another fine shop to share with you.

Fiona Designs' cards has been featured in many treasuries on etsy and I'm happy to say she is now gracing us with her passion, expertise and great cards. She has been featured on the following treasuries
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c3a08749be26d910a3f70b2/typographical?index=0
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c36e486a4088eeff9662230/bubblegum
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c31edb88c818eef948f6ffa/a-profuse-of-chartreuse

and she continues to share her passions through her thoughts, feelings and expressions of color and sentiments in her wonderful cards. See her work in the treasuries above or in her shop but today she is found with us here at Etsy Greetings. She is curently offering great items at great prices in the latest christmas in July Etsy sale. What a great beginning to what has begun a bargain weekend. Great deals aside here on Ety Greetings fridays is the best way to get to know your favorite shop owners. Therefore I am pleased to introduce you to Fiona the mastermind, designer, creater, amongst other things, shop owner of Fionadesigns located athttp://www.fionadesigns.etsy.com/ .

{ Tell us a little about yourself...}

{ I am a } Stationery Designer . Artist . Graphic Designer . Photographer . Knitter.
I am a graphic designer and an artist, designing stationery and greeting cards, and also have corporate experience as an art director at a Fortune 1000 company. I earned an MFA in 2000 from Parsons School of Design. Designing stationery is what I am passionate about. Creating sentiments and then placing them on the page until I am happy with the layout is enjoyable and satisfying. Then it's on to color (and Pantone swatches!!) and finally picking that perfect shimmery envelope to color coordinate with the design. I am relatively new to etsy and I am thoroughly enjoying the etsy greetings team and am slightly (okay - really) addicted to creating treasuries which I have only recently discovered.

{ What was the first item{s} that started you in your craft? }

There were actually two holiday cards that got me started.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/48580760/holly-jolly-jolly-greeting-card
http://www.etsy.com/listing/48572672/noel-greeting-card

{ What is your favorite technique at the moment

and what tool do you favor the most in your shop? }

The tool that I use most often is my computer - I am a huge Mac fan. I also would be lost without all the wonderful typefaces and quality printing businesses out there!

{ What inspires your creations and what sparks your creativity? }

So many things inspire me - the loved ones in my life especially - many of the sentiments on the cards were created with them in mind. From a visual perspective I am constantly inspired and in awe of nature, flowers, birds, landscapes, you name it. I love taking photographs that you can see on my blog. Knitting and painting pet portraits in acrylics also really sparks my creativity.

{ Name one favorite item from your store and why is it so dear to you? }

It's so difficult to pick a favorite but the most meaningful design is "welcome to the world oh sweet little one" as it was created with my newborn niece in mind at the time.

{ What are your future goals, personally and as a shop owner/crafter? }

I want to continue to expand xed notes and flats are coming soon! A card will be posted every day in July in conjunction with Fiona Designs' "Christmas in July Sale."

{ Let us know where we can find you .. etsy .. facebook... blog... etc. }
http://fionadesigns.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/FionaDesigns
http://www.fionadesigns.com/


{Any special advice, comments, wisdom or thank yous you would like to share with pur readers?}
I want to say thank you to the etsy greetings team for this opportunity!

There you got it folks simple and sweet down to the core.

This has been another delightful Etsy Greetings day

Until next time { keep it real keep it handcrafted keep it Etsy Greetings}

Signing off ~ Cisnexpressions

Cisnexpressions.etsy.com

mAD TeA PArtY 2010

Through the rabbit hole little voices I do hear.

My heart flutters as the time dearly draws near.

A checklist found drowned ink with catastrophe of all preperations

to host all those dear to me

Oh gooodness who are those voises my rabbit dear?

Peer into the hole rabbit and see what you see
Rabbit ~Simply the trolls drawing near.

Those corky old things 2 inches yay and they stomp

with excitement as they have patiently awaited this day.

But wait something else draws near

I Sees that you all have stumbbled into my whymsical decree of tea time proportions and fancyful tea. Yes, my dear I said tea. The light must have drawn you all throught the rabbit hole and curiousity has brought you to me

The table and the napkins seem to have all met.

Your setings are placed but there simply is no place

you see the crompets ran off to the door and the table legs

snatched them whole. It shrunk to the knees and please please you

simply must see we are all Mad here and we love you to be.

My manners seem to have run to the door without the crumpets.

Delighted we are to have you, yes delighted in deed.

Welcome, that first step is a doozy.

Be kind to my tree house for it holds magical things that don't wish to become unseen. The best yet in fact is where you happen to be. The entry to teas is sitting through the light be careful as you may step onto a guest to your right. The beetles seem to take to you so watch your feet we must't make them late for thats simply uncanning in deed.

As laughter fills the room feel free to brows the folklore saloon

they seem to be missing the moon.

You see the spoon ran off with my head and the cow jumped course to the moon.

Help them see as the are missing

their hen seems she has found a todo and ran out of the pen.

To kansas they have fled and there you simply are reading...

Oh dear oh my just look at the time.

The queen is on her page and ram is his name.

Through the rabbit hole you must go until the day you visit once more.

Visit us soon as many of the folk tale, Alice, Hatter items peer their presence to the Cubie corner at http://www.cisnexpresions.etsy.com/

Trade Secrets

July " Trade Secrets "

I just came from a wonderful post of much Value. How Do You Measure Product Value vs. Trade Equity?-by MCatherine over at www.etsymomentum.com . It brought up a great point and a crazy Mad yet brilliant idea over value. Woah! Will Robbinson, slow your role and take control?

Were simply MAD here therefore its accepted, proceed in deed.

Well, have you stepped into the light and really thought about the value of your product? Take into consideration the time it takes to create, package and ship your product. The customer service of following up and all contingent efforts to be known as a good seller are also important. Add all those things to the mix and then price your item. Step out of your skin and look at your item as a consumer. Would you pay the ticket price for your item?
Great question, Quisas? (Latin for maybe).
Well we all know that value is of great importance and is primarily based on how the item is cherished. It’s unfortunate that there are a few that don’t capture value in its true form, sentiment. Therefore you must have answered undoubtedly yes.

Here is a take on Sentiment value. These items are utmost importance
They are as precious as the items that grandmothers store in their armoire. Many items as insignificant as they may seem hold a priceless significance to us. My “dear to my heart” item came from a candy vending machine. Dear not for its nickel and dime value but for the sentiment it carries. A mere quarter size, red, rubber, beetle was given to me by my precious daughter dear when she was a yee toddler. It welcomes my travels softens my Monday{s} and warms me on those cold and dreary days as it sits on my speedometer whispering slow down and smell the roses.

As tender as that item is to me, I don’t speak of it to avoid it losing its magic. For you see we are all just simply Mad here and magic is the best thing to feel. We must bottle it up and retain it for as long as possible.

Well, I showed you mine now show me yours?
What is your dear to heart possession? Please do tell, Why is it so dear?

Since we are on the subject of valuable items I would like to take a time out for tea so that I can welcome you to the idea that this article bloomed.
Well, being that July is observed for liberty then free yourselves from all inhibitions and trade. “Trade Secrets” is name of the game. Value an item! Trade for it. Go tribal, go liberal, go get it !!

If you would like to participate please do so and let us know here so we can browse through your cherished items as well as we offer ours to you. Those open to participate please say YAY! and include the following

{ Comment on what delectable items you hold in your shop and let us know where to find these awesome items leave your shop link or website address along with a blog address if you so choose}

The blog, my dear, is for us to follow you as you in turn follow us. I see you typing at lights speed but
Slow Will Robinson! Only those open to participate will be found listed here. Look forward to a great July of “Trade Secrets”. Don’t keep it secret Mad Teas isn’t just for me you see. Madness should fluster in great big numbers and spread sugary sweetness to all.
Please do share everywhere.

Sharing often, shy sparingly and always craft cheerfully
~ Cisne ~
www.cisnexpressions.etsy.com