Sunday, September 26, 2010

Treasury Roundup

Here are some recent treasuries curated by and featuring KNET team members.

{curated by goagainstthegrain}

{curated by anycards}

{curated by anycards}

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Team Interview: Hobbies

Q: What are your hobbies outside of etsy?




Personally Speaking- I tend to turn hobbies into work -- no matter how much I try to keep them separate! When I'm not making personalized orders for my customers, I'm usually baking cupcakes, cakelets (mini cakes), cake ball pops, or personalized cookies. And that has become less of a hobby and much more of a business! With a full time job, plus my Etsy shop and my baking, there really isn't much time for anything else. But I always make time to watch my 14 year old daughter, Britt, compete in dance. She competes Nationally in 14 different routines and keeps me busy day in and day out.
~~~

Carried Away By Paper- I have always been into and played sports so my husband and I play softball together during the week and I play soccer every week as well - I have been playing for 24 or so years, I can't give it up quite yet. After our wedding
I got back into photography, I minored in it in college and am hoping to
turn it into something more in the future. I do a lot of "photo challenges"
on my blog that really challenge me Just the 2 of Us.
~~~



Damask Diva- Seeing as how we're about to close on our first home, I am very much into DIY/home decor stuff. I've got a blog where I chronicle all my inspiration &
projects over at www.monicawantsit.com I love to scour online blogs and
print magazines for ways to bring designer looks to my home for a
non-designer price. I also watch HGTV an awful lot every week, and have a
total crush on Scott McGillivray. Here is a photo of my transformation of a tacky gold shelf into a lovely, chic ribbon holder.
~~~

Blush Printables- We bought our first house a year ago this month, so I keep myself busy with decorating and home projects. There is never a dull moment around here, and home ownership is full of surprises! Our latest project is building a deck,
and I am constantly changing the decor in our house. I have a personal
blog, www.vintage-intoxication.blogspot.com, that I used to regularly update
with our home shopping experience (that later turned into home decor
inspiration), but after I got super busy with Blush I started neglecting
it. It hasn't been updated in months.
We also like to travel, and try to take as many vacations as possible.
Neither of us get a lot of vacation time throughout the year, so we take a
lot of mini vacations on the weekends. Our next trip is this weekend, and
I'm really looking forward to it!
I'm not sure if TV is considered a hobby, but I just discovered True Blood
and I am officially OBSESSED.


~~~

Go Against the Grain- My hobbies have def. changed over the years. Taking out all my graphic
design/ crafty stuff, I guess my hobby is baking (def not near the
talent that Lisa has!). I bake about once a week.
I don't know why but it is very relaxing to me, kinda my stress
reliever I guess.
~~~

Prost to the Host- planning out events (ha)
reading
traveling
trying new restaurants (double ha..does this really count...yum)
~~~

Mary*Mule- My hobbies are reading, baking, and surfing the internet(!). I do sew for myself too, not just for my shop, so I consider that a hobby. I like to snowboard, but haven't gone in years since I live in a fairly flat state with "ski hills" instead of mountains. I also like photography, but am far from an expert.
~~~

Bowrene- I crochet and knit as a hobby as well as for my shop. I also am a full time graduate student, so linguistics is my hobby. I also like tasting wine and beer and reading and baking (I try to challenge myself by making weird things from scratch). I dabble in sewing, and I really
like tv and movies (particularly old movies). I also study Korean and
Spanish and have recently been sucked into the wide world of Korean
dramas (soap operas). They are aaaamazing :) corny, but amazing.
~~~

Four Harp Designs- With my two little ones running around I don't have much time for hobbies.
But I do love to cook - I grew up cooking and baking with my mom and a few
years ago I started a food blog, Mama Jan's Kitchen
Sewing has also become a hobby and I've had a lot of fun making all kinds
of things, my son's favorite is his Lightening McQueen reversible placemat
:) I've opened a second Etsy shop, Four Harp Designs
{too}

and will be having my grand opening soon with some of the items I've been
making!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Monday, September 6, 2010

Team Interview: Etsy Shop Love

Q: Which etsy shops do you like to shop from?


ProsttotheHost- Bubbletime: I bought from her shop several times, since her little pudgy birds are popular with my little dog(!). I had to replace a few of them and they are now in our baby's room (far and high from Mo). They are soo cute. Plus, the seller was super quick to respond to my convos, sale and promptly mailed my birds. Love the quick service.
Sugar Fresh: Was featured on the front page and I bought her You are My Sunshine print. So awesome! I love buying from shops with few sales. She was quick, sweet and I had a very lovely conversation with her about her shop.
Mayberry Sparron: I love her custom stamps. I used her stamps for a few wedding projects and they have always come out beautifully.
~~~
SwishDesigns- Giggles and Grins Creations - she is super sweet and created some adorable 4th of July bloomers for my daughter. Super fast communication (important to me) and very nice. And had some great ideas! Really went above and beyond compared to the other sellers I contacted for similar products. Her prices were a bit more than the others but I went with her because she was so prompt and gave more than she needed to before I even committed to the sale.
~~~
PersonallySpeaking- Obviously - because I bake every day - I've ordered from The Baker's Confections - Esther is great to deal with, has pretty much everything you need, and responds quickly!! When I do a custom order with fondant toppers, I look for coordinating papers from her shop -- it just adds to the overall display of the cupcakes.
And ohhhhhhh boy - do I love this shop.... LilaFrances I bought a custom hanger from her for Erik's police uniform (I had bought him a valet stand for Christmas and thought the hanger would be a perfect compliment to it....). It says "Sgt O-----" - and it is AWESOME!! My sister finds out on Wednesday her baby's gender -- and I will be ordering a hanger for the baby's closet as soon as they decide on a name.
~~~
BlushPrintables- I bought a hand drawn poster from Madame Talbot and it is breathtaking. It was the fastest transaction ever, and I gasped when I got the poster in the mail. It's hand drawn and I couldn't believe the incredible detail and intricacy!! Included was a handwritten note thanking me for my purchase. I ended up writing a thank you letter back to the seller because I was so pleased with my purchase and the artwork.
~~~
Mary*Mule- I bought a wooden truck/car for my best friend's son from Woman Wood Worker. She makes natural wooden toys, and they are really cute, and reasonably priced. Her shipping prices are good too.
I ordered a custom made stamp from GettingHooked. She made a mule stamp for me (twice, b/c my dog had the first one for a snack) to use for my shop. She was very friendly and easy to work with. She even ended up adding the new stamp design to her shop.
~~~
2Birdstone- I've purchased prints on Etsy. I bought three of the state bird and flower letterpress prints from Dutch Door Press for each state my husband I have lived in (WI, CO, TX - they've not created NC yet). The prints are perfect and have them framed and waiting to be hung on the wall. I will buy from this seller again.
I commissioned this from a shop called Doc Martin Studios. I really like his modern pop art-y style and thought it would make a great gift for my husband when he returns from his deployment. It was very easy to work with Doc and he was willing to make any change I requested from colors to composition. The print itself is on very heavy, thick cottony paper and very nicely done. While it is digital the ink looks totally solid, with not dots, through a magnifying glass. I was seriously impressed when I got it and he only charged $100 for the print and totally custom work. I would buy from this seller again.