Etsy Seller of the Week: JazziesJunque

Welcome to this week's featured seller: JazziesJunque! She sells all sorts of great supplies, plus a selection of her own hand-crafted goodies. And through Sunday, June 15, she is offering 30% off one item if you put "Rain's Blog" in the notes to seller at checkout (she'll send a revised invoice). What a great time to try her out! :)

How did you find Etsy? I found out about Etsy from my good friend Kate from KrazyKateDesigns. She has been wonderful in helping me to get started and answering my many questions, such as "Does this look good and do you think it will sell on Etsy?". She has been great.

What do you love about Etsy? The best thing about Etsy is the people. I have met so many wonderful people here and consider them as good friends. And I love being able to provide that item that someone has been searchng for but not able to find.

What is your favorite dinner? This one is a toughy - Favorite dinner would be chicken enchiladas with green chile, spanish rice, and a sprite. For dessert white chocolate Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Notice the plural?

What would you like us to know about your craft/shop? I try to provide unique items that can be used to make really cool altered art, mixed media or assemblage. And also I like to make things that has (as far as I know) never been made by anyone else.

If you could take an all-expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go? I would love to go to Australia or to Africa on a safari.

What do you love about what you make/sell? I like the originality of what I make and the ability to find something that would have been thrown away and sold to someone that can bring new life to it through Art.

What is your favorite way to relax or unwind? Sitting on the sofa with my dogs is the best way to relax.

What do you like to shop for on Etsy, even if it is just browsing, not buying?
I buy way too many beads, just ask Kate. I don't know what it is but I have the hardest time finding a bead I don't like.

Anything else you'd like to add?
Why didn't I think of the Etsy concept first?

Etsy Seller of the Week: ancientgamecupboard

This week I am featuring the shop ancientgamecupboard. The business is a family effort, with Mom running the Etsy shop! See her interview below and check out the amazing games from history! For the week of this feature, ancientgamecupboard is offering 10% off the item price if you put "rainy" in the notes to seller at checkout.

How did you find Etsy?
My Mom kept bringing it up. She saw Etsy featured on a TV show and then saw it in our local paper, too. This was just at the time that we were thinking about making our games for more than just gifts for our own kids. So, Providentially, I made our username something to do with the games and even though we eventually registered our business under a different name, our Etsy name still makes sense.

What do you love about Etsy?
I love the community, as quirky as it may be sometimes. Generally speaking, people are very willing to help you learn new skills for your craft even if it means adding competition for themselves. Etsy is such a diverse community that every individual can find an audience - there may be a lot of jewelry, for example, but it's diverse enough in style and price that you can reach your own target market despite all the 'competition'.

What is your favorite dinner?
Arabic food - specifically, anything involving hummus and filafel.

What would you like us to know about your craft/shop?
That we put our heart and soul into it. We love what we do, we love to see a game turn out perfectly and we obsessively re-do them until we are satisfied with them. Also, most of our wood is reclaimed from sources such as discarded furniture, hardwood pallets, and any other high quality wood that still has life and beauty in it. We love to discover some really great pieces of hardwood in a heap of discarded materials.

If you could take an all-expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
I think I'd go back to Jordan. We used to live there, and I just love the people and the culture there. I'd also love to take a year off from life and backpack across either Africa or Asia with our little tribe.

What do you love about what you make/sell?
Everything! I love that we've found a business making something that combines our love for board games, history, woodworking, and art, and which has aspects that every member of the family can take a part in. The older kids are learning woodworking from their Dad, they all do some sanding and have aspirations of moving on to staining and painting someday, they're all learning about customer service, quality control, sales, time management. It's been the perfect family business for us.

What is your favorite way to relax or unwind?
Reading. We're book-aholics in this family~

What do you like to shop for on Etsy, even if it is just browsing, not buying?
I love to look for other woodworkers shops and for shops selling Renaissance Fair or other historical reenactment wares.

What game is your current best-seller?
Our best-selling item is our Viking Game, Hnefetafl.

Etsy Seller of the Week - LadybugsDesigns!

This week's featured Etsy seller is LadybugsDesigns. Check out her shop for fun baby items, and more! Plus, if you put "Rain" in the notes to seller, or contact her before ordering, she will give you 10% off your order this week!

How did you find Etsy?
A former coworker suggested it instead of Ebay.

What do you love about Etsy?
Since it isn't an auction, I don't have to constantly check to see if someone won. And you can always find someone to answer your questions and give you advice.

What is your favorite dinner?
Macaroni and cheese casserole. It makes me feel good when I'm down.

What would you like us to know about your craft/shop?
My emphasis is on great baby things, many of them embroidered, but I also have bookcovers and cool ties, and I'm always thinking of new things to try. They might never happen, but I am thinking about them. I also carry some lovely jewelry made by one of my sisters.

If you could take an all-expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
If it was just one place, I'd like to go to England and tour London and Bath and some of the great houses, and stop by Edinburgh too. If I could go more places, I'd take a month and visit the museums in Washington, D.C. and tour some of the Revolution and Civil War houses and battlefields.

What do you love about what you make/sell?
I think my favorite items are my bookcovers. I take a book wherever I go, and they make it so easy to keep track of your reading material (and avoid any comments on my choices). My second favorite would be my toddler aprons, which keep little ones clean from neck to knees.

What is your favorite way to relax or unwind?
I love to read, watch movies/tv series from Netflix, play computer games, and hang out in the Etsy forums.

What do you like to shop for on Etsy, even if it is just browsing, not buying?
I like to look for soap and hair products --- one of these days I'm actually going to buy some! :o)

What's your favorite part of Etsy?
All the friends I've made in the forums. Most of us have never met or even talked to each other, but we're there for each other in good times and bad.

What A Nice Birthday Week!

Today is my birthday! Well, for 10 more minutes anyway. :)

My whole week was pretty great. Tuesday I added more products to my table in the crafters' co-op I was invited to join.

Wednesday I had my sugar scrub featured in the "Etsy Finds" email, and received four orders for a total of six scrubs sold! Not to mention the shop exposure I got!
See my sugar scrub here.

And today was my birthday and we went to my folks' house. My mom made her famous potato salad and I totally pigged out (hey, nursing moms are allowed to do that, right? Right!)

My husband gave me a "free day pass" so I can spend a full day all to myself one of these weekends. My parents gave me a gift card to Best Buy so I can get the WiiFit, once they get more in (yeah, none of us thought to reserve it.)

Now if only my kids would sleep in till 10 am tomorrow! I'm not holding my breath though. Our middle one loves waking up at 5:30 am. If I hadn't given birth to him myself, I'd doubt he really was my son!

Etsy Seller of the Week: Circleinthesand

This week I am featuring CircleintheSand! Check out her shop for fun supplies and a variety of handmade items! PLUS, put "Rain" in notes to seller, and she'll give you 10% off your order while she is featured.

How did you find Etsy?
Our local newspaper did an article on a lady in Jacksonville (thedoglady), who was making pet accessories in order to raise money for her vet bills, cos her doggies were in need of medical attention. I was intrigued, so I started browsing around on Etsy looking at all the wonderful handmade items. I did that for almost a year before I had the nerve to actually sign up.

What do you love about Etsy?
Well, of course, what got my attention at the beginning was the 20 cent listings for 4 months. I had been selling on Ebay before coming here and the fees are so much better. But, after I started spending more time on Etsy, I grew to just love the spirit of friendship, helpfulness, caring and love that everybody had for each other. I have since then made some really close wonderful friendships here. And, I think it is neat as heck that I can talk to folks all over the world! Some of those close friendships that I've made are from ladies "across the waters".

What is your favorite dinner?
My favorite dinner is anything that I am eating with hubby!! We have a good time just eating together, no matter what the menu is.

What would you like us to know about your craft/shop?
I would just like for everyone to come away from my shop feeling as if they had an enjoyable experience - whether they buy anything or not. I always try to have fun, colorful items listed, I try to keep my Sections List easy to read and organized and I try to keep the number of items per section at less than 12 so that folks only have one page to look at. I am always pleasant and friendly with my customers - I want them to come back time and time again. I can't work at Etsy fulltime, so I have to try harder to compete with the larger shops, so every shopper is a potential customer, and every customer is a potential referral for another customer so I try and treat each one special. And, I'm known for my fast shipping (just read some of my feedback).

If you could take an all-expenses paid trip anywhere in the world, where would you go?
If I could have an all-expense paid trip - I would like to have a fullsized motorhome so hubby and I could travel all over the United States.

What do you love about what you make/sell?
I just love playing around with all kinds of different crafts - but I also love playing around with all kinds of supplies to make those crafts. And it gives me great pleasure to put those supplies in the hands of another crafter so that she can play around with her favorite craft. One of my favorite things to "play" with is vintage buttons, I love getting them and sorting them and grouping them together. And, I use button on some of my own creations, like the purse pouches.

What is your favorite way to relax or unwind?
I love to relax by browsing around on the internet, or reading thru several favorite magazines that I get, or sitting and watching a movie with hubby - we don't really watch any TV, but we have a ton of movies; give us a big bowl of popcorn and we're set!!

What do you like to shop for on Etsy, even if it is just browsing, not buying?
I love to browse around Etsy looking for some of my own favorite things - vintage buttons, plastic canvas items, supplies, cross stitch - and I also look for things that I can use as Christmas gifts. I did a great deal of Christmas shopping last year right here on Etsy.

Where do you see your Etsy Shop in 3 years?
I dream of being able to do this fulltime, and actually make some income, lol. It is so much fun - both being here on Etsy and searching for those special items to put in my shop. It would be awesome to have this as my sole employment.