Favorite Shops on Etsy

It's Etsy's Birthday! Etsy opened 5 years ago from today. In celebration, I thought I'd share some of my favorite shops on Etsy.

Boygirlparty



This was the first shop I hearted on Etsy. The shop has various items (shirts, stationary, etc.) with designs that are really clever and creative. I've always loved this zebra/piano design which was also used as a logo for the band Postal Service on one of their shirts. I've never bought from them, but I think I will someday.

Willowing



Willowing makes original mixed media art that have inspiring messages. The characters are sort of dream like and the art is always inspiring to me. I had a print of hers that I hung in my room that said "You Are a Beautiful Expression of the Universe" and it always made me happy. I also follow some of her blogs (on Livejournal, Tumblr and YouTube) where she shares how she makes her work.

Sweets and Hearts



Erica, who runs this shop, runs the EtsyU team for college students and is around the same age as me. It's nice to see other people my age on Etsy. This shop sells really fun clothes and accessories. A lot of the stuff has bows or polka dots on it and it's really girly. I got a shirt from this shop and it's one of my favorite shirts.

The Dainty Squid



This is another fun shop run by a girl about my age. She makes cute pouches with great fabrics. She also has a really interesting Flickr/tumblr where she shares vintage items she finds and things from her life.

The Rainbow Room



I recently discovered this colorful shop on Etsy. All the items use really vibrant colors and a lot are multicolored/rainbow colored. I'm pretty sure all the items are made of felt.

You can see all shops I like in my favorites. There's so many great and unique shops on Etsy, but these were just the first ones I thought of. Share your favorite shops/items on Etsy in the comments!

Photography Inspiration

This isn't directly related to my shop, but I thought I'd post some photos that are inspiring me lately. I also have a bunch of inspirations on my craft tumblr.



















I "tag" everyone to do this in your blog if you have one. Just post some photos or things that inspire you. Let me know in the comments if you do a post!

Treasury, Hope Floats and Updates

I'm kind of taking a break from listing new items right now so that's why I haven't been updating my shop as much as I usually do. I'm just renewing items I already have and seeing if anything sells. I do have a bunch of new items to list though that I might list gradually in the next few weeks. What kind of items do you most want to see in my shop?

I just saw "Hope Floats" the other night. I had never seen the movie, but I had an old VHS cover of it and made a recycled journal out of it here:



I was featured in a treasury here. My mini journal is on the bottom left.



I need a new journal for myself right now. I'm not sure if I'm going to use one I already made (I feel bad taking a journal that's already listed so I probably won't do that), making a new one or if I just want to buy a moleskine and alter it.

EtsyVeg Challenge, 4th of July Items and Sale

I'm in EtsyVeg's monthly challenge this month. The theme is "May Flowers" and the winning entry gets to be featured in an ad on the EtsyVeg blog for a month. I've entered their challenges a lot, but I haven't won one yet. You'd do me a favor if you voted for my Yellow Flower Thank You Card here.



Thanks for any votes! If you really want to help me out, you can tweet or blog about it too. :)

I renewed some greeting cards for Fourth of July. I had these up last year, but I'm just putting them up again for this year.

Fourth of July Tissue Paper Greeting Card



Fourth of July American Flag Greeting Card



Also, I'm having a sale in my shop this month. Since June 4th was my second anniversary, you can get 10% off any order if you enter the code "ANNIVERSARY" in the message to seller box at checkout.

365 Food Project

As I've posted before, I'm doing a 365 project where I'm posting a photo of a meal I've eaten every day for a year. I'm kind of behind on it and there's still a lot of photos I need to edit/post, but I've updated it. To see the whole set, you can click here











What's your favorite thing to cook in the summer? I'm always open to recipe ideas.

Etsy Anniversary

It's Move the Needle's anniversary/birthday today. I actually officially opened it in late June of 2008, but since I registered on June 4th, I just consider today the anniversary date. I can't believe it's been two years. Some important things that have happened since I opened my shop:

- I've sold 41 items on Etsy (and some more offline) and 369 users call my shop a favorite.
- I did a couple of craft shows. My first one was last July at Esperanza in Chicago, IL.
- I've also gotten my items in a few different shops. Even though my items aren't in any shops right now, I had my items in Light Speed in Chicago and Market House near Pittsburgh. I'm hoping to put some more items in shops soon.
- I've done a couple custom orders such as this Tree of Life Box and this Newspaper Altered 2010 Moleskine Planner.
- I started with just journals and gradually added more items such as greeting cards, calendars and photo frames.
- I'm a member of several teams, such as EtsyVeg (for vegetarians) and EtsyU (for college students). I've been featured on team blogs and participated in team activities (such as swaps and promotions).
- I've been able to connect with other crafters and people through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook and this blog.
- Through being a member of Etsy, I've discovered a ton of handmade items and have bought/won items on Etsy.

These are most popular/most hearted items:

Blue Marbled Coptic Bound Sketchbook



Postcards from Europe Coptic Stitch Journal



Blue and Gold Marbled Journal



Green Bird Journal



Good News Greeting Card



Cow Grazing in Grass Journal



What is your favorite item(s) from Move the Needle?