Etsy Bitsy

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am a huge fan of Etsy. It’s the online community for people to buy and sell all things handmade (and vintage pieces). The range is vast from artwork, paper goods and stationary to handmade clothing, knitwear, and jewelry. This ain’t no amateur hour on this site, some of these people are the real deal in their creations as this is their main business. I love that Etsy creates a new channel for them and promotes the entrepreneurial spirit.

There are so many people signed into this network that it can be overwhelming. How does one sift through all this stuff to find true treasure pieces? Let Elaine help you…Etsy has some very clever features that allow you to narrow down your search (click on "Buy" from the main site to get to these diddies):

Treasury – This function is a way for online members to play “curator”. Identify and group your favorite images from different sellers (not meant to be a self-promotion tool) and name your treasury collection. Etsy members create beautiful aesthetically pleasing collections based on color palette, an animal or holiday theme, etc. This is how I find and save sellers or items as part of My Favorites on my profile. That way when I need to buy a gift I can just refer quickly to My Favorites.

Pounce – This function allows you to see Etsy sellers that “Just Sold” items or find “Undiscovered” sellers. You can browse to see what sellers just sold to other Etsy members and it gives you a gateway to their shops and other sale items. I find that Pounce directs you to the real deal DIYers.

Colors – This is a really cool and fun function. Colors gives you an interactive color wheel; drag your mouse across the white screen and the different colors show up in varying shades. Click on the color you want to view and Etsy will suggest an item in that color scheme. More fun than practical and a great piece of technology.

Here are some of the treasury pages, these examples have a great use of color as their inspiration.  A truly eye-pleasing collection...

So those are just a few of the features offered to help you search through all the goodies. Be forewarned, it can be time zapper as I ended up scouring through Treasury pages for 2 hours the other day. I love it though because I get my shopping/browsing fix through this site.

I have so many favorites that it’ll be tough to post all at once. Here are a few of them for you to check out…more to come later...Enjoy!!!

• carolhannah – Yes from Project Runway!  Own one of her amazing designs; she has a weddling collection too!
• Lirola – Israeli designer that makes pretty, whimsical yet form flattering dresses, skirts, and tops
• ThimbleandAcorn –Fun, functional, and eclectic clothing designs
• SingleBbeautiful – Truly beautiful and simple jewelry for weddings and everyday wear
• GoldenSilhouette – Paper goods, stationary, and invitations
• Komodokat – Really cute and fun cartoon-like characters on hair accessories, cufflinks, jewelry, and paper goods