Press Feature for CT Etsy Team

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRAAAAAAAYYYYYY for Ct Etsy Street Team, we've been featured in the press again! To view the article with pictures, go here, then click on features.

Online Handcrafters Featured At The Farm Market
7/3/2008
By Nancy K. Crevier

By day, a teacher, by night, a graphic artist: Liz Antle shows off some of the hand printed clothing that she sells online as an Etsy member and at local craft shows and farmers’ markets.Visitors to the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market on Tuesday, July 1, found more to peruse than the usual favorite vendors. Five members of the Connecticut Etsy Street Team set up booths at the Washington Avenue market, featuring handmade crafts.

Etsy is an online retail site that was launched in 2005 to assist crafters in promoting wares, networking with other craft artists, and as a means of selling their artwork without the need for a storefront. Unlike eBay, where buyers bid on items listed for sale, Etsy members sell their items at a set price, with a percentage going to the Etsy Corporation. Crafters worldwide feature their works on Etsy, but "street teams" are made up of sellers from a local area that work together to promote each other. One of the ways they do so is by organizing to sell at local markets, such as the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers' Market.

Connecticut Etsy Street Team leader Jill Lyons of New Haven said Tuesday that between 100 and 150 crafters from across the state make up the Connecticut Etsy Street Team.

"Connecticut is one of the fastest growing and largest teams in the country," said Ms Lyons, whose company Ms Kitty Fantastico sells a variety of handicrafts. "We grow by leaps and bounds every week."

She joined Etsy just seven months ago and finds it has been beneficial in gaining more exposure for the felt plush dolls and brooches, jewelry made of vintage materials and natural stones, and all-natural soaps that she sells. "Members of Etsy want people to wonder why they would go somewhere like Walmart to get a gift when they can get something handcrafted and locally made," said Ms Lyons.

Jennifer Grant of Goose on the Loose is a regular vendor at the weekly market this year, but joined with the Etsy sellers this week. She is a member of Etsy, where her silver and gemstone jewelry is offered for sale. At area markets, though, buyers have the opportunity to try on and get a closeup look at the painstakingly crafted art she creates. All of her jewelry is made by hand, including the crocheted silver chokers, silver pendants, and silver and gemstone charms that make up her earrings and necklaces.

LAA Designs is out of New Haven. Crafter Liz Antle is a teacher at Calvin Hill School in New Haven, but indulges her love of linoleum printing by carving her own linoleum blocks and handprinting garments in her spare time. T-shirts, baby onsies, sweatshirts, and tote bags are a few of the items that Ms Antle displayed on July 1, each one printed with a graphic from nature, generally animals or birds. It is hard to separate her "day job" from her craft, though, said Ms Antle. "All of the shirts come with facts about the animal on printed on the shirt. I can't help teaching," she laughed.

She finds the support and encouragement offered by belonging to Etsy, as well as the ability to show her wares to a world audience, to be a positive force in her business.

"Etsy is a very supportive community," said jeweler Dana McKinney of Sandy Hook. "We get together to do craft fairs as a team, and everyone helps each other, no matter what his or her craft is. I find that fascinating," said Ms McKinney. She was at the Sandy Hook Farmers' Market with the specialty beaded jewelry and gifts that she designs. Using beads, sterling silver, Swarovski crystals, and semiprecious stones, Designs By Dana turns out necklaces, elegant watchbands, ID necklaces, bookmarks, bracelets, and other one-of-a-kind gifts. One of her more popular designs, said Ms McKinney, is the watch clip, a short, elaborately beaded strap that clips at one end to a purse. The other end holds a watch face, which on first glance would appear to be attached upside down. But when the user lifts it up, it is conveniently right side up. Another big seller, more so when she is selling face-to-face at craft fairs than on the Etsy website, are the necklace, earring, and bracelet sets, said Ms McKinney.



Enlarge image
Plush dolls in bold colors with equally bold expressions make unusual gifts, says Mary Helen McNally, of Scribble Nation. Mary Helen McNally of Woodbury is a former Newtown resident who, with her partner Michelle Barney, creates functional art for their business, Scribble Nation. Scribble Nation has been with Etsy for more than two years, said Ms McNally. "Etsy is awesome. It's a great tool for getting yourself out there."

All of their work, from stuffed animals to household items, uses a variety of mediums and craft techniques, resulting in art "with a sense of humor," said Ms McNally. Old Barbie doll boots are embellished with funky miniature plastic flowers or rhinestones to become reincarnated as brooches. "The Glamour Cross is big," said Ms McNally, showing off the display of hand-sized crosses garnished with faux gems, sea shells, or old costume jewelry, somewhat like Mexican folk art, and sure to be a standout at any prayer service or private altar.

"We do a lot of what we call 'upcycling,' to take something old and make it new," Ms McNally explained. Old tobacco cans, for instance, are painted and decorated to be sold as containers. Handmade cards, felted wool pin cushions, plush dolls, and off-the-wall magnets were just some of the other items Scribble Nation marketed this past week, along with fez hat or punk rock toilet paper cozies. "You have to appreciate kitsch to appreciate our things," Ms McNally said.

For shoppers who worked up a hunger as they gravitated between one craft and another, Beltoddi's Bakery of Stamford, a first-time vendor at the July 1 marketplace, offered respite. Two long tables groaned beneath a huge array of freshly baked sesame semolina, multigrain, and raisin-cranberry-walnut breads, fresh fruit pies, and pastries. Jonathan Castano, whose father Giovanni Castano is the chief baker for the family-owned business, said that the bakery will be returning to the Sandy Hook Farmers' Market each week this summer. Shoppers can look forward not only to the specialty breads, but will be able to purchase fresh mozzarella and pesto made from basil purchased at the farmers' market, said Mr Castano.

Shoppers who missed Tuesday's special Etsy event or who are unable to attend local farmers' markets where Etsy vendor can be found, can view and purchase items from Connecticut Etsy members, as well as the thousands of other crafts created by artists around the world, by visiting etsy.com.

"We are happy to have Etsy here today," said marketmaster Mary Fellows, and added that market shoppers can look forward to another visit from Etsy vendors later this summer. The market will feature other special demonstrations and monthly lectures, said Ms Fellows, and beginning the week of July 8, Ox Hollow Farm of Oxford will be selling free-range, no hormone, no antibiotic beef, chicken, and pork. For more information about the Sandy Hook Farmers' Market, call 313-9908.