recent treasuries

recent treasuries

recent treasuries

(so many of these treasuries are now missing some items! i'll do better next time.)

front page makes me happy

This treasury...


...was so fun to create! This is the first nonteam challenge treasury I've made that has made the Etsy front page. It's a happy morning.



Thank you, everyone, for your kind words. And congratulations to the featured sellers!

recent treasuries

i like the non-team

(this treasury challenge was inspired by that cute whale t-shirt and, in a way, sesame street)

because of my impending vacation, i'm on a temporary hiatus from participating in the non-team treasury challenge. when i post recent treasuries (to store them somewhere they'll stay indefinitely), most of those treasuries are non-team challenges. i think the non-team is one of the best parts of etsy, so if you are an etsy seller and haven't heard about it, here's what you should know:

the non-team *is* actually an etsy team. it didn't start out that way, but around the time etsy began to limit what subjects could be discussed on the forums, and forced all other conversations to take place in a team setting (different subject entirely), the non-team became a team. unlike most treasury teams, though, it does not require that you make treasuries with a certain number of other team members items, or that you make a treasury around a particular theme. there is nearly complete freedom over your treasury, except...

one item is featured in all treasuries each week. the seller of that item judges all of the treasuries and chooses a favorite. there is some incredible diversity in the themes based on the featured item, and it's fun to think of a theme, title, and arrangement that is like no one else's. the creator of the winning treasury gets to choose one of their items that is featured in the next treasury, and the cycle begins again, every week.

it's a good fit for me, because:
1. i like making treasuries. this gives treasury making more of a purpose, and more reason to be seen.
2. creative freedom with just enough structure. i don't want to be limited to certain sellers when making a treasury.
3. i am not really a joiner, and the non-team doesn't demand a certain level of commitment. you can just join this team today if you want. you don't have to be approved by anyone. if you stop participating for a while, it doesn't matter.
4. there is a three day window to make the treasury. it's good for busy people.
5. i like a good contest.
6. it's good company - there are some talented treasury makers who take part, and their ideas are fantastic.

i didn't miss any of these challenges at all until last week, and after six months, it seems weird to skip out. i won't be online much so i can't really participate in the off chance that i would win. it would be great to win someday - i've had three honorable mentions in the past several weeks, so i'm still hopeful, even though there are over a thousand people participating now.

and as the non-team grows, it just gets better.

recent treasuries

fun, fun, fun, fun.

hooray! one of my rings was on the front page of etsy today, and it sold! i'm so thankful for the shop exposure. twenty-six people included me in their shop favorites today. i know that's not unusual for some sellers, but it's still a big deal to me! little happinesses are all around.

more little happinesses:


this treasury was featured on etsy's front page tuesday. thank you to BeCharmedDesigns, who was included in this fuchsia treasury. she responded by adding me to the treasury that made it to the front page today. cool!

the rebecca black video is already classic. in fact, i'm certain i was about three weeks late for it. i love the reactions to it as well. sped up, slowed down, dubbed over with eazy-e, analysed by critical teen reviewers, covered by acoustic guitarists and a meat loaf tribute artist, or just completely parodied by snarky kids who are actually pretty hilarious. i'd post links but you can find them all in the youtube sidebar.

also three weeks after the fact (but really, i just learned of these things): did you know that jimmy fallon now has his own ben & jerry's ice cream flavor? you should know this. you should also know that it has potato chips in it. will i try it? yes, i will.



happy april! (i will try to write about things other than treasuries.)

recent treasuries

internet issues + inventory of supplies and materials + lots of other things = i will have more to say soon, but right now i will add more treasuries

recent treasuries

dear etsy,

i miss being on the front page.

~julie

recent treasuries

1-11-11

some recently created treasuries:


(I should have posted this sooner...the colors are so pretty! And now one of the original items was removed.)





i am not a big promoter of treasuries i make - i just like to create collections. from time to time, i need to remember to share them.

treasury experiment, day three

Treasury West:
21 views (one mine + one that has always been a mystery to me) (five more than yesterday)
54 clicks (12 mine) (three more than yesterday)
7 comments (one mine)

Treasury East:
7 views (one mine) (three more than yesterday)
16 clicks (all mine)
3 comments (one mine)

treasury experiment, day two

Treasury West:
16 views (one mine + one that has always been a mystery to me)
51 clicks (12 mine)
7 comments (one mine)

Treasury East:
4 views (one mine)
16 clicks (all mine)
3 comments (one mine)

I know this is small scale. I am not going to overpromote this, because I want as level a field between these two treasuries as possible. Still, the Treasury East is effectively buried at this point. I'll update again tomorrow.

east vs. west

I make treasuries on Etsy (little curated collections of pretty, lovely things) because it's fun, and it's great free promotion for my shop and the shops of other people who make those pretty, lovely things. Every day, chosen treasuries are featured on Etsy's front page.

On Thursday, Etsy unveiled their newest version of the Treasury, which they're currently calling Treasury East. It's in beta form right now, and once it is all tested out, it will become the new Treasury. There will be just one, no more Treasury and Treasury West. This new treasury looks a little different and functions a little differently. And, most crucially, Treasury East is open to everyone, on an unlimited basis, all the time, forever. Instead of having to wait for the treasury to open so you can make *one* collection that would expire within 2-3 days, you could potentially curate 100 collections a day, and they would never expire.

I have been reading comments about the pros and cons here. No one seems to like the fact that they won't expire. By the time I noticed that Treasury East existed, there were already 80 pages of treasuries. They will keep piling up! The concern is, what is the point of making a treasury if no one can find it among all the others? It's instant frustration, particularly for those treasury makers who take a lot of time to arrange everything just right, so their favorite items and shop name may grace the front page of Etsy. Other people have pointed out the confusion to buyers when they link to treasuries that feature items that have already been sold. I completely agree that Etsy shouldn't confuse potential buyers in any way.

There are pages and pages of the controversy in the Etsy forums, for anyone who is interested in reading more. I see the pros and the cons, and I'm not too swayed in either direction. I just thought I'd write a little background information, because I'm going to do a little experiment.

Tonight I posted the same collection of items to East and West, approximately 15 minutes apart from each other. I made one comment on each, clicked twelve items in West and sixteen in East, and linked both to the most recent promotion thread for each Treasury. Besides mentioning this here, I'm not going to do any more promotion for these two treasuries.

I wonder which will be viewed, clicked and commented on more frequently in the next three days. I'll keep track and let you know!

front page treasury!

One of my treasuries was featured on Etsy's front page today! Such a great surprise!

(The theme was the first few rainy days of spring.)

Thank you, Etsy!

easter eggs and a treasury malfunction

Ahead of time for Easter, I've been working on these little pastel egg pendants. I'm excited about them, and I'll probably list them soon. What do you think?

I worked on a treasury this morning, and when treasury #222 expired, I never got a little box to claim my treasury space. I kept the screen up, and the old treasuries kept expiring, but not disappearing. How frustrating! Still, it says there are 222 treasuries on that screen. And the old ones keep expiring. Weird.

Here's a screen cap that illustrates what I mean. Both windows are still active:


Anyway, I made another treasury, which you can see below. I hope you like it!


Click here to view it more closely. That necklace from carriewalshjewelry is particularly wonderful!

Hooray! Front page!

Thank you to TheJoyOfColor for creating this cute treasury!



It was so nice to come home and see this after a long, long day!

magnets and buttons

In between making gift recommendations, I spent some time crafting this weekend. First, I painted some tiny wooden discs that will soon become magnet sets. Then, I brought out the polymer clay and created some delightfully wonky buttons.

Works in progress are shown here:


And in the midst of all of that, this treasury was featured on the front page of Etsy:


Since then, I have received such an incredibly nice response from the Etsy community, including a very kind feature on LilithEvy's blog, and several gracious convos from sellers featured in that treasury who went on to have a successful sales day. Thanks for letting me know!

The Mirthmarket was also featured on Alexander's Design Blog and yesterday's gift post was mentioned on Wobbly Plates Facebook Fan Page and I am very grateful. Thank you.

So I'm thinking about listing some of these crazy buttons, once they're finished. They are definitely a departure from the rings and pendants! My shop definitely has a "niche" now, which is nice, and this would not necessarily fit in the niche of handpainted wooden jewelry. Truthfully though, I never intended to only sell one kind of thing!

Enjoy your week!

more words about rings with trees on them

I was featured on the front page a few days ago...and the ring *sold* the same day.

I painted at least ten tree rings after that. they're not all in the shop yet.

I especially like this one:
And just to take the focus away from rings and trees (because item-talk has been dominating this blog lately, and because you should see this), take a look at Kal Barteski's blog, where she has been tracking her daily preparations for an art show that is sure to be amazing.