Storque articles: How-To

How-Tuesday: Pair of Bears From Felt Me a Smile

2010-02-09T16:01:00-05:00

One thing I always find worth celebrating is anything that merits a warm, cozy bear hug. Flipping through the pages of Felt Me a Smile by Toyoko Sugiwaka was an inspiring reminder to appreciate all that I hold near and dear, make time to dream up heartfelt handmade creations, and uncover the joy in the details of day-to-day life.

This week's needle felting How-Tuesday project might melt the hearts of even the most steadfast Valentine's Day cynics with instructions on how to make tiny bears locked in what Toyoko calls "the world's happiest posture."

Purchase Felt Me a Smile from Amazon or an independent bookseller.

Make something for someone with a feeling of warmheartedness — this will surely make you smile. That smile can hopefully be passed on to your "someone." Smiles are coming. If you smile, your mind opens automatically. If your mind is open, you will appreciate every little, good thing. Take care: the little things are easy to overlook in daily life.

Materials & Tools:

Natural grey and white wool roving
Felting needle
Sponge
Sewing needle and thread

Instructions:

1. Draw pieces of wool from the roving about 13 times and roll it between your palms to make a ball.

2. Hold the ball in your hand and poke the top with a felting needle until it is flat. Rotate the ball and continue for 15 minutes to get a small ball.

3. Roll the ball between your palms to make a longer shape.

4. Poke the felting needle around the ends of the shape to round them.

5. Poke the felting needle around the neckline to form the head and body. Hold the head firmly between your fingers and poke to create the shape.

6. Hold the body upside down and poke in a line across the end to divide into two legs.

7. Pull legs to make them longer. Hold leg between two fingers and poke in all directions to form the shape.

8. Stretch the body a little by pulling it with your fingers. Poke in a line across the neck and nose.

9. Make ears and arms, like this:

a. Draw a little grey wool from roving, hold one end and roll twice to create a small round shape.

b. Holding both free ends of the fibers, place the shape on the sponge and poke it in a circular pattern until it is flat. Turn it over and repeat.

c. Roll one end with your fingers to make it pointed. Continue poking until you have a triangle shape.

d. Leave about 3/8 inch of loose fibers for attaching to the head.

10. Attach ears and arms to head and body, as seen below. (Note: The photos for steps 10a through 10d are from the Fluffy Kitten project of Felt Me a Smile. That's why the critter looks more like a cat than a bear.)

a. Pick up a few fibers from the base of the head and the top of the body.

b. Hold the head and body together and use the felting needle to poke the fibers you picked up to the inside.

c. Spread out the unfelted wool at the end of the ears and limbs in a circle, and trim it back to 3/8 inch long.

d. Hold the limb in place and use the felting needle to poke the fibers into the body.

11. Take a little wool on your finger and poke it into place to create the nose and eyes.

12. Gently hold the body to make a curved back, then poke it. Sew each bear's hands to the other's body.

13. Pass needle through the body to the other side before cutting off the yearn. Squeeze bears together to shape.

Reprinted from the book Felt Me a Smile by Toyoko Sugiwaka, copyright 2010. Thanks to Toyoko and the good folks at Potter Craft for sharing this project with us.

More How-Tuesday Posts | Supplies Category | Needlecraft Category

From Etsy's Merchandising Desk: Sprouting Up in March

2010-02-05T13:48:00-05:00

It's that time again, and those of us behind the scenes at Etsy would like to share our merchandising plans for March. As we continue to plan Etsy’s calendar for the year ahead with thematic merchandising, we will be incorporating many of the concepts you shared in response to February's report and continue to welcome your input. It is our goal to create a healthy balance between promotions for traditional holidays, seasonal changes, and lifestyle trends.

Rounding Out February

Keep abreast of the February seasonal themes, holidays, dates to remember, and trends in February's Merchandising Desk edition.
Promotional Opportunities for Sellers:
- Etsy's Voting Series: Keep an eye on the Announcements section of the Forums to find out about calls for nominations. You can nominate an item from your own shop and other shops fitting the theme for a chance to be entered into the weekly vote. Items with top votes, along with many originally nominated items, appear on Etsy's home page.

Stay Engaged in March

Our critical merchandising focus this month will center around springtime, the environment, Easter, Mothering Sunday, glamor, and taking ourselves a little less seriously. You'll find the extended list of topics we're excited to highlight throughout the month of March below. We're looking for your creative interpretation and spin on each of the upcoming seasonal themes.

Spring: March brings the spring equinox and themes like spring cleaning, spring fashion, spring break, spring planting, and a fresh outlook.
Saint Patrick's Day: Parties, celebrations, parades, touches of green, shamrocks, feasting, drinking, and a nod to the Irish.
Glitz and Glam: With the Academy Awards early in the month look for red carpet fashion, accessories and glamor.
Mother's Day: Mothering Sunday is celebrated in March throughout the UK. Now's the time to think about which items would make great gift ideas for mothers and make sure your international shipping settings account for a UK excursion. Now's also a great opportunity to plan ahead for the United States' celebration of Mother's Day in early May.
Easter: March is the time to have your Easter items made and listed, as the holiday is celebrated in March in Finland and early April elsewhere. Think bunnies and chicks, eggs, baskets, bright spring colors, pastels, candies and confections, ornaments, decorations, DIY projects and kits, feasting, Easter dresses, the Easter lily, spring flowers, and spiritual representations.
The environment: International Earth Day and Earth Hour are both celebrated in March. Think about the use of recycled, upcycled, reclaimed, natural, and environmentally friendly materials, as well as items that facilitate earth friendliness, cleaning the air and being conscious of your surroundings.
Gardening: Springtime marks a time for sprouting, planting, nourishing the ground, and pops of color with early spring bulbs. Think watering, aprons, gloves, soaps, seeds, tools, planters, indoor gardens, beds, garden markers and labels, and organic options.
Pets: Gear, feeding, clothing, accessories, toys, housing, furniture, and accouterments for adventures with your furry friend.
Fashion: Spring fashion is at its peak. Channel bright and pastel colors paired with neutral and muted hues, light textured fabrics, references to nautical and scholastic styles, showing some skin and embellishments.
Home Decor: Find spring renewal with items for refreshing and organizing the home.
The International Vacation: Global adventures, warm weather destinations, taking a holiday, romantic getaways, beach gear, and highlights of summer and upcoming autumn fashion in the Southern Hemisphere.
Weddings and Celebrations: Spring wedding season abounds. Get inspired by creative and classic spins on all aspects of the big day including attire, decor, invitations, favors, and gift ideas.
April Fools: Gag gifts, disguises, funny cards, pranks, and clever tricks to get the best of friends and loved ones.
March trends: Alice in Wonderland: Teacup imagery, chess, lockets, rabbits, pocket watches, mushrooms, whimsical stripes, headbands. Globe and map imagery. Anatomical and natural history: Feathers, acorns, seeds, pods. Animal hats and accessories with ears: Both baby, pet, and adult versions. Tech imagery: Cassette tapes, vintage cameras, video game accessories, vintage telephones, MP3 players and social media. Fashion: Embellishments, accentuated shoulders, over the knee socks and boots, tribal and military motifs, vintage-inspired swimwear, aviator, jumpsuits and playsuits, sheer fabrics and statement accessories. Farmhouse: Imagery, art, decor, rustic, quilts, repurposed and vintage industrial throwbacks. Color trends for March include muted pastels, indigos, lemons, salmons, lavenders, seafoam and classic combos such as navy and white.
Aquamarine is March's birthstone, and March's astrological signs are Pisces and Aries (Pisces: February 20 - March 20, Aries: March 21 - April 20).

If you'd like to stay engaged and involved with the approaching merchandising themes, interpret them in your own artistic voice. This can be translated in your listings, photos, shop announcement, descriptions, tags, titles, sales promotions and more. We're excited to see your creative interpretations!

If you make items that would fit well with the themes outlined, try stocking up and listing them in advance to take advantage of potential shipping deadlines and site features. Do you already have items in your shop that meld well? That's great! Now it's time to revisit those items to make sure your tags, titles, and descriptions reflect keywords shoppers might be looking for this time of year. This is also a great opportunity to revamp your item photography with a new look, if you think they need some work. Check out some great how-to's for item photography to get started.

If your items fall under the main thematic categories we'll be highlighting this month, it might be a great time to consider purchasing a spot in a Category Showcase. For those of you who enjoy making Treasuries, we'll be looking to highlight lists that interpret these themes in a creative and cohesive way, as well as the many innovative and beautiful collections that we normally feature.

Upcoming Dates to Remember

March is known as National Craft Month, National Poetry Month, and was named for the Roman god of war, Mars
March 7: The Oscars
March 5: Alice in Wonderland movie premiere
March 12: Labor (Victoria) Day
March 12: Plant a Flower Day
March 14: College spring break
March 14: Mothering Sunday (UK Mother's Day)
March 14: Daylight Savings at 2 a.m.
March 17: St Patrick's Day
March 20: International Earth Day
March 20: Spring equinox
March 20: National Quilting Day
March 21: Human Rights Day (South Africa)
March 27: Earth Hour
March 27: Easter Day (Finland)
March 29: Youth Day (England, Taiwan, Venezuela)
March 30: (Sunset March 29) Passover begins at sundown, lasts 8 days

Do you have a date to remember that you don't see on the list? Let us know in the comments section below. We are currently working towards incorporating a more detailed calendar of international holidays into Etsy's thematic merchandising plans, so we're eager to hear which dates you would like to see included.

We’d like to hear from you!
We appreciate your support and look forward to your feedback and suggestions in the comments section below.

Top 10 Tax Time Tips From Outright

2010-02-05T10:32:00-05:00

Here in the U.S., we're coming up on that dreaded time of year: tax time. In the past few months, our bookkeeping partner Outright.com has added a host of features, streamlining your bookkeeping and lessening the hassle that comes with running an indie business and doing your taxes. We asked them to provide some helpful tips to get 2010 off to a good start. (This info may only apply to U.S. sellers.)

More often than not, what sellers think of as a hobby, the IRS treats as a business. Every U.S. citizen who sells on Etsy has to file a Schedule C with their income taxes (unless they've incorporated as an LLC or corporation — in which case they have a different set of taxes to file). If you're confused about the business or hobby question, check out this information on Outright. Our services and the following Top 10 Tips are designed for people who make hundreds of dollars, millions, or none at all. It is the type of business, rather than the size, that matters.

While automatically recording your income through PayPal, fewer Etsy sellers are automatically recording expenses put on a credit card. With both PayPal and your credit card set up, Outright.com will do all of your 2009 bookkeeping in minutes, categorizing a great majority of those expenses to form Schedule C and helping to identify deductions. On top of those out of pocket expenses, a new feature on Outright.com records mileage put on the road picking up supplies and shipping orders. A simple mileage calculator now records the deductible expenses, properly reporting them to your Schedule C.

Top 10 Tips to Get Your Finances Organized

Stay on top of your sales and expenses. With online banking, few balance a checkbook anymore, but you should never presume the bank is faultless. Ensure that an expense or sale isn’t missing but also check the bank fees and records. We’ve experienced more than a few mistakes on the part of the bank, and you don’t want an expense erroneously appearing twice. Bookkeeping delivers insight to your best customers, accuracy of transactions, and goes well beyond getting you ready for tax season by watching everything.
Categorize expenses. This is where things get a bit tricky, but time spent is well worth the effort. Make sure all of your income and expenses have been properly categorized. Categorizing your income (for the most part, all “Sales”) is not nearly as critical as those deductible expenses. The Schedule C categories can be confusing but they make the difference; Mileage under “Car and Truck Expenses” is deductible while “Other Expenses” are not. Outright.com will do most of the categorization automatically for you. When in doubt, ask a professional or hire a bookkeeper.
Speaking of mileage. Let’s reiterate that you should be recording all the time spent in the car. We have one Etsy seller using Outright.com that wrote off over $2000 in mileage. You can deduct $.55 per mile driven for business in 2009 and $.50 starting 2010.
Pay your estimated taxes. To avoid penalties, be sure you’ve paid enough in estimated taxes for the year. The fourth installment of your 2009 estimated taxes should bring you up to at least 90% of what your final total taxes are for the year. If that’s still too confusing, pay the same amount as you actually owed from last year. Food for thought though: the penalty for not paying your estimated taxes is around 6% of what you owe…
Double check your profit and loss. Take a look at your profit and loss statement for the previous year. Do the numbers seem reasonable? Search your pockets for receipts, don’t neglect that credit card that was canceled, and keep in mind that payment to your sister for some consulting.
Prepare a budget for next year. Don’t want to bother with the hassle? It’s worth it. The quick way to get it done in minutes is to take that previous profit and loss statement and download it to a spreadsheet. There you can easily add some formulas to evaluate an increase in sales next year by 10% or reduction in costs by 5%.
Organize your home office to take the deduction. If you use your part of your home exclusively and regularly as your principal place of business or to meet with clients or customers or store inventory on a regular basis, you should qualify. Use Tax software or an advisor to calculate the deduction; your job this year is to consider your use of space and make sure the deduction doesn't go overlooked.

Even phone calls. Any business-related calls or expense you have in your home is deductible. Highlight each business-related call on your monthly bills. At the end of the year, tally up the cost from the 12 bills and deduct 100%. Office supplies, furniture, and certainly technology like a new computer or printer, all qualify as well. The rules get a little tricky so stick to these tips: Record the expenses so you don’t miss out, and when in doubt, ask a professional.
Stay focused on paying customers! The success of your business has far less to do with your bookkeeping and taxes than this single priority. Don’t fret over business plans, licenses, or whether or not you should incorporate — get buyers. Once in the door, delight them! Happy customers are the greatest sales and marketing channels of all time. They do a far better job of selling your talent to new customers than you. Keep them happy and absorb the costs of dealing with those that are disappointed or frustrated, and they will return the cost in dividends.
Get out there and talk with other small business owners. One, sharing tips and tricks will make you each smarter and better. Two, it’s a great way to get referrals — especially as you find other stores who offer similar or complimentary crafts to your own. Three, and most importantly, you’re going to need a support network of people who have been in your shoes. Sure, social networking sites are fun, and yes, you should be on Etsy’s community, Facebook, Twitter, and Outright’s community, but it’s also useful to have people you can talk to about your challenges, people who understand where you’re coming from and what you’re going through.

Outright.com just added a service to collect and manage contractor taxpayer identification (form W-9) and automatically file the 1099s required by the IRS. What are all those forms? If you contracted someone to help, a graphic designer, photographer, or consultant, you have to a file a 1099 on their behalf. Outright’s taxpayer identification service is free, a critical first step to filing 1099s properly. Outright.com simplified the tax forms and hosts everything online, making it easy to get tax season off right on the right foot and file those 1099s with both the IRS and the contractor for only $5. Use code “etsy1099” when you check out of a 1099 filing on Outright.com and we’ll cut that price in half.

Etsy wants to make it clear that this article isn't legal tax advice! (And please don't ask for personal tax advice in the comments!) Consult with a professional or your lawyer if you have specific questions. Here's a good place to start on the IRS FAQs for the self-employed. As noted in the Terms of Use, Etsy expects our sellers to comply with all applicable local laws that pertain to their use of Etsy, including taxes.

Seller Handbook | More Posts Related to Taxes

Seven Steps to Understanding Online Advertising

2010-02-03T13:11:00-05:00

This guest post is by Amanda Steinberg, founder of DailyWorth.com. DailyWorth is a daily email about money for women — delivering practical tips, empowering ideas and the occasional kick in the pants.

You've started your business. You're selling the cutest organically sourced, hand-crafted baby teethers on earth. Your shop is launched, your blog has a few comments, the teethers are good to go and the supplies are stocked. So where are the sales?

Here's a gruesome reality to business that's learned only through experience: Nothing sells without a lot of pavement pounding. To really sell, you have to master all aspects of marketing — and that could include some form of paid advertising.

Fortunately, in today's world of websites, blogs and e-newsletters, you have plenty of inexpensive advertising options to test. For example, you can post an ad banner on MomMadeThat.com for as little as $1 a month! Online advertising is, in many ways, brilliant. Unlike print ads, you can measure an immediate response to your efforts. Equally useful, you can target your exact and ideal niche of customers; assuming you know who your ideal customers are, you can likely find blogs and email newsletters that already communicate with them.

I sell an electronic product: a daily newsletter about finance for women called DailyWorth. I'm currently spending upward of $1,000 a month to market it. It makes sense to me because I can earn four-times that through various revenue streams, and far more down the road (I pray!). Having paid for and evaluated the returns on more than fifteen advertising spots in the past year, here's my advice to you:

Step 1: Establish a budget. Not sure what to spend? It's not uncommon for businesses to spend 10% of revenue on marketing and advertising. So, if your business is earning $2,000 a month, begin by allocating $200 to online advertising. Keep in mind that you may not see a return on this investment. Ad spending is risky. You may have to buy multiple ads before you find a venue that works for your product. If your product doesn't have the market appeal you think it does, you may never see a return. Ad spending does not equal sales.

Step 2: Define your best customer. This is the Internet. Many of the websites we visit regularly and subscribe to already have a general sense of who we are (thanks to polls and surveys, and an emerging field called "behavioral targeting." BT is not creepy — it just means that city dwellers will likely be served ads for Murphy beds, instead of, say, tractors). You, as an ad buyer, need to use this data and only spend money buying ads on websites that reach people you know will want to buy your product. So who is your ideal customer? Perhaps she's between 28-36 years old, married, living outside of a major metropolitan area and likes chocolate. Or, maybe she's 50-plus, has grown children, loves yoga and has lots of disposable income. We like buyers with disposable income.

Step 3: Make a list of 10 websites that cater to your ideal customer. Contact the owners of these websites. First, pitch a "guest blog post" (you give them content for free, and in return they link to your Etsy shop or blog). If they say no, consider buying an ad and ask for their "media kit." This is generally a PDF or link to a list of advertising options and associated rates. Not sure where to begin? ScoutieGirl.com and ModishBlog.com are popular advertising venues for Etsy sellers.

Step 4: Collect and evaluate your options. Here are the two things to understand when buying ads:

Text or banner, or both? Some websites/blogs/e-newsletters offer banner or graphic ads. You need to be Photoshop-savvy and have the ability to create compelling Photoshop ads to make use of them. They'll ask you for specific dimensions in pixels (like 125x125), and you'll need to know what they're talking about. Other websites/blogs/e-newsletters offer text ads. Text ads are great because they're easy to produce, can be read on a BlackBerry, and look like editorial. Don't dismiss text ads even if you're selling something visual — with the right ad copy, text ads could work for you.
CPM: CPM means "cost per thousand." Some advertisers set rates based on the number (in thousands) of impressions their website gets every month; in the case of e-newsletters, it’s based on the number of email addresses they send emails to regularly. How does that translate to your potential cost(s)? A website that gets 8,000 impressions per month might charge you $40 x 8 CPM (where that 8 CPM = 8,000 impressions), or $320 per month. Websites with dozens of banner spots will charge a much lower CPM or flat rate, but remember that you're also competing with the 10 other banners so you're vying for a limited pool of click-throughs.

Step 5: Design entertaining ads. Research what makes banner and text ads successful and why people click. If your ad under-performs, it could very well be because it's boring. I sell advertising on DailyWorth, and I watch closely which ads attract clicks and which don't. Your banner creative and copy have an enormous impact on performance. In a recent discussion I had with a business owner who buys ads from me, Nellie Akalp, CEO of CorpNet.com (online incorporation services), she said that, "In today's crowded marketplace, sometimes launching an ad banner isn't enough. Think about forming relationships with an ad venue's readers over time and find ways to engage them." Experiment with contests, giveaways, and sales. Collect fans on Facebook and followers on Twitter. In other words, use ads not only to drive sales, but also to build a platform of new virtual acquaintances that you can engage in the future.

Step 6: Deploy your ads. Popular websites can be "sold out of ad space" for months, so don't procrastinate. It may take a few weeks or even months to see your ads roll out.

Step 7: Measure, refine, and repeat. For the ambitious, mogul-inspired sellers among us, here's an advanced tip: After you've bought multiple ads, monitored performance, and acquired new sales — formulate your "cost per new customer."

Cost per new customer = how much you spent ÷ number of new customers you acquired

So, if you spent $100 on ads and got two new customers, that's $50 to acquire a new customer. I hope you're developing practices to sell new products to existing customers (have a newsletter sign up page on your blog, for example), as it's much easier to sell to an existing customer than to a new one. Your cost to acquire a new customer is a critical financial element in understanding how your business grows and reaches profitability, as you develop your advertising budget (or "ad spend" as some call it) and understand what it will really take to reach your sales goals. Renew ads with venues that perform. Consider tweaking your ad creative or don't return to venues that don't perform.

So tell us, where are you advertising? And is it working? How do you know? Post in the comments!

Seller Handbook | More Posts About Advertising

See Help Topics About Google Analytics for Your Etsy Shop

How-Tuesday: Matchbox Valentines With Rachel Johnson

2010-02-02T15:00:00-05:00

Whenever I encounter paper lace, glitter, rosy patterned paper, and all the trappings of a classic handmade valentine, I am immediately transported back to my elementary school days. I would sit at the kitchen table with my mother, armed with a bottle of glue and a pair of scissors, and methodically and democratically (and sometimes against my will) make valentines for every kid in my class. Each little missive would be deposited in our custom crafted shoebox mailboxes at school the next day, surrounded by a group sugar buzz.

We had such a great time at Craft Night last night gluing and snipping that I decided to invite Rachel Johnson from Swap-bot back to share all her tips and tricks for constructing matchbox valentines for How-Tuesday this week. When Rachel shared her project idea with me, I knew I had met my crafting match! Read on for all the knowledge that you need to make a tiny gift that will surely help you ignite a Valentine's Day romance.

Altered matchboxes are small favors or gift boxes that can be decorated in any style or theme — including Valentine's Day! Some crafters decorate real, empty matchboxes, but if you don't have any of those handy you can create the little boxes from scratch using one of the free PDF Matchbox Templates available below. The small paper boxes can be decorated with patterned papers, ribbon, and other small embellishments, and filled with a Valentine's Day message or a small gift. Matchboxes are a popular item to swap on Swap-bot.com. If you are interested in trying out a matchbox swap, come join the February Love Matchbox Swap.

Supplies Needed:

Matchbox template (Download the traditional or envelope-style template below.)
Thick card stock and/or light cardboard, like a cereal box
Pencil
Scissors and/or craft knife
Bone folder or other scoring instrument
Ruler
Glue
Decorative papers and other embellishments for decorating your Valentine box
Optional: printed matchbox enclosures cards template to create cards and booklets to go inside your matchbox

Download Traditional Matchbox Template here.

Download Envelope-Style Matchbox Template here.

Matchbox Instructions:

1. Print out template at 100%. Do not use the “fit to paper size” option in your printer settings or your matchbox will not be the correct size. You can print the template directly on the card stock you will use to create your matchbox, or you can print it on scratch paper and then trace it on a light cardboard or other stiff paper.

2. Cut along all black lines, score and fold along all gray lines.

3. Apply glue to the light gray areas of the inside drawer.

4. Fold the sides of the inside drawer in on themselves (they will be end up being double thick) while tucking the tabs into the folds of the shorter sides of the drawer.

5a. For the traditional-style matchbox: Fold the outside wrap around the inside drawer to make sure it is the right size. Then, remove the inside drawer and glue the wrap in place.

5b. For the envelope-style matchbox: Fold the outside wrap around the inside drawer while folding in its bottom and tucking in the tabs. (I suggest test folding the outer wrap around the inner drawer at first, then removing the inside drawer and doing the final fold with glue. This fold is a little tricky as you must tuck in the tabs and the final side.) Glue it in place. The flap on the right side of the outside wrap template is the matchbox’s envelope closure. Fold it over the top of the box and secure it with a seal or ribbon.

6. Decorate your matchbox! (Swap your matchbox creations on Swap-bot.com for added fun.)

Booklet Instructions:

With Valentine’s Day coming up, I wanted to create some little cards that can be slipped into these pretty, decorated matchboxes. Matchboxes make a sweet and inexpensive handmade gift — fill them with some candy and a little note and you are sure to put a smile on your loved one’s face!

I came up with three very easy card types that fit perfectly into the boxes created using either of the Matchbox Templates from above. On the Matchbox Enclosure Cards PDF you will find a simple folded card, an accordion-style card/booklet, and a more complicated 8-page folded booklet. Follow the steps below to create the folded booklet.

Download the Matchbox Enclosure Cards PDF here.

1. Print out the Matchbox Enclosure Cards sheet at 100% (not “fit to paper size”). You may want to print it on scratch paper first to try out the booklet fold or to trace the enclosure card shapes onto patterned paper. Or, you can print directly on a light card stock that matches the theme of your matchboxes. The folded and accordion cards are self-explanatory: simply cut along the black lines and score and fold at the gray lines. Do the same for the booklet template. Notice the cut line through part of the center of the booklet.

2. Fold booklet in half lengthwise.

3. This part gets a little tricky. Pull out the two center pages (on each side of the cut center area) at their folds to create two pages. The “spines” of page 6/5 and cover/2 will end up touching.

4. Fold the cover and back page around the other pages to create the booklet.

5. Press the folds using a bone folder or other tool.

6. Decorate your pages or write a little zine. Then, place your booklet inside you matchbox and give it to someone you love!

Thanks to Rachel Johnson and Swap-bot.com for sharing this project with us. For more projects and craft swap projects, check out Swap-bot.com.

More How-Tuesday Posts | Supplies Category | Paper Goods Category

Ecouterre's Tips for Snagging a Feature on Design Blogs

2010-01-27T14:17:00-05:00

As the managing editor of Ecouterre, a leading online magazine about the future of sustainable fashion design, I get a lot of email, from random press releases that have nothing to do with the environment or fashion (think Jon Gosselin's latest whereabouts) to announcements about budget vacations in the Caribbean. I'm sure a lot of good pitches get lost in my desperate attempt to tame my inbox with my itchy "Delete" trigger finger.

The good stories that I do see often come with issues that make me less likely to pick them up. Here, I've listed a few suggestions for businesses looking to appear on Ecouterre — or any other design blog for that matter. Besides the first one, they require little to no investment, but I promise, the dividends will pay off in no time flat. Now about that Caribbean vacation...

Photo by everyeskimo

1. Take Good Pictures

With most design blogs, aesthetics are paramount, not just with the product itself but also the way it's presented. Investing in crisp, quality photography (no watermarks or logos, please!) is essential. And because bloggers are often racing to meet deadlines that expired yesterday, offering high-resolution images — in both horizontal and vertical formats — right on your site is a boon for both of you. If the blogger has to email you to get those images, you're going to get lost in the shuffle after she has moved on to something else.

Photo by Zanzibargains

2. Accentuate the Positive

Do you sell sweaters hand-knitted by throat-singing Tibetan monks deep in the heart of the Himalayas? What about wooden sculptures that were gnawed by a bevy of beavers? Don't bury that information. Besides knock-your-socks-off eye candy, design bloggers are also looking for a good story — one that makes you stand out from the sheer quantity of products that pass through our desks and inboxes each day. If your product is green, fair trade, or holds the key to curing cancer, make that apparent from the get-go.

Photo by calloohcallay

3. Make Your Pitch

Getting noticed is another crucial factor. A design blogger can't write about you if he's never heard of you. Keep your pitch email short and concise — no need for your entire life story, por favor — with a descriptive subject line that will tug at his eyeballs and keep his hand away from the Delete key. Try something like "STORY PITCH: Hats handmade from preserved roadkill" rather than "Cool story idea" or "Hats!". Know your audience, too; don't pitch a story about naughty knickers to a blog that writes only about baby products. Throw in one or two visuals for good measure.

Thanks to Jasmin for these insider tips! Check out the Related Items below for some Etsians previously featured on Ecouterre.

Etsy Seller Handbook | Sign Up for Etsy Success Emails!

Handmade Comments: How Not to Spam While Being Active Online

2010-01-26T17:19:00-05:00

You're at a gallery opening, discussing the paintings with the artists and other attendees. Someone bursts into the room shouting, "I MAKE PAINTINGS TOO!" and tosses a fistful of flyers on the floor and leaves.

This is what it feels like for many readers when a seller comments on our blog with just a link to her item, completely out of context.

Making a real-life metaphor for an online situation is always tricky. It's useful here because I want to discuss what self-promotion "feels like" to those on the receiving end. (Aren't you glad I didn't use the flasher metaphor?)

This post is about etiquette (or, that wonky neologism "netiquette"). It is not about Etsy's rules or policies, but rather our behavior and culture — the way we do things around here, you could say. So let's talk about spam-ishness, self-promotion vs. welcomed participation in conversation and community. What social behavior do we as a community enjoy? What do we tolerate? What makes us cringe? What can we do about it?

It is not just me.

Recently, I, as the editor-in-chief of Etsy's blog but more so as a reader, was struck by the increasing number of comments on Etsy blog posts that were simply a seller pasting a link to an item in their shop. I'm not talking about posts where the author invites members to show similar items or share links to items along a theme — that is helpful to Admin trying to find undiscovered items and useful to shoppers who want to extend beyond the twenty-one or so Related Items highlighted in the post. I'm talking about sellers pasting links either where none are called for or that are irrelevant to the topic of the article or theme.

I started a Forum thread asking Etsy Forum-goers if they considered this kind of blog comment "spammy." While clearly these are not professional spammers pasting links to their discount factory outlets and porn sites (believe me, I take issue with those much more!), there was a general consensus in the thread that these self-promoting comments are spam-ish in that they are unsolicited. Some Forum folks suggested Etsy disable linking in comments altogether or make a rule that Admin enforce by deleting comments. On the other hand, some felt that although the comments are off-putting, they can just be ignored. I cringe when I click to an article about Etsy.com on a major newspaper's website or a blog post where the blogger mentions Etsy, and Etsy sellers have posted a ton of comments with nothing but, "Check out my shop (link)!" Because this is about our community's culture and because this issue extends beyond the Etsy blog to off-Etsy blogs and social networks too, I don't think making a rule is the way to go (or at least can't solve the problem completely). But I don't want to ignore it for fear of seller spam catching on and becoming common practice. I think we need to start a discussion to raise awareness. And further, I want to hear your suggestions for better ways of participating in comments and social networks without being spammy. A lot the sellers who do this kind of thing are new to Etsy and new to the Internet. Post in the comments with your tips, and I'll share some of mine below.

Beyond the self-promoting kind of "Promote, promote, promote!"

Let's acknowledge the motivation behind such spam-ish comments: Sellers want to get their products out there. It's a hustle, I know. Sellers have heard that you need to be "active" online if you want to get sales — you can't just sit back and wait for the sales to roll in. And yes, I fully agree that Etsy needs to build more tools for sellers to show off their work. But the linking we're discussing here is not helping these sellers. It's making them seem robotic at best and desperate at worst.

You move to a new neighborhood and you're excited to meet your new neighbor and local shop owner at the corner store. But ever since you shook your neighbor's hand the first day, now every time you leave the house, she accosts you on your stoop and yells at you, "COFFEE AT MY HOUSE!" Annoyed, you say no thanks and stop by the corner store on your way to work and get your coffee there. The next day and every day thereafter, the shop owner screams at you when she sees you, "AREN'T YOU GETTING YOUR COFFEE HERE TODAY?" More people move into your neighborhood and yell random demands at you. It starts to feel like a neighborhood you don't want to live in anymore.

Trust me, a seller will annoy her potential customers and scare away returning customers if, every time she lists an item, she auto-tweets and drops an item link on Facebook and that's it. I've also seen sellers repeatedly dump product photos into Flickr groups clearly not meant for this. They're called social networks for a reason: They are social places. We are not robots that churn out messages on an assembly line and shuttle them out into the world for nameless, faceless customers; we are humans capable of sharing funny, insightful, moving, or even off-the-cuff ideas about ourselves and other people!

I'm not suggesting sellers stop being "active" online. There is an alternative: I want sellers to make their updates, comments and Flickr photos more interesting! I'm looking for a good story — even if it's bite-sized. I want to see your sense of humor or find out what challenges you worked through. All it takes is some thought and care and practice. Just like in real life, it takes picking up on social cues that may be subtle (or in the case of this article, not so subtle!).

My Tips for Tactful Participation

Read a blog post before you consider whether or not you want to comment.
If you are moved to share a thought or your reaction then post a comment.
If you're on the Etsy blog, your avatar and username link to your shop. If you've said something that intrigues people or resonates with them, maybe they'll click through and check you out. There's no need for an additional "footer" with your shop URL. (On an off-Etsy blog, you may want to have a footer or signature with your URL.)
If you have an item that is meaningful to the discussion because you can use it as an example when telling an anecdote or sharing a tip, then link to it to illustrate your point. Add something to the discussion and show some personality. Same goes for a Forum thread on Etsy, tweeting or updating and commenting on Facebook.
Link to other Etsy shops, not just your own. In the Forum thread I started, one person likened self-promoters to those people you know in real life who only talk about themselves. Those people are boring.

It takes more time to read the article, to think of something relevant, witty or touching or provocative to say. But that is what Etsy and the handmade movement are all about, right? Take the time to craft something unique to you.

P.S.
When I was talking with the other Admin about writing this post, this Forum thread came up from seller HautTotes. As a seller, she has worked through many of the points I've made here.

P.P.S.
I don't want to discourage people from simply saying they liked a post or the items featured. Not every comment has to be the most profound thing you've ever said — it just has to be true to you and the post.

More Posts About Selling and Social Networking

How-Tuesday: Blue Ribbon Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie

2010-01-26T13:11:00-05:00

New Year's resolution #1: Eat. More. Pie. After having the great honor to be on the panel of judges for the 1st Annual Brooklyn Pie Bake Off Benefit at Spacecraft and sample over thirty handmade pies, I realized that making and eating homemade pie is truly at the top of my personal priorities for the new year, and in life in general. Wild goals of skydiving or going to the gym every day aside, I think one resolution I can stick to this year is to make time for the sweet, slow things in life, like freshly baked pie, straight from the oven.

With its flaky crust, choice ingredients, and impeccable harmony of flavors, Allison Kave's Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie was the winner of this year's contest! Allison (pictured below, with her boyfriend, Jay Horton, who won Best Sweet Pie for his Apple Cider Cream) was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico and grew up on Long Island. She has been working in the arts for years and is currently the studio manager for an artist. Baking and cooking are her favorite hobbies, and she hopes to someday make the transition into working with food professionally.

She has shared her winning recipe and few insights into her pie-making process with us below:

What was your inspiration for the pie? What do you think is the secret to creating a delicious pie?
I have been baking this pie for years. I'm a big bourbon drinker, which is a traditional pairing with pecans, but I also thought that ginger would add a nice spicy, herbal element to the overall flavor.

The crust has to be flaky and crisp, with no sogginess. I've learned that blind baking the crust first makes a big difference, especially with particularly juicy fruit pies. Also, a good balance of flavor, with a bit of salt to counteract all the sweetness, is important.

How long have you been a pie-maker? What was the first pie you ever baked?
I've been baking since I was a kid. My mother is a great cook and baker, and she actually opened up a chocolate shop a couple of years ago, called Roni-Sue's Chocolates in the Essex Market on the Lower East Side. I learned a lot from watching her. My brother Corwin and I were always encouraged to spend time in the kitchen. He's now the executive chef at Fatty Crab restaurant, so food definitely runs in the family! I don't have a clear memory of my first pie, but I'd guess it was probably an apple pie, as we often went apple picking in the fall during my childhood.

What meal would you pair with this pie?
It's a very autumnal pie — I first made it for Thanksgiving dinner years ago, so I know from experience that it pairs nicely with roasted turkey and brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, etc. The ginger in the pie lends itself to a whole different kind of interpretation, however, and I could see someone starting things off with a Thai curry or something similarly spicy and Asian-influenced.

So, for those of you looking to satisfy your sweet tooth and try a new recipe in the new year, read on for a real treat from the winner of the 1st Annual Brooklyn Pie Bake Off Benefit.

Photo by Talisa Chang from the Greenpoint Gazette

Recipe for Bourbon Ginger Pecan Pie by Allison Kave

You'll Need:
Crust — makes enough for 1 single 9-inch crust:

3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, diced and chilled
2 tablespoons lard, chilled*
1/2 teaspoon white vinegar*
1/4 cup very cold water
approximately 1/4 cup crystallized ginger, finely chopped

Filling:
1 cup light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 large eggs, beaten
2 cups pecans, lightly toasted
2-3 tablespoons good bourbon
a pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground dried ginger
approximately 2 teaspoons (about a 2-inch piece) fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated (a microplane is great for this)

Tip: If you do not want to use lard (although I recommend it as it makes an amazing crust), just replace it with butter and omit the white vinegar from the recipe. I'm not a fan of shortening, but you could substitute that if you want to. Also, leaf lard is really the best thing for pies, if you can find it. I buy it already rendered from my local farmer's market, and you can often find it frozen at good food markets.

Directions:
1. Make the crust. I use a food processor for this, and it turns out wonderfully, but you can cut the fat into the flour by hand if you don't have one. A pastry cutter or a couple of knives will do the trick.

In the work bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the flours and salt just to combine. Add the butter, lard, and ginger, and pulse a few times to cut the fat into the flour. The mixture should resemble coarse crumbs. Combine the vinegar (if using) with the cold water. With the processor running, pour the liquid down the feed tube all at once. As soon as the dough begins to form a ball around the blade, stop the machine. Lay a piece of plastic wrap on the counter and dump the dough onto it, scraping the bowl and blade with a spatula. Pat the dough into a ball, wrap lightly, and chill for at least an hour before using. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

After the dough has rested, lightly dust a clean work surface with flour, and roll out to a circle approximately 10 inches in diameter, and about 1/8" thick. Line a buttered pie plate with the dough, and trim the overhang to about 1/2 inch. Do not prick with a fork. Tuck the overhang under the edge between the pie plate and the crust, and make a nice decoration around the edge by pinching the dough between your thumb and forefinger. Return to the fridge to chill for another 20-30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line the crust with foil and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or dried rice, to help the crust hold its shape while baking. Bake for 12 minutes, then remove the weights and foil, and return to the oven for 10 more minutes, until the crust begins to brown lightly. Remove from the oven and cool before filling. If the crust has bubbled up at all on the bottom don't worry, just lightly press down any bubbles.

3. Turn the oven down to 350 degrees. While the crust cools, make the filling. In a mixing bowl, stir together the sugar and the melted butter. Add the maple syrup, eggs, pecans (toast these lightly first for best flavor), bourbon, salt, and both gingers, and stir until all ingredients are combined. Pour mixture into cooled pie crust, and bake for approx 25-35 minutes, or until the pie is set. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack. The pie can be frozen after it has cooled. To do so, wrap it well in plastic and then foil, and leave it out at room temperature for a few hours to defrost.

Thanks to Allison Kave for sharing this delicious recipe with us! For more home-cooking inspiration, be sure to check out the links below.

Food on the Etsy Blog | Plants and Edibles Category

More How-Tuesday Projects

Handmade Code: BigCrumbs

2010-01-22T10:39:00-05:00

As part of our Handmade Code series, we're bringing you news and how-to's about the innovations emerging from the Etsy Developer Community. Located at developer.etsy.com, the Etsy Developer Community serves as a hub for third-party software developers who are making programs for Etsy shoppers and sellers. In this edition, Davin Bentti tells us all about his project BigCrumbs.com.

BigCrumbs.com was started in 2004 and gives its members cash back on their purchases at hundreds of major retailers. We wanted to help the thousands of independent sellers out there who were looking for another way to reach customers. My wife is an Etsy shop owner (kissingkumquats) and told me that Etsy had opened the door to developers who wanted to practice their craft. So I used the Etsy API to provide a way to connect Etsy shop owners with the BigCrumbs community of shoppers, giving Etsians free exposure to thousands of new customers.

What's the basic idea of the application? What need does it fill?
The idea of this application is to connect an Etsy shop with a BigCrumbs membership. The shop is then listed along with our other retailers, so BigCrumbs members can find an Etsy shop and check it out. Etsians can also post deals on individual items, which are highlighted in our “deals” section.

Etsy shoppers can find deals on items all in one spot on our deals page, and find Etsy shops through our member store and search features.

Shop owners benefit in two ways. First, every shop owner wants more visitors, and that's what BigCrumbs provides, free of charge. Second, shop owners can find deals on materials they use for their creations on BigCrumbs and get cash back.

Who is it for? How many people are using it right now?
Any Etsy shop owner who wants free exposure or who needs to find deals on supplies. Etsy buyers can also use it as a way to shop. We have only relied on word of mouth so far, but we already have hundreds of Etsy shops registered.

Where do we go to find it? What's the URL, etc?
We set up a page just for Etsy sellers at: http://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/etsy.do

Shoppers can go to the deals page, or just head to our shopping section: http://www.bigcrumbs.com/crumbs/shoppingHome.do

How do you use it?
Listing a store and and item is fairly easy. Once you're registered and logged in, go to the home page and click List your Store in the upper right hand corner of the home page.

Then, click on the Etsy logo on the left side of the page under the “Promoting with BigCrumbs” section.

Add the verification code shown to your Etsy shop announcement. This step prevents others from accidentally listing your shop and gives you full control of what deals are displayed. Once you're done, click the button I've added my verification code...

Then submit your store details, and shoppers can find your store. Once your store is verified, be sure to remove the verification code from your shop announcement.

To list an item, click on My Account in the upper right hand corner, then click My Stores on the sub menu toward the top. Click your store name under “Current Stores” then click Post a Deal on the left side of the next page.

Click the Add a New Deal button.

Enter your deal details and click Submit. Your deal is listed! Now other BigCrumbs shoppers can find your deal.

Are there any costs or further opportunities/ways to get involved?
BigCrumbs charges nothing to join, list your shop, or post deals on items. In other words, it's completely free to sell through BigCrumbs. Of course, we’d love for people to shop through BigCrumbs, as that’s how we make money. We hope the deals and cash back is enough to keep you coming back to BigCrumbs, but we also want to offer people a lot of variety in where they shop, including Etsy shops, which is why we don’t charge to list shops or deals.

What should one do if there's a bug or a problem? Who should one contact?
Check out our help page for our FAQ, help guides and to contact support.

What's one surprising/fun/amazing story you've heard about someone using your app? Or what is your favorite part about the app?
My favorite part is the ability to list a deal. It's great to see the amazing items Etsians have created. I actually used the deals section to go Christmas shopping!

Anything else you'd like to add?
We are always looking for ways to improve the site and our use of the Etsy API. Feel free to contact us or post in the BigCrumbs forums. We love hearing from people.

Have you used this app? Post in the comments below!

The Etsy Seller Handbook: All Our How-To's About Selling

2010-01-19T15:45:00-05:00

Sellers!

Below you'll find a handy index of all the useful how-to's about selling on Etsy. We're calling it the Seller Handbook, and we first posted it on The Storque in September of 2007. We add every new how-to's for sellers to this index and bumping up the post when we do. In this way it's a living document.

You can also search the Storque tags for "Seller Handbook" for a chronological list of all our published how-to's related to Selling.

Your Shop 101: How-To's for Getting Started on Etsy
Start with this one: Etsy Success for Beginner Sellers!
Please also see the Setting Up Shop Help Guide, Selling Dos and Don'ts, Selling FAQs, Listing an Item Help Guide, Etsy Guide to SEO.

[image by Artsy]

Photography How-To's

[image by CarolinaCottage]

Etsy International How-To's (plus How-To's translated into foreign languages)

[image by T woHiddenHeads]

Alchemy and Custom/Reserved Listing How-To's

[image by moxiethrift]

Shipping How-To's

[image by missplum]

Advertising How-To's
Please also see the Showcase Help Guide.

[image by Earmark]

Business and Pricing How-To's

[image by NewDuds]

Promoting & Marketing How-To's

[image by DancingMooney]

Craft Show & Events How-To's

[image by photohale]

Gallery Go-getter Series

[image by MiNDJACKET]

Social Networking, Blogging, Podcasting & Video-making How-To's

[image by growbots]

Handmade Code (Third Party Applications from the Etsy Developer Community)

"Etsy Addict" iPhone Application
Craft Cult (a site that let's you track your hearts and where you've been featured, plus more)
ColorMatch from 26OliveStreet (a tool that suggests items that fit along your color palette)
ESeller Ads (an ad builder for sellers)
EtsyHacks (a suite of tools for sellers — "Copy Listing" is particularly handy)
Morecloth (an application that lets you browse fabric on Etsy by color)
Sellit.com (a service that helps you spread the word about your shop)
Soopsee (an easy-to-use website building service that enables you to feed in your Etsy shop, blog, etc.)
Statsy (a variety of tools helping sellers glean information about their shops and items)
Tag Finder Tool from Craftweasel.com (one of this developer's many applications the Tag Finder gives sellers insights into what tags might be appropriate for their items)

[image by houseofharriet]

Legal Info for Artists

[image by jessgonacha]

Tagging How-To's

[image by Anda]

Team Tips Handbook

See all the how-to's relating to Teams, groups of sellers who self-organize by location or craft.

[image by iheartmoustaches]

All about Etsy & Site Features

We have to close comments here because the page is taking too long to load! So if you have additional tips, please post in this Forum thread.

If you'd like to write a how-to for the Seller Handbook, pitch to the Storque editors.