Saturday Stellar Seller 6/28/08---Beneaththerowantree

The Stellar Seller for this week is Lori of BeneathTheRowanTree. Inspired by her daughter Rowan, Lori's shop is full of unique, brightly colored, Earth and child friendly items. While a bit of her variety is pictured below, visiting her shop is a must! Click on her shop name above to see her Etsy shop, or here to see her blog. And now, the interview:


(Aren't these Owls the cutest? We knew she was a kindred Owl :) While these aren't in her shop just yet, you can read about them here )



Tell us all about you, as much or as little as you'd love to share with the Etsy world.

Me. Working mom (ordained minister) of an almost 3 year old. Long time crafter, just beginning to explore myself as an artist.


Lets hear all about your shop & how you got started:

My shop is a mix of things I *like* to make and things that I would buy or use for my own child. My shop began as a whim~ I was cloth diapering my daughter and needed some clothes for summer, so I decided to dye and paint some for her. I was hooked and needed someplace to unload the rest... Etsy found me and so it began!

See these playsilks here and here

We focus on natural toys for children, because we believe so firmly in the value of imagination and wonder in child hood. Children grow up far too quickly. Our toys are simple, made of natural materials and play is lead by the child (and not the other way around as with battery operated toys etc.). Our core product is our hand dyed and painted clothing featuring bright colours and lots of whimsy to delight little ones. My recent foray into felting has opened up a whole new avenue of creation!

I have a well of creativity that seems to overflow and BTRT is the perfect outlet!


What inspires you to create?

My daughter. The amazing journey children make into awareness of the world and themselves. I love colour and texture and seeing them come together. I love the chaos of dyeing~ the possibility continues to draw me to create.

Check out Dawn, the felted bowl pictured right, here



Describe yourself in one word:

(com)passionate

See 'I Heart Ewe' here

The same five questions we always ask, sort of...

What's Your Favorite:

---noodle?

Rowan would say bow tie, but I am a fan of rotini

---song from the 90's?

the 90s? Was there music then? I only remember 500 Miles by The Proclaimers.

---ice cream flavor?

Dairy allergic. But Pralines and Cream are in my dreams!

See 'Feathering the Nest' here
---actor named Tom?

Arnold. LOL, um, no... Skerrit, maybe.

Always thought there was something sexy about him.

---Etsy seller???

Tough one. So many great people to work with. I was so impressed recently by Hidenseek and Krisblues and Snitterdog while seeking art for my daughter, to begin a collection of small works and ACEOs. My go-to-gal is Lindsay at Whimzy Pinzy, for fiber. KeelyB rocks her trees. See, I can't pick just one!

Anything else you want to add?

Thanks for the opportunity to share with you! Being part of a creative community is so inspiring and challenging and has been good for my soul~ awakened my need to create and lead me into new territory as an artist.

Etsy Buy Handmade BeneathTheRowanTree

One Step Closer to Total Fame...

One of our four original OWLs, Maria of executeme has received a raving review from one of her customers. This customer enjoyed several pair of Maria's earrings so much that she decided to share them with the world via her website.

Check out what she had to say here , and check out Maria's awesomeness in her Etsy shop. We love you Maria!

A Prize Bucket You Say??

So... You were probably wondering what sort of items you might find in the prize package for the winner of the "Banner for Figaro" contest.  Well, here are just a few of the items donated by the OWLS team members.

There is an awesome burgundy and royal purple scarf donated by Jamie, a gorgeous set of photo cards donated by Julie, a funky wire crocheted necklace with a polymer clay pendant donated by Kristen and a fabulous set of hand embossed OWL note cards donated by Amanda.  There are lots more gifts in the basket donated by several other OWL team members.

Thanks so everyone who donated and to those who donated multiple items!  Keep an eye out for the winner of this fabulous prize package + a feature on our blog!

The Submissions!

The submissions for the Banner for Figaro contest will be posted here as they arrive!  Check 'em out!

From Amanda at henryrabbit.etsy.com

From Brittany at brittanyalecia.etsy.com

From Shelly at loriotndorr.etsy.com

From Erik Endres at erikendres.etsy.com

We will post a poll at the end of the week for everyone to vote on their favorite!

Saturday Stellar Seller 6/21/08

The first Stellar Seller on our new blog is Lisa of BaileyBowls . Read the interview to get to know Lisa (and Bailey!) and check out her shop for any of the items pictured and many more!

Click here to see the Good Luck Owl, pictured right.

A little about myself:

My name is Lisa and I am an artist at heart. I have an Architecture degree from UC Berkeley but went into software engineering as my career. In order to feed my artistic side, I paint, draw, photograph and, of course, do a lot of ceramics. I love getting my hands dirty with clay. There's something really mesmerizing about the potter's wheel when it is spinning. I often don't sit down with a piece in mind - the piece reveals itself as I'm throwing.

Click here to see Chester, pictured below.

How I got started:

I've been doing ceramics for over 12 years and I had boxes and boxes of pieces I've made. A lot of times, I give them away to my friends. I did craft shows when I had time and the energy. I started my ETSY shop after my good friend pointed me to it. She said "look at this cute website. You should sell your stuff there." :D Now I have a dedicated studio space and spend a lot of my time enjoying the process of creation.

What inspires me:

My friends are very supportive and inspirational to me. They would call me up and say "Lisa, I was at such and such store shopping. I saw this item but I think I need something different. You can make that right?". I'd sketch it out and then the idea would churn for a while in my head. These nested pinch pots were one of those creations from my friend's suggestions. Or another friend decided to learn to be a bee keeper to harvest honey and asked me to make her some honey jars. I ended up making quite a few of these.

My other greatest inspiration is my loving dog Bailey - my shop's namesake. He is such an adorable dog that I like to put him on everything. He has an entire line of pottery called Bailey-ware. One day, I intend to extend the line to clothing and dish cloths. LOL

Sometimes when I'm on hikes, I'd pick up sticks, leaves and varies seeds with the intention of incorporating them into my ceramic pieces. Oh, if only I didn't have a day job.

Some pieces from the Bailey Ware line...click here to see them all

What is your favorite:

---chocolate candy?

RECCHIUTI!!!

---theme park?
Disneyland

---musical group/musician that begins with the letter 'p'?
Police


---off-the-air sitcom?
Frasier

---Etsy seller?
PixieSoap

Etsy Buy Handmade BaileyBowls

Coming Soon: Saturday Stellar Seller!

Along with the new of our new blog comes some of the old, being our Stellar Seller feature that we've done since we started out as a team. The main objective of the Stellar Seller feature is to highlight the achievements and styles of individual Etsy artists, sellers with a good sales history, exceptional feedback, and a flair for the unique. These featured sellers are sometimes selected randomly, or noticed through their actions in the Etsy community, or also by selling one of us Owls something and being fantastic about it! The new Stellar Seller feature will be called the Saturday Stellar Seller, and will be published weekly on the Owls blog. We will also try to promote these interviews on the Etsy forums, so that as many people can discover the featured artist as possible! The first interview will be posted Saturday, so stay tuned!!!

Etsy Owls Banner Contest!

Calling all graphic designers! The Etsy Owls shop is in desperate need of a makeover! Figaro's tired of looking at that boring banner all the time, and is demanding we get him a new one. So, we're asking for your help!

What we are looking for is a banner and matching avatar that both reflects the spirit of our team and satisfies Figaro. To understand this spirit, it might be important to know a bit about our team.

We started out of the desire for fellowship and community, and our main objective as a team is to help promote one another while making new friendships. We are a mixed media team from all over and like the fact that many of our members explore more than one medium.

Some things to consider:



We're 'off the wall'. We're looking for something bold, creative, and maybe a bit out there.

Figaro, our mascot and friend, is an owl. He's male. He would like to be somehow depicted in either the banner or the avatar, or both. (we're excited to see new images of Figaro, so don't hold back!)



Sources of more information:
Owls Team Profile
Off the Wall Etsy store
the Etsy Owls members blog ring

Logistics:

We're going to begin promoting for the contest on the 16th of June. If you're interested in participating, use this time to start the gears turning, and also to encourage your friends to participate as well. We will be accepting submissions from the 23rd through the 30th of June. We will NOT consider designs submitted before the 23rd, or after midnight Etsy time on June 30th. This gives all interested parties 2 weeks to complete a design. Entries are to be submitted to Kristen (our official Figaro liaison) at greska.offthewall@gmail.com with the subject heading of 'Etsy Owls Banner Contest'. Please make sure to use this subject heading to make sure that your entry isn't marked as spam or deleted!

The winner will receive a prize bundle compiled of items from participating Etsy Owls shops. The value of this package is approximately $75 and it should also be noted that most of these items are girly.

All submissions will be posted on our blog at the time of the contest, but the winner and the runner up will get a special feature article following our decision. The submissions will be voted on by members of the Owls team.

Please use Etsy convos if you have any questions, and contact suenosdejmi or knitandpearl.

Diversity runs rampant