Etsy Owls St Patricks Day Challenge

This is the first time we've used Votigo embeded on the blog. If for some reason this doesn't work for you, you can also visit the website directly and vote for your favorites there. It will let you vote for as many as you like, but remember voting for your favorites will ensure their victory!

Entrants are: (not necessarily shown in the same order as listed)

Erin Charm Bracelent by GypsyEye
Hedgehog & Shamrock Reversible Headband by Zemphira
Green Style Glasses & Headband by CagedBirdSings
Lucky Necklace by lalala08
Drunken Potato Hat by SquareJane
My Husbands Green Beer Banner by LoveAlisa
Shamrock Bamboo Tile Pendant by KnitandPearl
Mug O'Green Beer Brooch by RaynaE
Felt Shamrock Brooch by BlackCatMima

You can see all of these entries on Etsy (and a few more St Patricks themed items) by clicking here

Burrowing Owls: Orange

The Burrowing Owls feature highlights unique owls we find on Etsy. None of the owls featured in these posts are from our member shops.

To start off this new feature, we posted a thread in the Etsy forums calling for anyone and everyone to share their owls! We got and are still getting a lot of great responses, and we're going to start sharing those owls right here right now! Some of the first posts we got were orange, so I decided to go with an orange theme. It makes me think retro for some reason. Click the links below the picture to check out all the shops! Enjoy!

Pictured top to bottom, left to right:

• an adorable zipper pouch from bizzielizzie
• owl bag hanger from myladida, it's absolutely perfect for keeping your bag off the floor anywhere in public, like a crowded restaurant, and would be perfect for travelling!
• pillowcase from BreeLeeD that mixes adorable orange owls with a splash of pink, it's too precious!
• cute little owl towel from melysbaby
• owl tags from ThePoint
• sweet little vintage napkin holder from endlessvintage

Up & Coming...

In order to get a much more active team blog, we've decided to add a few new features to the blog. In addition to the Owl Spotlights where we have our individual members talk about whatever they want to, we're also working on bringing back our Stellar Seller feature as well. We haven't had a Stellar Seller feature since September, and we're about ready to share some of our awesome purchasing experiences from the holiday season.

We're also adding some brand new features, one feature (that we haven't name yet) will be us highlighting some of our favorite owls on Etsy. As in, real owls. :) The second feature, called Owl Finds, will highlight some items from Etsy that we like that all follow a similiar theme. For example, The Owls Find Trees would show some of our favorite picks that are trees. We're excited about this one as we have a lot of favorite things (and we tend to like similiar things, as teammates) so we're really looking forward to sharing our favorites with the world! So stay tuned!

Owl Spotlight: KnitANDPearl - the Madness Behind the Magic

So, I had been making jewelry and knitting for a few years... just mostly messing around and not having much confidence in my work. I would get custom work here and there but it never occurred to me that selling it was something I could do. One day, a friend mentioned Etsy to me and my life has never been the same!

There are two components to my shop that people always ask about: The Corn Dog and Jimmy.

The Corn Dog is my little mascot! I don't know where it came from or when

my obsession with corn dogs began, but I love them and I want to spread that love. This little corn dog is magic. I like to send him out in button form to my buyers. I even had corn dog Thank You notes made, courtesy of PresentsforPirates!

Jimmy is my scarf model! I work with Jimmy at Wishbone (super wonderful restaurant that I manage

when I'm not crafting).

One day he said to me, "I bet my face could sell a scarf faster that yours." So far that hasn't been proven, but I *do* get the most comments on the items with his face on them! Jimmy is a waiter by day and a budding stand-up comic by night. He and I are pretty weird alone, but put us together and it's

pure insanity.

As far as my shop goes, I really craft seasonally. In the winter, I mostly make scarves and gloves. Once summer sets in, I switch to jewelry. I'm not sure why I work like this, but it's been the trend as of late.

I've been experimenting with different lace patterns in knitting and I'm working up the courage to start some intarsia work!

My hope for the upcoming season is to start working with metal clay and doing more unique jewelry designs.

Here are some other things you should know about me:

I live in the greatest city in the world, Chicago!

I am an 80 year old woman trapped in the ultra sexy body of a 26 year old.
I've been married for four years to a wonderful man, Nick, who makes guitars in his spare time! (yeah, did I mention we NEVER see each other!?)We have a little bunny rabbit named Turkey. She's kind of an ass.I've recently ventured into yarn dying! You can read all about my first experience here on my blog.

I know how to play the drums. I don't really have time for that these days though! :(
I have a big enough yarn collection that I could probably open a shop.
I make really good Red Curry.

That's all for now, kids!

Do you have your green yet???

The Owls are getting ready for Saint Patrick's Day by stocking up on plenty of green beer, shamrocks, and more! Erin of dreambirdphotos has made this green-themed Etsy Treasury to showcase our wide variety of green!

We're excited to launch our March Challenge this coming week highlighting some of the finest elements of Saint Patricks Day. Two of our members have already listed their items, and both are pictured in the treasury above. But, to get a better look, click on the item names to check out CagedBirdSings' Green Style Glasses and headband and Squarejane's Drunken Potato Hat.

We should have several more entrants when our contest starts here in a few days. You will be able to see all the entrants by searching Etsyowlsteam & stpatricksday Also, watch for a blog entry so you can vote for your favorite!

Owl Spotlight, lalala08: Adventures in Consignment

Last year I decided to take my crafting business one step farther -- I was leaving my comfort zone of outdoor festivals, craft shows, and private jewelry parties and entering the world of consignment. Dun dun dunnnnnn!

When a friend of a friend got the opportunity to open her dream store, it was mentioned to me that she was looking for local crafters and artists to sell their work on consignment. I resisted at first, hesitated to call her…I even panicked and got all of my vintage clothing together in a bag to sell to her instead. But eventually, with the unfaltering encouragement of my fiancé, friends, and family, I mustered up the courage to set up a meeting with the owner to show her some of my work. I went through all of my pieces with my mother and fiancé, and fought with myself over what was the best, what I was most proud of, and above all – what I thought would sell. And on a sunny afternoon, I packed my new pretty little jewelry display case and grabbed my plastic garbage bag of vintage clothing, and headed to my meeting.

My heart was racing, I was so nervous! But I figured hey, worse case scenario -- at least I cleaned my closet out, right? Well I don’t know what on earth I was so worried about, because every piece I pulled out she loved and wanted for the store, and couldn’t wait to see what else I would bring!

I felt so proud on opening day to see my pieces displayed in an actual store, and even prouder the first day I saw a stranger wearing one of my pieces! Now that was a first for me – typically I was always the one making the sales, meeting each customer face-to-face, but then…there I was…waiting in line to order coffee…and the woman behind the counter was wearing something I had made! It was REALLY awesome!

And my positive experience with doing consignment with the store led me to consider doing consignment with the gallery above it. In November of 2008, for the first time in my life, I saw my own paintings in a gallery, next to other artists, and I got to see them sell with great enthusiasm! What a rush! It’s been so much fun and so rewarding that I plan on setting out to do more local consignment (and maybe outside of the area too, any takers?!).

If you are ever in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, be sure to check out my goods and the rest of the awesome store that is UnderWired! Tell Lisa that la la la sent you!

Some of my little owl paintings at UnderWired

My handmade earring display at UnderWired.

Some of my jewelry on display at UnderWired

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The artist behind lalala is Janessa, and other than in her Etsy shop and at Underwired, you can also find her online at her blog and also follow her on Twitter @lalalajanessa

Owl Spotlight, Zemphira: Zemphira In March

I got an exciting order to make 200 market totes - this meant I got to order TONS of beautiful fabric (I LOVE fabric). So I decided to start listing some market totes in my Etsy shop. Then it kind of sparked a "go - green" theme in my shop. I started making my coffee cuffs with bamboo fiber and natural batting. I also plan on sewing up some new napkin sets.

March 18th will mark my one-year anniversary on Etsy. It has been a lot of fun for me create for other people. I have learned a lot, my creativity has been challenged, and my crafting skills honed. Who knew I would be sewing owls of all kinds to ship around the globe?!?

To "celebrate" my etsy-versary I am have created 3 "Polkie the Owl" potholders to list in my shop. Polkie is my avatar and the theme for a few of my first Etsy-creations. Polkie has gone to a craft show, gone postal, and gone out for coffee.

I also plan on participating in the OWLS challenge this March. Hoot hoot!

A few things about me

My shop name comes from one of my favorite paintings by Marc Chagall.
I seriously studied ballet and dance.
In college I worked at a rubber-stamp company - so sweet!
In Alaska I got seriously addicted to beading - my crafting soul mate taught me how to bead (with the tiny seed beads) and skin-sew.
I could eat asparagus all day - and chocolate-chip cookies (homemade).
I married my high school sweetheart and we have 3 kids - soon to be 4!

Get to know Zemphira by following her on Twitter @zemphira