Treasury Tuesday - August 7

Treasuries are a great way to check many of our items at once. Visit them to check out more items and leave comments.  View a complete list of our team treasuries for August on our Etsy team page.

'Treasury Makers' by GetGlassy

Hudson Valley Team Treasury Makers! Thank you for all your hard work.

Icepop Popsicle Icecrea... JerisJewelryB... $12.00	Coffee Break RoArt $10.00	Ballerina Ornament VirtuosityCla... $18.00	Black Cube Porcelaine P... LandMstudio $70.00
lavender and teal blue ... beaconknits $35.00	Blessed in Love - Mothe... CharmsofFaith $39.00	Beanie Hat Crochet Flow... MyStitchInTim... $9.50	Silly Hairless Dumbo Ra... Drusilla $22.00
Nesting bowls-set of th... Ceruleanblue $100.00	Lacy Cropped Jacket for... HuzzahHandmad... $60.00	Spring Violet Pendant geminiriverro... $12.00	Vivid Habitat Journal mylocalmuse $30.00
I Love You More Than I ... TheMadFawn $15.00	Herringbone Army Guy Ip... GimmeSunshine $15.00	Blown Glass Globe Neckl... CorkyWhites $60.00	girls organic cotton sk... betsybdesign $34.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

'Butterscotch' by mystichintime

100% Hudson Valley Team Treasures

Butterscotch Hand Paint... sunriselodgef... $21.00	Vintage Crochet Clutch ... YesterdaysSil... $17.00	Dulce de Leche Perfume ... MaevaBeauty $6.00	Medium Zipper Pouch - G... handjstarcrea... $11.00
Orange Delight All Natu... BeyondThePick... $3.00	Large Serving Bowl in G... miasorellagif... $72.00	Winter Fashion - Chunky... TickledPinkKn... $128.00	Swallow Bird With Pearl... pulpsushi $20.00
Goldenrod Antique Coppe... merryalchemy $24.00	I'm Cuckoo for You,... WishboneLette... $4.00	Silk Wrap Yoga Jewelry ... anjalicreatio... $30.00	Small Yum Yum Yellow Mu... NewProspectPo... $18.00
Personalized Porcelain ... MilestoneDeca... $36.00	Leaf Print Wallet GimmeSunshine $10.00	daffodil yellow and whi... beaconknits $33.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

'blue hudson' by beaconknits

Birdwatching Blank Jour... mylocalmuse $35.00	Long Cascading Orchid E... JSWMetalWorks $60.00	Fall Winter Fashion - K... TickledPinkKn... $120.00	Vintage 70's Weird ... YesterdaysSil... $45.00
Blue Satin Cord Wrap Br... anjalicreatio... $24.00	Small Zipper Pouch Smal... handjstarcrea... $10.00	Karmabee Peace Prayer F... karmabee $25.00	Original Folk Art Paint... digiliodesign... $125.00
Large Patina Filigree E... merryalchemy $27.00	Blue Jellyfish RoArt $10.00	Silver Rat Birthday Drusilla $3.00	Swirl plate Ceruleanblue $18.00
Happy Birthday the old ... WishboneLette... $4.00	SEATTLE Hand Dyed Yarn ... spinningmulef... $27.00	Blue and Gold Bowl NewProspectPo... $22.00	Decorative Chain Pull f... miasorellagif... $19.00

Treasury tool by StylishHome.

Creating Your "About" Page on Etsy

It appears that many Etsy sellers (including on the HV team) are not familiar with this wonderful feature we have to add to our shops to help make it more organic and personal for the customer.  It is the About page - different from your Etsy Profile.

The About page is where you can share more about yourself and your work.  Sellers use this as an opportunity to show who the person behind the shop really is.  You can add links to your blog, Facebook and Twitter, share a nice bio about yourself, and add up to five pictures of whatever you like - it can be an item, your workspace, your family, your favorite pet, anything that helps share with the customer who you are.

You can find a seller's About page by finding the link in the shop in the lower left under "Shop Info", if there is no About page, you'll just see the Policies link. 

To set this up is easy! Just go to Info & Appearance and click the "About" tab. 

Find a nice picture of yourself as your portrait, it's what will appear in the big circle on the right.

Here are some more great examples from some of our members:

For My Sweet Daughter

My Stitch In Time

Yesterday's Silhouette

Signposts and Guides for the Creative Life

"Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter - like river banks - forcing the spontaneity into various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem."

Rollo May, quoted by Christine Valters Paintner in the Artist's Rule

This is one of those quotes that I had to read and reread before it took root in me.  And this is how I I have experienced its truth.

We are constantly running into limitations. There is no perfect time for anything we want to do.  No perfect place, free from distraction.  We find our energies pulled into jobs, children, parents, friends, community - you name it.  How many times do we have a great thought but we're in the car without a pencil, or we are under a deadline for something more pressing and we lose it?  We decide we have a free schedule, a clean desk - and we don't have the materials we need, the colors we would like, the right tools. ( I've had that problem when I'm on vacation and feel this great urge to paint but don't like what I've brought to use.)  WE don't have the space to work on what we envision.

I knew an artist  who worked on  large paintings and collages.  When her children were born she only had short time periods to accomplish anything and she couldn't leave pieces lying around unfinished.  Her solution was to develop small pieces of work that she could complete in a couple of hours, that were easy to transport or put away as needed.  They were intriguing and affordable to many more people than could have bought her larger works.

I now keep a small pad and pen in my purse wherever I go - and if I have to, have pulled over to the side of the road to jot down a color combination, an image, a phrase that I want to bring back and work on later.

I've come up with some interesting things working with a limited palette - kind of like what Shannon proposes with her color palette inspiration.

I like this image of the limitations as river banks that channel you into places you might not have gone before.   What kind of pleasant surprises have you uncovered as you've faced some limitations?

Where To Find The Hudson Valley Etsy Team This Weekend

Wishbone Letterpress will be at Tight Knit's Summer Troy Flea Market on Saturday, August 4, from 9AM to 2PM. Go check out her awesome papergoods and stock up!

 Need your fix of the rest of the HV Etsy Team? Head on over to our team page for some serious online shopping...Have a great weekend!

Inspiration Wednesday

Hello, this is Shannon from For My Sweet Daughter and I am sharing Inspiration Wednesday with you.

Here is the inspiration from Design-Seeds.com:

WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2012

Inspiration Wednesday

Hard to believe it is the last Wednesday of July already!

Hi, this is Shannon from For My Sweet Daughter with this week's Inspiration Wednesday.

I love the color palette for the week and not just because of the cute dog but because I love pink and brown.

Pink and brown were the colors I chose for all my baby gear so they will always remind me of when my daughter, now 3, was born.

I was inspired to create this necklace and matching bracelet. The pink beads are pink chalcedony, the pendant is handmade porcelain and the round beads are lamp work glass.

Were you inspired by the color palette? Be sure to share the link to your listing or blogpost in the comment section below.

Here is the next color palette from Design-Seeds:

and here is the piece of jewelry I was inspired to make this week:

I loved these blue chalcedony drops as soon as I saw them. They are the perfect shade of blue and look great with my handmade etched copper discs and hand forged ear wires.

Did you make something inspired by the Design-Seeds.com palette from last week? Be sure to post it in the comment section below!

Here is the palette for next week:

Design-Seeds.com

and yes I chose salad as inspiration because my beautiful garden is supplying us with tons of fresh veggies already, yay!

Here are some items from the Hudson Valley Etsy Team for inspiration:

catskillcandyco

betsybdesign

Make an item or choose materials inspired by the palette and write a blog post about it, post the item for sale, or post the item on your website. Add the link to your blog post, shop or website in the comments next week - the 8th.

The only rule is that if you use the Design-Seeds palette you must link directly to the Design-Seeds website.

I can't wait to see what you make!

Have an inspired Wednesday!

See you next week,

~Shannon