Etsy Community Council

This is a screen shot of a meeting Etsy style - the virtual labs - Matt (Etsy co-founder) is on the screen camera and the rest of the council (all the little square icons) are sitting around him and typing their comments and questions.

A juried group of sellers and buyers make up the Etsy Community Council and we have gotten together over international time zones 3 or 4 times now. Time zones were probably the biggest hurdle in this global group. When I got selected to be on the council I had no idea what it would entail... in the end it was very casual and pretty fun. The hardest part was trying to make the meetings (again - time zone issues) but there was a google group thing set up that helped to relay information. And really most of what we did was discuss Etsy concepts and give feedback, we even got a bit o' beta testing in the gig! (although Etsy has another group for beta testing, we joined the fun for a few features we had been discussing)

Over all I thought being on the CC was a sweet job.

Today was our last meeting. My term on the Etsy Community Council has finally come to an end. I find this sad, however it ends on a bright note - as now I am official Etsy CC Alumni. Oh yeah baby. I think we might form a street team for the alumni.

click the picture to the left to read my blog post when I originally got selected to be on the CC

This weekend is a whirl-wind of holiday shopping! On Saturday I will out braving the bad weather at the Portland Saturday Market - please come out and visit, shop, bring me warm tea or chocolate... oh I mean shop for your holiday presents! :)

Sunday I will be at the Convention Center for Crafty Wonderland - this has got to be the biggest and bestest craft event of the Pacific NW. Seriously folks, common out - the first 200 people get free swag bags full of goodies (be prepared to wait in a long line to get one of these free bags). My spot is on a corner, so me and my mobiles should be easy to find!

Ginger Bread Men

One of the luckiest parts of last weekend vending at Urban Craft Uprising was my neighboring booth behind me... in spots where you only get 10x5feet and you sit back to back with your neighbors its pretty claustrophobic and there are no walls between you... I was back to back with a Swedish baker. Oh yeah. They fed Aimee and I some broccoli gruyere little mini quiches on Saturday afternoon and then cookies all weekend long, little sugar cookies and little ginger men. I couldn't have asked for a nicer neighbor - Thanks Svedala Bakery! If you live in the Seattle area you should really get some Svedala Swedish treats this holiday season, I believe you can find them at your local Whole Foods market.

Holiday Artisans Market in Pioneer Place

Wow its really cold outside and there are a handful of vendors from the Portland Saturday Market that set up shop in Pioneer Place Downtown during this whole week - its called the Holiday Artisans Market - and its a great way for downtown shoppers to get a bunch of handmade gifts. But lets be serious - its friggin' cold outside! Fortunately its sunny now, but its not even 20degrees outside. This morning before the sun rose some TV camera crews came down and filmed live TV. My friend Jan volunteered for the super AM gig and I had to share here: (Jan you did great - I found this very funny!)



I am home and warm today, doing some shipping and preparing for next weekend - I'm prepping for Crafty Wonderland now!! I do hope my friends down at the Holiday Artisans Market are doing great business and staying reasonably warm.

Calder Le Cirque

One of my favorite things about the Calder exhibit at the Seattle Museum of Art was the video running of his circus. I found these videos on YouTube to share here on my blog.



Calder started performing his circus while living in Paris around 1930. I read somewhere that he took apart an old sculpture made of wood planks and made a set of bleachers for his friends to sit on. These friends included the likes of famous artists and philosophers like Joan Miró, Jean Arp, and Marcel Duchamp. The "circus" was a series of wire figures that cranks and strings enabled them perform different amusing acts. I love the whimsy and silliness - the peanut poops are hilarious!

There are around 200 of these different figures and Calder would fit them into 2 or 3 suitcases to take them across the Atlantic when he traveled from the US to France. I love the idea that this circus was the way he entertained his friends! Fortunately some of these friends took videos and pictures of his performances. Calder's circus figures now reside at the Whitney Museum in NY and they are now far too old and delicate to still perform, so these videos are the only way we can see them move.

I can only imagine how much time Calder must have spent playing around making these gadgets - what fun!

Urban Craft Uprising - More Pictures!

This little video kinda shows more closely what my set-up at Urban Craft looked like - I had a mobile on a stand above the table, with a motor to keep it spinning - the motion was very hypnotic and it was fun watching people come down the aisle and see it. The glazed look would come across their face and then a smile. I love that!

And you can see how I displayed my work in on the little table, I only had 10feet x 5 feet, it was pretty packed with goodness!

And this is the line on Sunday to get in the door - the first 100 people got free swag bags packed with goodies. They also got to freeze in the cold for an hour or so waiting to get in!

Babies and Mobiles

I had to share this beautiful picture - I met this baby and her mom at Urban Craft Uprising this past weekend and when I got home from Seattle an email greeted me with this picture - baby is already enjoying her new mobile. How cute is that!

Thanks Beth for letting me share!