Craft fair tips

The fall craft fair season is about to come into full swing, so now is the time to prepare. We did a post in February about how to prepare for a craft show. A little later, we posted some booth inspiration for your perusal. Last week, our own AudreyEclectic, who will soon round out her first year on the circuit, wrote a nice post on her blog about her experiences with craft shows and some tips for beginners. It's a great read for brand-new booth dwellers as well as those of us you've been around the block at least a little while. Another team member, ChristieCottage, has run a feature the past two Mondays about craft shows. Check out today's and last week's all about upping the ante at shows.

While we're on the subject, what's your favorite thing about fall shows?

The TSAs of Crafty Air Travel

Things have been a bit quiet over hear in blogland, and for that I apologize. Hopefully I'll have some good news for everyone soon.

In the meantime, check out this great piece in Craft: all about carrying supplies onto airplanes. This is valuable information for everyone's summer travel plans. :)

Swap-O-Rama-Rama 2009!

Last Saturday was Swap-O-Rama-Rama in Tulsa, and I'm pleased to announce that it went amazingly well. A hundred or so people came out to trade clothes, use their creativity, and come home with totally unique pieces of wearable art. All six sewing stations stayed busy, and when all was done, a ton of clothes were left to donate to Youth Services of Tulsa. It was a big success, and Christine plans to do it again next year.

There have been some great blogs posted about it, so instead of repeating myself, I'll link you to places to see pictures and read about the festivities.

• Caffeinated Radio -- Adventures in Swapping
• Tasha Does Tulsa -- Look What Tasha Did Today
• Rhymes With Grunt -- Sew Amazing
• Grey Eye Designs Studio -- Swaptastic Weekend
• Hollyrocks -- Swap-O-Rama-Rama Came to Tulsa!
• Tara's Swap O Rama Rama photos
• Justin's Swap O Rama Rama and Swap O Rama Rama 2 photos
• My Swap-O-Rama-Rama 2009 photos

If you know of other blog entries or photos from the event, let me know and I'll link them here.

Great displays

Our very own AScrappyDesign was featured on Indie Craft Shows this week because of her gorgeous booth display. Congrats to Heather! Go check out the post to catch the buzz. It's a great way to get inspiration for sprucing up our own craft-show set-ups. Having a fun-but-functional display is one of the best ways to draw in shoppers.

If you have links to other great display photos, leave them in the comments!

Promoting the team

Your leaders are working to spread the good word about the Disciples of Etsy!

The team now has a Facebook page here, so if you haven't yet, go become a fan. Feel free to update the page, too, with pictures, comments, or anything else. If you know of upcoming shows, please share that information.

This blog is also now a member of the Blog Oklahoma ring. The ring is a great resource for Sooner bloggers to connect with others from the area. If your blog contains more than just advertisements for your Etsy store, then go to the Web site and apply to be a member as well. Also, make sure to check out the ring (check out the link on the left) for other local scribes.

We're cooking up new ways to get the team name out there, but if you have any other suggestions, please let us know!

"I love your guts!"

Looking for a Valentine's Day project with a little less glitter and pink hearts? Our very own Amy of EarlyBirdSpecial worked with Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching ("this ain't your gramma's embroidery!") to bring you this awesome, from-the-gut tutorial! Check out the link to make the one you love a card that tells it like it is.

For more of Amy's awesomeness, check out her blog.

Down for the count

Many of us across the Internet can't connect to Etsy right now. Etsy says it isn't on their end. I don't know whose fault it is, but I know I miss my handmade goods and my group chatting!

So, to try to pass a little bit of time, I thought I'd write a blog in hopes that everything will be restored once I push "post".

You may have noticed things gettin' kinda fancy around here. One of the delightful Heathers (no film reference, I promise) on the team worked to spruce up our layout. She made the lovely banner, too. Doesn't it look nice? She's done such a great job with her personal blog that I was thrilled when she volunteered to help. I've been trying to change the information up as well to streamline everything. Does anyone have comments or suggestions?

Another lovely Heather on the team also suggested doing Project Wonderful ads on the blog, with revenue benefitting the team. I think this would be a really great idea, but I'm curious what comments team members have. If we do this, I'll add a third column to the blog and put the ads on the left. Thoughts? Ideas? Experience? If everyone likes the idea, I'll try to implement it soon.

The ice is starting to melt up here in the Tulsa area. Hopefully it won't refreeze too much tonight. I hope conditions are getting nicer in your corner of the state!

Edit: I can't believe it worked! Etsy was back up after I posted this. Oh the magic of the blog. :)