Etsy Day 2009, Buy Handmade

Etsy is an online community where people can buy and sell handmade goods. That's a fact but it's also a really dry explanation. I have a shop at Etsy where I sell my jewelry, including a low-pulp, high-celebration piece I changed up and retitled Zesty Day to commemorate Etsy Day. My husband will be selling some of his guitars and maybe some of his smaller art furniture pieces, too in the future. Etsy's birthday is June 18th.

The best thing about Etsy for sellers is the sense of community. The people who work at Etsy are very enthusiastic and very helpful. I always feel really old whenever I go into their wonderful virtual labs and see the members of their administration who are leading classes and teaching me a lot of valuable information. It's the same way I feel when I realize that two of the babies who I once diapered are now doctor and a teacher who's having her own baby. Unbelievable! I couldn't express how much I've learned from their workshops.

The talent and creative minds of the people who sell at Etsy will blow you away. Some of them have literally been able to quit their day jobs thanks to their shops. Congratulations to them for their accomplishments and all their hard work!

There are a lot of good animal-themed items, particularly my favorite, cat things. Randomly from my Favorites List, I chose this Kitty Cat Decorative Plate from tresse's shop, 20% of the proceeds benefit Mid-Michigan Cat Rescue. Paws Up to tresse's shop! You can get paintings of your pets and replicas of your pet done in needle felting and other fabrics.

Etsy is a great place to find upcycling at its finest. redyellowandblueink's shop has birdfeeders made from recycled traffic lights, and part of the proceeds go to the Audubon Society. The artwork is as diverse as it is noteworthy. Take, for instance, Brain scan light box No. 7 from leee's Shop. Do you want your home to look like you went into a department store and let them take over? It certainly won't if you shop at Etsy, it will show your personality.

Groovy recycled fashion, handbags, sculpture and jewelry and the pieces to make them are available. Katwise creates beautiful sweaters in her Etsy shop. I create jewelry with recycled broken jewelry, tin scraps, computer parts, fabric trim and buttons and hope to have some of these pieces in my shop soon.

I encourage everyone to visit the site and look around. They've recently updated their Search function. (hooray!)