The Creepiest Time of the Year

I love Halloween. It's one of the few holidays I actually look forward to. And it's just over a month away...

Letter Beads by This and That Crafter

I can hardly contain my enthusiasm. The shops already have their Halloween things out. As do our fellow teammates...

Monster Hood by EmoSeal Creations

And I think I should probably break out my needles and knit something season appropriate. One of these days. I can look to my fellow teammates for inspiration.

Brainy Beanie by The Enchanted Square

Or I can drool over the jewelry--a craft that I do not have the skills for...

Dia des los Muertos Pendant by Delicate Industry

Sugar Skull Triple Strand Bracelet by Micheladas Musings

Spiders Lair Necklace by whimsicals

Yep, I'm looking forward to October. There's so much to enjoy.

Halloween Greeting Card by Sophie n Me

And if you've enjoyed this sampling, make sure to check out the team collection...

Trick or Treat curated by California Crafters Club Of Etsy - CCCOE on Etsy

New Team Page on Etsy

A new feature on Etsy, the Team Page, was launched a few days ago.

California Crafters Club Of Etsy - CCCOE on Etsy

Each team was able to apply for one page and use it to promote team member products. It is a user-friendly platform that will help our team create one-of-a-kind shopping collections to promote to buyers. It looks similar to Pinterest but is on Etsy's site. Like a blog or website, our Team Page has a unique URL that we can share with anyone.

We have over 20 collections so far. Like Wedding Bells:

Wedding Bells curated by California Crafters Club Of Etsy - CCCOE on Etsy

Bag It:

Bag It curated by California Crafters Club Of Etsy - CCCOE on Etsy

Trick or Treat:

Trick or Treat curated by California Crafters Club Of Etsy - CCCOE on Etsy

and California Proud:

California Proud curated by California Crafters Club Of Etsy - CCCOE on Etsy

There is no limit to how many items can be in a collection. We are limited to 35 collections at this time. In the future Etsy will probably increase this number. This is a great way to share more of what our team has to offer in one place. Our collections on our Team Page showcase our group’s products in an organized, “shoppable” way that buyers hopefully will love to browse.

Please share/post our team page on any of your social websites to help promote our team.

September

I asked the team to show me what made them think of September. (Okay, as a theme it's kind of lacking, but it's been hot and that does something to my brain.) Here's what they had.

DTailsULike says:

I love fall colors, the yellows, orange, brown...it inspire me to create and enjoy nature. My favorite holiday is thanksgiving because I can use all the colors and stop and appreciate all the good things I had during the year.

Handmade Orange Beaded Bracelet

Pink Pianos says:

Beginning of Fall reminds me of scarf weather, tote bags for back to school and getting organized for the holidays.  

For Thanksgiving, we are thinking of taking a family trip up the California coast by train all the way to Portland to stay with friends.  

For my shop, I'm planning to design hand printed coasters out of vinyl leather scraps that I use for my mirrors....they will be white, brown, black and hand printed in festive gold inks! Hoping to have some sample pics soon....

Walnut Rack

Poppy Johal Jewelry says:

Beginning of Fall reminds me of changing colors of the leaves, the rich hues of orange, red, yellow.... 

Shorter days and long cozy nights sitting at my work bench late at night with a cup of hot chocolate and a blanket over my knees! 

Hustle and bustle of the holiday, dinners and family!!!

Handmade Copper and Agate Necklace

Dprintsclayful says:

September reminds me of the coming holidays and all the fabulous food. I like to create cinnamon sugar cookies and love to grate cinnamon sticks with my ceramic grater and have the fresh cinnamon take over the whole room.

Garlic Grater

What makes you think of September?

How Am I Going to Get it All Done?

Annie from Annie K Designs is stopping by today to tell us how she's preparing for the upcoming busy season...

I just realized that Labor Day is ALMOST here. It is a scant week and a half away. Where did the year go? Reality hit that the busy holiday season is also ALMOST here. How am I going to get it all done? 

Autumn Placemats

My items are in two stores, Etsy and another online site. I am also booked for 4 major shows. My Etsy shop is pretty full but I would like to add another 50-75 items in the next month. Each store has a separate line of items. There is that day job that gets in the way too!

After panicking for a moment, I printed out calendars and marked each one with the dates of each show. Then I figured out what I wanted to sell, quantity of items, etc. I then counted back the number of weeks to figure out how much had to be sewn each week to make my goal. 

I immediately felt better and relieved. More importantly, I started sewing tonight and was able to accomplish quite a bit. 

Royal Blue and Frog Lined Tote Bag

Many of you have extremely busy shops? How are you preparing for the busy holiday season? Any tips that you care to share? What is your favorite de-stressor?

PinEtsy

I'm still on a quest to find new social media outlets. Luckily, one of the team found

and posted it on the team site. Upon further inspection, it looks like a Pinterest but just for Etsy people. Just what we all need, another version of Pinterest. (So much to look at, so little time!)

From PinEtsy's About page:

PinEtsy lets you browse, pin, save, sort and manage Etsy's™ best handmade items through a collection of treasury pin boards. Find, connect, and share all things Etsy™ from the top shop owners from around the globe. Through an endless scroll of handmade inspiration, shoppers can discover an exciting world of creativity offered by a community of talented Artisans. 

PinEtsy is a handmade social platform for both shop owners and buyers to connect. Shop owners can easily promote products being offered on Etsy™ linking directly to their listings. Shoppers, Collectors, and Buyers can easily follow Etsy™ sellers by browsing and creating boards of their favorite items conveniently linking to seller shop listings.

Discover all things handmade! It's fun, Its easy...It's PinEtsy!

What do you think? Have you tried them? Let us know.

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July's Handmade Creations

Last month I fessed up to searching the monthly thread for items to feature here. This month there's quite an eclectic selection...

My geeky heart just about stopped when I got a look at some of the jewelry from this shop. Wow, just wow...

The Mazken Ring of Cylarne by The Silver Crucible

Next, I just couldn't resist this cute guy...

Demi the Giant PurpleBlueBlack Monster by EmoSeal Creations

Then, of course, some more jewelry caught my eye. I'm a sucker for dragonflies...

Pink Dragonfly Jewelry Set by Earthly Baubles

And this is just so bright and pretty...

Beaded Asymmetrical Necklace by An Astrid Endeavor

Then, of course, you need to set your rings someplace when you're doing dishes or such...

Ring Dish by BobblesByCarol

Of course I must finish up by featuring a couple bags. First, because back to school is just around the corner...

Nightmare Before Christmas Quote Canvas Pencil Bag by Fetching Art

And a little crocheted bag...

Hand Crocheted Cotton Purse by Susan Deanne

As always, the captions link back to the items and the shops from which they came. Make sure to stop by, and tell them I sent you.

Handmade Hour

I stumbled across it one afternoon on Twitter. (I follow a few crafty folks.) There was someone retweeting various handmade goods on Twitter. I had to find out more about it.

I did a little digging and found a website under construction. It appears to be a British site, but it looks like one can still get in on the ground floor if one is so inclined. 

If you are on Twitter from 4 to 5 PM (that's Pacific Daylight Time) on Wednesdays, check out #HandmadeHourUSA (or just #HandmadeHour) to see all the lovely things that pop up. Or tag your own tweet and it might just be retweeted for all of their followers.

If you are on Twitter, it's a good idea to check them out...

@HMNation

@HandmadeHour

They are also on Facebook:

Handmade Nation

Anyone know anything more about them? What can you tell us? Let us know in the comments.

Previous posts on social media:

• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Blogging
• Twitter
• Wanelo
• Tumblr
• Instagram