Etsy Louisiana - buy & sell handmade art crafts jewelry clothing accessories

New Orleans Craft Mafia wants your swag!

2008-01-16T21:25:00.000-08:00

The New Orleans Craft Mafia is proud to sponsor the Alternative Media Expo, presented by Antigravity Magazine.

This will be the sixth edition of the Expo, and this year's event will feature over 70 exhibitors with 'zines, comics, films, crafts, photography and handmade clothing, independent record labels and artists with CDs and records, indie and grassroots organizations, filmmakers and much more!

The Expo will take place on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008 from noon-7pm at the Contemporary Arts Center (900 Camp St.) in New Orleans, LA. The admission fee for this all-ages event will be $5.

The first 150 paid attendees through the doors will receive limited edition cotton tote swag bags, courtesy of the New Orleans Craft Mafia, filled with freebies and product samples. These bags present a great opportunity to get the word out about your business, band, or organization. Vendors exhibiting at the Expo are also encouraged to participate in the swag bags.

Some swag suggestions include, but are not limited to: coupons, stickers, buttons, magnets, pens, etc. We ask that you do send actual swag items and not just promotional materials such as business cards or flyers. You may attach business cards, etc., to any donated swag, of course. If you are interested in sending in swag material, we ask that you send in the full amount of 150 items.

We will also be accepting product samples, which may include, but are not limited to: CD/DVD samplers, comics and zines, small jewelry or accessory samples, t-shirts, blank notecards or stationary, or other small samples of your products. If you choose to send in samples, we ask that you send a minimum of 25 samples.

The deadline for sending in swag & samples is Friday, February 15th, 2008.
Items may be sent to:

New Orleans Craft Mafia swag bags
c/o Claverie Crafts
P.O. Box 9399
Metairie LA 70055-9399

For more information on contributing to the swag bags, please email mallory [AT] neworleanscraftmafia.com

Benefit For Dawn's Boys

2007-12-28T15:22:00.000-08:00

I just learned about a local Etsy artist who was killed last week in a motorcycle accident. Dawn Habisreitinger was a Slidell, Louisiana resident who made jewelry and lampwork beads and who was an active member of both the Etsy and eBay communities. She was 30 years old and had two young sons. Below are some of her lampwork beads:

Her friends in the crafting community have come together to create a fund for Dawn’s sons. Many Etsy sellers have already created listings for which they will donate proceeds towards the fund for Dawn’s boys. Individual listings can be found here, or check out the forum thread for more information, including shops donating multiple items or doing store-wide donations. There is a full list of items that have already been sold for this benefit here.

If you would like to donate directly to the fund, the Paypal address to do so is: fund_for_dawns_boys [!at] yahoo.com

reposted from my blog at MissMalaprop.com

DJ Mags from the New Orleans Craft Mafia will be at Festivus

2007-11-25T07:02:00.001-08:00

The latest Scoop is that DJ Mags will be returning to the Festivus Roost for the the 2007 Festivus season. Hail Festivus! Soon to be seen around the complaint pole will be these goodies :

Silkscreened clocks

Silk Screened ties

and silkscreened tidings of good cheer. Hail Festivus and welcome back home DJ Mags. Cant wait to scoop up some of these recycled goodies!

The Festivus Celebration is coming to New Orleans on Sundays Dec. 2,9 & 16th at the Crescent City Farmer's Market Saturday Market location at Julia and Magazine from 12-5pm.

Louisiana Etsy Artist Event review Maker Faire Austin Texas

2007-10-31T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hey yall. Have been working on a new feature where a local Louisiana Etsy Artist reviews an event. The latest review comes from Heather Macfarlane and Unique Products.
The Name of the Event was Maker Faire. It was held in Austin TX.
The theme/focus/nexus of the event was making stuff.
Our booth space was approx 10 by 10 and we decorated it like NOLA.

Interesting artists/booths/vendors I liked : there were too many to list - let me think not that many craft booths.
The crowd was best described as family / crafters/ geeks.
Our best customers were evacuees or people who love NOLA
The event cost free to participate and was juried.
Our advice about doing this kind of event is that this is not a selling event but make of a demo / ideas sharing - so we demoed 3 different projects

Our next market/event is swamp fest, this weekend at the New Orleans Zoo, November 3-4, 2007.
Our websites are www.letsgetup.com , www.etsy.com/uniqueproducts

This Artist/maker interview is copyright by Kerry Fitts and covered by a Creative Commons Copyright.It may not be used without my written permission, nor may the questions be used without my permission, thanks.

New Forums & Website for Etsy Louisiana

2007-10-17T18:24:00.000-07:00

Just a little update, we've now got a brand new forum for Etsy lovers here in Louisiana. Not to replace our Yahoo group (which is great for announcements, but maybe not so much for carrying on longer discussions), please let me know what you think of the new forum. Any missing categories? Join in the fun here.

I'm also working on a new website for this group. It's still in progress, but you can check it out and let me know what you think at www.EtsyLouisiana.com.

I've created a member shops page to list all of the known Louisiana based Etsy shops & sellers. If you're a Louisiana Etsy seller, please check the list and make sure you're on it. It's organized by categories, based on the main categories that Etsy uses, with an additional Recycled category. Each shop may be listed in up to 3 categories on this page. I tried to organize this as best I could, but if you feel your shop should be listed under a different category, please let me know.

Louisiana Etsy Duo... Multi-talented Teena and Phil Whitmore

2007-10-07T19:34:00.000-07:00

This Spring at the Wednesdays at the Square in downtown New Orleans I finally got to meet Teena & Phil (whose work I had seen on Etsy and loved but hadnt run into them at the art markets yet). First to greet you in their market space may be one of their two precious dogs (Marley is the one pictured here)who love to have vistors in the booth.
It was great to finally see their work in person. Phil does screen printed graphics and linoleum wood cut prints: http://inexplicableconfetti.etsy.com & http://pbwhitmore.etsy.com.
Teena works with art photography (along with textiles and other arts) and polaroid transfers that are just stunning,

http://whitmorephotos.etsy.com.
Finally they agreed to submit an interview and introduce themselves to the group.It took a while. And I had to listen to Phil's violent femmes covers on his ukelele while waiting. Not really but he is a gearing up for a big ukelele show at the Neutral Ground Coffee House tomorrow night (Monday October 8) from 7-9pm.

Phil Says:
We live in Uptown New Orleans, But we have only lived here a year and a half (so we've never said Y'all). We create silkscreend images on T-shirts (mostly).
All of the designs are original and created by me Phillip Whitmore with the influence of my wonderful wife Teena. We will print on anything made of cloth. We have done baby onesies, aprons, napkins, pillow cases, and although I haven't done them yet, someone just asked if I could print on womens underwear for their band and I said yes.My main creative influence has always been my suroundings. Ilove to travel, and when I paint, draw, or design screens, I am considering my surroundings. Sadly I haven't really done much travelling this year, So my influence would mainly be New Orleans.

My silkscreens are shown at Freret Street Market, New Orleans Art Council Market, and this week I will begin selling them at Storyville near LSU in beautiful Red Stick. You can also visit www.inexplicableconfetti.etsy.com I joined Etsy one year ago this week. Without Etsy I probably wouldn't have decided to do this business. I used to do it for fun for my friends, then someone considered ETSY, and now I have a business. Etsy has also cured my leprasy, and when my wife left and took the kids I thought all was lost. When I joined Etsy, she came back, and now she works to pay the bills. She even gets a baby sitter during the day so I can work on my bowling score. Wow Etsy has sure changed my life.

Some advice for new sellers:
#1 Check out others selling what you are, and try and make your items somewhat your own.
#2 Heart lots of people.
#3 Talk to local Etsiers and find ways to work together to promote as a group.
#4 Buy lots of Inexplicableconfetti shirts (They make you look better, and they make business run smoother.

Teena Says:

1.Please tell us where you/yall live
I live in New Orleans

2. What kind of work do you do?
Black and White, Altered, Hand-Colored Photos, and Photographic Fabric Collages.

3. What do you consider your main creative influences?minor?
Things from a simpler time. I was born in the wrong decade, I am inspired by the
early 1900s.

4. What Markets do you participate in in the area/region/state/nationally?
Bywater art market, occasionally the North Shore art market.

5. When did you join Etsy and how has it impacted your business?
I joined in September 2006.and I can't say it has made a big difference in my sales,
but it has helped me keep a current inventory online and it is a great community.

6. Any advice for new sellers?
Don't get discouraged just because you don't sell a lot on etsy. There are a lot of
artists out there with great stuff who aren't selling, and vice-versa.

Teena and Phil will be appearing next at the Bywater Art Market on Saturday October 20, Royal at Piety Street,9am-4pm, http://bywaterartmarket.com.Come check out their work and pick up some handmade New Orleans prints and gorgeous photography.

Etsy Louisiana at St. Roch

2007-10-01T09:26:00.000-07:00

This past Friday I hung out at the new Friday on the Roch market to represent the Etsy Louisiana Street Team and spread the Etsy love. I’d made a fun tablecloth/sign for us to use at events like this one, and I even brought my dog along to help spread the word (she’s rockin’ an awesome Etsy bandana that I picked up last May at the Maker Faire).

Miss Kathy of betweenpeityanddesire is one of the fabulous organizers of this event (which I really hope takes off, because they’re trying to revive the St. Roch Market as a community marketplace — it’s one of my favorite buildings in town). I also got to chat with other local Etsyians GypsyCharmsJewelry and I picked up an amazing one of a kind acrylic seahorse necklace from yabettasupadont. (She said she plans to make more like it soon. Though I’ll admit, I was also swooning over her hummingbird earrings.)

If you’re in the New Orleans area and missed this event, many of the same artists will be at the new Freret Market this Saturday. My fellow Craft Mafioso art by mags! will also be in town for the event, though I will not be unfortunately. I’m headed to New Jersey later this week with my friend Gwen from Sigh Co. Graphics (a local NOLA company -- I keep trying to recruit her to Etsy!) to help her out at Chiller Theatre.

(this post has been cross-posted from my blog, MissMalaprop.com)

Sun Lyon Studio opens new Brick and Mortar Shop in Denham Springs

2007-10-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

Jan from Sun Lyon Studio, has just opened her new brick and mortar shop and studios in downtown historic Denham Springs, Louisiana.

It is opening just in time for the Antique & Fall Festival this upcoming weekend, October 5-7. You can go to www.livingstonparish.com for more information. The shop is located at 125 B Range Avenue in Denham Springs and the number is 225-664-6557.

We got to meet Jan this spring at the Etsy meetup at Jazz Fest in New Orleans and she signed up for the Mid City Art Market (last Saturday of every month) where she has also been showing her work since May. Jan also shows at the Baton Rouge Arts Market (first Saturday of every month). She has an incredible range of metalwork and works a wide variety of motifs as well as the classic Louisiana images of music, food and well, natural disaster. Jan is a recent expat from the Caribbean or an expat, twice removed, ha- Check out out her shop on both Etsy and if you have a chance to hit the Festival this next weekend up in Livingston Parish.

Friday on the Roch this weekend in New Orleans!

2007-09-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

The lovely Miss Kathy of betweenpeityanddesire is busy organizing the second every Friday on the Roch market, to take place this weekend in New Orleans. It all happens this Friday, September 28 from 5-9pm on the neutral ground behind St. Roch Market on St. Claude Avenue.

Local Etsyians GypsyCharmsJewelry, TwistedFibers, and yabettasupadont all participated in the first Friday on the Roch in August and everyone had a great time. Just check out the write-up the Times Picayune did on the market, posted here at NOLA.com.

There's still room for more vendors, so if you're an Etsy artist looking to get your feet wet with a local market, now's your chance! Spaces are only $15 (or possibly $20 if they need to rent you a table). Just contact Kathy via Etsy at betweenpeityanddesire for more info.

Handmade Invasion to take over South Mississippi!

2007-09-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm pleased and very excited to announce a new arts & crafts event I'm currently organizing, to take take place during the holidays at my mom's flea market in Pass Christian, MS. The goal of this event is to give crafters of all backgrounds an affordable new venue in which to show and sell their work. I want to see grandmothers selling afghans next to their grandkids who used the same crochet techniques to create skull & crossbone iPod cozies! Most craft fairs in this area seem to be either all traditional, juried crafts or only cater to the younger crowd. I want to create a place where all generations can shop and sell together.

This event, called Handmade Invasion, will take place during the first weekend of November and every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas and coincide with weekly flea market offerings. Customers will have the chance to meet the artists behind the goods, which range from handcrafted furniture and home décor to jewelry and clothing to bath & body goods, as well as gifts for children and pets. My mom's business, The Flea Market & RV Park at Menge, has been there for over 10 years now, and it's located right on the interstate, so there is plenty of regular weekend traffic and a built-in customer base, plus I'm trying hard to get the word out far and wide about this event!

I'm trying to keep things very affordable, so that both new and experienced artists of all backgrounds can participate. Artists and crafters interested in being part of Handmade Invasion must submit an application, but once accepted they may set up in the specially designated “handmade only zone” for the same cost as any other flea market vendor. My hope is that this event will draw both artists and shoppers from other regions to the Mississippi Coast and provide a new opportunity for tourism and economic recovery in the area. If the scheduled holiday event dates go well, I'm planning to turn Handmade Invasion into a recurring event throughout 2008.

--------------------------------------------

What: Handmade Invasion – holiday arts & crafts market

Where: The Flea Market & RV Park at Menge
(8095 Menge Avenue, Pass Christian, MS 39571 – 228-452-0590)

When: Saturdays & Sundays, 8am – 5pm, on the following dates:
November 3-4, 2007
November 24-25, 2007
December 1-2, 2007December 8-9, 2007
December 15-16, 2007
December 22-23, 2007

Artists interested in participating can find more information and an application at:
http://www.handmadeinvasion.com/apply/
http://www.handmadeinvasion.com/faq/
For more information, please visit our websites at:
http://www.handmadeinvasion.com
http://www.fleamarketatmenge.com

Welcome Louisiana Etsy Seller BONJUKEBOX Yall

2007-09-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Today we are checking out Louisiana Etsy Street Team Member Duygu from BonJukebox
You can check out her shop at bonjukebox.etsy.com

Please tell us where (what city in Louisiana) you live?
Living in and loving New Orleans! But I am actually from Turkey and I am a graduate student here.

What kind of work do you do?
I make mainly jewelry and I use clay to make the beads. But I also make picture frames and recently some sculptures using clay.

What do you consider your main creative influences? minor?
Everything started with my mum. She is a painter (also an arts teacher) and has a lot of knowledge on many different arts and crafts techniques. When I was a kid she would always come up with new ideas and new things to do, from oil painting to using coping saw for cutting out my own pencil box and painting it. At those times, there was no arts and crafts stores in Turkey, neither we knew the polymer clay existed. So she had a great “recipe” for a kind of play dough (made of glue, flour and water). I would shape them into pendants, stick some pine cone pieces, paint and varnish. This is how I started making my own jewelry (and needless to say, all my friends were jealous so I had to make some for them as well :) This is a picture of my mum and me, and the shelf on the wall has only a few of the stuff she was making at the time these pictures were taken.

Growing up with a mum like her, with a hundred books on famous painters, with her creativity and energy, I think it will not be too “arrogant” of me to say that I became -at least a little bit- like her (well, she is still the “master” of course).

Too bad (well maybe not so bad), I was also very much into science and life was (and still is) hard for artists in Turkey, so having good grades at school I've become a biologist and now I am working towards my Ph.D (and I'm proud to be a geek :).

However, I loooveee and appreciate any kind of arts. One of my favorite painters since my childhood is Van Gogh, and I think the fact that my jewelry is very colorful reflects this taste. I like abstract art a lot, I like the simple but meaningful, I like weird art. I am also a big big fan of Hans Bellmer, the surrealist photographer who made life-sized dolls and took pictures of them.

I should finally mention that Turkish culture and art was also a lot of inspiration to me. Below there are two pictures, first one is from a Turkish traditional bead store (if you have heard of “evil eye” beads -Turkish name is nazar boncuğu- you might recognize some of them in the picture). The second picture is a traditional Turkish necklace you can fınd on my Etsy shop. It is called “husband finder” in Turkey because it has real clove seeds that smell sooo nice, and traditionally young girls used to wear these necklaces.

What Markets do you participate in in the area/region/state/nationally?
Bywater Art Market.

I'm also planning to participate in the Midcity Art Market.

When did you join Etsy and how has it impacted your business?

Well lets see... It's going to be a year in January, but I was not active for a while because of school. So, I can't say there has been much “business” going on since I've been setting my shop up recently. However, Etsy inspired and encouraged me to spend more time on jewelry again and that is how I decided to participate in local art markets. It is great to meet new people both on Etsy and at art markets and share ideas.

Any advice for new sellers?

I'll consider myself a new seller on Etsy as well even though I've been selling my jewelry here and there for many years now. But being and Etsy addict for almost a year, I can clearly see that good photography of your items is the most important thing. And this is what I am working on nowadays.

Featured Louisiana Etsy Seller Choctaw

2007-09-13T19:18:00.000-07:00

Halito Yall. This week we are featuring R.J., located at etsy shop choctaw.etsy.com

Please tell us where you live?
I live in Trout,Louisiana which is also known as America's colon.

What kind of work do you do?
I am a silversmith, mainly forging one off jewelry items and occasionally small tabletop sculptures of sterling silver.

What do you consider your main creative influences?minor?
Dreams inspire my work more than any other outside influence. Art Deco style architecture has a mild influence on my work at times. I enjoy reading art related magazines and am amazed at the similarity of work by artists on opposite ends of the globe.

What Markets do you participate in in the area/region/state/nationally?
I participate in several American Indian art shows. Within Louisiana, I am an invited artist at NSU's Native American Art Show & Sale, the first weekend of December in Natchitoches. I was recently showing at NSU's Folk Life Festival this past July 21. I'll be joining in with the Clifton Band of Choctaws for SwampFest at Audubon Zoo in November.

When did you join Etsy and how has it impacted your business?
I joined Etsy in November 2006 and while it hasn't resulted in a floodtide of sales, I've met some really cool people.

Any advice for new sellers?

My advice for new sellers would be don't depend on Etsy as your main source of income. I get plenty of custom work through my retail location and selling at shows is something that I highly recommend as it is extremely profitable and it's a blast.

Yakoke RJ!

Email RJ at ndnbrutha@yahoo.com
You can also check out Choctaw's profile at
http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=111835

Worn Again Fashion Show - this Saturday!

2007-06-27T19:59:00.000-07:00

Worn Again Fashion Show + Thrift Store Art Edit

Designers have two weeks to take the recycled clothing we give them and create NEW, ORIGINAL, and MIND BLOWING fashions to rock our runway at THE FASHION EVENT OF THE YEAR!

The best part is that all the proceeds will benefit local nonprofits. There are 30 designers participating and IT WILL BE a fabulous show!

Saturday, June 30 @ 8pm
The Green Project - 2831 Marais Street

Tickets are $10 at the door. Proceeds will benefit Recycle for the Arts.
There will also be a silent auction to benefit R4A where some of the artwork and fashion will be available for purchase.

Come on out for a fun night of art, food, booze, and one of a kind fashion pieces in our one of a kind city!

For more info please contact wornagain [AT] gmail.com

Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show

2007-06-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

This is something pretty cool that someone in Baton Rouge contacted the New Orleans Craft Mafia about:

There's a call for artists out for the Uncommon Thread Wearable Art Show, which will attempt to merge fashion design and visual art. Put together by the people at Culturecandy.org and the Baton Rouge Gallery, this juried competetion will be judged Suzanne Perron, who has previously worked for Vera Wang. Artists will be judged on craftsmanship, innovative design, dramatic detail and use of alternative materials.

Artists from all over the country are encouraged to submit proposals. Entry forms and more info can be found at their website. The deadline for entries is September 17. Accepted entries will be presented in a staged dance performance, and there will also be a musical collaboration, combining a local DJ with a string quartet.

Pretty awesome, huh? Maybe if I can find the time I'll come up with something myself.

new blog for Etsy in Louisiana

2007-06-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

A new blog for Louisiana based Etsians! Etsy sellers, shoppers, and fans are all welcome!

Check out the Etsy Louisiana Street Team or our Yahoo! group for more information.