Retiring treasuries on Etsy

So sad to read the news that Etsy retired treasuries: https://www.etsy.com/teams/7716/announcements/discuss/18084346/

Treasuries were really neat collections of items, curated by Etsy shoppers and shop owners. Items were chosen for themes or colors or holidays and I always found new and interesting things on the site that I would not have come across in any other way outside of other people searching and creating a tight little package of the best of what they could find. Etsy completely overhauled the front page to its current iteration and I have missed the old one ever since. Treasures were chosen by Etsy for their pleasing design and put on the front page of the web site, which changed every hour. I still miss them and never take the time to poke across the massive website on my own so I rarely see all the talent and terrific ideas out there.

This is a treasury for Father's Day featuring my plantable paper mustaches:

Here's another one that appeared for Valentine's Day, featuring my plantable paper hearts:

A lovely spring treasury, celebrating everything it has to offer, including rainy days, with my plantable paper umbrellas. I got many clicks into my shop as well as sales from these features. Goodbye treasuries! I loved you well...

I am the bomb, er, the lab

Thanks to Brett of I Am The Lab for this mention of my seed bombs!

"IAMTHELAB is dedicated to showcasing the best of modern handmade style for women, children and gents. My goal is to find and share the most talented makers and introduce them to the widest audience possible. But that’s just a small part of what the LAB is all about. If you’re a maker, I want to make sure that you are getting your piece of the handmade pie. IAMTHELAB has as its core mission a deep committment to helping modern makers utilize every resource available to encourage folks to think handmade first."

Winner winner chicken dinner

Here's something you may not know about me. I love visiting antique shops and going to auctions. Sifting through old things, finding rusty metal whatchamacallits, repurposing scuffed up items, bidding on something unwanted whose new function I can clearly see... I love to recycle and I love to give new life to something whose life has wound down. A couple of months ago, I found this cool wooden dish rack and made it into a display for my handmade cards.

http://paperandpulp.blogspot.com/2016/01/a-dish-rack.html

So I was excited when I recently came across an old rusty chicken feeder. I liked its shape and size, and it had such an interesting history as an implement on a farm. When I hung it up on a wall in my kitchen, it took on a very different purpose to hold my napkins and placemats. Part of me would really love to veer off and open up a new Etsy shop dedicated to repurposed items, especially for the kitchen. Here what the feeder looks like up on my wall:

Maybe if I collect enough items then I will have to start selling old stuff to clean out inventory and that will jump-start a new business. At least I am going to use that as an excuse to get out there and get back to shopping. I'll let you know what I find!

Bubble trouble

A new delivery of bubble mailers. Holy cow, it's hard to find a place to store 400 bubble mailers in my tiny studio. They are piled and pushed into all available nooks and crannies, shelves, and anywhere a few will fit. And that box in the last photo holds another 200. Zionks!

Art versus craft

I walk the fine line. Am I an artist? Or a craftsperson?

I read this article it cleaned it right up for me: http://stamm.com.au/art-versus-craft-the-final-word/

Art versus craft, the final word
by Suzette Wearne

Dear Stamm,
I graduated in 2014 and I now work primarily in the field of ceramics. At the opening of my first group show, I was asked whether what I make is craft or art. I’m not sure I know what the difference is. Can you help?

Bethany



Dear Bethany,
Academics and curators agree that in this post-disciplinary age, with unprecedented lateral movement across all fields of creativity, the difference between art and craft is less clear than ever. They are, of course, wrong. The categories are distinct and immutable and determining which one your practice falls under is easy – just apply any of the following five tests.

1. Take your wedding ring off, tie it to a piece of string, and hang it over one of your works. If it swings in a circle, it is craft. If it swings back and forth, it’s art.

2. Did you draw on technical knowledge and a repertoire of skills to complete a work with a meticulous degree of aesthetic realisation? If you answered yes, you’re making craft. Or, does it resemble something on the reject pile at a Sophia Mundi humanities fundraiser? If so, it’s art.

3. To which of the following statements do you most relate?
a) I think people understand me most of the time.
b) I think people understand me some of the time.
c) Monkey monkey Paddledust is hiding in my scarves.

a or b = craftsperson
c = artist

4. In a reboot of the film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, what would Viggo Mortensen do with one of your works if he found it in a shelter recently abandoned by cannibals?

a) Drink tea or cordial from it.
b) Burn it for fuel. There is literally no other purpose it would serve in an apocalypse.

a = craftsperson
b = artist

5. How do you feel after a session in your studio?

a) Happy.
b) As though I have unwittingly opened a wormhole to a universe of existential questioning. That flock of screaming lambs I wanted so much to leave behind stalk me at every turn. While I am heavy with the realisation that this path is a solitary one, I know it is the only one of any worth.

a = craftsperson
b = artist

There you go, Bethany, the difference between art and craft. Good luck with your career, whichever one it is.

Best wishes,
Suzette

HANDmade

Hearts

Love these cool angles in the photos that a customer sent me of my plantable paper hearts being used as favors at her black and red wedding reception. Thanks for sending them along!

Hello Martha,
I just wanted to share some pics of the favors at the wedding! They turned out great! They're growing even!