Eco Tip Feature on Cloth Pads

I wrote a guest post for Team Eco Etsy this weekend about using cloth pads and other reusable menstrual products. Go check it out!

More Free Stuff!

A couple of weeks ago I posted about a giveaway from one of my etsy teams...well, this week it's the other half of the giveaway: this one geared to moms with babies (whereas the last one was geared toward older kids).


Nursing pads (from me!), a nursing necklace, a diaper bag, a Guatemalan sling, a soft jingle-belly ball, a large playsilk, organic garden seeds, soothing foot soak...
click the photo to go enter (you can get one entry just for commenting on the post, and additional ones for posting about it on your blog!)
The giveaway is open until the end of the month.

EtsyBloggers April 13 Carnival

Welcome to the April 13, 2009 edition of etsybloggers.

Ebony presents It isn't easy being green posted at Off The Peg.

Kraken presents Go green posted at Kraken Mosaics - Where Art & Inspiration Collide.

Ela Steel presents Spring Garden Photos! posted at Ela Steel - Lowbrow Art and Pop Surrealism.

maryeb presents Easin' Into Green posted at Colorless Green Ideas.

CREATEaTHOUGHT presents Green is super COOL posted at CREATEaTHOUGHT.

MagdaleneJewels presents Carnival: Going Green posted at MagdaleneJewels's Blogs.

HomeMadeOriginals presents Going Green for Earth Day and Every Day posted at Home Made Originals.

Vanessa presents Go Green posted at Designs by Vanessa.

Linda B presents Going Green - Recycle posted at Linda B's Blog.

Becky presents Happy Earth Day! posted at The Fab Miss B.

Rainy presents April 10 Blog Carnival- Going Green posted at RainyDayArt.

Elayne Teitelbaum presents ChezChani: April posted at ChezChani.

Two Zany Zebras presents Go Green! posted at Two Zany Zebras.

UberArt presents Go Green! posted at UberArt Shop.

storybeader presents Etsybloggers Carnival - April 10, 2009 posted at Stroll Through Storyland.

Terronda Clarke presents Etsybloggers - Let's Go Green! posted at ~Unique Commodities~.

miesmama presents I ? green posted at miesmama.

FaerieRebecca presents Earth Day ~ Naturally posted at FaerieRebecca's Workbench.

Lily Wrey presents etsyBloggers Team April 10th Blog Carnival posted at TuLips Talking.

Mommy Bee presents April Blog Carnival: Green for Earth Day! posted at My Lil Etsy Shops:.

Athena Workman presents April 10th Etsybloggers Blog Carnival: Green, Baby, Green! posted at the weblog of artist athena workman.

Melinda Beatty presents Green Breaking Out All Over posted at My Aphrodite Jewelry.

Sumiko Shop presents GREEN ? Blog Carnival ? posted at Sumiko*Handmade Creations*.

Elise presents Mixed blessings posted at Inside Betani's Bureau.

wearewedges presents Etsy Bloggers Blog Carnival: A little bit of green posted at WE ARE WEDGES.

curlymonkeyandco presents Let's go green! posted at curlymonkeyandco2.

PurrPrints presents Going greener--anyone have tips? posted at PurrPrints: Art, Cats, and Randomness

Melissa Sinisgalli presents Earth Day Sale! posted at Made By Melissa.

Erika presents Let's Go Green! posted at NICO* Designs.

Patti presents G..........oing Green posted at peacoxcreations.

Jen presents Etsyblogger Carnival -- Green! posted at Mama's Magic.

agoodwitchtoo presents The Copper Cauldron Soaps: Little Green Steps posted at The Copper Cauldron.

Alicia Mae presents Earth Day posted at Crafts and Cooking.

Kelly Drill presents Stuff I Love - Green Edition posted at Macaroni and Glue.

Sassa Lynne presents Let's Go Green posted at Sassa's Blog Carnival

Five O'Clock Somewhere presents Blog Carnival - Going Green! posted at Five O'Clock Somewhere.

kuartzo presents | Etsy Bloggers Team | 10 April Blog Carnival posted at kuartzo | shop

Jo Hoffacker presents Vermiculture posted at DogmawBlog.

A Keeper's Jackpot presents Earth Hour posted at A Keeper's Jackpot.

shellmitchell presents Going Green - My top 3 tips posted at Shell Mitchell Accessories and Design.

Quirky presents Going Green ...............Again! posted at Bonding Moms & Daughters To Navigate Our Crazy World ..........Oh Yeah AND Crafts!!!.

Nora Demirjian presents Going Green... posted at Nora's Blog.

Anitra Cameron presents HOW GREEN IS MY SHOP posted at Coffee Pot People

Now let's go visit our teammates blogs and read this edition of the EtsyBloggers Blog Carnival!

Technorati tags: etsybloggers, blog carnival.

April Blog Carnival: Green for Earth Day!

I'm so excited, this is my first time hosting a blog carnival--yep, that means I thought of the topics, so even though I've been morning sick and not posting much, you betcha I'm gonna manage to get this post written!!!

Since April 22 is Earth Day... Let's Go Green!
1) What is green in your shop? (this can be something literally green in color, or something eco-friendly) -OR-
2) What do you do (or what can you do!) to make your etsy business or home a little bit greener?

I'm going to touch on both topics actually.
I carry a lot of eco-friendly products!

My main items are cloth diapers, menstrual pads, nursing pads, and wetbags, but I also make fabric gift bags.

As for my business practices, it starts with the fact that I've diversified my stock in order to make better use of my materials. I started out making diapers for my own baby, and then using the smaller pieces of fabric from between the diapers to make pads to sell. After I had enough diapers for my son I started selling diapers too. Then I figured out that I could make nursing pads with the smaller scraps, and what can I say, I hate to waste fabric, so I love that I'm able to make so many things from the same materials! It's not just green, it's also very economical--and the savings for me in materials cost is something that I'm able to pass on to my customers, and they seem to appreciate it too. ☺
Another thing I do is that I use mostly recycled packaging for my products. Fabric goods are not fragile, so I don't need to pad them very much. I also prefer to avoid boxes because they are heavier to mail (since my products are lightweight, I was literally paying to ship the box, not the product!). I often re-use envelopes that I have received items in, but I also use plain brown packing paper, as well as cereal boxes turned inside out. I decorate my packages with some awesome rubber stamps that I also got on etsy, and they are green and cute! Recycling saves me on packaging costs, and using the lightweight options of paper or cereal boxes saves on shipping costs, all of which translates to low shipping costs for my customers as well. ☺

Honestly, all the products that I sell (the diapers, menstrual pads, gift bags, etc) are things that I used for my family before I ever thought of selling them. So yeah, I guess we're a bunch of hippies out here. On the other hand, it's so economical to be green, and if being green can save some green, doesn't it sound like something we should all try?!

Win Free Stuff from the MDC Moms Team!

Everybody loves free, right?! Well, during the month April, The MDC Moms team is holding a Spring Fling double giveaway--during the first half of the month we have a gift basket full of goodies for moms and bigger kids, and during the second half of the month there will be a basket geared towards moms and babies. You can even enter both giveaways if you want! And with imagination-friendly toys, earth-friendly housegoods, jewelry, and bath goods, why would you not want to enter?! (The full list of the first basket's contents is here, as well as complete directions for how to enter. My own contribution will be in the mama/baby basket, which debuts mid-month.)

Here is a sneak peek of some of the goodies in the first basket...


YOU CANNOT ENTER FROM THIS POST! (That's why comments are turned off!) You have to go over to the MDC team blog and enter there. You get one entry just for commenting there on the post, more entries if you'll blog about us, and more and more entries for every purchase from a participating shop. So no purchase is necessary, but it sure can boost your chances of winning

Featured EtsyBlogger of the month: DesignByNora

This month's featured EtsyBlogger is Nora of DesignByNora. She blogs here.
I actually found Nora when I was a brand new member of the team. I was browsing through listings with the team tag (just trying to get to know my new teammates) and I stumbled across Nora's little flower stud earrings.

Aren't they precious?! She makes them in a variety of colors, but these are some of my favorites. She makes star studs as well, and this month (while shes the featured seller) she is offering free shipping on all her stud earrings, so right now is the time to get them!

Checking In...

It's EtsyBlogger carnival time again!
Here is the topic for this month:
We are already on March!! What have you accomplished this year in real life or on Etsy?? Have you followed your New Year's resolutions? What are your plans for the rest of 2009?

(My goals are listed there on the left sidebar)

Well, I got the new designs for my shop banners and blog, woohoo! I love them so much! And PolkaDotPixels was SO great to work with. When I was struggling with figuring out how to do the text for all my little sidebar bees, she offered to just do it for me! I gratefully accepted (although I insisted on paying her for it) and I just get all happy inside every time I see my awesome blog!

My goal of making/posting two items every week has been a little sporadic...I've made enough items total to match the weeks in the year, but there was one week that I posted a dozen things and other weeks I haven't done any... I've had several large custom orders though so if I count those in them I'm doing a bit better.

I'm off to a good start on introducing new products, and if my sales thus far are indicative of how the year will go, then I think I'm set for earning more than last year. ☺

Something I had not specifically made a plan of, but which is going well (so far) is that I joined entrecard. It's certainly brought a lot of traffic to my site, and while I don't know yet if any of my sales are a direct product of it, it has been a lot of fun.

As for my ongoing plans, well, we will be moving this summer, so I'll have to take at least a couple of weeks off for that, and I've just learned that I'm expecting a baby in November, so I probably won't be getting in on any holiday selling this year. Between those two things, my main goals are to use up stock/materials that I have on hand (so that I don't have to pack as much stuff when we move), and also to try take full advantage of sales and promotions that my teams are doing early in the year, so that I can make sales now and it will be ok to close for a while when I take my maternity leave!

Speedy Little Monkeys!!

This morning I sewed up a pair of these little newborn diapers to go along with the EtsyClothDiaper team's "It's a Jungle Out There" theme for March.
This afternoon I listed them in my shop.
Tonight they were sold, just like that (along with another diaper duo!)

Wow, I wish more items sold that fast!

I have a few other themed items in stock, and there are a dozen more on my sewing desk just waiting for me to finish them up and get them listed. Buy any item from the theme of the month section in my shop and get another item (equal or lessor value) for 25% off! The themes change monthly, so get them while the getting's hot! (click on the pictures below to see the listings)

Guest posting on Eco Etsy Blog today

I wrote a guest post "eco tip" for Team Eco Etsy about cloth diapering, and they posted it this morning.

When I was a kid my mom used cloth diapers. They were huge things that had to be folded, pinned, and covered with plastic pants. After they were used they had to be dunked and swished in the toilet, then put into a pail with water and bleach...the whole process was disgusting, and I swore I would be using disposables when I had children of my own.

But there have been some remarkable advancements in cloth diapers since then...

Click here to read the rest of the post.

Special Sellers on Etsy

Recently I have felt moved to post about some very special sellers on Etsy: sellers who are making items for those with special needs.

(click on any picture to see the item listing)

I met Suzanne of Suzannes Special Kids about a year ago when I joined the cloth diaper team. She has two children with special needs: one has aspergers and the other has medical conditions that keep him in a wheelchair, require him to use a g-tube (for feeding directly into the stomach), and have left him needing diapers well past toddlerhood. She decided that her son deserved to wear cloth for as long as he needed them, so she makes cloth diapers all the way up to adult sizes. "We wear cloth undies," she explains, "so why shouldn't our special family members?!" She labels them as "absorbent underwear" and offers many of them in pull-on styles because, as she points out, "disabled people aren't babies. They are simply differently-abled." She's adapted her patterns to be higher in the back so that kids who get around by scooting will still be coverd in back, and she also makes weighted blankets and cloth g-tube pads.

Linda at FashionGreenTBags, a fellow member of Team Eco Etsy recently shared this story and new item with me:
I met an amazing woman at a wedding recently. We chatted the usual "wedding chat" (We'd never met until then.) She has an older teenaged son who needs to wear bibs when he goes out to eat but finding bibs that are not "babyish" has been a challenge for this mom. So Linda designed the "Digni-bib" which is "a dignified way to keep clothing clean but look like a shirt while doing so."

It blends in by looking like regular clothing, and doesn't call attention to the wearer or their special needs. She upcycles them from shirts, and is working on refining the design to add a liquid barrier on the back side. I have seen other adult sized bibs, but this is the first that doesn't scream "BIB," and I have to agree that that is a wonderful and dignified thing! (Apparently other people think so too, because she's only had time to make one so far, and it has already sold! But don't worry, she told me she's already gone shopping to get a lot more shirts!)

There are other etsians working hard to fill the needs of our differently-abled friends and family members.
TheSensoryShoppe makes custom weighted blankets and lap pads--both of which are helpful for those who have sensory issues (the weight gives them input and helps them calm down and focus).
AKayCreations make custom wheelchair bags, and they sure look roomy and sturdy to me!
Astrid, owner of SafetyThird, has a son who has Down's Syndrome, so she carries a variety of products inspired by him. He models for many of her listings (like this one). In addition to the awareness shirts shown below (Down's Syndrome aka Trisomy 21= a third chromosome on the 21st pair), she also offers onesies up to size 4, since special needs kids often potty train at an older age.
and RockNBauble carries a selection of awareness jewelry, such as this autism awareness necklace. Because one of the most important things we can do to help those with special needs is to learn to understand them. ☺

EtsyBlogger of the Month: DonnaPool

Meet this month's EtsyBlogger of the month: DonnaPool! (She also blogs, of course!)
Her shop has a lot of funky vintage stuff, which is not so much my cup of tea...but she also has some awesome keychains, fridge magnets, buttons, and super-adorable hand-stiched flannel teddy bears (see above), so I thought I'd share a few of those!

First of all, as a cat-lover herself, Donna has items to fulfill the wishes of your favorite cat-lover

Ahh, now that's just what I've been looking for!

And how can you not need one of these. I mean, really?!

♥
Happy Valentine's Day!

I ♥ EtsyBloggers

Today (with more Valentine-y love running around) I'm featuring some of my EtsyBloggers teammates!
(as always, click the picture to see the listing)

AKeepersJackpot presents these lovely (sparkly!) sculpted polymer clay earrings

III Rexes Jewelry makes this awesome sterling silver/22k gold ring

StoryBeader offers this sweet keychain

and StormyDesigns pairs handmade hearts with dragonflies for this bracelet

I ♥ TeamEcoEtsy

Since it's Valentines this week, I thought I'd celebrate the season of love by featuring some of my EcoEtsy teammates!
(as always, click the picture to see the listing)

A carved stone necklace from SteppingStones

I ♥ Recycling fridge magnet from earthlore, made with recycled cardboard!

Happy Valentines Day cloth pads from LilBees
(yes, I totally featured one of my own items...I do that occasionally!)

"Love is Everywhere" (hearts in nature)
featured on notecards by HeartOfNature

and LakeErieBeachGlass presents these delicate earrings, made with tiny pieces of found sea glass!

Friday Feature: MagdaleneJewels

I found this fellow EtsyBlogger's shop this week, and she has such fabulous Valentines items that I simply had to feature her! I love that she has love-related names for them, such as Juliet and Venus--I always try to be clever with my listing titles but I pale next to this. I also think it's great that even with a cliche holiday like valentines, she has kept things fresh by using things like black hearts! Her jewelry speaks for itself, so rather than try to talk about it any more I am just posting pictures (I used the bigger photos for her mini so you can really see these pieces--they are so lovely!)
Go ahead, drool a bit, you know you want to!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade MagdaleneJewels.etsy.com

Perfect Bows Every Time

This month for the EtsyBloggers carnival we were asked to share a tutorial about something. In the spirit of Valentines, I thought I'd share a tutorial of how to tie a perfect bow...so they will always look like this

Not like this

(It was easiest to do it with a video, so here goes!)

I got blogged!

Fellow EtsyBlogger Panoptica linked me this weekend in her blogosphere review (how cool is she?!)
Click the screenshot below to see her original post!

January Featured EtsyBlogger: RoseWorksJewelry

This month I have the pleasure of featuring Ruthie of RoseWorksJewelry. I'm extra excited to feature her because she featured me on her treasury blog way back when I was a brand new EtsyBlogger. So I kinda feel like she was my first EB friend. ☺ Her treasury blog was also my inspiration to start posting regular treasuries of my own! She also keeps a regular blog, of course, and the shop... She recently opened a brand new shop too: Kindred Spirit Treasures.
Ruthie lives and creates in western Washington--which is where I grew up. Once a Washingtonian, always a Washingtonian, you know? So even though I'm now in Alaska, we're sortof like neighbors. See, toldya I was excited to feature her!
The best way I know to show a sampling of someones stuff is to post their etsy mini, so here are Ruthie's:

Etsy Buy Handmade RoseWorksJewelry

Etsy Buy Handmade KSTreasures

EtsyBlogger Carnivals

So, every month the EtsyBloggers team has two carnivals--each member (eg: me) participates in one of them. So once a month my link gets published out there somewhere, and it (hypothetically) brings me traffic. In my first few months as a member of EB I didn't visit many other blogger's links, but what goes around comes around, so I figure if i want to invite the karma (and the traffic) then I should get out there!
I'm proud to announce that for this carnival, I visited every single post, and commented on at least 1/3 of them. ☺ I don't know how well I'll keep it up in future months, but I intend to at least try!

Why you should care about CPSIA

Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, you've heard about the many toy recalls in the last year--toys made with lead-based paint or other hazardous materials or methods. Toys that were unsafe for our children. These recalls have led many parents to start thinking about what they buy for their children, and that has been GREAT for the handmade movement! After all, buying a handmade toy from a real person is bound to be safer than buying something machine-made in China, right?
Well, some of those same concerned parents talked to their legislators (which is good), and the legislators decided they should pass laws requiring better safety testing for all children's products (which also sounds good to me!). So they wrote the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act, which requires lots of elaborate (and expensive) safety testing. Let me clarify this for you--as of Feb 10, 2009, each item I make for a child (say, a cloth diaper) must be tested by a third party. If I make a diaper with a different fabric, or a different size, or snaps instead of velcro, or even a different color of snaps, then it is considered a new item, and must also be tested. The testing costs $150-4000 per item. You see, they neglected to make an exception for handmade products, or (from what I understand) even for second-hand items. So that sweet little children's consignment shop down the street? Illegal. My etsy shop? Closed. Thousands of other small-time work-at-home-parents just like me? Out of business.

(clicking this image will take you to a site that is full of links and information--I highly recommend it!)

I want to clarify that I do not think this legislation is a bad idea! Not at all! I'm thrilled to see someone finally stepping in and insisting on safer products for our children! I just think that somebody needs to make some edits to the bill! ,I for one, would be completely happy to attach a card to each of my items that says "this product was made by hand and has not been tested for lead content or potential carcinogens." People who buy handmade products know what they are getting, and they are comfortable with it. They will not be deterred by a card like that, and yet I can clear myself of liability by stating that I did not do the fancy testing. It's a win-win solution, don't you think?

So what can you do?

• Contact your senators and representatives and tell them that this legislation needs to be amended! Here is a sample letter (but please don't just cut and paste it, they pay more attention to the ones that are unique!) I hear they also pay more attention to letters than to emails, and more to phone calls than to letters...
• Help spread the word by joining facebook groups, ning, twittering, and blogging about it!
• Sign the petition at ipetitions
• Sign the petition at change.org (the causes that get the most votes will be presented to President Obama)
• Post widgets (like the ones in this post) on your blog or webpage.
  
• Submit your endangered handmade items to Endangered Whimsy (submission info on the sidebar)

Here are some more links:
Open letter from Etsy about CPSIA
The Handmade Toy Alliance

Tuesday Tips: Street Teams!

Sorry this post is a day late going up! It's been a wild week. ☺

A lot of etsians offer great products, yet their shops go unnoticed. This is the fifth entry in a six-week series of tuesday tips about ways to improve your etsy karma... These are ways I have found to get people into my shop. And the more people go through my shop, the more likely I am to make a sale!

What is a street team? Oh I'm so glad you asked!!
A street team is a group of etsians who have something in common--location, type of craft (eg: jewelers or web designers), lifestyle (eg: religious groups or parents), business practices (eco-friendly), or shared market (eg: baby items or knitting supplies).
Different teams do different things and require different levels of involvment. Some teams will add you to their link list and that's all there is to it...other teams require regular participation in blog carnivals or posting to team threads. So be sure to read the team profile before joining, and make sure that 1--you are qualified to join, and 2--that you are willing to do whatever is required for that team.
Why be on a team? Well, one person can only advertise so many places, and can only make so many contacts...but twenty people can reach twenty times as many people and places, and eighty people can reach...well, you get the idea!
Additionally, many team members prefer to buy from their fellow team members if they can; they often will feature each other in treasuries and blogs; and, oh yeah, they just get to know each other, and give each other ♥s!!!

I am on several teams, so I thought I'd share a little about each one (see my sidebar for links!)

• Etsy Cloth Diaper team (for etsians who sell cloth diapers). It's pretty self explanatory really! We all sell cloth diapers! We have a team blog and along with featuring our products, many of us are contributing to an ongoing series of posts with a wealth of cloth diapering information. We also have a separate website with and a team forum for members.
  
• Mothering team (for members of mothering.com forums). Mothering.com is a natural parenting forum, so many of us have products that pertain to that group, however some of us carry mainstream items too. We have a blog and a yahoo group, and are currently working on doing a team banner ad on the mothering forums--expensive for one person, but affordable when shared by a whole team!
  
• Team Eco Etsy (for etsians who are green in their business practices). I just joined this team this month, so I haven't had a chance to do much with them yet. I like that they have a lot of great ideas on the blog for how to run a greener business through things like recycled packaging and minimal paper usage.
• EtsyBloggers (for etsians who blog). This team requires regular participation--at least two posts per month have to relate back to the team, and there are regular team threads, blog carnivals, featured members, and team-wide sales.There is a team message board and flickr group, as well as groups on facebook, twitter, ning, and a public blog.
  
• the Alaskan Team (for any etsian in Alaska) goes in together to buy tables at craft fairs, but since I'm rural I have not been able to participate with them in any of that yet. So I'm listed as a team member (so other Alaskans can find a more 'local' seller and save on shipping), but otherwise it's a very laid back team.