Ok, ok, so maybe you think the cuckoo clock trend is so 2006. I’m sure the one at Urban Outfitters has been out of stock forever.  I’m also going to pretend that they were never available at Walmart but that’s not what we’re here for. No, I’m not done with all things from The Black [...]

Here we continue with our series on the trials and tribulations of starting a craft business. Shall we learn together?
I love Twitter. It is such an amazing and handy tool. I learn so much and follow some great people who love to share their knowledge. Thanks to @getsmartwomen I learned about the Business Exchange’s Bootstrapping [...]

Art Whino is holding it’s first ever design competition, and they are looking for entries. The competition will be open to anyone and everyone who wants to participate. The twenty winning designs will be showcased in a fashion show and exhibition at Crystal Couture on February 24th, 2009.
Crystal Couture is a two week event that [...]

Trend Hunter includes “DIY and the Rise of the Cottage Industry” as an official trend for 2009. It comes in at number 19 of their top 20 trends. They note that the declining economy will push more and more people to try their luck making and selling their own products. Not sure what I think [...]

In 2000 I stumbled upon the work of Dutch artist Hella Jongerius in a magazine. At the time I had recently started teaching myself to work with clay and was stuck in a very commercial and static mindset. Her embroidered porcelain dishware definitely gave me a moment of “joyous jealousy”. Jongerius takes a historically functional [...]

Recently, at long last, Etsy.com added Google Analytics integration. You can now track, in amazing detail, the visits to your shop. To set it up, go to Shop Setup on the bottom left and click on Web Analytics. Then follow the instructions from there.
I am still playing around with it, but am increasingly impressed [...]

Talk Shop is the series where we interview independent store owners from across the country, to get their inside take on running an independent business that supports the handmade community.
In this Talk Shop, Jamie Chan, one half of the husband and wife team who owns Urban Fauna Studio, talks about her one-of-a-kind green craft boutique [...]

Are you looking to expand or refresh your knowledge of the business side of craft? As fun as it is to make crafty goods, practical knowledge is needed for your business to succeed. The Baltimore Etsy Street Team (BEST) will be hosting its first business meet-up at the Creative Alliance on Sunday, January 25th. The [...]