Wow! Persistence pays dividends! I sat staring at my computer like some kind of frozen, comatose geek for a while today, and ended up lucking out with my first ever Treasury.
Click here for some o' that NUTS FOR NEAPOLITAN goodness, and support starving artists, and the handmade cause!
Here's the REAL thing -->
And PS: I'm positively CRINGING because I spelled NeApolitan wrong in the title of my TREASURY. TREASURY titles are un-editable. AARGH!!!!
I was playing around this morning, trying to learn more about how to get a Treasury on Etsy, and I stumbled across the POSTER SKETCH feature there which allows you to "try on" a Treasury listing before taking it live. Fun. This is all assuming I'll ever get a Treasury; they are elusive little buggers, those Treasuries are... and I'm even having trouble accurately predicting when they open, because it's NOT necessarily when one Treasury expires, but when ENOUGH expire that the total number of Treasuries drops below 333, which involves counting backward from the one due to expire soonest until you reach 333. And that makes my head hurt.
But I digress.
This morning, in the midst of all that befuddlement and confusion, I assembled my dream Treasury (to please today's whims, anyway) using POSTER SKETCH around a "Nuts for Neapolitan" theme. Looking at my blog and website decor, have you noticed I like the combination of pink, brown, and white? :) Hopefully I'll be around to grab a real Treasury later today. But if not, this exercise will make for a good start from which to begin a Treasury someday, when I finally do get one. Included in my list are items from friends in the art card and bear worlds; I looked for anything that might fit a pink, brown, and creamy theme.
Pretty, no??
Since I've mentioned Etsy several times now, I figured I might oughta talk a little bit more about it for anyone reading this who's unfamiliar with it. More and more, for a variety of compelling reasons, I'm about the "buy handmade" cause, so Etsy merits deeper mention.
Etsy, in short, ROCKS. I have no better shorthand with which to describe it. It's overwhelming to learn at first, but with a little perseverance, it pays huge dividends in the form of the most marvelous, original, brilliantly priced and soooo inspirational eye candy. My family, and Santa, brought me many Etsy gifts this holiday season past, and I've been impressed with the quality and creativity of everything I've received.
So, what is Etsy?
First and foremost, Etsy is about all things handmade. In fact, it's a condition to selling that items be wholly or mostly handmade and original. So that makes Etsy a great place to find original, cutting edge art, sometimes at excellent prices. And I have to say, Etsy hosts some of the most creative jewelry designers I've ever seen assembled in one place.
Second, for those of you familiar with eBay, Etsy is a sales forum -- not an auction site. Items are listed at fixed prices and are immediately available for purchase; there's no waiting for auctions to close and there's no competitive nail-biting that goes on, waiting for news on wanted items that runs right down to the wire. Occasionally, sellers will post options for a custom-created item that might take a week or two to complete, customized to the purchaser. Interested buyers simply purchase the "special order" for their custom item at the fixed price designated, and then await delivery on their own original work of art.
One of the best ways I've found to explore on Etsy -- which I'm still learning, myself -- is to browse the TREASURY. In simplest terms, a TREASURY is a collection of items assembled by an Etsy member (anyone can make a Treasury). Treasuries are usually based on a given theme (such as a color, era, type of object, season, medium, etc.) There are 333 active Treasuries at any given time; when they are created, they are assigned a random expiration date. All Treasuries expire. When one does, that makes room for another Etsy member to create a new Treasury of his or her own, so that the number of active Treasuries at any one time is always roughly equal to 333.
What this means is that someone else is doing all the hard work of assembling great art FOR you!!! Browse the list of Treasuries and be amazed: you can find Treasuries for every color, every subject, every medium imaginable. Some Treasury themes are funny and light; others, dark and fetish related. You can click through all the active Treasuries from the link I provided, above.
Here, for your enjoyment, are screen caps of just a few Treasuries I stumbled upon today, which had fun and different themes, which caught my eye. I was introduced to so many new and wonderful artists while assembling these images for sharing here on my blog, and it'll be easy to remember them all because I "hearted" them as FAVORITES. That's Etsy lingo for you -- "hearted." As in, "I heart this seller" or "I heart this item." See? It's not just about great art. It's also just plain fun at Etsy!
I heart Etsy, fo sho.
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VINTAGE KITCHEN TREASURY
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VALENTINE TREASURY
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HONEY THEMED TREASURY
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CATS TREASURY
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BLACK & WHITE PHOTOGRAPHY TREASURY
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STRAWBERRIES & CREAM TREASURY
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Pretty, no? Inspiring, yes? Now get ye to Etsy, and do some TREASURY spelunking of your own!!
