Jewelry

Infused Designs
Roselynn Designs
Lotus Jewels
Anatoliantale Designs
AnnieHowes
A Passion For Fashion
Bead Story Jewels
Bijouled Designs
Blue Root Creations
BoHo Rose Jewelry
Boriville
Button Jewelry & More
Colorado Morning
Elizabeth Lyons Designs
Gayl's Goodies
Got Maille By Christy 
JudithGayleDesigns
Lilly Jane Jewelry 
Lindy's Whimsies
Little Bits of Faith
MicsLovesPink

Our Children's Earth
Peakview Creations 
Rachel Dawn Designs
Sharkittens
She's A Belle Designs
Smiley Kit Creations
Tangs & Tines
Wave Cloud
Wind In His Hare
With Love From Montana
Your Baby's A Beauty
Zaisy

RED Christmas Treasuries

The theme for this week's treasuries is RED! Post items from your shop in this thread that you feel fit the theme -RED- and those who want to make a team treasury around the theme can use this link as a guide to get started.

To encourage team treasuries to be made, I am going to give the treasury with the most favorites by Saturday at 12:00 midnight, their choice of a FREE handmade bookmark. Would make a great gift if you can't use it for yourself. Choices are here:
www.etsy.com/shop/BookishKind?section_id=8018141

So let's see some team treasuries with the theme of RED! Remember, the team treasury posted in this thread
www.etsy.com/teams/9623/mountain-standard-timers/discuss/9371752
that has the most favorites on it by Saturday at midnight, MST wins the bookmark! Yay!

Let's hear it for Christmas!

Friday Store Spotlight is Lotus Jewels!

 

This week's spotlight shines on one of our team leaders, Jen, owner of Lotus Jewels.  I know many of you are already familiar with Jen and her great contributions to our team, but lets get to know her store a little better.

Infused Designs- How did you come up with the name for your store?

Lotus Jewels- In Buddhist philosophy, the beautiful lotus flower blooms from the mud, proving that beauty can evolve from something that is ugly. I like to think that when I put simple, perhaps not necessarily attractive beads together, I create something beautiful, or at least beautiful to me!

ID- And beautiful to us too! How long have you been crafting, and who taught you?

LJ- I’ve always done some sort of artsy thing although I am fairly new to beading. I’ve been doing it for perhaps 4 years. My best friend taught me one pattern of beading and I went from there.

ID- That's great; that you could learn from a friend. Do you have any formal training in any craft/art subject?

LJ- I’ve taken lessons in clay (as an adult) and oil painting (as a kid).

ID- When did you open your Etsy store?

LJ- Oct 11, 2008

ID- Wow!  So you're a veteran Etsian. :-)  Do you have other venues you sell at, like craft shows or other online stores?

LJ- I have not had much luck with my jewelry in boutiques or craft shows. I have the best luck selling to friends and family.

ID- That's how it usually starts, though, right? What is one of your favorite items in your store?

LJ- One of my favorites is www.etsy.com/listing/81604930/beautiful-blue-violet-heart-pendant-hand. It has a beautiful, unique heart pendant and an 8 strand braided cord. I have started making more braided jewelry and I find the technique very calming.

ID- I can see why, the colors are really beautiful!  Where do you gain inspiration for your items?

LJ- Inspiration usually comes from the stones themselves.

ID- Do you feel like you have found a niche for the items you sell?

LJ- I don’t think I’ve found my niche yet. However, I didn’t start beading to make money, I started it for relaxation and the joy I get from making pretty things. Perhaps the niche will find me!

ID- LOL, that's a nice Zen way of looking at things. Where do you see your shop in 5 years?

LJ- Not much different than now. Hopefully, more people will have run across it and I’ll have a few more sales.

ID- What advice can you give your fellow team members?

LJ- If you make crafts, do it because you enjoy doing it. Don’t do it to make money. If you make crafts because you enjoy it, you will always find happiness. If you do it just to make money, you may end up frustrated and unsatisfied.

Thank you for the interview, Jen.  It's always great to get to know more people and their stores!  I'm sure you all agree, so go take a look at Lotus Jewels, add her to your circle, and favorite a few items if you like!

MSTTeam THANKSGIVING Treasuries

We are doing something different for the team treasury this week - a theme. Post items from your shop here that you feel fit the theme -THANKSGIVING- and those who want to make a team treasury around the theme can use this link as a guide to get started.

Let's hear it for Thanksgiving :)

Friday Store Spotlight is Hoooked Bath and Body

Tara from Hoooked Bath and Body is this week's spotlighted team member.  Lets see what she has to say about her lovely shop.  She hales from Albuquerque, NM.

Infused Designs- How did you come up with the name for your store?

Hoooked- Hoooked began as a play on crochet, the art of hooking yarn, but the word "hooked" also means addicted to or obsessed with. With 3 Os, Hoooked stands out, makes a statement, and grabs attention.

ID- I'm certainly hoooked on crocheting too.  I love the name!  How long have you been crafting, and who taught you?

Lick Me All Over Soap

Hoooked- I've been crafting and expressing my creativity for as long as I can remember, but I started crocheting seriously about 10 years ago and was taught by my mother. I started teaching myself to make soap (with a lot of internet assistance) 3 years ago. There is still a lot I have left to explore in both categories.

ID- Well it looks like you are well on your way with your talent.  When did you open your Etsy store?

Hoooked- After careful consideration and planning, HoookedBathandBody launched in January of 2011.

ID- Do you have other venues you sell at, like craft shows or other online stores?

Hoooked- I sell more of my crochet at Hoooked.etsy.com but after some miserable craft show experiences (bad weather seeks me out), I've decided to stick primarily with Etsy. I do sell locally at a small store but have plans to continue solely with Etsy after the end of the year.

ID- Hmm...I'm sorry to hear about the bad craft shows, but it sounds like you know where you want your business to go.  What is one of your favorite items in your store?

Hoooked- I can be such a girly girl when it comes to scents and absolutely love the Sweet Pea, Lavender, and Lick Me All Over Soap.

ID- It's too bad we don't have the technology to smell the computer.  Where do you gain inspiration for your items?

Hoooked- Everywhere! We are bombarded by scents everywhere in our daily lives and now when I smell something fantastic, I want to make it into a soap that someone can experience in the shower.

ID- Do you feel like you have found a niche for the items you sell?

Hoooked- Not yet, but I get closer with every sale.

ID- Where do you see your shop in 5 years?

Hoooked- In 5 years, I see Hoooked having a much larger variety of soap. I want to expand, expand, expand! By then, maybe I will have finally started listing the lip balm and other bath and body products I've been making.

ID- That's the key, isn't it? :-)  What advice can you give your fellow team members?

Hoooked- Right now, I would suggest including the color of your items in your titles and tags. This is extremely important if you want to be picked up for treasuries. Overall, I would suggest readying your shop as much as possible for change. Try and prepare for the unexpected and be prepared to adapt at a moment's notice.

Tara, That is great advice!  Thank you for giving me this interview.  It was a pleasure getting to know more about you and your shop.

OK, everyone, you know the drill.  Got take a look at Hoooked Bath and Body, add to your circle and leave a comment if you like!  Thank you!

About MSTTeam

So you've joined the team, now what?

Here are some things you should know about this team:

*Our monthly newsletter (sent by email) tells what is happening each month with the team (dates to remember, useful links, etc). You can join the team email by contacting a team leader - see sidebar.

*We have a facebook page you can join, (the link is to your right), where your shop may be promoted to others and where ideas to help your shop are posted, (such as how to get free business cards!)

* You can sign up for Team Treasury Days (Every other Tuesday, 1-2 days per month,), where you make one treasury and get featured in 16 other treasuries the day you sign up.

*You can create featured item team treasuries anytime to help promote team members, who in turn, may do the same for you.

*We have the first-ever, (as far as I know!), "Rolling Treasury" on etsy. The treasury rotates with seasonal happenings, such as the "Christmas edition." You can shop other team stores from the link at the top of this blog.

*There are threads on the board where you can find others in your state or area to meet up with or network with. Post to those threads and get to know people. Networking helps get you sales.

*We have a team blog where you follow team happenings. Every month a new shop is spotlighted/interviewed so you can get to know them better. We also have the monthly "roundup" of gorgeous items spotted from team shops (maybe yours!).

*We have an official team tag that you can use when making treasuries or posting items in your shop. It is "MSTTeam" You can also use "mountain standard timers," as well.


*We are glad you are here!

Friday Store Spotlight is Red Sky Designs

Today lets talk to Tim Trafford - Designer and Seamster EXTROIDINARE and  Lori Trafford - Marketing, Sales, Customer Relations, Packaging, Bookkeeper, Artistic/Creative Additive :) -

Infused Designs- How did you come up with the name for your store?

Red Sky Designs- I had a wonderful father who was in the Navy who took us camping every weekend and understood my crazy love of horses and the outdoors. I sadly lost him when I was 13 - he always said "Red Sky at night, sailors delight.... our shop name is in remembrance of my hero, my dad. :) The peaceful feeling of a beautiful Montana Red Sky in the evening is an incredible picture of creative beauty that is both inspiring and incredibly relaxing and makes some of the daily challenges we all encounter very worthwhile.

ID- That's a very touching story and makes for a great business name. How long have you been crafting, and who taught you? 

RSD- Tim owned a seat cover shop over 25 years ago and loved manufacturing, and using his talented, engineering mind to develop and create on his industrial sewing machine - We've been married over 24 years and he has always wanted to get back into industrial manufacturing and sewing the amazing designs that develop in his multifunctional mind - Tim is completely self taught and continually works to perfect every single design from the quality, functionality, aesthetic and good old great looks angles.

ID- Neat! Do you have any formal training in any craft/art subject? 

RSD- Neither Tim or I have any formal training in manufacturing or marketing. We are both completely self taught and we LOVE learning everything we can from others and sharing everything we have learned with anyone who wants to follow their creative, entrepreneurial dreams.

ID- When did you open your Etsy store? 

RSD- We opened our Etsy shop in June of 2009 - I woke up early and was reading the Billings Gazette in bed on my smart phone and came across an amazing story about Piper and Paisley and their amazing rise to fame after being discovered on Etsy. I was intrigued as I had never heard of Etsy so I researched and discovered this powerful site that catered to items that were handmade. Etsy was incredibly easy and fun to use and so I opened our "shop" that day featuring our handcrafted leather pillows, bling belts and our very first Red Sky Koozie designs. Etsy does an incredible job of promoting the shops and getting your "face" on Google. Even though it takes time to learn all of the angles and advertising opportunities - Etsy is right there with blogs, treasuries, community and help sites to aid you in your success.

ID- That's a great story and perhaps similar to many of us on Etsy.  :-) Do you have other venues you sell at, like craft shows or other online stores? 

RSD- Red Sky Designs is an official "Made In Montana" product as all of our items are handcrafted in our Montana shop. We are a vendor at the annual Wholesale/Retail Made in Montana Show in March in Great Falls, Montana and we also exhibit at all three of the Billings Wholesale Market shows in Billings Montana. We currently have 45 stores that we wholesale our Red Sky Koozies to and we also do a tremendous amount of retail business out of both our MontanaRedSkyDesigns.Etsy.com and our RedSkyDesigns.com websites. We are very fortunate that Red Sky Designs is doing five times the amount of business that we were doing last year and we are continuing to get calls for very large customized orders from all over the United States. As of today we are very proud to say that we have shipped our Red Sky Koozies to over 43 states as well as to Canada and Australia and we have not received one single koozie back nor have we received one single complaint about our products. :)

ID- Wow!  That's awesome!  What is one of your favorite items in your store?

RSD- Our Red Sky Koozies !!!! My personal favorites are the Beaver Can Koozies and my Tri Colored Beer Bottle Koozie - I also love my coffee cup/pint koozie - Tim's favorite is his Bison Leather Beer Bottle Koozie or his Bison coffee cup/pint koozie - we literally do NOT leave home without them and we are constantly giving out business cards to anyone who sees our koozies.

ID- Where do you gain inspiration for your items? 

RSD- We both LOVE the look, feel and smell of leather and are constantly thinking of new ways to use this amazing natural product whether it is in koozies, cuffs or other durable items that just look and feel WAY cooler in leather !

ID- Do you feel like you have found a niche for the items you sell? 

RSD- Red Sky Designs has been very fortunate in the organic growth of our products and our company. Our Red Sky Koozies have been very popular in both the gift and tourist markets as it is certainly a very useful product that not everyone has and it a great gift to give OR receive! We are continually complimented regarding the quality of our craftsmanship and the extreme quality of the leather that we hand select for our products. Simply put, the quality of our Red Sky Koozies creates a niche that we are very thankful for.

ID- I can certainly say I've never seen anything like your Koozies. Where do you see your shop in 5 years? 

RSD- Red Sky Designs was started as a "fun money" and eventual "retirement money" business. We are very pleased and thankful to say that RSD has has grown so fast in the past year and a half that it has also become the "college fund money" for our two awesome kids. We take a tremendous amount of pride and pleasure in knowing that we create products that others are excited to give as gifts. On Christmas morning we are both beaming thinking about the number of people that will be enjoying our Red Sky Koozies with their favorite beverage that day. In five years we see Red Sky Designs as the single source of income for the two of us which will allow us to travel to spend time with their kids and their families and to truly enjoy a creative and fulfilling lifestyle that has always been our dream. We are always excited about every new order and we look forward to the opportunity to continue to play "Santa Claus" for a very long time.

ID- It looks like that is a very achievable dream.  Congratulations! What advice can you give your fellow team members?

RSD- I know that it sounds trite, but really....FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS. You can do whatever you set your mind to as long as you are willing to put the time and the hours into, making your dreams come true. Listen to the wonderful wisdom of others, ask questions, LISTEN again and most importantly WORK HARD so you can PLAY HARD. Life is too short to dwell on the "what ifs" so be sure that your focus is on the "What's next". It is SOOOOO easy to sell what YOU love and what YOU love using ! Make sure your customers are happy and that they feel the pure joy that you put into your products. Energy is a terrible thing to waste and if the first idea you have doesn't work, try your next idea, and your next, or your next and don't ever, ever quit!

Thank you so much!  Lori and Tim your advice and story are very inspiring!  We are glad to have you part of our team and to show our appreciation we will head over to your site to circle you.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/MontanaRedSkyDesigns