Look What Punky Found :: It's All Greek To Me

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That's just a placeholder until I write the real copy for this blog post.

How cool is it that I can search Etsy for 'LOREM' and find something? Tonight's search delivered this totally geeky/greeky tie by the Cyberoptix Tie Lab "Ties That Don't Suck."

Placeholder, screenprinted designer nerd microfiber necktie

Find out all about "Lorem Ipsum" at http://www.lipsum.com and even generate your own. Now that's what I call a party!

Bringing Jewelry to Life

Sharing a few of my favorite things from this week's Etsy Twitter Team Shop of the Week is not easy. How can I pick just a few? 

The work of Katy Mims of South Paw Studios is stunning. Her photography is gorgeous. Her prices are affordable. And I agree with Katy's own words: she "brings the jewelry to life." 

Now I'll let a couple of selections speak for themselves:

Salmon colored Venetian glass dangle bracelet 

 

Aquamarine blue crystal drop necklace

 

 

From her profile:

Growing up in a home with both artistic and creative parents, I felt that it was in my blood to become an artist.

Early on, I dabbled in almost every medium from ceramics, batiking, silk dying, watercolor, and sewing to photography, but it was in jewelry design that I found a good niche. When my father, a glass blower, gave me a book on jewelry design, I delved further into the art. 

Although I had been crafting treasures for my family and friends, a great opportunity came to me when I was 17. A friend of mine was wearing a piece of my jewelry when she was shopping in a boutique. The owner loved what she was wearing so much that he inquired as to where she got it. Soon, I placed my jewelry in that boutique and my pieces began to sell. It was then that I knew I was onto something.

Katy was right! She really was on to something...and we are all lucky she found it.

 

Be sure to check out her supplies shop as well for a great selection of Swarovski Glass Pearls and beading supplies:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/southpawbeads

SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK ONLY: This week, Katy is offering a special Etsy Twitter Team Shop of the Week Discount! 15% off all regularly priced items, now thru May 2nd. Enter code “Etsytwitter15” in message to seller during checkout. Discount will be refunded via Paypal.

ALSO: special promo item, these earrings will be on sale for only $7, regularly $16, no code necessary.

 

Read the original post http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com/2010/04/shop-of-week-southpawstudios.html

• On Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/southpawstudios
• Check out her supplies shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/southpawbeads 
• Follow @SouthPawStudios on Twitter. 
• "Like" her on facebook.
• Follow her blog.
• Follow @PunkyJane on Twitter.
• Become a fan of Punky Jane on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PunkyJaneJewelry
  
• Follow @EtsyTwitrTeam on Twitter.

Look What Punky Found :: It's Just Adorkable!

Okay, you know I love Etsy. Here's another reason why: I typed 'dork' into the Etsy search window this morning and got back 26 pages of dorky goodness! How cool is that? [I guess how cool it is to you measures your true dorkiness.]

One that caught my eye is by Signature Shirts:

ADORKABLE

And another...

Showcasing a "Limitless Imagination"

This week's Etsy Twitter Team Shop of the Week, BRefour offers original art and note cards created by Betty Refour and her sister, Rose, who has autism. 

Both artists use bright colors in small spaces, offering art that is both visually appealing and affordable. Betty says much of her inspiration comes from fabric and architecture. She loves art because, "with art there are no boundaries... limitless imagination." Betty is very inspired these days--she has joined a local 'daily painting group'!

The art of BRefour is internationally known. Her stellar customer feedback reflects the quality of product and service. Not only does Betty offer products that are made with care, but a portion of the shop's proceeds is donated to charity. 

From her profile:

I lost my grandmother to Breast Cancer, my mother to Myeloma and my sister has Autism so I am always looking for ways to advocate for these causes as well as other causes that are important to me.

You can also learn more about Betty and Rose in this wonderful article by Lois of  FoxyGKnits.

SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK ONLY: This week, Betty is offering a special Etsy Twitter Team Shop of the Week Discount! 50% off all items in the SALE section. Use code SOTW in notes to seller and she will send you a revised invoice.

Read the original post http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com/2010/04/shop-of-week-art-by-betty-refour-shop.html

• On Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/brefour
• Follow @bettyrefour on Twitter. 
• Follow her blog.
• Follow @PunkyJane on Twitter.
• Become a fan of Punky Jane on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PunkyJaneJewelry
  
• Follow @EtsyTwitrTeam on Twitter.

Going Green with PMC

To celebrate the EtsyTwitter Team's Go Green event, I want to share a few items from my shop that are made from recycled silver. (To see them all, click here.)

Precious Metal Clay (PMC) is actually a recycled product. During photo processing, silver is recovered. That silver is mixed in with a binder making a clay-like material that can be worked, rolled, formed, stamped, etc. and then fired to create beautiful, fine silver pieces.

I love working with PMC. I feel like I'm playing with Play-Doh! Expensive Play-Doh, but still fun. During firing, the binders burn away and what's left is a fine silver (99.9%) piece of art...hopefully!

Be sure to check out other items made by the EtsyTwitter Team that are green and stay up to date with out event, including giveaways at our team blog, http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com

Go Green with the EtsyTwitter Team! April 15 – April 22

I'm excited to announce that the Etsy Twitter Team is throwing an eco-party, and everyone is invited! 

From April 15-22, 2010, the Etsy Twitter authority for online and handmade products, will be offering a multitude of green handcrafted products, tips, and ideas at http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com.

Members of the Etsy Twitter Team will offer giveaway prizes, discounts and eco-friendly tips on ways to reduce, reuse and recycle in creating handmade items and shipping them. Check out our team page for a list of shops on the team. 

Today's Tip:

This Going green tip has been provide to you by Linda of LindaB142 shop on etsy!

Going green tips:

1. Recycle glass bottles by re-using them to hold pens, beads, buttons, or other craft supplies.
2. Use smaller bottles to make candles using a combination of old and new wax.
3. Recycle packaging materials that you receive by reusing bubble mailers, bubble wrap for your outgoing orders.

Enter the giveaways for you chance to win eco-friendly prizes!

1. Leave a comment on our blog at http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com.
2. Tweet our Event: “The Etsy Twitter Team is throwing an eco-party for Earth Day from April 15-22, 2010 http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com #etsytwitter #gogreen” (You also must put @etsytwitrteam so we can track it and/or a link with your comment.)
3. Leave a recycling tip on our blog for another entry. 

 And please keep in mind...

• Please leave individual comments with a shop name and/or email address we can contact you if you win! Each entry counts as one entry and we will use a randomizer to pick the winner.
• Only 3 entries per giveaway. (per person)
• Don't forget to come back and enter each one of our giveaways

The winner will be chosen by random.org. and you have one week from the orginal post date to enter!

Good luck and Go Green!

Science Goes Sassy

I have to admit, this week's Etsy Twitter Team Shop of the Week had me hitting Wiki. While it's obvious the work of the mom and daughter team at My Sassy Glass is beautiful, I just had to find out what 'dichroic glass' is. What I discovered has me appreciating their gorgeous work even more! And as a bonus, I got a little science lesson:

 

From Wikipedia:

Dichroic glass is glass containing multiple micro-layers of metal oxides which give the glass dichroic optical properties. The invention of dichroic glass is often erroneously attributed to NASA and its contractors, who developed it for use in dichroic filters. Dichroic glass dates back to at least the 4th century AD as seen in the Lycurgus cup.

Multiple ultra-thin layers of different metals (gold, silver), metal oxides (titanium, chromium, aluminium, zirconium, magnesium) and silica are vaporised by an electron beam in a vacuum chamber. The vapour then condenses on the surface of the glass in the form of a crystal structure. This is sometimes followed by a protective layer of quartz crystal. The finished glass can have as many as 30 to 50 layers of these materials yet the thickness of the total coating is approximately 30 to 35 millionths of an inch (about 760 to 890 nm). The coating that is created is very similar to a gemstone and, by careful control of thickness, different colours are obtained.

 

Dichroic glass is now available to artists through dichroic coating manufacturers. Glass artists often refer to dichroic glass as "dichro". The main characteristic of dichroic glass is that it has a transmitted colour and a completely different reflected colour, as certain wavelengths of light either pass through or are reflected. This causes an array of colour to be displayed. The colors shift depending on the angle of view.

 

 

 

[okay, my eyes have glazed over...I'm going to share her amazing work now]

 

Butterfly Queen – Dichroic Fused Glass Slide Pendant :: $25

Twilight Lake – Dichroic Fused Glass Slide Pendant :: $25

 

From her profile:

I was a stay-at-home mom with 4 children that did crafts to stay mentally alert. Some of my crafts include, ceramics, hand-painted ornaments, cross stitch, quilting, knitting, crocheting, wheat-weaving, metal punching..... Do you get the idea that I always had a project going? I had always been interested in glass, but did not have an area where I could cut the glass and not worry about the children getting cut by the shards.

Many years later, my daughter finished her degree in design about this time I was downsized out of my fourth job. We decided to combine our talents...and you can only benefit!

We feel that our one-of-a-kind pendants offer a hint about the personality of the person that wears it. We make pendants in many shapes and sizes and love to see which one our customer picks out. Whether you are bold, elegant, edgy, trendy, strong, modern, classic, sporty, daring or sassy... we feel that you can find a pendant that is perfect for you!

SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK ONLY: FREE SHIPPING until April 30th on all purchases totaling $40 or more from either of our Etsy shops. Items will be shipped either USPS First Class OR First Class International. Please use code: SOTW in the comments at checkout to redeem this offer. Shipping charges will be refunded via Paypal after payment or you may convo me before payment for a revised invoice. Wisconsin residents - applicable purchase of $40 is calculated before sales tax. Also…..We invite you to check out our facebook pendant giveaway. http://www.facebook.com/MySassyGlass

Read the original post http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com/2010/04/shop-of-week-mysassyglass.html

• On Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mysassyglass
• Their Etsy Supply Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/mysassysupplies
• Follow @Mysassyglass on Twitter. 
• Follow her blog.
• Follow @PunkyJane on Twitter.
• Become a fan of Punky Jane on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PunkyJaneJewelry
  
• Follow @EtsyTwitrTeam on Twitter.

Look What Punky Found :: Clever Moving Announcements by Shredlines

I just love Etsy. Where else could you find something like these super cool Cardboard Moving Announcements by Shredlines?

$5.99 for a pack of 10

$11.50 for pack of 20

$22.00 for a pack of 40

If you are on the move, these are a great way to let your friends know what you'll be doing for the next few (to several) months!

Purple Lemon Designs gets my stamp of approval!

The EtsyTwitter Team Shop of the Week gets my seal...scratch that..STAMP of approval! Kelly of Purple Lemon Designs creates wonderful personalized rubber stamps and stationery that will give all of your notes and letters that extra little touch of special you've been looking for. Here are a few of my favorites:

 

Merry Mermaid Customized Printable Stationery

 

 

Your books out on loan will come home if they are stamped with this

Small Customized Flowery Bookplate Rubber Stamp

 

 

Just love the design of this! 

Large Rectangle Heartstrings Rubber Stamp

From her profile:

I have always loved to design...florals, events, note cards, jewelry, etc. It seems at some point in my life I have designed just about everything!

Right now, I am focusing on paper goods and rubber stamps. I have worked for others as a designer for the last 8 years, living the dream of working for myself at night and on the weekends.

In my spare time (if I have any!), I enjoy running, gardening, cooking, and spending time with my sweet husband.

SPECIAL OFFER THIS WEEK ONLY: To celebrate her spotlight as Etsy Twitter team shop of the week, Kelly is offering 10% off your entire order {excluding shipping} if you enter ETSYTWITTER in the "Notes to the Seller" section during checkout. The discount will be refunded through Paypal. This offer is good April 5 - 11th.

Read the original post http://etsytwitter.blogspot.com/2010/04/shop-of-week-purplelemondesigns.html

• On Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/purplelemondesigns
• Follow @purplelemon on Twitter. 
• Follow her blog.
• Follow @PunkyJane on Twitter.
• Become a fan of Punky Jane on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/PunkyJaneJewelry
  
• Follow @EtsyTwitrTeam on Twitter.

Front Page! [and the tools that let me know]

I got the coveted email notification this morning from the Statsy Featurator that my Picture This personalized portrait necklace had been featured on the front page of Etsy in a collection of ideas for Mother's Day. Great way to start the weekend!

Once I was featured, the MyEtsy App automatically posted the news to my Punky Jane Facebook page. Wow...I got a lot done without doing a thing! Gotta love that.

I missed the actual front page, but thanks to CraftCult.com, I was able to grab a screen shot, as well as a widget to add to my website and blog. Whew!

That listing sold, but I can always make more: Picture This personalized sterling silver necklace.

Etsy sellers, if you aren't using these tools already, I highly recommend them all.

Statsy: http://statsy.org/featurator.php

MyEtsy App: http://apps.facebook.com/myetsy

CraftCult: http://CraftCult.com