Feature Friday: Luckalilly Ceramics

Happy Friday everyone! Today I am introducing a new regular feature for the blog: every week I will interview a different member of our group, and post it here along with some pictures and a link to their shop.  To get the ball rolling and to set up the format, I thought I would start by introducing myself.

First and foremost, what is it that you make/sell?

I make and sell a line of funky, handmade functional ceramics that I hope will be used to brighten someone's day, even if it is in a very small way!

What do you most enjoy about your craft? 

The part I enjoy the most is selecting different patterns to fit the different shapes of my pottery, and seeing how these two elements of the design process interact with one another.  I also enjoy thinking about how people will use the products I make.  For example, when I make a simple tumbler, I think of all the different ways it could be used: one person might love to drink their morning orange juice out of it, and another may keep it by their bathroom sink to use with mouthwash, and still another may use it on their desk at work as a pencil holder.  All these possibilities excite me!

How has your experience on Etsy been? 

My experience on Etsy has been good so far.  I think Etsy has given me a good, inexpensive platform to sell my goods and has allowed me to reach a lot of customers who are interested in my work that I would have otherwise not been able to reach.  I wish

 my sales were picking up a bit more (who doesn't??) but I am going to look into some different advertising options that I have not yet explored, and maybe that will help!

What would you like to see from the CNY Etsy Group in the future?

I would love to do some local shows and sales with the group, because I think that we could all use some more local exposure!  

To see more of Caroline's work:

Luckalilly Etsy Shop

Luckalilly's Photostream on Flickr

Banner Vote Update!!

Hi everyone!

We have added six new banner submissions for your review, pictures have been posted both in the original post here on the blog and in larger form to the album on the Ning site.  

Please vote again by clicking here.

(Even if your vote for top three is not affected by the new submissions, please vote again!  Only votes from the new questionnaire will be tallied.)

This new voting session will last until Monday March 2nd.

Thanks again and sorry for the mix-up!!

CNY Etsy Team Treasury!

Lauren from Originals by Lauren scored a treasury and was kind enough to share the exposure with the team! Check out the rest of the treasury here : http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=44124

If anyone else gets a treasury we can feature it here on the blog, just email me (luckalilly@yahoo.com) the link and I'll get it posted!

Extra Banner Submission!

One member had sent in a submission, but because of an email mix-up, I didn't receive it until after the deadline.  If you haven't voted yet, consider this design as well! A larger photo has also been added to the Ning site album.

Banner H

Banner update

Bigger pictures have been posted to an album on Ning : 

http://cnyetsy.ning.com/photo/albums/banner-submissions

Check them out and VOTE!!!

-Caroline

Banner Designs!

***UPDATE***

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE 6 MORE SUBMISSIONS.

PLEASE VOTE VIA THIS NEW GOOGLE DOCUMENT (EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY VOTED AND THE NEW SUBMISSIONS DO NOT AFFECT YOUR CHOICE FOR TOP 3)

click here to go to the new voting form:  http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=cFZoaE81a0dVbV9zMFo3V2JnWGNBTlE6MA 

Sorry for the confusion, but we wanted everyone to have a fair chance!

Ok everyone, it's time to vote on a design for our banner!  Take a look at the submissions below, and then click HERE to vote for your top three! (We are voting via a Google Doc that Sue set up for us, that way the voting is anonymous.)   Voting will be open until Sunday night.  The top three designs will make it into the "finals" next week for a second round of voting.

A couple of things to remember when voting:

• Fonts and text can be changed! We will most likely have another vote on this once the winner is chosen.  So- don't base your choice on these factors alone!
• We will be basing designs for avatars and widgets on the winning design as well.
• Voting is anonymous via the Google Doc in the link above. 
• Voting ends on Sunday, February 22.  

Thanks so much to everyone who submitted their designs!

Banner A

Banner B

Banner C

Banner D

Banner E

Banner F

Banner G

Banner H

Banner I

Banner J

Banner K

Banner L

Banner M

Questionaire Results!

Sue has kindly tallied the results from the questionaire that was sent out after our first meeting. 

Thank You to the 22 members who took time to fill out the questionaire!
Below are the posted totals..

Info Sessions

How to use Treasuries                           8   (38%)  - 3rd session
Shop design, setup & critiques             15  (71%)  - 2nd session
Using Google Analytics                         10  (48%)  - 3rd session
How to take Great Pictures                  14  (67%)  - 2nd session
Learning to Blog, Twitter, Facebook   11  (52%)  - 4th session
Creating Great Shop Promos                17  (81%)  - 1st session
Best Etsy Selling Tips                             16  (76%)  - 1st session

Join in the Show???

Yes, I'd love too!                                      16  (76%)  - Most of us, so that's great!
I'm not sure                                               4   (19%)
No, I'd rather not                                      1     (5%)

Have Team tags??

Yes, definitely!                                         14  (67%)  - looks like cnyetsyteam
I don't know what that means                 7   (33%)

For those of you who aren't familiar with 'team tags', when you post an item on Etsy, you chose 14 'tags' to describe the places you want your piece to go, IE- children, plush, animal, blue, etc. or jewelry, silver, gold, ruby, etc...A team tag is using one of those spaces, and typing in your team name, ours is cnyetsyteam. That way, when someone makes a treasury, or wants to search our teams work, they will come up to be selected or looked at.

Best Place to host the group

Would Like to stay at Ning, I'm already set up        4 (19%)
Prefer Google Groups                                                   1   (5%)
Like Flickr the Best                                                        0 (0%)
Prefer to use Etsy Team Threads                                 3 (14%)
Don't have a preference                                                16 (76%)

 - Most don't have a preference so, maybe we will stay with ning, the blog and if someone would like to manage a weekly etsy thread for our group, that would be fine too..


More Great Ideas members had are-

Use cnyetsyteam as team tag for treasuries, etc.
Willing to set up a field trip or exploration of places and spaces
Occasional groups meetings at the etsy virtual labs (shop critiques in the virtual labs).
Some sort of criteria to maintain membership in the group
Using Swap-Bot
Having Area captains to find ops and events in specific areas, IE Utica/New Hartford, Norwich, Syracuse, etc.
Monthly workshops to learn another's craft


7 people marked they are willing to design a banner idea/s. I will email you directly, and remind you of the deadlines, etc. Thank you all for offering your time!!

Thanks again for everyone's participation in this. I will look over who wants to help with the Etsy workshops, email them and start to plan accordingly! I will also update you all on info about our Upcoming first show & sale in the spring!!

Thanks!
Sue from Ecoleeko

Valentine's Day CNY Etsy Love

Today, in honor of the festival of love, I thought I would put together some Valentine's appropriate items from members of our group...Sort of like our own localized version of "Etsy Finds!"

So here goes:

Hand Painted Necklace Jewelry Rack

by

Hung Up on You Creations

Whipped Soap Loaf

by

Lilic Hill Soap

Steampunk Adjustable rose ring

by

Tillson's Treasures

WHO HEARTS YOU pincushion

by

New York Vintage Vanity

Love. Resin Ring.

by

unencumbered

Flat Back Hearts

by

Lil-Ink Studio

Vintage Brooch and Earring Set. Red Hot

by

EBFinds

I hope everyone has a wonderful and love-filled Valentine's Day!

Banner Submissions Guidelines!

Sue from Ecoleeko recently posted some guidelines for the Banner submissions on the Ning site, and I thought I would post them here as well for all to see!

General Guidelines

• Dimensions: 750 pixels long x 150/100 pixels wide
• Save as 72 DPI for web
• Save on copy in jpg format, and keep a layered copy if possible
• Layered copies are very helpful in the event that we end up wanting to change the font and text. Also, avatars, widgets, ect will be designed off of the original as well.
• Email submissions to luckalilly@yahoo.com by Feb 17th
• Banner submissions will then be posted here on the blog for voting!

See Sue's original post on the Ning site here!

Thanks everyone, I can't wait to see your submissions!

Banner and Button Submissions

As noted before, we will be holding a vote for the CNY Etsy Team Blog banner and button (aka avatar) design.

Anyone who is interested is encouraged to submit designs to Caroline at luckalilly@yahoo.com by February 17th.

Voting will be held here on the blog after that, and the blog will be updated shortly thereafter! 

Pictures of the First Meeting!

So...for those of you who couldn't make it out to Porter Studios Gallery in Hamilton for the first meeting this past Sunday, I have some pictures to share!

Above are some tasty "Etsy" brownies courtesy of Sue, from Ecoleeko, as well as the rest of the munchie spread (it was all positively delicious!)

The last photo is a group shot of all those in attendance, excluding Sue because she was taking the photo!

In the photo:

Jane - Janetexcat

Cathy - Myserenityway

Lauren - Originals By Lauren

Cris - Cris Creates

Myrhieah - Tangbaby

Caroline and Emily -  Luckalilly

Patty, Barbara, and Tara -  Beaded Bird

Andrea and Arthur - Ashlar

Overall, it was a very enjoyable and productive meeting! Jane ended up snagging a Treasury while we were all there, you can view it here!  In the future, if anyone from the team gets a Treasury, I would be happy to post a link to it here on the blog, just convo me the link!

First CNY Etsy Team Meeting at Porter Studios Gallery

The first team meeting was a hit!  As you all know from the email Sue from Ecoleeko sent out, there was great food and great discussion!

Among the things discussed were the creation of this blog, where you can find info about all the upcoming promotions and events we hope to be doing in the near future, as well as a weekly artist feature.  If anyone has any other ideas about what they would like to see from this blog, comment here or send me a convo via Etsy.  (By the way, this is Caroline from Luckalilly Ceramics speaking-I volunteered to set up/manage the blog!)

So far, I have set up a list of the members of our group and links to each shop (look to the right).  If you see anything you would like different about the wording/spelling on your link, just let me know and I'll change it for you.  I also set up a slideshow of photos streaming from the Ning site, so if you would like to see some of your products showcased here on the blog, then upload pictures of them here.

As Sue mentioned in the email, we will be holding a vote for the banner/button design for the blog as well as the team in general.  I think there was a general consensus that it would be a good idea to "brand" these images so they will be recognizable to others as well as ourselves.  If you would like to design a banner or a button or both,  you can go ahead and send me the image(s) via email at luckalilly@yahoo.com.  We can then hold a vote right here on the blog to determine a winner.  

Again, any ideas and input concerning the blog are welcomed; post a comment here or just drop me a note! 

If you would like to subscribe to this blog (this means you can receive updates via homepages like Google and Yahoo when there is a new post or comment) just click the buttons at the top of the page that say "Subscribe to this blog!"

It's getting pretty late, so I think I better sound off here.  I'm so excited about this group, I think it's going to be a great way to network and promote for all of us!