Saturday, July 30, 2011
Images and Inspiration
You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives. ~Clay P. Bedford
Friday, July 29, 2011
Team Contest: Back to School
As August gets ready to roll in, it's time to start thinking about getting kids back to school: five year olds need pencil pouches, safety scissors, backpacks, your high schooler needs new clothes, notebooks and a scientific calculator, and that tall eighteen year old eating everything in your fridge is going to need things for his dorm.
Besides thinking of what to get your own kids, it's time to be thinking about what to do in your Etsy shop to prepare for back to school. Is there a better way to prep than a contest? I think not.
Your task is to create something relates to back to school for any age group. According to Etsy's Merchandising Report for August these are the things to be thinking about, "College dorm room, organizational essentials, gadget and computer accessories, notebooks, writing utensils, cases, book bags, backpacks, satchels, lunch carriers, and fall fashion."
Some more ideas for Back-to-School items:
-writeable surfaces for dorm doors
-journals
-party supplies (don't pretend you don't know that college students do this)
-bedding for twin beds
-dorm decor
-locker decor
1. You must be an AAG team member
2. You must tag your entry items with the tag Back2School so that we can find them
3. Your item may be vintage or handmade and must abide by Etsy's TOUs
4. You may enter as many times as you would like
5. Your item must be listed by August 26th at midnight in your time zone
6. Your entry is not valid if it is inactive or sold, so make sure you relist if it sells.
The top 10 entries will be selected on the 27th and voting will be open until September 2nd for a winner.
If you are an AAG member and would like to donate a prize for the winner's package, please contact TuckooandMooCow. Prizes can be anything you'd like and do not have to come from your shop or be handmade.
TGIFT - Happy Birthday Leos!
If you're looking for the perfect gift for a Leo, here are a few Etsy finds that may make you say : "Thank God I Found This!"
- The Lion Brooch by teconlene
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
TGIFT - Back to School
Can you believe that it's almost that time of the year already?
If you're doing some early back to school shopping because you and/or your kids can't wait to go back, here are a few Etsy finds that may make you say "Thank God I Found This!" And if on the contrary you think that school is not cool, you may change your opinion after seeing these awesome Etsy items!
- Pencil Holder by lessandmore
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Simpsons Already Did It: a word about copies on Etsy
When cruising through Etsy it can be extremely frustrating to suddenly come across something that is very similar in appearance to or presented in a similar way as your own item. Your first reaction may be to jump up and yell, call your friends, post on your team's wall, or even fire off an angry message at the sellers, but before you act on your anger (the jumping up and yelling is fine) step back, pause, and think for a minute.
First of all, the world is a big broad place and many creative minds from all over it are funneled into one hallway that is the path to Etsy success. Before you accuse someone of copying you, stop and think about where your inspiration came from. Here are some questions to ask yourself before getting too mad:
What is it that is similar about this item or shop?
Is it the photo layout, the descriptions and titles, or the item itself? HOW do these seem like copies? What are the DIFFERENCES?
How common is the subject matter depicted?
Is this a common animal? Did you recently see a special about this on the animal planet that they advertised heavily? Were these lyrics from a popular song? Does National Geographic regularly write about this location? Be honest with yourself. If you know about it, chances are someone else does too.
What is the likelihood that this is a copy?
Is there only one item in this shop that bears a resemblance to one of yours? How well viewed are you really? Are there any other sellers on Etsy and beyond selling items like this? Be honest with yourself here too. Go do some research. If your item is 100% really-truly unique, you may have a case, but if you find that 30,000 other people have thought of this too, maybe you should step back and ask yourself if this person is just one of the 30,000.
There is a reason the phrase "Great minds think alike" is a common one. The real fact of the matter is that this phrase should read, "Human minds think alike," because anyone at any time is capable of striking the same instance of brilliance you did. Whether they really do or not is the question, but it is an almost unanswerable one. Obviously, there will be legitimate moments when someone is copying another person's work, but this simply won't always be the case.
If you're still not convinced, pop over to SouthParkStudios.com and enjoy the episode "The Simpsons Already Did It."
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Images and Inspiration
The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again since it is life.
~William Faulkner
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