It has been some time since I dusted off this blog, but in case you've landed her struggling with your Etsy shop, I thought I would post today.
So many Etsians have given up, they join Etsy only to get frustrated that their items aren't flying off the shelves. It takes time, patience, and determination to create a successful business. There's a bit of difference making a transition from doing what you love craft or art-wise then turning it into a money making entity.
Rome wasn't built in a day and neither was your shop. Maybe you're great at crafts but bad at running an Etsy shop, don't give up! I recently interviewed an Etsy shop owner who used to live in the USA, but now sells on Etsy from France! Naa Ardua of PaperFloDesign makes the world a greener place by selling digital files. She focuses on SVG files. The files are then sold via downloadable art to the customer, and the customer makes things with them. They can reuse the files and make variations of the items. What a green idea.
What's more, the seller offers an outside-of-Etsy online course (which I didn't think was expensive) to teach others how to start an art like this,and do what you love on her own website PaperFloDesigns.com
It's important for sellers to help each other, and keep small business alive. Here's the free podcast which may give you some motivation!
Have you seen Alice Through the Looking Glass? Are you absolutely
mesmerized by the wacky whimsical film?! Invite Lewis Carroll's books'
enchantment and a curious Tim Burton twist into your home and wardrobe with these handmade upcycled creations and retro resurrected Etsy treasures and trinkets inspired by the fanciful movie and legendary tale of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland! Included here are two one-of-a-kind hand-painted upcycled decoupage art pieces by Etsy Recycler's Guild Team Captain Jessica Woody of Eco-Friendly Freckles as well as a set of fabulous vintage lovelies from Team Leaders Cyn Marie of Etsy Shop Retro Chalet and Andrea Scott of Storybook Artifact...along with other vintage and handmade treasures from Etsy Recyclers Guild Team members!
Greenerprinter is an environmentally friendly printing and graphic company who helps companies promote themselves in more eco friendly and sustainable ways. From business cards to printing soft bound books, they have taken major steps in their business to be less harmful to the environment and achieving a multitude of certifications along the way. When you order something, you can rest assured you've done something good and enjoy fair pricing.
Templates help you choose what you need - make your designs come to life!
Greenerprinter prides themselves on using Soy and Vegetable based inks ! By taking initiatives to rule out harmful petroleum based inks, this company showed a a major step in helping the environment. They have their own Recycling Program for unused inks and cartridges and a strict program to control just how much to order and when. Eco Audits keep things running smoothly.
Inside the Greenerprinter building , state of the art equipment.
They use Carbon Neutral Shipping which you can read more about this shipping here. They are "Lean and Clean" in a chem-free environment! Having state of the art equipment helps production run more efficient, and creating less footprint . As mentioned above, they strive for all kinds of certifications including currently they are part of the Green-e Marketplace, Sustainable Green Printing Partnership, have been named a Certified B-Corp, Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody Certification, FSC, and work with CarbonFund.org to name a few.
Hang Tags are a specialty at Greenerprinter.com
It takes extra effort for people to go greener. These efforts started in 1987 and continue advancing today. One would imagine paying extra for such services, but thanks to Greenerprinter having so many happy clients pricing to customers is more than fair, I did my own comparisons.
Don't take my word for it, see for yourself, could you ever imagine getting a digitally printed soft bound full color book 25 copies for under $210? (*excludes shipping, but see below) Just see the template here. Still, this would make even the small business want to utilize their services or even the individual , can you imagine an easy Christmas gift this year - printing recipe books for all your friends and family?
***Their Facebook page and instagram is bustling with free coupon codes, sometimes discounts off orders or free shipping, so please LIKE them on Facebook or follow on Instagram and find coupon codes there: Facebook - Greenerprinter Instagram
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This article was updated 2/2022 due to being broken photo links.
A photo posted by greenerprinter (@greenerprinter) on
note: This was a sponsored post by Greenerprinter, as companies sometimes pay for mentions, but after researching the company the author @iramency was completely thrilled and the ideas her own. I will use this company for future needs.
These gifts are great for any time of year. Upcycling starts with using items and repurposing them into something else. Lisa and Andy from Charlottesville Virginia have found good use for old utensils. They also use old encyclopedias to make pendants and ornaments as well. Who would have thought mismatched
Jessica from Oklahoma takes old cans and makes them into functional art canisters, great for storing your gardening , sewing , or craft supplies. With a pop art look these would make great one of a kind gifts! In her shop you will also find upcycled cassette tape business card holders!
RetroGrandma has been upcycling cool things on Etsy for sometime, including records into functional clocks. This cookbook purse is not only funky but would make a statement for the chef in your life. Imagine the comments you would get. Her items are made with love from Canada.
HodthePods uses old firehose to make these coasters $24.95
Fireeeee!!!! Well, there goes the fireman hose, upcycled into functional art coasters to hold your tasty beverage. A set of four run you $24.95 and have a great look to them. Not all are stenciled but the material makes them look so retro and great for your home! Felted back and great guy gift! Made by Mike from HodthePods a shop out of New Jersey.
How cool is this? Paint scraps that were left over on Rebecca's palette would be scraped into the trash can, or tiny dried remnants otherwise unused, have been affixed to this 12x12 mirror and would look great for the art room! What a way to upcycled, from Riverside, California.
Etsy has a great plethora of upcycled and recycled gifts!
Energy bills can rack up. Many times one is clueless on how to cut costs. Now more than ever we are being victims of telemarketing and automated calls asking you to switch to this provider or that provider in order to save money on your electric bill. It's all so confusing after energy de-regulation and sometimes you find yourself lost in the fine print. Recently, though, there's a solution by ADT , the company who is known to provide consumer security and dates back to 1874 on how to reduce home energy costs .
Implementing their ADT Pulse® service, you can remotely monitor your home from any location, using your Internet-enabled smartphone, tablet or computer. This makes it very efficient to control your home's energy costs, and is on the cutting edge of awesome technology. Wow.
A photo posted by Stella Divina (@astelladivina) on
Stella Divina Coasters - Hand Crafted in the U.S.A.
As we are always on the hunt for upcycle and recycle artists, we just found Stella Divina of Claremont Village, CA. She is creating away gorgeous colorful drink coasters from old tile, cork and labels. Not to mention, she's encouraging people to drink beer and send her labels. Why?
She says, "I make upcycled coasters using recycled tiles that I paint by hand. Each tile has different mixed-media embedded into it, such as craft beer labels, vintage art, wine labels, or photography. I have a Beer Drinking Team so people can peel labels off their bottles and send them to me to recycle them into my coaster, and 25 labels gets anyone a free coaster. Great way to recycle those labels!"
Who would know these were old kitchen and bathroom tiles? Find them here at StellaDivina.com or Etsy shop astelladivina
This coaster by Stella Divina $14.99 and an old citrus crate label. Find it here.
It is true craft beer is a hugely popular item today. Although most people recycle the bottle, the labels are lost forever. Now you can remove the labels and send them to Stella Divina, and get a free coaster!
Nothing like shopping greener and smarter when shopping for baby gear, novelties, decor and health and beauty aids. We've come across these great finds to help you and baby live a more eco friendly life. Above, Fairy of Color prides themselves on making eco teethers - crocheted wooden teething rings. With no removable parts, something to ohhh and ahhh the baby in your life.
The Eco Friendly Organic SoRad Bandanna Bib is only $12.99 here
Shop with So Rad...
If you want to take this a step further, why not try to find bamboo, organic cotton clothing for baby? SoRad offers clothes are made from actual Bamboo in the fabric! Yes, we said clothing from bamboo-- don't as us how, we'll leave that up to the professionals, yet we are gloating over the fact a renewable resource is used in such a wonderful way!
This store, SoRad hails from Canada, but has greened up every part of their store. They ship worldwide. Not only do they make green clothing, they also make chemical free body care products. Not only can you dress baby in soft and eco-conscious clothing but you can powder them up knowing full well all the ingredients don't contain harmful chemicals!
Vegan Baby Powder: No harmful ingredients, worthwhile $15.99 here.
The powder above is Talc free, Paraben free, and does not contain harmful Phthalates or GMO's. What a great idea! Made with Lavender Flowers, Cucumber and Marshmallows, a small sure to please both baby and mommy and daddy. You can keep up with ShopSoRad on Instagram here, or on Facebook as well.
Mason Jar for Baby with BPA free Drink Unit $13.00 at IowaFarmLifeDreams
Back in the day of grandma and grandpa baby bottles were glass, and easy to sterilize. You would never heard of plastic milk bottles. Unfortunately over time chemicals used in plastic baby bottles could contain harm to baby. Why would you stick harmful things in baby's mouth? This idea using a mason jar and cap with BPA free drink unit is an idea for toddlers...at Iowa Farm Life Dreams. Maybe growing up on the farm means mason jars aren't just used for ice tea anymore.
Thanks to the shops above for taking steps to create items that are better for baby.
Calming and uplifting natural bath items are available at Paper Street Soaps
Calm Your Body and Your Mind When buying natural and organic items for your body and mind make sure the actual items are being made with eco friendly processes in mind. Packaging and manufacturing processes should be taken into consideration when shopping to better the environment. These pics we found online and the fact these items are all made in the United States makes for great holiday gift giving!
Energy Balancing Organic tea in Eco Tin made in Santa Fe, New Mexico $15 here on Etsy.
Who doesn't like healthy banana lollipops? A sweet and healthy treat by Sugar Bakers Bakery in Pennsylvania. This set, $18.
Roll On Perfume Oils made from natural components and essential oils, priced at only $9 here.
Paper Street Soaps out of Minnesota makes all their beauty care products by hand including bars of organic soap. They say, "We make bars of cold process soap as well as many other body care products from all-natural and organic materials. We also offer many vegan-friendly items. Items are made by hand in Minnesota from the finest organic ingredients to leave your skin healthy and glowing.
Cold Process Soap has Clove and Cornmeal, and is only $6 here.
So we wait for the sun to appear. All this rain makes for dreary weather. Yawning at work and wishing we were somewhere else. Just like magic, after the rain clears, we wait for the rainbow.
FACT: Did you know, the US U.S. consumes the most global resources. We use 19+ million barrels of oil in a single day. Since 1990, greenhouse gas emissions have risen 11%. These same gases are what cause global warming. We need to make a change now. It's time to use renewable energy sources, such as solar power.
Solar energy provides a renewable source of energy and was first "discovered" or "invented" by Frank Shuman in 1897. Today, many advancements make it not only affordable to have solar energy powering your home, or business. Once debuted at a costly initial investment alternative to monopolized energy companies, it is now easy and affordable to make the switch to solar.
Living "off the grid" is making solar panels more popular than ever, so is easy financing plans where it is affordable that you can convert or add solar power to your life at a fraction of the cost. A big problem is misunderstanding or being overwhelmed with where to start, and most people just don't know what company to select.
According to See.Solar , people switch to solar power every three minutes. Solar City has made it possible to figure out plans in your state and area to help you make the switch easy! What a great way to live green. Watch this video to see what you need to do for solar power.
No garden is complete without plants, tools and cute decorations. First up, we have some antique gardening tools for the taking. Buying vintage means you are using something discarded yet fully functional, doing your part to upcycle and not buy mass produced crap items that will further clog the landfills. Let's face it, if the tools above are still around this means they don't make them like that anymore! These tools above will last you plenty of seasons to come!
Next up, we have a Garden Growdome. This is a must for the eco conscious gardener. The bottom line is before Monsanto, and use of growth chemicals and harmful sprays, people grew their crops and harvested them in a healthy and timely manner. Now, with population spurts and climate issues, Monsanto backed by large box retailers are under fire for teaming up to mass produce items in a hurry. This includes spraying them with harmful chemicals, using fertilizers that are harmful, or contain growth hormones. Long term issues include health problems.
Now you can be corn fed with natural untainted crop by using this udpated Tiberian Grow Dome system . The mere theory dates back to 14AD --- and has been updated to today's gardeners. This way, you can make a climate to safely grow your plants to the max without the use of pesky hormones and unfriendly chemicals. The guide is available for less than the cost of a gallon of weed killer, which you don't need anyhow. Get on the bandwagon herehttp://jessegilbert.com/growdome
Once you get your garden going, add some gnome homes, thrown by hand on Etsy, set of three from Suzanne's Pottery Farm, she'll whip them right off her kiln.
Find these at Smart Seeds: Burlap Windowsill Herb Garden
Herbs drying out or seeding on you too quickly? Plant more mid season. Start them indoor with this tiny windowsill herb garden.
Somewhere in Western Australia, Fox Hill Llamas offers handmade Llama fiber is used to make vessels, homewares and recycled paper (out of poo). Above: These fibre bowls are the cat's meow and could easily hold your favorite plants.
Below: Since we're on the theme of gardening, we can't overlook the bird nesters. These are made from fiber left over from teh processing that would normally become waste. Hand picked and stuffed into these adorable little nesting units, birds will flock around to remove it to build houses.
