LouisianArtisans

Long Time, No See....

2009-01-05T12:45:00.003-06:00

Welcome back to our blog! My apologies for the huge gap in posting. Right after Thanksgiving my computer was infected by a nasty trojan that slowed my p.c. to a snail's pace.

Remember the good old days pre-highspeed DSL? The days of dialup internet connection? Going back even further to the late 80s - remember when the 'fast' modem was 12kbps? Ah, the good old days. And still better than my computer's performance in December.

After fighting Virtumonde (trojan) for the better part of a month, I admitted defeat, wiped my hard drive and restored my p.c. back to it's just-out-of-the-box (2004) state. A hundred or so Windows updates later, I'm back up to speed. I also invested in a second computer, which my household of 4 students sorely needs.

Over the next couple of days, I'll be updating our shop list on the side bar to include our newer members (welcome to the team!).

Next up: watch the portal site where I'll post an invitaion to join the Blog Committee (okay, it's a cry for help, really....)

Here's wishing everyone a happy, successful 2009!

Lisa

Uber Amazing Blog Award

2008-11-21T13:52:00.003-06:00

Sygnet Creations of the EtsyFriends blog nominated us for the Uber Amazing Blog award. (And congrats, EtsyFriends, on your treasury making it to Page 1 on Etsy this morning!)

Here's how the Uber Amazing Blog award works:

Q How is the award determined?
A. The award is presented to blogs that....
1. Inspire you
2. Make you smile and laugh
3. Or maybe give amazing information
4. Are a great read
5. Have an amazing design
6. Or any other reasons you can think of that make them uber amazing! If you receive this award:
To keep the blog love flowing, recipients of this award should do the following:
1. Please put the logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate at least 5 blogs that you feel are Uber Amazing!
3. Let them know that they have received this Uber Amazing award by commenting on their blog.
4. Share the love and link to this post and to the person you received your award
from.

It's going to be so hard to narrow down the amazing blogs on my list to around five. But here I go:

1. Just Something I Made - visually attractive, well written, inspiring artist profiles, and brilliant ideas (check out her post on Getting Clever with Business Cards).

2. A Little Bit of Violette - LouisianArtisan VivaLaViolette's blog. I like the template (violet of course) and photos of her creations (including new baby, Dax, as well as her Etsy items).

3. The Watermelon Tree - by the LArtisan of the same name. Great photos, and a great job of promoting the LouisianArtisans Etsy team!

4. Because I Said So - CheeseandChocolate nominated this blog. It's not an art- or Etsy-related blog, but it is very, very funny. I love the template, too. I'm a new fan.

5. ?????

Since this is a team blog, I thought I'd let YOU nominate a few blogs. Leave a comment with a link to the blogs that inspire you. I'll include the first 3-5 on another post.

Featsy

2008-11-18T17:22:00.006-06:00

I read about an interesting new 3rd party application mentioned on the Etsy forum, called Featsy (Featured on Etsy).

Featsy, introduced on November 4th, allows to type an Etsy ID, press Enter, and it will tell you whether the seller has been featured on Etsy's Front Page or on Page 1 of a Gift Guide.

You can sign up for email alerts if you - or a shop you're interested in - are featured. Featsy also provides statistics on Leaders of the Day, and Leaders of the Week (beginning with the inception of the Featsy site).

If you're interested in checking it out, the URL is: http://www.subsushi.net/featsy/index.html

My take on it: it's fun to check out whether you've been featured, but the statistics are flawed. From their FAQ page:

"Q. How are Gift pages calculated?
A. Here's how it works: if you get onto the first page of 20-50 that's counted as one, as long as your item stays on the first page it wont be counted again. If your item leaves the first page of the gift page, and is than reintroduced too the first page of a gift page and enough time has passed it is added again. "

So one appearance in a gift guide could show up at multiple features if it moves from one page to another.

Also, there's this:

" Q. The front page count and gift count are not adding up?
A. This small bug is persistent because I do not have a separate machine running my database. If i had a separate computer than i would do a full relevant update every 15 minutes, but for efficiency sake I do mini updates every 15 minutes and a full update every 12 hours. if the item you are tracking happens to be one that my stats table misses than the discrepancy could arise. "

In reading the Etsy forum threads about Featsy, some folks are suggesting that it fuels jealousy among those who feel that certain artists are featured much too often.

If you have been featured since November 4th, please test out Featsy and post a comment with your results. If you'd like to read a couple of Etsy forum thread, click here and here.

St. Tammany Meet & Greet

2008-11-14T17:14:00.002-06:00

The St. Tammany group of LousianArtisans held its first Meet & Greet on November 6th at PJ's Coffeehouse in Slidell, LA. We discussed local marketing opportunities, upcoming shows, promotional items, as well as shared our creations.

In the photo, from left to right are the owners of the following Etsy shops: JodieFlowers, Mamaslittlemonkeys, Cheeseandchocolate and LisaRaspino.

Clicking on their shop name below will take you to their Etsy shop. If you click on the photos, it will take you the specific item in their shop. I encourage you visit...great stuff!

JodieFlowers

These adorable appliques/patches measure 5 1/2 by 7 inches and are sewn for durability. They are perfect for kid's t-shirts, denim jackets, jeans, fabric totes, robes...the possibilities are endless!

I'm coveting one of Jodie's colorful spiders made from polymer clay and wire, which can be attached to a window/porch screen or made with a magnet on back. Check this out:

Mamaslittlemonkeys

Mamaslittlemonkeys is a great place to find baby items: clothing, cloth wipes, nursing pillows, bibs and blankets. She made this blanket and Sammy the 6-Legged Octopus set out of the softest minky fabric.

In addition to being an artist with needle and thread, she's also a talented graphic designer. If you're looking for a website banner, avatar or graphic for your social networking site, you can order one through her shop.

The same artist has a second shop:

Fleurdeink
This shop has beautiful silk flower pens for the person who likes to write with flair.

CheeseandChocolate
This shop is a mother/daughter owned shop featuring beautiful, trendy (yet not dated) jewelry, as well as original drawings, art prints, and ACEOs (Artists' Cards, Editions & Originals). Below is her new listed earrings.

The owner of CheeseandChocolate also has a second shop:

WorkingtheStash
WorkingtheStash sells supplies for making jewelry, scrapbooking and stamping. She has a nice selection of Christmas stamps, just in time for your holiday card-making.

LisaRaspino
This is my shop, where I sell handcrafted beaded and embellished chain jewelry. Below is a necklace made with purple glass beads and sterling silver.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I hope you enjoyed the brief introduction to these shops. I encourage you to click the links and get better acquainted!

Also, be sure to let me know of YOUR local Meet & Greets. I'd love to write about them, too!

Bayou Boxes!

2008-11-10T08:31:00.004-06:00

What is a Bayou Box?

The LouisianArtisans team is kicking off the holiday season with promotional "Bayou Boxes." Louisiana Etsians have contributed a variety of promotional items -- including jewelry, kids items and more -- to be included in a series of Bayou Boxes. Which items a buyer receives will be a surprise!

This is the LouisianArtisans team's first big project. All proceeds raised by the Bayou Boxes will go towards Louisiana's coastal restoration – which helps protect Louisiana against hurricane damage. Starting on November 4th, you can purchase your Bayou Box by clicking here:

LArtisans Team Shop on Etsy.com

Our first Bayou Box recently sold and here's what the buyer had to say:

" I received my Bayou Box today and first of all I was very impressed with the packaging of the product! Secondly, everything in my Bayou Box is super cute & I will definitely be ordering from all of the shops listed for the LArtisans Team! My daughter & I fought over who got to keep what! :)Thanks so much for the fast delivery & the wonderful gifts inside!! :) "

Tell your friends about the Bayou Boxes. It's a wonderful way to support Louisiana artists and contribute to a very worthy cause.

Another LArtisan Meet & Greet

2008-10-28T16:07:00.007-05:00

The idea came about during Etsy Chat a week ago Monday. This meet and greet wasn't for a particular local team per se, but rather an open invitation for anyone who wanted to attend. Two LArtisans drove from the west, and two from the east, to meet at the Books-A-Million store in Hammond, LA.

Pictured below are: Tara (TheWatermelonTree), me (LisaRaspino), Nicole (tu2cute) and her lovely model, and Merry (CheeseandChocolate).

We exchanged business cards, tips and ideas - and shared samples of our work. Check these out (click on each photo to go to the Etsy listing):

These are earrings are by Tara of TheWatermelonTree. I love the movement of these earrings. The crystals floating on the teardrop portion and the swinging dangle positively shimmer!

Nicole of tu2cute made these adorable hair clippies. Her daugther wore one that stayed securely in place during the entire meeting. I love the pink and brown colors!

Below are Merry's (CheeseandChocolate) "Cosmic Swirl" earrings. The jet black cube on silver wire are stunning. And check out the coil - these earrings "screw" into pierced ears. Brilliant!

Finally, we have my (LisaRaspino) six-strand necklace featuring aquamarine, apatite, pearls, glass, seed beads and Swarovski crystals.

Conversation flowed for two hours before it was time to head our separate ways. It was a great opportunity to put 'faces' with the names we see on Etsy, in the Portal, on Flickr....

Monroe Area LArtisans Meetup

2008-10-24T00:07:00.008-05:00

Amanda (wildlifer78), Monroe Area Liaison, recently convo'd me with a link to her blog, where she wrote about the LArtisans Team and the first-ever Monroe LArtisans Meetup held on October 12.

Turnout for the event was great: Six of the nine Monroe Area LArtisans chatted, networked, shared information and showed samples of their work. From left to right are: Lori of LYoungStudio, Amanda of ChloeBoutique (Wildlifer78), Andy of ItComesInPhases, Monica of MonicaCrowe, Val of BabySewSweet, and Marina of BayouPrincess.

Photo by Amanda (wildlifer78). Used with permission.

Amanda explains that, "Because we have members from Sterlington, Monroe, West Monroe, Ruston and Columbia, we tried to meet as centralized as possible. The Corner Coffee Cafe housed our first meeting! We plan on moving the meeting spot around to help accommodate members."

The group brought samples of their creations, which included jewelry, children's clothing, and rcolor artwork. Check out Amanda's blog post to views more photos and to read more.

Val (BabySewSweet) said, "I sure had a great time. It was very exiting to meet people who share the love to crafting. I am looking forward to making good friends, share booths at craft shows, and maybe learn something new. I also loved to see what everyone was making, some great stuff."

The group plans to meet again in mid-November (date and location to be determined).

Amanda, you did a great job coordinating this meet and greet, and promoting LArtisans on your blog!

Hello, Portal! Goodbye, Google Group (eventually).

2008-10-13T17:29:00.007-05:00

As I'm sure you've all read in the email from our President (Jessica of AccentEnvy), we are transitioning away from the Google Group site ...

... to a new Portal, http://lartisans.informe.com/portal.html

While anything new has a learning curve, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with all of the features and ease-of-use with the new site.

Says Jess in her email, "Great Features of the New Group:

Organized Forums - Looking for something in particular is not a problem any more. There is a forum for almost everything you may need. If there isn't, there can be.

Chat - Yep. I said chat. There is an area that you can talk to anyone else online at any time.

Portal - The intro section on the Forum gives you the latest details of what's up in the forums.

Committees and Local Groups - Have their own area to use to their advantage.

Private Messages - You can contact anyone in our group without needing their email info or Etsy username.

Mass Email - I can send out mass emails without my host shutting me down for the day.

Ease of Use - Once you become familiar with it. It is much easier and friendlier to use. "

Google Groups won't be eliminated immediately, but please, please do NOT count on it to be your source for important, late-breaking info. Give the new Portal a try...

Once you create a login account, an email will automatically be sent to Jessica, who will then grant you access to the site.

Looking forward to seeing you on the Portal!

Yummy Enough to Eat ...

2008-10-10T15:01:00.003-05:00

Another treasury featuring LouisianArtisans!

Title: Sweet Shoppe

Curator: bobsandbits

Link: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=13951 (Note: treasury expires on Saturday, October 11 at 2:02 p.m., at which time link will become inactive.)

Two Halloween Inspired Treasuries...

2008-10-08T17:17:00.004-05:00

Title: LArtisans Team!
Curator: tiffanyc
Click here to view. Note link expires tonight at 8:47 p.m.

Title: The Colors of Halloween
Curator: tu2cute
Click here to view. Note: link expires Thursday, October 9 at 2:50 p.m.

Great job to the both of you!

A New Treasury

2008-10-07T10:59:00.002-05:00

Summer is slipping away.....

Curator: bobsandbits

Click here to view and comment. Note link expires this evening at 11:02 p.m.

We're Part of Etsy's Blog Ring!

2008-10-02T15:49:00.003-05:00

If you look to the left sidebar, just below our blog followers (hi, everyone!), you'll see the icon for Etsy's blog ring.

If you love art blogs, check it out. Within the icon are arrows on which you can click to view the blog above ours and the blog below it (on the Etsy Team Blog List). Both are very nice blogs, indeed.

The blog ring is another great tool for sharing LouisianArtisans with the Etsy community, and beyond!

Treasuries! Treasuries! Treasuries!

2008-10-01T15:08:00.005-05:00

Come On, Baby, Light My Fire
curator: AccentEnvy
Click here to view - note: link expires Thurs., Oct. 2 at 3:42 a.m.

We All FALL Down
curator: thewatermelontree
Click here to view. Note: link expires Fri., Oct. 3 at 8:57 a.m.

H2O
curator: CheeseandChocolate
Click here to view. Note: link expires on Fri., Oct. 3 at 10:27 a.m.

Great job, everyone!

New Look - LYoungStudio's Banner

2008-09-25T21:21:00.002-05:00

While all of the entries in the team banner/avatar contest were beautiful, creative and really captured the spirit of our team, the winner by popular vote was LYoungStudio. Congratulations and thank you! The new banner looks great up there, doesn't it?

Thank you to all who submitted designs to the contest, and thank you to all who voted!

One Hundred Twenty-Two

2008-09-24T15:54:00.003-05:00

122

Thanks to our membership comittee's hard work in getting word out about LArtisans Team, we have doubled our membership in a single week! Thanks so much, WorkingtheStash (Merry), tu2cute (Nicole), Tiffanyc (Tiffany) and soulkat (Kat) for your hard work - your enthusiasm shows!

To our newest members - all 60+ of you - welcome to our Etsy Team. It may take me a while to personally welcome you in a blog post, but I did add you to our member shop list on the right sidebar.

We hope to see you tonight at 8:30 in our Etsy Chat Room.

And the Winner is.....

2008-09-23T09:07:00.004-05:00

Team Chat: Wednesdays at 8:30 p.m.

Thanks to all of you who took the time to vote.

Welcome New Members!

2008-09-22T21:29:00.000-05:00

TiffanyCdesigns offers affordable hair accessories for preemies, newborns, babies, toddlers, teens and even moms. It's the bold, beautiful blossoms on the headbands and hats that grabbed my attention. Next time you're shopping for the little princess in your life, check out TiffanyCdesigns.

TheBluePetunia (I love the tag line: "Who knew what paper and glue could do!"). This shop features pendants made with scrabble tiles and game chips, journals, notebooks, magnets, pins, tacks, notecards and calling cards (the square are a favorite of mine).

Fashion design graduate Haley opened GrassisGreener, where she sells handcrafted totes, handbags and wallets. She's now adding a line of unique hair accessories and welcomes custom orders.

planetdestiny features one of a kind jewelry, children's clothing and clutches -- all inspired by color, nature, culture, and simplicity. The artist's profile states, "Most of the wood I use are exotic and local scraps from my husband's fine woodworking projects, from hand made classical guitars to heirloom furniture. I cut, sand, and drill wood to my delight." Check out the unique vibe of her shop!

♦ ♦ Last Chance to Vote! Poll closes Monday, Sept. 22nd at 11:59 p.m. central time. See the poll in the right sidebar, subject: Etsy Chat Night. ♦ ♦

♦ ♦ Last Chance to Sign Up for a Committee or Leadership Role! Deadline: Monday, Sept. 22nd at 11:59 p.m. central time. See http://groups.google.com/group/louisianartisans/web/committees-and-beyond?hl=en ♦ ♦

Wow! Welcome New Members!

2008-09-20T20:07:00.000-05:00

Word is really getting out! Please join me in welcoming our newest members:

Trisha's interests are varied and it shows in her beautiful shop, DesignsByTrisha. Her well-organized items include an eclectic mix of jewelry, vintage lace, fabric, paper goods (including notecards, tags, bookmarks), scrapbooking materials, hair accessories, and a lot of destash goodies.

Trisha also operates Etsy shop planetpolymer where she sells handcrafted polymer beads, jewelry, hair accessories, as well as polymer push molds.

AdorableMeBoutique features handmade clothing, specializing in custom boutique pillowcase and A-line dresses. Only the finest quality designer fabrics and ribbons are used to create traditional clothing with a modern edge.

howlinhounds is a canine-lovers delight, featuring handcrafted snoods, coats, bandanas visors, placemats and treat bags -- all for man's best friend. And yes, there are some items for humans too. Be sure the read the shop profile to learn more about "shop assistants" Jingle and Louise.

....And that's not all!

We have even more new members to welcome within the next couple of days. Stay tuned.

♦ ♦ Don't forget to Vote! Etsy Chat Poll closes at 11:59pm central time on Monday (see sidebar at right) ♦ ♦

Blog Feature: "Follow This Blog"

2008-09-19T08:03:00.000-05:00

<-------- Please look at the left sidebar...down a little...just under the 'welcome' message.

See that nifty feature? You can now Follow Our Blog. Updates will automatically be posted in your blogger dashboard. Simply click the hyperlink in the sidebar that says Follow and choose whether you wish to follow publicly or anonymously (I hope you'll choose public - we'd love to know who's reading!)

If there are other blogs you follow that do not have the 'Follow Me' widget, you can add them from your blogger dashboard after you sign in. Here's info on how to do that: What is Following?

Thank you, mamaslittlemonkeys, for reminding me to add this great feature!

POLL: Etsy Team Chat

2008-09-18T14:03:00.009-05:00

The LousianArtisans Team has been meeting each Wednesday evening at 8:30 p.m. in our own private Esty Chat Room. We're usually there for at least a couple of hours and members come and go as their schedules permit. It's fun and it's informative.

However, we want to hear from you whether Wednesday is a good night for our weekly chats or whether a different night would work better.

Please take a moment to complete the online poll on the right side bar (just above the slide show).

Poll closes 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 22 (Central Time).

Thanks for your participation!

Treasuries, Treasuries, Treasuries!

2008-09-16T11:19:00.006-05:00

LouisianArtisans have been featured in three recent treasuries. Check them out but clicking the link (and please leave the curator a comment on the treasury page). The links will expire soon, but below are screenshots of each.

1. BNR - curator: tu2cute. Click here to view. Note this treasury expires Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 4:53 pm.

2. Singing the Blues - curator: LisaRaspino. Click here to view. This link expires Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 2:07 am.

3. hmmm? - curator: tu2cute. Click here to view. Please note that this link expires on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 4:52 am.

Welcome New Member!

2008-09-15T14:08:00.003-05:00

Please welcome our two newest members (three shops!):

wildlifer78 operates Chloe Boutique. She creates one of a kind artisan jewelry, featuring a variety of gemstones, pearls, Swarovski crystals, vintage beads, and artist lampwork glass and polymer clay beads.

Our other new member operates two Etsy shops:

mamaslittlemonkeys featuring baby apparel, blankets, homemade cloth wipes (for all you cloth diapering mamas out there) and more! This shop will be expanding to include items for older children, the home and bath items.
fleurdeink features flower pens for when an ordinary ballpoint just won't do. She sells single flower pens, as well as bouquets of flower pens.

Welcome to our LouisianArtisans Team!

Welcome New Member!

2008-09-14T11:06:00.002-05:00

Hollyb225 - this jewelry shop is dedicated to fans of the LSU Tigers and the Southern Jaguars. Check it out!

Check Out These Treasuries!

2008-09-13T21:22:00.004-05:00

Propercandy created a treasury, aptly named "I WANNA TREASURY!!!!" to highlight the work of LArtisans. Click here to view (please note the treasury expires Monday, Sept. 15 at 6:49 am). Below is a screen shot:

tu2cute created a treasury called "lalalalala" (almost all featured items are by LArtisan team members). Click here to view. Please note the link expires Sunday, Sept. 14 at 9:59 am. I've captured a screen shot of it:

Great job promoting the LouisianArtisans!

Welcome New Members!

2008-09-12T18:25:00.002-05:00

We now have fifty - yes, 50 - member shops!

Say 'hello' to our newest:

WorkingtheStash sells jewelry supplies, scrapbooking supplies and stamping supplies. I so relate to her profile in which shop owner Merry writes: "I also have a "problem" with buying supplies before I need them."
CheeseandChocolate is the shop run by the Merry and her daughter, Robyn. This shop features Merry's handcrafted jewelry, and Robyn's original art, prints and art cards.

Both shops feature their animal-muses and are worth checking out!

Team Website - Coming Soon!

2008-09-11T23:12:00.003-05:00

We've reserved the domain name: www.LouisianArtisans.com (thanks to Jess aka AccentEnvy). Nothing is posted yet, but expect great things!

Lisa

Welcome New Members!

2008-09-09T11:03:00.004-05:00

Welcome to our three newest members:

outlandishthreads is a two person team of costumer designers, specializing in corsets, wench sets, and Royal Faire garb. They welcome custom requests.
marymarmee runs MJ's ART featuring handcrafted jewelry & painted art.
VivaLaViolette specializes in personal cards, invitations, candles and more.

Their shops have been added to the link list, so be sure to check out their wonderful items.

Treasury Screenshots

2008-09-08T09:52:00.000-05:00

In case you missed the recent treasuries featuring our LArtisans Team, here are some screenshots:

Lemon Yellow:

Darker:

LArtisans Team is Ready for Fall:

Rainbow by LArtisans:

Green with Envy:

Gustav

2008-09-05T18:01:00.002-05:00

I hope you'll check in at the LouisianArtisans Google Group and let us know how you're doing. My thoughts and prayers are with all Louisiana Artisans and residents affected by Hurricane Gustav (which seems like pretty much the entire state, some more than others, obviously).

Lisa

Welcome New Members!

2008-08-30T08:17:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to welcome our newest members. They've been added to our shop link list to the right. Below is a brief description of their shop, inlcuding links.

CTStudios - hers is quite the eclectic shop. All of the items are beautiful, but her mosaics are among my favorites. When you visit her shop, check out Starman.

dirtydishes - the tag line "the store for things I won't show to my mother" made me smile. Her "Put On Your Big Girl Panties and Deal With It" mug is a favorite of mine.

We also have a new member who has several etsy shops, each with its own unique theme:

bayoubabe - stealing from her shop announcement, she features "whimsical figurative art." Solace Original Nude is especially lovely.

crookedtailcats - This shop just 'pops' with color for the feline lover. Precious the Crookedtail Cat caught my eye first.

greyhounddawgs - I used to have a greyhound so this shop really "speaks" to me. Homage Greyhound Print is beautiful.

roseheaven - This shop features a mother-daughter team creating mostly one of a kind works of art (their profile indicates that they'll be including prints). Lovely spiritual pieces. I especially like Midnight Cross.

Welcome to the LouisianArtisans Team!

Treasuries! .... and More Treasuries!

2008-08-29T16:07:00.003-05:00

Thanks to our LArtisans Etsy Team, there are *FIVE* active treasuries featuring LousianArtisan members:

Lemon Yellow - curator: tu2cute. Fifty percent of the items featured are by team members. Click here to view. Please note that the link will expire at 12:37 pm on August 31.
Green with Envy - curator: tu2cute. All LouisianArtisan items. Click here to view. This link will expire at 7:48 pm on August 31.
LArtisans Team is Ready for Fall - curator: AccentEnvy. Click here to view. This link will expire at 6:36 am on Sept. 1.
Darker - curator: tu2cute. Click here to view. This link will expire at 3:34 am on Sept. 1.
Rainbow by LArtisans - curator: LisaRaspino. Click here to view. This link will expire at 8:22 pm on August 31.

Later I will post screenshots of these treasuries.

Way to promote the team, tu2cute and AccentEnvy!

Last Night's Etsy Chat - A Recap

2008-08-28T14:37:00.004-05:00

Turnout was small, but it was a lively bunch. A couple of the points discussed include:

Google Group is our primary mode of communication.

Although the other networking sites (IndiePublic, MySpace, WeLoveEtsy, etc.) have message boards, we agree that the Google Group is our primary mode of communication among members. By all means, feel free to post of the other message boards, but if you have an official question about our group - or for our group - be sure to post it on Google groups. Revelant info will also be posted to our blog, but it's not as up-to-date.

AccentEnvy updated the committee list on Google Group to include the ideal number per committee.

She will post a deadline for signing up.

Should we invite Louisiana buyers to join our group, or perhaps a sub-group? If so, what access will they have to our Team networking sites?

Just an idea that's being tossed around. I'm sure you'll see more about this on the Google group page.

For those of you who attended last night's chat, thank you - it was great getting to know you. I hope everyone will mark their calendars for Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. for our next scheduled chat.

Etsy Treasury by tu2cute!

2008-08-27T15:10:00.003-05:00

Did you see that LArtisans Team has a Treasury! Click here to be linked to it. It expires August 29 at 9:47 p.m., so be sure to check it out before then. Also, leave a comment on the treasury.

tu2cute is the curator and she did a great job putting it together!

AccentEnvy posted the following on our Google Group page (click here to read her post in its entirety):

"For now, if you create a treasury with 25% or more of LArtisans Team Members, post it on google group. Hopefully, all members will support and click pics and comment. Although this doesn't guarantee front page, it can move you up in the treasury, where you will be better noticed. "

New Blog Feature - Links to Our Etsy Shops

2008-08-25T14:35:00.004-05:00

If you'll look to the right sidebar, you'll see links to 39 team members' Etsy shops. I took these from the following link: LArtisansTeam's Favorites on Etsy. I'll check that link regularly so I can add new members to our blog list.

Right now, the list is in alphabetical order. I'll occasionally switch it up to reverse alpha, and I hope random order, from time to time. This way the last-but-certainly-not-least will sometimes appear at the top of the heap.

Please do me a favor: Click on your name to the right and be sure it links to your shop. If it does not, either comment here on the blog or convo me on Etsy and I'll fix it.

LisaRaspino

New Blog Feature - Where Else We Can Be Found

2008-08-24T00:19:00.004-05:00

On the left sidebar, I've include "where else we can be found" and provided links to Flickr, IndiePublic, Google Groups, etc. I thought this might be a nice way to keep it all together in case someone misses something. If we create team pages on other venues, I'll add the links.

Also, I'll contact AccentEnvy soon for a membership roster so I can add links to your Etsy shops to the right sidebar. If you haven't formally joined the LouisianArtisans Etsy Team (tag: LArtisans Team), please convo AccentEnvy via Etsy. We want to be sure to include you!

LisaRaspino

Welcome!

2008-08-21T20:45:00.007-05:00

Welcome to the newly formed LouisianArtisans Etsy Team (tag: LArtisans Team)!

A mere 10 days have passed since AccentEnvy sent out a convo inviting a few of us Louisiana-based Etsy sellers to meet in an Etsy chat room and discuss setting up a Louisiana Team.

Since that fateful convo on August 11th, here's what the team has accomplished:

Team Name: LouisianArtisans Etsy Team. If you're not yet a member of our team, but would like to join, send a convo to AccentEnvy - she's our group leader.

Etsy Tag: LArtisans Team. If you're a team member, please consider editing your listings to include this team tag. It will help other members find you easily when putting together a Treasury.

Google Group: LouisianArtisans, by invitation. If you're not a member of the group, contact AccentEnvy so she can add you.

Flickr Group: LouisianArtisans. Again, be sure AccentEnvy has your Flickr ID so she can add you to the group. If you're not familiar with Flickr, click here to learn more.

IndiePublic: LouisanArtisans, by invitation. If you're not familiar with this site, click here to learn more about IndiePublic in general, and click here to see the team page.

MySpace: MySpace.com/louisianartisansetsyteam.

Blog: LouisianArtisans.blogspot.com (not case-sensitive).

Etsy Chats: Wednesday nights at 8:30 p.m. We're having a great time getting to know one another.

A note about this blog:

We plan to promote our Etsy shops via links and slideshows, feature interviews with our members, applaud our accomplishments, discuss Etsy, share marketing tips, and identify local venues in which we can promote our products.

This blog is still in its experimental stage, so don't be surprised if you stop by one day only to discover it has a completely different look. I do plan to jazz up the banner.

I'd love to hear your ideas, too. Please leave a comment on this blog (or convo me).

Lisa