Artmixter...The Etsy Shop

Etsy is an online shopping site, where everything for sale is hand made. It's a friendly community of sellers and buyers. I sell art of all varieties, from encaustics (paintings with wax) to textiles, little to large, soft to spiky, dolls to ACEOs. My textiles are usually quilts to hang on the wall, from the frivolous to the serious, all colourful. And I sell hand made fabric, just in case you would like to fuel your creativity!

My shop has been open for oh, three months now! I always wanted to sell my work, but never had the confidence. Now, I feel much better about my work, as people have shown on etsy that they like the work by buying it, or by bookmarking it (called 'hearting' in Etsyspeak). I suffer from clinical depression, so it's really important to me that I get that positive feedback, especially on days when things aren't going quite so well as usual.

UPDATE :
That was nine months ago... now, I've been on Etsy for a full year! I've made over ninety transactions, sales and trades, have met a lot of lovely people and have learned a lot about selling on the internet. And I've opened another shop, http://purelypainting.etsy.com, where you can find my paintings for sale. I opened that one in December, and sold my first painting five minutes after opening the shop and listing for the first time. That was quite a surprise! But best of all, I've produced an Ebook, Lovely Lutradur, with Dijanne Cevaal. It, too, is available from my Etsy blog, and the next book is already underway.

Would I recommend Etsy to anyone else? Oh, yes, I would. I have become a lot more confident, and have my work in a local gallery, as well as taking part in several exhibitions in East Anglia (UK) this year. And I have one or two projects up my sleeve for next year, too!

I'm part of several groups or 'street teams' on etsy, including BBEST, which is for those of us who are over forty! If you're a seller on etsy and fit the criteria (check out the teams page for more info), do come and sign up...we're a friendly bunch altogether! You can meet us on the 'teams' section on the etsy forums page...there's usually someone around talking on the boomers thread, which always has BBEST in the title.