Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Etsy Rain SAMPLER


The Sampler is "a super fun marketing & promotional tool for indie businesses. Each month, independent crafters, artists, shops, zines and record labels who run web-based businesses send samples and promotional materials to a contribution pool. All the samples are photographed, posted to the site and then are portioned out, put in little packages and sent off to Sampler Subscribers, other Sampler Contributors and members of the Media all over the world!"

EtsyRAIN, the NW Etsy Street Team just made a donation of over 200 pieces for the June edition of The Sampler.
Check out the shops below who made it all possible:

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

I am learning new stuff....wooohooo!!

So I took a couple of classes last week at The Bead Factory, in Tacoma, WA. The class I took Tuesday was amazingly fun and I met knew friends, too...quite the bonus! The class was Etched Glass Pendant taught by the awesome Carrie Hamm. There was probably about 8 ladies in our class - very low key. I had NEVER soldered before, so I was a little intimidated...oh I know, I was surprised too. Carrie made the class very fun and easy. Within a short while I felt like I had been doing this forever. First Carrie let us pick out two color-printed pieces of paper to put in between our pieces of glass. Then we learned about copper tape, flux and how to use the soldering iron. Once we had our pieces of glass soldered together and the jump ring attached - onto etching glass. We were able to cut out designs out of contact paper, place this on the both sides of the glass...put plenty of the etching paste on the glass...wait 5 minutes, rinse and viola!!

I bought a kit, that had enough to get your started at home. This is kit is made by Simply Swank. There main color is pink, which I think it just makes it more fun!!! The above pendant is courtesy of The Bead Factory website. I will post pictures of my pendants as soon as I take some.
The class I took on Thursday was Basic Soldering and Antiquing taught by Mark Lareau. Well if I thought I was intimitated by the iron - wow they were giving me flame to work with here... This class was awesome. I learned the difference between hard soldering and soft soldering (this is what I learned on Thursday) and the science of metal. I was able to make a pair of earrings (from start to finish - I will post pictures), head pins, soldered jump rings and connected a post to the back of a pair of earrings. The time went by sooo fast for this class. I must have been concentrating to hard...I felt quite accomplished when the class was over. Mark is very well versed in metals and the science behind it - he makes the class very interesting and a lot of fun!

If you are in the Pacific NW area, I would suggest taking a class at The Bead Factory. The classes are reasonably priced, very educational and a lot of fun.

Also, don't miss the 2008 Puget Sound Bead Festival, put on by the The Bead Factory.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Puget Sound Indie Arts - Some of the greatest Artists in WA


Check out this show!

It is this Saturday, perfect for those of us her haven't got the mom's in our lives something...yet...I know we all wait until the last minute!

This show is made up entirely of EtsyRain members, Puget Sound Indie Arts (PSIA).

If you're in the area, come check it out! Get there early and get a goodie bag of GREAT crafts!

If not, check out members of PSIA on Etsy!! :)

Check out the sellers: