Are you a crafty mom?

If you are a crafty mom, I have the perfect contest for you.  Parents magazine is going to feature one winner in a future issue of their magazine & that person plus 3 runners-up will with prizes from Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft.  I know that you get most of your supplies from members of ESST(Etsy Supply Street Team), but this would be great for those items that you can't find on-line.

In order to enter the competition you need to upload a photo & instructions for a unique craft that you can make with kids by August 9, 2010.  The link for the contest rules & instructions are at http://www.parents.com/photos/photo-contests-1/craftiest-mom-contest/   Good luck! 

By the way, Etsy is always a great place to get craft ideas.  Click the supplies section & enter Team ESST in the search field (in the upper right hand of the screen) and browse the supplies that are available.  Or search the handmade section to see what amazing creative items are for sell.   

Treasuries that Treasure Evarose1900

Oh my, I am feeling treasured.  Several treasuries have included beads from Evarose1900.  What an honor.  You know that I am the kind of gal that reads her feedback when she is feeling down.  Yeah, I am that shallow.  Treasuries are great - sometimes I feel like they are little creative energy packs.  You look at a collection of often times very diverse items that someone has grouped in a theme & poof there goes your mind coming up with your own creative idea.  Other times I just like admiring the colors & textures - an art exhibit without having to leave my computer.  Ahh.  See, I am easy to please.

I still haven't figured out how to include a link on this blog.  It is just one of the many things that I need to figure out this summer - if anyone wants to come help me with my technical issues, let me know.  In the meantime, here is a list of some of the treasuries that my beads have been in.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c1d2d97b6136d912d7427ba/create-with-vintage-style-team-esst

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c1db017bd2f8eef78772468/summer-sun-summer-sky

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c21221cbad18eefbff7de23/coooool-blue-and-lime#4c224ee1c0116d919a1ebffd

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bed71ec58976d91ea88f5d3/supplies-are-a-girls-best-friend

Red, White & Blue & 700 too!

Wow!  Evarose1900 celebrated its 700th sale on Etsy this weekend, which made both me & the lucky customer who got a special surprise with her order very happy.  I wonder how quickly it will take to get to 800. 

Evarose1900 is featured in another great slideshow created by Etsy Supply Street Team member Karen of Runswithsissors.   The link is:
http://teamesst.blogspot.com/2010/05/red-white-and-blue.html   

Enjoy the great summer weather like I do - take your favorite bead project to the pool or park with you.  It is a great conversation starter & you'll have fun!  I've met some great people when they've come over & asked what I was working on. 

ESST Team Member - gemaliciousbeads

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.gemaliciousbeads.etsy.com. Specializing in gemstones this is another mother/daughter run shop...well actually grandmother/mother. Teri & Amber live in my neck of the woods - Cincy & Indy. I wouldn't be surprised if our paths have crossed & we just didn't know it.


They say that they offer 'the most delicious, mouthwatering stones you could ask for at prices that are easy to swallow', which explains their name. I love it! They have a couple of special offers that are explained in their shop announcements, so be sure to read them. My little gem's birthday is in June, so I might need to take advantage of the June birthstones offer. Also be sure to check out Ambersjewelry, where Amber sells pieces made with these great gems.

ESST Team Member - beadtopiavintage

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.beadtopiavintage.etsy.com. And I have to be honest. I have been to beadtopiavintage before. Often. I check it out to see what she has, how much she is charging for it & for description inspiration. There are a couple of shops that I do this with. My best friend & I were just talking about this yesterday. We both regularly look at other shops. Sometimes we will find something totally 'wrong' & frankly learn from someone else's mistake. More often we are getting inspiration & comparing selection & pricing.



There is a reason that Beadtopiavintage has over 5500 positive feed-backs. From what I have seen she accurately describes & realistically prices a wide assortment of vintage items. Of course I would prefer you to buy beads from me or my best friend (Jahershberger) but if you don't see what you are looking for from one of us, please check out Beadtopiavintage.

A P P R E C I A T I O N - Treasury by Kimonos

My dark blue puzzle beads were included in this great treasury by Kimonos.  The theme is Appreciation.  It is great to be appreciated.  Thanks, Kim

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bf349e54d168eef90523bea/a-p-p-r-e-c-i-a-t-i-o-n#4bf355644d168eefe7d03cea

ESST Team Member - KIMONOS

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.KIMONOS.etsy.com. She is in the home decorating business and loves mixing unusual materials and accessories to create soothing, inviting spaces. She offers feathers because they are so wonderful and natural. Depending on how they are used, feathers can either make a piece more sophisticated or more playful - sometimes both at the same time. I love them! Died, natural, goose, peacock, turkey, ostrich, coque - KIMONOS has them all. The color selection is awesome too. I truly enjoyed my visit.

ESST Team Member - Craftbusplus

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.Craftbusplus.etsy.com. Like me this mom sold on eBay for years before moving to Etsy because of its great reputation. Located in beautiful Mount Airy Maryland - Craftbusplus is a 'paper crafters paradise'. You can find stamps, die cuts, embellishments, stencils & even high quality cards & envelopes made with 100% post post-consumer waste and printed with soy ink. If you enjoy paper crafts, you will want to stop by Craftbusplus.

ESST Team Member - SuppliesbyAyca

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.SuppliesbyAyca.etsy.com. Ayca is a mom living in Istanbul, Turkey - the gateway between Europe & Asia. In this shop she offers hand crochet items - roses, wild flowers, daisies & butterflies made out of a shiny kind of fuzzy yarn. They could add a touch of whimsy to so many projects, even jewelry. Be sure to check out the earrings she has. I'm sure that she could make them in any color that you wanted - or maybe it would be more fun to get some of the flowers & design your own.

Be sure to click on Ayca's other Etsy shop. In it she has some great hand knit & crochet pieces. As I told someone that called me while I was browsing they are adventurous without being over the top. I think that they look very European, but wouldn't look out of place in my Midwest neighborhood.

ESST Team Member - ArtfulMosaicSupplies

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.ArtfulMosaicSupplies.etsy.com where you can find everything related to mosaic art from handmade tiles & MDF bases to grout to finished pieces. Located in New Mexico this 6 year old shop is the brain child of an artist who has a MFA in both ceramics and painting.

ESST Team Member - leslietsy

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.leslietsy.etsy.com where you can find a very wide assortment of items for your beading & mixed media projects. I know that this is a busy weekend for many of you - especially those of you in the US were it is Mother's Day weekend, but try to find the time to check out lesliesty.

ESST Team Member - Beadbrats

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.beadbrats.etsy.com where Marie has a great selection of vintage beads. Of course, I would prefer you buy from me, but let's be honest here - I have what I have (well and tons more beads that I need to do something with). I would rather see you buy a bead that you love from someone like Marie, who loves vintage beads than someone that doesn't really 'get' vintage beads.

'Get vintage beads?' you ask. OK, brace yourself here comes one of my vents. Vintage means old, generally 50-100 years old. I go crazy when I see vendors selling vintage beads and vintage style beads. Vintage style beads are new beads that are made to look old - which is fine if that is what you are looking for. But generally you should not be paying vintage prices for vintage style.

In my mind, vintage beads are little treasures. Mine come from long ago & far away. They have spent decades in warehouses, factories &/or shops just waiting for me to find them. Sometimes I will find a bunch of a particular bead several places. Other times I will find a hand full & never see that type again. My rule for vintage beads is if you love it because you may never see another again. Have I bought beads & found them somewhere else sure, sometimes even for much cheaper than I paid. But the beads that haunt me are the ones that I either didn't buy or didn't buy more of.

Go check out Marie's great vintage beads & add her as a favorite - I did long ago.

ESST Team Member - LAJewelryDesigns

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.LAJewelryDesigns.etsy.com - this could be a dangerous stop for me - I love lampwork & Lea makes some really nice lampwork. I especially love her boro bead that she made directly on an old skeleton key. Also, she has some vinyl tubing that you can put inside a wobbling bead - definitely sounds like something worth trying.

Lea is a Self Representing Artist (SRA) & a member of the ISGB (International Society of Glass Beadmakers), the Fire Divas, LEST (Lampwork Ect Street Team) & ESST. All of her beads are made by her in her studio in New York.

ESST Team Member - doodlesmosaictiles

The next stop on my Etsy Supply Street Team tour is doodlesmosaictiles - Carolyn Norris shares her passion for bold, bright colors via her hand painted tiles & creative mosaics. I have visited Doodlemosaictiles before & every time I find myself smiling. Don't think that mosaics are the only use for these tiles - you know we can do better than that. Heck, I'm thinking it would be great to simply put a magnet on the back of some of them. Let me know if you come up with a great use for these tiles or any of the great supplies from our tour.

ESST Team Member - mountainshadowdesign

The next stop on my Etsy Supply Street Team tour is mountainshadowdesign - which has a wide variety of beads & beading supplies. Like Evarose1900 is run by a busy mom. I wonder how many Esty shops are mom run, I bet quite a few. Mountainshadowdesign is located in Boulder, Colorado which is one of the few places that my family would consider relocating to. In March we had a couple of weeks where my husband was without a job & we agreed that we would try our best to stay in Ohio (with our family), but if we had to move Colorado would be the place we'd want to go. My kids still talk about the tour we took of Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory in Boulder. They want to go back there & to Stephany's Chocolates in Denver.

ESST Team Member - suhafuha

The next stop on my Etsy Supply Street Team tour is suhafuha. Browsing in this shop made me wish I was more crafty or could at least sew. There are great trims and laces that I KNOW Samantha & Rebecca (my daughters American Girl Dolls) would love - wouldn't it be great to make matching outfits for them? I saw some trim that would be great for hats or purses - I love felted purses & hats.

Lace, pompoms, flowers, even rhinestones - suhafuha has it all when it comes to trim.

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - CarDonCreativeDesign

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.CarDonCreativeDesign.etsy.com. CarDonCreativeDesign has a very wide selection of all kinds of supplies for jewerly making & mixed media art -everything from instruction books to findings to gems. I love the variety. Also I like how Carla & Donna are a mother-daughter combo that have been working together since 2005 & have been on Etsy since 2007.

Seeing all of the great items in Carla & Donna's shops makes me think about something I heard recently about how you can keep your mind healthy as you age. One scientist said that it is important to use your mind for something that is difficult regularly. She mentioned that crossword puzzles & sudoku are great, but the important thing is recall & problem solving. Well - I HATE crossword puzzles and sudoku. But I started thinking and I have decided that crafting counts as a anti-aging brain exercise.

Stay with me here... If you want to create something crafty you are solving a problem. Most crafts involve some memory and math skills. And if you are anything like me, when you get about 75% done with the craft you will have a whole new set of problems to solve. So if you want to stay mentally fit pick up a craft - preferably something that you haven't done in a while.

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - Evarose1900

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.evarose1900.etsy.com - me! Evarose1900 offers a wide assortment of vintage beads, most of which are Lucite/plastic/acrylic. I have tons of bead that are just waiting to be added to my shop & try to add items regularly.

Here is the story of the name Evarose1900:

Eva was my great grandmother & due to age & location when I was little I was the only great-grandchild lived near her. I loved spending time with her. Eva grew up on a farm in Indiana & married a man who became a teacher. They moved to Ohio. Her husband died young, but Eva saw one of his students become the first man on the moon & my best birthday party ever (Neil Armstrong's homecoming parade in Wapak was on my 7th birthday). Eva was a kind church lady with a strong can-do spirit. Until shortly before her death (in her mid 80's) she was 'helping the old folks' in town, mostly making food & driving them to the store and church. When I was tiny she was the best smelling thing I could think of & I never left her house hungry or sad.

Rose was my maternal grandmother's middle name. Loretta Rose Link, what a lovely name. We seriously considered giving our daughter the middle name Rose, but decided that since her first name was from her fathers paternal grandmother - her middle name should be from my paternal grandmother. Like Eva, Loretta was a church going lady - but totally different. While Eva's family name was (and still is) listed as a founding member of the church & there is a hall named for Eva & her husband - Loretta quietly took her 7 children to the local catholic church & raised them the best she knew how. Loretta's house always seemed to be full of people (usually grandchildren) & Saturday night mass was my only time alone with her. Many years I asked for one of her German chocolate cakes for my birthday & she taught me the wonders of apple pie for breakfast. She was strong, but sweet.

Both Eva & Loretta Rose got to live through exciting times - the 20th century...the 1900's. I like to think that my beads & the finished art that they become in the hand's of people like you, represent the strong feminine ever changing style of Eva, Loretta Rose and the 1900's.

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - JemmDee

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.JemmDee.etsy.com - JemmDee a unique selection of mosaic tiles cut from vintage and modern china, stained glass tiles, MDF mosaic & stained glass forms.

Every summer I think about collecting the kids & making some mosaics & never do. Maybe this will be the summer that we actually do it. Or maybe I will have a mom's craft night & we could try this. I think that could be an excellent idea - invite a few girlfriends over & try a new craft together. Do it outside & provide snacks, ice tea, & margaritas - don't start the Margarita's too early or the craft won't get done!

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - NKPbeads

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.nkpbeads.etsy.com/ - Natalie Pappas is a potter that creates wonderful ceramic art beads. She uses a wide variety of glaze combinations, patterns, textures, and painting techniques. In her profile she mentions how even the weather can affect her end result. Well, if you know me you know that I love the randomness that we often find in the world & that different often means 'super special' to me.

Natalie has another Etsy shop were she sells her pottery. Along with being a member of ESST, Natalie belongs to the Etsy group with the coolest name that I have heard in a long time - Etsy Mud Team (EMT). I have always wanted to try pottery & if the possibility of joining EMT doesn't motivate me, I don't know what will.

Etsy Supply Street Team Member - LaCotillon

The next stop on our Etsy Supply Street Team tour is http://www.LeCotillon.etsy.com LeCotillon has a great selection of jewelry supplies - very thing from findings, tools, chains & all kinds of beads. They even have some Semi-Precious stones. I think that it is interesting that the mother/daughter combination of Jocelyne & Daphne are able to run this shop together while living in different cities.

Etsy Supply Street Team Member EviesToolEmporium

The Etsy Supply Street Team, which I am a proud member of, is highlighting some of our members for the next month. I am so excited because it gives me a time-line to look at some awesome team members. The first shop is EviesToolEmporium.etsy.com

Wow! What a great selection of tool's! If you need tools for jewelry making, stamping or other hobbies check Evies out. Also, be sure to look at her profile - she's got a bunch of great tutorials that you can look at. I love buying from vendors that are willing to go the extra step of being helpful.

Evarose1900 Beads Featured in a Slideshow

My wonderful blue rose beads were included in the Etsy Supply Street Team's Easter Slideshow. This is a wonderful slideshow with some very interesting items. I am always very impressed with the slideshows that Karen puts together, but I think that this one is especially nice.

By the way, be sure to turn your sound on when you watch these slideshows. Karen always picks fun music to accompany them & this time she used the traditional German tune known as the "Chicken Dance"...I'll betcha that it has another name but not to our family.

Over 450 listings on Etsy!

Wow! I just noticed that I now have over 450 items in my Etsy shop! Some of these are repeats, but still that is a lot of beads. And yet it is only a small fraction of my collection. I am going to work at getting more of my beads into my shop.



I've made great progress at moving beads from eBay to Etsy - I am hoping to finish with this project by the end of the week. While working on the transfer, I have found some beads that I thought I had sold out of but still have a few of. It is funny to see my reaction when I find them - you'd think I had ran into an old friend. If you are into beads like I am you probably understand.



I have to go & see if I can get to 500!

March Madness

After much thought I have decided to close my eBay shop at least temporarily. I am going to keep my account open, just not my store. I am instead going to concentrate on selling via my Etsy shop and getting my beads more organized. I want to close by the end of March - when eBay changes the fees/rules for sellers yet again. So now I am in the mad rush to get everything out of the eBay store & into my Etsy shop. While I have been doing this I have found beads that I frankly had no idea I still had. It's funny because I find myself falling in love with beads I've had for years all over again.

ESST Semi Annual Sale is this weekend (2/26-28)

This coming weekend (Feb 26-28) the Etsy Supply Street Team (ESST) will be having our semi annual sale. Many of the wonderful vendors will be having all kinds of great offers. You can check the information on our team blog - http://teamesst.blogspot.com or enter ESST on the search line (on Etsy).

For this event EVAROSE1900 has FREE shipping & handling on orders $25 or greater. As always, I am happy to combine orders between Etsy & eBay.