Navigating an Etsy Shop

Tried shopping on Etsy yet? (It's pronounced like "Betsy," without the "B!") Etsy is THE PLACE to buy handcrafted online! You can also find supplies for your artwork, as well as vintage articles there. Check it out! Etsy has something for everyone. Navigating, well, they have been working on making it easy. Maybe it is not so intuitive, and you could use a few tips on finding what you want! Let's take a look at some of my shops and I will point out some things on getting around.

This is what a shop looks like. You can click on any of these photos to make them larger.


Scrolling down to the bottom of the page, you might notice there is alot of stuff for sale in this shop....28 pages as of this writing, to be exact, which converts to over 600 items!
Oh my goodness, how do you look at it all? There are a few ways to zero in on what you are looking for. Try checking the shop's sections first. Sections are on the upper left side of the shop. Most people want to know what is on sale first. You can click on the "sale section" link, and it will bring up the sale items.

You can also choose from two different views to look at the list...either the thumbnail view, which gives you relatively large pictures and just a little text, like this:

Or the List view, which gives you smaller photos, but all the title.

To switch between views, use these little symbols on the right side of the page, near the top

Still have too many things to sift through? Try sorting by price. On any page, you can show the lowest priced items first, by clicking on this little sorter.

There are more ways to sort through a shop. Say you have some great aqua thread, and want to make a basket with it, but need a base. You can search my shop for "aqua." Go to the top of the page, and type "aqua" in the search box. You MUST be on the front page of the shop or "shop home."
Type "aqua" in the search box, and make sure the dropdown menu on the left has "this shop" selected. Then hit "go" or just your enter key. The resultant search gives you everything labeled "aqua" in the shop! (You can then sort for lowest price, as I showed you before, also!)
If you want to find bases with cat motifs, or dragonflies, you can sort for them the same way!

To buy on etsy, you will need to register (but it is really easy.) Once you have registered and started buying things, you will want to learn to leave feedback. Feedback is your way of telling how your experience has been with each seller. It is very important to sellers to have positive feedback. To leave feedback, choose "your etsy" from the top of any page.

The left side of "your etsy" is where you find record of your Purchases, feedback, favorite, where you can enter a profile about yourself and upload an avatar, stuff like that.If you choose "Feedback," you will be able to enter feedback about others with whom you have transacted, and see the feedback they have left about you.


I hope this makes it a little easier to find what you want on etsy. Let me know!

I have four shops on etsy.
My bazketmakr shops carries finished baskets and my art cards.
PurpleToedGypsy has woven wearables - like horsehair charms on necklaces.
MakeABasket is a basket supply shop, featuring ceramic bases for coiling and kits.
LizardSkins is a destash shop, it has mostly blank white clothing for dye/paint and vintage items. Visit soon!

Happy Autumn!

The Fall Season has been here for a few weeks now. Are you weaving Autumn baskets?

Wild Mushroom baskets
Wild Mushroom Basket bases and beads (for coiled baskets)


Fall vine baskets for decorating and weddings.






Fall foliage basket bases for coiled baskets

Forest Floor Basketry Bases for Coiled Baskets


Make your own great cornucopia basket from vines, or let me do it for you!



Happy Autumn!

Last Exchange Basket Finally Received: for Janet Bonnell...

Janet Bonnell was supposed to receive a basket from Jessica Parker. Jessica made a lovely basket, titled "Blue Sky, Blue Water." How what a beautiful look, with variegated thread giving a soft suggestion of sky and water.
We have waited and waited for it to reach Janet, but it after 3 weeks, i suppose we will have to call it "lost." So sorry, for both Jessica and Janet. Here are photos of it anyway.


Well, our Summertime Exchange is finally wrapped up! But to make sure Janet actually got a basket, i made an extra one.

Janet received a basket from me, finally! She wrote:
"What a surprise the mailman had for me today. As you all probably know my exchange basket disappeared in our mail system. Pamela was gracious enough to make me a replacement basket. It is a breath taking horsehair freeform titled "Damsel Fly Wave" Pam coiled it around one of her pottery bases with lovely teal seed beads disguising the holes in the base. All of it is stitched together with artfical sinew."
Damselfly Wave has little damselflies (similar to dragonflies, but smaller) on the base at the center.

Wonderful job, everyone! thanks so much for participating!

I am going to take a break from hosting exchanges for awhile. But if anyone else wants to host one, please contact our exchanges coordinator, Lynn Hoyt.
pamela

How to Read an Online Newsletter/PDF File

More and more organizations are going to online newsletter formats. There are lots of advantages to this, the most obvious being saving money, paper, ink, and other resources. Getting a newsletter electronically also means it is delivered faster, and is more easily recalled when needed. There is less trash to dispose of, it never gets lost, and does not have to be filed! But there are more advantages. Electronic newsletters allow instantaneous connection to the web - links and emails become clickable, photos can be examined more closely, all without killing trees! Ready to start receiving your newsletters electronically? Let's see what you need to know...

Some newsletters are delivered by email, but many are in PDF format. PDF stands for "Portable Document Format," and was made to be a universal document exchange medium. This means, no matter what software created the document, once it is converted to PDF, any computer should be able to view, save and print the document - as it is shown. Ever had someone send you something, only to find it would not print, or printed off the page? PDF files are supposed to eliminate that. So let's go through what you have to do!

First, you have to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader program. (I hear groaning...) But the program is FREE and you can download and install it yourself. Just go to http://get.adobe.com/reader/ and click on the yellow button to "download." If you are operating in a different system from Windows XP, you will need to click on the link that says "Different language or operating system?" and you will be assisted in finding the operating system you need. The program should prompt you to install once it is downloaded. Done (do a little dance!)

Once you have installed Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can open and read your newsletter. You CANNOT edit documents or change them in any way with this program. You also cannot create PDF's with this program. To do that, you need to purchase the entire Adobe Acrobat program, and you probably don't need to do that for casual use.

Here is the latest Natural Fibers Group Newsletter, in PDF format. (You can click on any of these photos in my blog to make them bigger!)

To make more room on the screen, more "reading" room, you can get rid of the "stuff" at the top of the screen. Try pushing "F11" at the top of your keyboard. This toggles off and on your "fullscreen" option. here's what it looks like with the "stuff" at the top removed:


Can you see the difference between the two pictures? (It gets rid of some stuff from the bottom, too!) Anyway, you don't have to do that, but sometimes it helps cut down on all the "stuff," and lets you see what you need and what you don't.

To page through the newsletter (or find a page you are looking for,) use the page feature at the top

To find something you know is in the newsletter (a word,) use the "find" feature at the top of the page, i bet you can find it!

Wow, what great photos! Want to see the detail on that thatched roof?

No problem. Just use the ZOOM feature at the top of the page to change the size by percentage...(Or you can hold down control on your keyboard and scroll your mouse button up and down to zoom in and out.) What a difference! (Very cool article, by the way!)

The Natural Fibers Group Newsletter is full of links, and that is one of the best parts! How to take advantage of that????? Just click on the link.

A dialog box pops up, asking if you want to go to the link. Choose "allow" from the box, and the link will open in a separate page - just like that! Same for email addresses!

Say you want to save it to your computer. You can do that! Use the "Save" icon at the top of the page.


If you want to print the pdf,choose the "print" icon from the top of the page....



When your print dialog box pops up, it will look something like this...if it is a little different, that is okay.

What you want to look for is the dropdown box that has the option "fit to printable area," which allows your pdf to fit on the page (just like it says.) Watch your print preview pane to see how your documents looks, and print away!
That's about it! Now you know all you need to get started reading your electronic newsletter in PDF format! Let me know how it goes.

Incidentally, the Natural Fibers Group newsletter is published four times a year, and focuses on natural basketry. It costs $10. Check it out!


pamela

By Special Request: More Dinosaur Sculpture

I received a facebook message requesting i post more of the dinosaur sculpture photos from my trip to the Pickens Museum, and i am happy to do so!I just heard from the Museum Director, Allen Coleman. This piece is called "Velociraptor," the sculptor is William G. (Bill) Jackson from Aiken/North Augusta SC. He is currently represented by iF Art Gallery in Columbia, SC.

And here are more photos...enjoy! Remember you can click on these photos to make them bigger!