How-Tuesday: Custom Tea Blends

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Photo by Briar Winters

Story by julieincharge

Published on Dec 18, 2012 in Make

Tea for two or two for tea? In this week’s How-Tuesday, Briar Winters from Marble & Milkweed shares tea wisdom and tips for planning a get-together to make gift-ready custom tea blends.

This festive gathering will help you cross a few gifting to-dos off your list, while providing a rejuvenating escape from the usual December madness. The combination of good company and delicious sips will revive your holiday spirits.

Shall we commence our tea party?

Set the mood. Holiday music can be lovely, indeed, but even by the first week of December, I tend feel a bit over-exposed to it while going about my daily rounds. Do as you wish here, of course, but I like to choose an eclectic playlist that befits a festive respite from the hustle and bustle.

Gather your materials:
•    Teas and spices
•    Blending bowls, spoons, mortar and pestle
•    Brewing equipment (teapots, paper tea bags, tea strainers, teacups)
•    Winter fruits, nuts, and chocolate for snacking (or have your guests bring their favorites!)
•    Packing materials (bags, jars, tags, twine)

Decide which base teas you’d like to provide for your guests’ blending pleasure.

Black tea flavor pairings

Assam (a black tea from India) lends itself well to chai and other spicy, robust blends.

Green tea flavor pairings

A toasty Chinese green tea like Dragonwell is delicious with a few jasmine green tea leaves or cacao nibs tossed in, while Japanese sencha (a grassier, greener green tea) loves a dash of matcha powder and mint or citrus peel.

Rooibos flavor pairings

Red tea, or Rooibos, is not a true tea in that it doesn’t come from the tea plant, camellia sinensis. It is caffeine free (perfect for sipping in the bathtub before bed!) and has a rich and honeyed flavor. It’s just perfect with exotic chai spices, or with peppermint and cacao for a soothing dessert tea.

Here is a little chart with a few flavor-pairing suggestions to get you started:

Assam	Green tea	Rooibos
ceylon cinnamon	winter citrus zest: meyer lemon, blood orange, tangerine	cacao nibs
cardamom	fennel seeds	saffron
ginger, dried or candied	mint	shredded coconut
peppercorns: black, pink, long peppercorns or grains of paradise	licorice	golden raisins
rose petals	lemongrass	rose petals
vanilla beans	cacao nibs	ginger
dried berries	candied ginger	peppermint
cacao nibs	matcha

Find a spot to lay all your ingredients out, and if you have small ramekins or finger bowls to fill with your spices, so much the better. All the teas and spices set out in pretty little dishes on the table should look like a scene from an exotic banquet. Have a full tea kettle on hand, as well as tasting teacups for your guests.

You can group suggested ingredients together with their respective teas to make blending simpler, though a few ingredients will be perfectly happy to cross those boundaries. You could also stick with one base tea for everyone to simplify the whole affair and then marvel at the variety of different blends that result.

Set out bowls and spoons for guests to blend their tea, and put on the kettle for test runs. A mortar and pestle can be helpful for crushing spices to make chai. I like to have some unbleached paper tea bags on hand to fill with teas as the blending progresses, to see if the flavor is just right. A good rule of thumb is to start with just a little of what you’d like to add and let your nose guide you as you go along. Then do a few taste tests to fine tune your creation and appreciate the magical way that hot water releases the flavors. Many tea blends also benefit from a period of marrying, or allowing the flavors to come together in the finished blend.

Drink plenty of tea as you go along! Be sure to observe the correct brewing temperatures for each base tea, in order to bring out the best possible side of your blends. You can always experiment with time, temperature and amount of tea, and do make sure to write brewing instructions on your gifts tags when you package your teas up.

Brewing Times and Temperatures:

•    Black tea is best brewed with boiling water (212°F) for 4-5 minutes, while black tea chai blends are best simmered in a 50/50 mix of water and your favorite milk for about 5 minutes.
•    Green teas are most often brewed at about 180°F for 3-4 minutes.
•    Red tea is best brewed at 195°F, or just under a boil for 5-7 minutes.

Make packaging. I love compostable brown paper bags for my teas, but glass jars are beautiful, (and reusable) too! Have twine, paper, tape and gift tags on hand to finish off your packages beautifully.

If you create your own tea blends, share a photo with us in the Etsy Labs Flickr group.

Make a Macramé Plant Hanger

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Story by AngelaDotDalton

Published on Dec 27, 2012 in Make

Rediscover the addictive art of decorative knotting with this easy macramé tutorial featuring Kitiya Palaskas. These ’70s-inspired gems are hanging all over the world, and why knot? Their comeback shows they’re a furnishing that will stand the test of time, and you can repurpose things you have lying around at home to pull them together. Old nylon or cotton ropes, yarns and cords work a treat; just make sure they’re got the goods to hold the weight of your plant.

For step-by-step directions, be sure to check out this PDF from the City of Sydney’s Green Villages initiative.

Quit Your Day Job: Gilded Notes

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Photo by GildedNotes

Story by ScrapHappyLyrebird

Published on July 24, 2012 in Seller Handbook

Tell us about your shop and the idea behind it.I run a musical shop called Gilded Notes. Music has always been an integral part of my life. I played my first notes on the violin at age eight and still enjoy playing with my husband and mom (an amazing banjo player) in our little “band.” Whatever I’m doing, I love to be surrounded with music all the time, and it’s important to me that my work be imbued with my love of music.

When I first started selling on Etsy, I began as a decoupage artist, using images from old sheet music covers to create collages and decorate keepsake boxes. I had scraps and pieces left over that I didn’t want to waste. I began creating jewelry with them, and Gilded Noteswas born! I love what I do because it’s a way for me to share my passion for music, romance, and the past with the world. Basically, I get to play with old sheet music all day and indulge in my hopelessly romantic tendencies. As an autoharp- and violin-playing ex-archaeologist, I’m pretty sure I’ve found my calling!

Tell us about your previous working situation and how you discovered Etsy.After graduating in 2008 with my MA in Historical Archaeology, I struggled with finding employment. When I got engaged a year later, a friend sent me a link to a vintage wedding dress on Etsy. I was instantly hooked! Even though I didn’t plan to sell anything on Etsy, it made me pick up some old hobbies and start creating again. (I also snagged a mega gorgeous vintage gown for my wedding.)

After I started selling on Etsy, I continued to work a series of part-time jobs to help make ends meet. I knew none of them were for me, but I didn’t think I could seriously make a go of my Etsy business either — thankfully, I was so wrong.

What steps did you take to prepare for transitioning into full time Etsy selling?
When I finally decided to make the leap to full time on Etsy, I was working as a part-time florist. As fun as the job could be, I realized that by working for someone else I was seriously short-changing my business. I wasn’t able to make as much, list as much, and sell as much, because I had to be at work so often. The holidays are busy for florists, and it killed me that I had to spend so much time away from my business. I knew that if I wanted Gilded Notes to flourish, I had to invest real time in it.

The first thing I did when I quit my job was to take an online class for creative small business owners. It was immensely helpful. I was able to identify my target market, work on my branding, and most importantly, figure out what I wanted from my business.

What is your favorite part of the process in jewelry making?I love getting comfy on the couch, putting on some music, and poring over my stacks of sheet music. I love that when I open an old sheet music book, I never know what I’m going to find. Some pieces are over a hundred years old — just think of all the hands that have touched them, the people who have hummed the songs, played them on their piano, cried with them, sang them to their children. It’s an amazing honor to be able to work with such storied pieces of the past. I’d like to think that each piece is continuing its journey, bringing joy and love to people as jewelry.

What are your best marketing tips?

• Get out there! Sell at shows, shop at shows, talk to people, hand out business cards. The Internet is great for reaching a broad audience, but nothing beats networking in person. Craft shows account for a huge chunk of my sales, both in person and for driving traffic to my shop.
• Find a few social media sites that you enjoy and focus on those. Setting up accounts is super fun (I am a serial account opener-upper), but having a million sites that you sporadically post on doesn’t really accomplish anything. Pick a few (preferably where your target market is), build an audience, and have fun promoting.
• Have a brand, and don’t be scared to talk about it. For the longest time I couldn’t define my brand, and when people asked me what I did, I couldn’t give a confident answer. Invest in business cards, pick some colors, work on your packaging, and have a clear idea of what your business is.
• Put yourself in everything you do. Anyone can walk into a big box store and buy a piece of jewelry. What can you offer your customer that’s unique? You. People want to know about you and your story; it’s what makes your creations special. Write handwritten notes, leave prompt feedback, and go out of your way to make a connection with your customers.
• Teams. There’s power in numbers! Joining local, treasury, and promotion teams on Etsy has had a huge impact on my business. The advice, help, and support I’ve gotten from my teammates is invaluable, and I have made some lifelong friends that way.

What’s been your most popular item or line to date?Men’s items. Guys like to be fancy, too! A lot of brides are buying their fiancés cufflinks and tie clips (thank you, Mad Men).

My simple necklaces with just a word or two and notes are by far my most popular item. It’s special to find one word that you really connect with and be able to wear that near your heart. I think that speaks to people.

What have you found to be an unsuccessful promotion?Before I had a solid idea of who my target market was, I wasted a lot of time and money on ads that didn’t get seen by the right people.

Made any business mistakes you regret?I’ve found creative ways to turn my mistakes into opportunities. Why didn’t that ad work? Do I need to re-write it, or is it in the wrong place? That kind of thing. Even signing up for shows that turn out to be a bust sales-wise usually pay off in the long run. I’m able to get my name out there, and people are picking up business cards and finding me on Etsy.

What is the biggest challenge you face during your daily schedule?
Not having someone to tell you what to do or when to do it can be liberating, but it can also be overwhelming. When you’re the creator, shipper, accountant, photographer, and everything in between, it’s easy to get distracted by aspects of the work that take you away from the real art. Making a to-do list every morning really helps me stay on task and prioritize.

What’s the hardest part about running your own business?When it’s just you at home, it can definitely get a little lonely. Our three cats and dog get their fair share of one-sided conversations with me throughout the day. Besides that, I have a hard time with bookkeeping and being organized. It’s just downright not fun and I would rather not deal with it, but the payoff of working for myself, doing something I love, is worth the headaches and aggravation.

What do you enjoy most about not having a day job?
Where to start?! I no longer feel like I’m giving over so much of my life to someone else. My time is my own, and my success depends on how I use it. If I need to take a mental health day, I don’t need to ask permission. If I have a great new idea, I can just run with it. I really cannot imagine going back to a traditional job.

What is the most exciting thing that has come out of selling your designs through Etsy?For me, it is probably the personal interactions. Like getting an email from a customer telling me about why they chose a certain piece and what it means to them. Or working with a bride to surprise her husband on their wedding day with a special gift. People have come to craft shows because they’ve seen my Etsy shop and tell me how much they love my stuff. These are things that I can only do because of Etsy, and I’m so thankful for that opportunity.

What advice would you give someone considering a similar path?

• You can always find excuses and reasons why you can’t take the plunge. It’s scary, especially when money is tight, but if you have a passion and are willing to work hard, you owe it to yourself to try. Life is too short to be unhappy with what you do. And if it doesn’t work the first time, don’t close that door forever. There were definitely times when I was out of work and Etsy was my only income, but it wasn’t enough. I kept working and dreaming, and eventually, it happened.
• Invest in education. Take a class to improve a skill. Buy some new supplies to experiment with a new design. Find a course on business management. Never be complacent; you can always improve and grow.
• Make sure you have a support system. I know it’s romantic to believe that you are going to do everything on your own, but it’s just not realistic. It’s ok to ask for help.

Anything else you would like to share?I am just continually inspired by all the amazing, creative people I have met on Etsy. Without them, I probably would have given up long ago.

Big thanks to Etsy for allowing me to follow my dream and have so much fun along the way!

Featured Shop: Neeka Knits

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Photo by Neeka Knits

Story by NeekaKnits

Published on Dec 21, 2012 in Shop

My name is Adrienne Krey, and my shop is called Neeka Knits. I design and knit cozy accessories like headbands, scarves, necklaces and fingerless mitts. I also sell knitting pattern instructions so people can make their own. I’ve lived in Portland, Oregon for the past ten years, which apparently now makes me an “official” Oregonian. I’m very excited about this. I love Portland like it’s a person.

I started knitting about 10 years ago and haven’t stopped. I’ve always been a dabbler in all things crafty, like painting, drawing, sewing, or sculpting. My brain has been bossing my hands around my entire life. But it wasn’t until I found knitting that I really felt at home in a craft. I love the left-brain architectural quality of it, combined with its colorful creativity. Plus, I love that the result is so cozy and practical. I think a knit hat or scarf, if you wear it enough, will start to feel like a friend.

One of the first things I ever knit without a pattern was a small neckwarmer in a hand spun angora and wool blend. It has this amazing fuzzy halo to it and just gets softer and softer every year. It has accompanied me through so many camping trips and winters and chilly nights. When I’m digging through my closet looking for something to keep me warm and I find it, it feels mine in a way no other piece of clothing does. It reminds me how much coziness and warmth and friendship knits have to offer.

Almost every design in my shop started as a gift for a friend or family member. So, my design process usually starts with me thinking about somebody in particular and then figuring out a knitted soulmate that matches their style. I’m also obsessed with trying to make knitted versions of non-knitted things, like the necklaces in my shop which were inspired by chunky vintage costume jewelry. Even if it’s something two-dimensional, like an abstract painting, if I’m drawn to it inevitably my brain will start asking “How could I translate this into knitted form?” I also pay attention to the finishing of my knits, adding vintage buttons or embroidery to make them feel more special.

Knitting is so calm and zen, but when you do it as much as I do it can get a little lonely. I like to watch movies, listen to the radio or repeat phrases from language instructional tapes while I work. I also love to write stories, so I just recently started dictating stories aloud and recording them while I knit. I probably seem like a crazy person talking to myself all day, but I do think you have be a little bit insane to knit as much as I do!

My business started because I was obsessed with knitting “friends” for the people I love, and as I became more skilled, I started writing down the patterns for my own designs. At first, I planned on only selling the patterns, but when I sold my first few knit items, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist knitting for people all over the world. When I’m wrapping up my orders to ship them out, I still feel like I’m sending gifts to friends.

I’ve learned so many new skills since I’ve started my shop. I’m a people pleaser and I love working for other people, so at first trying to be my own boss was tricky. But I’ve loved getting to play so many different roles!  I’ve had to learn how to be my own graphic designer, photographer, model, accountant and office manager. I tend to be shy and indecisive, and at first I was uncomfortable putting myself out there and calling all the shots. But I’m a much stronger knitter now than I was when I started, and I’m starting to see how that strength has expanded outwards and made me more a confident person.

What I value most about Etsy is its sense of community. I think knitting, at its heart, is a communal activity. Before I opened my Etsy shop, I thought selling knits online would feel too anonymous and take away from the sense of friendship I feel when I knit. But my Etsy customers are amazing. I feel such a sense of connection to them! I love it when people request custom orders, or tell me who they’re buying a gift for, or send me pictures of the knits they’ve made from my patterns.  Great opportunities from stores and blogs have come my way from my Etsy shop, but I’m most grateful for the friendships I’ve made.

I had a customer tell me once that his wife made a bet with him that I wasn’t the girl in my shop photos. He said she was convinced that nobody that young would be knitting so much! I thought that was funny because there’s actually a great community of young knitters out there, but I do aim to bring a modern, less traditional spin to the knits I make. I absolutely love bright colors. When I’m sitting in front of a pile of yarn, I feel the same excited glee I feel with a painter’s palette in my hand. An earthy, tweedy yarn is so cozy, but I also love the contrast of a chunky knit done in a bright, bold color combination. Since I’m drawn to simple stiches that let the yarn and colors show through, I make my knits unique in their construction. I often change around the way things are knit and work them in a different direction or with new techniques. My husband can always tell when I’m designing something because I’ll space out for hours trying to knit things in my head. I’ll start drawing invisible squares in the air and then spin them around. Before you know it, I have needles and yarn in my hands and I won’t stop until I’ve figured it out. I’ve knit through many hunger pangs.

I used to be awe of how the human brain was able to take two sticks and some string and come up with a dizzying array of knitting techniques and stitches. Now, that awe is nothing next to the respect and appreciation I’ve gained for entrepreneurs who take risks and create their own work. Making a living using only your brain and your own two hands is incredibly challenging and so different from what I used to think of as a “job.”

How to Wrap With Cloth

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Story by AngelaDotDalton

Published on Dec 20, 2012 in Make

Create beautiful-looking gifts without the waste (and the sticky tape!) by taking a cue from the Japanese art of furoshiki. Swap paper for fabric, and get craftastic with material off-cuts, old scarves, vintage hankies, pretty kitchen towels or even old shirts or tees snipped up. In this how-to animation, fabric artist Penelope Kokinelis of Uptightso shows you how to wrap with style using cloth. Tie one on!

For step-by-step directions, be sure to check out this PDF from the City of Sydney’s Green Villages initiative.

Richard Saja, Embroidery Artist

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Photo by Sweet Paul Magazine

Story by sweetpaul

Published on Dec 20, 2012 in Read

Today, we’re happy to share a reprint of an interview that originally appeared in Sweet Paul magazine. Richard Saja is an accomplished textile artist whose fine art pieces have been featured in gallery shows from London to Philadelphia. His trademark work involves embroidering bright and fanciful embellishments on top of historic toile patterns.  One might find a wolfman pushing a maiden on a swing or a mohawked punk-rocker drawing a bucket of water from a well.  Richard has partnered with some of the biggest names in retail and fashion to create his one-of-a-kind creations, including Keds, Opening Ceremony and Bloomingdales.  He frequently features his work on his blog, Historically Innacurate. Paul Vitale of Sweet Paul sat down to chat with Richard about his inspirations, process and plans for future projects.

Richard Saja

Paul: I’ve always been fascinated by embroidery, but never quite had the knack to do it myself. When did you realize you had a talent for it, and what drew you to embroidery?

Richard: My interest for embroidery sprang from the necessity of keeping up with production for a line of cushions I was selling under the name MARISAAL. I had met an amazing embroiderer on the subway by overhearing her conversation here in New York, and she was the only one who embroidered the toile for me back then. Soon, after I picked up a needle, I found the perfect outlet for my OCD inclinations and overall fastidiousness: embroidery. Having no natural talent for painting or drawing, I found that a needle and floss allowed me to accomplish very similar results and that I actually did have some innate talent for it.

Paul: What first gave you the idea to embellish toile?

Richard: The idea came to me while waking from sleep. The original concept was to embroider Maori face tattoos onto 18th century figures, but I soon found that there are very few toile prints out there large enough to accomplish this effectively. I adjusted the concept slightly to include any modification to the original pattern, and the Toile ‘n’ Tats line was born.

Paul: You must know a lot about toile. Can you tell us a little about the history of the pattern? Are new patterns produced today?

Richard: From what I understand, Toile de Jouy was the first mechanically reproduced fabric available, originating in a small village in France in the 18th century, and refers to two very different fabrics. One is a highly stylized botaca abstraction, which is usually referred to as “French provincial” now. The other (the one I work with) is a representational pastoral, usually a single solid color printed on a cream or white ground. By far, the most prevalent motif of the pastoral toile are variations on a “pleasures of the four seasons” theme: there are literally hundreds of different iterations of it. This toile depicts people working in the fields, dancing around a maypole, being pulled in a sled, etc. It’s practically begging for embellishment.

As far as new patterns go, most new toiles are cheeky riffs on tradition. My own SIDESHOW! print debuted here in New York last year at Future Perfect, and depicts various freaks from the history of the carnival.

Paul: What’s your creative process? Do you start with an end-product in mind or do you just see where pattern and floss take you?

Richard: I always sit down with a blank piece of toile and just go with it, unless it’s for a specifically commissioned project. I just finished a piece for the Hudson Valley Seed Library, which is a great project, so I had to include embroidered morning glories in the piece (which I was able to choose).  I never take on a project where a client requests specific imagery. Get a nimble-fingered monkey to do that for you!

I only embroider at night seated in front of a gigantic TV tuned to whatever reality show is on at the time…usually something on Bravo. Reality TV doesn’t demand the attention that other programming does, so it’s perfect for needle work. I just look up when something particularly grotesque or offensive is happening.

Paul: Do you have any tips for budding embroiderers and fiber artists out there?

Richard: The one thing I’d like to encourage is originality. It’s okay to start out aping other peoples’ work, but I like to see young embroiderers forge ahead into new territories rather than recycling the same few motifs over and over.

I don’t think of myself as a technically accomplished stitcher, being more interested in the conceptual aspect of my work, so I can’t really speak to that. I keep going back to the same few stitches time and again: satin, split, bullion, and my favorite, the French knot.

Paul: Can you give us any trade secrets or useful technical embroidery tips or time-savers?

Richard: The one thing I notice most often is that people feel compelled to use all six strands of a standard floss. Split them up! It makes the embroidery look finer and better executed, even for a beginner. With embroidery, there are absolutely no time savers. It’s completely labor intensive and any shortcuts are apparent at once. That being said, it’s also a completely meditative process and a richly rewarding one.

Paul: What sort of floss do you use?

Richard: It usually depends on the fabric content of the toile I’m working with, but the DMC line of flosses is the one I’m constantly returning to because of the wide range of their products: cotton, linen, rayon, metallic, etc. I’ve fallen in love with a glow-in-the-dark floss they introduced a couple of years ago and recently purchased a case of the stuff. I am looking forward to doing some larger scale wall pieces with it.

Paul: Your art encompasses more than just embroidery on toile. What other mediums or materials do you work with?

Richard: I have a gig doing a graphics piece for every issue of the McSweeney’s/David Chang magazine Lucky Peach, which I’m happy about because it allows me to keep my graphics skills honed. I’ve also been exploring digitally processed, machine woven textiles, and I’m completely excited about their possibilities — I just debuted three different lines at Future Perfect this past May.

Paul: What do you have in store for the future?

Richard: Big toile tapestries embroidered with wool. Tents of tapestry. Immersive environments of embroidery. My fingers are itching to get into it already!