Great Stuff 07-25-07: EV Etsy.com crafters
July 20th, 2007, 5:14 pm · Post a Comment · posted by Sam Mittelsteadt
The Web site Etsy.com is equal parts showplace and marketplace for crafty people to display and sell their wares — you’ll find everything from hand-turned wooden bananas to felt pins to cereal bowls shaped like brains. Dozens of East Valley entrepreneurs stretch their business wings here — they might not have their own Web sites or local vendors yet, but Etsy marks their first step toward … global domination!Find three of them after the jump …
For about a year now, Chandler mom Danielle Shand, 30, and her sister have produced the Eat Your Peas line for kids — handmade items from bibs to nursery pillows to pacifier lanyards that keep ‘em from hitting the floor when dropped. They’ve also got original-design onesies and T-shirts in sizes from newborn to 4T. My favorite is the sweetly nostalgic Dakota ($16-$18), which uses red stitches to affix a patch featuring a rootin’, tootin’ little boy. (The equal-opportunity Dixie design features a sassy, strutting cowgirl.)
The eye-catching jewelry from Suzanne Erickson of Higley inspires people to walk up and offer to buy what she’s wearing. (Ever the businesswoman, she’s happy to comply.) Much of her Periwinkle Studios jewelry — like these Aurora Borealis dichroic glass earrings ($16; matching bracelet $30) — is online, but Erickson says she also enjoys creating custom work, which has ranged so far from $12 to $120, depending on materials. E-mail: periwinklesuz@cox.net.
Christina "Xappa" Franco of Tempe has set a record with her jewelry: She uses actual vinyl 45s — black, red, even the amber ones shown — to create her Plain Jane earrings ($20). In addition to her Etsy site she sells some pieces at Swell Clothing, 524 S. Mill Ave., Tempe. (Check out her MySpace profile, SpaceCadetJewelry, to contact her for custom work.)








