Challenge Winner: NouveauTique

Congrats to NouveauTique on winning the latest Tree Team Treasury Challenge!

Veiw the winning treasury here:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTQzNTkxNTV8Mzc1MTM2MjE5/secrets-a-treasury-tree-challenge

'Secrets (A Treasury Tree Challenge)' by NouveauTique

Secret Garden lesleypayne $35.00	Vintage/Antique Wooden Stora... inmyigloo $32.00	Just Resting 11X14 Photograp... fosterbk $42.00	Ivory lace rose headband wit... BeSomethingNew $50.00
Sailor Knot Dark Amber Linen... DreamsFactory $120.00	Secret Shadows - 5x5 Manikin... DayView $10.00	Can you keep a secret - blac... nauli $17.00	Skeleton Key Boro Glass Bead... Venbead $38.00
The Royal. 5 x 7 Metallic P... funflash $12.00	Rustic Orange Leather Book f... ConduitPress $60.00	Dans la Clandestinité hopeimages $35.00	Set of 8 Dark Lilac Floral, ... 0chaosbydesign... $5.00
Carved Mug in Brown with Hin... marymeestudio $15.00	I'm No Saint Hollow Book... BookEndDesigns $28.00	Old Brown Train Station Door... MollysMuses $25.00	Unridden Wedge tylerdlewis84 $20.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

We will have another Challenge after the holiday, so check back on Tuesday, July 5th for more details!

Vote For Us!

We've entered the Handmadeology Top 10 Challenge! Go check it out!

New Tree Challenge: 6/21 - 6/26

Time for another Tree Team Challenge!! The winner of the last challenge was InMyIgloo (you can view her winning treasury here or read about it in last week’s post).


Here is the item to use for this challenge. Follow the rules and guidelines below to participate!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/73422476/vintageantique-wooden-storage-box

1) Use this item in your treasury. This item is from the Etsy shop InMyIgloo. Your treasury can have any theme you like as long as it includes this item.

2) This item MUST be placed within the first three rows of your treasury.

3) In addition to the featured item you must include at least five Tree Team members within your treasury, placed wherever you like. Here’s a list of members. Tip: if you add the phrase “tttree” (3 Ts) to any of your Etsy searches it will show only Tree members matching your search criteria.

4) Tag your treasury with “treeteamchallenge” (all one word). We recommend you fill all of the remaining 17 tags with descriptive words pertaining to your treasury, as this will increase your treasury’s exposure.

5) Use the phrase “Tree Challenge” in your title (you can just stick it at the end in parentheses if you want).

6) You MUST post a link to your treasury as a comment on this blog post.

7) In the description section of your treasury you MUST include the URL for this blog post.

____________________________________________________________________________________

EXTRA (yet important) NOTES:

- You can make as many Tree Challenge treasuries as you want.

- You are not required to be a Tree member in order to participate in (or win) these challenges.

- Participants are allowed to win more than once.

- PLEASE make sure you don’t forget guidelines #4 and #5 listed above.

- If any of the seven guidelines above are forgotten your treasury could be disqualified from this challenge.

____________________________________________________________________________________

You have until Sunday, June 26th, to create your treasury (or treasuries). The winner will be announced by the beginning of the following week.

If your treasury is chosen as the winner you will be notified as soon as possible. We’ll ask you to select one of the items from your shop to be featured in our next challenge. If you do not have an Etsy shop we’ll ask you to nominate a shop. We will also ask you to select the winning treasury for the challenge in which you (or your nominated shop) are featured.

Thanks for playing! Have fun!

Challenge Winner 6/7 - 6/11: InMyIgloo

Congratulations to InMyIgloo for winning the latest Tree Team treasury challenge! You can view the winning treasury here: 

 The Greatest

The next challenge will take place from June 19th to the 23rd (Sunday to Thursday). Check back right here on the 19th to find out which item from InMyIgloo to use.

'The Greatest (tree challenge)' by inmyigloo

Distance of the Moon // Fine... themooncraft $45.00	Wings - 8 x 10 Fine Art Phot... jessicatorres $30.00	3 Little Toy Rainbow Fish NattyKnits $15.00	The Maiden theaterclouds $18.00
GAIA handmade necklace (long... terraform $39.00	Phalanges Diagram Handmade E... itsastitch $100.00	vintage small porcelain sign... lacklusterco $2.00	Organic Magnolia Blouse by K... ProjectSarafan $200.00
Elegant Champagne, Burgundy,... ClassicByNatur... $24.00	can't see the forest for... bugmiscellany $8.00	Ceramic lilypad dish RedandMain $20.00	Ghost Trees PRINT 8x12 Fine ... SunnyLeeStudio $25.00
july antique star map celest... antiqueprintst... $25.00	Universal Man Ceramic Plante... modernfx $35.00	Rhiannon, Celtic Moon Goddes... sacredsuds $6.00	White Bunny Rabbit Brooch andODesign $28.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

New Tree Challenge: 6/7 - 6/11

Time for another Tree Team Challenge!! The winner of the last challenge was ProjectSarafan (you can view her winning treasury here or read about it in last week’s post).


Here is the item to use for this challenge. Follow the rules and guidelines below to participate!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/67958618/organic-magnolia-blouse-by-kaftansarafan

1) Use this item in your treasury. This item is from the Etsy shop ProjectSarafan. Your treasury can have any theme you like as long as it includes this item.

2) This item MUST be placed within the first three rows of your treasury.

3) In addition to the featured item you must include at least five Tree Team members within your treasury, placed wherever you like. Here’s a list of members. Tip: if you add the phrase “tttree” (3 Ts) to any of your Etsy searches it will show only Tree members matching your search criteria.

4) Tag your treasury with “treeteamchallenge” (all one word). We recommend you fill all of the remaining 17 tags with descriptive words pertaining to your treasury, as this will increase your treasury’s exposure.

5) Use the phrase “Tree Challenge” in your title (you can just stick it at the end in parentheses if you want).

6) You MUST post a link to your treasury as a comment on this blog post.

7) In the description section of your treasury you MUST include the URL for this blog post.

____________________________________________________________________________________

EXTRA (yet important) NOTES:

- You can make as many Tree Challenge treasuries as you want.

- You are not required to be a Tree member in order to participate in (or win) these challenges.

- Participants are allowed to win more than once.

- PLEASE make sure you don’t forget guidelines #4 and #5 listed above.

- If any of the seven guidelines above are forgotten your treasury could be disqualified from this challenge.

____________________________________________________________________________________

You have until Saturday, June 11th, to create your treasury (or treasuries). The winner will be announced by the beginning of the following week.

If your treasury is chosen as the winner you will be notified as soon as possible. We’ll ask you to select one of the items from your shop to be featured in our next challenge. If you do not have an Etsy shop we’ll ask you to nominate a shop. We will also ask you to select the winning treasury for the challenge in which you (or your nominated shop) are featured.

Thanks for playing! Have fun!

Featured Member Bobbi Lewin

This week's featured member is Bobbi Lewin of Bobbi Lewin Crochet and Fiber Art Designs and Bobbi's Mixed Media Art. Bobbi is one of The Treasury Tree's newest leaders and we are honored to have her. Bobbi is a founding member and with such a keen sense of color and design Bobbi is a wonderful treasury curator. We asked Bobbi to tell us about her shops and her art.

Hi Bobbi, would you be so kind as to tell us who you are, what you sell, what you are all about?

Who am I? I have been trying to figure that one out for half a century now and am still trying! I can tell you who I am as an artist.
I have been drawing and painting since I was old enough to hold a pencil. Even though we did not have a lot of money when I was a kid, I always had art supplies. I’m grateful that my parents chose to nurture that part of me. I have also been doing various needlecrafts since I was a young girl. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was about 8 years old.
Up until the past year, my primary artistic focus has been on mixed-media paintings. I love being able to use paint and paper and beeswax, or whatever found object I want to stick on the canvas.
Over the past year, I have been very drawn to the idea of using traditional feminine handicrafts in fine art. I love that there is a resurgence now of these crafts, especially among younger women and even men. I have been reading and researching about the history of feminine handicraft, and how it has been used by feminist artists.
My artistic focus has been turning more in that direction. I have gone crazy for crochet. I recently split my one shop into two shops; one for my mixed media paintings and the other for the crochet and fiber art. Recently my main interest is on the crochet garlands I make. They just make me happy!
When I’m not working on my Etsy shop, I’m focused on some larger crochet art projects. One project I’m working on is with some other local artists to create a hyperbolic crochet coral reef here in Salt Lake City.

Who are your business inspirations?
There are a couple of people I have found on the Internet that I just really admire. One is Sister Diane of CraftyPod. I love her approach to crafting and to growing a crafty business. I have learned a lot from her. Another is Linda Tieu from torta gialla. I have been watching her grow her business and blog over the past couple years. Her energy and creativity are very inspiring!

What are your business inspirations?

I want to be able to create a nice balance between selling on Etsy and having time to create some fiber art installations, which are not exactly a lucrative venture! My goal is to be able to make enough through my shop to fund my other art aspirations.

Do you sell online full time? If not, what is your other business/job?
Right now Etsy is my only job. Except for when my cat bosses me around.

What is the biggest challenge when selling your work online?
Getting found! Marketing. Also, knowing when to put the computer away and do something completely unrelated to selling.

Tell us about how you got your start selling your craft, either online or local?
I had heard about Etsy, had seen some fun shops there, and just thought I’d give it a shot. I opened my shop in November of 2009.

Tell us why you do what you do (your particular craft; why make it a business vs just a hobby)
I believe everyone deserves to be able to make a living doing what they love to do. I love to crochet, and want to do it all day long.

Are there any tips or tricks to selling online vs local that you can share?
I haven’t put a lot of effort into selling local. I’ll do a craft fair now and then, but my preference is to sell online.

A few of my favorite Etsy shops:
Sewandsowlife, pquinn, leahduncan, vesselsandwares

Challenge Winner 5/22 - 5/26: ProjectSarafan

Congratulations to ProjectSarafan for winning the latest Tree Team treasury challenge! You can view the winning treasury here: 

Elizabeth Was A Magician

The next challenge will take place from June 5th to the 9th (Sunday to Thursday). Check back right here on the 5th to find out which item from ProjectSarafan to use.

 

 

'elizabeth was a magician Tree Challenge' by ProjectSarafan

Custom Name Hand Carved Rubb... eatpraycreate $	Cowgirl teatowel in linen StrandRedesign $17.00	Vintage Lego Magician Top Ha... Tonnies $14.95	Interchangeable Bottle Cap N... creativityisme... $18.00
PDF Epattern for 12 inch Art... SashaPokrass $17.00	Glitter - Black and white ph... GrainnePhotogr... $10.00	DIY Lord and Lady Muck Pig M... designbirdie $2.00	Original 70s OOAK Copper Bas... JustColor $22.00
Ramon Allones Cigar Box Pape... APKHandmade $40.00	Vintage Bunzlauer Keramik Ca... GoGoBerlinette $12.00	Dragonfly- a fine art giclee... SunnyLeeStudio $25.00	Vintage Avon Owl -- Raining ... PeculiarMomma $14.00
Girl's Shabby Chic Green... MyFairMaiden $49.00	Naughty Kitty Earrings mamaslittlebab... $28.00	floral pillow fadedplains $31.00	Recycled Book Spine Leather ... amandadavie $22.00

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.