Exciting news in T-Minus 3 seconds!

Our team has been amazing lately.  You know this.  I'm just reminding you.  A few days ago, Etsy announced a little Nasa-themed contest.  It's pretty interesting, with fabulous prizes and all.  You have until November 2 to enter.

WELL.... today, Discover Magazine caught wind of this contest and published a feature of it on their blog.  They chose 7 out of the hundreds of entries to feature, and two of them belonged to members of Curation Nation!   Congrats BailyBelleCreations and Cookstah!!

they featured BailyBelleCreation's Jupiter Necklace

and Cookstah's Moon Painting!

Congratulations, you two!  Best wishes in the contest.

Etsy On Sale (a tool you should know about)

Hey team!

I'm sure by now most of you have heard of EtsyOnSale.  I know some of you have tried it and others are waiting to hear more before you try it.  I tried it out two weekends in a row for "field research".

If you are wondering how to get it set up, it's actually pretty easy.  You sign in with your google account, and this application is approved by Etsy and will show up in "Applications" when you click on "Your Etsy".  If you're ready to try it out, click on "Sellers" at the top of EtsyOnSale.  Sign in with your google account, click on your shop banner, then click on "Sales Events".  Now you're ready to schedule a sale.  Click on "+New Sales Event" and you will be directed to this page:

You can then choose to run the sale over your entire shop or a certain section.  You also get to set up the sale to run on a timer.... You have say over when it starts and when it ends.  Then you get to choose a percentage off or a $ amount off.  Where it says "Listing Title Prefix" you want to enter something like WEEKEND SALE so it will show up in your listing titles that your items are on sale.  Click "Schedule Sales Event", and you're set up!

I have found that I have to click the green "play" button to get my sale started, even if the sale is in the future.  I'm not sure if I'm the only one who has had these results or not.  It takes awhile for all of your listings to update for the sale (as it will take them awhile to return to usual after the sale is over).

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RESULTS

I had 6 sales the first weekend and 4 sales the next weekend.  I'm not sure if this is typical for users of the app.  I was impressed with this, however, there were some frightening side affects of using the app.

SIDE EFFECTS

The second time I used the app, several of my listings expired.  I renewed some of them and left others expired.  After the sale was over, it automatically renewed the ones I had not renewed.  I never approved this action.  Freaky.  Also, I relisted a couple of the sold items before the sale was over, and these listings were duplicated after the sale was over.  I also did not approve of this action.

GLITCHES/BUGS

If you renew an item that sells before the sale expires, it won't revert to normal after the sale expires.  Also, if you renew an expired listing in the middle of the sale, it won't automatically adjust for the sale.

IS IT WORTH IT?

Yes and no.  If you're desperate for something to adjust all of your listings at once, go for it.  You just have to be willing to risk phantom renewals and relistings after the sale expires.  You also have to keep a close eye on what does or does not adjust.  Craftopolis has something up their sleeve that I'm excited to learn more about.  It might be a safer way to update your listings for a sale.

I hope this review helped.  Feel free to discuss the app in the comments.  I'll try to answer any questions as best as I can!

Wednesday Double Challenge

The Challenge this week has a new twist. Of the 8 Curation Nation members you pick, you should have at least 4 of them be people you don't usually include, or have never included in a treasury. Just a few days ago SimplyInvitingCards made treasuries including EVERY teammate. can you imagine? She is pretty amazing and I was impressed with her Curation skills. So if you enter every week and find yourself loving all the same shops- remember to branch out and get to know someone new on the team. That way the challenges can give us a fresh perspective.
If you are new to the Wednesday challenge Welcome! I feel like Treasury Challenges help improve our curation skills- I get so many ideas from what other people come up with!

This week's Winning Treasury from JarosDesigns. LittleBugJewelry Helped me pick the winner- thanks so much for your help.
Then I picked an item from her shop that I think is awesome and would be compelling in a treasury.

Mixed Metal Petals - Gold Curved Discs on Sterling Silver Hoop Handmade Earrings

aren't these earrings beautiful?

Wednesday Item Treasury Challenges feature one item from a shop - the item must be included in your treasury. The featured Wednesday item is picked from the wining shop of the Saturday challenge. If the winner doesn't have a shop on Etsy, they will get to pick an item of their choice! Everyone is invited to play - these challenges are open to all. These challenges are also voluntary - never mandatory for team members.

The Rules and Fine Print and Such:

1. You must include at least 8 Curation Nation team members - you can use the sidebar on the blog for a list of team shops, or search "curationnation" on Etsy.
2. Please follow our blog.
3. Put "treasury challenge" somewhere in the title of your treasury.
4. Put a link to this blog post in the comments of your treasury. This helps other people find the challenge and enter.
5. Post a comment here on the blog with a link to your treasury.
6. Tag the treasury "curationnation"
7. Tag the treasury "cn challenge"
8. Tag the treasury "JarosDesigns"
9. Include the featured item in the first three rows of your treasury.
10. DUE DATE: Wednesday, October 20.
11. Have fun!

Curation Nation Front Page Roundup

Here are some fabulous team front pages we have accumulated in the past week!  If I'm missing one, please let me know, craftcult is a little wonky.

Pretty Little Purple Things with Just a Touch of Teal by metroline6

Gifts for the Write by sacredsuds

Shhh Quiet in the Library by Tangentine

Golden Morning by Dovie Moon

Garden Gifts by seb8351

Birches by allisajacobs

In That Old Abandoned House Pounce treasury by SimplyInvitingCards

Again, if I left any out, I truly apologize and please let me know and I'll add them - we're on a roll!  Let's keep it going!

Congratulations, Malarie!

Most of you have heard the news by now, but I wanted to give Malarie aka Itsastitch a BIG congrats for being featured in BUST magazine!

You can read her take on that feature here.

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I'm sure we'd all love to ask Malarie a few questions, so I took the time to interview her for our blog!

Angie: How did BUST find you?
Malarie: BUST found me through Etsy! They contacted me (via a convo!) asking if I could make up one of these and ship it in week. Who would I be to say no? Thank goodness they're located in NYC or else I would've had to really eat it on shipping.

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Angie: Who taught you your craft?
Malarie: I taught me my craft! I have lots of other hobbies/talents that were taught to me by other people, but as far as jewelry/embroidery, all me :)

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Angie: HOW did you keep this a secret?!
Malarie: Oh my God, I BARELY did. I was actually about to run to twitter/facebook/blog IMMEDIATELY because - holy crap, who wouldn't?! But my boyfriend (Justin) actually told me to wait until I was 100% sure, so I knew it had to be when I had the magazine in hands. I actually told a few people (such a blabbermouth) in my family because I just had to tell SOMEONE.

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Angie: Have you been published before?
Malarie: Only online, this is my first time in print. And I'll use this as another ego-plug, the same stitch is actually going to be in a book (along with a pattern) next fall! I'm sure I'll freak out all over again, haha.

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Angie: Do you have any suggestions or advice for others looking to get published?
Malarie: Have awesome photos and a unique/interesting product. I was told that was what drew them in initially. After that, know the audience. You can be proactive and approach blogs/magazines/etc. right off the bat (it makes their jobs easier!), just have your stuff together and make sure it's going to the right audience.

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 Angie: How has this impacted your Etsy business (if at all)?

Malarie: I got to put "As featured in BUST Magazine" in the title, haha. I was so nerdily-excited about that (no, nerdily is not a word). And I actually sold another one, whether or not it's connected to the magazine is unknown - we can pretend!

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