Ice Blue treasury

Thanks to WhoaItsMe for beginning this week with a wonderfully wintry treasury of icy blues and snowflake patterns.Treasury ends on November 11, so hurry on over and pick your favorite items for that special somebody!

The top 10 reasons women give for hoarding fabric/yarn/beads/jewelry findings/scrapbooking supplies/(your craft supply hoarding obsession here):

10. It was such a bargain, I would be wasting money if I didn’t buy it.

9. I had to buy it, I might not be able to find it again.

8. It was my mother’s/sister’s/aunt’s/someone's-who-I-once-crossed-paths-with, and I just can’t bear to part with it.

7. My parents grew up during the depression so I grew up in a household that saved everything. (It’s my parents’ fault!)

6. I showed great restaint – I didn’t buy even half of what I wanted.

5. I’m saving it for just the right project.

4. I need to have a lot of supplies if I am going to be creative!

3. It draws attention away from my significant other’s sports card/beer stein/model car/comic book/(his obsession here) hoard.

2. When I’m suddenly snowed in, my supplies will carry me over until spring.

1. Hoard? What hoard? This is my collection!

HOARDERS HAVE BEEN BUSY

One year ago we became an Etsy team, we hoarders. We decided on the name, Hoarders Unite! An avatar and a banner were chosen in our infancy that were orange and green. They were fine at the time, but later on some of us decided we'd like something different. Thus the new banner and avatar in blue with a little bit more modern design.

We posted photos of our work spaces and found that some of us were not only hoarders but hmm, shall we say, messy. We have so many supplies that it is hard to maintain them in the space in our home allotted to our art and craft. We encouraged one another with our ideas on organizing and storage.

We thought we might like to swap supplies but really that never did happen. We might try that again, we'll see. We seem to like to hold onto our supplies, thinking that we might need this or that "someday."

Our fearless leader, Sinclair, or Nature With Me, kept us going through the year, challenging us to use supplies on hand and NOT purchase new. Secretly and in theory we agreed. I'm guilty of purchasing new. I can't stick to one media, thus I need new supplies now and then. I started to knit a rug. Needed yarn, needed needles. Bought some. Worked on the rug until I decided to make a scarf. Made scarf. Made another scarf. Made another scarf...was challenged to make hats for veterans in southern Oregon. Made hat. Made another hat. And another...you get the picture. Had to buy more yarn and more needles. BUT, I bought a lot of the yarn and all but one pair of needles at second hand stores. I was using SOMEONE'S hoard!! LOL!!

So, one year later, sock monkeys and boo-koo scarves and hats later, Sinclair has again challenged us to become more active in order to help promote our shops, and to participate in the team. We responded by having THREE treasuries of our talented members' offerings at Etsy; by answering her call to share our gifts by doing a challenge a month via her blog, "Sharing Our Gifts" whereby we make items for a certain charity or needful organization a month and each month featuring a different state of the union, and by volunteering to do the blog once a week on a given day.

Today is my day, I'm happy to be a part of this group which challenges me but also offers encouragement and support in my online handmade business, i.e., Etsy shops.

I think Sinclair was doing a wonderful job with the blog and the other activities she organized but it isn't fair that she has to do all the work!! So, Sinclair, thanks for all you do for all of us!!

Now carry on, Hoarders. Let's show 'em our stuff! Mark all your items with the tag, "hoardersuniteteam" and upload the avatar with your item photos if you have room. Talk about us in your own personal blogs, encouraging buyers to search for our name at Etsy. Let us set some personal goals for the second year of Hoarders Unite that fellow members can help each other attain.

Ta ta for now,

Nancy ~ nanalee

Etsy shops: GARMENTURE http://garmenture.etsy.com/

and VICTORIAN VISIONS BY NANALEE http://nanalee.etsy.com/

A Trio of Treasuries

Amazing! We have had three treasuries in the past week, and when I did a search for "hoardersuniteteam," I came up with 7 pages of result to choose from. I have my poster sketch at the ready!

Here is the latest by Mamta:This treasury expires tomorrow, so take a gander and share the news!

Treasury Days Continue!

Thanks to WhoaItsMe, we have another Treasury to share today...I love the variations of blue that come together in this collection.It expires tomorrow, so go take a look!! (Click the treasury photo to be taken to there)

Team Treasury Kick-off

Nancy has gotten the ball rolling on our November participation challenge by snagging a Treasury! It will expire on October 30, so visit and promote in the forums, and hopefully your items will be soon on their way to happy new owners.Click the photo or (here) to be taken to the treasury listing. If you would prefer to copy and paste, here is the location: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=90518&show_panel=true.

Happy Hoarding!

November 2009 Challenge

In case you missed it on the Yahoo Groups page, or have not visited our forum thread on Etsy, I am posting the challenge for this month here on the blog as well:

I think we should do a participation challenge for November. With the holidays
around the corner and all of us busy as bees in summer, I am not going to make
it a "create" challenge. So, here it is:

1. Team Treasuries: if you know how to get treasuries, let's try to have at
least one team treasury for each week of November. I haven't even tried for a
treasury in some time, but I will start working on that one.

2. Sharing the treasuries and other promo info on the Etsy forum: let's have a
team thread for the month that lists thoughts, projects, treasuries, blog posts,
etc...so we can all stay inspired and we can help each other with stash
suggestions. Here is the link to the thread:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6319779

3. Communication on the Yahoo Groups forum:
I would love it if we had more discussion here in the forums. What do you like?
What are your gripes about selling, creating, whatever? What do you do to stay
organized? You can even just put up good news and links to features about your
work.

I hope you will all check in on the forums and let me know you are in for
the participation points for the month of November! (figurative points, of course!)