Make It Work: Outdoor Lanterns feat. Lindsay Sochar

I wanted to share some good news - We had this sweet article written about me and what we are doing here at Make. Shop. Live. that you can (and should) check out here. 


Today we have the first of our new series all about Make. Shop. Live. collaborating with artists to create a special product line that we will have in our market stall at CRAFTED. "Make It Work" will be the segment featuring details on our collaborations with everyone on the blog and we are so excited that the lovely, beautiful, and talented Lindsay Sochar is the first artist up for this segment. 


Lindsay doing a collaboration with us that is really exciting! I am creating upcycled lantern bases as shown here as the canvas for some of her amazing paintings. She is decorating them in all kinds if themes (Mostly birds and flowers) and we will be working on these in the coming weeks to create a limited edition line of lanterns. I really, really love Lindsay's technique and the way in which she depicted the subject matter in each piece is just lovely. They will be available first at the Port so make sure to check them out in person. I am also hoping to have a few in our Etsy Shop online as well. Stay tuned and here are some examples of the lanterns we have so far.






A little about Lindsay, you may recognized her from this LA Weekly article here. She is such a talented artist in all mediums but she is best known for her paintings. Here is her space at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles.

I picked this cute guy up for the house this weekend. What shall we name him??? 


Well, in other news, I was hoping to tell you all about the grunions today, but wouldn't you know I was unable to see them. The grunion run was way more popular than I had imagined and needed a bit more coordination to try and go as a mini-group after work.  By the time we got something to eat and headed over the parking anything within a reasonable distance was full. Figuring out walking across San Pedro to see the fish while needing to get back to Santa Monica to pick up Kevin for the Dark Night was a factor in having to miss the fun. Anyway, next time I know to be more prepared and make a night of it!

Thanks for everyone who stopped by and said hello at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles this weekend! It was so great seeing everyone :)


XOXO, KC

3 Local Etsy stores talk Tech

Last Thursday evening, the Santa Monica Apple Store hosted an Etsy Team Community Session about developing your online presence.  Since KC couldn't attend, I decided to take a walk over and get some good tips any Etsy user could use.

Courtney Prince, of Doloris Petunia

Three Los Angeles local users were invited to speak for a few minutes on their experience and relationship with successfully building a store on Etsy. Andie's Specialty Sweets went first.  The nature of a handmade custom order store has it's challenges when it comes to profits.  Even with past months doubling orders, the clear attention to craft takes time and money.  There was a mention made that no press had been done yet.  The photography of the work was very good though, as was the level of craftsmanship.  It seems all the ingredients are there!  Best of luck!  Courtney Prince of Doloris Petunia was next and spoke openly about how the business was developed in NY and expanded after a move to LA.  Someone introduced her to Etsy one weekend at the Rose Bowl Market Fair.  She had a great bit of advice that I'll paraphrase, "Do what you are interested in, then think about what the customer would want".  Basically, if you are passionate about it and are willing to edit yourself, they will come!  Finally, Kelly Massey from Pretty Penny Designs spoke of her journey with Etsy and how she learned to make a splash.  She humorously reminiscent how she started by listing a few items and ..... nothing happened.  Then she "heard people like natural lighting" so she took her products outside and re-listed those pics........ nothing happened.  After a few months she had gone online and done her research on professional product shots and places to outsource fabric printing so she wasn't up past midnight every day.  All the speakers were great, and overall it inspired me and reminded me of how the basics are so important:

Great photography of products

Have passion for your work

Edit to what customers want

Think about how you would appear in press

Best of luck Etsy users!