Things of beauty and quality last.
Etsy is an online marketplace "to buy and sell all things handmade." It's been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc., BusinessWeek, on CNN and The Martha Stewart Show
Artists and creators of nearly every stripe post images of their wares and buyers can search by color, description, browse, or even post a query for a one-of-a-kind creation that exists only in their mind.
Read about "This Handmade Life" - vignettes about the people driven to create and their environments, learn about people who live and work near where you live (there is a search option to shop local), or enjoy the beauty.
Take a look at the work of artist Nancy LaBerge Muren, who states in her profile "Light is life! There is no greater element in a painting than the light that illuminates it and defines it."
Found during an online search using the terms "horse, painting" (potential gift for a colleague), her work stands out - there is currently one print available with an equine theme.
The print is one of 150 and she describes the day as the "sun was glorious, the horse was magnificent and his owner was so proud as they got ready to perform, I call this one 'Warming Up to Show'" - available to order online.
Etsy is a business model that serves a growing market. Artists and artisans can enter the digital visual feast to find customers around the world - and encourages entrepreneurial artists and designers - wherever they create.
Such as Richmond Castano Sr., co-founder of Twin Leather, who makes bird toys. At 96, the ever-creative entrepreneur is considering Etsy as an additional venture to feature his toys, which feature colorful knobs and fruit-like growths, very much like three-dimensional art. Castano manufactures components such as leather “twisters” - a curly ribbon of vegetable-tanned leather that appeals to parrots.
From the site: The concept was conceived by Rob Kalin in 2005. A painter, carpenter, and photographer, Rob found there was no viable marketplace to exhibit and sell his creations online - other e-commerce sites having become too inundated with overstock electronics and broken appliances. Ever industrious, he, along with Chris Maguire and Haim Schoppik, designed the site, wrote the code, assembled the servers, spliced the cables, and launched Etsy on June 18, 2005 after only three sleepless months.
(Jockey and horse, from Mountain Brook storefront, on Etsy.)Quick View: Etsy Stats
Total Members: more than 1.5 million
Total Sellers: more than 200,000
Items Currently Listed: more than 2.8 million
Total $ sold (Gross Merchandise Sales)
2005 = $166,000
2006 = $3.8 million
2007 = $26 million
2008 = $87 million (Full Year Forecast)
