Tag Archive for ‘etsy’ at Inspiration Junkie robayre.com

Tag Archive for 'etsy'

How Many People’s Lives Do you Touch By Sending REAL MAIL?

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on June 8, 2017

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One of the first inspirations I had in making mailart was an editorial in Real Simple magazine, probably in 2000 or 2001. The editor told a short story about lamenting to her mail carrier about only receiving bills and junk mail, and her carrier responded “how do you think I feel, that’s all I deliver anymore?”

I decided then and there that I wanted to make mail that was fun for me to send, fun for my recipient to receive, and fun for all the carriers and postal workers in between my recipient and myself as well! I hope that it brightens not just myself and my friend’s day. I made my first mailart postcard around 2000-2001 (above from my Flickr mailart album). This was probably a few years before I even discovered there was a whole “mailart” movement/culture/community.
(Side note: I love that the postcard has grass and stars, even in my original mailart that far back.)

I honestly think of that Real Simple editor’s letter all the time still. When I make mailart I like to imagine all the hands it passes through between myself and the recipient. When I first started making mailart I focused mainly on postcards because the artwork would be able to be seen by everyone along the way, and while post carriers are probably dissuaded from reading the letters on the back, I’m sure they do and I would sometimes address them and wish them a good day.

Fast forward to today and that sentiment is just as true as it was in the beginning, though now I like to spread that joy even further by offering my original stationery paper products (like these one of a kind handmade envelopes) in my online shop. Visit robayre.etsy.com today to find some paper treasures that will certainly brighten my day, hopefully your day, your recipient’s day, and all the carriers in between.

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Robayre100Days part 5

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robayre

on November 12, 2016

in General Update

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For the final installment of my 100 day project recap I’ll be covering my gelatin printing and work that came from that, over the 100 days

From the get go, I’ve been working with my own hand cut paper stencils on the gelatin plate. I want the resulting work to be mine alone. Part of my interest in cutting comes from 7 years doing paste up at the local newspaper. I just may have been told I have a way around an Xacto knife! For a while I tried some acetate, but I think the fact that the plastic is non-porous, just resulted in prints I wasn’t too crazy about. Now I stick exclusively to paper or cardstock, but mostly paper. I’ve been printing for a few years now and still have all the stencils I’ve cut. The first few prints using a new cut stencil are very sensitive and fragile and could tear easily, but after you build up some coats of ink or paint, it makes the stencil stronger and stronger. I haven’t had to retire any yet!

Whenever I’m working on gelatin prints, the stencils will get new layers of color, so they are ever changing. As I flip through the folder I keep them in, I’ll notice beautiful compositions of color and pattern in the layers. I’ve been keeping a collection of these captured images at #robayrestencilstack It is my hope some day to permanently adhere some of these, and either incorporate them into other work, or make them their own Art pieces. The only problem is that it means I’d have to remove them from my usable collection, and/or cut new ones to use again.

scraps from collage cuttings

Pushing paper around

Always gluing some down into little art books

I put together some collections to make some letter writing stationery set headers, using the gelatin printed papers

I just love how these two sets came out, a color version that comes with handmade envelopes from original prints available in my shop here, and

and a black and white set that comes with gray envelopes available in my shop here

That wraps up coverage on the 100 day project, whew! Read the other installments First part, Second part, Third part, Fourth part

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Robayre100Days part 3

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robayre

on October 20, 2016

in General Update, My Artwork and Projects

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Back again with another installment.

The first reason I chose to focus on paper products for my 100 day project was because I had so many letter writing paper sets already designed or in process, but just not produced. It felt SO GOOD to finally cross them off my to-do list and put them out in the world! SO GOOD!

I created this pencil themed stationery set using the pencil illustrations I made earlier this year for Patterns with Anika. I still want to make a skirt with fabric printed with the pencil pattern on it.

I don’t think I have ever shared this set on the blog before, but it was probably the first set that came to mind for projects that I wanted to wrap up. I’ve literally had the original rough sketch, AND the base for the original artwork for this set stuck to the door in my studio for YEARS. It is also probably the first stationery or paper product that I created where the lines were my own scribbled lines, rather than inserted digitally. I painted the frame in watercolor, drew the lines in pencil, scanned it and had it printed professionally. The last step is what really kicks it up a notch, because I personally silk screen print each gold metallic swoosh around the edge. These sets really make me swoon.

#robayre100days cleaning up a scan 19/100 A video posted by robyn wells robayre.etsy.com (@robayre) on May 8, 2016 at 11:39am PDT

Here’s a little video of me trying to clean up a scan. This was a piece that I made on a whim and then it sat forever needing to be completed.

I scanned it and tried cleaning it up, then scrapped it and tried to redo the piece entirely, and scan it afresh, and clean again, just to go back to the original and spend an eternity cleaning it up.

I really liked the quality of the pencil and watercolor on the rough cold press paper, but it made for a nightmare to clean, meanwhile keeping all the great texture where I wanted it.

I finally conquered it and had fun taking pictures for the product listing.

This might look familiar to you as I created this stationery and offered it as a limited time, free printable download, during my 10 year anniversary celebration.

This fun digital set is now available in my shop

Another process shot, while I was setting up a layout.

The strawberries for this came from a few years back. I drew them in pencil, then colored them in very roughly with neo color II watercolor crayons, and then went back in with a wet brush. I think I’ve mentioned it here before, but I took one illustration class in college and one of the things I took away from the class was the importance of scanning while in process and then working over the printed scans. I’m sure I picked it up, because as a graphic designer I know the importance of saving files that way as well. This piece was one that was done in layers that way.

The Strawberry Stationery can be found here in my shop

And here are a couple projects I started, but didn’t finish during the 100 days project

I was looking back through instagram earlier this week and realized that I actually did 3 different daily projects this year (This one and 2 pattern a day months) and I am really proud of myself for all the work I’ve done. That’s it for now. Thank you for visiting and following along on my 100 Day project follow up, stay tuned for more installments, and if you missed the previous ones, you can find them here:

First part, Second part

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#the100dayproject update 2

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robayre

on October 13, 2016

in General Update

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Look at me, back so soon with the next installment of #robayre100days! In the first post I left off right before I got to my quilted fauxdori travel journal covers which I posted about back in May when I hosted a sale and giveaway for my 10 year etsyversary.

I really love these covers! Just a quick reminder for those that might not know or remember what a fauxdori is… Faux=imitation + dori=short for Midori. It’s essentially a knock off of a Midori Traveler’s Notebook. Midori’s are leather covers that fit standard moleskine notebooks. Instead of buying a standard binding book that gets filled up and has to be replaced, you can insert smaller notebooks into it and replace as needed, so while your inside books can be replaced and archived, the cover can remain constant. People use Midori type books for a variety of things such as a planner, sketchbook, journal, etc.

The quilted ones I make, which I loosely based off my own leather fauxdori I purchased from Ray Blake (he calls them Raydoris). I say loosely because my books are made not from leather, but are quilted and veer from the standard moleskine notebook sizes. I suspect that Midori and Moleskine books are the sizes they are based on the UK paper sizes, making them narrower than our standard letterheads, half and quarter folded sheet sizes. I made my books so that you can use the moleskine inserts AND/OR make your own books from stapled halved, and quarter sized sheets of paper. They have an elastic closure, and elastic bands inside to hold your books.

During #the100dayproject I shared many quilted fauxdoris I made and so this post will be a giant post of all the quilted fauxdori covers I did and progress pictures I posted along the way. I am so grateful that they received a warm reception and many of these have already sold, but there are a few still in my shop, with new ones to be added soon, so keep an eye out!

Whew! That was a lot! As I mentioned above, there are still a few of these available in my Robayre etsy shop as of October 13, 2016, and I will hopefully be adding more shortly so keep an eye out!

To read the first installment of my journey into the 100 day project, click here

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#the100dayproject update

Published

robayre

on October 10, 2016

in General Update, Projects and shop update

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I have FINALLY conquered #the100dayproject! I know, I know, it took me WELL OVER the 100 days. In my defense, I could have easily wrapped it up in the 100 days had I allowed myself to post pictures of nearly the same thing in back to back days. Instead I wanted each “day” to be, if not something entirely different and new, than at least visible progress.

I am very proud of myself, and I hope to remember how I committed myself to working regularly on my etsy shop, focusing mainly on paper products, in 2016… rather than spend a huge percentage of my time watching Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu, which is how things could have easily gone.

However, I am NOT so proud that I neglected my blog and didn’t post here about what I was making and doing along the way. So, this is what I’m gonna do: I want to break this up in a bunch of smaller posts and hopefully share all of the finished projects.

I started out the first day with sketchy drawing “Here we go”,

which turned into a notepad, stationery paper set and

even a custom requested greeting card.

I replenished my stock of these metallic embossed card bases that I use for my garlands

And then I made some garlands too

I sold out my stock of these mini ephemera spiral bound notebooks, so I made some more. And I was in my best friend’s wedding, so I altered and updated these cards for the guests to fill out at the reception.

I added this little notebook to my shop. It is a collage made of my own gelatin prints, made from my own hand cut paper stencils.

This project was a recurring theme throughout the 100 days as I attempted to create a geometic/space/galaxy themed header for a black and white stationery set.

I have sheets upon sheets of black rectangle watercolors with all sorts of patterns drawn on them, all over my studio and yet nothing really grabbed at me. Not every idea is an instant success, lol. Someday…

OK, that is enough for this post. It already took me over a week just to post this one update. I hope that it won’t take so long for the next installment.

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More 10 year Etsy Anniversary Celebrations

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robayre

on May 13, 2016

in General Update

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As I said before, my Etsyversary party is not over yet!

I’m offering this letter writing paper as a free download through the rest of the month! Insert party emojis here, wooooo! I originally created this stationery in 2015, using watercolor lines in what is becoming my signature stationery style, and added a dotted writing line, but I never knew quite what to do with it because the image area bleeds off the edge of the paper. When I was creating my to-do list for #the100dayproject I added it. I’ve finally tackled the file, and now it is available for download! Get it now for free while you can because I will add it to my shop after the month is over.

This letter writing paper is set up with 2 vertical sheets on an 8.5×11″ horizontal paper, and the image bleeds off the edge. If you are printing from home on 8.5×11″, make sure your settings are set to print at landscape, 100% (actual size), best or high quality printing, centered, and print to the edge of the paper. You could also print it out on larger papers and crop it down or print it reduced for super mini stationery papers, cute! Print it back to back for double sided stationery. Once it is printed, cut it in half for two 5.5×8.5″ sheets.

Let me know if you download it and use it, I’d love to see pics of it in use (#robayre), or if anyone tries printing it out on different types of papers, etc.

This is the part where I get all legal on you: This stationery was created and copyrighted by Robyn Wells in 2016. This stationery is for personal use only and may not be reproduced, transferred or sold and profited from in any way. Make good choices, be good people, follow the golden rule. Thank you very much

The download is hosted on Google Drive, so you may need to be logged into google, not sure. Download here: https://goo.gl/ENkbMn

Discount and Giveaway Announcement

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robayre

on May 6, 2016

in shop update

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robayre.etsy.com is still celebrating 10 years!

For the month of May, please use the code ROBAYRE10YEARS at checkout for an additional 10% off.

Today I gathered up all the entries from instagram and the blog post and drew Natalie of Cellowingnut on instagram for the quilted fauxdori giveaway. Congratulations Natalie! Thank you so-so much to everyone who entered, and to all the friends who shared and posted about it. It made me feel so special. The party isn’t over, and I have a few more things to look forward to this month while I celebrate my etsy shop’s 10 year anniversary.

I’ve also added a few more of these quilted doris to my shop, click image for link

and the following have already sold

10 Year Etsyversary

Published

robayre

on May 1, 2016

in General Update

. 10 Comments

Last fall I shared a post about Etsy over the last 10 years, but today (May First, 2016) is my shop’s actual 10 year anniversary. It has been 10 years since robayre.etsy.com was born! It’s almost impossible for me to fathom that my shop has been open that long. There have been ups and downs, droughts and floods of sales. It has not always been easy, but I can easily say that I am SO PROUD of myself for having opened the shop and sticking with it. In celebration of my shop turning 10, I am doing a giveaway! First a little back story. Last fall, via a facebook Midori Traveler’s Notebook group, I discovered that, in addition to other leatherbound fauxdoris, people make their own covers from fabrics as well. I come from a long family history of quilters, raised by a quilter, have made my own quilt as well and own an ever growing fabric hoard. I liked the idea of sewing my own fabric collection into book covers, as I am OBSESSED with always carrying the little books around with me everywhere, and piecing fabric together this size is SO do-able.

Looking through my collection of fabrics, I was immediately inspired to make one for my friend Courtney. She loves yellow, and is working on her very own quilt made from vintage yellow fabrics. When I finally saw the quilt she was making, it was like this book couldn’t have been more perfect for her. I was so pumped at the result, that I started making more.

I’ve been calling them fauxdori, as they are somewhat modeled after my leatherbound faudori, but actually they are 4.25×5.5″, rather than the standard passport size. I’ve always wondered why all these products, and even the moleskine cahiers that also fit inside standard midoris, are an odd size. Odd size meaning, you can’t replicate them easily without trimming away excess and wasting paper. I speculate that it is because they are based on (1/4) European letterhead size? I use 8.5×11″ and so these covers fit books that are 1/4 of that. These covers I made come with books inside, but once those are filled, it is just as easy as cutting letter sized paper in half, then folding the pages in half and stapling it together. Replacements fillers are easy peasy, and don’t rely on you purchasing from other people or businesses, and you can use the kind of paper you like, whether it is ruled writing paper or watercolor paper. Essentially, it is about the same height as a passport sized midori, but wider. You could still use the small moleskine cahiers inside, but the cover would just be wider. The inside has two elastics, that can hold one or two quarter sized books (it will come with two ruled and blank alternating paged books), a string that you can attach a bead, for a bookmark, and another elastic on the outside to keep the book shut.

With my 10 year Etsy anniversary on the horizon, I had the idea to finish the ones I started, make some more, and offer one as a giveaway.

From my instagram post:

Today is the day!! Robayre.etsy.com is TEN YEARS OLD today. I can’t believe it has been 10 years already. I will forever be grateful to the @etsy platform, for introducing me and allowing me to sell the precious things I make and love. I’m going to kick off the celebration by giving away this quilted fauxdori.

For a chance at winning, please feel free to leave a comment on this post, and then visit the instagram post for more chances there.

International entries are welcome.

On Friday, May 6th, 2016 at 3 pm CST, I will pick one winning entry at random and announce it on isntagram and then here on the blog. I will contact the winner, and request a mailing address at that point. If I do not hear back from the winner within 24 hours a new winner will be chosen

The remaining quilted faux-fauxdoris will be listed in my shop (hopefully) before the end of the day today.

Support Small Business

Published

robayre

on November 28, 2015

in General Update

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It’s official! The holiday shopping season is here. Are you looking for some unique gifts for your friends and family?

I’m kinda late to the party, but I got inspired and made this little collage and share a few of the items that are in my etsy shop and ready for purchase. You can find everything from Art to Zines, there’s really something for everyone. If you spy something you like, but don’t see it in a style or variety that you really want, please feel free to message me. I may have it in stock and just not listed, or can possibly put put together a custom piece just for you.

10 Years on Etsy!

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robayre

on October 8, 2015

in General Update

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I remembered in addition to the opening shop date on Etsy shop pages, there was a place on Etsy’s profile page that states when you started on Etsy. Yesterday I decided to double check and see when I first created my etsy account, and boy am I glad that I did! Turns out it was the very next day, October 8th, TODAY!

My first Etsy Shop Banner

In celebration of being on ETSY for 10 YEARS, I’ve decided to take a little walk down Etsy Memory Lane. Picture it, the Summer of 2005. I was most definitely listening to some Weezer and Jack Johnson. I was also obsessed with the internet (still am) and hearing a buzz all over the craft blogosphere (read, LiveJournal) about this website Etsy. It was a brand new e-commerce site, similar to ebay, but where you could sell your handmade items. I IMMEDIATELY wanted to to sign up, but was also afraid. I was also unsure if this was a legit thing, or some sort of scam. I mean, I’d have to enter my credit card information online, eeeeep! If you signed up right away (if I remember correctly) there was an introductory period where you could list items for free. It took me a few months to realize this was sticking around and was for real. I created my account on October 8th and my account was something like #4885, meaning I was in the first 5,000 people to create an etsy account. Years later I was VERY PROUD of that fact and that my shop profile url page had that number in it. While our account numbers are no longer associated with etsy accounts, I was and still am OLD SCHOOL!

I knew that if I wanted to start selling I should probably test out the waters first as a buyer and see how transactions go. My first purchase was this pendent by artist Jenny Vorwaller whom I followed on flickr at the time. I still love the necklace but only wear it rarely now because I’m afraid that it was starting to wear down the colors.

I actually don’t remember what my first listing was, but I had a variety of items in my shop from the get go. Stationery sets, original artwork and quilted framed yoyo pieces. All items that are still in my shop (in some form or another) to this very day! I’m very proud to say when you go back to my first sales, 1. my first sale was a piece of artwork (this mailart postcard to be specific) and 2. that I never went through that awkward phase where I was selling random things that weren’t representative of myself or my shop. More often than not when you go to shops you’ll find that they started out selling things that look nothing like what they evolved into. Maybe that means I haven’t grown? I hope not. What HAS CHANGED a lot over those years is Etsy. It has gone from this tiny community to this BIG deal that went Public earlier this year. With the introduction of Facebook Memories this year I have been SHOCKED to see how many times I mentioned that I was on Etsy’s front page, literally a dozen or more times. If you had asked me before seeing those memories, I would have said I probably got on the front page once or twice. The front page used to be first items picked by Etsy administrators, then curated Treasuries by Etsy users and now it’s just customized by each user, showing items from your favorites and shops and items they think you would like. I miss the days of chat rooms, where administrators would come in and give one on one critiques to shops.

My recently updated Shop Banner and Info Graphic

I remember the first year when I averaged a sale a week, followed by 2 sales and then 3 sales a week. In recent years I’ve let my shop slide a little bit, meanwhile Etsy was making major changes to how shops and items are found via SEO. In the last month or two I have really been digging back in and trying to dust things off and make updates. Not only are there about 1.5 MILLION active shops, the quality and caliber of items on Etsy is amazing now too. I remember getting compliments on my photography by Etsy admin back in the day. Now? I compare my pictures to other etsy shops and I can see why my shop is lost in the sea. If I was just finding out about Etsy now, I think I would be wayyyyy too intimidated to even try. I am so thankful that I was there in the beginning when we were all just trying to figure things out together.

Etsy opened a BIG HUGE door to me. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am forever thankful for the opportunity Etsy offered me. Before Etsy I made items to sell, but was too shy to even dream of doing a craft show. Having an online shop allowed me to share my things safely until I could grow enough courage to take things publicly and in person. It introduced me to people I consider dear friends today. It has also opened the door to wholesale and consignment too. It was because of Etsy I was offered opportunities to sell my items at events, in stores on the opposite side of the world, to be featured on HUGE websites and even have my product on cable TV!

My actual shop anniversary date is not until May 1st, 2006, so I’m sure I will be back again with another post then, and hopefully even some fun sales and events leading up to the date. Meanwhile, feel free to check out my shop now. See anything you like?

Inspiration Junkie robayre.com