Meetup with Maria Thomas, Etsy CEO

Well, I said I would come back with a post about the meetup at Nye's Polonaise Thursday evening. I had a great time. I met many people from the HandmadeMN team that I've never seen in person before. Maria talked with all of us very honestly about how things work at Etsy, and specifically in regard to our questions. She was very personable and it was nice to see that she took our concerns seriously. For more on the evening, click here to view Corrin of Athena's Little Owl's report on the HandmadeMN blog.

Etsy videos

Etsy held a contest for videos promoting Etsy. I thought this one by Estellelle was too cute. It won 2nd runner up.

**Sorry, I had to remove this video, because it was forwarding my blog to Etsy.**

Around town

Last Friday, I went to the St. Paul art crawl with a couple friends. It is always fun to go around visiting the artists' studios, and finding some great art. Our favorite artist discovery was Mary Barrett. She had a large printmaking studio filled with many landscapes, primarily woodblock, but also intaglio, collage, and pigment paintings. Mary was very willing to talk with us at length about her work. She used to teach printmaking at UW River Falls. I'm sure she inspired many students!

Tomorrow, I'm going to go to a meet and greet with the CEO of Etsy! She's in town, and there's going to be an event over at Nye's. I'm very excited... will report back this weekend.

Welcome to MN Maria!

New treasury

I finally caught the treasury when it was open. I had a great selection of abstract art in my poster sketch, but yesterday, I went to check on the items, since I saw the treasury would open after not too long, and they were all blank. So instead I made another circus themed treasury, and I'll have to collect the art ones again for next time. To visit this treasury, click here.

Front page!

It turns out you can miss a lot when you are crazy busy. I was checking in on my google analytics today for my Etsy shops, and I saw a huge spike in views from September 21. I went over to Craft Cult, and searched through the front page treasuries from that day, and wah lah! My pastel piece The Thicket made it on the front page!
Thanks StudioElan!

(I was also an alternate in this front page treasury October 4. It's been an exciting week for me!)

Treasuries!

What a treat when I logged in to Etsy today... Two of my shops are featured in treasuries simultaneously! First up is a pine cone treasury by CaitlinSainio featuring a photograph from TholeImagery.etsy.com. Click here to visit this treasury.


Next up is a national parks treasury by dayinthepark, featuring one of my Yellowstone drawings from SarahThole.etsy.com. Click here to visit this treasury.

Treasury

FuriousDreams has included me in a treasury with some other great artists on Etsy! Click here to visit and get a closer look!

Settling in

Well, we are all moved in at the new place. It's fantastic!

The unpacking is done. The organizing is almost there. Tonight, I sorted out my art supplies for ease of use in the office. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to use them. Unfortunately, I am still having issues accessing the internet from my own computer. Hopefully we will get that sorted out soon. My etsy shops are open again, please visit :)

I got a treasury on Etsy tonight. Click here to visit. The photo-uploader isn't working right now. I'll add an image of it tomorrow if it lets me.

Treasury

I just got a treasury spot on Etsy. Click here to get a closer view at any of these beautiful photographs.

Etsy Treasury

Thanks to RozzyToz for including one of my photos in this treasury, with so many other beautiful items.Click here to visit and look closer at any of the included items. Click here to visit RozzyToz's Etsy shop and view her lovely beaded jewelry and appetizer picks.

Time flys by

Well, once again it's been a while since I've posted. I spent some time working with my husband and my friend, updating the webpage for our photography business, Thole Imagery. Its all together now, and we have a studio to shoot in, which is great! We are located in south Minneapolis, so it is convenient for most people in the Twin Cities metro area. We are also offering several new services this year, such as the old-fashioned hand colored look. Look for this service available for your own photos in the Thole Imagery Etsy shop next week!I also offer my digital portrait paintings through Thole Imagery as well- if you don't have a good picture to work from, come have a portrait session first!

I'm starting to add more things to my sarahthole.etsy.com shop also... I finally added the layered drawings that I blogged about here months ago! It's about time! I have tons more art ready to be listed. I have a ton of little abstract pieces I was hoping to frame first, but I might have to work on getting images of lots of them this weekend.

Etsy Treasury

Fell Painter, of fellpainter.etsy.com has made a wonderful treasury of paintings (including one of mine) check it out at http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=38522

Treasuries are fun

Today I once again got a treasury on Etsy. There are so many great items on Etsy! I love choosing a theme and seeing what kind of a collection I can make out of it. Today I finally got to make a circus treasury. I've been waiting on this one for a while, but was never at the treasury when it opened up. Get a closer look at these great pieces here.

New!! Custom Portraits

I am thrilled to announce that I have added a new product to Nikasha Designs today. I am now offering custom digital portraits, made to order from your photograph. I have been having so much fun making these, and I'm excited to offer them to the public. I can do people, as well as animals. If you want detailed info on the process, or pricing, you can find that in my Etsy profile here.

Etsy Treasury

I got a Treasury West on Etsy today. I filled it with ribs and ribcages. Perhaps it would have been more fitting before halloween, but oh well. Our bones exist year round, right? Click here to visit my treasury and look closer at the pieces included.

Treasury- some of Etsy's great painters

This evening I got a Treasury West, as they call it. I decided to find some great paintings of the sky to fill it. I was very happy with the artwork I found. To visit my treasury, and link to the individual artists, click here.

On the front page of Etsy

It's been a while since my last post. I've had a bit of a "computer vacation." Sometimes you just have to give your eyes some time away from the screen. I have some very exciting news to report though: last week I had a painting make it to the front page of Etsy! This very fine treasury by shavingkitsuppplies featured a variety of figural profiles including this self-portrait of mine.

(hmm, three treasury posts in a row... I'll try to not be so redundant in the future. )

Etsy Treasury

Today I got a treasury spot in Etsy, I made a treasury featuring light colored items, including several porcelain pieces, and some of my favorite artworks. It happens to be my birthday, so you could buy me one of these items... or help me bring this treasury to the front page by viewing it and clicking on the items here :)

I'm in a treasury

My work has been featured in an Etsy treasury curated by the Buddha Builder. This treasury will be up for one more day. To check it out, click this link.

Photography

We went up to a friends cabin in June, and I got a lot of great photographs. I have several listed now at TholeImagery.etsy.com. I did a lot of work in black and white - I love how it simplifies the image into an instantly classic look. Most of the photographs I took fell into two categories. The first was small plants. I took lots of images of wildflowers and ferns.








I also spent a long time, almost hypnotized by the variances in the surface of the water on the lake. I have many abstract reflection shots, as well as a series of shots of the water that I have digitally altered. I am still increasing the inventory in this shop, but if you haven't checked it out before, you should: TholeImagery.Etsy.com. (This Etsy shop is an extension of our Minneapolis portrait and event photography business, which you can find more information about at http://www.tholeimagery.com/.)