#I've seen something similar on etsy so I might buy it

[gatheryepens]

Books are really expensive here lmao...

[shadyufo]

How much do you like selling on Etsy? I've been thinking about opening up a shop to sell my own taxidermy art on there. It's just that I've heard Etsy is known for shutting down shops randomly and people keep saying that Etsy's "dying"/on a downward slope. I also heard there are a lot of scammers... What are your thoughts?

Hi Anon!

My feelings about Etsy have definitely gotten sorta complicated over the last few years.

First of all, I love my little shop. I love getting to interact with so many sweet and lovely folks and I love getting to send my art and oddities all over the country. I’ve sold pieces through Etsy that have ended up in museums and classrooms, as props in movies and television shows, that have been centerpieces in peoples’ weddings, that were birthday gifts for little kids just getting into nature and science, and so many other neat and wonderful places with some really awesome people who I am forever grateful to for supporting my shop.

That said, in my opinion, Etsy is definitely not what it used to be and there are plenty of things I wish they would do differently to make the site better for sellers and buyers. I think their search feature needs a total revamp and they also need to crack down on all the sellers flooding the site with mass-produced merchandise. Their recent decision that AI-made content is totally fine by them is another serious bummer and a slap in the face to the real artists using their platform. The list goes on.

In spite of all that, if you want to open an online shop, then Etsy is still probably the best site to do it on, at least starting out. It’s a trusted, household name and they have millions of users from all around the world so you are going to be getting much more traffic than if you were just starting your own site from scratch without any sort of social media following.

You'll still likely want to grow a social media presence (if you haven't already) to help drive traffic to your site rather than rely on Etsy alone for this. A great deal of my own shop's traffic comes from Tumblr and what little I post on other social media. This is something I really should be better about as I've kinda shot myself in the foot by not utilizing them more over the years...but I just really don't like using TikTok or Instagram haha.

From what I’ve seen, vulture culture stuff-wise, Etsy mostly gets mad at folks who sell wet specimens or other more “gruesome” type of oddities and don’t blur the main listing photo or do something similar to warn folks that it could be something they might find upsetting. They also prohibit the sale of some animal parts that are perfectly legal to buy and sell provided you follow the laws around them. So if a seller was listing some of those items, while legal elsewhere, that might have gotten them in trouble with Etsy. Here's a list of what they don't allow. And here's a more specific list of their prohibited animal parts. Note bear, wolf, and zebra are on the list—it's perfectly legal to sell parts from some of these animals in some places provided you follow the laws around doing so, but Etsy doesn't allow it at all. I've had them remove listings for domestic dog and cat skulls in the past as well—the law there is in regards to selling dog and cat fur (which is illegal in the US) but Etsy seemed to think it covers bones as well which it does not.

As for scammers, don't click on suspicious links anyone sends you and watch out for people wanting to contact you outside of Etsy. Don’t swap phone numbers, email addresses, etc with people. Etsy has guides on their site on what to watch out for that it’d be good to read through.

So all of that to say that if you want to start selling your work online then I think Etsy is most likely going to be the best place to do it, at least starting out. If you want to just dip your toes in the market before opening an Etsy shop though you can always try posting a few items here or there on Instagram or one of the oddities selling groups on Facebook but in my experience at least, Etsy is still the best way to go. Then, once you build up a following, you can always start your own site or branch out beyond Etsy if you want to.

I wish you all the best, Anon! Hope you find wild success selling your work wherever you decide to do it <3

[cresneta]

On the off chance anyone is looking for ideas on how to spruce up the Yor cosplay they bought online I thought I'd post about some the modifications to the ones I wore to a con not too long ago. Mind you, this isn't about to turn into a cosplay account and I'm not planning on posting a full picture of me in either costume.

For the battle dress, as many of fondly refer to it as, I personally didn't care for the charm that it came with and ended up replacing it with a pendent that I found on Etsy. For this, you just need the pendent, a pair of scissors, and a needle and thread. You may also be able to find something at your local craft store that is closer to what she actually wears or possibly 3D orint something if rusts your thing.

This cosplay came with black stockings that are meant to be worn with shoes of a similar material. I used several coats of red acrylic paint on the bottom of the shoes that I wore for this and sealed it witg several coats of Modge Podge to help it last longer. If you do this, I recommend taking a bit more care witg tge masking tape that I did. For this part you just need red acrylic paint, a brush, masking tape, something to protect the surface you're working on, and some Modge Podge or other sealant. I propped the shoes up like that by putting drinking glasses inside them.

It's a small enough detail that I bet most people saw me missed, but I personally enjoyed having it. Here's what the soles of the shoes look like before and after walking around all day at a con:

The only thing I modified on the red outfit was the headband as I didn't care for the buttons that it came with and the ribbon that was used to tie it in place wasn't as close to being screen accurate as I'd like. While this still isn't perfect, I am happier with it than how it was originally. That being said, it is easier to put on with the ribbon than the elastic cord so that particular modification may not be worth it. If you're looking online for this sort of button, it's called a shank button.

As you can probably guess from the photos, for these modifications you just need a needle, thread, scissors, and an elastic cord that can be found in the jewelry section of your local craft store.

Just thought I'd make this post in case it helps anyone. It's really not hard to buy a Yor cosplay online, at least if you're in the US, and they're actually not that expensive. I wouldn't call them cheap either - they do cost more and are better quality than the sorts of costumes you can buy at th supermarket in the US during spooky season, but it's not as much more as you might expect.

Also, if you opt to get red contacts be sure to be careful about where you get them from and do talk to an eye doctor first. I've seen some horror stories out there about people seriously damaging their eyes by using bad contacts. I used Gothika lens which are FDA approved and have just a slightly different base curve than I'm used to.

(Also, I recommend picking up fashion tape to help things like the black stockings stay in place as well as the bandau for the red outfit if you've had similarly bad luck with finding one that fits)

[bobbinlacebliss]

Hi! Bobbin lace is taking over my entire life and you've given very good advice, so I was wondering if you have some wisdom to share about roller pillows. I want to make long strips of lace to use in historical costuming so I'm looking to buy one and I saw the beautiful pillows the maker of the one you used in your Bobbin Lacemaking for Relaxation video sells on etsy. But there are so many kinds! Flatter and more upright and just a stand with a loose pillow without explanation if those are just aestheric/personal preference or for a specific type of lace or bobbins. Do you have any guidance?

For sure! One thing I would say is, while I do love my roller pillow that you saw in the videos, I'm not sure if it would be good for something that uses a large number of pairs (aka more than say 25 pairs), so keep that in mind if you're thinking about getting the same one or similar. (oh and one other note about that pillow - whatever it's stuffed with will occasionally leave a slight residue on the pins when you pull them out. just something to be aware of.) As for the ones that are just a stand with a pillow, I think what you're talking about there is "bolster" pillows which are a specific style often used in Europe. My attitude towards bolsters is somewhat dim but that may be unfair - lots of people use them! What I would really recommend in terms of roller pillows is the ones that are shaped like a cookie pillow but have a roller mounted at the top (I'm sorry, I'm not sure what the actual name for that style is). I don't think the seller of my box pillow makes that kind but I got one from roseground.com which I like (although I... haven't actually used the roller insert yet, lol - it converts to a semi-block pillow, which is how I've been using it so far. In fact you might also look into block pillows more generally if you're going for long strips - block pillows can handle those as well, and have the advantage of also being able to do corners. The disadvantage is that you have to do a little more strategizing regarding how you move the blocks around, so if you're sure you don't want corners or circles or anything, a roller might indeed be the best choice.)

tl;dr:

cookie-shaped rollers are your best bet for long strips that use a large number of bobbins

the box roller you've seen me using works well for long strips that don't use too many bobbins

bolster pillows can be used for strips but represent an investment into a certain mode of lacemaking that tends to be less popular in English-speaking countries

block pillows are the most versatile option overall

Hope that helps! Happy to answer any more questions as well. :)