Captain's Notes

Chocolate & Banana Blackwork Wall Art by stitchnmomma

Hi everyone! I hope you've had an enjoyable holiday season and a productive end to your Etsy year. The Etsy Needle Arts Team went through some changes in 2012 and I'm happy about where we're headed in 2013. I want to thank everyone who joined our team this year and participated on our discussion boards and in our creative challenges. And I especially want to thank our team leaders, both those who have stepped down after contributing their time and effort to the team and those who have stepped up! Kelly and Michelle have been amazing so far; wouldn't you agree?

We have a few team things coming up, including our first creative challenge for the year. I'd like to remind you that Kelly / stitchnmomma won the last challenge of the year and chose "winter sports" as the theme for January's challenge. There are still almost three weeks left to stitch up something sporty! Submissions will be accepted here on the blog between January 23 and 26.

We are also looking to do something fun to honor the winners of 2012's creative challenges, so stay tuned! Staying tuned would be a good idea in general as we keep looking to engage our members in new activities. I hope you all have a wonderful, prosperous, healthy, happy, stitchy 2013!

Captain's Notes

Felt Rainbow Wall Hanging by lovahandmade

Long time, no post! I've just emerged from the madness of my first ever craft fair so it's time for an EtsyNEAT update. Since I last posted, two new members have joined the team: HotGumbo and lovahandmade. Welcome to you both!

It's hard to believe, but it's almost time to reveal your entries in the latest team creative challenge (you have been working on your entry, right?). This month's theme is "water / the ocean". Maybe some of you in warm places have had a chance to personally experience this theme and have inspiration to share. What's your favorite way to appreciate the wonder of water? For whatever reason, I'm usually not one to daydream about lazing about on the beach, but even I am looking forward to getting my family out to a particular beach again this summer. It's only a lake--not the ocean--but it'll do.

The reveal date for the creative challenge will be June 22. I look forward to seeing what you've all come up with this time. Until then: happy stitching!

Captain's Notes

Embroidered Linen and LED Constellation by MetalMindCircuits

Hey everyone!

Quite a few needle artists have joined us since my last post, so I want to welcome AddysGranny, LessBtchMoreStitch, MetalMindCircuits, epicstitching, sleepingfoxstitchery, MelodyMoneyDesigns, daisyeyeshandmade, mimiMatelot, Angelstitchbroderie, and NeedleNosey to EtsyNEAT!

EtsyNEAT's next creative challenge is coming up in June, so we all have weeks ahead of us to be inspired by the theme chosen by last challenge's winner, FunWithNeedles: Water / the Ocean. But I know we're all inspired by lots of things and I'm curious what's inspiring you right now. Recently I've been thinking about flowers and bright sunny colors. Comment and let me know what you're working on!

Until next time, EtsyNEATers :)

Captain's Notes

Cross Stitch Green Folk Pendant by HandStitchedWithLove on Etsy

I'd like to start out by welcoming two new members to the team: HandStitchedWithLove and ToosDetectiveAgency :)

I hope you've all been busy working on EtsyNEAT's March/April creative challenge! The embroidery on my entry is almost done. Remember the theme, as chosen by last challenge's winner FunWithNeedles, is "the moon". You can begin posting your entries here next Friday (April 20) and on April 26 we will begin voting. 

In case you don't remember or if you're new to the team and haven't participated in a challenge yet, here's how the process works:

1. You design something cool that fits with the challenge theme and bring it to life with your needle art of choice.
2. You post your entry somewhere linkable online: as a listing on Etsy, on your blog, or in our team's Flickr pool.
3. On April 20, we will have a post here on the EtsyNEAT blog with a special tool that will allow you to post a link to your entry.
4. On April 26, we will have another post showing off all challenge submissions and members will vote for the entry they like best in the comments.
5. When voting closes, we will tally the results and announce the winner, who will receive adulation and the opportunity to pick the theme for the next challenge.

Good luck to everyone on their creations for the challenge and in general!

Captain's Notes

Brooch pink ocher by Mounshak on Etsy

We've reached the end of another week here on the Etsy Needle Arts Team, and I suspect much of the world is in the same position. This week we welcomed two new members: Mounshak and kmqt. They both do some pretty unique embroidery (I haven't seen a lot of E. coli art on Etsy, but I may not have been looking in the right places), so check them out!

I hope everyone has been hard at work this week; I certainly have been, but not just with embroidery. It has been so warm the past several days that I couldn't resist cleaning up our outdoor living areas and getting to work in my flower beds. I started working on a new bit of embroidery today, however. We're heading back into normal March temperatures tomorrow, so I should get used to being inside the house again.

I had to untangle a few knots today as I was working away, and I was reminded that I've been meaning to ask what my fellow needle artists do about thread knots. They drive me crazy; I hate that feeling of pulling on a thread and meeting resistance when I'm expecting to pull another few inches through. Is there anything that you all do to prevent knotting as you're working? I'm curious!

Feel free to share your thread wisdom in the comments or just let us know what you're working on right now (my current project is a pair of little horses. I love them so far!). Otherwise, I will see you next week!

Captain's Notes

Copper Patina Embroidered and Beaded Tree by sewjenaissance on Etsy

Seasons are changing! Here in the North, we're headed into warmer weather, and for some of us in the United States, it's quite surprisingly already here. I've spent the last few days outside playing with my kids and cleaning up the winter debris in my garden beds. The change in routine the weather has provided has been invigorating. Here's to nature providing fresh inspiration for us all :)

If you can find the time, consider pointing some of that inspiration toward our creative challenge for March and April. Think of the moon! We have about a month of waxing and waning ahead of us before we can reveal our entries. Mine is still rattling around in my head, and I'm looking forward to putting it to needle and thread soon.

What's the weather like where you are? Is it strangely warm, strangely cold or perfectly normal? And what are you up to? I hope you all have a happy weekend and a happy equinox. See you next week!

Captain's Notes

Handemade cross stitch bookmark by Handemadeit on Etsy

Happy Friday, everyone!

This week, the EtsyNEAT team welcomed a new member: Handemadeit. Welcome aboard, Hande!

I'd like to extend a congratulations to our last creative challenge winner, FunWithNeedles! Remember the theme for March/April, as chosen by our winner, is the moon. We all have until April 26 to ruminate and create  (posting begins April 20). I have an inkling of a design in mind for my own entry ;)

Until next week, everyone! I hope you all have a happy, productive weekend!

Captain's Notes

Dolly Parton Embroidered Wall Art by AllNightDiner on Etsy

It's a special (aka late) edition of Captain's Notes!

A few of our members had some really great things going on this week. Amanda Flex's All Night Diner was featured on UrbanDaddy Atlanta and Cindy Steiler of Mary's Granddaughter was Etsy's featured seller on Thursday! Big cheers for Amanda and Cindy :)

Voting ended today for our last creative challenge, and I'm excited to see who won and what the theme of the next challenge will be. It's almost time to get inspired!

I believe that's all the EtsyNEAT news I have to share this week. Let me know in the comments if I missed anything ;) I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Captain's Notes

Embroidered fleur-de-lis brooch by PinstripeAccessories on Etsy

There is still an hour or so left in Friday here in Western NY, so let's get cracking on some captain's notes!

It's been a quiet week but here is one exciting bit of news: Natta of LoftFullofGoodies is having a giveaway! Check out her blog for details on how you can win a $50 credit to her shop.

I've asked in our team discussions what everyone is working on, and it seems like many of you are working hard on your craft. If anyone wants to share pictures/links to projects you're working on or new items you want to show off, please feel free to add them below this post. I'd love to see!

Until next week :)

Captain's Notes

It's been a week, has it? Hello again!

I'm happy to report that since I last posted we added a few new members to the Etsy NeedleArts Team:

NimbleQuickThreads, KatySchnell and Bridgeen

Welcome!

Our members have listed some great handmade items this week, and I am seeing a trend of adorable, tiny embroidery and cross stitch. I approve of this trend:

Doctor Who Dalek ring by FunWithNeedles on Etsy

Cross stitched gentleman pin from SnowStitched on Etsy

Hand Embroidered Square Brooch from MuhuJewelry on Etsy

See you next week :)

Captain's Notes

Ahoy!

If you will pardon my cheesiness, I would like to use this week's installment of notes from the captain to introduce myself. My name is Nicole and I am taking over captain's duties for the Etsy NeedleArts Team. On Etsy I go by AniaJane, which is a mash-up of parts of my two-year-old daughter's name. She seems cool with it so far. I was born in Western New York (Go Buffalo!) and still live here with my family. It's a cool little place, even if Tom Brady doesn't like our hotels.

I've been sewing since my husband gave me a machine for Christmas three years ago, and now I like to mix it with free style hand embroidery. I love drawing designs and working them onto a piece of fabric with my needle and thread and then making something wearable or useful out of it. I enjoy learning new stitches and I am really interested in making the shapes of the stitches themselves a main feature in my design.

I've been doing this for a bit under a year and have had my shop on Etsy for only half of that time, so I still have a lot to learn, and that is why I am so excited about becoming captain of this team. We have members doing all sorts of cool things with the needle arts and I want to be inspired by and promote their great work!

I want to thank Amanda for doing a great job captain-ing us this far. I look forward to building on the hard work the leaders of this team have already done and to finding new ways to engage and grow our team.

~Nicole

Captain's Notes



So, I seemed to have missed announcing the challenge winner here on the blog, but a huge "Thank you" to Shelley AKA Spin for doing so on the team board and keeping things moving.  As many of you know, the winner was Daniel of Tails32x with the Christmas Ice Castle.  Congratulations!

The winner of the current challenge always chooses the next challenge theme and this time its:

Vehicles!

The reveal date here will be December 16th, which is when you will all be able to share your work and we will start voting Tuesday the 20th and will run it through Christmas.  You can see all the details on the discussion board here!

We have added some new memebrs recently.  I want to welcome:

vintageandwhimsy

bstudio

aniajane

and

majestickreations

Sadly, we also lost one of our old leaders and a wonderful teammate, Rebekah of Beetastic.  Rebekah has decided to take a break from etsy for awhile and hopefully will be back in the future.  I am certain I can speak for my fellow team leaders when I say we have appreciated the work Bekah put into our team and we hope to see her back soon!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.  November is speeding right along! 

Captain's Post

from funwithneedles

Hey Team!

Happy Friday!  I hope your Fall is off to a fabulous start.  We have welcomed some new members since my last post:

littlesasquatch

supervelma

fireandicestitchery

funwithneedles

bloomsbybecca

Welcome to all the new folks and please be sure to check out the discussions thread for new members.  Feel free to contact myself or one of the leaders if you have any questions!

In other news, it is the reveal day for the September/October challenge!  The theme, chosen by the last winner, sewjenaissance is architecture.  You can link up your submission below.  We will accept submissions through Tuesday, October 25th and then we will open voting!  Good luck to all the members participating, I cannot wait to see what you all have come up with this month!

Captain's Notes

(manjunk)

Good Morning team!

Welcome to Fall!  Today is the official first day of Fall for the those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.  I don't know about you, but it is my favorite time of the year!

As with all teams, members come and go and therefore our numbers can change as well.  We are now up to 99 members...I believe its the highest I have seen since I have been captain.  Welcome to all our new members:

myneedlehabit

averyleedesigns

beantownembroidery

crewelwhorled

farawaydesigns

thankgoodness

lithy

najada

and my personal new fave:

manjunk

welcome to what I think is our first male teammate! 

I am pleased to also see a good mix of more traditional needle artists alongside contemporary folks...there's a huge spectrum of "needle art" out there and it is my goal to represent as much of it as possible.  To all new members, please be sure to check out the new members discussion thread for info on submitting your blog, facebook page and more!  For those who have already added your blog, I will be updating that over the weekend.

I think that is all for Captain's Notes this week.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Cheers,

Amanda

Captain's Notes and Challenge Winner

Happy Friday Team! 

I hope you all are gearing up for a wonderful Labor Day Holiday (to our US members).  We have added some new members recently and I'd like to welcome them:

Jbeinke

 dammitjim 

TeaberryFolkArt

 

I decided to leave the voting up for the rest of the week to give folks plenty of opportunity to make a selection for the team challenge.  This morning I have tallied up the votes and our winner is 

 

Sewjenaissance  with "Two Birds"

Thanks to all the members who took the time to enter...everyone had great works and if you missed them you can see them all in this post!

That's bout all for now.  I am still slowly working on details for the blog so if you have contacted me about helping out and I haven't gotten back to you please know I will be getting back with you soon!

Have a great weekend...

Amanda AKA Pilous

 

Captain's Notes

(by waterrose)

Happy Friday Team!

First off, lets welcome the newest members of our team:

Waterrose

and

kittyandme

We are glad to have you on the team!

As you have noticed I am working on some new ideas to update the blog.  You may see things change here over the next few weeks as I work out some kinks and different looks, but hopefully in the end this will mean a new blog look and layout for us. 

Some of you may have seen the discussion post regarding team treasuries.  For now it looks as though we are going to put that aside and readdress it later.  This doesn't mean you can't make and promote team treasuries and certainly if you do please link them in the team discussion for them here!

Lastly, today begins the reveal day for the team challenge.  The theme this time is "Natural History". You will be able to enter your work until Tuesday 08/23 and then we will start the voting!  Good luck to all and I can't wait to see what everyone has come up with!

Cheers!

Amanda AKA Pilous

 

Captain's Notes

(from WhatParty)

Happy Friday Team!

First I want to welcome our newest members:

WhatParty

and

sewjenaissance

We are excited to have you on the team! 

It seems there will be some rearranging coming up soon with the team blog.  We haven't ironed out the details just yet, but the leaders and I are considering scaling back our frequency in posts and possibly asking other members to help participate in upkeep.  I will let you all know as soon as we do!

If you haven't already, take a look at the current team challenge that ends August 30th.  The theme is "Natural History".  You can read all the details in the team discussions here.

That's all the news for now.  Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Captain's Notes

(marysgraddaughter)

It has been a week of changes on the team.

For starters, let's welcome all the new members that have joined:

Marysgranddaughter

fishboneskeletonkey

yellowdandy

purpbutt

and

dimenstitch

I am so happy to see all the continued growth and the amazing artists that keep joining our team!  To all new member, please be sure to check out the "New Members" discussion thread on the team page for some good newbie info!

This week, we would also like to announce a change on the team leadership.  Unfortunately, Bekah of Beetastic will be stepping down from her position (but thankfully staying with our team) and Liz of ThisTinyExistance will be stepping up to take over for her.  Thank you to Bekah for all your work on our team and for getting us this far!  

Thank you as well to Liz for joining the leadership.  We are happy to have you.  You all can look for Liz to start recruiting members for the team blog starting around next week.  If you are interested in being featured, please convo myself or Liz!

Lastly, We will be seeing Stitchnmomma step down from creating our weekly treasuries.  We thank her for her hard work as that is not an easy job.  The leaders are currently reworking the weekly treasury aspect of the team blog.  If any members have suggestions we are all ears.  For now, we will leave that spot open on the weekly blog schedule.

Whew...I believe that is all for now.  As always, have a great weekend!

Cheers,

Amanda AKA Pilous Percilla

Captain's Notes

(Beard Envy by Treetrunkarts)

Happy Friday Team!

I hope you are all gearing up for a fun and cool weekend.  I know we are!

Welcome to all our new members:

CatsPJsCreations

TreeTrunkArts

CanDoStitching

Please be sure you check out the new members info link in the team discussions for helpful tips on adding yourself to the team blog roll, facebook and more!

In other news, we are looking for a new leader.  Sadly we are losing out Bekkah as a leader (don't worry...she's staying on as a member) and we need someone to fill in her spot.  You can see the posting here for more information!  Please let us know if you are interested!

I believe that's all for now. 

Captain's Notes

Soft Pines by flamelilyphotos

Happy Friday Team! 

I hope you all are surviving the incredible heat we have all been experiencing this Summer. 

Its been a quiet week here at EtsyNEAT.  

I want to welcome our newest members:

BoBetsy

RustbeltGallery

Flamelilyphotos

We are so happy to have you on board and hope you enjoy being a part of our team!

I believe that's about all for this week.  As I said...quiet. 

Enjoy your weekend and please share your new work below!