Oh Canada! Treasury Challenge

 The polls are open, Canada, for what will be our last challenge for the summer.  In honour of this finale, we have five entries this week.  They are, in no particular order, I Love Canada from j2studiocraft, My Own 'Fringe Festival' from grassrootssaskatoon, Brighten Your Day from bstudio, Boho Spin from stonewillowjewellery,  and Dark Ride from laughterandsand.  The polls will remain open until midnight in Ottawa, Sunday, July 1st.

From Treasury Headquarters, we wish you all a great Canada Day and a summer to match!

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh Canada! Team Treasury Challenge

Oh, Canada! The polls are open! Thanks to our featured shop, KarensRopeWork, and our volunteer judge, AngelqueCreations, our entries for this challenge have been narrowed down to four finalists. Our four collections are from treasuresbyteala with Grow Baby Grow!, bstudio's Father, Dad, Daddy, Pop, Pa, Dada, Papa: Old Man, Patriarch, Paterfamilias, clonehardware's On the Lake, and DarkRide's Cottage Comforts.

The polls will remain open until midnight in Ottawa, Saturday, June 9th.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh, Canada! Team Treasury Challenge

 Oh, Canada!  We have a winner!

Congratulations to Karen, at KarensRopeWork.  Her vintage inspired collection, Retro Is In, scored in overtime and will see her shop featured in the next challenge.

* all entries must use an item from KarensRopeWork in the top row of their collection

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this post by midnight (Ottawa time) Saturday, June 2.   If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 5 more Oh, Canada team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam. This requirement is essential for providing the judges with one stop browsing.

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge. Just because it’d be cool to have guest players ;-)

Judging
How about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this post to take on this important role.
Since treasuries should not include an item from your own shop(s), challenge winners are cordially invited, but never expected, to help narrow down entries. If that's you, please let me know in the comment section of this post.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh Canada! Team Treasury Challenge

Oh Canada! We have a winner!

Congratulations go out to myvictoriancottage.  Her bright and beautiful Orange Crush took the polls with a landslide 64% of the votes.  An item from her shop will be featured in all of this challenge's entries.

 To enter this week's challenge, you must:
use an item from myvictoriancottage in the top row of your collection

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this post by midnight (Ottawa time) Saturday, May 5. If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 5 more Oh, Canada team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam. This requirement is essential for providing the judges with one stop browsing.

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge. Just because it’d be cool to have guest players ;-)

Judging
How about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this post to take on this important role.
Since treasuries should not include an item from your own shop(s), challenge winners are cordially invited, but never expected, to help narrow down entries. If that's you, please let me know in the comment section of this post.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh Canada Team Treasury Challenge

Oh, Canada! The polls are open.

Thanks to Norma, of junquete, our treasury challenge entries have been narrowed down to four collections for voting.

Congratulations to our four finalists. This week they are Flowerpot with Mellow Yellow, treasuresbyteala's Spring Fling in Pastel, Take Me to Your Leader from theCottageWorkroom, and clonehardware's Juicy Pear

The polls will remain open until Friday, March 23, midnight in Ottawa.



Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh, Canada Team Treasury Challenge

Oh, Canada! Get curating!

A big Oh, Canada team congratulations goes out to the winner of our last treasury challenge, Andrea of artisaninthewoods. Her collection, Dreaming of Spring Flowers, cleaned up at the polls and will see its curator featured in our first challenge of March.

To enter this week's challenge, you must:
use an item from artisaninthewoods in the top row of your collection

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this post by midnight (Ottawa time) Sunday, March 18. If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 5 more Oh, Canada team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam. This requirement is essential for providing the judges with one stop browsing.

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge. Just because it’d be cool to have guest players ;-)

Judging
How about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this post to take on this important role.
Since treasuries should not include an item from your own shop(s), challenge winners are cordially invited, but never expected, to help narrow down entries. If that's you, please let me know in the comment section of this post.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

The polls are open!

Our j2studioscraft challenge is now over, and the entries have been narrowed down these four finalists. The winner of this treasury challenge will be featured in our next challenge.

This week's beautiful curations come to us from clonehardware with Softly - Softly, aosta with For the Love of Lavender, OceanPearlJewellery with Big Turquoise, Splash of Electric Lime, and bstudio's Colorful Delights.




The polls will close on Saturday, February 18, midnight in Ottawa.



Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh Canada! Treasury Challenge 2012

Welcome back, team! We'll start our new year off with the winner of our Christmas challenge, RJCharms. Congratulations, RJ!



To enter this week's challenge, you must:

* use an item from RJCharms in the top row of your collection

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this blog by midnight (Ottawa time) Friday, January 13, 2012. If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 5 more Oh, Canada team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam. This is essential for providing the judges with one stop browsing.

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge. Just because it’d be cool to have guest players ;-)

Judging -- how about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this blog and take on this important role. Since treasuries should not include an item from your own shop(s), challenge winners are cordially invited, but never expected, to help narrow down entries.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh Canada! Treasury Challenge

Congratulations to Karen of KarensRopeWork, this week's treasury challenge winner. We'll find lots
of inspiration in Karen's shop for our next challenge!





To enter this week's challenge, you must:

* use an item from KarensRopeWork in the top row of your collection

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this blog by midnight (Ottawa time) Friday, December 16, 2011. If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 5 more Oh, Canada team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam. This is essential for providing the judges with one stop browsing.

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge. Just because it’d be cool to have guest players ;-)

Judging -- how about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this blog and take on this important role. Since treasuries should not include an item from your own shop(s), challenge winners are cordially invited, but never expected, to help narrow down entries.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh Canada! Treasury Challenge

The polls are open, Canada! Thanks to last week's winner, Isabelle at IGBijoux, our entries have been narrowed down to a manageable four for voting. This week's final four are Drops of Sunshine on a Grey Winter Day by RecyledandResewn, The World in Black and White by KarensRopeWork, 'Rust'ic by bstudio, and Winter Dreams of Summer Skies by DarkRide. Who will be featured in our next challenge?





The polls will remain open until midnight in Ottawa, Wednesday, December 7th.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

OhCanadaTeam Treasury Challenge

A big Canadian congratulations goes out to Patricia of TheOldBarnDoor. Her gorgeous hot and frosty collection took last week's challenge prize. An item from her shop will be featured in the top row of all this week's challenge entries.




To enter this week's challenge, you must:

* use an item from TheOldBarnDoor in the top row of your collection

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this blog by midnight (Ottawa time) Friday, November 11, 2011. If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 5 more Oh, Canada team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam. This is essential for providing the judges with one stop browsing.

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge. Just because it’d be cool to have guest players ;-)

Judging -- how about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this blog and take on this important role. Since treasuries should not include an item from your own shop(s), challenge winners are cordially invited, but never expected, to help narrow down entries.

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team

Oh, Canada! Come out to play!

Oh, Canada! The Treasury Challenge is on, and we invite you all to play! Even if you’re not big on curating, there are important ways that you can contribute.

We’ll kick off the new season with a Canadian theme. That is, do whatever inspires you, eh?
To enter, you must:

* post the link to your treasury in the comment section of this blog. If your treasury link isn’t here, your treasury isn’t entered in the challenge.

* use 6 team members in the top three rows. Incorporate as many team members as you like, but there must be at least 6 team members in the top three rows to qualify for the challenge.

* tag your treasury with octchallenge and ohcanadateam

* invite others to play and provide a link to the blog challenge.

Judging -- how about you? Not into the treasury making thang, or just want to sit back for a bit? Please, be a narrow down judge, to help whittle the list of entries down to manageable size for voting. Be one of the first three folks to volunteer in the comment section of this blog to take on this important role

The winner will not only receive a warm fuzzy feeling, but also, in the next challenge, an item from their shop will be used in the top row of every challenge entry.

We'll be running the challenge on a two-week interval. Treasury making will begin on a Monday and end on a Saturday. Then, it's off to the judges! Voting will start the following Wednesday and a winner will be announced the subsequent Monday so that the fun can begin all over again ☺

Copyright 2011 Oh Canada Team, EverandBliss and jansonpottery.

New Adventure Team Treasury Challenge

The Oh Canada Team is trying out a fun new team challenge idea using Treasury East! This fun activity is designed to bring new exposure to our team and individual shops, as well as bring us all together in the spirit of beautiful treasuries!

The contest is open to anyone, and we invite all Etsy members to participate, even if you’re not an Oh Canada Team member.

The winner will receive the opportunity to select the theme for our next challenge. It could be an idea, a color, or even an item from their shop, or a favorite shop, to be featured in our next Treasury Challenge.

The Rules

1. Make a beautiful treasury in Treasury East.

2. Your treasury must incorporate the challenge’s theme, and include at least 8 Oh Canada Team members. Check out our team roster for members, or search for the tag OhCanadaTeam on Etsy.

3. You must include the words “OCT Challenge” somewhere in your treasury’s title.

4. You must tag your treasury with “ohcanadateam” and “OCT challenge”

5. In your treasury’s description, let viewers know that it is an entry in an Oh Canada Team challenge, invite them to join, and provide a link to our blog.

6. If any item in your treasury sells or is removed, please replace it with another item from the same shop.

7. Please do not use your own shop(s) in your entry.

How to Enter

To enter your treasury, share a link to it in the comments section of this post.

The deadline for the “New Adventure” challenge is Tuesday, August 10th. Our judges will select 6 finalists, and voting will begin on Thursday, August 12th.

Voting for this challenge will close the following Tuesday, and the winner will be announced along with our new challenge theme on Thursday, August 19th.

All entries will be archived in our Oh Canada Team Treasury Gallery.

The Theme

In the spirit of our first trying-it-on-for-size treasury challenge, the theme for this challenge will be about new adventures, fresh starts, and exciting beginnings. You can interpret the theme any way that you are inspired, and get curating!

Challenge Helpers

Not ready to make a treasury yet? We will also be looking for guest judges to help narrow down the finalists. If you would like to participate, let us know in the comments section of this post, along with a link to your shop. The first two volunteers will be contacted by our Treasury Challenge admins.

Following the contest, we’ll open a discussion on our Facebook page about how it went. That way if we need to tweak anything, or if any concerns come up, we can get them ironed out before we begin the next Oh Canada Team Treasury Challenge.

If you have any questions, contact our Team Oh Canada admins.

Good luck!

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

Team News: Canadian Banner Contest

The Oh Canada Team Blog needs a spiffy new banner. We need an image that captures the essence of the team: Canadian handmade goodness! So we’re going to invite all of our team members who create to make us a mascot for our blog. Vintage sellers are welcome to join in, too, with a distinctly Canadian vintage find.

Here’s how it works:

1. Create an item for your shop that features a distinctly Canadian image or pattern. Think beavers, dogwoods, maple leaves, red and white…you get the idea!

The deadline for listing your entries is June 15th. You may enter an item that is already in your shop. Voting will take place from June 17th to June 28th.

2. List the item in your shop, and include the tag “OhCanadaTeam BBC”. This will allow us to locate your entry for the voting process, and can be removed when the contest closes.

In the description, let us know what inspired your Canadian creation. Include a paragraph in your listing about the Oh Canada Team banner contest, with a link to our blog and the voting dates. This can also be removed after the contest closes.

3. Upload one image of your item to the Oh Canada Team Flickr Group, with the tag “OhCanadaTeam BBC”.

Your main image should have a neutral background - light for light items and dark for dark items. This will help ensure that our blog title will be legible if your item is chosen for the banner.

Your image should be at least 1000 pixels wide so that there is plenty of room to shape a suitable banner from the picture.

Once the entries are complete, everyone will get a chance to vote for their favorite items and pictures here on the team blog, from June 17th to June 28th.

The items with the top 4 votes will be featured in the Oh Canada Team blog banner, and the shop’s Etsy Mini will be displayed in the sidebar. The banners and featured shops will rotate every 2 months.

If you have any questions or comments about the Oh Canada Banner Contest, visit the threads in the team Flickr group discussion and Oh Canada Yahoo Forum where we can chat about the challenge.

Good luck and happy crafting!

Canadian Pride by Tres Belle Knits

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

The Oh Canada Easter Egg Hunt and Sale

Come join the Oh Canada Team for a Spring celebration sale! Select team members will be offering sale prices in their shops from Sunday March 28th to Monday April 5th.

Look for the Easter Egg logo in Etsy listings to spot shops that are participating in this fun sale. Each shop will be offering their own special deals, so be sure to check out their Announcement for details.

For a complete list of member shops, visit the official Oh Canada Team Profile page. You can also look for specific products by adding the tag OhCanadaTeam to your Etsy searches.

Happy shopping!

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

The Sunshine Blog Award

The Oh Canada Team Blog was recently honored with a nomination for the Sunshine Blog Award. We received this great compliment from CJ Grand of The Grand Design. You may recognize her from her fabulous Steampunk jewelry shop on Etsy.

The Sunshine Blog Award is given out to bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blog world. The rules for accepting the award are:

1. Put the logo on your blog or within your post.

2. Pass the award on to 12 bloggers.

3. Link to the nominees within your post.

4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.

The Oh Canada Team is honored to be listed among some of the very best blogs on the web. Our nominees for the Sunshine Award are:

A Little Bit of Everything by Leela Bijou
Akane Designs by Christina
The CanArtisan Team
Capturing Creativity by Kerry Angeles
Color Matters by Jill Morton
Glass Circus

Dax Designs by Glenda
Fashion, Lifestyle and Beauty
I Like Pretty by Rosalie
Indie Sista’s
2 Much Yarn
GreenCottageGallery by Vivian of Lady in the Tower

Stop by and see some of the wonderful creations and inspirations of these great bloggers!

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

Team News: New Flickr Group

Coral and Chartreuse Treasury
Curated by bstudio

The Oh Canada Team is now on Flickr! Team members are invited to join this exclusive Flickr group and add their very best photos to the pool for everyone to enjoy. By joining this photo sharing community, Oh Canada will be able to share it’s creativity with plenty of admirers, bloggers and ogglers of all kinds.

The secondary purpose of the Oh Canada Team Flickr group is to create an archive of photos that will be used in an upcoming regular feature here on the blog called “Friday Finds”. Every Friday, an item from one of our team members will be put in the spotlight!

Team treasuries will also be saved in the group pool, so that we can all see the wonderful collections featuring team members. If you make a team treasury, or one of your items is featured in one, send a link to me, Mortira, and it will be added to the pool and featured here on the blog.

How to Join:

To take part in the team Flickr album, you will need to sign in to Flickr with a Yahoo ID. When you visit the group home page, you should see the “Join?” link. When you join, please leave a link to your shop in the message section so that I know who you are.

I have set up a few guidelines for joining the Flickr group, to help get our team members working together and looking spiffy. This will help us make a name for ourselves in the Etsy community and build a reputation for being an awesome collection of shops.

1: Mention the Oh Canada Team in your shop announcement or profile.

2: Have your shop policies section filled in.

Once you’ve been approved, you will be able to add photos from your Flickr photo stream to the team pool. The current limit is 3 photos per day. Remember to upload your very best photos for the “Friday Finds” feature here on the blog.

Photo Guidelines:

1: One photo per item or shop listing. If you want to add a new photo for an item you’ve already added, please remove the original and replace it. This will keep the album tidy and easy to browse.

2: Flickr’s user guidelines do not allow shop links or promotional material in photo descriptions, Please do not put your shop URL or web address in your description, or mention Etsy.com. You can use your Etsy username, so that interested viewers can find you.

For example: “Designed by bstudio” or “Created by Poocheze”. The group’s description, which is visible to non-members, explains briefly how to search for shops by username.

3: Use the team tag “OhCanadaTeam” on the photos that you add to the pool. You are allowed to use “Etsy” as a tag on your photos (just not in the description). It’s also a good idea to use tags like “handmade” if they apply.

You do not have to geotag your photos, but if you want to add one or more of them to the map, it will make the photo pool more interesting for visitors. Team members are also welcome to add team and Etsy related discussions to the group, so feel free to chat and interact! If any of our bilingual team members would like to volunteer to translate our group description for greater visibility, please let me know.

More details on using the team photo pool can be found on the Oh Canada Flickr Group page.

To celebrate our new Flickr group, here is a collection of some amazing art and photography prints from the Oh Canada team, curated with the Byhand.me spotlight tool.

To see even more incredible creations by the Oh Canada team, include the tag “OhCanadaTeam” in your searches on Etsy.com.

If you’re looking for tips on perking up your Etsy photos, have a look at some of these great tutorials and threads:

Taking High-Quality Photos of Your Work

Enhancing Your Etsy Photos Using Aviary

Shop Makeover: Feature Friendly Photos

Brighten Your Photos with Picnik and Flickr

Achieving Clarity and Crispness in Your Photos

Taking Great Product Photographs

How to Make and Inexpensive Light Tent

Taking and Editing Quality Photos of Beads and Beadwork

See you in the pool!

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team Blog