Etsy Tips: Sharing Treasuries

Making an Etsy Treasury is a lot of work - it’s almost as tough as photographing, describing and listing items in our shops. So once all that time has been put it, it’s sad to know that in just 48 hours our beautiful collections will be gone.

Last year, I was asked to share the techniques that I use to capture treasuries and share them on my blogs. Being able to save the image of treasuries that we make or get featured in is great, but sharing them with our friends and readers is even better.

My original tutorial for capturing treasuries was created for PC users working with Windows Vista or XP. Anyone who has recently upgraded to Windows 7 may know that the process has been greatly simplified. So, I have revised the instructions and will share them here.

I’m going to list each step as clearly as possible, so if you’re just getting to know your computer or the internet, hopefully these instructions will be helpful to you.

One: Open your internet browser and find the treasury that you wish to save. Scroll down so that all of the items are centered in the window, and nothing is cut off.

Two: Take a screenshot of the page to grab the treasury. Hold Ctrl on your keyboard, and press Print Screen [Prt Scr].

Three: Open the Paint tool in Accessories. Paste the treasury screenshot onto the page. Hold Ctrl and press V.

Four: Click on the tool icon that shows a dotted rectangle. Use your mouse to draw a box around the treasury, only capturing what you want to show. Leave a few mm of boarder around the edge, and try to make all of the sides evenly spaced.

Five: Select “Crop” from the tool menu. This will automatically trim away all of the excess image, and leave you with a tidy screenshot of your treasury. Save the new file with a unique name - I usually use Title/Curator/Date. Do not save it as a BMP file, or the image will be distorted.

Now that you have this image of your treasury, you can upload it and share it almost anywhere you want to. A few good places to show off an Etsy treasury are your Facebook page, Flickr pool, and your blog. Most blog platforms allow you to upload images directly from your computer; but with a few extra steps, you can show off your treasury, and improve the look and SEO of your blog at the same time.

One: You will need to upload your treasury snippet to an image hosting site like Photobucket. Be sure to upload it to the correct album or sub-album. If necessary, relocate the file before completing the next steps.

Two: Copy the Direct Link URL for your hosted image.

Three: At the point in your blog text where you want to display your treasury, type the following code:

<img src="YourImage" alt="ImageTitle" title="ImageTitle">

Replace YourImage with the URL for your picture. Replace ImageTitle with a name for your picture. The alt tag will create a text caption if viewers have HTML turned off, or if the image doesn’t load properly. You’ve probably seen these before. Instead of a picture, a box with a red X will appear, and if the alt tag is used, the name of the image will also show. The title tag will create the yellow caption that appears when you hover your cursor over an HTML image. Both of these tags can also help your picture and blog show up in search engines, so it’s a good idea to use relevant keywords in your image title.

You will need to add this code in the HTML editor of your blog platform. If you would like the image to be a clickable link to another destination, you can highlight the code, and use the link tool of your blog editor to add the destination URL. You can also add the code by hand. It will look like this:

<a href="Destination URL" target="_blank"><img src="YourImage" alt="ImageTitle" title="ImageTitle"></a>

If you want to link back to the actual treasury that you are sharing, remember that Etsy treasuries eventually expire. Broken links aren’t good for SEO (Search Engine Optimization), so it’s a good idea to remove the link code after the treasury has expired.

The target=“_blank” code will make the link open in a new window (unless the viewer right clicks or has tabbed browsing set up). This will make sure that readers don’t lose track of your blog when checking out your link.

Four: Set the alignment for your image.

To center the picture between paragraphs, enter the HTML on a new line, and add paragraph tags to center it. It will look like this:

<p align="center"><img src="YourImage" alt="ImageTitle" title="ImageTitle"></p>

You can also make the text of your blog post wrap around the image if it is on the left or right of the page. To do this, add the code to the first line of the paragraph where you would like the image to be. Replace <p align="center"> with

<p style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 10px 10px 10px 10px;"> for right hand images

or

<p style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px;"> for left hand images.

To make a handy reference of the HTML code, you can highlight and copy it, and save it to a text file, like Notepad or WordPad.

If you upload images to Flickr, you can also use their handy "Blog This" tool to show of single treasuries. This option only works for one image per blog post, but it's great for adding a quick blurb to your blog.

To find out when a new treasury spot will open up, check in with the Treasury Clock on Craftopolis.com. It keeps track of Treasury Main and Treasury West, and provides a fairly accurate countdown to the next opening.

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team and Inspirational Beading

Friday Finds: Floral Scroll Pillow

Floral Scroll Pillow
Originally uploaded by bstudio18.

This week's featured item is a beautiful floral pillow. The pillow features Kaffe Fassett print fabric and hand embroidered flowers and leaves. The soft and feminine flowers would look wonderful on a bedside chaise or a sun room futon!

Visit bstudio to see even more wonderful silk and embroidery designs, from pillows to jewelry and more!

Also featured today is a lively treasury by Joanniel called Canadians Love Etsy. This collection features a unique array of designs from the Oh Canada Team.

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

Shop Spotlight: The Knit Gallery by Arly

What kinds of images come to mind when you hear the word knitting? Is it a granny in a rocker making wedding blankets for her grandchildren? Do you think of mittens and toques? While these traditional forms of knitwear are still popular, there are even more ways to make fibers fabulous. In the Knit Gallery, you can find a wide variety of handmade treasures, from knit jewelry and accessories, to sweater pins and even knitted stationery! Oh Canada puts the spotlight on Arly and her knit creations.

Oh Canada: Of all the things that you create, which item or style is your favorite?

Arly: Designing is rather new to me as I used to simply knit from patterns that I would find in books and magazines. Right now my favorite style is cables! I will knit almost anything that has cables in it from purses to Twilight inspired mitts.

Oh Canada: Where did you learn your skills?

Arly: I learned to knit as a child from a combination of forces! My grandmother taught me and this was reinforced by various Brownie leaders. An aunt taught me how to knit and another aunt taught me to needlepoint. All in all (with the exception of my mother) both sides of the family are pretty "crafty". I didn't really take up knitting until I was in my early 20s - right at a time when knitting was not "in" and yarn stores were closing every day! Poor timing on my part for sure.

Oh Canada: Everyone has different motivations for making their unique wares. What drives you to create?

Arly: I love the wool. The texture, the colours, the possibilities. My day job is not at all creative and if I didn't have a creative outlet I would simply go mad! As soon as I am on vacation and my brain is not in work mode it is as if a switch has been flipped and I can't stop coming up with ideas to try!

Oh Canada: If you could learn to use any new technique or material, what would it be?

Arly: I would like to learn to machine knit. I know that is shocking. Most handknitters shun the machines! I would just love to be able to see all of the different designs come to life in record time!

Oh Canada: Any plans to incorporate a new product into your shop this year?

Arly: Ahh, with knitting there are always new products! I want to make more purses this year. I have lots of lovely handles and lots of nice thick yarn. And yes, there will be cables on those purses! And I have four large hanks of yarn that are waiting to be made into toddler sweaters.

Oh Canada: What is your favorite thing about selling on Etsy?

Arly: One of my first sales was to Tanzania. For some reason that just thrilled me. To think that something I made could travel all that distance to warm someone else (they were fingerless mitts). I also "chat" with a lovely bunch of crafters on one of the threads and I feel that I actually have these new friends in my life and that is really lovely.

Oh Canada: Do you have a number one tip for new sellers?

Arly: The best tips that I was given: Make sure your location is listed; use all of the allowable tags and all five pictures; take the best pictures you can; don't list all at once - oh wait - did you say number one tip?

Oh Canada: What is your favorite thing to buy on Etsy?

Arly: I would have to say cards, although I also seem to buy a lot of soap and earrings!

Oh Canada: What is the number one best item in your shop right now?

Arly: Mitts of all sizes!

You can see even more of these wonderful knitted designs in her Etsy shop, The Knit Gallery by Arly. If you love knitting, or want get started on a new hobby, she also has a selection of PDF patterns to try! You can take a look at Arly’s designs and inspirations by checking in with her on Flickr.

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team and Arly

Friday Finds: Recycled Jeans Pie Hat

Blue fleece and recycled jeans cuffed pie hat
Originally uploaded by annymay.

This week's featured item is a cozy pie hat by AnnyMay. Made from blue fleece and repurposed denim, this is recycling at it's finest. It's the perfect accessory for wearing while you cheer on your favorite winter sports team! Check out her shop for even more ecofriendly, handmade clothing, and some cheerful, bilingual customer service!

Other team members in the spotlight today include Joanniel, who was recently featured on the front page in this beautiful treasury. You can check out all of the items featured in The Vault on Craftcult.com. This collection was curated by SayYourPiece.

This lovely team treasury was curated by Little Bear's Mom, and features some wonderfully gorgeous Moody Blues.

Dalim (aka Dashe Designs), a new member to the Oh Canada Team, shares this cheerful treasury with a bright contrast of colors. Yellow and Purple features some beautiful team creations.

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

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

Pride is Golden

With the 2010 Winter Olympics now in full swing, proud Canadians are tuning in to events to cheer on their favorite athletes. Although hosting the Olympics for the second time is a tremendous honor, one has to wonder what effect the Winter part has on our county’s reputation for cold weather. Will we ever have a chance to host summer games?

Although we are known for chilly Northern weather, Canadian summers are gorgeous and warm. In some areas, you could probably fry an egg on the sidewalk during the sweltering summer months. With an abundance of lakes and rivers for swimming, and plenty of forest for camping, Canadian summer vacation is something to look forward to.

Sunrise, Sunset features some deliciously golden orange picks from the Oh Canada Team. This treasury is a great reminder of weather to come. Soon the mornings will no longer be frosty, and barbeques will be calling out to be lit. This collection was curated by team member Soap Star.

Red and White, by Simple Sundries is a wonderfully patriotic collection of Canadian made items. The colors of our flag are a classic combination that never goes out of style.

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

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team

Flower of the Month: Violets

Like birthstones, each month of the year has it’s own special flower, dedicated to those born within that month. In February, the official flower is the violet. Violets are common in many North American gardens, and are often given as gifts in indoor planters. Though they come in a variety of colors, the purple violet is the most common.

In addition to being mildly fragrant and very pretty, the petals and leaves of violet plants also have sweet taste, like pea pods. They are often used as garnishes in salads and desserts. These versatile little flowers are a wonderful preview to spring.

As a tribute to February’s flower, here is a selection of wonderful violet inspired items and purple picks from the Oh Canada team. To see even more designs like these, add the tag OhCanadaTeam to your searches on Etsy.com.

Featured Shops:

bomobob, She’s Batty Designs, Bovine Bubbles, bstudio
Piper Deggan Designs, Clara Clips, Joanniel Designs, A Lil’ Horseplay
Organikx, Nancy Wallis Designs, Footprint Designs, Kaleida Eclectics
mireilles, Barefoot Tams Creations, Lucky Lucy Style, Ferozas Jewellery

Copyright 2010 Oh Canada Team and Etsy.com