Play the name game

A subject recently raised on the Etsy Ireland Team forum: what's in a name? Well it's a good question, how did you arrive at your choice of Etsy shop name? There are some really great and creative names names on Etsy, my favourite is Hello Knitty - a shop no longer selling, absolutely hilarious name to me as i'm a huge Hello Kitty fan.

Shop names are important, you really want something memorable that says what you do - or alludes to it. Some folks do have a shop name that doesn't 'do what it says on the tin' but they have a logo that explains it instead.
Your name is a part of your brand. I cannot say if this is the case worldwide but having your own name in your shop name used to be something of a tradition here in Ireland.
You might say 'i'm just popping down to O'Sheas for some milk' or 'i'm off to Murphys' for a swift one' (a drink). Once upon a time many businesses in Ireland were family run, to this day you will still find many in rural towns and villages. However most shops on the highstreet are chain stores these days so the family run business with the family names have died out a lot. You will still find many pubs with someone's name though - the |Irish hold on to that tradition for dear life!

My original banner

You will also find a lot of Irish artisans and artists do include their name in their shop / business.
I originally had Petscrap as a shop name - it was a funny poke at crap and also Pet Scrap as in scraps of paper. I like my double entrende's.
But I found that a lot of people didn't really get the joke and in fact crap is a lot more offensive in some parts of the world than it is here. So I decided I needed a name that 'does what it says on the tin' - so I decided upon Petras Creations as I wanted something more inclusive than Jewellery, as I also make cards, ornaments, keyrings, glasses chains etc. I hope it is a memorable name in conjunction with the bright colour of my shop.

occasionally someone's name is a bit of a mad choice....
this was Wexford a number of years back

 

For the love of handmade

We’ve all heard of the auction sites and other big boys where we can snag great bargains. But artisan crafts, indie art, antiques and collectibles are not about ‘the bargain’. You are dealing directly with people with a true passion for what they do, whether it is creating or hunting for collectible goodies or antique gems.

These are not goods created in factories and in most cases are created with love by hand. Nor did the wonderful collectibles and antiques find and clean themselves. There are many people out there like me who not only love this, they love knowing they are supporting it.

This is where Etsy comes in. If you swim in creative circles you have quite probably heard the word Etsy at some point. The first time I found Etsy was through an acquaintance that also makes cards and scrapbooks. Etsy was a very different site when I found it back in 2009, I was taken in by the creative beauty.
Fast forward to 2013 and Etsy is bigger, to me it seems to have two images. Its brand and its soul. The brand is what brings in people who have never considered handmade before but it is the soul that draws in most sellers and lovers of artisan crafts. The soul is what drives Etsy.

There is a thriving community on the site, well there are many really. As there are hundreds of teams. They all serve different purposes and functions, some are fan teams, promotion teams, link share teams and so on.
I’m on several team myself but my ‘home team’ is Etsy Ireland (Crafty Ireland team) - it’s a small but wonderful thriving team. We hold regular meetings, have held a mini market, share resources and information, have held team events and the occasional meet up. We are trying to boost Etsy’s profile in Ireland. I love trade teams too. However the Etsy Ireland team sums up what Etsy is (to me) all about: an artistic and creative community. 

My Etsy shop

Etsy Ireland team blog