The Handmade Movement is Alive in the Valley

The Fargo-Moorhead area is no stranger to seasonal craft shows, but thanks to the internet, there’s one craft show that lasts all year long, allowing local sellers to show off their wares to buyers around the world.

Etsy, one of the fastest growing handmade sites, offers buyers a chance to find anything from a notebook made of bicycle tires to earrings cast from real octopi tentacles. Anything and everything you have ever imagined can be found at this one site, where the creative energies of sellers from over 150 countries come together. The site thus offers sellers a platform from which to build a brand, a reputation, and enough sales to let some handmade artists quit their day jobs. But while those lucky sellers are few and far between, the numbers surrounding Etsy are more than alluring.

Founded in June of 2005 by Rob Kalin, Chris Maguire, Haim Schoppik, and Jared Tarbell, the handmade site sees an average of 3,000 new members daily. This figure covers both sellers and buyers, since a quick sign-up is required to buy. Last year, Etsy’s company was estimated to be worth a whopping $90 million, an amazing amount considering the economic situation and the closing of such businesses a surge in bank and auto industry bailouts.

Etsy is part of the handmade movement that is sweeping the nation in step with the efforts to ‘go green.’ Its mission: to enable people to make a living making things, and to reconnect makers with buyers. Its vision: to build a new economy and present a better choice - Buy, Sell, and Live Handmade. And it allows that choice to be made easily by charging sellers only $0.20 to list their handmade crafts, fine art, jewelry, clothing, supplies and vintage items.

This new market caught the attention of two local groups, prompting them to open their own shops on Etsy.

Bowwowzerz, started by two female dog owners, offers a wide variety of collars, custom id tags, and toys for cats and dogs, all made from eco-friendly or organic materials. In addition, their shop supports pet rescue by donating 10% of their sales to local groups such as 4 Luv of Dog Rescue.

The two owners found Etsy while shopping for themselves online and quickly decided to open their own shop when they realized the site’s focus on the handmade and its value of the hard work, dedication, and originality of the artists who design and make their own products. Etsy has given Bowwowzerz an increase in orders and a great support group with which to exchange ideas and experiences. It also enabled their shop to increase its wholesale customer base. Bowwowzerz can be found online at http://www.bowwowzerz.etsy.com.

Greenfinch Studio is the creation of sisters Kaiji and Chelsea Thorson, a graphic designer and architecture student at NDSU respectively. Their shop offers buyers one of a kind art, jewelry, and apparel. Raised by two pack-rat artists in a house full of unique found objects and vintage trinkets, the girls grew up assembling mixed media pieces and creating wearable art. Before opening their shop on Etsy, the sisters were limited to arts and crafts fairs as a means to gain exposure and sales.

However, with their increasingly busy schedules and college-student budgets, the online site offered a much easier way to do the same thing virtually. The announcement in their shop reads, “At Greenfinch Studio, we strive to bring a unique and constantly changing inventory. We love custom orders and commissioned pieces!” Greenfinch Studio can be found online at http://www.greenfinchstudio.com. You can also follow their blog at http://greenfinchstudio.wordpress.com.

So, as the world becomes smaller thanks to the connective power of the internet, it is interesting to watch as businesses return to the basics of handmade items to survive and thrive in these tougher economic times. Perhaps, in the end, the most valuable items will always be those made by another person, who poured their creative energy, time, and a little bit of love into them.

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