Tatatataaaa: a Delicious Dudes quartets! (jummy! ;))
We got this idea when some of us were discussing jummy men on twitter and Philomeen shouted out “it looks like y’all are playing quartets here!”. It started out as a joke, but then turned into a serious, but still loads of fun, project with other illustrators joining in.
Check it out! We will be posting Delicious Dudes every Friday in November.
My first submission:
(Quartets is a Dutch game by origin (they might play it in Germany too). It’s mostly played by kids. In Dutch stores you can find a lot of different themes to quartets. Like a ‘Miffy’ quartet, an animal quartet and so one. You can find more information on how the game is played here.
https://www.ellenvesters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Zelfportret-beetje-wit.jpg00Ellenhttps://www.ellenvesters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Zelfportret-beetje-wit.jpgEllen2012-11-02 13:59:312012-11-10 12:36:02Delicious Dudes Quartets – Week one: Luke Wilson
This weekend I was one of the lucky ones attending Hello Etsy 2012.
I was blessed with stomach flu the day before.
So I fit my lovely bordeaux stockings perfectly.
The day looked even brighter when in the train me and compadre Femke Veltkamp found out that our telepathic skills had made us dress completely compatible.
Oh my, the world problems us modern girls have to deal with.
Everything was forgotten when Janine Vangool opened her mouth. How one shy woman can silence dozens of people telling us all to just follow our hearts.
Actually, the whole day could be summarized with this sentence.
When you hang in there, doing what you love, staying true to what feels right to you, you will find success.
Call me (and a whole Piet Hein Eek factory filled with people, for that matter) unrealistic, but I am a strong believer in this mantra.
The reason that I love Etsy so much, is because they are not just about commerce. Etsy is truly dedicated to supporting a new economy, a world where big companies have less power and relationships amongst people will be more important again.
(Okay, after three talks from people who seemed to have had the same workshop in storytelling I felt some allergies kicking in, but hey, the higher message is cool!)
Matthew Stinchcomb told us that at every Etsy event they try to include speeches that trigger social awareness.
This group of Etsians had the honor of meeting 87 year old Satish Kumar, former monk and peace activist, sharing his inspiring views on sustainability.
The energy this dude had!
87 Years old!
The man deserves a gif don’t you think?
Watch all the different Hello Etsy talks below. Be sure to check out the inspiring speech of Satish Kumar, all the practical advice for starters by Diana van Ewijk from MamaMarketing (a MUST follow) and by my mate Kim Welling, and the fantastically sobering talk by master Piet Hein Eek:
If you have the time to watch, you may stumble onto this particular funny scene…
***I have met so many lovely New York people the past weekend. My thoughts are with them in this storm. I really hope everyone is safe…***
Saskia had just delivered a baby (three weeks old!) when I met her. And still she took the time to see me and share her advice on being successful on Etsy!
From all the inspiring conversations I had, I gathered the following Etsy tips:
Say goodbye to the fear of being commercial. Try to identify with Etsy buyers, investigate what they are looking for and adjust your listings to this knowledge
People tend to look for gifts when cruising Etsy. Make products, not only prints!
Popular products are products that tell a story, for instance about your city or country
Work on your photography skills, good product photography makes all the difference (still working on this one…)
Get over your wedding allergies (thankfully this intimate wedding did the job)! Weddings pay the bills!
Make sure your shop looks full, have a large array of products ready for people to choose from, but still retain a simple (visually quiet) and cohesive look overall
Be open to customizing, and tell your crowd about this option!
And then for a good-old-sneaky-commercial-thinking-bastard-trick: use Statsy Clockbot for regular relisting to get more views
All this resulted in me deleting all my old stuff from my shop and putting in new prints, but also my first product: Dutch Dwellings, or “Hollandse Huisjes”. You can now buy five varieties of little Dutch houses, each representing another Dutch city (Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht, Volendam and Lutjebroek). More versions to come!
And guess what… they have been blogged about already! I am so proud.
As well as very happy that there are people out there that are doing a much better job at product photography than I am…!
(the Dutch Dwellings, or Hollandse Huisjes, are for sale at my Etsy shop: ellenvesters.etsy.com).
https://www.ellenvesters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Zelfportret-beetje-wit.jpg00Ellenhttps://www.ellenvesters.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Zelfportret-beetje-wit.jpgEllen2012-10-18 22:24:432012-10-29 20:13:49Dutch Dwellings: Etsy tips and the selling of Dutch houses
