Zakka

We recently picked up on a style trend called zakka. Have you ever heard of this craze amongst the crafting community?

Zakka is Japanese for "many things" and has spread throughout the fashion and design worlds. This term is used to describe anything and everything that enhances your home, life, and wardrobe. Basically, seeing the beauty in the simple things of your everyday life. For example, zakka could be a chip clip shaped as a bird or polka dot, vintage juice glass. 

We actually have some zakka pieces in our shop by Chet & Dot. This Portland, Oregon based artist makes sweet zakka-style gifts for babies and home. She takes a simple design and creates a joyful piece with her clever use of fabric choice and detail.

Patchwork Pincushion

Patchwork Potholder

Speaking of zakka, we have to mention a new book to hit Owl & Drum, Zakka Style by Rashida Coleman-Hale. Its all about the zakka movement that has hit the craft community. From a stylish bread bag to a whimsical bookmark, Rashida has gathered 24 projects from various crafty contributors such as Amanda Jennings and Kat Mew.

Rashida Coleman-Hale is definitely influenced by Japanese culture. She's also behind this Japanese-inspired fabric collection called Washi.  These fun prints of aqua and fuschia take shape from visions of Japanese washi tape. We love the modern and cutting-edge design of this fabric collection.

Hope you enjoyed your little lesson on zakka. Now, we must go and try one of the projects from Rashida's book. Do you have any zakka projects to share? We'd love to hear your zakka ideas.

Bianca and Dani

Nightshade by Tula Pink

New to Owl & Drum, Tula Pink's new Halloween collection, Nightshade!

Cameos in Vapor

Birds in Vapor

Skies in Vapor

Would you like to know the story behind Nightshade? We found this quirky, little story on Tula Pink's website and thought we should share:

"Nightshade tells the story of the three Von Black sisters. Neptunia Von Black, the youngest sister, left home at the age of nine to pursue a career in Pirating. By 12, Neptunia was captaining her own ship and striking fear into the hearts of yellow bellied pirates across the seven seas. Neptunia is also responsible for procuring exotic ingredients and tracking down mystical relics for her two sisters. It was during one of these relic hunts that Neptunia lost her eye in a fight with a sea turtle.

Bella Donna Von Black is the middle sister, the alchemist, the brain, the pride and joy of the Von Black family tree. Bella Donna poisoned her entire calculus class with a batch of smoking absinthe cookies as a 16th birthday present to herself. They’re collective lack of ambition was holding back her education. Her genius lies in managing to transform the most innocuous compounds into a rainbow of deadly vapors. Oh, yeah, and she can also communicate with animals, the raven being one of her favorite familiars.

Scarlett Von Black is the oldest of the three sisters. Scarlett’s ninth and most recent husband perished in a freak weather accident much like her previous eight husbands. Although law enforcement has never been able to prove her involvement some still speculate as to how a man can drown in three inches of rain. Most of the Von Black family wealth is attributed to Scarlett Von Black thanks to a shocking lack of prenuptial agreements."

We love it! You can find these prints at owlanddrum.com and in our Etsy store.

Cheers,
Bianca and Dani

Starting from Scratch

Ever since the idea of Owl & Drum was born, we have been working on building our online presence. From building a Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest page and to opening an Etsy store, I feel like I am in front of a computer non-stop!

This type of thing is not entirely new to me. I am also the co-owner of an upcycled jewelry and accessories business called Urban Creatures.

Shameless plug!  by Urban Creatures

We are over 2 and a half years old and we still check in everyday to see what is happening on Facebook and Twitter.

So, I thought I would touch on the two biggies, Facebook and Etsy. Here we go!

Firstly, Facebook. Whether its a new blog you want to promote or a new Etsy shop, your first announcement should be on Facebook. I guarantee you, once you start talking about something new you will get encouragement and "likes" from more people than you ever expected. If it is a new business you are promoting, start a Facebook page. You can then suggest this page to your friends and then promote that page with a personalized url address. Use that address! You have to get the word out there somehow. When I send electronic invoices or email I always include our Facebook address.

Now, I want to touch on Etsy. The key on Etsy is accumulate admirers. If someone has added your shop or one of your items to their favorites they will see new things from your shop on their activity page.

So, how do you get admirers? First of all, like with the others, you should favor other shops and other shop's items. When they check their activity page they will see who favored them and hopefully they will reciprocate.

Etsy circles is another way to get your name out there. Circles would be the equivalent of friends on Facebook. When you look on your activity page you will see what the people in circle have favored.

Etsy teams. Join some! You want to find teams that are like-minded. First look for teams in your region or state. Next, look for teams that are doing the same thing as you. Shops that want to succeed will cross promote. So, as long as you stay active in the team you should be able to reap some of the benefits. Plus, you will be joining a community and could really learn some new things.

Lastly, curate an Etsy treasury. First of all, it is the Etsy treasuries that are shown on the front page of the site. Make it onto the front page, as either a curator or featured listing, you will get over 1000 views in that hour. Its great publicity. The front page of Etsy is your best way of getting exposure. However, as great as it is, it's not easy getting on the front page. So, the main reason to create a treasury is to make connections within the Etsy community. Another good thing about treasuries is that it is a talking point. It is a topic that you can share on your Facebook page, twitter, or blog (as I'm about to do here).

We recently joined the Etsy team OKetsy. To celebrate being part of this team we thought it was the perfect opportunity to create an Etsy treasury, Owls!.

Here are a few of the artists featured in our treasury:

by Pinkie's Palace

by Oh Honey Child

by Gypsum Rose

Since we are currently starting from scratch with our shop we'd love to hear any suggestions from some of you social networking veterans. Any words of advice?

Until next time,

Bianca

We Are Live!

Ladies and gentleman, can we have your attention please. Our online store, owlanddrum.com, is now live!

With over 100 items, from fabric to ribbon, from craft books to handmade jewelry, there's a bit of everything for the craft enthusiast. Many of which are not in our Etsy store.

Here are few items that you will find at owlanddrum.com:

Fanciful Felties by Samantha Cotteril

Owl Embroidery Scissors from Sublime Stitching

Crewel Embroidery Kit by Wool & Hoop

Screen Printed Produce Bags by Oh, Little Rabbit

This is only the beginning. We are adding new items to our shop daily.

Check it out!

Bianca & Dani

Summer Embroidery

With summer around the corner, we thought it would be a great time to curate an Etsy treasury titled Summer Embroidery. 

From cross-stitched iPhone cases by Ana Crespo to embroidered, little girl dresses by Twinkle Twinkle Studio, we were delighted with what we found.

Follow this link and take a look!

Bianca and Dani

Our First Fabric Shipments

It's feeling a bit like Christmas here at Owl & Drum! That's because this past week we received our first two shipments of fabric. We're opening the boxes and getting excited about the new products, with many more soon to arrive.

The first collection we received was from Dear Stella Designs. We love how their fabric designs are a great blend of modern edginess and traditional standards.

Pictured below is Dear Stella's collection called "Playdate." These prints are perfect for your little girl's nursery or bedroom. At the recent quilt market, we noticed that there is an elephant trend among designer fabrics - and Dear Stella's elephant print is one of the best we have seen. We love it!

                                     

Also new in our shop is Birch Organic Fabric.  This California-based company uses 100% organic cotton and low-impact dyes, so not only are Birch's fabrics stylish and fun they are also environmentally conscious. 

These mod prints are a great combination of whimsy and sophistication. Therefore, whether you want to make a hip handbag or a boy's quilt you will be covered with Birch's collection "Mod Squad."

Both of these collections are available now in Owl & Drum's Etsy shop.

Cheers,

Bianca & Dani