I
remember the first time I purchased an item from Etsy. It was the morning after my best friend’s
wedding. She may have received an accompanying white-gold band to her diamond engagement ring, but I on the
other hand was giving myself a gift of unholy, non-matrimony: A sterling silver necklace with a pendant
showcasing two tiny birds resting on a dainty branch.
Sitting atop my bed, exhibiting a tousled head of day-after wedding curls — and
post-wedding bridal party
exhaustion — I became filled with giddy excitement and anticipation as I explored the various products on the
site. After making the painful decision of choosing only one item — weddings are quite costly — I clicked the
“submit” button to finalize my purchase.
And so it happens for Etsy shoppers everywhere. The thrill, the delight —
this reaction may also occur while visiting any commercial retail store, but Etsy devotees will agree that something noticeably
different occurs when browsing through the endless array of handmade goods from behind the computer
screen.
That very thrill is experienced not only by the shoppers, but also by the makers —
the artisans that make such websites as Etsy possible. In recent years, there has been a
noticeably growing community with the same goal: To create and showcase handcrafted products. From wall art
and jewelry, to furniture, apparel and endless other items, the creativity on Etsy is ever evolving, as is the philosophy behind its
existence — and longevity.
But is this “movement” toward the homemade, the handmade, the authentic and the
“original” all that new? It wasn’t that long ago that numerous products and items had to be handcrafted;
there was no alternative. Today, with so many mass-produced, “cookie-cutter” options, people are perhaps
unimpressed with the status quo, and are yearning for something that speaks to a more traditional way of
creating.
Take Meghan Somerville. She, like many
others, sought individuality in fashion and jewelry that big-box stores simply weren’t — and aren’t —
offering. As a result, she created FrameBoutique, her very own Etsy shop.
“Today, I think that not only do individuals long for unique, one-of-a-kind
pieces, but also desire to find a human spark and touch behind the product and its design,”
Somerville
explains from her home in downtown Toronto.
“For me,” she continues, “Etsy is a revolution that takes us away from
mass-produced products and big-brother corporations to fulfilling a need to support independent small
businesses and re-establish a connection with the artisan.”
And it’s not just Etsy. Art and design-centred platforms devoted to
sharing and selling art for both those who create and those who love the creations are popping up everywhere,
and not just on the web.
Design junkie
What started as a
personal blog, stemming from “a desire to connect with people… who love design who want their homes to speak
to who they really are,” has become what The New York Times deemed a “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials.” The name is Design*Sponge. Created in 2008 by Grace Bonney,
the online — and now literary, with the publication of her first book — design enterprise educates and
entices thousands of do-it-yourself home decor connoisseurs around the
world.
“I loved having an outlet where I could write about my passions,” explains Bonney
in what’s been coined “the ultimate decor bible” — her book, Design*Sponge
at Home. “And the kind of design I was covering —
accessible to all, regardless of budget — wasn’t being written about in any design and shelter magazines that
I could find.”
Although not an artisan and crafter herself, Bonney wasn’t pleased with
alternatives when it came to the discussion of her particular area of interest — design and decor for the
home. Her solution was to do it herself, as has become the trend at an ever-increasing
rate.
“They kept coming, hungry for design ideas that were relatable yet unexpected and
that spoke to their needs,” Bonney
explains in the book. “And what’s more, they wanted to learn more about the people behind the design — the
creators whose intriguing homes and products were becoming the backbone of the
site.”
Perhaps then, much like Somerville believes, it’s (the return to) the personal
element behind the craft that has fuelled this movement. At commercial chain shops or stores, the personal is
removed; there is no stamp of the individual behind the product. So as Somerville says, “When we embrace
[and] support independent businesses, we expose the disconnect between the original design, the manufacturing
of the product and its eventual sale to a consumer.”
The personal element thus marks this “Etsy generation” and its creators. Enter,
Dottie Angel.
Home is where the art
is
In 2009, after running a design studio called
UPPERCASE Gallery in downtown Calgary, graphic designer Janine Vangool decided to act on her longtime desire
to publish her own books and magazines by launching UPPERCASE magazine, what she
calls a “celebration of the creative process as lived by designers, illustrators,
photographers, bloggers and
craftspeople.”
UPPERCASE Publishing Inc. not only publishes its magazine, but also Vangool’s
deliciously creative books, most recently Dottie Angel, the second volume
in The Suitcase Series
— a collection in which she gets to know an artist,
and “every aspect of their home, their interior, their culture and the work that they
do.”
Dottie Angel is a pseudonym for crafter Tif
Fussell — an English woman living with her family in the suburbs of Seattle. Only comfortable blogging about
her interests, creations and family as her alter ego, Dottie Angel, Fussell through Dottie openly shares her
handmade goods, which she also sells on
Etsy.
The book itself transforms the traditional
book by existing as a work of art itself, “a precious souvenir of a creative journey shared between the
artist and you, the reader,” Vangool writes on the opening page. With sewn adornments, embellishments and
added “goodies” — a glassine envelope holding vintage fabrics, a little paper bobbin of thread and some
vintage buttons, not to mention uplifting notes weaved throughout — you almost don’t want to read it, but
rather display it in your home like a painting, ornament or a daily mantra — an affirmation of sorts to hang
on your wall.
As you flip through its pages, wooed by every endearing detail, you learn about
Fussell and the created world of Dottie Angel: “An extra ordinary world, where the handcrafted thrifty gods
shine down upon you, household appliances have names, vintage slips are daily attire, and high hopes are
everyday thoughts.”
The book is like an Etsy shop in and of itself: You discover Fussell’s
creations and even learn how to make your own — as Dottie Angel would say — “peachy”
crafts.
It isn’t explicitly stated that Fussell, like Somerville and Bonney, creates due
to the lack of individual and unique items in shops. For Fussell (or Dottie) it seems more about her enticing
imagination and longing for the whimsical and unordinary that stirs her hands into a sewing and creating
frenzy — one that cannot be stopped.
But that’s not to say that the desire to
create isn’t born out of an inadequacy per se.
“For a lot of other graphic designers… they
want to express themselves in ways that client work won’t allow, so they’ll sew something, or they’ll sell
posters of their designs and illustrations, or they’ll do photography and sell them on
Etsy,”
explains
Vangool. “If you’re a
creative person, it’s a way of getting yourself out there and I don’t know if actually selling and making a
living is always the intention; it’s just a way of getting recognized for what you’re working
on.”
And so it seems, with each of the above
design-smiths, the potential profit is oft-forgotten in favour of the enjoyment and bliss each stitch, find
or re-fashion brings. •
