Craft Porn: Handmade Movements takes on and whole new meaning in PlayGirl Magazine

If you're on Etsy, you're probably familiar with the current buy-in ad campaigns they are running. It caused a kerfluffle of sorts when not every one who bought in was pleased with Etsy's exclusion of instructions for general searches on the site, but hey, you can't please everyone right?

But not all advertising is paid for and sometimes the best press is free press. So Etsy should be seeing some traffic from a different source very soon because Playgirl (that's right, the magazine) just did a little feature on their blog. Playgirl is also running the Etsy items in their print version which should be arriving in mailboxes very soon (er, not that we would know).

And no one should be surprised.

It's not news that craft sometimes takes a turn for the pervy, and even in the mainstream, porn has a DIY streak a mile wide. So, if Playgirl is reaching out to the Bust-subscribing, Jezebel-reading demographic, this is probably a wise move. This might turn out to be one of those moments when the handmade movement takes a little dip in the legitimizing waters of the mainstream. If G-rated crafters are a little peeved about the association with Playgirl, just think what porn did for VHS.

via the sweetie pie press, and Faythe on Glimmer.

[Image: Shannon Gerard, you can pick up these pins in the Witchfire shop on Etsy, or you can peruse lots more in Shannon's Etsy shop]

Economy Schmeeee-conomy: Etsy Posts Plus Signs

Those of you who have only been reading along for the last year, might not have noticed the frothy edges of Marimello's mouth when speaking about buying handmade. Suffice to type that Marimello toots the importance of buying handmade for a number of reasons, yet begrudges the need to consume and buy anything in almost the same breath.

Let's not get into the complete description here.

We gotta keep it short, because it's time to hit the road for Maker Faire, but we don't want to rub it in that we are going to the most fantastical geek fest, so here's some good news to leave you with:
Not making it to Maker Faire is nothing to be sorry about because there is SO MUCH going on this weekend. Check out the calendar for other options.
OK so what's the good economy news? While news about recession/slow economy growth keeps pouring in, Etsy news looks bright.
One one level, for sellers, maybe Etsy is sending out the "nothing to see here" message of calm. The last month has seen growth, but maybe not as much as projected.
Sales are out of this world though, so on another level it would seem that Etsy is succumbing to the same old slow down that most retailers are experiencing. Which is not as sad as it sounds! This might be the sign that Etsy really is legitimizing the handmade movement as a force to be reckoned with. Sure, Etsy has been making big waves in the smaller realm of the handmade community, but now it looks like some of those waves might be big enough to appear on the larger online consumer economy. Etsy certainly has the mainstream press to prove its influence on a larger social scale and reporting these kinds of numbers might fall on more mathematical ears as a sign of a new type of consumerism.

Your thoughts are welcomed...is Etsy's glass half full? What on earth does that mean? Should the handmade movement necessarily move forward in the mainstream?

Marimello Meetup at Maker Faire

Marie is going to be up at Maker Faire this weekend and would love to see some of your shining faces--like, in person. Drop a note to marimellodesign [at] gmail [dot] com, if you'd like to chat over some suds.