Internet Artisan Interview - Craftomania

I thought it would be a good idea to introduce you to the talent behind Craftomania. Can't remember where I first found out about them... it was definitely one of etsybloggers teammates. If you want everything Etsy-related at your fingertips, the Craftomania Toolbar is the way to go. I got a little more engaged with the designers behind the toolbar for this interview, and found a trio of fabulous artists in their own right. So don't fail to go by their individual shops and check out the art they're creating.

• What's the name of your website, and who operates it?

http://craftomaniatools.blogspot.com/

We are a team of 3:
Noica, Founder, Possum, Designer and CTA
Plush toys and graphics Designs




TheVintageBearLair, Coconspirator, Creative Department, Development and Possum management, Bear.
Anything Vintage or scented with time..




NuritDesign, Mama Bear, Producer and Mental Support
Jewelry Dreams

• Tell us briefly the major thrust of your website? (bear with us {:-D )
  

Bear:" A couple of months on Etsy were more than enough for Noica, the industrious possum, to assemble a very detailed and ever growing list of her favorite Etsy related links, and She was baffled ;Navigating through the endless list of blogs and magazines and tools. Every site or blog led to a new exciting one, and on it went.."

Noica: "I was wondering to myself that there had to be a better way to manage my store and my time on Etsy. Luckily, my Bear was in the toolbars business, and he showed me the ropes. I felt so excited starting Craftomania Toolbar; finally, order from mayhem, neatness from Chaos! (Yeah, I'm a bit of a control freak. I guess that's why my bear calls me Noica). I categorized my lists of everything Etsy. And finally there was serenity: I was 1-click away from everything I needed and even the morning coffee tasted better. My Bear reminded me that it's selfish to keep it all to myself and that others should benefit from my sickness. That’s when we teamed up and created the Craftomania Tools Team."

Bear: "It started with the Craftomania Toolbar and taken a life of its own. Now we are dedicated to anything Etsy and handmade. Our first goal is to create a Tool which is a synonym to managing your store on Etsy. The Craftomania toolbar is a lot more than a links index; Among many things is has html/java script capabilities, gadgets and widgets support, a COOL radio player, weather updates, Email notifications, community chat room, and it is totally customizable.

Our major thrust or Vision is:
a. A better welcome for new Etsy users, especially sellers, where all the information, Indexes, tools, gadgets, blogs, sites, magazines and anything Etsy is easily available, sorted out and categorized for easy use.
b. To keep improving and building Tools that will serve ALL Etsy community whether via Craftomania Toolbar or widgets for your shop, gadgets with statistics (hearts count etc..)
c. Having fun while meeting new friends as our community grows, promote free crazy campaigns like the color theme, hold discussions on Etsy forums, help our community with assorted easy-read articles and guides, technical tutorials and marketing tips, SEO tricks, promotional interviews, and basically spreading the love of anything handmade, unique, personal or original.

• Do your website owners also operate independent blogs?

Yes: Noica has one: http://noyab.blogspot.com/
And a Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/noica/
And a vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/noica
Told you she was industrious.

• If so, show us a piece of artwork you recently finished

Noica just finished creating "Noica":

Noica- The magic doll from noa brumberg on Vimeo.

And Nurit just finished creating these:

• What handmade items are you working on right now? Any sketches?

Bear: Glad you asked that. I almost finished developing, the first of many, floating gadgets and widgets that will keep track of hearts your shop and items receive.


In this example you can see Noica's shop hearts:


Everyone with the toolbar installed could use this floating gadget.

• What does your website use for advertising? What do your avatars look like?

Since the toolbar is free, and will remain that way, our budget for advertising is limited. We are always adding new blogs, magazines, and Etsy sites to the toolbar and since we link directly to them from our site and from the toolbar, we request the owner of that site/blog and to post our banner to show support.
Several of our new best friends already did that:
amyholtondesigns, theAshGrove, creativitaeblog, creativemamma and many more.. More banners to choose from are here.

• Tell us about your favorite widget.

Craftomania Toolbar. Of course ;-)

• Are you involved in social networking? What's your favorite and why? If you're not involved, you must have a good reason!

We have a twitter (Join us!) Which we love because it gets instant results and feedbacks, and it's a great way to stay in shape.

And a facebook group: (Join us here too!)

• All of us can use a helpful business hint once a week. What's yours?

Noica: "If you can dream it, you can do it". (Walt Disney)

Bear: Basically, to remember the old Bear-poet words: “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there someday.” (I'm a cleric of "The Tao of Pooh")

Nurit: "Diamonds are easily shaped than men..."

• We'd love to see your little corner of the world, where you operate your business

[I found this photo on Noica's blog, that probably summed up where you can find her, sometime during the day]

• Where do you see your website (and artwork) in one year? Any plans in the works?

Plenty. The Bear is now developing several of the mechanisms that will connect us to Etsy API. Once we have that – we're planning many surprises and loads of fun for our community; floating gadgets that let you know in real time your shop & item hearts, widgets, an Etsy control panel and many exciting features and components. Lots of members requested an option to add things to their toolbar like blogs and such, so we're working on that too.

And of course, our relentless possum will continue adding more and more friends, blogs, Etsy sites and tools, and will make Craftomania toolbar the best source for anything Etsy and handmade.

We see a community of friends chatting over the morning coffee, collaborating and offering assistance, bloggers interviews, magazines reviews about Craftomania Tools, the Toolbar being passed around by Etsy Users as the ultimate tool for Etsy Sellers…and of course, an interview on Martha Stewart.

• OK. It's the storybeader's turn to pick a favorite.

First of all, you need to go by Noica's flickr page, and watch some videos! They're great, especially The magic doll (above) and Post it pirate - the end (both great music choices.) And I think Nurit's rings are superb! But I really fell in love with Noica's plushes. Here's my favorite... not in the etsy shop, Symour: