As we were constantly searching for inspiration online to help us become better at our work. Poppytalk (the blog) was a place to catalogue this inspiration. We found it rather difficult to find quality work online during that period and it took a tremendous amount of time to find things.
As time went on, and as we continued writing on Poppytalk and as Etsy developed, sometime in 2006 we started an Etsy Pick of the Day on the blog; where everyday we posted an item from Etsy. We did this for a few months (on one of our sidebars) and started realizing it would make sense to catalogue this in some form, and so for fun we started an "Etsy Pick of the Day" blog (visit it - it's fun to see the designs then -circa 2007 and the people who made them). So as time went on, we realized Poppytalk was sort of a middle man between artists and buyers/retailers/press. There was still no huge search abilities on Etsy at the time (no treasuries, no color search, just the time machine and a search button really); and people started emailing asking us to write about their work so they could be seen and heard. We started to become a place to find quality handmade goods and art.
As Earl was studying/working in new media by then, we decided together to build an actual place where people could meet - buyers and sellers - much like an arts and crafts fair - only online. Hence Poppytalk Handmade. Because it would take some manpower to upkeep such an endeavor, we felt we had to charge something to cover administration (marketing, planning, writing blog posts, admin, etc). We wanted to make it affordable to the artists (fun fact: we have still not increased our prices in five years), we wanted it to be successful for artists to get their name out there, to introduce new product they may have to our readers and we wanted to build a community. It's all still evolving and we look forward to what's to come.
We want to thank all our readers and participants for help making this happen every month for the past 5 years (and almost 7 for the blog)! We'll have some surprises in the weeks to come, so stay tuned! In the meantime, check out our new Indie Love market! It's the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and if you're like us, this year we're planning on doing our shopping early to relieve a bit of the stress.
15 comments:
Congrats on turning 5
Well done!!! and great job too :)
hope to be readying your blog for the next 5 :)
hugs
Betty Bake x
congrats on 5 years! quite the accomplishment!
vestigialwings.blogspot.com
Happy birthday! Here's to many more!
Congratulation on turning 5!
I've been your reading for at least this one and half year. I love everything you've shared!
dita
http;//handmadenest.blogspot.com
Jan - Congratulations on your vision and on making PoppyTalk such a successful venue for artists and retailers alike. It has been a true pleasure working with you! All the continued best to you and Earl. - Cathie
Happy 5 ☆!!
thank you for supporting hand~made & art. Looking forward to seeing all the new ideas.
Happy birthday Poppytalk! I'm so happy to be a new member of your market:)
Congratulations on such a huge accomplishment! That is so amazing!
Happy birthday to poppytalk handmade! I'm thrilled to be part of it.
Oh and that little letterpress camper is ACE!
Happy Birthday Poppytalk! I am constantly inspired by your sense of design and, as an independent artist, I thank you so much for supporting us!!
Thank you everyone for your good wishes!
congratulations Jan! great story! keep up the beautiful work...
Congrats on turning 5! You have created something truly special. I am honored to participate in your markets and I can't go without the blog. Your creativity and support is unmatched. Thank you <3
You have given artists a voice! Thank you for inspiring so many and for supporting artisan crafts. I'm grateful for all the meaningful connections I've made through Poppytalk Handmade. Cheers, Mandy
Congratulations!
Your blog is gorgeous and such a fun read~
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