September 30, 2013

Quick2Listen Fiber Art by Jeannie Sredl


Quick2Listen Fiber Art

Jeannie Sredl of Chicago, Illinois (USA) creates art quilts that explore color and texture, often through Nature themes. Her pieces often play with boundaries, going out of the "box", hanging in free forms rather than the traditional square shape. 

Connect with Quick2ListenFiberArt on TAFA:http://www.tafalist.com/members/quick2listenfiberart





September 29, 2013

Quilts by Valerie


Quilts by Valerie


Valerie Goodwin is one of our pioneer members, joining TAFA a couple of months after we launched back in 2010. She has become especially known for her stunning architectural quilts, exploring the idea of maps both conceptual and realistic ways. 



September 25, 2013

TAFA's on Tumblr! Come follow!


We're now on tumblr.!


Leave a comment with your site so that we can all see you, too!  We're tumblin' together....

September 21, 2013

TAFA Market: Using Merchpin to create a virtual shopping experience!

TAFA Market


Recently I wrote a post about Selling on Etsy that got quite a bit of feedback and attention. One of the comments left by Beverly Rustica suggested that we look into Merchpin, a service that allows you to pull in product feeds from different places and display them on any site. We were sold on the idea and moved ahead to create our own marketplace!

Merchpin behaves much like an Etsy mini, but you have more control over how it displays, so you can build themes (like treasuries) and organize your products in different ways. It works seamlessly with Etsy shops, creating an easy import into a huge main catalog that can then be sorted by tags. The great thing is that we can include other TAFA members who are not on Etsy, thus being much more inclusive about who we can invite to participate. The service is not cheap, costing us $99/month to run and is quite labor intensive to set up, especially since I wanted to have lots of pages and feature different collections. Right now we have about 11 members participating and I am hoping that many more will join us.

There are a couple of downsides in using this and we are trying to figure out work arounds for them. When you click on an image, it takes you to that person's shop, leaving our site. So, it makes it hard to keep people on site to explore other pages. Another big problem is that the currency doesn't convert over to the service, so it doesn't reflect our international base. It took a lot of pressure from Etsy shops for a long time to finally get Etsy to display other currencies besides the American dollar, so it is disappointing to be back to square one on that again.

The great thing about this service is that any group of friends could band together for joint marketing efforts and display the code on their blogs or sites. We have our Team blog here, so I have added a redirect page to the Market as most of our participants will have Etsy shops. But, one wouldn't need to have a dedicated site.

We invite you to visit our TAFA Market and please share it with your friends! Comments are enabled on the Market pages, so please feel free to use them over there or over here. Sign up for our blog updates over there, too, as we will announce new shops and collections on that blog.  Lots of eye candy!




September 14, 2013

Siamese Dream Design


Siamese Dream Design


Siamese Dream Design joined TAFA in April of 2011. A mother and daughter business, Barb and Amy's family moved to Thailand from the American Midwest 11 years ago and have built up a stunning accessories business using Hilltribe vintage fabrics. They have a strong focus on shoes and sandals, but also offer bags, pillows and other gorgeous accessories and garments. Make sure to visit their blog where their trips into the Thai mountains document their relationships and adventures!

Visit their profile: http://www.tafalist.com/members/siamese-dream-design


September 11, 2013

klaradar


klaradar


Klaradar (Rakla) is our only member in Bulgaria. Klara paints on silk and has a fun, full shop on Etsy. She also nunofelts. She does a great job with her photography so be sure to check out her vibrant style!  "Dar" mean's "gift" so her shop name translates as Klara's Gift.

Visit klaradar on TAFA: http://www.tafalist.com/members/klaradar


September 10, 2013

Jacki Sleator - Textile Artist and Feltmaker


Jacki Sleator


Jacki Sleator - Textile Artist and Feltmaker is our newest member from Ireland and makes gorgeous felted garments and accessories. She has a small shop on Etsy, accepts commissions, and teaches workshops. 

Check out her lovely profile: http://www.tafalist.com/members/jacki-sleator