Breast cancer awareness

October is breast cancer awareness month, and it seems that everyone has been touched by this disease. Inspired by team member tanyaw85's post on the Chatters' Ning group, it seemed like a great opportunity to highlight items that honor the struggles of our mothers, daughters, sisters and friends dealing with breast cancer.

Please add your pink / breast cancer awareness items to the Comments - like this necklace from tanyaw85 to support her mother - I'll upload pictures of Chatters' items too.

More creative items for the cause!

Heartsabustin has these lovely earrings, with $5 of the proceeds of each sale going to breast cancer research.

mbell34 brings breast cancer awareness to a sink near you with sweet-smelling goats milk soap highlighting the iconic pink ribbon.

Giving Etsy Gifts

Ah yes, it's getting to be that time of year again. Although of course there are gift-giving opportunities year-round - all those birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, christenings and so on cry out for handmade presents - there's something about the Christmas holidays that inspires a happy frenzy of shopping.

Some tips to make shopping (and selling!) easier:

• If you want to have a gift sent directly to its recipient by the seller, use the "Add a gift address" feature in PayPal, to reassure the seller that they're sending to an official address. Follow the links in PayPal from Profile > Add or Edit Street Address > Add Address > Add a gift address.

• Buyers can use the Shop Local Etsy feature to search not just for their own area, but for someone who sells locally to their gift recipient. If I want to send a present to someone in the U.S. or England, I might start by opening Shop Local especially if it's getting down to the wire for shipping; closer can be faster, and many shops offer to gift wrap and attach a card (free or for sale).

What tips would you add, for both buyers and sellers? Please include them in the comments, with your shop name so we can all see what you're doing for the holidays.

Judith / aka jswrites

Labor Day Weekend Promos?

Is your shop or blog having a Labor Day Weekend sale, BOGO, giveaway or other promotion? If it's in effect this weekend, please post a comment here to let your fellow team members and team blog followers know all about it.

Note, if your posting name isn't the same as your shop name, please sign with both so everyone can find you!

Happy Selling and Shopping!

Judith / jswrites

patience ..... we shall return

Heathenshearth (Misty) and Jupita (Jenn) have both been in the process of moving and getting settled in their new places the past few weeks.

Sorry for the lull in posts, and the silence in tweets and chats..

If there are any pressing issues.. Convo one of us on Etsy!

Rest assured, we will be back soon.. and getting the Chat Team back in full swing!