Want to be Featured?

Are you an independent artist with a shop on #Etsy.com? Please contact me through my shop Beltane Moon on Etsy. There is no cost, this is my way of helping small businesses rebuild the economy and sustainability.

Shop Security 

What do people want to know?

So many are interested in starting a new business but are unsure of the process. Through your stories, others discover your shop and talent while empowering themselves to do better in life. People want to know how you got started in your line of work. The ups and downs - what motivates you and your goals.

Motivation for Steel

Tell your story through photos: Your process (without divulging trade secrets, of course), funny stories through pictures and the direction you see for your dreams.

Provide links to social media if you so choose, whereby customers can order and ask questions.

Every story counts. Leave footprints on the path of positive discovery!

~Steel

Open Range Preserve Vintage

From Knoxville, Tennessee, I present Jane, from Open Range Preserve vintage on Etsy.com. 

I recently nudged Jane into sharing her shop story with me on this blog. Pull up a chair and stroll through memory lane with Jane!

 I had been making handmade items for decades, using crochet, macramé, sewing, quilting, embroidery, and needlepoint to make clothing, decor, accessories, Christmas ornaments, household linens, and anything else I could think of. Five years ago, several people began urging me to sell on Etsy. But I had a job and other activities and just didn't think I had time for it. So I let it go.

Fast forward a few years, and I'm in my sixties, too old for my former job and with health issues and changing family circumstances that moved me to a much smaller living space. And here were all these wonderful items I had collected over the decades, but that I would no longer have room to keep. 

A friend already had an established Etsy shop (Victorian Wardrobe), and she pointed out that I could sell vintage on Etsy. 

Well, I was well supplied with that! So I looked into Etsy and started my shop on May 2013. While I haven't sold a lot, it has been enough to keep me going. I have out-of-print fabrics, vintage patterns, pre-loved toys, heirloom household items, nearly-antique jewelry, and old books (including some first editions). 

Now, every time I sell an item of special significance, I recall how I got it, and I think of how much the buyer is going to enjoy it. Recently I sold an old hippie kind of book that I thought was wonderful, and not long afterwards I sold an old pair of hippie bellbottom tiedyed jeans that I had grown out of long ago. And I was so excited for the buyers! They get to have these neat items!

Someone asked me what I'd do when I ran out of things to sell. I had to laugh! No danger of that for quite some time!

Thanks, Jane! 

Vintage In Saratoga Springs

Vintage finds new homes

 Old Times Keepsake on Etsy ~ Pat DeSio 

Pat - graduating nursing school

My name is Pat and my husband and I reside in beautiful Saratoga Springs, New York. A lovely small community of artisans, historical preservation and notably, horse racing.

My schooling was nursing in which I worked in a variety of specialties such as geriatrics and hospice. I served on a plethora of boards in hospital and community service over my lifetime. 

For years I have collected vintage and refinished antiques. Our home outgrew my personal collections, but not my love for iconic rememberances.

Retro Vintage 

My father was a builder/carpenter when I was born. He taught me about building, craftsmanship and the like. His skills were such that he did it all: from the basement build out to the intricacies of detailed handrails.

The trade was a family affair: my younger sister and I helped my father; our mother did the book keeping and our older sister got to go on the truck; our brother learned the trade. Well into their 80's, my parents even put a roof on their house!

My grandfather gave me many pieces of his furniture and I learned the art of caning .

Fenton Milk Glass

Over the years I have retained the love for antiques, architecture and all things vintage. Each piece has a story to tell.  Most of the pieces had one owner - ME! My love for vintage has outgrown my home. 

My daughter told me about Etsy and encouraged me to open shop. She has been on Etsy since 2013 - Beltane Moon (Steel Grey Art).  Incidentally, she is the author of this blog!  We have other family member across the US who also have their own Etsy shops. Each one unique and individual.


Join me on the adventure of storytelling through shared love of vintage!

~Pat

Autoclave Sterilization

Sterilizing body jewelry for first time use is important, but the body mod industry is not universally regulated, if at all. Hence, the method/s involved in sterilization are left to the imagination for many customers.

As a professional piercer, I autoclave sterilize body jewelry prior to shipping to my Beltane Moon Etsy customers. I could simply say "autoclaved" in my descriptions, but inclusion of  redundant "sterilized" helps contextualize the concept. It is key to know that all piercing rings, barbells and screw on components in my shop jewelry are brand new and have never been worn. 

Autoclave: Auto means 'self",  clavis is Latin for "cleaning".

An autoclave as defined by Wikipedia is:

 "...an instrument used to sterilize equipment and supplies by subjecting them to high pressure saturated steam at 121 °C for around 15–20 minutes..."

The application for an autoclave includes (but not limited to), Veterinary,  medical, dental, piercing, tattoo and nail salon industries for the purpose of sterilizing associated tools and equipment. 

Autoclave use is most often used in the medical field.  Medical waste requires sterilization in favor over incineration (thermal oxidation) due to  environmental concerns . There are exceptions to this rule, for example, such as when dealing with pathological waste. An designated autoclave is used for medical waste only. 

As for piercing jewelry, the method for sterilizing new jewelry in an autoclave employs the use of an autoclave pouch. An autoclave pouch has a sterility indicator printed on the outside which changes color upon proper processing.

Example of pouch

The jewelry is inserted into the pouch and then into the autoclave for sterilization.  The chemical or steam indicator color change reflects successful exposure to time & temperature during processing. A symbol or lettering on the pouch indicates color change and should state as such. 

In medical autoclaves, a chemical indicator may be present:

"... Biological indicators contain spores of a heat-resistant bacterium, Geobacillus stearothermophilus. If the autoclave does not reach the right temperature, the spores will germinate when incubated and their metabolism will change the color of a pH-sensitive chemical. Some physical indicators consist of an alloy designed to melt only after being subjected to a given temperature for the relevant holding time. If the alloy melts, the change will be visible...." (wikipedia)

In my shop, I use an FDA approved Prestige unit accepted for piercing jewelry. The temperature specs for this unit are: 

Sterilizing temp': 121°C

Sterilizing temp': 250 F
Arriving at sterizing temp: 16 mins
Cycle time - total 26 mins

I hope this lends some clarity on the basic concept and mechanics of what an autoclave is and how it is used in my shop. If you have any questions, please contact me and I am more than happy to respond!

SockMonkeyCards on Etsy

I was not having one of my best days when I happened upon a card of Sock Monkeys sledding down a hill. Immediately I felt a sense of hilarity wash over my mood and I admittedly needed more giggles. I clicked on the shop responsible for making me smile. SockMonkeyCards by Laurie. I had to know where the heck this humor came from and how such award winning style develops. I feel a first- person inquiry helps to appreciate this brand of success with such positive force.


Thanks goes to Laurie of SockMonkeyCards on Etsy for submitting this tell-all about her shop. 


About 12 years ago I took a black and white photograph of my sister's 3 sock monkeys, then started adopting my own sock monkeys. I made a few cards for friends, then my sister-in-law said she thought I really had something. At the time I started photographing the sock monkeys, my work life was pretty stressful, and this really got my active imagination going in a good direction. When I was photographing sock monkeys, I wasn't worried about the problems of the world. I approached a couple stores, and they agreed to sell my cards. That was probably about 8 years ago. SInce then, other stores have approached me either after seeing my cards in stores, or seeing them on Etsy. 

I truly don't think of myself as having a great sense of humor.  I find such joy and contentment in the simple things in life; being outdoors, canoeing, cross-country skiing, making a snowman, bicycling. I appreciate the awesome beauty and strength of nature. I love photography, which I started studying in the early 90's. I do like to be silly sometimes. I always thought when I grew up I'd feel sophisticated, but that has never happened! 

I was born in London England, though was only there for 6 months. I have lived all over the U.S in this order: 

• Pennsylvania
• Wyoming
• Pennsylvania
• California
• Virginia
• North Carolina
• Maryland
• Arizona
•  New Mexico

We have been living in Maine for the past 14 years and love it. 

When I started college I was a music major, then switched to early childhood education. I taught preschool for a number of years, which I really enjoyed, but the money was terrible. I went on a 3 month bicycle trip in 1982 in Europe with a friend, which got the travel bug in me. When I returned home, I went to a career counselor, who suggested I be a flight attendant. So that's what I've been doing for 28 years now. After 9/11, my imagination went into overdrive, and photographing sock monkeys truly has been a serendipity for me.

I am inspired by those who bring good things to the world, be it medicine, music, art, writing, healing, encouragement and 

support. I love going to art museums, playing the piano, reading, and doing almost anything outside. And of course, sock monkeys are always in the back of my mind. 

I have been making a sock monkey calendar each year for 7 years, and sell my cards and calendars and new book at about 12 stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. I have many repeat customers, and I like the fact that my work makes people smile or even laugh out loud. I like the fact that it is good, clean fun. 

Three of my favorite images are "Tiptoeing", which was chosen to be in a juried photography show by well known photographer Joyce Tenneson, "Snow Angels" because my husband and I were cross-country skiing after a beautiful snow when the idea popped into my head. I told him when we got home I wanted him to put up the big ladder in the back yard, which I photographed the sock monkeys making snow angels from. Also I love the "Surfer Sock Monkeys" because people get a kick out of it. I had the surfboards made by someone in Redondo Beach CA. A firefighter makes wooden items, and his wife paints them. She sells her things at the store where I sell my sock monkey cards, so it was a good situation for us all.

Wow-- probably too much information, but I was on a roll there. Sometimes if my husband joins me on a trip or we go somewhere, he'll put a couple sock monkeys in his suitcase so I can photograph them in a new place. The first time he met me somewhere and he was so worried that security would make him open his suitcase and he'd be petrified with embarrassment. Oh- and my sock monkeys all have names. 

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Thank you so much Laurie! We want to know their names!

CeCi @ BeltaneMoon