The Infamous Orange Button

I'm writing today in part anger, part disappointment and part wanting to kick someones butt.

You see, Etsy decided to be hip and cool for the Holidays, and that is perfectly fine, but, they decided to create one cute orange button that will direct people to the gift guides. That is fine too.

And what are the gift guides? Well, they are guides or showcases of items Etsy admin likes, and that is fine too. Except they seem to be fixated with certain themes and colors and truthfully, only a handful of sellers get chosen. And what is worse is, it is the same sellers over and over again, leaving thousands of great Etsy sellers out because their items are too colorful or just don't plain fit the Etsy aesthetic.

Here is a screenshot of the Etsy front page. Notice you have the gift guides on the left upper part, and the lovely orange button in question (and yes, please read this post with a good dose of sarcasm!) in the right upper corner of the button bar.

Now we go into MY shop. Veronica R Studio's page. Notice the same lovely (NOT!) button on the right hand corner. Did I create a gift guide you ask? Of course not, who has the time! Not only do we have to keep shop, list items, MAKE THE ITEMS BY HAND, take pictures and make everything look pretty, then go out and promote to the world until we are blue in the face and can't take it no more, and we get this button, which innocent customers have clicked, by the way, taking them AWAY from our shops, into what Etsy thinks is hip and cool for the Holidays.

Do you, dear reader, now see the unfairness of it all? It is like going into a store with your merchandise and luring customers away to your store. People do it, but it is not nice.

So me and other Etsy sellers beg for justice, or just that someone listens, and that they keep that button if they want, just not into our shops! There is a petition going, you can see it here http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6344121.

BTW, here is another PSA: Some Etsy sellers are hosting a great sale starting on Black Friday! It will go on through the weekend, until Cyber Monday. Just type Black Friday in the search box to see all the items included and all the sellers participating!

Pretty Monarch Butterfly

It is that time of the year... Summer finally gives up and Fall starts taking over. The days get shorter, the wind gets cooler, the whole weather seems crisper, chillier.

Every year, around this time, we get the Monarch Butterfly migration. Thousands and thousands of butterflies fly South towards warmer weather. For me, this has marked the official end of a season and the beginnings of another. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been fascinated by the butterflies migrating.

This morning I took Sally for a walk, and saw a butterfly struggling on the ground. It was by a tree, and it fluttered its wings time and time again, walking from one place to another. I think I spend about a good hour watching it. All those pretty spots and orange rust colors! I had to take some photos of it too.

I went out about an hour ago, and was a little sad to see it wasn't there anymore, but at the same time happy that it has flown away. At least that is what I hope so, that it has reunited with its mates in their journey.

God speed and good luck, little friend!