Meet your neighbors; up north in Hudson, Catskill and Windham

Members of the Makers-on-Hudson team are from all over New York's Hudson Valley! Get to know who's creating in your town and around you with this new series of posts. Maybe you've even seen them around town but never knew what they made. Let's start from the top and our northern most members!

Thinking of You PEWS by Drusilla

South Sea Shell Pearls (10mm) on Sterling Silver Studs with Grayed Jade Satellite Crystals by OmiSilver

Our first stop is in Hudson! A great city with some yummy ice teas and lovely people. Two of those people are our members Drusilla Kehl of Drusilla and Mary Rembach of OmiSilver. Drusilla's shop is full of artwork mostly featuring rats, perfect for the rat owner in your life or just anyone who appreciates these intelligent creatures.  Mary's work includes several pieces of lovely silver and gemstone jewelry and some items made with chainmail rings.  Check them out!

Handmade Dog Leash - Short Traffic Lead - Calavera Sugar Skull by KirasPetShop

Just across the river from Hudson is Catskill, NY. It's a lovely town, especially if you love cats and cute shops (I did a blog post years ago about one of our old member's L&M Studio, who have a shop there). Catskill is the home of Kira G. maker of KirasPetShop, She's a darling seamstress who makes pet goods! Check her out, especially if you're looking for bandannas with built in I.D. tag slots, or really any collars or leashes for your furry friends.

Felt Bow Coffee Cup Sleeve Cozy / Red and Gray Valentine's Day Gifts for Her by QuarterLifeLuck

As we continue east we come to Windham, home of some great skiing! Or so I've heard, I've never skied, I prefer being cozy - which the creations of one Windham local will help you with! Kim L. runs QuarterLifeLuck and not only does she make soft felt coffee sleeves, but also some cute felt pillows and kids decor. Soft and sweet name banner anyone? 

Those are the most north northerners we've got on the team! I can't wait to share with you more creations as we head further south on our tour of New York crafters. Remember to support your neighbors and local economy by shopping local and shopping small!

See you!

Amber

A Visit To Hudson, NY

Wandering on (and off) Warren Street is a great place to start your visit to Hudson, NY. The shops on Warren Street are amazing and very high end. Many of the antique stores (over 300) sell museum quality pieces with price tags to match. Creativity and style is everywhere. 

Hudson combines the best of both worlds: nature and the kind urban ease that you would expect to find in the city.

As an artist and maker, a visit to Hudson is inspirational. The window displays are imaginative and styles are tightly curated. Katherine Moore, founder of the Hudson River Exchange says the Hudson Valley is "...an ideal place for creating. Setting up a sustainable living here poses several questions. Part of what we do (at Hudson Exchange) is seek people from the greater maker community to stimulate that dialogue." They have a lovely pop-up shop on Warren Street (just closed on October 18) with locally crafted items and studio spaces. They organize local events offering visual and community inspiration as well as platforms for commerce and exchange for local makers.

There is also a lot that you can do on the cheap in Hudson says founder of The HudsonRiver Exchange, Katherine Moore: "There are two art stores - Sketch up by the park and Spotty Dog - along with a lot of parks including the river front. Grabbing some art supplies and heading to the river is amazing. Another nice thing to do in Hudson is just wander Warren. Go into antique stores and just look at the oddities and eras of design. There is one antique store Hudson Mercantile in the 300 block of Warren. You can buy little industrial trinkets from a dollar or two. There is also the Red Chair in the 600 block. Also sells small little items from France." 

Our favorite spot was the Spotty Dog Books and Ale: a bookstore, watering hole, art supply shop rolled into one. Beer on tap is mostly local and always delicious. Growler friendly. Also loved the funky vintage clothing shops on and off Warren.

Hudson River Exchange upcoming events include: a workshop on Visual Merchandising with Nick Blaine of Hawkins New York (a design shop and brand on Warren Street in Hudson) on October 27th. 

The workshop will be directed towards market booths as we approach the holiday season, but will include foundations of visual story telling relevant for people selling on Etsy as well. Importantly it will also be attended by other creatives and is a great way to connect with peers. 

We ventured out of Hudson on two day trips. One to Frederic Church's Olana and the other to the home of Church's mentor, The Thomas Cole House. Both locations offered insight into each artist's work and passions and hosted a contemporary art exhibit called, River Crossings. The surrounding landscape was also quite beautiful. The Hudson River School artists painted the American landscape and our relationship to nature through themes of wilderness, discovery, exploration, and settlement. The artists often traveled to remote locations and painted from memory or from an amalgamation of sketches.

Looking forward to exploring more of the Hudson Valley. 

For more info about Hudson, NY check out the following websites:

Design Sponge Hudson Valley Guide

Hudson River Exchange

What are your favorite places in Hudson or the Hudson Valley? 

Susan - Lunule

Where To Find The Hudson Valley Etsy Team This Weekend

This Saturday, July 20, a brand-new market is happening in beautiful Hudson, NY called the Hudson River Exchange. There are several of the Hudson Valley Etsy Team's members participating. The market will be located at the Riverfront Park from 11AM-6PM. Find out more on their Facebook page.
The vendors will be spread out under two big tents for a nice and shady experience in this heat wave!

The following team members will be selling their creations at the fair:

Cerulean Blue's line of handmade stoneware and porcelain pots for the serving of food and the presentation of flowers

Cerulean Blue

Huzzah Handmade's luxury hand knits, felted bags and unique accessories

Huzzah Handmade

Merry Alchemy's bright, vintage style and feminine jewelry

Merry Alchemy

Wishbone Letterpress' quirky greeting cards, coasters and crowns. They might even bring their brand-new notebooks!

Wishbone Letterpress

 ...and rumor has it L&M Studio will be there too with their fantastic porcelain creations!

L&M Studio

Happy shopping!

Join Etsy Hudson at the Hudson Black Arts Festival this Saturday, August 13th!

This Saturday (August 13th), Etsy Hudson will be joining many others in support of the annual Hudson Black Arts and Cultural Festival. The Festival and Parade are a joyful and creative celebration of the arts, culture and stories of the African-American communities. The event has been organized by grassroots organization Operation Unite the event for the last 19+ years, and has developed from its early roots as a neighborhood block party into a community-wide festival.

Etsy is thrilled to be a sponsor and participant in this year's event, and invite any and all to join us in the Craft Tent at the Waterfront Park in Hudson on from 2:30 - 6pm on Saturday. People of all ages are welcome to come hang out and get their hands dirty (or at least gluey) and create some whimsical and wonderful creations that will be in the theme of the event, "Fairytales and Storytales". If you're interested in helping set up, they'll be there at 11am before heading up Warren St to join the 2pm parade.

For more updates from Etsy Hudson, sign up for their newsletter!

Craft Party in Hudson

Just a quick recap of the Craft Party held at the Etsy office in Hudson, NY this past Friday.  For the office's first event, it was a great turnout! It was a very chill environment where everyone worked on various projects such as recycled planters, indoor and outdoor containers for plants of all kinds, garden markers, terrariums, sewn fabric planter bags, window boxes and more.  And now, pictures courtesy of Flickr!

More pictures can be seen in the Etsy Labs Hudson set or you can check out pictures from the other Craft Parties that went on by visiting Etsy Labs on Flickr.

Where To Find The Hudson Valley Etsy Team This Weekend

It's Memorial Day Weekend, and the Hudson Valley Etsy Team will be ringing in the beginning of the summer season from Brooklyn to Hudson and points in between!

All listings below are for Saturday, May 28:

Michele of Lulu's Soap Company will be at Artists and Fleas at 70 North 7th Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn from 10 am until 7 pm.


Amy of Sweet Olive will be at 347 Market in Hudson, NY from 12 pm until 6 pm.


Kathy of Gnorasaurus and Monica of Mother May I will both be at Crafts on John Street at the Kingston Farmer's Market in Uptown Kingston, NY from 9 am until 2 pm.

Lynn of 1846 House Soaps will be at the Pine Bush Farmers' Market in Pine Bush, NY from 9 am until 1pm.

Etsy Craft Party - June 10th

It's time to celebrate! Last year's first-ever global Craft Party was so much fun, we've decided to orchestrate it again this year on Friday, June 10, 2011. No matter where you live or what you love to make, you are invited to participate. Musicians, painters, sculptors, photographers, farmers, hackers, gardeners, designers, jewelers, bookbinders, printmakers, teachers, makers and doers of all stripes, as well as art enthusiasts, curators, vintage lovers and supporters of the independently made, we're calling on you! We challenge you to meet your neighbors and come together to make something surprising.

Last year, over 5,000 people participated in over 500 meetups from Dallas to Romania, and this year our goal is for over 15,000 people to share in the spirit of Craft Party. Since we can't do this without you, we're calling on your help to mobilize in your local community. To participate, either as a local Craft Party organizer or party-goer, head on over to Meetup Everywhere (as created by Meetup.com) to put your town on the map. Meetup Everywhere is a powerfully simple way for our creative community to, well, organize meetups everywhere. It's free and designed to spark face-to-face gatherings around the world.

A party will be taking place at the new Hudson, NY Etsy location at 359-361 Columbia St, Hudson, NY 12534 at 7:00 pm. Click to view thet Meetup page and get more details.

Opening at Davis Orton Gallery

Our own Amy Madden from Sweet Olive Jewelry will have an art open at the Davis Orton Gallery this Saturday May 14th in  Hudson, NY.

Inspired by both contemporary feminist artists and practitioners of traditional domestic arts, in this series of small works Amy Madden handprints flora onto paper; makes rubbings of textured surfaces, layers and scrapes beeswax, applies washes of color; overlays patterns and forms to define space and finally adds sewing by hand or machine. The intimate size of these paintings, the use of traditional feminine practices such as embroidery and the use of thread, wax and tacks all add to the delicacy and tactility of each piece.

You can RSVP to the Facebook event page

Etsy + Hudson Valley = Perfect Match

Later this Spring, Etsy will be opening a new customer service center here in the Hudson Valley located in Hudson, NY at the old Cannonball Factory . In case you don't know much about our beautiful area, a local resident I know did a year in pictures she took of the Hudson Valley and created a blog for it. If you want to see what our neck of the woods looks like, visit this blog, amazing photos!

Hudson Valley is the home to many, many great things. We have Bard, Vassar and Marist colleges, The Fischer Center of Performing Arts designed by Frank Gehry, (some say it look like Darth Vader's summer home)the CIA, lol not the government agency, The Culinary! The Unification Theological Seminary in Barrytown, many theatres including Bardavon/UPAC Theaters where all the big names like Chris Botti come to play.

Our small villages are the best part though, towns like Red Hook (we always get confused with Brooklyn, but our Red Hook came first though when Henry Hudson sailed the Hudson Bay in 1611), Rhinebeck (where Chelsea Clinton got married), Tivoli, the home of many gifted artisans, Barrytown, Hyde Park, Milan, and Pine Plains.

Hudson Valley's proudest claim to fame is our many, many local farms and restaurants! We supply many of the goods that get shipped down to the farmers markets in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We have the best farms for picking apples, pears, berries, you name it! Hope you all come to our area to visit the new Etsy center when they open for work shops and sample the Best of the Hudson Valley. FYI, you may want to wait until spring, we are currently buried on heaps of snow with more on the way!

By Marie from WiltsieBridgeCS