But sometimes we do hit speed bumps in our attempts to be ‘creative’, whether it be with regards to artwork, our crafts, or even solving a problem (you need to be creative to do that too). We have all hit dry spells in our creativity and it can be infuriating! Here are some suggestions as to what you can try to do to get those creative juices flowing freely again.

Breathe Deeply.

These days when we are so caught up with the busy-ness of our lives, we tend to take shallow, rapid breaths. Just take a moment to observe your breath to see if this is the case. Shallow breathing shortchanges our body’s demand for oxygen which, amongst other things, most definitely affects our ability to think clearly.

So to counter this, make a conscious effort to take deep, calm breaths during the day. Imagine your lungs comfortably filling up to their maximum capacity with life-giving oxygen, and release your breath gently until they’re empty. Repeat this as often as you can. You may choose to set aside a specific time to do this as an exercise, or better yet, decide for yourself several intervals during the day at which you tell yourself you’ll step back from whatever it is that you’re doing, and to take x-number of deep breaths, before continuing whatever it was that needed your attention.

Take a walk or do some form of exercise.

This is also another way to circulate oxygen around your body and to your brain. Plus it’s always a good idea to get yourself out of an enclosed building to let your eyes feast on your surroundings. Who knows – you might find inspiration in a relatively unfamiliar environment.

Write or do everyday tasks with your other hand.

If you are right-handed, try to consciously do stuff with your left hand instead – like opening doors, drawing, or brushing your teeth. Doing new things, or performing familiar tasks in a different manner is said to be an easy way to give your brain a nice workout. Besides, seeing the results of your switching hands for such tasks could possibly let you see things in a slightly different light.

Limit your options

Sometimes having too many options available to you gets you stuck in the I-can’t-decide-which-one-to-use rut. So let’s just say you have an assignment to create a piece of jewelry. That’s pretty broad, right? I’d imagine that there are countless materials to choose from, and ways to get started on that! If you’re stumped by how to start, how about telling yourself that you’ll only use… bottlecaps? This is what happened when two teenage sisters did just that:

Don’t take yourself too seriously

Like it or not, there will be things in life that will blow up in your face at the worst possible times and it’s easy to get caught in the gravity of the situation. I think you’ll agree with me if I were to suggest that these mind-ruts are possibly your worst enemy because they are potentially soul-draining, life-sucking thoughts that can literally stall you from moving forward with anything, let alone being creative.

You always have choices available to you. So it might be a good idea for you to choose to look at the lighter side of things. You’ll make mistakes and muck-ups once in a while–that’s perfectly okay. Just promise yourself that you’ll learn to do better next time, and move on.

So those are my 2 sen worth of ideas on how to get creatively un-stuck. What do YOU do when you need to breathe new life into your creativity? Please share your thoughts with us! :)

After a month or so of hard work and collaborations from members, I’m proud to announce that Team EtsyMalaysia is ready to move on to a new site. Welcome Team EtsyMalaysia. This will be the new home for the team, so remember to update your bookmark.

The new editorial board is still fixing things here and there, but please feel free to browse around as we’re at it.

Crafty Art Market is here again!! This time, it is BIGGER and BETTER! I am excited and I am sure you are too! XD Come and meet all our talented Etsians and local handmade artists and see for yourself what they have to offer! Pencil down this date and bring all your friends and families for this fun-filled event and we will see you there! ;)

Here’s our final list of confirmed participants:

1. LavenzOsy – Lavenz makes prints, postcard, bookmark, jeweleries, pocket mirror, bookplates etc.
2. okinokiyo – Maizura makes kids sun hat and clothing
3. kindersoaps – Michelle makes handmade, all-natural soap
4. yeepiicloset & moodfashionstore – Chris makes accessories from jewelry to bags & Tasha makes clothes
5. emikaz – Emi makes handcrafted jewelry
6. kiiss – Kelly sells fabric and craft supplies. She creates some fabric rings, brooches and hair pins too
7. BellaPosh – Ayesha makes handmade hair clips and clothing
8. skyejuice – Alex make colorful jewelry and other handmade goods
9. mimpimurni – Murni makes handmade jewelry and lip balms
10. loveandcraft – Alice makes felt and fabric accessories. She will be selling some craft supplies too
11. angelicquirk – Evelin creates lovely cards, gift tags, notebooks, bookmarks
12. thezaiart & MynnQ – Zai offers acrylic painting while his partner & Mynn creates bags, accessories and paper craft
13. blankcanvasdesigns – Joanne creates decals for walls, glass and smooth surfaces
14. BagNCraft – Sally makes handbags, purses, keychain pouch & origami
15. snazzynsuch – Tini offers craft supplies and kid clothes
16. izreen – Izreen makes party related items. She will be selling some tags, homemade cookies and such
17. nukilan, funkytiles & Rekhss – Both Nadiah & Rekha sells hand-painted ceramic tiles, cards and other paper goods
18. HoneysHive – Honey makes paper quilled jewelry, magnets, hair clips, gift cards, and more
19. SakaiCentric – Joey makes cultural influenced handmade notebooks & gifts
20. LoveFateJewelry – Zurien makes handmade jewelry & accessories
21. KalleoHandmadeSoaps – Christine makes cold-processed handmade soaps
22. effbombs – Mei makes handmade statement badges
23. TrinketTrove – Jessie sells handmade jewelry & display trees
24. beadscraftz – Madeline makes polymer clay jewelry & accessories
25. JainaBee – Pek Mun sells origami works such as Japanese Washi dolls, origami Washi jewelry & Washi supplies
26. jpbeads – Jenny makes purse hooks, handmade jewelry & accessories
27. CharmingBeadz & snorazah – Selina makes stitch markers & wine glass charms. Norazah sells embellishment for card making
28. iitchillustrations & My Glass Cubicle - Dura creates illustrations, handmade accessories, clothes, tote bags & paper dolls
29. LittleSyam & Lina footstool - Lina  makes silkscreen, tote bags, bookbindings, painting & handmade footstool
30. Giffy – Amy sells craft supplies & handmade key chains, brooch & clay figure

Plush by Beanipet ♥ little girl’s dresses by manmanku ♥ dyed yarn by eleraine

Origami Jewelry & Lucky stars by JainaBee ♥ tags by Phings ♥ Purse Hooks by jpbeads

Charm bracelets by yeepiicloset

Handmade cards by PoochD, Nukilan, Rekhss &, Rabbitandme ♥ Illustration print by schin

Handmade cards and tags by angelicquirk

All in all, it was quite a productive day for most of us, I think. It was certainly a busy and hectic day, as there were also performances to watch and activities to join. And boy, was it hot!

Twelve Etsy Malaysia team members took part. See pictures here (more to be uploaded on FB soonest).

(Click on the pics for a larger image and to see who’s who)

Good news!!! This is the market everyone is waiting for!!!! Our own Crafty Art Market is about to happen again. Wow, that is quick and exciting and the sign up dateline is close too (by end of this month, 31/Jan).

Venue: @ The Bee, Jaya One
Date: 19 February 2011
Time: 11am – 6pm

Requirements: Your products for sale on event day must be “handmade”/ supplies for “handmade” only. And of course, you have to be an Etsy team member!

Discussion Thread (more details and sign up instruction) : http://www.etsy.com/teams/5026/etsy-malaysia/discuss/6749185/
(this is a private thread, you have to join our team to view)

Or contact jpbeads to sign up for the market.

It’s the first ever bazaar selling nothing but awesome supplies organize by the Handmade Movement. You don’t need to go search high and low to search for supplies and material, now there’s a bazaar only for handmade and craft supplies. How great is that?

For supplies seller to want to participate in this bazaar, kindly contact Beii at lvbeii1604@gmail.com to register.
(super cool organizer Beii, she also organizer all sorts of interesting craft classes, I am joining the socks doll class)

Rental is just RM30 for the first early 15 vendors who sign up. And after the first that will be RM50. Hurry up :D

For more details : http://thehandmademovement.blogspot.com/

Nowadays, I see that there is a lot of new organizers trying to host bazaars and some with the tagline of handmade craft market. Are they really promoting the handmade scene or simply just earning the money from the small indie business owner? Even if they are experienced organizer, could they bring the ‘right’ crowd?

Here are some of the rule of thumbs that I applied when comes to selecting the bazaar to join (some expensive experience learnt from past events) :

• Location Location and Location
  Sounds like property investment but yes, location is important. This is the first thing that I consider because I paid an expensive lesson to learn this. I joined my first bazaar that was held at a small quiet mall in Ampang. Two huge mistakes here. First, the mall was so quiet, it looked more like an abandon building and second, driving to Ampang from PJ took me 1 hour++. I only manage to sell one hairpin. My friend didn’t make any sales. No, we didn’t get any refund because the organizer was not even there!
  Recently I joined the bazaar in Subang Parade (Subang Jaya). Superb location! But I’d chosen the wrong spot, a very hidden spot in the corner. But that didn’t matter a lot, because the main location (the mall) was good enough. A lot of my blog and fanspage followers turned up, we chatted, they bought some stuff, look and feel my fabrics and some purposely came for COD. Some couldn’t find my hidden spot, so they have to call me up. Because of the location, I have participate in the Subang Parade bazaar several times. So, hot spot IS VERY important.
• Organizer’s Website
  I’ve seen some of the new bazaar organizers that emerge with really lousy blog layout. No introduction about who’s in the group, no follower, no fanspage, no nothing but a poster of the coming event asking vendor to sign up.  If they are so lazy upon setting up for their own blog, I doubt that they will be any good in promoting and marketing the event.
  To bring crowds to the bazaar, the organizer must have really strong network, with thousands of followers in their fanspage (or the Google Friend Connect thing), lots of interaction going on in the blog chat box, or fanspage, and most importantly they do reply to email and sms.
• Organizer’s Past Event
  Most of the experienced organizers will share the pictures of past events in their gallery, fanspage, Facebook, or in the blog itself. Checking out the pictures will give you an idea what sort of crowds they could bring you.
  I’m always sceptical in joining newbie organizer’s event unless the rental is cheaper than the usual rate (see the point below).
• Rental Guideline
  Rental Limit in KL is around RM50 to RM90.
  Hot spot shopping mall like Tropicana Mall and Subang Jaya is charging RM75/booth.
  Handmade-themed market are usually charging RM50/booth.
  Popular vintage market organizer are charging RM70-90. More expensive because vintage market likes to held the event at odd places (like clubs, hall, gallery) and they need to spend a lot on marketing.
  I do not have the rental for weekly bazaars (bazaar that needs you to join every week, a package fee) but I have a feeling that they are very or the most expensive because they are usually at hot spot mall and by reputable organizers (usually the mall management itself).

Think of joining the bazaar as a marketing tool to advertise your business. The effort might not translate to sales straight away on the bazaar day itself but the potential customers might check out your online shop and purchase from you when the time is right. Even if the day itself the sales is not so good, but make sure you did give out all your name cards. Online business depends a lot on (the right)TRAFFIC, that’s why my rule of thumb 1 to 3 is all about traffic. :)

Art & Life Market is calling for vendors.

They are looking for Handmade Vendors with

• creative, unique or special items for sale
• talent in handmade crafts (eg: painting, creative cuisine, soaps…)
• young entrepreneurship ambition
• We are providing you a platform to let your items be exposed, at a minimal rate of RM 70/day only, at the heart of Bukit Bintang – Fahrenheit 88!
• Vendors are encouraged to join the market’s promotion.

Blog : http://www.artnlifemarket.blogspot.com/

Facebook: Art n Life Market
Date : 22-23, 29-30 Jan and 11-13, 18-20, 25-28 Feb
Venue : Fahrenheit 88
Contact : Nicole (017-277 3273) or Ze Yong (012-2687 229)
Email : artnlifemarket@hotmail.com

Amelia of CalienteJewelry received 5 adorable mini notebooks, 1 bigger notebook, 6 cards and 6 bookmarks from Nadiah of nukilan. ‘Yup it’s a lot! 1 year supply!’ She said.

Nadiah also team up with Rekha at funkytiles, and sent Alison of mettaville a package she considered one of the most delightful gifts ever. Following the instruction from her Secret Santarinas to open on Christmas day, Alison could only opened the package on 27 Dec as she was away. The package contributed to her collection of funkytiles magnets and coasters. ‘The reindeer is super cute and handsome!’ She added.

Madeline of beadscraftz received her package a little after Christmas. She opened a package with a set of cute cupcake cards, mini tags, a little notebook, a flip paper album, butterfly cutouts hanger and bakers twine (whoa sounds A LOT!) from Evelin of angelicquirk.

Zurien of lovefatejewelry received some Japanese-themed goodies from Pek Mun of JainaBee: a framed Japanese paper doll, and a sweet collection of Japanese paper. And yes, that’s an angel lollipop!