When I joined etsy last fall, I met a group of Canadian fellow crafters who helped ease me into the world of selling online. One of these sweet folks was fellow Ottawan rikrak — an ebullient, cheerful ray of sun who also happens to run a fantabulous and successful shop with gorgeous eco-conscious goodies; she also happens to have a lurvely blog.

After just two years on etsy, she’s already sold over 1600 items; she kicks so much butt that she was one the site’s “Quit Your Day Job” features. Peruse her shop, and it’s no surprise she’s doing so well…

Choose-your-own fabric wallets:

Eco-bib:

A vintage recycled-fabric purse:

Butterfly iron-ons:

I got to know rikrak (aka Kristal) better through Twitter. In a crazy turn of events that involved me meeting her hubby at a Weakerthans concert, we learned that not only do we live in the same city… we live on the SAME STREET.

So rikrak and I made a teatime date where the afternoon flew by, and she offered to help me out with my nutty craft show prep. Our second tea party was chez moi — where Kristal kindly brought baked stuffs and toiled away for hours, making tedious tags and stuffing cards into cello bags. Meanwhile, I ironed shirts and we both got a little giddy from the ink fumes:

I am absolutely blown away at how much niceness can come from one person. This is one amazing neighbour; at this point, I think I owe her a dozen eggs and at least as many bowls of sugar.

Thank you, rikrak, for being such a great cheerleader and for all the wonderful help. You deserve every success that comes your way, and I look forward to tea parties 3, 4, 5… and onward!

etsy.com, good peeps craft show, rikrak, tea party, twitter