Join Etsy Houston at the Annual Holiday Bash December 11th

Join Etsy Houston at our new annual holiday bash!

December 11th 7pm - 9pm at
TX/RX Labs Hackerspace
in the Art Building
203 Roberts Houston, 77003

Bring your handmade goods to trade & swap with other makers for other handmade goods. It the friendliest way to finish your holiday shopping without spending a dime.

Each maker determines the value of their items. Makers can say yes or no to deals that are presented to them! You can also bring giveaway and goodie items that you want to give away for free!

Bring a drink, dish, or just bring yourself and mix and mingle with other makers, hear about their handmade goods and how they're created. You can also tour TX/RX Labs Hackerspace - which is full of cool equipment to help you realize your creative destiny.

You do not have to bring handmade goods to swap if you just want to come, mix, and mingle!

Got questions? Please reach out to our Sponsor/Host Pop Shop AmericaOr RSVP on Facebook Here.

#crafttalk Twitter Chat continues December 8th

#crafttalk Twitter Chats for Creative Businesses

Topic: Plan Your 2016 

December 8th 8:00 -9:00 pm CST ( that’s 6 pm PST and 9 pm EST)

Join Pop Shop America on twitter for ongoing conversations and Make your Handmade Business Sparkle! They are focusing on a new topic each chat with a casual and friendly dialogue. In the next #crafttalk December 8th, discuss how to plan your year 2016. Pop Shop America will offer tips and tricks and answer questions along the way. #crafttalk will be a bi-monthly twitter chat every second Tuesday of the Month. It is hosted by Pop Shop America and features different Craft Fair Organizers, Bloggers, and Handmade Professionals from across the globe. Want to suggest a topic for a twitter chat? Email them at hello@popshophouston.com

Follow Pop Shop on Twitter here or check out the last #crafttalk Twitter chat but putting #crafttalk in your twitter search.

#crafttalk Twitter Chat Begins Thursday Sept. 24th

#crafttalk Twitter Chats for Handmade Businesses

Topic: Make the Most of the Holiday Season

September 24th 8:00 -9:30 pm CST ( that’s 6 pm PST and 9 pm EST)

Join Pop Shop America on twitter for ongoing conversations and Make your Handmade Business Sparkle! We’ll focus on a new topic each chat with a casual and friendly dialogue. In our first #crafttalk Sept. 24th, we’ll discuss how to Maximize Your Sales and Minimize Stress through the Holidays. We’ll offer tips and tricks and answer questions along the way. #crafttalk will be a quarterly twitter chat hosted by Craft Fair Organizers, Bloggers, and Handmade Professionals. It will include Brit Charek from Craftymart, OH, Grace Dobush from Crafty Supermarket, OH, & Brittany Bly from Pop Shop America. Want to suggest a topic for a twitter chat? Email us at hello@popshophouston.com

Follow us on Twitter here.

Date Change: Learn about Etsy Workshop

The Intro to Etsy Workshop Hosted by Pop Shop Houston & Jessica Von Braun has been rescheduled to:

Thursday July 23rd 7 - 9pm
at TX/RX Labs Hackerspace
205 Roberts Houston 77003

Join us to learn some awesome tricks to having a great Etsy Shop! It's perfect for the SEO obsessed, beginners, people with product shots ready, people without product shots ready, any handmade or vintage media. It's only two hours and you will get lots of hand outs so don't stress if this sounds overwhelming. Our goal is to make this easy and fun for you.

Learn more here.

Culturemap Social is Set for Mid Main June 24th

The CultureMap Social happy hour series is a exclusive parties that take place 4 times a year. Next up is The Music Edition Set for The Continental Club Wednesday June 24th 6-9pm.  The Socials take place at the coolest places in Houston like hotels, bars, restaurants and art spaces and each one has a unique theme focusing on the cultural aspects of Houston like food, art, and more.

On June 24th get ready to hear tunes by DJ FXBOX and DJ Mishka with a special appearance by Eddie Akhmetchine on the saxophone. Attendees will be indulged with bites by Mid Main's best eateries, including The Breakfast Klub, Natachee's, Tacos A Go-Go and unique Caribbean from Reggae Hut Cafe. Get a little boozy with vintage inspired cocktails by Double Trouble and craft beer by Saint Arnold Brewing Company. And make your night at the Culturemap Social a memory that lasts with Smilebooth's Recording Studio presented by Cadillac and find out for yourself.

Read more here.

Get Ready to Craft Party!

Join us at the Official Etsy Houston Annual Craft Party!June 5th 7pm - 9pm at TX/RX Labs Art Space. This year's Etsy Craft Party theme is "collage" and people from all over the country will be exploring this year's theme to put a new spin on it. 

The Etsy Craft Party a crafting-with-cocktails kind of environment in which you can explore TX/RX and learn about all of their 3d printers, laser cutters, CNC routers and other equipment. 

Pop Shop Houston will also be there simultaneously teaching a workshop in which you can learn to make eco friendly cleaning products. You are welcome to sign up for a structured craft party evening. Bring your own project to work on, bring supplies to share with other, bring snacks or drinks, or just bring yourself. Come anytime between 7pm and 9pm and stay for a few minutes or stay the whole time!

Please RSVP Here!

Learn about this event on Facebook Here.

Learn about Etsy at Pop Shop Houston's Intro to Etsy Workshop

In this workshop, students will learn the basics of how to set up their own Etsy Store. Students will work from their own laptops while we walk you through step by step and answer questions. Learn about tag words, groups, social media, photos, about me, etc. Bring an iphone for a brief discussion on getting Etsy-worthy photos quickly.

This workshop is $42 and can be purchased here.

Your Teachers for this Workshop will Be:

Jessica Von Braun – Jessica is in the top 1000 handmade sellers on etsy (out of 2.4million) and ranked 54th for art sellers on etsy worldwide. Her work consists of digital paintings, photo-manipulations, photo-collages (made with either personal photos, stock or work that is in the public domain). Most pieces include all of the above techniques combined for a finished artwork.  She can’t wait to teach students the tricks of the trade when it comes to Etsy sales. Read more about Jessica Von Braun here.

Brittany Bly – 2 Time Etsy Fellowship Winner and Etsy Houston Street Team Leader, Brittany Bly has also sat in on Etsy Development Meetings and has been paid to advertise for Etsy. Her two shops couldn’t be more different and she’s adding a 3rd shop to Etsy soon. One shop Math Attack is all gamer themed jewelry. The other, Potions, is quite magical. She looks forward to walking you through the Etsy community and answer Etsy FAQ’s.

Pop Shop craft workshops take place every first Friday of the month at TX/RX Labs. These workshops are lo-fi, beginner friendly, fun and cocktail friendly in which you will create your own stylish and modern design goods. It is in conjunction with TX/RX weekly open house so you can also tour the building, say hi and learn about all the awesome equipment they have.

TX/RX is a makerspace that allows membership access to 3d printers, a rapid prototyping lab, woodshop, machineshop, electronics lab and more. Our Pop Shop Workshops take place every first Friday of the month in the TX/RX Labs Art Building. This workshop is $42 and can be purchased here.

TX/RX Labs Hackerspace

203 Roberts
Houston, TX 77003

Learn about Pop Shop Houston Summer Festival June 13th-14th

Stay Cool this Summer with the Biggest and Most Cozy Summer Festival in Houston

This June 13th and 14th, Pop Shop Houston will be back to Silver Street Studios for the last event of the season. It’s been Pop Shop’s biggest year with over 6,000 in attendance at it’s Holiday Festival and over 15,000 at their events last year. Pop Shop Summer Festival will feature over 90 Houston-based artists, small businesses and makers of unique design goods. In addition there will be a live mural by Up Art Studios, life size sculptures by Jon Clark, murals by Nicky Davis, open artist studios at Silver Street Studios, Dj Ceeplus Bad Knives, No Fun, and FREDster, and food tastings by local eateries like Whole Foods, Topo Chico, Pistolero’s, cool tech projects from TX/RX Labs, and DIYs by Pop Shop America.

Learn more here.

Get VIP Passes Here.

Purchase a craft workshop pass here.

Sunshine & Green Grass: An Etsy Treasury

Check out our latest Treasury, called Sunshine & Green Grass, featuring goods made exclusively by Etsy Houston Team Members. We included notebooks, jewelry, cards, and lots of different types of handmade goods. Everything is the color of sunshine and green grass with bright bursts of yellow and green. This treasury is full of florals and outdoorsy scenes. All of these items are handmade in Houston and available for purchase on Etsy.






Click to view the Treasury Here.                      

DIY Fest Saturday April 18th at North Houston Skate Park

Join Blake Jones, Pop Shop America, O'Douds and lots of other artists and DIYers for a completely free event at North Houston Skate Park April 18th 12-8pm. Make loads of free art, DIY your own stickers, make men's grooming products, build terrariums and alter t shirts. There are endless possibilities of what to DIY at the Fest. You can also skate, hang out, and drink Mountain Dew. DJs all day. Don't miss out!


DIY Fest
North Houston Skate Park
12351 Kuykendahl 77090
April 18th 12-8pm

Learn more or RSVP Here.

Discussion Recap: Etsy Houston Meetup April 1st

The Etsy Houston Street Team Hosted their first Meet Up at TX/RX Labs Makerspace

Every time we meet we get into a hot discussion full of great ideas about how to grow our businesses. Here are the things we discussed April 1st and a few questions we came up with. Please comment on this blog if you would like to continue the discussion.



Apps are crucial to having strong Etsy Shops. We all had different favorites. You can find official Etsy Apps here: https://www.etsy.com/apps/. There are a ton of apps with lots of different functions. You can browse by popular apps or search by category. Make sure you browse the Sellers Apps - look at the top right where you can distinguish between buyer and seller apps.
       Recommended: https://www.etsy.com/apps/1039482342/bestautorenewcom
       Recommended: https://www.etsy.com/apps/343185661/shipstation
       Recommended: http://www.etsyonsale.com/
       Recommended: https://www.etsy.com/apps/505670/1-product-photography-fotofuze

Why Auto Renew? Etsy has it's own internal SEO. It wants shops that are the most active to appear at the top of the pages. Funny thing is, it doesn't know the difference between a sale and reposting or just a reposting. Auto Renew will help you repost your listings - at a fee of course - which will rank you higher in searches.

Why Ship Station? The best shipping fees for USPS, Fedex, UPS, and DHL with easy at home printing. It automatically links with your Etsy and notifies the buyer. It can give you statistics about who is shopping and where they live.

Why Etsy On Sale? You can manage multiple shops at once. You can autorenew or run sales on multiple items all at once. This could be especially useful for Cyber Monday - style sales in which multiple items, or multiples shops are being changed at once.

Why Fotofuze? Product photography means everything on Etsy. This app helps whiten the backgrounds of photos without losing color in your foreground. AMAZING! Plus it's made by a company in Dallas and supporting local businesses is our thing, right?



Other apps we <3:
Fotor for Mac - Whitagram for Iphone

Questions for the Group that Came Up:
Do people prefer Society6 or Etsy? Why?

Want to join the conversation? Join us at our next meet up May 6th at TX/RX Labs 205 Roberts 77003.

Do's & Don't For the Etsy Houston Meet Ups Beginning April 1st

You DON'T need to be "a member of Etsy Houston" to join us! If you are an artist, maker, designer that is interesting in growing your business and selling goods this group is for you.

You DON'T need to stay the whole time! You are welcome to come and go as you please between the hours and 7-9pm.

DO Bring a project to work on. We'll talk, network, and work on our craft projects together.

DO Bring snacks, drinks, for just yourself or for others. Of course you are not obligated! You are welcome to just bring yourself!

DO Bring questions that you have about Etsy, Selling Online, or Selling at Craft Fairs. We'll try to work through them as a group.

DO Think about what your goals are and how the group can help you.

Now let's have some fun and make together!
April 1st (and every first Wednesday of the Month)
7pm-9pm
at TX/RX Labs Art Space
205 Roberts 77003

Etsy Houston Meet Ups Begin April 1st

Join us April 1st 7pm -9pm and Every First Wednesday of the Month

TXRX Labs Hackerspace

205 Roberts Houston, 77003

It's been a long time coming and we're so excited to announce that the first ever Etsy Houston Meet Ups will begin April 1st and continue each first Wednesday of the Month. Bring a project to work on, or just bring yourself. Snacks and drinks (BYOB) are always welcome. 

There are so many benefits to having a strong centralized non-profit group to support and network with other makers and sellers. With a strong group we could blog more and thus bring more awareness and traffic to our etsy stores. We can better facilitate our social media, make treasuries, learn from each other, and develop a professional community.

So let's do this! See you April 1st.