Maria has stepped out of her artistic safety zone – her blog – a bit and opened up a  Full Moon Fiber Art shop on Etsy, the world’s most popular artist sales site.

She isn’t changing her blog or backing away from it, the idea was to give people who like her art a chance to buy it simply and quickly and 24/7. She is using it to sell potholders, wool and some smaller hanging pieces, sketches and posters (like “Show  Your Soul.”

She will continue to sell her quilts and hanging pieces from her blog, which she loves dearly and writes and shares her art on daily.

Etsy calls itself the new global marketplace for creativity, and i think that is a fair an accurate statement. It’s become a Godsend for many talented artists who have no way to display their work, and successful artists drawn to the large audience there. Maria was wise to create and maintain her very successful and popular blog.

But creativity also requires change, I think, and she is putting her toe in a big ocean.

I admit I’ve been nudging her towards Etsy for some time, but you do not get to tell Maria what to do with her art. She’ll do it when she’s ready, and if she’s ready. At heart, she’s a snoot, and a cautious one.
It only took her about 10 years.

She’s selling a lot of things on Etsy already, nearly 20 potholders and a lot of wool in less than a week.

That’s just the start, I think. There are millions of people shopping for art on Etsy, I think her potholders and wool (and perhaps some smaller fiber pieces) have found a happy home. I’m a fan of Etsy’s, I buy all of my presents for Maria and others there, it is an efficient, friendly and simple-to-navigate site.

Maria loves it already, and will be updating it regularly. As of now, she is nearly sold out. There are three potholders left (including the one above), some “Show Your Soul” presents a timely gift these days and 17 skeins of Bedlam Farm wool, all that remain from our sheep shearing last Fall.

Etsy seems to like her work.

I think this is a big step forward for Maria, nothing will change about her blog, but it will make it easier for people to buy her stuff whenever they want, and expose her remarkable potholders – which she has turned into an art form – to more people.

Same with the wool the other eclectic things she will put up there.

Knowing her, I suspect it will also inspire some new ideas. It already has. Get ready for snails in one form or another.

Her blog will remain the same, she will never back away from it. It is home base for her life and writing and art and videos and photography. But she will also have a new home on Etsy,

Watching Maria grow as an artist and a thoughtful marketer of her own work has been one of the joys of my life. With Maria, I always get the feeling she is just getting started.  She loves to make art, and she loves to sell it too.

And a happy one, looks like. Congratulations to a gifted artist with heart and good luck. You can check it out here.