More on the Subject of Etsy and Copycats

Now I don't want anyone to think I hate Etsy due to my last rant because it is a great site for artists to sell their wares. Ebay is too expensive and not targeted at the right market for us, plus it lacks the community that Etsy has. However what does upset me about Etsy is the lack of support they show artists when they need it the most.

Etsy claims that they will moderate between members when there are issues but honestly I have seen several stories where sellers who create original items had other sellers on Etsy steal their exact items and Etsy did nothing to help them. Most small sellers or hobbyists can't afford lawyers to defend their work and if Etsy doesn't step in, how can you stop other people from just selling your art without your permission?

So sellers are left to defend for themselves and disputes can get nasty. The harassing emails start, more items are stolen and people will go as far as attempting to destroy each other lives basically. Thankfully I've never had to deal with anyone like that but I've again heard the stories.

But all the finger pointing aside, isn't the idea of copying art just ruining the whole purpose of art? Why bother selling crafts if all you're doing is producing something created in the mind of someone else? You may as well go work in a factory then sell on Etsy?

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Etsy: The Perfect Place for Craft Sellers ... And Thieves

So I've been selling my videogame crafts for about 2 years now on Etsy and is been a good little side hobby for me. I don't make a lot on the bead crafts but I do it for the fun of it. Lately the craft has been losing its fun side do to the huge amount of copycat artists and idea thieves on Etsy who are selling both the exact same designs as me and other sellers or just stealing our good ideas and making their own versions.
Now a lot of people sell videogame bead crafts on Etsy and a lot of us use original videogame sprites from retro game system, so I'm not complaining about other people selling the same Secret of Mana set as me because well, I don't own the rights to those sprite designs. That's not the issue here because the game companies encourage fan art. Hell, I've sold some of my work to Sega, Blizzard and Sony employees, so I don't think they have a problem.

What I'm talking about here today is when I come up with a unique bead design like my Patapon magnets or Loco Roco keychain (as seen above) which don't come in pixel sprite form in the first place and someone starts selling them on Etsy. See I know I don't own the rights to those characters - Sony does, but I did create the design for those magnets and that keychain, so when someone else comes along and starts selling that keychain or magnet design without my permission that's what irks me.

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Epic 8-Bit Art: Worm from Labyrinth

SerenaAzureth_Labyrinth_Worm2, originally uploaded by SerenaAzureth.

Another amazing piece from Serena Azureth. This time she made the little blue worm from Labyrinth and boy, it is spot on.

This is a Christmas present for a friend of hers, but don't worry, Serena, we won't tell her about it. SHHHHH! Now, internet people don't tell Serena's friend about her present.

Good internet readers. ;)

Baby Mario & Luigi Picture Frames - Getting the Little Ones as Soon as They Come out

I'm a little strapped for cash this Christmas, so instead of spending a lot of dough on a ton of store bought presents, I'm making a lot of my gifts instead.

For example, I made these picture frames for my sister. My nephew, Evan is a big gamer and loves Mario games, so I decided it would be cool to make gamer themed picture frames with his name and my other nephew's name, Logan. I figure both my sister and Evan would enjoy them.

I used Baby Mario and Luigi sprites for the themes and customized the frames with their names. The Mario frame is about 2 rows of beads too small to cover the whole frame so I'll have to paint the frame to hide it or add on some beads somehow. Or I just might keep the bad one for me and make a new one for my sister.

With these designs in mind, I plan to make baby shower frames for my store too. A Mario frame for boys and Peach frame for girls. People can customize them with the baby to be's name or I can just make them with It's a Boy or It's a Girl on them.

Demos of those ideas to soon follow.

Spike TV Video Game Awards 2009

Spike TV is back with the Video Game Awards on December 12th, 2009 and you can vote now for your favorite games. Head over to the website to vote for all your favorite titles in the catergories like Game of the Year, Best Soundtrack, Best PC Game, Best Downloadable Content and more.

This year is packed full of amazing titles and I personally had a hard time picking my favs. Just take for example the 5 games up for game of the year:

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
3. Assassin's Creed 2
4. Left4Dead 2
5. Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare 2

How the hell do you choose one game from a list that full of great games? I choose Uncharted 2 but it was a close tie with Batman and Assassin's Creed 2.

VGA 2009 Mystery World Premiere #1 | SpikeTV | SPIKE.com

Spike TV has also been showing off their award show exclusives this year via commercials which includes a mystery shooter game from 2K Games (shown above), Halo Reach, Tron: the Movie and a new Star Wars game.