Etsy Success Sydney

I'm sure anyone who stops by these parts knows that truthbetold is well and truly a solo outfit. And I love it for that reason. But I also equally love working with others and hearing their stories. I always feel recharged and inspired after meeting up with others who also have the same dreams and value creative pursuits in their lives. As sappy as this sounds, for me hearing how others have made their dreams come true is enough to set keep me on the right path.  

Last Saturday was one of those days for me to recharge and inspired. I headed up to Sydney for the day to attend Etsy Success Sydney presented by Etsy as a part of Vivid Sydney program. In a nutshell it was a day of sessions presented by people who are at the top of their game and putting their talents and passion to great use in their own careers or community. 

Staged at the new MCA wing - which by the way has the most amazing view going - the day began with a passionate introduction from the amazing Angela D'Alton who put the whole day together with the help of her team. I have mentioned how much I love this lady before and just being around her is to be inspired because she is one clever and all round kick-ass person. Sappy much? But it's 100% true.  

Anyway - Angela introduced Chad Dickerson - the CEO of Etsy - who unsurprisingly is very inspiring himself. I really took a lot away from Chad's presentation, it reminded me how important it is to make your life into the life you want and that just going ahead and following your own path. 

One thing he said in particular struck a cord with me - 

'Finding your courage is really finding your heart'. 

It will stay with me for a very long time. 

I also really enjoyed the session presented by the girls from TMOD - and not just because we all got to wear one of their cool party hat cards. They delivered a really fun and insightful look into how they created a successful and fun business. It really reminded me that if you believe in your ideas and be open to changing your direction then you can create something very special. 

Another highlight for me was the last session I attended for the day - where in a nutshell Jo Walker (the editor of Frankie) spoke about DIY PR, and likened editors to monkeys. It was pretty funny and full of incredible information about how to get your goods seen. 

Oh and another highlight - I won this book, took in the view, spent time with some lovely ladies - like Jacinta, Jordan and Renee - and I also ate a whole lot of yummy food - mini burgers really are irresistible hey?

Thank you again to the amazing Etsy team and the gorgeous Aussie community managers Angela and Kirsteene on putting together a super day! 

Send Leeloo to Berlin

I am pretty sure that by now everyone knows how much I love the ladies of Leeloo Angela & Renee. They have to be seriously two of the most talented, inspirational and all around ace ladies I have had the pleasure to meet. Plus they are nice and who doesn't like nice people?


Why I am telling you this? Well Renee and Angela are planning on heading over to Berlin for the first Etsy conference and they need a little help to do it. Here are a few dets from the ladies below, and you can help them out over at their pledge site: 


Etsy are holding their first massive conference in Berlin, Germany this September, hello etsy. We'd really like to go, but we need your help.

We have created a project on IndieGoGo which will give you an idea of what we do here at Leeloo, and why we'd really like to be there. Essentially we think it will help us on our mission to support Australian designers and artists by learning from the best of the world's speakers and meeting the people in the know about online design. We can bring back some inspiration and ideas to share with our lovely community when we return and give you updates on the go while we're there. Awesome, right?

How can you help? Well, if you head to our project on IndieGoGo there's a few ways you can help financially, for which you can receive perks including raffle tickets, discounts and artworks by Renee Anne. You can also help by simply spreading the word for us, which is also greatly appreciated.

We'll keep you updated on how we're going, and we're looking forward to bringing you back the best of our knowledge if we get there!




Also they made a cute video to help promote their sweet cause. 



See what I mean about being crazy talented? (I'm dying of jealously pangs right now)




So if you would like to help out head over to the pledge page here: 
http://www.indiegogo.com/Berlin-by-September



Video Credits
Video features :: Angela D'Alton, Renee Anne Baker and Leeloo
Song :: Young Love by Luke Russell
Filmed at Leeloo Studios, May 2011

art F R E N Z Y

I blame the cold weather. it was pretty cold and windy yesterday in Melbourne. So rather than go and turn into an icy pole outside, I stayed in at lunch and had a little peek on etsy. This was a bad idea for my bank account because I went on a little mini art buying frenzy. at least i wil have something pretty to look at while i am stuck inside out of the cold

i picked up this lovely ACEO from bec winnel, from more of her work have a peek here

and i have been scoping this one out for a little while now, have a look at kelly's amazing work here

how amazing is this!!! check out steph chard's shop here

and lastly, but certainly not least - i picked up this gorgeous print of bacall from the lovely renee-anne's art4friends shop. again i have been etsy stalking this one for a little while!

renee-anne also has an exhibition tonight in sydney with ashlee maegan so if you are in town you should stop by and see her amazing work! I wish i could go, sadly i am stuck in melbourne trying to keep warm.

check out the details here