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Ashley Steele works on some wooden blocks at her kitchen table at her home in Farmington. She was recenlty on Martha Stewart's show for her baby decorations. They are also sold on an eBay-like website for home made goods, etsy.com. She currently opperates out of her house.
It was only a matter of time before someone fused the selling powers of eBay with the crafty appeal of Martha Stewart. The end result is Etsy.com, a Web site for buying and selling homemade arts and crafts, such as jewelry, knitting, baby decorations - even candy.
    The company was created in 2005 by Chris Maguire, Rob Kalin, Jared Tarbell and Haim Schoppik, all of whom, except Tarbell, met as engineering grad students at New York University and are all under 30. The site was inspired by the guys' fondness "to make stuff," just like many of the crafty people now on their site, Maguire said in a recent phone interview. The only difference is instead of baby onesies and potpourri, the
Oh Sweet Sadie

    Etsy.com user, Ashley Steele of Layton, will be in an art and gift show, "Oh Sweet Sadie!" Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a Rainey Homes model home, 14727 S. Woods Landing Ct., Draper.
    For more information about Steele's crafts, visit www.hiccupinc.com.
guys were building computers and furniture out of spare parts.
    "We just discovered this large community of people who like to make their own things, and were interested in connecting with others," Maguire, 25, said. "So we decided to create something that could fill this niche."
    Now the site has just under 1 million users from more than 128 countries. One seller, Ashley Steele of Layton, heard about the site from a friend. Steele specializes in modern, trendy baby decorations like wood blocks, picture frames and book ends. Since starting her shop two months ago, her business, Hiccup Inc., has really taken off. She was a guest on the "The Martha Stewart Show" in April after producers saw her items
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on the site.
    "After [being on] the show, orders just started pouring in. Within a few days I was contacted by boutiques here and California that wanted to sell my stuff. It's been crazy," Steele said. "It's not to the point yet where I can't get all the orders done, but friends, family and neighbors are ready to help if I need it."
    "There was a two-month span where every guest [on 'The Martha Stewart Show'] was found on Etsy," Maguire said.
    Another user, Jenny Meese from Salt Lake City, heard about the site on a blog.
    "I think the thing that appeals to me most is it feels like you can get all the benefits of starting your own business without so much risk," said Meese who makes baby onesies. "It's a good test to see if people like your stuff."
    Meese, who just gave birth to twins, said selling items is "something I just wanted to do for fun. And that's the cool thing about Etsy, is that it's so in my control."
    Setting up an account is free. Sellers set up "shop" with photos and descriptions of their merchandise. They pay Etsy 20 cents per listing that is posted for four months as well as 3.5 percent of final sales. Buyers are able to contact sellers with questions or custom-made requests. The site also offers an option called "alchemy" where a buyer requests a specific item, such as a guitar strap with video game characters on it, and the sellers can put in a bid to make it.
    "Using Etsy has been so great. Even though there has been interest to sell my stuff in boutiques, I love that someone can place an order and tell me exactly what they need. It's really personal," Steele said.

Click here to see Etsy.com