What's an etsy?

My husband and I both work in the health care industry. I'm a financial analyst (sort of), doing analysis of the prescription costs for clients....ohhhhhh I do math. Lots of math. I enjoy my job (I do love my math!) and I've been doing this for a few years now, but it isn't my passion. My husband's passion in writing. He's always been a writer, dreaming of one day being a successful writer for a TV show or movie. He dreams of going to the Emmy Awards or the Oscars. I haven't had something like that. No hobby or interest that I'm good at. I'm not a sports person, I don't aspire to be a writer or an actor.

We moved from the 'burbs of Chicago to Los Angeles last year. We had friends who lived in LA and we couldn't take the Midwest winters anymore, but the main reason was so my husband could try to live the dream and be a writer. So, we packed the car, loaded up our kitties and drove down Route 66 to Hollywood! First thing we realized - LA is expensive!

In the last couple months we've been bogged down by high rent, credit card debt and a weakened economy. My husband came home after reading an article on Lifehacker on ways to make extra income, etsy being one of them.

"What's an etsy?" I asked.
"It's a great website where people buy and sell handmade products."

Alright, cool! I check out this Etsy and find there are thousands and thousands of people selling things from jewelry, to clothes, to web design files. You name it, it is probably on etsy. While it seemed like a great place to make extra money, I had no idea what I could make.

I love scrapbooking, it is my only "hobby" that I do in my spare time. But that is hard to translate to a product. How can I make a scrapbook page with other people's pictures? Hmmm...sorry etsy. I guess I'll have to sell fruit on the side of road to make some extra cash instead.

The next day it hit me. My mom had made some great tissue paper flowers as decorations for my bridal shower. They turned out great and we received lots of compliments. I can do that! They are time consuming but not too hard and not too expensive to make. I called my husband at work all excited that I had found something I could make on etsy! And so the journey began.