Most of you by now would have heard about Regretsy, the hilarious blog which features the more, uh, unusual offerings by some Etsy sellers. The creator of the site, April Wenchell who writes as Helen Killer, puts it succinctly in the title of  her recently published book, Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF.  If you haven't heard about Regretsy before, check out my past review about the site, Regretsy : Unfavorites from Etsy.

Launched in October 2009, Regretsy's humorous and yes, snarky commentaries soon made it wildly popular. The book includes a popular selection of actual Etsy listings all with her pithy comments. The listings are with full cooperation from the Etsy sellers who know a good marketing opportunity when they see one!

You can see several preview pages if you look inside the book listing in Amazon.  Head on over for the New Yorker magazine's  Embracing the Culture of Fail  book review. As Regretsy has been so successful in helping artisans sell the quirkier stuff, April told New Yorker some artisans have resorted to creating what her blog readers call "Regretsy bait" to try and catch her attention.
The book launch at Borders was a hoot with with some artisans joining in. The viral  Fish in a Squirrel Suit Taxidermy (called URL) even made an appearance. One adult soap maker showed up in an appropriate (for her store) costume.  April even commissioned one Etsian to machine embroider pantiliner bookmarks with the word Regretsy - for the first 50 buyers at her book signing!

Prior to her book launch, she had a fun contest for free signed copies of her book. Contestants had to design their own dust jacket for her book which any one can download and print.  This was one of the 10 winners which I thought was hilarious :


She was amazed with the quality of the artwork submitted. She said in her blog post, "I have received some ass kicking entries so far, let me tell you. Amazing, painstaking work. It’s this kind of serious attention to detail that can only mean one thing. Many of you are unemployed."

April is not just a really funny writer. She has her heart in the right place. All revenue generated by Regretsy.com including the proceeds from Regretsy merchandise go to the Regretsy Alchemy Fund. The money is used to hire Etsy artisans to make products for various charities or to help needy Etsy sellers.

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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