SoCal ETSY Guild Puts on Show This Weekend at Burbank Town Center

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Vendors who create their own merchandise are showing their wares this weekend in the center court on the first floor of the Burbank Town Center Mall.Burbank Town Center ESTY Guild Show promo

The pop-up show features artists who are members of the SoCal Etsy Guild, a team of more than 2,500 local artists based throughout Southern California, said its founder Stephanie Payan.

The purpose is to create consumer awareness of shopping local and buying handmade goods, she said.

While the guild is separate from the online retailer Etsy, which sells handmade and vintage merchandise, art and supplies, Etsy allows the guild to use its name in its business title and is a sponsor providing guild members with workshops, educational materials and supplying give-away items for pop-up events.

Guild members participate in pop-up shows in Burbank, San Diego, San Pedro, downtown Los Angeles and Riverside.

Plans are to make Burbank a quarterly stop on the circuit, Payan said.

On Friday, a handful of artists were showing their unique wares.Burbank Town Center ESTY Guild Show promo

“It’s a well-rounded variety,” Payan said. “I think people have this misconception that handmade is only jewelry and when they think of a crafter, they think your grandma selling her knitted stuff. But it’s very much not that. I think it’s a really progressive movement going on and people are becoming really conscious of buying handmade and getting one-of-a-kind of items. So we have all kinds of items — we have sunglasses and art, clothing, skin care and body care, hats.”

Every vendor participating in the event on Friday makes their livelihood selling their handmade merchandise. Other vendors on Saturday and Sunday work regular jobs Monday through Friday, Payan said.

There will be 25 total vendors showing on Saturday and 20 on Sunday in the Town Center Center Court.Burbank Town Center ESTY Guild Show promo

“Some of the people who are our vendors are following their dream or they lost their job — for whatever reason — they want to start their own business,” she said.

Payan started primarily making jewelry and she’s expanded to clothing, home decor — like throw pillows — and cuff links. Everything she does is unisex.

“This is how I started the guild because I was a handicrafter but it was just hard to find events to sell at,” she said. “My main focus is the guild and putting on events but this is what I like to do — sitting home sewing, knitting and making stuff — it clears out my brain.”

Vanessa Cotto, owner/designer of Paola Loves To Shop, designs rings, necklaces and chokers.

“The cuffs are all vintage brass and I wrap stones around them and they are all adjustable,” she said. “I make alien rings and have a lot of items made of quartz. These are chokers but they are worn as tiaras too.”

She also sells vintage tattoo chokers that were popular in the 1990s when they could be purchased from vending machines, Cotto said.

“They started coming back and I updated them with little charms,” she said.

Cotto said the tattoo chokers were vintage — more than 20 years old. The woman she purchased them from bought them from another woman who had stored boxes and boxes of them for 20 years.Burbank Town Center ESTY Guild Show promo

Another vendor, Jay Choi, was letting shoppers try samples from his beauty line Bon Bliss Bath and Body Treats.

One shopper was amazed at how soft her hands became after using the Scrub-2-Go product in Mango Sorbet flavor.

Choi’s wife Elissa, developed the product that is made of natural products including exotic butters and skin nourishing oils.