As a raw vegan and a knitter, Heidi Hizsa had trouble finding yarn that wasn't made of wool.

So she decided to make her own.

Hizsa, who has lived in Burnaby since she was 10, took a course on yarn spinning at Place des Arts in Coquitlam.

"There's not a lot of artisan yarn out there," she says. "So I just decided to start doing my own."

On June 15, 2009, Hizsa started a shop on Etsy - Quo Vadis Handspun - to sell her vegan yarn, made of fibres such as organic cotton, bamboo and soy silk.

"Soy silk is made of what's left over when they make tofu," Hizsa explains.

Etsy is an online marketplace for artisans, vintage clothing dealers and others to sell their wares without a storefront.

Sellers set up shop profiles, and shoppers can browse, look for specific items, and search for shops based on location, as well.

Hizsa calls her shop a micro-niche market, describing her perfect customer; "They're vegan, they knit, and they are an anime fan," she says, laughing.

A lot of her yarn is brightly coloured, adds Hizsa, a 25-year-old mother who lives near Lougheed Town Centre.

The shop took off slowly, she says, but has been doing well over the summer.

"It's been picking up lately," Hizsa says, adding it should be a full-time business for her by the end of the year.

It is important to post regularly, and keep things moving, as a seller on Etsy, she says.

She has had 267 sales (as of Sept. 8) and has 98 items up for sale.

Hizsa's products range in price from about $5 to $100. Fifty-seven yards of her blue and green I heart Dinosaurs linen/flax yarn goes for US$15 while 443 yards of her silver purple lace, spun from Acala cotton, goes for US$101.

Brittany Olsen, who also lives and grew up in Burnaby, started selling her cross-stitch work on the site in November 2008.

"A friend told me about it," she says of Etsy. "Now I'm addicted."

Olsen runs BRITTO801, Brittany's Cross Stitch.

As Olsen works full-time and is a part-time student, she doesn't have a lot of time to sell her work, she says.

"The best thing about Etsy is the convenience," she says. "You make things, take a picture and post it."

Olsen most enjoys having her work appreciated.

"I get excited when someone wants to purchase something I made with my very own hands," she says.

However, she wishes the site would allow her to target her demographic better.

So far she has made a total seven sales, mostly of unframed wall hangings and cross-stitch hanging ornaments for Christmas.

Olsen recently got married and also used Etsy to purchase items for her wedding in Mexico, she says.

Chantel McBride has lived in Burnaby for 21 years, near the New Westminster border.

She started selling her handmade jewelry on Etsy through her shop, Tilly's Designs, on Aug. 30.

She sold her first piece of jewelry within four days, she says.

Etsy charges 20 cents US per item, and takes a fee of 3.5 per cent from each transaction, McBride says, which makes it an affordable place to sell.

Etsy also makes it possible to see what other jewelers are charging for similar work, she adds, and how well their pieces are selling.

McBride also sells her jewelry to friends via Facebook.

She also uses local craft fairs, such as the Bonsor Christmas craft fair and the Buckingham Elementary School craft fair, she says.

Other Burnaby shops on Etsy include 6cats Vintage and 6cats Art, Judy's Craft Haven, Photographic Moment, Nothing Special Design, and Forest Grove Botanica, which sells witchery supplies from "the witch of Forest Grove."

For more information, check out the website at www.etsy.com.

jfuller-evans@burnabynow.com