Hey everyone! Just sharing a custom request I finished up. The client envisioned a pirate captain mouse with a standalone cat figurehead and an openable chest so they could put their own real micro-gemstones inside.
Hi everyone,
I’m an independent artisan, and my partner and I run a small shop dedicated to hand-awakened, realistic needle-felted crafts. We pour our hearts into every single fiber texture. Recently, a couple of our buyers alerted us to something that has completely broken our hearts and honestly made us feel sick.
A fraudulent website has completely duplicated our shop—copying our exact branding, titles, descriptions, and variant choices. While we all know that being copied or "inspired by" is unfortunately common in the creative industry, what they are doing to fake their reviews crosses every boundary of business ethics and customer privacy.
They have gone into our store (and our Etsy listings), stolen the real review photos uploaded by our wonderful buyers, and used Photoshop or AI to erase our handmade creations and overlay their own items (or AI-generated images) onto our customers' home backgrounds.
If you swipe through the photos, the proof is undeniable:
Product1_Original.png vs Product1_Photoshopped.png): In a verified review from our customer Stacie B., they used Photoshop to replace our red-dressed felt mouse with a boxing mouse. They completely kept the exact same vintage clock underneath!Product2_Original_ETSY.png vs Product2_Photoshopped.png): Look at the lavender mug and the wedding picture frame in the background. They literally erased our little mouse with the pink scarf and slapped a cartoonish elf over a real customer's home memory.Product3_Original.png vs Product3_Photoshopped.png): The exact same gift box, crinkle paper, eucalyptus branch, and burning candle from our buyer's house, but they swapped our mice for their own products.Product4_Original.png vs Product4_Photoshopped.png): The exact same patterned plate, the Reese's candy wrappers, the glass candy dish, and the brass bell on our buyer's dining table. They just pasted a boxing mouse over our heart-balloon mouse..
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It’s incredibly frustrating because our real community built these reviews based on trust and the genuine quality of hand-poked wool. Now, this scam site is weaponizing our buyers’ personal spaces to trick innocent people into buying what are likely cheap mass-produced dropshipped items or non-existent products.
I'm currently working on filing DMCA takedown notices with their review app platform (looks like Judge.me) and their hosting provider, but I wanted to share this here to raise awareness. Please be careful out there, and remember to always double-check the authenticity of independent shops.
Has anyone else dealt with copycats going this far to fake reviews? Any advice on how to get these fraudulent sites taken down faster would be greatly appreciated.
Hey everyone! Just sharing my latest finish. I had a blast staging them in my miniature bakery prop setup—the contrast between the derpy dinos and the tiny pastries turned out so fun.
Hey everyone! Just sharing my latest finish. I had a lot of fun pulling out some miniature furniture props (that tiny chair and lamp!).
The main technical challenge for me here was the structural support. The flower head is quite heavy with all those layered petals, so I had to make sure the green stem was reinforced enough to stand perfectly straight in the fluffy brown wool "soil" without drooping over time. How do you guys usually handle supporting top-heavy felted plants? Always looking for new armature tips!
Hey everyone! Sharing my latest whimsical project. I decided to turn a fluffy cat's head into an ice cream scoop.Looking at those innocent eyes just sweetens my whole day.
Hey everyone! Just sharing my latest finish. This was actually a happy accident. While felting the black wool for the eyes, I accidentally pulled the lines a bit too long and downwards, and suddenly she had this incredibly judgy scowl! I was going to fix it, but the grumpy expression paired with the tiny red nose and bright red scarf just grew on me. Have you guys ever had a project completely change personality on you halfway through? Let me know what you think of her attitude!