Freebies and Treasures

I am on track to complete my listing goals of books and sealed CDs. I was all set to list for sale this 1976 publication of Treasures from Throwaways. It was a giveaway scored from a fav thrift. I pulled it from the sale pile because I can use it for either my AtoZ posts or do a spoof on some of the crafts. The lead off image is a cardboard tree from that book. 

The book also highlights painted furniture. Funny how things like that trend back. 

Now that the holiday selling season is looming, I am ratcheting up my efforts to get product listed. I have been concentrating on sealed CDs. Some of my best CD finds have been from the thrift shop State of the Ark in Fort Bragg, California. This Rambo Mix is the best of the bunch.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185556194425

All throughout the summer my eBay listings posted averaged 25 items per month. August was deemed crocheted-blanket-month. I gained this beaut for a few dollars half off at thrift. Bought one day, listed the next. If only I could do that with all of my items, August's blankets are now listed. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185557190529

Ending the post with the Pattern of the Day - cutest of the bunch of the sewing pattern sessions. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185557760223

I've Got the Blues

I know exactly why I have the blues - I am grieving. I lost my best friend, my mother, last month. I cannot allow myself to fall into the abyss. I have decided to resume my Art History classes at Sacramento City College in the spring. 

My quilting activity is on hold. It is such a physical craft. You have to be 100% to engage in the sewing, ironing, organizing layouts, etc. in quilting. That is just the piecework aspect of it, the actual quilting is a whole nuther story.  

The Mr. has put the kibosh on me adding more shelving to contain my eBay listed product. I will continue culling those items that have not sold. I just launched a 60% sale on Creative Circle needle kits. They seemed a good idea at the time, but have not been moving like they should.  

Even with taking a month off during the summer as time away from selling, my sales reflect as up 70%! Go figure. I did allow offers and acceptances during that time though. 

Another category I am beginning to think may be slowing are cookbooks. I have a little collection of 1980s red plaid ones. I may have to stop buying them and let this round sell through. 

My best selling patterns are from Vogue. I can see myself segueing to carrying only that line of vintage pattern. There are other specialty patterns that are best sellers such as Folkwear and the historical costumes. Costume patterns in general do no sell as well as I anticipated. 

Ending the post with a pattern I have kept in my collection, a 1972 McCall's 3397 Betsy McCall rag doll.

I keep the cutest and oldest sewing patterns that I find. Probably about 1% of what I actually list. 

My next rounds of eBay listings will be books, NIP CDs, Vogue sewing patterns, crocheted blankets, then quilt blocks and tops. Let's see how well I keep to my schedule. 

How much is that dolly in the window?

I thought I was back in business buying a bag of doll clothes for $1.99 at thrift. A few years ago, I found bags of Barbie clothes. I lotted them up by color and all of the lots sold. But for my recent purchase bag, only two articles of American Girl dresses were keepers. Not too bad for a buck a dress. My fav Hallmark bear sports the cutest of the two dresses.  

My pattern collecting, of course, continues. Here is one most unique, at first I thought it was a pattern for a full-sized chair. On closer inspection, there are eyeglasses resting on the chair in the picture, and the instructions note "Only for bears, bunnies, and dolls." 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185549719745

eBay Open 2022 will be held September 21-23. It is hybrid event for eBay sellers. Only those who live near New York, Austin, and Los Angeles, can attend in person and those live events have sold out. I would really love to attend one of those events in person. 

Ending the post with this neato Treehugger graphic. I do beg to differ on "shopping at the Thrift Store Leads to Less Hoarding." I have so. much. stuff, especially fabric. I buy it in bulk and give away all of the character prints. 

August is Crocheted Blanket Month

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185557213958

It has started out that way finding a crocheted blanket per week in August. One year, it was the summer of the hinged blue Ball jar where I found 5 of them. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185557206166

I am not sure what my fascination is with these crocheted items. Maybe because I never mastered the crafts of knitting and crocheting. 

Here was my first find of the month. I think each one is a work of art. 

I will have to put some or all of them up for sale. I get to collecting in cycles. It is odd some things show up at thrift regularly, other things show up occasionally, and other finds are rare. Items I collect in the rare category are crystal Princess House lamps, wooden duck decoys, and of late, ceramic tiki mugs. 

My summer days of leisure are nearly over. We kept our camper was in fish camp alongside the ocean for three months. We now have a supply of cod and salmon. 

Time to ramp up the eBay listings. I have product to list in all of my specialty categories. I will highlight the unique ones in the upcoming posts. 

Ending the post with graphics from a 1960s publication - Let's Crochet.

While the Cat is Away

Half off day at thrift produced both the laundry sign and the crocheted blanket for less than $5. I buy those blankets to sell and then I end up keeping them. 

While the Mr. is away at fish camp, I am sourcing. I average spending $25 at each thrift location, finding my specialty items of sewing patterns, books, CDs, and needlekits. Since I have ramped up my business, I spend more on product, than I do for myself. 

There are certain sewing patterns I keep for myself, this vintage Butterick is one of them. 

This pattern hits on two cylinders, it is an apron, and there is cross-stitch involved. 

This may be the only issue of this obscure Pentecostal church collector plate - The Church by the Side of the Road, in Seattle, Washington. Discovered in one of my mom's cabinets while packing up her apartment. 

I am busy listing books on eBay. While the red plaid cookbooks have not been moving as quickly as before, they do eventually sell. A couple of recent finds in that category were the Fannie Farmer Cookbook (1984), and the Vogue Sewing Book (1970, first ed.).

Ending the post with the image of a peahen that has adopted us. She is quite the character, a peahen stalker. You will be involved in some task around the ranch, and you look up, and there is that peahen. I have named her Matilda. 

Updated eBay store video

After receiving some constructive criticism from a well-known thrifting podcaster, I updated my eBay store video. My original sequences on my iPhone were facing vertically, rather than horizontally. That cut out a lot of space where I could show my product. 

There is also a feature on the iPhone to square up a picture. Never knew that. I don't do a lot of listings directly from my phone, but that may change in the future. 

I will also be devoting some time to learn iMovie. I was winging it with this video. As I learn more tips and techniques, I will share those.