June Weird and Wacky

This bumper sticker was spotted at my favorite clothing reseller Freestyle in Sacramento, California. 

I watch a lot of paranormal-related YouTubes, funny thing is ghosts/demons never haunt the secondhand shops. These entities like to open cabinet doors, play knock knock, and occasionally throw knives and cutlery. 

Not much to report this month in the thrift shop world of wacky. This painting was displayed at Old Soul Coffee in Sacramento, a place I frequented on my days in office. 

These images are from another thrifting site on FB. Found at an antique store, a questionable laundry basket. 

Ending the post with a cartoon. 

Birthday Milestone

I have hit the magical age of 65.🎂A dear co-worker gave me a birthday card which read, "May your birthday be as exciting as a great thrift store find!" Another gave me the bouquet of flowers 🎕So fragrant!

Seller update: Bought another $40 worth of sewing patterns from Goodwill. Average cost 50 cents per pattern. But before I get to those, I completed a yarn listing session. This group also from Goodwill in a bag marked $3.99. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186510151565

Finally doing an audit of my stock and how it is listed on eBay. It means editing each and every listing, most likely revising the prices to reflect average cost sold. 

On the thrifting front - I go through collecting phases. Toys and stuffed animals are nearly irresistible. I don't have any grandchildren and am not around children at all. Besides the Barbie clothes that I will lot up for sale, the other toys will be sent back to the Great Thrift Shop Beyond. 

This display was at Amador Hospice Thrift. I bet it was fun creating it!

Other collecting phases of mine include tiki mugs, blue Ball jars, duck decoys, G.I. Joe small figurines, Madame Alexander and Black Americana rag dolls. Those items I do keep in my collection. 

I also went through a vintage sewing machine phase. I thrifted about 8 of them back with the exception of 2, a pale blue and pale green one. 

Anyhoo, happy birthday to me! Looks to be a fine day. 

Scouts and a Few Million

I always do well on last day of estate sales. $11 for a 1962 Bible, some art books from the 60s, and three scouting pieces with bling! I had just sold my last piece of Boy Scout, then I gained 3 more. These were priced at $10 each but sold to me as $10 for the three. 

In the image above, to the left are some of the precuts for the Lava Lamp quilt, and to the right is a pet quilt in progress. Both are destined for my home away from home. We will see how much sewing is done at that location. 

I was amused that eBay has increased my selling limit to $5,000,000. Five MILLION dollars. When you first start listing, you are limited to a certain amount. As you continue on with good seller metrics, your limits are increased. I have been selling on the site for nearly 30 years. I am the nickel and dime seller. Those $8, $15, $20+ sales add up. 

Greenhouse update: It was bound to happen. A deer got into the greenhouse and ate all of the pepper plants. Seems they are especially delicious. I will need more wire barriers to keep the tomato plants intact. 

The Mr. and I saw the new Will Smith movie Bad Boys Ride or Die. There should have been more writing invested in comedy rather than the killing. The comedic moments were good. On Wednesday there are matinees for seniors. You will know where to find me the weeks I am in town. 

I am more than over working full time. I have earned my stripes. 40 years with a few short hiatuses in between. I have 4 actual days in office left to fulfill. 

Ending with a story about my latest unhinged person encounter. I took a mid-afternoon walk in downtown Sacramento. There was a woman a couple of blocks down in the sidewalk. She was saying something I could not make out. Rather than go another block out of my say, I left the sidewalk and walked into the roadway on the other side of the parked cars to avoid her. As I got closer to the woman, she said something I couldn't make out, but it was clear she was giving chase. She ran at me from the sidewalk and in between the parked cars. Thankfully, I wear tennis shoes when I walk downtown so I ran away from her. I reported the incident to the Sacramento Sheriff. 

The unhoused situation has not improved. The streets were cleaned for a movie shoot a few months back, but the tents are popping up again in the grid. Now, unattended homeless encampment fires are causing major wildfires in the area. I do not know the solution. 

Everyone Needs Tummy Time

I thought I had biffed on my last mystery box of crafts I purchased from an online auction. Lucky for me, there were 14 uncut sewing patterns so I will make my money back on the $25 total I paid. It was a good buy because there was also jewelry making/beads for my hair stylist and a new box of Melon Boy oil pastel crayons. I am sure those will come in handy for my art class this spring. 

I continue to gut my clothes closet. All of the clothing one size too big was thrifted back. Summer clothing sales in retail are on right now so my timing is just right. 

Only two weeks to go until I am back on the coast. The ocean was rough in May so there was no fishing. My motivation is to see whales or dolphins.🐋🐬They seem to be attracted to the red boat. We set out from the Noyo Harbor, underwater is the Noyo Canyon. 

I am so glad I got my eBay business up and running well before retirement. I am not sure I would have the motivation to start from scratch. It is discouraging at first if you only have a few hundred items listed. When you really start seeing steady money is when you reach 1,000 or more listings. 

Sneaking in a Pattern of the Day from my May coastal sourcing set. A recent one from 2021 Simplicity."Baby Tummy Time Animal Mats." 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186496021523

Until next time,

Tami

My eBay work has exploded

Seller update right off the get go. Recent sourcing puts me at about 200 uncut sewing patterns to list for sale. I am progressing toward my 3,000 active listings goal. 

Pattern of the day is from 1994 Party Shoes by Pavelka Design Studio. It looks to be the same colorway as my Lava Lamp quilt fabric pull below. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186489686155

Books are on a 40% off sale and there have been no bites. 🎣The small stack of books I had pending to list are being thrifted back. After the sales promotion ends, I will pull the rest of the books off my shelves. Cookbook sales were a pandemic blip. 

I sold my first item to a museum in Alabama - a Boy Scout uniform shirt with patches. It would be a kick if I sold an item as a movie prop! 

Quilting update: Fan Quilt 2024 is at the longarmer being quilted. I chose a dragonfly pattern in a purple thread. 

I am cutting fabric for the Lava Lamp quilt(s). I have more than enough fabric for 2, possibly 3 quilt tops. 

Plans for the summer include two weeks on the coast and then two weeks inland alternating for the next 4 months. I will reveal my home-away-from-home trailer setup for sewing projects. 

Follow Your Dreams

I don't know who to credit for this large mixed media artwork. It was hanging on the wall at the Goodwill boutique in Sacramento. If I had room for it, I would have bought it. 

I dream of a barn studio big enough to hang large quilts from the ceiling and unique artwork on the walls. 

Do I know what I will do with my art history degree in the making? Nope. No idea. I am taking the subject for the joy of learning. 

Seller update: Right when I was going to swear off sewing patterns, I bought at hospice thrift two pattern boxes each at $4.99, but the real score was 150 uncut patterns. These were hand-picked from a 5 drawer pattern keeper that seemed to be from a collection. 

I do not pass by the linens at thrift. There are nice towels, lovely tablecloths, and my latest find, this square pillow cover. 

This pale yellow sunflower volunteer to the greenhouse was the first to flower. 

I will highlight those cut sewing patterns from the 150 I couldn't resist in upcoming posts.  

Unicorns and Undergrowing

Pattern of the day is from the coastal sourcing series last month, a 1986 Kalico Kastle Unicorn/Horse sewing pattern.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186478083339

Seller update: There 36 sewing patterns waiting in the wings to be listed. I really have to concentrate on other categories since I am running out of space in the plastic tubs. What I like about my sewing repository is that these items are small and easy to store. 

I am considering pulling all books from the listings, with the exception of Bibles. 

I hover around 2,600 active listings. I anticipate the summer will be slow. I like to leave town for a few weeks at a time so I put my eBay store on time away. 

I have sold or thrifted my work-related clothing. I had quite a few Hawaiian dresses but I undergrew them. My clothes closet now includes:

8 maxi skirts
10 mid-length/pencil skirts
5 dresses
1 formal gown
10 pairs of pants
Over 20 long sleeve, short sleeve, graphic T shirts each
Over 20 cashmere sweaters

The fan quilt is in celebration of my 65th birthday. I returned to my original fabric pull and went with a lavendar feedsack backing. I also decided to go with a cotton batting, rather than wool, because it really is a summer quilt. I will reveal the finished quilt after its return from the longarmer. 

I purchased another mystery box of patterns from an online auction. For older patterns, I replace the plastic sleeves because they usually look dingey. 

We are concentrating on withstanding this 100 degree heat wave in Northern California. I can't head for the coast because I am still working through the end of the month. 

Why I Turned Off Comments To My Blog Posts

I have turned off comments to my posts. Random posts of mine kept creeping into the most popular blog posts. When I clicked on one of my Christmas eve posts from 2019, one comment was a string of language I could not read. 

Looking further into past comments, another post that kept popping up was from many years ago. On each of the comments, a small combination of letters and numbers were posted. That was it. Apparently, evil actors were posting those funky comments on my blog and directing others to it. If you click on the comments tab in blogger, you can view all comments on your posts. 

Gonna fix their wagons. I deleted all of the suspicious comments. Now, no one can comment. Even if you email me, I rarely check that email inbox. 

Moving on to seller update: I removed the one test item I had for sale on Etsy. It was a tiki bar quilt. Etsy seems to be having its problems. I figure nothing ventured, nothing gained. 

Sourcing during my vacation produced over 50 sewing patterns for me to list. There was one colorful needlepoint I put with my keeper projects. 

Pattern of the Day from the coastal sourcing lot is one from 1966. It is a keeper too because it is cut, cut, cut, the Gonks Galore!

 

Online auction observation - seems people get the idea of jewelry crafting and then abandon the projects. There are bags and bags of jewelry "remnants" for sale. Of course, the same could be said for any craft. Good intentions with dreams of 💰 

Greenhouse update: The plants have eluded animal attack so far. 

We are just now experiencing heat in the 90s. That means the grasses will be drying up and water will be harder to find for the wild animals.