I have been 1099'd

It perplexes me why some sellers fear receiving a 1099-K for tax purposes. This is the first year I received one. My calculations were a couple of hundred off so I adjusted the entry in Turbo Tax (not an ad, I just like the program). 

In addition to the extra money gained by selling on eBay, I receive the tax advantages of having a business. One is the home office deduction. There are other deductions I won't list here. 

College update: The sketching continues with my focus being on toys. The model was a mini Bratz doll. 

Still slogging away on my sewing pattern listing session. Another highlighted from that session is 2001 Kinfolk Twig Star Mats #W103. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186928598466

We had a break in the rain so I could prepare the flower bed. Here are the seeds to be planted. 

The birds and bees will be happy campers when these come into bloom. 

When Hoarding Pays Off

Welcome February! Leading off with the second in my series of Akedo figurine sketches. Scary Clown deserves his day in the sun! 🤡 They will total 15 if I sketch the whole collection. 

I am an admitted hoarder of art and craft supplies. Being a thrifter for over 40 years, I am bound to run into useful items. My newest hoard category is beads. I did complete one seed bead project last year. 

I was pretty sure I had a box of colored pencils in my stash. I found not one box, but two. In addition, there are all full packages of soft pastel and oil pastel crayons, watercolor crayons (who knew there was such a thing), and Twistable Crayola crayons.  I don't remember when or where I picked up all of these items. 

I have posted about hoarding before in 2021 and 2019

It boils down to being brutal about what you keep for yourself. How much of it do you want to display? I have numerous collections at this point that I keep stored. Those collections include:

Wooden duck decoys
Antique advertising tins
Blue Ball jars
Doll collections
Bing & Grondahl plates
Sewing patterns

There are other items in storage other than my collections. I am still working through the boxes from my mother's estate. 

Moving on to seller update - I am in the middle of a sewing pattern listing session. The specialty patterns are from the 1990s through early 2000s. This one is even earlier a knitted jacket pattern from the 1980s.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186923536699

Cutest of the quilting variety is this 1995 Country Threads Chicken Salad.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186923559119

Rain is forecast for the next week in Northern California. Gardening will have to be postponed until then. 

Sketching the Day Away

In my college drawing and composition class I have been learning about materials and methods. Part of the course includes sketchbook journaling. We can choose what to draw and can use color. I have chosen Akedo figurines as my models for the sketching series. 

The figurines were in a $2.99 bag at thrift. My lead-off had to be the Bada** Fisherman with shark and octopus tattoos! 💜💜

I can share my sketches because while they are part of the assignment, they are not graded. I don't want the graded work to hit the internet so it isn't suspected as plagiarism. 

I've got all of my art books gathered in one place now. They had been scattered in different bookcases throughout the house. We are doing a whole house re-carpet so all of the furniture has to be moved out, including bookcases. 

Added another piece to my Americana quilt collection. This counted cross stitch came in a grouping from hospice thrift, approx. 25 quilt patterns at 49 cents each.👌

Americana quilt has been queued up for a number of years. Lawd knows when I will actually start work on it. 😁

I can report I am making great progress on my Christmas latch hook rug tree skirt. Hoping to have completed by the end of February. 

Crafting, baking, and such

Moving right along in the crafting arena - the first poinsettia flower is finished on the hook rug tree skirt. 

Hoping to keep to my goal of completing this by the end of February. It is destined for entry in the 2025 Amador County Fair. I will not be entering anything in the California State Fair. 

I have been concentrating on this craft because it is too cold outside for gardening. 

I didn't make fruitcake for Christmas this past season. When the Mr. asked why we didn't have fruitcake, I thought no one wanted it. I so missed it that I made a batch to be ready for my birthday on June 25. 

After wrapping the loaves in sherry-soaked cheesecloth, it takes a few months for the dessert to be ready to eat.

My new laptop arrived - I am so happy to have a touchscreen back again. Worth the extra $.

I was also this many years old when I discovered I could send my iPhone images to One Drive rather than emailing them to myself.

This is the time of year when thrifting goes boring. There are the clothes that are discarded and cashmere sweaters that appear at thrift. For my type of stuff, it is a dry spell. 

Seller update: Another eBay milestone - my first $200 week in sales.🤑My usual hovers around $100 a week. I have over 2,700 active listings. My next listing session will be Girl/Boy Scout items. 

Let the Drawings Begin

Drawing and Composition I through Sacramento City College has begun. The online class focuses on drawing on charcoal, graphite and ink. Working in those types of medium will be new to me. 

The class will meet twice a week virtually through Zoom. We will also have a virtual field trip to an art gallery or museum. 

I ordered the $100 worth of supplies through Michaels online.

The last time I did any drawing was a couple of years ago for my eBay store logo GOA.

It will be fun sharing my drawings from this course. There has always been a cartoonish quality to my artwork. 

Seller update: All of the Barbie clothes are on the eBay boards now. Funny how those little item lots add up to over $100 total. 

Other than some sewing patterns, I have a bunch of littles to list. I am making steady progress on the death piles. 

On a different subject, it is a New Day in America with Trump returning to office.💪

Ending the post with permanently-startled doll seen at thrift. 

Books and Beautiful Bibles

My eBay listing hiatus has ended with a book session. The Bibles I picked up at an estate sale. I love that they are leather-bound. I make a B-line for the Bibles. If I remember right, these were residing in a basement undiscovered by other sellers. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186898162094

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186898171930

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186898155152

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186898178296

I was motivated to get these listed so they were not "death piling" in my converted remote office to art studio. 

While cookbooks aren't quite they movers they were during lockdown, the unique ones still sell. I had gathered approx. 50 books and ended up listing about half of them. After I run them through Terapeak research, those books that are priced low and/or have numerous listings, I send back to the Great Thrift Shop Beyond. 

This 1968 publication I utilized during my Countdown to Christmas posts. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186893985039

This 2008 publication was the most unusual of the bunch. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/186898184034

Listing sessions that are queued up are Barbie clothes and Girl/Boy Scout items. 

Gardening update: I am combining plants into planters to transport to our North Coast location. Here I have combined a jade plant, Monstera philodendron, and freesia starts.

I would like to locate an old wooden ladder to train the philodendron upright. 

Quilt Projects Queued Up for 2025

I was inspired by another quilter to post the contents of my project boxes. 

Pastel batik and X blocks

Pieces just need to be sewn together

Pink blocks and random embroideries

Pet car quilt just needs batting and quilting

Pieces of Mary Engelbreit ready to be sewn together

Outdoor themed with fabric panels

9 patch blocks ready for borders/sashing

Black and white themed fabric

Mariner fish-themed fabric

Fairy blocks and fabric pull

The projects most likely to be completed are the pet car quilt and the fairy quilt shown above. I have no illusions, I may keep to the same completion rate as last year (only 2 quilts).

Bought a new laptop, another Dell touchscreen. Not an ad, I am just a brand loyalist on the XPS laptop. This new laptop will pretty much eat up my profits for the entire year. Ouch. 🩹A necessary evil to be used for both personal and business. 

Seller update: My time away intermittently during the summer resulted in 20% lower sales for the year. I figured that would happen between retirement and the summer slack-off. 

Speaking of the summer, the Mr. and I have been busy preparing for the upcoming fishing season. We moved our trailer from one RV park to another, a good choice. Hoping to secure a better spot in the marina. I will keep you posted. 

Remote office converted to art studio

My former remote office, known to me as the Art Room, has been converted to a studio. The wooden easel was purchased at a yard sale over 20 years ago and has been in storage for the past 10 years. While this isn't a setup for painting (too messy for this room), it should work well for figure drawing. 

The reason I think of it as the Art Room is because it is filled with thrift shop original artwork.

I am not quite sure how a fully online class is held on drawing and composition. There are supplies needed so I assume there will be drawing involved at some point. 

For those following along on my college path. I earned my Associate in Science Business degree in my late 50s. I began my associate degree in art history a couple of years ago. Because I have the underlying degree, all of the classes are art history with no prerequisites. 

After I finish with this degree, I am tempted to pursue a degree in art. A triple major! 

Concentrated Crafting

My attention has swiveled from patchwork piecing/quilting to concentrated crafting. I have a backlog of kits awaiting completion and now I have the time and energy. 

Beginning with Project No. 1 for the New Year. Latch hook rug poinsettia tree skirt. 

A partial kit came in an online auction box, and I bought another partial kit from eBay. I also picked up partial bags of hook rug yarn at thrift. The canvas was missing from the first partial kit so I will complete it with the new canvas. I also plan on loosely following the charted pattern on the kit. I have started with a cream colored center. I will gift the full kit to my daughter that combines the two partial kits. 

Project No. 2 came to me as a partially completed needlepoint. The only part of the kit missing is the completed image looks like hyacinth. I got a good run at Project No. 2 before the latch hook rug kit arrived. 

Project No. 3 is needlepoint Chintz Cats. All of the following needlepoint kits were purchased secondhand. 

Project No. 4 is needlepoint Fruits and Vegetables pillow. I really like this one and may bump all of the other kits to start it. 

Project No. 5 is needlepoint Peach Rose. Soooo pretty. 

Project No. 6 is needlepoint pheasant Christmas stocking queued up for completion prior to December 2025. 

Let's see how many of these I will actually complete over the next 12 months. If I complete one project every two months, I will reach my needlepointing goal.