Christmas in July

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185519798442

An anomaly in the world of resell is Christmas-themed products selling in July. I recently listed holiday needle kits, and they sold quickly. I purchased a mystery bag of sewing-related items and this kit was part of it. 

I listen to a certain thrifting podcast and have learned some information on listing terms. 

Antique: Items that are over 100 years old. 
Vintage: Items that are old, my criteria is 1980s and earlier. 
Retro: New items that are made to look old

eBay now offers sellers the option to post videos. My next purchase is a rotating display stand for those types of videos. 

On a different subject, my family and I like Princess House lamps. We each have one. This recent find had a cracked lamp top. 

When I did a search to replace it, I was surprised to see the lamps fetch from $40-$100+. While I did not find another PH lamp, I did find a lead crystal one with flowers ($1.99 at thrift) that nearly matches another of my thrift shop find lamps. 

The last second hand find to highlight is this Goorin hat. I don't find too many of them and sold a blue one that I now wish I kept. This black and white checkered is beyond cute, but just a tad small for me. 

The fan is retro. I am tempted to model that hat, all I need to complete the outfit is a pair of Dr. Martens!

Upcoming Blogiversary

Celebrating my 11 year blogiversary next month. The frosted cake donut with sprinkles is one of my decadent indulgences. I hear Levi jackets are trending, and I've got a red-tag one. 

A while ago, I signed up for AdSense and then promptly forgot about it. It is those irritating ads you see that break into the blog post. Well, those irritations just paid me $100. I am unsure how long it took to earn that $100 (pretty sure it was a few years), but that is $100 I didn't have before. 

Reseller update: In August 2019, my listings on eBay totaled 4. Three years later, my listings hover around 1,700. Last year, I made $5,000. This year, I made nearly $10,000.

I was all gung ho on reselling thrifted quilt books. Turns out the popular ones are also the popular fabric designers such as Kaffe Fassett and Tula Pink. I will be reducing that inventory, 3 cratefuls of it. 

My business goals continue, and after viewing this video

I created one of my own for my eBay store. I went ahead and purchased the iMovie software. Eventually, I will be adding more video to my listings. 

My next asset purchase will be another 5 shelf rolling wire rack. The first rack is overflowing. I have enough death pile inventory in sewing patterns to fill up another two shelves. 

I met a so-called "Peddler" during my family leave stay in Washington. Keith owned the Comfort Inn where I had a room for two weeks. He had been an eBay seller for quite some time, and encouraged me to become an Amazon seller. 

He mentioned his wife was successful reselling vintage glass. He suggested carrying a hand-held blacklight, and anything that luminesced was worth checking out. Just pass the light along the rows of glassware at thrift. 

My newest BOLO is yarn and have already sold a few skeins. Mostly I find acrylic, or the quality yarn is priced too high at thrift. 

There you have it - until next time~

Tami

Radio Silence

My mother at 94 years old left this world on July 11th. She died peacefully surrounded by friends and family. A celebration of her life memorial service was held on July 20th. I flew in prior to her passing and stayed to settle the estate. This type of loss makes you question your own life. Grief overwhelms you.

My short breaks from the bedside vigil were to the one place that gives me comfort and joy - thrift shops. I found another blue Ball jar to add to my collection. I haven't decided on the quilt blocks. 

I was able to send back 3 bankers boxes full of inventory to sell because a U-Haul was rented to empty mom's apartment. A 6'x12' trailer was filled to capacity. There is a huge photo archive to cull through and digitize.

I will be back in Fort Bragg, California, in a couple of weeks and hope to share some more interesting images.  

Happy 4th of July holiday

The red and white crocheted blanket and USA patriotic wall hanging were both purchased last month at a 1/2 off thrift sale. It was almost criminal that I spent less than $5 for the two. I image the cost of just the yarn alone on that well crafted crocheted piece was over $30.

I bought the red and white blanket to sell, but now I just can't part with it. 

I sent a quilt to be completed at the long-armer as a birthday present to myself. My next project is a baby quilt. It should be a quick put-together of bordering the blocks, and sewing everything together. 

Recent listings on eBay were a group of needlekits. Those finds come in batches, so when I buy them, I just scoop them up. Even better if they are Christmas ones. I don't really examine them until I prepare them for listing. 

This kit I am especially fond of because I made the original when it came out in 1990s, and is displayed on the mantel each holiday season. 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185481816565

It will be Christmas in July for me because people buy holiday items all year round. Two of my listed kits sold next day. 

This display was at my fav hospice thrift - I would snag that flag quilt had I been in town.

We are back in Bragg - Fort Bragg, California. I hope to have more whale/fish pics in an upcoming post. 

Happy Birthday to Me

A happy to be alive birthday. I did one of my fav activities - thrifting! I will complete this nearly-finished packet of doll house accessories that include a rug, pillow, and picture frame. A great birthday present to me from mystery crafter. 

Quilting is a contact sport - it is you against the beast. It seems I have injured myself again and I can only attribute it to my full-on press to meet a deadline. Machine quilting, through any sewing machine other than a long-arm, is challenging. Quilting by check is definitely my future. I did utilize one service but she complained about my pieced backings, and I was not fond of the widely-spaced quilting designs she offered. 

So, I am splurging and sending in this basket block quilt top with a wide backing Moda Grunge basic grey to a new-to-me longarmer. 

Segueing to the subject of fabric and their use in reseller listings, I will utilize that Moda grunge fabric as my image background. I have also kept an eye out for yarn, see my post my-first-foray-into-yarn.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/185478519252

This is my first post using the tips from the video below. I was inspired to be more inventive in my eBay listings.

Until next time,

Tami

Just Call Me Jonah-ette, and a thrifting update

I spent the vast majority of my vacation doing nothing. Nothing being simple things like eating at restaurants, walking the dog, and soaking up sunshine. 

One side perk of being on the ocean was a random visit from a whale. It circled the boat a number of times. The Mr. thought because the boat is red, it stands out from the rest. 

We spent a number of hours trolling for salmon. One silver was caught but had to be released. There will be other fishing excursions over these summer months. 

On to a thrifting update - 

On my return home my fav hospice thrift had bag of fabric, yarn, pool noodles (10 cents ea.) for packing. A pink Ty poodle NWT hitched a ride to my remote office. 

One of the mystery bags of fabric contained two partially completed quilts, some panels, the publication to complete the Chevron quilt, and a plaid woven *sings the words*.

Here is the drawing from kind-of mystery quilter that incorporated the quilt blocks in the corner left. There are templates and fabrics intended for the project. I will need to iron out the quilt blocks.

I note kind-of mystery because pinned to some fabric was a copy of a local real estate agent's Travel Agent Card. She had passed in 2020, and it seemed the estate had been settled because no quilter would willingly give up her stash. 

I will sew together the quilt blocks she provided. Completed quilt tops are quick/easy sales for me on eBay. 

Ending the post with the cutest of the appliqued quilt blocks in this unique project.

By the Ocean, and Snafu at the Fair

This bird greeted us as we set up camp.

A week away from all work, that includes Job #1 and Job #2. It has been many years since we have been able to vacation on the coast. We will be trailer camping so we can cook all of our own meals, even take a shower. 

I brought some sunflowers from home. I promise I won't turn this into a travelog. I will share the most impressive boat of the U.S. Coast Guard. 

Reporting on my thrift shop finds, after visiting four around the marina area. The first find was a $1.50 bag full of remnant fabric. I ended up throwing away 90% of this purchase. 

The keepers from that bag were worth at least $1.50. I can turn those bright remnants into crazy quilt cornerstones. Who knows what fabric will iron out in those batch of sewn squares?

The biggest score was a $20 large zippered plastic bag of crocheted squares. Found at Grannie's Attic, a thrift shop adjacent to a senior center in Fort Bragg, California. I love the handiwork of this mystery crocheter, I may keep some of the squares and learn how to connect them together. 

Even though I am on vacation, I am still sourcing. That is the most enjoyable part of being a reseller. In addition to the found squares, there were sewing patterns, some fabric, and 10 CDs for 25 cents a piece. Two of them turned out to be 25 dolla+ CDs. I chose CDs that have odd artwork, or parental advisories. Part of our driving trip back home means we lose radio reception for quite awhile, that is when the new CDs come into play. 

All sorts of oddness happened with the crafts competition at the California State Fair. First, I got an email that my art quilt was accepted for in-person judging. Then, I got another email of the accepted participants, and my name wasn't on the list. I chalk it up as a failed attempt. Not every idea is a good one. Where I had envisioned my quilt hanging in the exhibition hall at the fair, it will eventually be displayed in my barn-to-be.