tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46733522474361366132024-03-13T03:38:45.213-07:00Life is a Journey, Happy TravelsMy Journeys through Kids, Crafting, Etsy and LifeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-31049459063140123232015-07-20T10:49:00.003-07:002015-07-20T10:49:49.232-07:00moving!I haven't really posted here regularly lately, I have been unhappy with the platform and trying to find a place/format I like better. I created a blog on wix. I have a new domain too <a href="http://www.mydestinationhandmade.com/">www.mydestinationhandmade.com</a> . I posted a movie review today, I used to do them all the time. Click the link to see my new site and read the first movie review in a while! Thanks!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-69043769618777896672015-05-21T17:00:00.000-07:002015-05-22T09:09:11.614-07:00Ancient Rome, Scottish Highlands, Italian Travel, Mad Max and a Giveaway<span style="font-size: large;">In my previous post I revealed a little about what I do in my free time. Well allow me to indulge myself a little more. I also love action movies. this weekend we saw Mad Max, Fury Road. I am of the age that I saw the original Mad Max. Mel Gibson did mad really well. His eyes just have that crazy look. Although Tom Hardy's face is obscured for some of the movie he does crazy pretty well too. Charlize Theron does tough and sexy but the real star of the show I think is the visual. The effects are amazing and the action over the top. It's a classic chase movie with really awesome pyrotechnics. Overall, I say go see it in the theater, with your guy.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7q5xjgP-6Ps/VV4B213eG7I/AAAAAAAAAe0/HWPYW5xdXhI/s1600/giveaway.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7q5xjgP-6Ps/VV4B213eG7I/AAAAAAAAAe0/HWPYW5xdXhI/s400/giveaway.JPG" width="300" /></span></a><span style="font-size: large;">Enough about a post apocalyptic, dystopian society, how about an ancient Roman poet quoted by a Scottish Highlander? Like many women (and men) I've read all the Outlander series and anxiously await more. I love the way that Diana Gabaldon weaves history with fiction. One of my favorite quotes is in the <i>Drums of Autumn</i> book, it is an excerpt from a poem written by an ancient Roman poet, Catallus. "Da mi basia mille....Dein mille altera" Give me a thousand kisses....then a thousand more. Jamie says the first part and Claire the second. I loved it so much I put it on a passport cover. The cover itself is red cotton, I trimmed it in black passementerie. The rest of the quote is on the back. I've paired it in the picture with some Italian themed luggage tags. I think though they aren't matched, it makes quite a nice set for romantic travel whether you are an Outlander fan or not. Click<a href="https://www.etsy.com/listing/206996048/romantic-travel-give-me-a-thousand?ref=shop_home_active_1&ga_search_query=give%2Bme%2Ba%2Bthousand" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">here</span></a><span style="color: #cc0000;"> </span>to see more details on the cover. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you are a serious reader, read the books. If not, watch the series. Sam and Catriona are well worth it. I won't say any more, there are whole blogs devoted to all things Outlander, but, I am <b>giving</b> <b>away the travel set pictured</b>. Comment below for an entry. I am drawing Tuesday morning after the long weekend. You can also follow me on<a href="https://instagram.com/destinationhandmade/" target="_blank"> <span style="color: #cc0000;">instagram</span></a> for an entry. Thanks in advance for entering. </span><br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-64332635574835595802015-05-13T08:17:00.000-07:002015-05-13T08:17:22.587-07:00While I'm not working on orders.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While I'm not sewing, doing things for my kids or husband my passion is reading. The kindle/ipad was invented by some evil person who wanted to eat up all my spare time. I've been an avid reader since I was a kid, remember the contests over the summer at the local libraries to see who could read the most? I was always in the running for winning. The kindle app for my ipad and iphone just made books so much more accessible. I can read anywhere without having to remember to bring a real book, With the click of a button I can have the sequel to what I've just finished and it's at a fraction of the cost usually of what it would be at a book store. I still love the feel of a real paper book in my hand but the kindle app and more specifically romance e-books are my crack. So I will occasionally write about a book or a writer that I love.<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Neanderthal-Seeks-Human-Knitting-City-ebook/dp/B00BUWA58E"target="_blank"imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/8148V8c5q8L._SL1500_.jpg" height="320" width="200" /></a>Penny Reid is a recent discovery. She has a lot of things that appeal to me and evidently to a lot of other readers. I have read literally everything she has out at the moment. Why does she appeal to me? Because I was and still am an insecure dork. Her heroines like hiding in closets. They are smart, neurotic, they use word games to help calm themselves. They are crafty even if they can't craft. In the end they always find love with someone who fiercely and actively tries to understand and protect them.<br />
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She is also funny and smart.<br />
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I wholeheartedly recommend any of her books but I would start with <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Neanderthal-Seeks-Human-Knitting-City-ebook/dp/B00BUWA58E" target="_blank">Neanderthal Seeks Human</a>, which is free right now. No risk, if you don't like her writing style, you have invested nothing but your time.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-41504331994096356522015-05-06T15:45:00.000-07:002015-05-06T15:45:04.550-07:00Shibori, or as Some Call it Tie Dye<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4PgUq3qLTjk/VUqO1ovDpfI/AAAAAAAAAdo/aqfrX8q007w/s1600/rit.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-4PgUq3qLTjk/VUqO1ovDpfI/AAAAAAAAAdo/aqfrX8q007w/s1600/rit.JPG" height="200" width="150" /></a>When I was in college it took a class in Shibori, or Japanese tie dye. It literally means pleated and bound. With the current emphasis on denim it's really popular right now in the indigo color so I decided to try it myself again. I went to the internet to get more information (my college memory was a little hazy). One of my favorite blogs, Honestly WTF had a post and how to <a href="http://honestlywtf.com/diy/shibori-diy/" style="background-color: yellow;" target="_blank">here</a>. They are a little more in depth on the pleating technique, although it isn't all that hard. They did go to the trouble of getting special dye,but since I'm a little more of an immediate gratification kind of girl I just went with plain old buy-it-at-the- grocery-store Rit. I bought two colors, denim and black. My daughter wanted to use the black first, more on that later.<br />
Since this was basically a first try experiment I used an old white sheet for the fabric. This did two things.One, it had been washed over and over and was very soft and two it had no residues or coatings left on it. I cut it into manageable pieces, small enough to get a good dye but large enough to make small bags or other small projects with.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dkcaoDTFK7g/VUqT7irRpAI/AAAAAAAAAeg/FAuV_7PoAgE/s1600/pic5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dkcaoDTFK7g/VUqT7irRpAI/AAAAAAAAAeg/FAuV_7PoAgE/s1600/pic5.jpg" height="164" width="200" /></a></div>
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I chose some 6 by 6"tiles, 2 by 2" tiles and a wooden tart maker as my objects to use for dye resistance. I followed the Honestly WTF instructions on pleating, I folded the fabrics accordion style a little wider than my tiles and then accordion style again, ending up with a square a little larger than the tiles. I have a great stash of old lace, so I decided to try dying some of it too and that is what I used to bind the larger tile. The smaller one I just used twine. The tart maker I pleated the fabric long ways only and then wound it around the dowel part. I bound it with twine too. There is no rhyme or reason to how I bound them. <br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c5HBPhI-tYA/VUqR9t3aPTI/AAAAAAAAAeM/R2hkNNGL6Sc/s1600/pic4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c5HBPhI-tYA/VUqR9t3aPTI/AAAAAAAAAeM/R2hkNNGL6Sc/s1600/pic4.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FaW5YOYG9g/VUqR506FCHI/AAAAAAAAAeE/M5pClY7CKGY/s1600/pic3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1FaW5YOYG9g/VUqR506FCHI/AAAAAAAAAeE/M5pClY7CKGY/s1600/pic3.jpg" height="200" width="165" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDsVD0XYc2s/VUqR2yisfrI/AAAAAAAAAd8/99lAu2d2KYM/s1600/pic2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BDsVD0XYc2s/VUqR2yisfrI/AAAAAAAAAd8/99lAu2d2KYM/s1600/pic2.jpg" height="200" width="150" /></a>Here comes the tricky part. I used the cold bath "sink" method as described on the bottle. I tried it with the black dye and soaked the fabric according to the instructions using the required amount of dye and water and salt. It turned out less than spectacular. The color was muddy and had little definition. So I tried again with the blue. This time I strayed from the bottle directions. I used a large metal pot with non-stick coating (would hate for my nice enamel coated cookware to be blue) on my stove top, I doubled the amount of dye used and lessened the water, still using the salt. I simmered it for 45 minutes before I took it off the burner, rinsed and washed it. I think the results were pretty great. On the larger piece you can even see the striations made by the back of the tile. The piece I wound on the tart maker was my least favorite, but still nice. The lace took the dye in different ways since it was a combination of different fibers, nylon, polyester and cotton. I think I will try some t-shirts too but for now I have some really nice shibori pieces for a new project I'm doing next week!<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-21235850778797604402015-05-04T15:38:00.001-07:002015-05-04T15:55:07.283-07:00It's Been A While!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I used to make posts fairly often. Then I stopped. I didn't realize it but the last time I made a post it was 2010. I couldn't believe it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It isn't that I'm not on the internet, I am. I just haven't made it a priority I guess. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I discovered Instagram. I love it. I am hooked. Looking at the images on Instagram led me to some blogs and projects I just love too. I started new projects and with it came the desire to write about them and post about them. That led me to wonder what the best platform was now to blog on so I did some research.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I considered Tumblr. That seemed to be the thing that a lot of people are using, but honestly it seems like a cross between Instagram and Twitter. It isn't really set up for tutorials, or other things I typically post about. It seems like it's set up for images with captions mostly. But other than a couple of other newer ones, like Medium and Weebly it seems like wordpress and blogger are still the most popular free blog platforms. So, let's not reinvent the wheel, I'm back and blogging on this site, I hope I can do better than before! </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-91816966228334257512010-05-14T09:03:00.000-07:002010-05-14T09:03:33.354-07:00Dear Diary, What's in a Tag?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.144111578.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_430xN.144111578.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">One of the most time consuming things about listing items is sometimes the Tagging....</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's also sometimes one of the most important and one of the most controversial. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What are tags meant to do? They are the keywords that are filed through when someone uses the search box on etsy. According to etsy this is the most used way to find an item that is eventually purchased, so you can see why these are so important. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I "searched" etsy blog and forums for posts related to tagging and found more information than I wanted. After sifting through them these were the points I found most relevant.</span><br />
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<ul><li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Your first tag isn't really a tag it is the category. The other 13 are considered true tags</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Tags should only describe the item, they should not be uses for the item, verbs, etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Only use synonyms that are truly synonyms ie. don't use tote bag to describe a clutch, although purse could be used for either. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The who, what, when and even where are most relevant. Kitchen could be used for pot holders.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Do not use words that are in your title, titles are searched for keywords too. </span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So you are stuck? I wondered how I could find out what tags are most used by people searching so I tried <a href="https://adwords.google.com/o/Targeting/Explorer?__u=1000000000&__c=1000000000&stylePrefOverride=2#search.none%21ideaType=KEYWORD&requestType=IDEAS">Google's keyword finder</a>, part of their adwords program. I used <i>business card case</i> and found that an even more relevant keyword for that with more than twice the searches was <i style="color: red;">business card holder</i>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you have the time to use it it's a great tool. So Links? </span><br />
<a href="http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/guidelines-tips-tagging-on-etsy-281/"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Etsy's Guideline to Tagging </span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/seller-how-to-tag-o-rama-with-descriptive-keywords-5474/">Tag-o-Rama</a> (lots of actual tagword examples to choose from)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Both were very helpful. I've been falling down on the blogging lately, I'll try to be more regular about it! Good Selling! Jamie.</span><br />
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Thanks to paperquick, click on the picture above to see the other "tags" in her shop!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-47874336725546659672010-05-11T08:05:00.000-07:002010-05-11T08:05:37.640-07:00Dear Diary, Not Enough Time!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S-lxX3N3C8I/AAAAAAAAAVY/ac6hF0rJRfA/s1600/time+ticking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S-lxX3N3C8I/AAAAAAAAAVY/ac6hF0rJRfA/s400/time+ticking.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Dear Diary, Today is a rushed day. (Time Ticking image <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/VenusFlytrapJewels?section_id=5451415">VenusFlytrapJewels</a>) I need to ship, I need to take some photos and I need to list some items. So Numbers will have to wait....</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">I do want to give a big <i><b>"great job" </b></i>to etsy though about the new treasury programs! They are great, before everyone just sat around waiting for them to open and then when they did, rushed to create them and then everyone would gripe about what was chosen for FP. Well now it has an entirely different <span style="color: red;">fun</span> atmosphere. You can make one anytime, you can use it for all sorts of different purposes and the contests they are having are great. Here is a<a href="http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6508774&page=1"> link</a> to one of the forum posts for the rules of creating and submitting treasuries for the Homepage. I was featured in this <a href="http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4be86a21b3dd6d91027b693f/cannes-film-festival-the-winners">great little treasury</a> that was nominated. </div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Also it is an <b>honor</b> for one of my items to be on </span><a href="http://www.papercakesfinds.blogspot.com/" style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">PaperCakesFinds</a><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> Blog. If you have never visited, go, her blog is visually so pretty, her selections, background, everything just flows so wonderfully! My item was chosen by using the tag <b><span style="color: #e06666;">Pretty</span></b>! So tags are important, <span style="font-size: large;">check back tomorrow for a post on tagging and guidelines!</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-22421778348074117632010-05-10T08:19:00.000-07:002010-05-10T08:19:50.212-07:00Dear Diary, Goals Reached!I hope all of you had a great Mother's Day weekend. I know I did! I had <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">12 items sell</span></b> ! Yay! Great multi item buyers, but <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">more about business tomorrow</span></span></b>, I'm just bursting with some personal news that I know some of you may find boring, but it was the highlight of my weekend definitely, maybe my year so far even!<br />
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A lot of you know my kids play competitive junior tennis. In Texas there are three levels and a points system is used to "qualify" the kids from one level to another. Not only do you have to earn the right number of points but it has to be in a certain combination so that you reach that points level in a combination of 4 tournaments in a year time frame. Well Sunday on Mother's Day my youngest got runner up in the Corpus Christi Champ Tournament, but more important than that she reached her points by winning the semi finals and is now in the top level of junior tennis in Texas. She is a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75;">beautiful, smart</span></span> and <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e06666;">vibrant</span></span> kid and <b>I'm so proud of her</b>.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S-gjUjQMJFI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/91a5sZM67Jw/s1600/chloe+12%27s+and+petra%27s+bday+022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S-gjUjQMJFI/AAAAAAAAAVQ/91a5sZM67Jw/s640/chloe+12%27s+and+petra%27s+bday+022.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-91856053281097475742010-05-06T08:23:00.000-07:002010-05-06T08:23:34.428-07:00Dear Diary, Little Did I Know!<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well it isn't reflected here but </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/dawncorrespondence"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">DawnCorrespondence's</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> comment on Tuesday's post set off a <span style="color: #cc0000;">storm</span> of comments in the uwib forum. The consensus on relisting?</span><br />
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<ul><li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jewelry sellers and other sellers of stock items feel it is essential to their business. They can quickly relist topsellers.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some sellers use it to bring relevantly themed items to the top of search results when those themes are trending (I'll have to try that!)</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sellers agree that ooak items are not appropriate for relisting if it has been done multiple times with no results.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some sellers take dead stock ooak items and remake them into other things that may sell.</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hope I got it right! Thanks for everyone for the comments, uwib rocks! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-40950541937439338452010-05-04T17:26:00.000-07:002010-05-04T17:26:59.471-07:00Dear Diary....the Streak Broken..<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S-C7CtXL3zI/AAAAAAAAAVI/aiyXiZFk0s0/s1600/dangle+earrings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S-C7CtXL3zI/AAAAAAAAAVI/aiyXiZFk0s0/s400/dangle+earrings.jpg" tt="true" width="400" /></a></div>Dear Diary, today my no sales streak for over a week ended! <strong><span style="color: #20124d;">Yay</span></strong>! I had two sales. I was getting pretty jumpy since I don't usually go that long without a sale, so I feel better. And, it frees me up a little, with no sales comes no cash and no new inventory! I'm not a fan of relisting just to get views, so if an item hasn't expired I don't usually relist. Anyway <strong><span style="color: #660000;">how do I know if I want to relist an item or not?</span></strong> I mean if it has been on the "shelf" so to speak for 3 months with no movement, well is it a good item? is the price too high? is the picture bad?<br />
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How do you move your aging inventory? This last time I relisted items I lowered the prices of them by 50%. I felt they were all fab items like the earrings pictured. I sold one of the half a dozen or so I reduced. I asked her how she found the item and she said through google, she was looking for a sterling silver picture frame and the bangle bracelet showed up in the search results, imagine that! So she wasn't looking for it, she didn't find the price a reason to buy, I don't know.....<br />
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At any rate, at the end of this listing period these items won't be renewed. I liquidate my unsold items in lots, sometimes through craigslist, sometimes on ebay, sometimes if they are sweet and small things I'll give them away as gifts with purchases. But it is a problem all of us face, <span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong>what to do with dead inventory?</strong></span> <span style="color: #4c1130; font-size: large;">If you have a creative solution for either handmade or vintage items, leave it in the comments, I'd love to hear! Until tomorrow, Jamie.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-39617154831942784732010-04-30T11:22:00.000-07:002010-04-30T11:22:34.588-07:00Dear Diary, In Praise of Online Friends.....<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the things business gurus encourage you to do online is to network. One way of networking is to join a group. There are lots of groups you can join both within and outside of Etsy. Some are better than others, some have different vibes, but I think they all have their place. A while back I joined a group that I found via twitter. It's called </span><a href="http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Unique-women-in-buisness/"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unique Women in Business</span></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. They provide a great support structure for fledgling entrepreneurs. It is a forum that you can ask for opinions and advice. The wide base of members are almost always able to provide you with some kind of first hand answers.They also provide a platform to promote one another's work. You do have to make one purchase a month from another member but with the wide range of businesses and products you can almost always find something you would need to buy anyway. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So explore your options, talk with other entreprenuers in your niche, see what groups they belong too. Explore your options, the forums are a great place to learn about groups and the etsy teams. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On a sidebar, I'd like to thank these lovely ladies for all the kind words they have passed my way since January. Some people don't really get the concept of online friends, but I can tell anyone who asks that the relationships are real. Thanks UWIB! </span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-87811279734535884962010-04-29T11:39:00.000-07:002010-04-29T11:39:47.404-07:00Dear Diary.....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9nRlPsln1I/AAAAAAAAAVA/3iA9cOusAdA/s1600/listings+4-29+015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9nRlPsln1I/AAAAAAAAAVA/3iA9cOusAdA/s640/listings+4-29+015.JPG" tt="true" width="640" /></a></div>Trying something new.....The listings I've done the last several weeks have been heavily fashion oriented. I have some paper ephemeral that has just been sitting about waiting to be listed so I changed tracks today and listed some of those pieces...<br />
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These are photogravure prints from an 1894 volume by Selmar Hess, Great Men and Women. I love the detail on the horses.....Wonderful pieces.. Also I've been so busy lately I seem to have lost some steam, I need to regroup, refocus, Think! My <a href="http://www.retrochique.etsy.com/">etsy shop</a> has several different prints, I've also listed some vintage map pages for crafting or other uses, We'll see what happens!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-29053247203747058022010-04-28T08:05:00.000-07:002010-04-28T08:05:44.187-07:00Dear Diary....Okay so today my usual bright and sunny disposition is not so bright. I am a believer in facing whatever comes your way with positive thoughts feelings and actions. I look for the best in each day and try to build on it. Sometimes all of us though just get in a funk, and today I'm in one. Wrecked car, lots of personal stuff to do and despite a plus of 800 views from Friday of last week until Monday I've had no sales. I even skipped posting yesterday, I was so busy with hubby computer probs, Avis rental car claims, etc. <br />
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I can't even think of anything fun or helpful to write about so that is why I'm writing about my funk! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9hOKg5-CZI/AAAAAAAAAU4/B3XaHMaSYJ8/s1600/graphics+fairy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9hOKg5-CZI/AAAAAAAAAU4/B3XaHMaSYJ8/s400/graphics+fairy.jpg" tt="true" width="291" /></a></div>One thing that my business group posted about yesterday was the <a href="http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/">Graphics Fairy</a>. I'd never seen this site but it's pretty cool. So I guess I do have something to write about....Free Images, and some really great vintage ones....<br />
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Anyway you always hear if the same old thing isn't working to try something new, I'm off to think of something new. I usually don't go more than a day or two with no sales so this is discouraging. Until Tomorrow, Jamie.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-18819039527457958082010-04-26T10:12:00.000-07:002010-04-26T10:12:02.000-07:00Dear Diary, What Kind of Weekend Was This?Well guys, my weekend was good and bad, on a personal note, Friday night we were on our way to Dallas in the rain when a speeding car sideswiped us. As we were going down the freeway on two wheels all I could say was "HOLD ON!" Once again we were super lucky, minimal damage to our car (the other was totalled) kids were fine, dog fine, us fine. Other driver? no insurance, something fishy going on with the car, Avis shows it was never rented.... Drivers info address, phone number etc looks to be bogus...<br />
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Sales, only the 2 I got Friday. Up 500 views in my shop from Friday with multiple new Hearts. <span style="color: #274e13; font-size: large;">So I'm wondering how your weekend was? </span><br />
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On a very interesting note I got a tweet from Oktak that there is a new etsy hack app that you can use to <strong><span style="color: #cc0000;">remove your expired listings</span></strong>... for someone who has a couple of years worth of those that is exciting! I'm installing it later today but Oktak assures me it works, I'll let you know my results, here is the link. <a href="http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/75240">http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/75240</a> <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">So until tomorrow gotta go, (have car issues to work out!)</span> <span style="color: #20124d;">Leave me a comment on how your weekend was sales or otherwise, I'd love to hear! Jamie</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-43897399540461508062010-04-23T10:40:00.000-07:002010-04-23T10:42:44.058-07:00Dear Diary, Does My Shop Have the LOOK?For those of you who sell vintage Etsy just put on their blog this week part 1 of their <a href="http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/etsys-guide-to-selling-vintage-part-1-7815/">Guide to Selling Vintage. </a>I browsed some of the shops mentioned and read the entry but one thing common to all the guides is <strong>PHOTOS</strong>. One of the most asked questions in any forum I've ever stumbled on has been never ending how do I take a good photo. It also calls to my mind some of the shops that have such wonderful images it becomes part of their shops branding or style. This is one of my favorite etsy shops, <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/DearGoldenVintage">DearGolden</a>.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9HVnnBX2rI/AAAAAAAAAUk/9HxCrls21JY/s1600/deargolden.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="391" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9HVnnBX2rI/AAAAAAAAAUk/9HxCrls21JY/s400/deargolden.jpg" tt="true" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Their photos are simple, always against the same background, always on the same dress form and highlight the merchandise. This has become their visual identity. Another seller, (whose name I will not reveal) relies on two pieces of copy paper and the great outdoors for her light. Even others rely on light boxes. Obviously using copy paper and light boxes your items have to be small but the same theory applies, the same look every time. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9HaByaYjdI/AAAAAAAAAUs/MOIwpJunUjo/s1600/listings+4-23+002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9HaByaYjdI/AAAAAAAAAUs/MOIwpJunUjo/s640/listings+4-23+002.JPG" tt="true" width="480" /></a>I went in search of my look when I started listing more clothing. I had to have a dress form so I was no longer photographing lumps of clothing flat on the tile floor. I got one off of ebay. Not the best of quality but the price was right. Ebay is an excellent source for light boxes, dress and jewelry forms. I then set out around the house to find a good background. I still don't know if I've found one but I settled on my stucco wall on the balcony for now. Here is my latest photographic endeavor. Doesn't really compare to my "golden" standard but maybe I'll get there someday. It is a lot better than flat on the tile floor though! Complete weekend stats on Monday, but started off right with two sales late last night. Good Sales to everyone and until Monday, Jamie.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-66094557306798118112010-04-22T08:38:00.000-07:002010-04-22T08:38:26.087-07:00Dear Diary....Day 4 Odds and Ends plus Google Analytics<span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Stats</strong> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Sales 2 for a whopping $8.74 Net $8.43 (total sales less etsy fee for sale)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">New Listings, 0</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Views +323 (how'd I do that?) see below...</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">New Shop Hearts 3</span><br />
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Yesterday I talked about Project Wonderful. Ironically I got what I'm sure was a form e-mail (but it was addressed to me personally so it made it seem better) from PW Customer Service asking for my feedback. Not sure how I'll respond yet but I will at some point, anyone with anything to say to them let me know!<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Okay now to the meat of today's entry...</span> <strong>I wanted to know how I got the bump in views with no new items</strong> so I went to google analytics to see where those views came from. Google Analytics is a kind of Back of the House for people with websites. You can see a post in the <a href="http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/etsy-web-analytics-get-it-straight-from-google-3705/">Storque</a> about GA for those of you who don't know what it is. <br />
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Yesterday I had 96 visits from 90 different people. They looked on average at 3.83 pages per visit. Here's the surprise, only 25 of those visits came from people already on etsy's website. The rest of them, 71 others, came directly to my shop from google, a PW ad, twitter or other sources. Based on that I'd say outside marketing is extremely important to the views and eventually sales in your shop. Tags and the title of your items become very important too with google being the 2nd biggest source of views for me. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9BtSD8BAQI/AAAAAAAAAUc/01fkLJh0Uy8/s1600/google+analytics.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S9BtSD8BAQI/AAAAAAAAAUc/01fkLJh0Uy8/s320/google+analytics.jpg" width="320" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
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<strong>Do you know any useful little tidbits about google analytics? Do you use it?</strong> Let me know, as always, until tomorrow, Jamie.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-32389310443406523202010-04-21T08:47:00.000-07:002010-04-21T08:47:40.312-07:00Day 3, Project WonderfulOkay daily stats really quick, <span style="color: #990000;">No Sales Yesterday</span>. 1 new listing, 198 new views, 1 new shop heart, multiple item hearts.<br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Yesterday I talked about passive and active marketing. I focused on active marketing like twitter and facebook. From the comments I got it looks like everyone really likes this social media and it really adds pleasure to their day as well as lets everyone know what they do. Tracy with PolishedTwo uses it as her only real marketing tool with great success. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Passive marketing is placing ads. There are two ways to do this, directly with the host site and through a broker. </span><a href="http://www.projectwonderful.com/"><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Project Wonderful</span></a><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;"> is just that, an advertising space broker. You can submit your site earn money by getting ads placed on it and you can also bid on ad space to place your own ads. The ads come in different sizes, although I get the feeling the square is the most popular. You can see an ad just to the upper left of this blog. What do I like about having ads on my blog?</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">it can add variety to your blogpage</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">it can bring more people to your blog (they have to look at the blog to decide to advertise there)</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">it earns you a few cents</span></li>
</ul><span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Now that I've earned a few cents I usually feel like I need to spread those pennies around by placing ads of my own. My ad is pretty simple and they are really easy to set up. You search for available ad space by using key words. I search by using the term vintage and by using the term etsy. You can then visit the blogs, see stats on them like views and make decisions on bids. Most space is available for .40 cents or less, but blogs with huge traffic can be several dollars. Here's the question, do they bring any more views to your shop?</span><br />
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<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">I placed 21 bids over the last week, ranging from a penny to 40 cents. I have won with all of them at different times. It resulted in <strong><span style="color: #cc0000;">13</span></strong>, I said 13 clicks......my total expenditure over the last week was about $3.50. So while I love the concept of Project Wonderful and I will continue to use it, (gotta do something with the pennies I earn on this blog) I don't expect much in terms of sales results. Maybe I'm using it wrong. If you have different ideas about Project Wonderful let me know in the comments, or what is your favorite way or place to put an ad.....</span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d; font-size: large;">Until tomorrow, Jamie.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-22969106281774794082010-04-20T07:47:00.000-07:002010-04-20T07:47:32.878-07:00Day 2, Dear Diary......<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What happened yesterday? Listed 5 items, Sold 1, Gained 1 Shop Heart. </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Financially? Made 9.99, Spent 1.34 (listing fees, plus .34 for the sale) for a net profit of $8.65; Less cost of goods, and well it is a little less than $8.65 hmmmmmm.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the bright side I did sell an item and gain a heart so here's to repeating a sale today and more sales in the future. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday, I mentioned promotional efforts. I divide promotions/marketing into two types. Passive and Active. Today I wanted to talk a little bit about active. I think those are things like Twitter, Facebook, Plurk and whatever other social media you use. It is active because it requires your time to interface with the platform and users. You just have to be careful how much time you spend. It can get addicting, but it does work. Last week I sold an item to @MerCuriosJewels. She saw it on twitter from her phone and bought it from her phone. Hey, marketing in action. Her Etsy shop is pretty great too, check it out </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/mercurios"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.etsy.com/shop/mercurios</span></a><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tracy with an awesome etsy shop </span><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/polishedtwo"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.etsy.com/shop/polishedtwo</span></a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> who recently hit <strong>5000</strong> sales (GASP) uses facebook a lot for her marketing. So I guess it is kind of what you are comfortable with. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;">What's your favorite form of active marketing and why? Submit what works for you by commenting. I'd love to hear and I'm sure others would too!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;">Until tomorrow, Jamie.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-7083142802707437202010-04-19T08:23:00.000-07:002010-04-19T08:23:06.083-07:00STATS - A Starting Point......<span style="color: #20124d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Okay, Where to start my Diary? Well since my aim is to grow my shop how about my current stats.</span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">My shop started selling vintage in February of 2009, before that I sold handmade so here it is since vintage...</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8x0xpp4NnI/AAAAAAAAAUM/7glKAaMqUWc/s1600/stat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8x0xpp4NnI/AAAAAAAAAUM/7glKAaMqUWc/s200/stat.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;"></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Sales since 2/2009 346</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Sales Per Month 23</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Shop Hearts 447</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Items for sale 178</span></div><span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Shop Views 23,305</span><br />
<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">Avg Views/Item 131</span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">These are fairly simple stats, I didn't dig down into item hearts, or any of the google analytics data, but the numbers I chose are what we would have called topline stats a few years ago and I think they should be a good measure of my overall success in getting more sales. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">These simple topline stats are easily available in your shop and by using <a href="http://www.craftcult.com/">http://www.craftcult.com/</a> . If you are new to the etsy game you will be sure to want to check it out. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #660000; font-family: Verdana;">On the agenda for today? </span><br />
<ul><li> Shipping - I have two weekend sales to ship</li>
<li>Listing - I have several items to photograph and list (affecting views and sales hopefully)</li>
<li>I always, answer e-mails, tweet, check on other promotional efforts (more to come there!)</li>
</ul><span style="color: #660000; font-size: large;">So Until Tomorrow! J.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-54757321532499249232010-04-16T13:09:00.000-07:002010-04-16T13:09:05.776-07:00Under Construction.....Now that my garage is finished I'm shifting focus. I have been really concentrating a lot on my vintage shop retrochique. Not spending a lot of time working but thinking what can I do to really develop it? So while my workroom for Destination Handmade is really not inhabitable (still a little left to do there) I am going to work every day on my vintage shop. I decided to make this an open forum, I'm going to try anything and everything to boost it and maybe come up with some best practices. And when I say open forum, I mean it, I leave the comments open for critique, suggestions, questions etc. <br />
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In preparation for my start next week my blog is a little under construction.....so you may see some things coming and going here.....until Monday, when the Diary of an Etsy Vintage Seller starts!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-81839788956150340312010-04-15T09:32:00.000-07:002010-04-15T09:43:08.892-07:00testing, testing, testing.......Well it is that time of year, my kids just finished the TAKS, and the Practice TAKS.....UGH.<br />For those of you not from Texas it is the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills. This is a yearly process the kids go through, learning the skills to take the test, practicing the test and then actually taking the test. It is divided up by grade and subject and takes entirely toooo much time and focus in the school. Well, I mean, that is how the teachers get paid so what do you think happens?<br /><br />When I was in school here in Texas we didn't even have our own test, I remember taking the CATS (California Achievement Test) test a couple of times, but it was nothing we actually prepared for. It tested us over what we should have already learned.<br /><br />I remember in high school taking some kind of army sponsored aptitude test. The high point of the test was when the administrator of the test, a coach/vocational teacher called us all jackasses for misbehaving and well being jackasses during the test.<br /><br />My evaluation came back that I should be an engineer. Since my name is ambiguous the army was sending personal recruiting letters to Mr. Jamie Loftis for the next two years.<br /><br />Well I think that the teachers should teach, those who want to learn will learn, those who want to be jackasses will be well, jackasses. Teaching our kids how to pass a test, well, I think that is being, well, you know.......Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-60055877123326440522010-04-14T10:15:00.000-07:002010-04-14T10:25:03.797-07:00Renovated!<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8X6PATv7lI/AAAAAAAAAUA/8qDxkeUc3Qg/s1600/christmas+and+fire+020.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460045258944409170" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8X6PATv7lI/AAAAAAAAAUA/8qDxkeUc3Qg/s400/christmas+and+fire+020.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8X5_f24WwI/AAAAAAAAAT4/CKQs_ao9tX4/s1600/christmas+and+fire+024.JPG"></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8X5-10MD8I/AAAAAAAAATw/gbV9DP8_wWA/s1600/new+garage+002.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 300px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 400px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460044981249773506" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8X5-10MD8I/AAAAAAAAATw/gbV9DP8_wWA/s400/new+garage+002.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><div><div><div>OKAY! Drumroll needed here, I have posted above the garage before and after pics, so just a few words on Wordless Wednesday......</div></div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-29517683471099250912010-04-11T19:39:00.000-07:002010-04-11T20:01:19.840-07:00Fresh Start.....<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8KM5r4Sk0I/AAAAAAAAATQ/plglVvCkUO0/s1600/playa+escondida+2+239.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459080620985717570" border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8KM5r4Sk0I/AAAAAAAAATQ/plglVvCkUO0/s400/playa+escondida+2+239.JPG" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8KM5a6aw1I/AAAAAAAAATI/q8oZ7qsM8fE/s1600/playa+escondida+2+115.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459080616431240018" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8KM5a6aw1I/AAAAAAAAATI/q8oZ7qsM8fE/s400/playa+escondida+2+115.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><div><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8KM41rnFuI/AAAAAAAAATA/E7UmvNhXuzg/s1600/playa+escondida+2+281.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5459080606437021410" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S8KM41rnFuI/AAAAAAAAATA/E7UmvNhXuzg/s400/playa+escondida+2+281.JPG" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Since the fire life has been a little unsettled. Well the garage is finished now, new carpet in our house, electrical done.... we thought maybe it was time for a little vacation. So the two younger kids, my husband and I went to Playa Escondida in Sayulita, Mexico. It was a tech free vacation, no phones, no cell service, very spotty internet, and no television. The surroundings were beautiful, the food delicious, alcohol plentiful and the sea breeze intoxicating. The kids (including my husband) played in the surf while I relaxed and unwound. I had my first ever hot stone massage and it was well worth it.......</div><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><div>I also splurged and read a book. I used to read a lot, now I'm a movie fanatic, takes less time but has somewhat the same payoff. But in tech free Playa Escondida there were numerous books left by others and no televisions so I read Stephanie Meyer's New Moon. I reviewed the movie Twilight and became a fan. The book New Moon did not disappoint. Still a total feminine, romantic fantasy...... Where else can you get someone who is gorgeous, loves your flawed self, saves you at every turn, is wealthy, etc etc.....It is what every girl dreams of unconditional acceptance and protection. And so I'm back at home now, All that is left is to clean up my poor neglected work room, I will admit though I went on amazon and ordered the third Twilight installment tonight, Eclipse. I'll let you know.....</div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-43485577832829130792010-03-01T10:03:00.000-08:002010-03-01T10:19:34.980-08:00Monday Movie Review - Shutter Island<a href="http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41725223"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 303px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443731205293864290" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S4wEsGg_9WI/AAAAAAAAAS4/M2aXk9kPd4g/s320/freud.jpg" /></a><br /><div>As I'm sitting here puzzling over my insurance claim I have decided to take a break and write a Monday Movie Review. </div><br /><div>We saw Shutter Island over the weekend and had the pleasure of it being one of those movies that isn't quite what it appears at first glance. I was expecting a scary thriller, but what I got was more of a psychological mystery, and well there were a couple of scary bits. Set in the 1950's the location is very interesting, clothing and sets very fun to look at. I can't tell too much or I may give away the plot line, but on the surface it is about the disappearance of a patient/prisoner in a high security prison for the mentally disturbed. Like The Others, and Sixth Sense there is quite a little twist (not ghostly though) about who is whom that doesn't come out until very near the end, and well if you miss the last line of the movie, you miss what made it satisfying to me. It is one of those movies though that not everyone will get, you do have to think and well a lot of people I heard go "now what happened?" (including my husband). </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Anyway if you like mystery suspense type movies or are a particular fan of Leonardo de Caprio, go see it, I highly recommend it, but don't miss the last line!</div><div> </div><div>Tile pendant of Sigmund Freud from Kristen Stein's etsy shop, Click the Photo to go to her shop. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673352247436136613.post-39792129137178414522010-02-27T08:57:00.000-08:002010-02-28T06:57:06.443-08:00Where Did All the Manners Go?<div><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/beanforest"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 250px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443306418210579842" border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S4qCWPULpYI/AAAAAAAAASY/1Gu3002JfGc/s320/chivalry+lives.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div><br /><br /><div><br /><div>Just a bone to pick.....Went to Kroger this morning, like I usually do on Saturday morning, pick up a paper, maybe a couple of breakfasty type things. I really don't feel the need to get dressed up for this event. I'm usually in my pajamas, glasses on (I am optically challenged). This morning I only needed a newspaper and after checking at the convenience store (where the clerk would have happily allowed me to purchase Thursday's 2 day old paper) I went into Kroger and to the Starbucks stand. You can quickly purchase a paper there without standing in any lines and the paper stand is right next to it. I grabbed my paper and went to the register to pay the barrista. A gentleman old enough to behave better said the following <strong>"HEY, I haven't paid yet".</strong><br /></div><a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/harvestmoonbyhand"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443307536842769842" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7tbXEm_MkAI/S4qDXWi4RbI/AAAAAAAAASw/Po54uxfjbp0/s320/thank+you.jpg" /></a><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Well, there was no line, I had only a paper and he had multiple skinny, no foam, extra shot whatevers... I really didn't have a problem waiting for him to check out, I had a problem with the way he did it. I know his momma raised him better! Maybe he was just in a hurry, so today I will make sure that I take extra time to be polite, and point out to the kids the opportunities to do so too. Above are a couple of etsy items that fit my politeness theme I think, Click on the pictures to go to HarvestMoonByHands etsy shop and BeanForests shop (coincidentally great prices on these items too). Have a great Day!</div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1