Zippitty Dooh Dah!

I have been dreaming that I am making things... don't know if that's good or bad. I do wake up ready to get back in my studio to create! That's good. I looked up some craft show sites to see what shows are coming up in southern California this summer. I did find some but the cost is way too much... $400.00 for a weekend! I don't see how a crafter or an artist for that matter can make a decent profit with fees that high! I think I will check out more of the antique and collectible venues. They seem to be more inline with what I an afford!

There is a group of women , The Junk Gypsy Co., who I would like to emmulate. They roam the countryside selling their handmade creations from recycled materials at fairs and even had a spot on Good Morning America! I want to be successful like them. Right now they have a booth at Roundtop in Texas. Wow! I would love to attend that event as seller or even buyer, but secretly I want to be the seller. The event is held twice a year. It is on my to do list.

I have three projects going right now. I just finished another one and listed it in my etsy shop. Weddings have been on my mind lately and my dreams! Infact this latest creation came from my dream! I decided to write it down and ran with it. I had a bride and groom wedding cake topper in my antique booth that I brought home and came up with a table centerpiece.

I am also joining a new website group, Marmalade Pink. I think it will do me good to get as much exposure as possible. That's probably how the Junk Gypsies started :)

It's Easter Already!

I spent my day working on my art and watching old movies, and of course wearing my Easter bonnet! My son bought this lovely hat for me over 10 years ago and everytime I wear it in public I get alot of attention. That is my idea of the perfect day! I also added some new goodies to my etsy shop. I also bought the U2 18 CD from eBay for John. I have been looking for that Cd for awhile and finally won it! My critters had fun too. They always like it when we stay home with them. They get extra hugs and petting. How great would it be to work from home! I have become such a homebody.

Second Etsy Shop Now Open!

I opened my second etsy shop today. I will sell retro, kitsch, and vintage items. I was selling a mix of things in my first shop, but since I plan to get alot more collectibles I decided to open a seperate shop. My new shop is http://www.cootiequeen.etsy.com/. Come check it out!

I also worked in my antique booth in Paradise today. The store was slow so I spent my time educating myself about costume jewelry. Wow! There is so much information to learn about!
It might take awhile but I plan to learn all I can so I can sell costume jewelry in my shop.

Tomorrow Olive, my Chihuahua and I will go yardsale hopping. Hope we find some bargains!

First Etsy Sale!!

I made my first etsy sale today! I sold three French poodle brooches and I am very happy :D
I have been a memeber of etsy.com for a month now and I was beginning to wonder if I would sell something anytime soon. I am used to selling on eBay where I know within a week if my item will sell. I sold a bit faster with ebay but I didn't make much money. My starting bids were usually 99 cents, so I kept my fingers crossed that the item up for bid would reach what I really wanted for the item. I found if I put the starting bid much higher I would not get any bids. I think there were alot of people who hoped to get the item for next to nothing, which is great for the buyer but not a way to make a living for a seller.

I enjoy etsy.com more because my listings are much cheaper and they are kept for three mths, not one week. So glad I found their website. I stumbled onto a thread on eBay that talked about etsy compared to eBay. It seems there is just too much drama at eBay and not much positive, helpful forums.

Worked on some crafts today, my absolute favorite thing to do! I made two jewelry boxes, one is a mosaic with pearls and porcelain top; the other is collage cowgirl themed. I didn't take photos yet, hopefully sometime this week. There just isn't enough hours in a day. If only I could afford a houseboy!

I am planning my next trip to L.A. I will be baysitting my son, James critters for the weekend and checking out the area for work and housing. There also somemore fleamarkets I want to check out as possible places to sell my crafts. I was going to fly BUT the cost to get there is just too much. It's not the plane fare. The shuttles alone will run an extra $100. Chico is 1 and 1/2 hrs away from the closest airport, Sacramento. I am spoiled living in S.F. where I could either ride the BART or take a shuttle for only $19.00. So, I decided to rent a car and drive. The shuttle service in Chico doesn't run often and I would have to sit at the airport for almost 4 hrs to get on a plane that takes less than 2 hrs to get to L.A. It makes more sense to just drive, and will cost 1/2 as much.

Got new etsy friends on my facebook. I enjoy this group of women artists, they are so talented!
Be sure to check out my favorite artists on the right side of this blog. Check back often because I am always finding new ones :)

I will be working at the antique mall in Paradise this Friday. I rent a booth and working one day a month is part of my rental contract. Someday I would be interested in running my own consignment shop or have the same setup I participate in. It's like a coop and saves the dealers a bundle of money!

My favorite show on Sunday nights, Dexter, is about to start so I gotta run!

It's 12:30 a.m. John is asleep and I am up lurking around the web, uploading photos to my flickr site and adding items to my etsy shop. I am proud to say I learned how to edit some pictures for my blog and added a guest book. Please feel free to leave suggestions or comments about my blog, flickr photos, or etsy shop.

My chihuahua, Olive is sleeping on the chair with me and Austin my orange tabby is curled up on my lap. No wonder my neck hurts. I'm all twisted up pecking away at the keypad trying not to disturb my furry kids. I plan to be busy this weekend creating new goodies. I bought some wonderful images from another etsy shop, Creations by Danielle, that I plan to do collage with, or maybe decoupage... I don't know I will probably change my mind a dozen times. Sometimes it's a curse being a Libra. I also got back my photos from my L.A. trip and some of them came out good enough to make notecards out of. So many crafting ideas...so little time!

I'm back from Los Angeles and I had a great time visiting my son and his girlfriend. The only drawback is the traffic! So many cars! I can't believe they don't have mass transit like the bay area. But the city is certainly fun and lots of things to see.

We made it to the Rosebowl fleamarket on Sunday. There were so many vendors I couldn't see them all. The area with the antiques and collectibles was the best I have seen yet. I will definitely be selling there sometime in the future. I took lots of photos. Here are a few of my favorites. Just walking around the market got my creative juices going and I couldn't wait to get home and jot down my ideas.

I'll be going back to L.A. at the end of April to check out some more flea markets.

Another Sunday !

I can't believe it's Sunday again! I have learned so much this past week about loading pictures onto my blog, setting up an etsy shop, creating a blog, and links. For me that's alot of information! I am grateful to all the etsy people who gave me great advice and honest opinions, made a banner for me, and to Dave who helped me put all together on my computer.

I will be adding new names of artists to my blog whose work I admire and give me inspiration on a regular basis. Be sure to check out their work.

I am leaving this Thursday for L.A. to visit my son and his girlfriend and to go to the Mother of all fleamarkets... the Pasadena FleaMarket at the RoseBowl! I plan to check it out to see how much things sell for and interview sellers to see if it is a profitable place to sell. Up here in Northern California, the fleamarkets are more like yard sales. I just cannot make the kind of money I need to earn a living. The closest antique fleamarket here is in Sacramento and they are only open once a month. In southern California there seems to be at least a dozen!