Ornament 3 - Panne Velvet Heart Ornament

Mauve Panne Velvet Silk Ribbon Heart Ornament

During the 1980s there was another crafting fad that took hold - cross stitching.  Now there was a company that brought in the most wonderful designs that were handcrafted in the Phillipines.  You could buy a finished product or you could buy just the cross stitched panel and apply it to your own design.  Well I fell in love with the finished product and I, like others, bought item to "pad out" my inventory at a craft show.  But one thing I fell in love with more than the cross stitch panels were the foam forms that were sold by Banar Designs.  You could buy hearts, ovals, rounds and for a limited time, squares.  Since I loved making fabric ornaments it was a quick way to save a few minutes of time by using pre-cut pieces rather than having to cut my own.  This is one of my designs that I came up with using the small heart shape.

Using 2 forms back to back I added panne velvet to the center sections, edged the piece in beige lace, added a bit of rat tail cording around the heart line and then embellished the top with some satin and 100% silk ribbon.  On the very top, a silk flower I made myself and a small faux (sometimes a genuine) pearl.  The finished piece was very femmy and made a nice ornament for a tree or simply to decorate a small area on a lady's dresser.  As fast as I could make these beauties, I sold.  They were easy to make, the components were not too expensive and I could make at least 3 each hour.  My only real decision was which center fabric to use!

Right now, I don't have any of the hearts listed on my website but I do believe there are a few in my ETSY shop - RobinsHolidayHome.  If you want to check them out, just take a gander over there.  Price is $6!

 Until next time....

Ornament 2 - Country Rabbit Cute as a Button

Muslin Cotton Rabbit with Wood Wings - Cute as a Button

Country was a favorite craft back in the 1980s.  I actually preferred the more romantic items with lace and frills but I did try my hand at doing country crafts, that is, if the right item came along.  Made in China, Wangs started bring in fabric dolls, rabbits and other critters that could be tea dyed and then dressed or decorated.  This little rabbit is one that worked quite well for me at shows.

Starting with the tea dyed rabbit, I added wooden wing, painted them mauve and applied the phrase CUTE AS A BUTTON.  I had the rabbit carry a small garland of plastic buttons and wood beads.  Adding a fabric bow tie and a couple of buttons all that was needed then was a black wire hanger which I attached to the back wings.  

This ornament was the prototype for my making more and now that I can no longer get the rabbits, I will offer this item for sale.  

This little fellow can be hung on the wall or hung on a Christmas tree.  He is also poseable to a certain extent - he could sit in a tree or on a chair.  

So, ornament number 2, a leftover from days past.  If anyone wants, just contact me here through the blog.  Price is $9.50.  Eventually I will get it listed over on the Troll Market - I've just got to find it (don't worry, I think I know where it is). 

Till next time.....

Ornament 1 - Country Bear - Angels Gather Here

Vintage Plush Bear Angel in Mauve - Angels Gather Here

The year was 1984 and the advent of the glue gun was causing a real resurgence in handcrafted items.  Craft Festivals such as The Harvest Festival of San Mateo, Ca, The Fullerton Park Festival and the Santa Barbara Old Mission Days Festival just couldn't keep adding crafters fast enough.  Crafts in the 80s were so different from crafts of the 2000s - they were simple and fast.  Gluing one thing to another was the norm.  While it did involve imagination it also involved buying a lot of merchandise from suppliers.  Some craft festivals wouldn't allow "glued items" - the Laguna Beach festival being the biggest show to say no.  The other drawback was that one had to be a resident of Laguna Beach to even be able to apply.

So at the beginning of my arrival in California, San Diego to be exact, the first show to accept my work was the one in Fullerton, Ca.  The show was in a large park and the variety of crafts was amazing.  The only thing I didn't like was the heat!  But with a white tarp over my head and my products shielded from the sun (and lots of ice on my neck) I managed to complete the 2 day show and ended up with a tidy sum of money for my efforts.  It was actually that show that prompted my move from San Diego to Los Angeles.

The picture above is my small booth at Fullerton that year.  Sorry the image isn't that great - all I had at the time to shoot photos was a small camera that I really couldn't focus too well.  But you get the idea as to where I was in what I was creating at the time.

Everything was lace.  Lace, lace and more lace.  And Satin.  And Bears.  And Baskets.  The two put together always elicited gasps of ah and almost always ensured a sale.  Times were simple then.

So back to my country bear.  Wangs International was one of the biggest craft suppliers of the day and if you were lucky to score a wholesale account with them you were able to purchase all manner of items to decorate.  This is one of their bears.  The wood pieces were from a small supplier located somewhere in California (I can't remember where) but they were a staple at Beckman's Wholesale show during gift week in Los Angeles.  I scored a wholesale account with them so was able to buy wood decorations in bulk.  A little paint, a little bought fabric, some black wire and voila! an Angels Gather Here Bear.

It's an ornament I still have around and if anyone is interested, price is $9.50.  Once I find it again (don't worry, I have an idea as to where it is) I will list in Robins Troll Market. 

Till next time....

Taking a Breather....

I started designing some new ornaments last night and failed to download some pictures so I'm just going to talk a little about what inspires me in my work.

Actually anything can inspire me but I love anything from the Victorian era.  The time that was taken to create something out of love has always amazed me.  I mean it was de rigeur that a young lady in those days have a thorough knowledge and aptitude for sewing, embroidery, musicianship, writing, drawing/painting and more.  A girl was not considered accomplished until she mastered the feminine arts.  It didn't matter if she didn't know how to cook or clean a house or take care of baby - there were servants for that.  Yes, arts and crafts in the old days were a hobby of the rich but a means of employment for the poor.

What I love about items that have survived from the Victorian era is their "look".  They can be perfectly preserved or in an aged condition but all have an appeal that cannot be denied.  Maybe it did take Rachel Ashwell to promote the fact that old and fragile equated to Shabby Chic but in my minds eye it's been the faded, slightly darkened by age patina that has always caught my attention.  It is, simply put, beautiful!

Since my accident in 2022, I haven't touched any of my crafts.  It took almost a year for me to recover and to be honest, right now I have taxes to complete (yes, I am always late in doing them) so will wait a little longer to clear my work table and start crafting all over again.  One thing is for certain, every day I say a little prayer about how thankful I am for the Internet and all the wonderful craftspeople that sell on it - their work continues to influence me every time I turn the computer on.  I can't stay away from Pinterest and I can't stay away from links.  While one thing might work for me in one way, maybe something else won't.  Or maybe a combination of the items will prompt something new from my hands.  I never know.  

 

 

Till next time.....

Let's Do an About Face

I've touched a little on doing business on the Internet but in the days that I was sitting on a cruise ship I decided that to have a really successful Blog you have to have a passion about what you are writing about.  Well, I've decided to do an about face!  

While Antiques are my passion during the day, crafting is my passion during the night and since I've been crafting longer than selling on the Internet with antiques, that is what I am going to concentrate on.  The history of crafts, what I do, how I came to do it, projects and more.  I will take you through the crafts of the sixties right up to today.  I will raid PINTEREST for photos and display ideas from other people.  I will raid my closet for old stock that I have kept for many a year and I will create new items/projects every single day.  

There are ladies I admire in the crafting world - Wendy Addison is one, a fellow Californian.  Another is Stacey French.  I could rattle off names right now but I will save them for future blogs - these ladies (and gents) inspire me enormously!  At the same time I write on my blog, I will be listing the items on either ETSY (RobinsNestMidwest) or my new site, Michael's Maker Place - that is, if I get all my listings approved!

Crafts have changed during the years and while there are people who have written histories on one particular craft, no one really talks about everything and that is what I will try to do.  So if you didn't think I was writing before just watch me write (and craft) now!

And please, if you are reading this, please drop me a note so that I know that SOMEONE out there is reading my musings.  

Till next time......

Lesson Four - What ARE You Going to Sell and Where

You've decided that you are going to go into business for yourself.  Good for you.  Now comes the hard part - what are you going to sell and where are you going to sell it.  

New items?  Well, there's EBAY and there's Amazon.  Both are the big names on the net and both are expensive.  One you can start small (.35 per listing with about 10% comission), the other you are locked into a hefty rate from the start (minimum monthly payment, listing fee and a final commission).  My advice?  EBAY is probably the more economical solution.  EBAY is where I started and I have to admit I learned an awful lot from the site.  What did I start with?  Believe it or not, stuff that was lying around my apartment.  I loved collecting stuff so I had lots of items to choose from but I started with toys that I had purchased from Toys R Us thinking they would increase like Star Wars toys.  What I sold didn't really have a high value but watching the auction prices go up each day was a wonderful feeling.  My very first sale was Pegasus from the Clash of the Titans movie.  I paid around $10 for the toy (on sale) and the bidding went to $80.  Not a bad profit I thought.  One toy led to another until i was completely sold out.  Then I moved onto other items, vintage hankies, Victorian paper, costume jewelry, frames, porcelain items, penny dolls, the list of smalls I had was endless, or at least I thought so.  

The day finally came when I no longer had anything to sell.  I was still crafting and it was around that time that something called a Beanie Baby started to take the world by storm.  

Little did I know that a company I was doing business with had the hottest collectible on the market.  AND I had a wholesale account.  So guess who was able to buy beanie babies at cost ($3.00 each) and sell them to the highest bidder.  Yep, me.  I ordered by the gross, worked in a law firm by day and sold beanie babies at night.  I thought my fortune was made, that is until the day the market fell out of beanie babies.  Oh well.

In any case, EBAY was a good learning experience for learning what the customer wanted.  Prompt shipping was also something I had to develop as well as good communication.  Both those attributes are tantamount to staying in business.  

Today, EBAY is competing with Amazon and it shows.  Dealers on the site seem to be into everything but collectibles.  You can't sell collectible nor antiques on Amazon and unless you have a wholesale account with someone, you can't really compete with a lot of the people that are dealing on EBAY or Amazon.  There will always be someone who can sell it just a fraction or two cheaper then you can.  They may have money behind them, they may have more workers but one thing I have learned is that unless you can deal with volume sales and low profits, it's best to stay off both EBAY and Amazon.

Vintage items?  Well, yes.  There is always a market for vintage.  The older the better and NOT in quantities of more than one (unless there is a difference in design or the item is extremely scarce).  If you have ready access to a lot of collectible items then Ruby Lane or ETSY are probably your websites of choice.  Both have good reputations but while one is a little better with the press (ETSY) the other is better with word of mouth (Ruby Lane).  

If you choose to sell on Ruby Lane, fees are reasonable with NO listing fees and about a 10% commission.   If you just want to try a site to see if it is for you, then ETSY is the right choice (.20 per listing fee and 10% commission).  I happen  to sell on both venues though I choose my inventory on each site with care.  While one thing might sell well on Ruby Lane it might not sell quite as well on ETSY.  The demographics are quite different.  And while Ruby Lane is strictly Antique and Collectible items only, ETSY allows for handcrafted items as well as Antique/Collectible.  You definitely have a wider variety of listings on ETSY especially if you like to craft items as well.

So, what to sell and where to sell it.  You definitely have to make a choice.  

Till next time...

Lesson Three - Discipline, Discipline, Discipline

Discipline, Discipline, Discipline

Still determined to go into business?  Okay.  Now you have to learn to discipline yourself.  Just because you are now doing business from your home (or maybe you have rented an office) you have to plan your day like a regular work day.  You can decide your hours of course and when you are going to start and maybe even your days off.  You can also decide what you are going to do each day - photograph, list, do some paperwork, do some bookkeeping - but whatever you decide to do each day, you have to commit to spending at least 7 hours a day at work just like a real job!

The hardest part I went through when I first started was sticking to my work room.  I would alternate between "work related" tasks and "personal" tasks until I realized that I wasn't getting enough "business work" done.  Oh, and in those first few months of trying to earn your own salary, you'll probably have panic attacks and will want to throw up every now and then.  It's normal.  It took me about 1 year to get over the highs (and there will be some) and lows (there will be more than you can count) and all the anxiety that comes with being in business for yourself (2 aspirin does work wonders at times).  

Now I mentioned my schedule in Lessons 1 and 2 and how I plan my work week.  Yours might be a little different but you do have to include time for everything that needs to be done.  The list includes......

Answering E-Mails/Telephone Calls - every day, all day!

Bookkeeping - yep, you have to keep your own books.  The main thing is to keep your bank balance in the black, not in the red.

Buying Stock - don't buy on the weekends unless at an antiques show, a flea market or an estate sale.  Shopping antique malls (or other retails shops) is best done on a Tuesday or Friday when dealers have loaded in the "fresh" merchandise into their booth or case.

Income Tax Prepayments - the IRS wants them but if you can't afford to do them at first just remember that you will pay a penalty when you file your return.

Inventory - an absolutely necessity!  Set up your book with the first item you purchase and assign a number.  Your inventory spreadsheet or book will be the most important thing you put together.  It will tell you if you are doing well or failing to make enough money.  It's also the first item the IRS will ask you for should you ever be audited.  They want to see the day you bought an item, the price you paid, what you sold it for and the date you sold.  This book is the most important part of your business!

Keeping up with SEO - Search Engine Optimization.  If you have your own website you are going to have to know the ins and outs about how the Internet looks for your listings.  You will always be hitting the books on this one as Google changes the rules all the time.  

Mailing - unless you have help, you're the one who will be processing orders and taking packages to the Post Office.

 

Make a Business Plan - some people like to see their "plan of action" in writing so they can stick to it.  Me?  I just dove in.  The only thing that really tells me if I am getting ahead is if (a) all the bills are paid and (b) I have inventory to sell.  So far, with me, so good.

Ordering Supplies - the last thing you want to have happen is running out of toner for the printer while you are processing orders. 

Photos - unless you have a spouse to take them for you, you will be the one responsible for shooting, cropping and adding to a listing.  

Repairing, Cleaning, Mending - you don't always buy "perfect items" so you will be the one to make all the changes to make it perfect.  

Receipts, Receipts, Receipts -  keep every piece of paper for every purchase you make.  By the end of the year, my receipts fit into a shopping bag.  At the beginning of your new venture, you might not have so many but as you grow more successful, the contents of your bag will increase appropriately. 

Tax Returns - if you have an accountant - good for you.  If not, get ready to see more pages on your tax return.

Discipline.  It's not just listing items and selling - it's a lot more.  Is it for you?  Only trying it out will give you your answer.

Till the next time.

Selling on the Internet - Lesson Two

Selling on the Internet

Lesson Number Two: A 10 Hour Workday
 (But with All the TV You Can Watch)

One thing about being in business for yourself and working at home is that you can roll out of bed in your pj's, turn on the computer and get to work before even brushing your teeth, bathing or even eating.  My one requirement while I am working is that the TV be on.  I love silence but since I have this stupid "hum" in my unit, I need background noise to drown out the low decibel level thrum.  So the minute the computers are on (yes, I have 2 going at once) the TV begins its daily start up as well.  

Now I have to admit, it's not often I just roll out of bed and begin work - I mean, you have to have some discipline in life, right?  So once all the "morning necessities" are finished, off to work I go.  I usually am in position at the computer around 10am as I am a late sleeper (but I am also a night owl) so I do only sleep around 8 to 9 hours a night depending on what time I get to bed (and how hard I worked that day).  

So once the computer is on, I set up the sites I will be working on, check the e-mail, pull down my photos and start work.  I always start with Ruby Lane first as the site is my bread and butter.  After about 4 or 5 hours there I might switch to Etsy, Ebay or my own web site.  After a few hours on those sites (and a brief stop for lunch) then I can do Facebook or Pinterest or Instagram (I'm still trying to figure that out) or my Blog.  In other words, there is always something to do on a "work" day.  

It's Sunday today and it's a clear bright day outside, the first in many a day so I will also probably try to shoot at least 100 pictures for downloading to the computer.  This way, I keep one step ahead of not running out of pictures of items to sell.  I think picture download is really the most important thing to keep up on - as long as you have pics on your computer, you can just sit down and start listing.  And to stay in business these days you either have to present new inventory to clients each day on your main site or keep "refreshing" old listings often.  Since Ruby Lane has a 1-day wait on getting your photos processed, you have to rely on the photos you listed the day before in order to garner sales.  EBAY still drops listings immediately as does ETSY and of course, your own web site is an immediate drop though it does take time for GOOGLE to pick up on your items.  So, in a nutshell today's lesson is LIST LIST LIST!  Without listings you get no lookers, no sales and therefore no income.  So if you are thinking about doing the Internet for a living - be reminded, it is not a sporadic "hobby", you really have to work at it.  

Watching TV while working may be the bonus in working at home and for yourself but in order to earn that privilege you have to discipline yourself to be in front of the computer a minimum of 7 hours a day, 5 to 7 days a week.  Remember, this is going to be your job for as long as you want it to be. And believe me, you will be very happy not having someone screaming at you to do something you don't want to do!

Till next time.

Selling on the Internet - Lesson One

Selling on the Internet 

Lesson Number One - Find a Schedule that Works

It took me some time to figure out a schedule that worked for me.  Being used to working Mondays through Fridays at a full time job I did love my weekends off.  Sadly, Saturday and Sunday can be some of your the best selling days on the Interent. So after a number of years of trying to figure out the schedule that best worked for me, I came to the following schedule which I try to follow religiously - unless I am on a trip or something unexpected comes up.  

Monday  - Drop new listings onto Ruby Lane.  Process orders, switch funds from Paypal to my bank account, prepare the mail for a Tuesday drop.  Answer e-mails.  Crop photos for new listings.

Tuesday - Do the mail.  Go to one of my favorite sources for jewelry and see if they have anything new.  Come home.  Eat.  List.  Crop photos in the pm. 

Wednesday -Eat.  List.  Crop photos in the pm. 

Thursday - Process any orders that have come on.  Eat.  List.  Crop photos in the pm. 

Friday - Drop new listings onto Ruby Lane.  Do the mail.  Grocery shopping.  Eat.  List.  Crop photos in the pm.   

Saturday -If I'm feeling energetic, then go to an estate sale.  If not, copy the Ruby Lane listings to ETSY, drop a few items on EBAY, and add items to Robins Troll Market, my new website.  Crop photos in the pm.

Sunday -  Same as above.  

Again, things happen to disrupt the schedule - like telephone calls, meetings with potential clients, a heads up on getting into an estate sale early.  Changing out inventory at the one mall I am in.  Running an emergency errand.  Disruptions will always occur and you just have to roll with them.  The other thing you have to contend with is your income.  You will not be paid every 2 weeks with taxes deducted and your SDI paid.  You will get paid when your Paypal account gets paid and then you have to have the courage to separate your money into different categories and keep it there.  

Check Book 

Day to Day Expenses - Bill Paying - Internet Payments

Savings

For Emergency and Taxes

Paypal

You always have to keep some money in your account just in case you get a chargeback or a return.  Yes, you have to contend with these as well.  

Emergency Cash

Yep, the proverbial "piggy bank" in the apartment just in case you get that call about an estate sale or you see something you absolutely need to buy because you know you will be able to sell it for more.  

So, there's the first lesson you have to think about.  When I left my job back in 1998, I had exactly $16,000 in my account in cash.  I had $15,000 coming to me in my pension from one of the law firms I worked at - another $2,500 from my last law firm.  With that money I thought I would be fine while I tried being in business for myself.  It was but only because times were different.  Since the Internet was fairly new it was still a novelty and everyone was trying it out.  Dealers used to joke it was a "license to print money" and for a time, it was.  Not anymore.  

At the beginning I worked solely on EBAY.  It was the website that was making the biggest name for itself and it was the site where the action was.  Still is to a certain point but when EBAY moved out of vintage items to BUY IT NOW in terms of electronics, DVDs, CDs and cars, well, we poor dealers in antiques and vintage knew what was going to happen - our sales would suffer.  And they did.  But by that time, the new websites had come along - ETSY and RUBY LANE.

And here I will leave till my next posting.  

Victorian Paper Lace Pretties

Sometimes, during the course of a day, you spot something so pretty, you just have to share with friends.  I don't know if anyone will ever read my blog, but I can certainly add tidbits every now and then (especially since I am in the middle of my life story right now and trying hard to get it up to date).  One thing I do like is looking at Facebook and seeing all the creative people and their designs, as well as antiquers who display at antique shows and brocantes.  Goodness knows, I sure miss traveling overseas but travel these days is a very scary thing and I prefer to remain closer to home.  Anyway, here's a few goodies I just have to share.  There is beauty in old age - and these items just prove it.

If you're wondering, the background is old ANTIQUE VICTORIAN paper lace.  The graphic is an old Victorian die cut.  The decoration, which is  hard to determine is either ribbon embroidery or a painted embellishment.

These beauties would have been crafted with love and then framed so that they may remain in pristine condition their entire life.

I like to think of the above image as having been on a decorative box - gifted to a little girl.  You know, they really knew about decorating the outside of a gift as well as the inside!

Till my next writing.....

2018 Cont'd

My last trip to London was in February and I must admit I had a good time. There was no side trip to Paris but there was enough to do in London with the many shows that went on. Portobello of course (which is mentioned below), Kempton Park and the Horticultural Hall show all kept me hopping and contributed to my collection of jewelry. The weather cooperated quite nicely and the trip to and fro had no problems at all. Not like my upcoming trip which is in 7 days. I'm wondering if the volcano in Iceland is going to keep quiet and if I am going to have fair weather while I am over in England. This time I will be taking in the French Antiques show at the Place de la Bastille and I am hoping to add some French flavor to my inventory.

My condo is a little further along now in the decorating arena. Not only do I have the aforementioned painted walls, but I also have a wonderful 36-drawer apothecary sideboard sitting in my dining room though my dining room is NOT a dining room - more a catch-all at the moment for holding boxes yet to be unpacked. I am still waiting to find the right pieces of furniture for my condo and my bed is still lacking a headboard.

Do you like the above pieces? They're Essex Crystals set in yellow gold and they are probably the finest I have come across in a long time (now sold). Essex crystals are quite collectible and if you are wondering, each piece is a half portion of a round rock crystal lovingly carved from the back and then handpainted. The result, if done correctly, yields a piece of artwork that shows all the nuances of the designer's choice of coloring. The crystal is almost always backed with a flat piece of mother of pearl to highlight the painted piece. The MOP backing is almost always white so that the design seems to have a 3D effect. One mishap in carving, one mishap in painting, and the artwork is spoiled and the artisan must start again. The best Essex Crystal jewelry was manufactured in the late 1800s and more often than not manufactured in England. A Victorian era Essex Crystal shows clarity that is not seen in later pieces. As the years progressed, the painting grew haphazard and plastic replaced crystal. There is no substitute for the best and the pieces shown above are premiere quality!

Anyway, I'm getting off track. Let's go back to London.....

 

London used to be full of what I call the "daily" markets, but property speculators decided that two of the best shows just had to go.....

Camden Passage was the fare of the day for Wednesday. You could get up early, take the tube to ANGEL and exit the station, turn right, and hit the start of the market. Open air stalls combined with small booths inside buildings. The walk was quite refreshing and you could find all manner of goods from the old to the new. I don't think I ever left Camden Passage without buying at least one thing. I knew one dealer at the market that started out in the open, then moved inside to one of the buildings, moved to better spot (got kicked out), moved to a better spot again (got kicked out again), and now she's in her own little cubby hole of a shop in the one remaining area of dealers under cover. You see, the property speculators decided that the Islington area of London was "up and coming" and that the antiques dealers just HAD to go! So now, what was once a thriving area for antiques is now a real "hit and miss". You might be lucky to see maybe 30 people outside. And if some of the remaining shops are open, you might see a few more dealers. But for the most part, Camden Passage died a death a long time ago and basically, it's a crying shame. I still mourn its loss to this day.

The same thing happened to the Friday Bermondsey market. If anyone has been to the market in the past, they will know that it was composed of three sections, along with a few buildings on the outskirts that held the overflow of dealers. When word got round that there was going to be a new tube stop in Bermondsey, everyone thought the stop would be right where the market was. Well, it turned out that that wasn't the case but instead, rumor grew that the space would be converted to flats over some retail shops. Well, over a great period of time, the market began to shrink. First, the "powers that be" closed off one section - the dealers moved to the other 2 sections. Then another section closed down - the dealers converged some more. Then finally the show shut down completely for some time. When word finally came through that the show was open again, a visit to the new site verified my worst fears. No, the new owners of the development did not provide the "cover" they always seemed to show in their promotion about the fact that they weren't going to change the market (HA!). Instead, they placed the wonderful dealers who braved wind, rain, even snow, right smack in the middle of a wind tunnel between two buildings! And because of this now ridiculous happenstance, only a handful of dealers even opted to brave the show. I ventured out to the show in 2008 and was sadly disappointed and terribly upset at the new promoters. A few dealers were huddled under layers of clothing trying to stay warm in the new "wind tunnel" and there were so many gaps between sellers that the time it took to get to Bermondsey from my hotel was not worth the trip. I managed to find a few things, mostly I bought because I felt so sorry for the dealers. There they were, cold and in circumstances that were not what the promoters had promised to them. I was so angry I could have screamed but what was there to do but spend some money and try to take home a few things. I haven't been back to the show since and maybe one day, if word improves and the promoters provide the "cover" they promised, the show might find its footing once more. Until then, I'll stick closer to town and the shows that are still surviving, if not thriving.

Stay tuned....

August 2018

It's almost August and try as I might, I must admit I never seem to find the time needed to do a little blogging. Every time I think I am going to post a new column, something comes up. With running a business on one's own, it's hard to find "free" time. It seems I am always listing on one of my sites, or shooting pictures or doing the bookkeeping (which I hate) or cleaning house. Balancing working hours with household hours is probably the hardest thing to do! But I try.





Buying and selling antique jewelry is a wonderful profession, but I find myself longing to go back into crafting. I did so many shows in the 80s and early 90s that there are, at times, moments when I want to go back to a show to see what I have been missing. Well, one thing I have not been aware of is Where Women Create, a magazine that (once I got over sticker price shock) I found to be the most amazing magazine. To have discovered its sister publications was like a Godsend. Not only did I bring myself up to snuff on the current "name" artisans, but I also found myself revisiting people whom I had known personally when I was still in Los Angeles.

Anyway, after seeing WWC I decided that I simply had to get my studio together. The only question was WHEN?? Well, I don't think it's going to happen this year as there are just too many things on my plate. My father is getting on in age and I have a trip to Vancouver at the end of August, back to back trips to London in October and November, and a cruise to Mexico with my father in December. And in b etween all that, I still have to file my 2009 taxes as I am on extension. Yep, that's enough.

But I do have time to make a few items at night so I did bring out a few bits and pieces and have been busy listing them on my sites on ETSY and RUBY LANE. Now when I break out the Christmas stuff, that will mean I am getting a little more organized!

Do you like the earrings I made? Here's a couple more pair.....

Things continue to change as I travel.  Every trip there seems to be one less shop open, one less market open. I had thought about moving back to Vancouver before I moved to St. Peters, but the realization that I would never be able to afford a home meant I had to choose where not only I could purchase a home for myself, but also where the inventory was. And it certainly was not in Vancouver. Like Los Angeles, Vancouver doesn't have much of a history whereas St. Louis goes back to the late 1790s. So the potential of finding goodies in Missouri was a lot higher than in British Columbia!

Like Vancouver, St. Peters has the same seasons - something Los Angeles did not. I love the turn of fall colors and I love to see snow. Imagining snow in Los Angeles is a bit of a stretch! Anyway, I'm happy here and the "green" certainly has put my soul at peace. If I can't live in Vancouver, St. Peters is the next best thing. Now if they could only do something about the heat!

I have made a promise to myself to get back into crafting. I think I have a lot of ideas to offer but I also realize that to offer them means having lots of inventory in place. Right now, I have little in the way of what I really want to produce. So my listings will continue to be slim on the handcrafted side, but hopefully larger on the antique finds side.

Here's a few of my latest antique jewelry finds..... 

And that's it for now. If you've stopped by, many thanks.

Take care.

2007 to 2018 - My Poor Condo

Now back to my condo problem...........

I visited my neighbors and sure enough each had the same noise, only my upstairs neighbor a little lighter hum, but my downstairs neighbor - well, let's just say if I had it 100 times, she had 1000 times. The only difference was she didn't stay home 24/7 and when she went to bed she had the TV on. She thought the hum was being caused by ME!

So with this new information I again began to make some calls. I think I am talking around mid 2008 when this happened. And since that time, NO ONE has helped me. But something funny began to occur. As each month passed, the hum started to get softer, more manageable. The vibration stayed but it shrank in intensity. When it rained, it got softer still. When winter 2008 came, it was practically negligent. So much so that I began to paint more walls and think that I was going to fully move in. But then the winter would end and the noise would come back. Which led me to a conclusion.....

New buildings were still being built around me and one of the construction people had suggested that since my unit was the first to be built, all the power for the construction was being drawn from the electrical box near my building. As each new building went up, the drain increased and my hum would subside. Okay, that's one theory. But the other is more plausible.......

Construction on a new freeway began at the same time the condos were being built AND as they worked, the electrical company started installing new power lines. So in fact, there were two sets of power lines running and perhaps I was getting the "overload". Once the freeway is completed, the extra lines will come down so that only the new remain. Again, could be the problem.....

But here it is now 2023 and yes, I still have my hum but it's the lowest its been. Yes, the floor still vibrates as does my bed but I can sleep now with just one pillow over my head and no ear plugs. I can tune the noise out with a loud TV and I can tune it out entirely with headphones. In other words, I can think and I can work and I can go to bed not having cried my eyes out because it was too noisy.
Friends and family visit and sometimes they can hear "something", other times they cannot. I realize that no one can understand my problem because they have not experienced it. 

A girlfriend of mine in England sent me an article dated April of 2009, about a "hum" epidemic within a certain community. So I was proved then and there NOT to be crazy.  And now, in 2023, if you do a Google on "hum in condo" you will see just how many problems there are with new builds.  Yep, the Internet has progressed since 2009.  Anyway, a "hum" is a nasty occurrence that I hope happens to no one. It's a horrific nightmare and I pray every day that one morning I wake up not hearing the dreaded sound. We shall see. 

Till next time.....



 

 

No noise.  That's all I wanted but in the now 11 years I have lived in my condo, I do not know what the word "silence" is.

In trying to explain my problem to others I was met with skepticism.  Since some people couldn't hear it, I know they dismissed me as crazy.  To those who did hear it, they couldn't locate where the noise was coming from.  They knew it was in the walls (you could hear it if you pressed your ear to the surface) and they agreed that if it was in the walls, it was certainly in the floor.  It really wasn't until 2016 when an Ameren employee came out and turned off the power to the entire building.  Even with the power off the hum continued and he suggested that it most likely had something to do with the Fire Alarm and Sprinkler system that was put into the building since it had a back up battery that NEVER went off.  But trying to get my Homeowner Association "Management" to do anything about it has resulted in a lot of e-mails, phone calls and nothing being done about the problem.  Even after the maintenace gent discovered that the panels in Buildings One and Two were different from the other buildings and HUMMING like there was no tomorrow.  Lighting a fire under CMA to get something done is like pulling teeth - they don't want to acknowledge the problem, instead they just want to ignore it.  Well, I am not going to rest until it is fixed and so I will continue my struggles in getting my condo to "go silent" through my blog!  Oh, and if my readers don't believe me, just go a GOOGLE for a "hum" in a condo.  when I first googled in 2007 there was nothing - today, the pages of Google are fairly filled with complaints!

I will prevail - it just might take awhile longer!

It is now December 9, 2018 and Christmas is right around the corner.  I haven't been back to London in a long time, 6 years I think, but I do manage to go somewhere at least once a year to do some shopping.  I was going to Brimfield for a spell and that was doing the trick for some time.  Then the Columbus Ohio area but as the years passed, something happened to all the femmy stuff in the area - it seemed to just disappear and because of that the malls started to lose their attraction.  The last time I was there one had closed and the others were decidedly more MASCULINE than feminine.  So I stopped going.

Shopping in the Internet is still a way to find inventory but not at the pricing I like.  So I went back to estate sales and auctions and now, I am starting to mix up my inventory on my web sites - I'm not just doing jewelry, I'm doing everything - antiques, collectibles, paper, photos, silver, fabric, you name it I will be doing it.

Oh, and I will also be featuring my handiwork here on my Blog.  Yes, some stuff is in my ETSY shop, actually come to think of it, no, there's not much there now.  I closed Gypsy Madonna on ETSY and instead am listing a little more diverse array of items on Robins Nest Midwest on ETSY.  Gypsy Madonna (the website) will eventually have everything from A to Z.  But it's taking me time to fill it.  Robins Nest Midwest on RUBY LANE will also be changing a bit - it will be more eclectic and not just jewelry.  So you can see, I am making changes!

So, starting now, enough with my past - let's get down to the present.  Think it's easy making a living on the Internet?  It's not.  So in order to show people just what I do, I will try to do a daily blog - things I do each day to ensure that I can pay my mortgage each month.  And buy groceries.  And pay my bills.  And buy inventory.  And buy supplies.  And gas for the car.  In short, what I sell pays my expenses.  Forget about a salary.  The money comes in and the money goes right back out.  It's not a bad way to live but if you are thinking about doing it yourself, well maybe you can take a lesson from me.

So sit back, stay tuned and please, if you are reading this, leave a comment.  I want to know if I am reaching someone or just blabbing to "air".

Till next time!

Taking a Break....

A brief respite from the story of my life....

For those who don't know what I do for a living, well, I sell on the Internet.  I have been doing so since May of 1999 full time.  That means every morning I rise, brush my teeth, wash my face, get into some clothes and walk the 23 paces to my workroom/office and turn on my computer.  From 10:00 am to 9:00 pm, most days, I am in this room either shooting pictures, cropping pictures, listing items, delisting items, preparing a mail, paying bills, crafting or placing orders for more inventory to sell on the Internet.  It's a job that I love but it IS very time consuming leaving little time for Blogging, Facebook, Twittering and Pinterest - frankly, it's hard for me to do all those things as I mostly do my sites (Ruby Lane, Etsy, EBAY and now, my website Robins Troll Market) before blathering on about me or my products.  Frankly, I don't know how so many people do it all but then again, they're probably not making a living full time from the Internet.

Working on the Internet, buying and selling, is a wonderful job and one I wouldn't give up.  But it doesn't exactly "feed the soul".  So I craft on my downtime and I will admit to the occasional trip to my local casino.  Yep, I love a good slot machine.  Having just entered the autumn of my life, I realize that feeding my soul is just as important as keeping a roof over my head.   

 

  

Well, welcome to the world of a middle-aged woman trying to make an honest buck!  It's certainly been a fun journey so far! 

Till my next posting. 

 

Oct 2007 to Dec 2007

Everyone tells you that a "real estate closing" is difficult.  Well, mine wasn't so bad but having to transition the move from a rental unit to my own unit was going to take me a lot longer than the 5 days that the seller wanted me to do.  So they actually kicked back to me one month's rent so that I could "close" on the right day - I guess they needed the bigger sum from the bank rather than my $650 a month rent.

Here's the outside of my building.  Pretty nice, eh?  I'm on the middle right (you can't see the lower units because there is a retaining wall at the level of the shrubs. 

So I moved into my unit in October 0f 2007 and by November I still hadn't done much.  





Yep, just a bed and a few things around. No chest of drawers, table, lamp or even a TV. Oh well.










And here's the view from my couch looking towards my entry way.


And looking towards the kitchen from my sofa......














Well, that was the quick move in - painting the walls was still to come as was trying to put some sense of order into all my crafting items that were still stored in boxes at my aunt and uncle's house. 

And then I found out that the local cable company wouldn't hook up the first two buildings until at least 5 had been built.  So I had to settle for dial up and good old AT&T.  How I HATED that! 

Time passed and I continued to list on the Internet (Ebay and Ruby Lane) and I even found time to open up a booth space at the mall across the street from where I lived.  Things were fine and moving along as I thought they would.  Life was good.  And then the building started across from my unit......














Noise, Noise and more noise.

Yep, I definitely put up with a lot while the other buildings were being built and my waiting for the cable to arrive. I think that was the hardest part - waiting for the cable. Do you know what it's like to go months on end without TV?  or a fast download?  I had to resort to watching the same DVD movies over and over and over again. Thank goodness I LOVE movies! I think I went through my library of films several times over. So when cable finally arrived, I welcomed it with open arms!

Once I had my cable in place and my connection to the Internet greatly improved, I settled in as best I could. At least I had pre-ordered a refrigerator but it managed to get put in place without my having painted the back wall. To this day, I still have THAT to do. And I did manage to paint a few walls to get my colors right - olive green for the kitchen - dining area and brick brown for the living area. I found the perfect sage green sofa (deep and comfy) and ordered it post haste (it went well with the hardwood floors and brick walls). One of the two oversized comfy chairs I had purchased when I first arrived in Missouri sits in the living room and once it is re-covered, it will fit in perfectly with the scheme of things. While waiting for the sofa to arrive, I managed to get to JC Penny and pick out some curtains. They laid on the floor, in their original packaging for a VERY long time! When the sofa finally arrived, I was able to stretch out full body length to watch television. I thought I had died and gone to heaven! Until then I had only sat in the comfy chairs and there's hardly room to stretch out in them!

So things were progressing. I was in love with my condo, knew that eventually everything would find its right place and had only to drown out the pounding of nails and screeching saws to keep my sanity. A small price to pay, it seemed, at the time for owning my own home. But things were to change.

Approximately 3 weeks after I moved in, my unit developed a "hum". Yep, I went shopping early one morning and came home to a noise that is simply indescribable. Well, think the clashing of puts and pans in a metal duct - VERY LOUD and constant; by that I mean 24/7 constant.  I quickly ran to the salesperson's on site office, dragged her over to my unit, and together we tried to track down the noise. It seemed to emanate from the main bedroom bathroom but as the day progressed it seemed to be coming from the main bedroom wall where the window was located. Putting my head to the wall, I could hear the most horrendous noise - like someone having left an electric razor on. Only amplified 100 times!

I ran outside to try to figure out the problem but I could find nothing. I checked the electrical boxes BELOW my window and I thought I could discern a light hum. So I called the electrical people and asked them to come out. They did and found 2 things wrong with the set-up though neither was my hum.

The drone went on and on. Hours turned into days - days turned into weeks - weeks turned into months. I tried everything to keep the noise at bay. Earplugs. Head phones. Loud TV. Sleeping with pillows over my head. Everything. The hum went on and on. And slowly but surely, my feet started to tingle. And tingle. And tingle until I finally realized that the floor was vibrating and that the hum emanated from under the floor boards.

I called the builder. The City Inspector. The sales people. No one could hear the hum - no one could feel the vibration. Why?  Because they were in the condo a very short time and were not attuned to the noise.  Either that, or they just didn't want to acknowledge there was a problem with the unit.  I began to think I was going slowly mad.......

When it rained, the noise was less. Go figure.  When it didn't rain, the hum along with the construction that was outside kept me awake ALL the time. I didn't sleep much and I certainly wasn't thinking straight. Whenever I had to go out of town I loved it so much I didn't want to go back to my condo. My dream home had become my nightmare!

No one could help because no one knew what was causing the problem. And when it finally dawned on me that if I had the problem, maybe my upstairs and downstairs neighbor ALSO had the problem. So a check was in order. But that outcome I will save for another post.....

Stay tuned!