Monday, April 29, 2013

well it has been only an ok day.

I did finally make a sale. Another tea cup. Made a small tea cup sale yesterday about noon.

I made my first trip to the post office and shipped my ebay sale. A large print. I got insurance on it and didn't notice that there was an extra $14 charge for insurance because of the size.  Then, my second trip to the post office I shipped the large, heavy plaster Last Supper wall hanging. I lost $7 on shipping for that. And I hope it even makes it.  

Not to mention my throat and breathing and swallowing are bothering me. I have trouble swallowing now when I eat. Because of my throat.  I hope its not serious. I've had people online praying for me. I have prayed and asked for healing many times. I hope its not cancer. It's something. My throat closes at night and I wake up gasping for breath. And it doesn't seem to be getting better.

Now I still have to pay the bills. And resolve other financial matters.

I am not sure it was worth it to have my Etsy shop?????

I don't know what to do. I should close up and take my cash and go start over some where. I have so much here. And so much time and money invested in all of this.  And I have had to deal with something with my health every day for months now.

Guess I am going to go shopping for something to eat. Hopefully I can swallow. And don't choke.

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Today here at nearly midnight I have 313 views from Etsy search. Yesterday was only 259. I have sold alot of my tea cups, which were the reason for such high search views, this month. If not for tea cups, I would be as low as when I had 400 listings or less. I have to do something about that. I need to get better things. Things that people would want. Like another piece of danish furniture or end table. Or sterling silver jewelry.

I listed a couple new things today.  A pair of doctor owls salt & pepper shakers:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/68910325/vintage-doctor-owls-salt-and-pepper?ref=shop_home_active


And a very nice Royal Grafton tea cup and saucer:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/130686460/antique-bone-china-tea-cup-and-saucer?ref=shop_home_active


I should have packed my orders today. I have the very fragile plaster last supper to pack and 3 other items. And even a sale from ebay.  I will do that tomorrow and also try to get some laundry done.

Time for bed.

Elvis Presley # '68 Let Yourself Go

Saturday, April 27, 2013

So I thought I had alot of views today in the noon hour when I had 267 listing views. Now I check my stats again here at about 11 pm and I got 499 listing views in the 9 o'clock hour and another 108 in the 10 o'clock hour.  But no sale.

I love this vintage Aynsley china tea cup I have listed in my shop. I was lucky to get it. It is definitely unique. It think it will sell. It will be to that tea cup person who appreciates it:

  https://www.etsy.com/listing/101482265/rare-antique-gold-birds-tea-cup-vintage?ref=shop_home_feat



 
It is 6:43 pm and only 150 views from Etsy search in my shop. wow. I wonder what's going on??
wow, my Etsy shop ended yesterday with only 236 views from Etsy search. That is LOW. the lowest since last spring at least.

Today appears to be off to a better start with views.

I got some pics of tea cups taken this morning. Now I want to take some pics outside of some furniture and lamps. I have to find my tripod.  I also want to take a few more pics of some books.  I want to get more things than just tea cups in my shop.

Here is a piece of vintage Kent Coffey furniture set of drawers I was able to bring home one day.  A house was being cleaned out and this was on the sidewalk.  Too bad one piece of trim needs to be glued and it's missing the front piece of trim and there is some discoloring on the front. Looks almost burnt?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/72356698/vintage-mid-century-modern-furniture?ref=shop_home_active




It is a beautiful sunny day here again. And I have been in the house all morning.

Yesterday at my grounds keeping job I took a pic of one of the large flower beds that is ready for planting:

I also had to repair the birdbath fountain.  There are 2 beds near it that are also ready for planting. I put mushroom manure in all the planting beds a couple weeks ago:


I am off to take some pics! I have orders to pack and ship, too!
Holy heck, I woke up to only 4 favorites in my Etsy shop. That is the lowest I've woken up to in more than  a year at least. And only 50 views from Etsy search. With the very low views from Etsy search yesterday, I am wondering if it is because of something Etsy did?????  50 views from search isn't the lowest, but it is unusually low. HHHmmmmm.

Friday, April 26, 2013

So I decided to hunt on ebay for another tea cup.  Even though I know I shouldn't because I have more then enough. And I also want to diversify my shop and not be primarily a tea cup shop. And also to just save some money and not spend all my profits like I have been.

Well, I think I did pretty well. I made an offer and it got accept for this great Aynsley D. Jones tea cup:


Then I searched again for another tea cup, even though I knew I shouldn't, and I found this great looking Royal Chelsea trio for a very good price and bought it:


For my Etsy shop I renewed this beautiful Victorian buckle this morning and it got some views and a heart. I had been searching for jewelry on etsy one night and found a piece I liked.  So I searched the shop too and saw this buckle. It was listed without a makers name and to me just the beauty and quality that it appeared to be I thought it was worth much more than the list price.  Once I got it I saw that it was marked FN co and was antique and possibly Victorian:


https://www.etsy.com/listing/80801382/rare-antique-fn-co-fishel-nessler-brass?ref=shop_home_active




I think it will sell. It has to. It is a beautiful piece.
Today has been a pretty good day.

I worked at my grounds keeping job and it was a beautiful, sunny day. I had some planting to do. And also had to repair the birdbath fountain.  The plants have grown noticeably just since wed.  The wysteria had more blooms.  Here is one of them in the morning light:



Here is one of the others across from the previous one in the afternoon light:

The white bleeding heart is blooming:


It was also payday. Which is always a good day. I made it to the supermarket to the bank in time, did some shopping, then made a long walk to catch the bus.

And I came home to 3 sales in my Etsy shop. One of the sales was the Silhouettes book I posted about on monday. It was based upon German die-cuts from the 1920's and the buyer is in Germany:

Then I sold a 4th item, an old Nippon teapot. A very well done teapot covered in large pink roses:
I am concerned about my very low views today. They are the lowest they have been since at least last summer. At about 9pm I had only about 600 listing views. That is the fewest in so many months. I haven't seen a number that low in I don't know how long. 

Overall, it has been a productive day. I worked. Got paid. And made some sales. 
I am looking forward to tomorrow.  

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

wow, well my Monet brooch just sold!  It took about 10 minutes!  It was a lady in Canada.  Hope I charged enough for shipping.
I was able to get alot of pics taken today. In the morning I took pics of my new tea cups. Then later in the afternoon I took some jewelry pics. I got in the mail a pair of green Crown Trifari earrings that looked great. Were much better than I was hoping for.  I didn't even know they were Trifari earrings when I bought them.

I also got the antique Monet brooch photographed and listed.  It looks great:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/83415896/antique-brooch-vintage-monet-camphor?ref=shop_home_active



Today was a pretty good day. Tomorrow I go back to my grounds keeping job.
wow, it is a beautiful, sunny warm day here.  I love this weather.  I just walked to and from the post office and the sky is clear blue. Again.  I wish it would stay like this.  It's rare for us to get such clear weather.

"It is good to see the sun"
-Ecclesiastes
I woke up to a tea cup sale.  It was a very nice Paladin china blue set from about the 1920's.  Too bad it had a crack in it.

https://www.etsy.com/transaction/128269921

I am not trying to take some pics of the tea cups I got yesterday.  They have all turned out too dark. Grrr. So I have to retake the pics of 3 of the cups.

I like this quote from the famous economist Friedrich von Hayek.  I saw it on Pinterest and pinned it to the board "Convservatives on the Right" and it has gotten repinned many times:

http://pinterest.com/pin/216524694557404230/?e_t=41feac2ddf86461ab67350ed37b340c0&e_t_s=pin_teaser&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=activity_aggregation.

Monday, April 22, 2013

Today I worked at my part-time seasonal job as the groundskeeper for a private home.  It was a beautiful, sunny day!  NOT A CLOUD IN THE SKY. Temps in the 60's. I finished some mulching, took the large, potted plants outside into the garden, and touched up the pots with black paint.

The 3 wysteria trees have buds, the peonies are about 2 feet tall, the dogwood was starting to bloom.  The trees were blooming, too.  The garden is coming to life.

I'd spend moments just standing in the garden taking in the blue sky and sunshine. I was glad to be there.
It was a good day.

Afterwards I made the walk to the bank and then to Goodwill.  I think I found some decent themed color books. For adults. And a pencil signed print dated 1983.  It is hard to make out the signature. So I will have to do more research.  I think I did ok at goodwill.  

Came home to a sale in my Etsy shop, shoponsherman.etsy.com and more packages of tea cups on my porch. One is a very nice Aynsley set from the 1920's.  I'll try to take pics of it in the morning and list it right away.  When it sells I will make a nice profit.

One of the packages I got in the regular mail was an old Monet glass brooch. Wow. It is so much more beautiful in person.  I can't believe the price I paid for it. I will try to take pics of it and try to list it ASAP.
Here it is:

  https://www.etsy.com/transaction/127884137

I have so many tea cups still to list in my shop and I had taken pics yesterday that I wanted to get at least one listed tonight.  So I listed a pink trio from Bavaria.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/76699968/antique-pink-tea-cup-and-saucer-plate?ref=shop_home_active

It was put into a treasury very soon after it was listed:

https://www.etsy.com/treasury/MzA1NDk1MjR8MjcyMTc3NTA1MQ/pink-lovers?index=0&atr_uid=

Well, I am about to head to bed.  It was a good day.  A productive day.