Important Rules For Tag Sales, Garage Sales, Yard Sales etc.

Depending on your geographical location, these sales are known by different names. Whatever you want to call them, what it boils down to, is people take their junk that they don't want and put it outside their house and try to sell it.
Then, people like me buy their junk.

Some people put a lot of effort into their sales. They plan, they advertise, they put up signs with addresses, times and dates and arrows pointing directions. They actually clean the items they are selling and put prices on them. Some collaborate with their neighbors and have their sales on the same day. These people obviously read the book on how to have a successful tag sale. Some of them didn't read the whole book though. Some skipped the important chapters like, a) Setting fair and realistic prices. b) Always be willing to negotiate. And c) Taking your signs down after your sale.

Let me elaborate. If you are having a tag sale, you must understand that what you are selling is essentially junk. You are selling it because you don't want it anymore. Yes, at one time it was valuable (to you) It may have been a gift, you may have spent good money on it, it might even hold some sentimental value. But, you are not Macy's. You cannot expect to get what you paid for it, or what someone else might have paid for it. People go to tag sales expecting a deal. If you set your prices too high, they will not buy your stuff.

Part of the fun of going to tag sales is Bargaining. If someone offers you less than what you are asking for an item, you should seriously consider their offer, or at least come back with a counter-offer. Otherwise, you may end up not selling it at all, and at the end of the day you will be hauling it back inside your house or to the Salvation Army. Something is better than nothing.

Finally, having a tag sale is a lot of work. At the end of the day, after your last customer has left and your sale is over, your work isn't finished until you get in your car and drive around and take down all those signs that you so carefully put up. There are few things as aggravating as following signs for miles around unfamiliar neighborhoods looking for a tag sale that was held three weeks ago. It is my opinion that if you are too lazy to do this, you should be ticketed for littering.

The "more news" that I forgot I was going to write about

I just got off the phone with Mom. She said she was enjoying the part of aging that causes her to forget entire storylines of books she's read and hung onto. So, she's reading them again and they are like new adventures. How nice.
I'd like that too. Books are so expensive now. When did the price of paperbacks go up to $9.99? I missed that price increase until just the other day when I was in the grocery store looking for something to read. I was shocked. I buy my books at tag sales. Or I go to the library where they are free. But that's not what I wanted to write about.
Mom forgets story lines and that benefits her. I forget things like doctor appointments. Taking stuff out of the freezer for supper. Conversations. Laundry in the washer that I need to re-wash because now it smells bad. And I forgot that I was going to write about "More News".
So, here's the news: Helen is a friend of mine who has bought some jewelry from me. (You were wondering when I was going to get back to writing about jewelry, huh?) I've also done some repairs to her jewelry and not charged her. That's what friends do. Friends also let friends borrow stuff. She asked me if she could borrow a necklace and bracelet set that I had made, to take with her on her annual trip to the Cape. Of course I said ok. So she did.
Now she wants to buy them. I told her they weren't for sale. Not because I'm especially attached to them or anything. I actually forgot she had them. (More of this forgetting shit) I would have remembered eventually, and hopefully remembered where they were too, but there she was, sitting at my kitchen table telling me that "They speak to her", that "They are ART". OMG. I really didn't know what to say. It's not that I don't want to sell them. I just never considered it before. Even though that necklace was the first cabochon I'd ever beaded (and it came out great, if I do say so myself) I was just caught off guard and didn't know how much to ask for them. They took many hours to create. A Rose Quartz cabochon with a beaded bezel and a spiral beaded necklace. The bracelet is freeform peyote in the same bead colors. How do you put a price on one of your children? Because that's almost what it feels like. Ok, I admit if I loaned out one of my children, I'd remember THAT. But you know what I mean. And actually, it's not so much the jewelry that I loved, it was the MAKING it. (Again, like children...ha, ha...did I say that out loud?)
So she told me she'd pay me $300. And she told me to think about it.
THINK ABOUT IT? I don't need to think about it. Of course I didn't tell her that. She's not THAT good of a friend. $300. No, I surely don't need to think about selling that set for $300. I'm actually considering throwing in a kid to seal the deal.

5 Things I really like (In no particular order)

1. Weddings - This morning I watched a wedding on the Today show. Cassie laughed at me and shook her head because I got all weepy. She said, "You're not even there". Nope, and I didn't even know the couple either. But it doesn't matter. Weddings make me cry. Is it because I've had so many and I know what's in store for them? (Giggle) No. I actually think it's that music that gets to me. Pachelbel's Canon in D major. That's what makes me weep. It's beautiful. It's what I listened to when I was in labor with Cassie...trying to relax and breath. So, it's #2 on my list.

2. Pachelbel's canon in D major - Like I just said: It's beautiful.

3. Baklava - OMG. Sticky, sweet, nutty with a touch of cinnamon. Kathi did it again. She bought TWO trays of baklava. Ate an entire one herself and then brought the second partially eaten one to me so she wouldn't eat it. She did it last year too. Thank you Kathi. Yes, I'll eat them. Cassie will share with me. We are the only ones in the house who like it. More for us. Those men don't know what they are missing.

4. The cabinet behind the couch where I keep my candles - It's not so much the cabinet that I like...it's the smell when I open the doors. The blend of all the different scented candles. Usually I reach in to grab a couple of tea-lites for the tart burners and take a whiff and am transported for a few seconds to an ageless, nameless, exotic place. I wish my entire house smelled like that one cabinet. Instead of smelling like dog.

5. Dog feet smell - This will seem to contradict the last sentence above. But Chase would understand. Dog feet smell like Frito's corn chips. And although the dogs themselves stink, Libby, especially, for some reason I think their feet smell pretty good. I guess I like Frito's.

I could be content for hours sitting in front of my candle cabinet, listening to Pachelbel, eating baklava, and snuggling with my dogs.

I sold more stuff!!

How exciting! Cassie took some pieces to work with her on Tuesday, and sold a woven bracelet, a pair of shell earrings and the green stone and sterling chain set! She also got me an order for a similar bracelet in different colors.
So, today I made two bracelets. The first was a little "blingy", maybe too blingy for this particular customer. So I made another...similar, just less blingy...and Cassie said she likes the first one better. Of course.
My hands are killing me, and I'm going to bed now. I just had to share that though. I have more news...but you'll just have to wait til my hands settle down enough to type more...hopefully, tomorrow!

The Road To Hell....

Is paved with me saying I'll try to post daily...yeah, right.
So here it is October 1st.
So I'm a procrastinator. Maybe that should be capitolized? Am I spelling capitolized correctly? Is it the other capital? So many questions.

Anyway, Here it is October 1st, and it feels like it. Chilly, leaves changing.
Autumn used to be my favorite season. It energized me, made me feel more alive. The crispness of the air echoed the crispness of the leaves as I shuffled my feet through them, which echoed the crispness of a fresh apple as I bit into it. Ah, crisp Autumn! Apple Crisp! Yum!

My, how things change. Now Autumn is just the precurser to Winter...which I dread. Cold, Bitter, Biting, Freezing, Nasty Winter. Take a breath and your nostrils stick together kind of cold. NOT something to look forward to. Not me anyway. Maybe, if you ski or snowboard or iceskate, or actually LIKE being cold, THEN you might look forward to Winter, but alas, I do none of those things, so Winter just sucks.
And, because Autumn comes just before Winter..it sort of sucks by association. It never used to be that way before, but it sure is now.

That being said, let's get back to why I'm here. What I intended for this blog initally, was me, rambling on about different subjects. I still intend that. But maybe with a more or less specific intent. I think I'd like to write about my jewelry. Since it's what I do. So here's the plan: I write about my jewelry, what I'm making, how I'm making it, the steps I go through...and I'll just go off on tangents when and if I feel like it. Like now.

I don't know if I'll actually get around to making any jewelry today. The kitchen still looks like a bomb went off. I need to get all the stuff that's out of the drawers back into the drawers. I need to make the lasagna that I didn't make yesterday. I need to make my bed, do laundry, try out that new spray cleaner on the tub. And let's not forget that bottle of DIF that I bought a year ago that I finally brought upstairs. It's looking at me. I hear it calling to me. For anyone reading this, who doesn't know what DIF is, it's a chemical that's used to remove wallpaper. You score the wallpaper, spray on DIF, and then start scraping. I've been meaning to do this for more than a year...to the bathroom. The wallpaper is disgusting and has probably been there since the house was built. I want it gone. But after my kitchen cabinet fiasco, my hands are still complaining. Not as loudly and as unrelentingly as they were on Friday, but they are bitching at me just the same. I think they are saying something like, "You stupid twit. Give us a break already! You better listen. You know how we swelled up last week after you abused us? Well...(heh, heh, evil chuckling here) You ain't seen nuthin' yet!!". So, I'm thinking maybe, I should listen to them. At least today, and not do anything to piss them off.

Jewelry will have to wait too. If my hands won't cooperate to scrape wallpaper or scrub the tub, they certainly aren't going to be helpful doing delicate beadwork. I guess I'll do something that takes less precision and inflicts less abuse. And to be completely honest...this typing I'm doing is making them none too happy either.

Introduction

Dear Reader,
I've decided to start this blog finally. Please bear with me as I figure it out. I don't know how often I'll be posting, I can shoot for daily posts, but can't promise anything.
I'm sure there are better blog sites I could use, but I found this one and it's free. Two on the plus side already!
My life is far from exciting. In fact, it's quite boring. So I'll try to refrain from giving a play by play of my day. Instead, I think I want to focus on specific topics for each post. If I come across something interesting, it may warrant more than one post, and depending on any comments I may receive, I may elaborate on the topic.
Disclaimer: All opinions posted are my own and do not reflect on anything else. If you disagree with something I say, you have the choice to a.) Stop reading, b.) Post a comment, or c.) Keep it to yourself. Please try to be nice and I'll try to do the same.