I'm in an Etsy Treasury!

It's always exciting to have one of my items featured in an Etsy Treasury, but it's really exciting when it's an item I've just listed! My bay leaf and gourd garland, featured in this Treasury was just listed yesterday!

By the way, I'm using a new tool to capture Treasury screenshots. You should be able to click on any item shown in the Treasury below and go directly to that item! If you'd like to leave a comment on the Treasury page itself (and I do hope you will!), just click on the Treasury title!

'Happy, Healthy, Homespun Holidays from the Heartland!' by TranzendentalArts

Sweet Holiday Wishes seasidecards $2.00	Hard Working Brown boot... SSIP $7.00	Bay Leaf Garland - gour... PrairiePrimiti... $28.00
Folksy Hand-spun/Hand-k... Folk $40.00	The Barley Bowl...Brown... CountryKnitCoc... $17.50	Turkey Inspired Coiled ... KatStyleAccess... $20.00
baby booties chasingthenuns $12.00	Christmas tree skirt FromOldStuff $12.00	3 Dollars for 2 Bars P... CircleANatural... $
Serenity - lace scarf FreshFromTheNe... $75.00	4 INCH, Shatterproof, H... AidensBrook $15.00	Bunch of nuts blbeans $19.50
Bits of Whimsy Tag Set ... pearliebird $8.95	Sammie - child mittens FreshFromTheNe... $25.00	Pip Berry Swag with a 1... MpcGifts $27.50

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

Midtown Bazaar, here we come!

Sorry about the caps ... I'm using a gadget to grab the Treasury screenshot below and it has turned my text into caps ... Will try to figure it out when I get a chance!

'Midtown Bazaar, here we come!' by PrairiePrimitives

This Treasury features items from members of the Sac Etsy Team who will be participating in the Midtown Bazaar on Oct. 30, 2010. Midtown Bazaar is located on I ("eye") Street, between 16th and 17th Streets in Sacramento, CA. Hours are 10am to 3pm, admission is free, and parking is available on the streets or in several nearby lots. Hope to see you there! More info about the Sac Etsy Team can be found on the Team blog: http://sac-etsy.blogspot.com.

Chunky and Fun Vintage Raspb... RevitalizedVin... $43.00	Green Man Necklace nomdenom $40.00	Fancy Jasper and antique sil... SparklingSiste... $22.00	Burgundy red wool hand knitt... MrsTalbott $28.00
A Touch of the Orient Clutch SewBitchy $25.00	Fall and Autumn Scented Soyb... PurePalette $	Recycled Vinyl LP Spin Art B... oddartist $18.00	Herbal Bath Soak- Perfectly ... WiseEarthHerbs $5.50
Primitive Pillows Antique Ba... PrairiePrimiti... $15.00	Dog Dress Country Denim with... Missteawinkie $25.00	Two Sided Red Enamel Copper ... KewishDesigns $67.00	Party Time, Multi-colored Ne... rocksmapsandcr... $18.00

Generated using Treasury HTML code generator by Whale Shark Websites.

The Interview!

The interview I wrote about earlier was published in the Sacramento Bee on October 23rd. Entitled "Handmade for the 21st Century," the article was published on the front page of the Home & Garden section! The newspaper was kind enough to feature a very large photo of Mrs. Begg (shown above).

Due mainly to the timing of the publication of this interview, and also because it mentioned the Sac Etsy Team's participation in the Midtown Bazaar held in Sacramento, I've decided to have a booth at the Bazaar this Saturday, October 30th! Midtown Bazaar started in June, but this will be my first time exhibiting there. Hope you'll stop by between 10am and 3pm on Saturday!

Just some ramblings ...

I just posted this as a reply to something on Etsy, and I liked it so much I wanted to blog it too!

I left my day job on Dec. 20, 1996 to follow my heart to California. My heart was broken, but my spirit wasn't and I continued without a (regular) day job for the next 7 years or so ... in Silicon Valley, of all places, where it was freakin' expensive. I took a temp job now and then, sold stuff on eBay, did occasional craft fairs and didn't spend enough time at the beach.

I've now been laid off 4 times in the last 6 years, which is probably the universe telling me I don't need a day job. Yet I can't help but feel that I need health insurance, if nothing else, and I can't afford that expense on my own. I'm currently laid off and yes, I'm looking for a day job ... again. And now I live too far from the beach.

Interview with Sacramento Bee!

Woooo hoooo!!! I was just contacted by a reporter for the local paper, The Sacramento Bee. The reporter had seen a comment I made about an article about Etsy which was published in another of their papers and she visited my Etsy shop and emailed me!

I'm not real fond of being put on the spot, so I gave it my best shot. She asked how long I'd had an Etsy shop and if I sold at craft fairs or other places. She also asked if I had another job and I told her I was looking for one, having been laid off by Sac County; I even told her she could include that! :-) I also mentioned the Sac Etsy Team and that the Team will have a a presence at the Midtown Bazaar on October 30th.

She asked for a few pictures of my work, so I sent her the pictures I've included in this post. Can't wait to see the published article!!!

Fall Craft Fairs

My Fall craft fair calendar is starting to get filled in ... YAY!

 Sunday, September 26th

8am to 3pm

Antique Trove Peddler's Faire

236 Harding Blvd., Roseville, CA

Look for me in Space 56-S

Sunday, October 3rd

8am to 4pm

Lodi Street Faire

School and Church Streets + cross-streets

Downtown Lodi, CA

Look for me near the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Saturday, November 13th

10am to 4pm

Reclaimed Legacies

Petaluma Women's Club

518 "B" Street

Petaluma, CA

Hopefully I can find another October fair in which to participate, and maybe another November or even December event too, if I have enough inventory left! I have participated in the Bird in Hand Christmas Fair in Los Altos, CA in the past, however I never know if I will be doing that show until October or November ... so stay tuned!

Sewing Up a Storm!

Wow, how the time flies! Since getting laid off on July 2nd, I have been sewing non-stop! Thought I'd take a minute to write about what I've been making!

I've made angels, snowfolk, Halloween dolls, more of the clothespin dolls like the one on my business card (and the banner here -- till I get around to changing it), and more!

Wanna see?

The "Strawberry Doll" at the top of this post is a doll which I've been begged to make again. I made 1 of these dolls about 5 years ago, and it sold quickly. Can't believe it's been 5 years already!

Most recently (as in yesterday!), I finished up 2 pumpkin and 2 snowman dolls. While they all started out the same, you can see how each took on its his own personality!

 

 

 

It's only the second time I've made up some of these clothespin dolls too! It's probably been 6 or 7 years since I made them! One has found a new home, but there are 2 (or maybe 3?) left!

 

Love these primitive rabbits! There were 3 black rabbits in this litter, and they're still looking for their "furever" homes!

  

And, oh yes, Mrs. Begg! The "Widows Begg" (all 3 of them) came calling a little early this year! Here is one of the ol' gals, there's another one in my Etsy shop and the third has gone to her just reward (that's her new home, of course!)

 

All of these items are available either in my Etsy shop or on my Picturetrail site, if you don't have an Etsy account.

Right now I'm working on 3 more snowmen (in a different style) and several wee angel ornies. After that, who knows?!

♥ Tana

New Primitive Dolls on Picturetrail!

In the last couple of weeks, I've really got my Picturetrail site up and running! I started this site as an "online yard sale" several years ago, and there's still a "flea market" section where I sell odds and ends, but it is now mostly a site for my primitive folk art! Here are a few of my most recent additions!

I'm furiously working on more primitive dolls and folk art! My goal is to have 50 dolls for the Lodi Street Faire on October 3, 2010! I will try to update the PT site at least once a week.

Oh Beautiful for Spacious Skies

Just wanted to share an Etsy Treasury I created yesterday! If you know me, you know I absolutely adore muted colors (I call them "dirty" colors), and being America's birthday (almost!), this seemed like an appropriate theme!

If you see this before 1:18pm on Saturday, July3rd, and could click'n'comment, that would be awesome! You need to be registered on Etsy and logged in to Etsy for your votes to count. After 1:18pm on July 3rd, this Treasury will disappear, so hurry!

Sacramento's Very Own "Etsy Craft Party"

Etsy's birthday is coming up, and they want US to throw the party!!!

Please join us at 6pm on June 18, 2010 for Etsy's 5th birthday party! We'll be meeting at McKinley Park in Sacramento. We won't have a reservation because to do that means someone has to be at the park at 11am and remain there until the event starts at 6pm! One member of the team did offer to do this, but so far we have less than 50 RSVPs -- which is the magic number, after which a reservation is required.

We'll be having a potluck, so if you're attending our Craft Party, please bring some food to share -- enough to feed 6 to 8 people is probably adequate, since everyone won't want to have a serving of every food item (I hope!). The Sac Etsy team will furnish paper plates, forks, napkins and bottled water and/or soda. You can BYOB as long as it's not alcohol (no booze allowed in city parks, sorry!). If you have a folding chair (or two) or a blanket, you're welcome to bring that. Without a park reservation, we may or may not be able to score a picnic table! It would be nice to at least have a table or two from which to serve the food! I have an EZ-up canopy, so if I can get a couple of strong folks to help me put it up (and take it down), we can use that, if folks want to.

Please bring something for a crafty show & tell! This can be your current project or something you've already made (or ???). We're also going to try to work some "Make It & Take It" demos into the evening, so if you have a technique you can teach in 15 minutes or so, bring some supplies to share with your "students" and we'll try to give you some time! We have one lesson planned already -- a couple of our team members will bring yarn and knitting needles and/or crochet hooks and teach the basics of these crafts. The goal is to create enough "granny squares" to make a small afghan, which we will then either raffle off (probably to build up the Team treasury!) or we may decide to donate it to a worthy cause.
 
Because it's their birthday, Etsy is going to send presents to the 50 parties with the most RSVP's, so if you'd be so kind as to RSVP for the Sacramento "Craft Party" that will help us reach our goal of being one of the top 50 parties!

We hope you'll join us on June 18, 2010 ... see you then!

Cash for Appliances Rebate Program

There's a new rebate program funded by ARRA that starts today! As with the "Cash for Clunkers" program last Fall, if you want to get in on this, you should act quickly!

Here's the web site: http://www.cash4appliances.org

The Cash For Appliances rebate period starts April 22, 2010, and lasts until May 23, 2010. Rebates are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Only refrigerators, clothes washers and room air conditioners are eligible. The rebate amounts are:

• Eligible Refrigerators - $200
• Eligible Clothes Washers - $100
• Eligible Room Air Conditioners - up to $50

Other appliance rebates may be available from your utility company, appliance retailer, or other entity, so be sure to check on this and "stack" your rebates just like coupons!

Selling on Consignment

A CCCOE member had asked about consignment to an out-of-state shop. I posted the following thoughts in reply to her question, and thought I would share them here too.

I have had problems several times over the years when consigning to an out-of-state shop. Personally, I wouldn't do it. Period.

Consignment is a great deal for the shop owner because they don't have to put out any of their money in order to get your product. Unfortunately, this may also mean that they don't have any interest in promoting it in the shop. If they sell a mixture of consigned items and items which they have purchased outright (wholesale), their energy will most likely be focused on selling the items in which they have an investment.

However, if you're determined to consider consignment, here are some thoughts ... in no particular order.

The artist who posed the question indicated that the shop wanted the items for one year. I suggested that she ask why they only want your items for one year. If the same items are sitting in a shop after one year, chances are they will have been relegated to the back of the shop (storeroom) long before that time.

If the time comes that your items need to be returned to you (after the one year or whenever), who will pay the shipping cost? Will they be packed securely to withstand the shipping process?

Ask how long they have been in business. If they've been in business less than a year, think twice about consigning to them. If they only do consignment, and don't purchase any of their inventory outright, it would be preferable if they've been in business 2 or 3 years. Consignments shops are super-easy to start since there's little investment beyond the rent and utilities; unfortunately this also means they tend to come and go very quickly!

Ask if they have a web site and check it out -- does it look professional or amateurish? Would you trust a web site that looked like that? Would you trust a shop that has a web site that looks like that? If they don't have a web site, ask them why not. EVERY business should have a web site these days, even if it's purely informational and not set up for online sales. Since you can't visit the shop in person (or if it would be difficult to do so), you need to have a feel for the shop.

Make sure the shop or boutique is the type of place you would want to see your product in, i.e., is it also a hardware store or a baby boutique? If you create art which appeals to this clientele, then GREAT!! But if you don't why would you want to show your wares in this type of shop? Over the years, I've received inquiries from some very interesting places (including car washes) that have absolutely nothing to do with the type of work I create.

Do they get an adequate amount of traffic? This may be hard to judge long-distance. If they're in a mall or a busy pedestrian area (i.e., 4th Street in Berkeley, shown in the picture above), they'll get plenty of traffic. If they're in a rural area, maybe not so much!

Ask what percentage of commission they want. If it's 40% (which is fairly common these days), you'd do better off wholesaling, even if you had to give them 50% off to do so -- at least you'd have your money and wouldn't be worrying about whether or not you'd ever see your product again (or payment for it).

Ask if they have a contract stating their terms. If they don't have one, could you write one up and would they be willing to sign it? You need to have something in writing, signed and dated by both parties of course,
regardless of which one of you writes it up.

Be sure you know how often you will get paid, and be prepared to hold them to it. If they can't pay you for your sold items at least once a month, there's likely something wrong (i.e., if they only want to pay quarterly, they're probably hoping you'll forget about them before three months have passed).

Don't consign more than you can afford to lose, should it disappear forever w/o compensation; everyone has their own threshold here, whether that's a dozen pieces or $1,000 worth of product.

Hope these thoughts help ... good luck!

This is Getting Exciting!

Last week I perused the housewares at the mega store we all love to hate in Roseville. When I can afford to shop at better stores, I plan to do so ... but in the meantime it's often where I shop. I found several things I'll be going back to purchase as soon as I get into my new digs!

Yesterday I was at the same store in Orangevale and did make a few purchases, including a shower caddy in a brushed nickel finish and a seagrass basket for which I can already think of half a dozen uses!

I also happened to notice shelves similar to this one, and I plan to get them to make more efficient use of the hallway storage closet! I do think I will take a peek at the local restaurant supply stores (with a ton of restaurants in this city, there are more than a few restaurant suppliers!), just to see how their prices compare. The shelving unit in the store had 4 shelves; I believe they were 14" deep and 36" wide, and it's priced at just $40 which seemed pretty good!

This morning, I went to a couple of antiquey/shabby street fairs. Didn't find much, however one booth where I ALWAYS buy something came through for me yet again! They had 24 yards of a vintage meshy, most likely cotton, curtain fabric for just $5 -- for the whole bundle!!! The fabric is just 36" wide so I know it's vintage, and all I'm going to have to do is hem them and make a pocket for a rod at the top! I'm pretty sure this is the same fabric the curtains were made out of when I was growing up ... the same ones that my first kitten would climb up and then fall off of, scaring the heck out of me! Now to find some pretty curtain rods ... Pottery Barn? Restoration Hardware? Well, something along those lines but hopefully more in my budget!

Looking for a New Home!

After 4 years in my current apartment, I'm ready for a change. Heck, I've been ready for at least half the time I lived here! The main reason I want to move is because there is basically NO storage space! I have ONE closet -- a small walk-in in the bedroom. In my previous apartment, there was a pantry type closet in the hallway (5 or 6 very deep shelves), a built-in linen cupboard in the bathroom (equally as deep), and a "sliding door closet" in the bedroom with a ton of storage space on the shelf above the clothes rod. Then I move here ...

 My move to this complex wasn't entirely by choice, but that's another story ...

I have long thought these apartments would be great ...

... mainly because they have 4 closets! There's a coat closet near the front door, a huge pantry in the kitchen, a "sliding door closet" in the dining area, and a decent-sized walk-in closet in the bedroom. There's also a funky "linen closet" which is a couple of shelves with doors built into the wall. This complex isn't exactly an easy commute to where I'm working now, but I thought I could make it work. I was also delighted to learn that I could rent a 2 bedroom apartment for $40 less per month than I'm currently paying for my wee 1 bedroom apartment!

However, the more I thought about it, I've managed to talk myself out of moving here. Sometimes it's the "silly" little things that do that, such as the bathroom sink in the bedroom in the 2 bedroom apartments. WTF? The toilet and tub are in a room by themselves and there's a sink on each side of that space. This made the master bedroom feel like a motel room ... and a cheap one at that ... not to mention the bad feng shui! So as long as I'm in search of a 2 bedroom apartment, this isn't the place for me. By the way, the 1 bedroom apartments are just fine and completely "normal" in the bathroom department!

A week ago, a friend and I were driving around looking at some apartments I'd found online the day before. Being Easter, of course the apartment complex offices weren't open. I went back to this one ...

with another friend on Saturday. The office was open this time and I was able to view their "model" apartment. I'm really digging this place!! It's centrally located, convenient to where I'm working, as well as Midtown, downtown, shopping, a gazillion restaurants, etc. The model I was shown was the 2br/2 bath style, and I'm wanting to rent the 2br/1 bath; I just don't need that second bathroom! The leasing agent told me they will have one of these available for rent the first of May. I've paid a $200 "holding deposit" which will be applied to my first month's rent and yes, I passed the background check with flying colors! Pamela (who shares her last name with a well-known actress) has assured me that she/they will do "whatever it takes" to make me happy in my new home. Trusting strangers (and salespeople at that!) is a bit challenging, but I'm giving it my best shot this time! Pamela did show me another 2br/1bath apartment so I've seen the layout of the apartment style I'll be renting. The only difference I'm possibly envisioning is if it were a mirror image; most apartments around here are "back to back" meaning the bedrooms are next to each other (hope my new neighbors are the quiet type!). Pamela said that the only thing she thought might be different would be if I already had a white ceiling fan in the dining area, and she has offered to provide one if it turns out my apartment still has the brown wood-grain fan. The kitchen cabinets are white, so a white fan would coordinate better with them!

I went back yesterday to scope out the actual building/apartment that was mentioned on Saturday and it seems like a decent location. It's away from the pool, laundry room, playground, etc. so it should be relatively quiet. I almost knocked on the door to see if the current tenant would let me take a peek, but decided against that because even if they would let me in, I'm thinking I wouldn't feel too comfortable walking into a stranger's home ... nor would I be likely to let someone enter my home under the same circumstances! I'm rather disappointed that I haven't yet been able to view the actual apartment. They say that's because the current tenant is still living there, however I know (from experience) that management only needs to give 24 hours notice before entering an apartment for pretty much any reason.

Craftastic Sale - this Saturday 3/27/10 - Orangevale, CA

Please join us for the Craftastic Sale this Saturday, March 27, in Orangevale, CA. Orangevale is a suburb of Sacramento. Detailed driving directions are at the bottom of this post!

Date: Saturday March 27th
Sale Times: 9am til 2 pm
Address: 5912 Beech Ave. in Orangevale, CA (near Hazel and Greenback)
For more info, contact: OddArtist

There will be nearly a dozen Sacramento artists and crafters in attendance, from both the SacEtsy and SactoMetro teams! While some of us have sold at the same craft fair before, this will be the first time so many of us will be selling together at once.

Please help us promote this event by FB'ing it, blogging, and Tweeting. Please Tweet the following:

#SacEtsy Craftastic Sale in Orangevale, CA. 9am-2pm March 27th featuring some awesome products. http://sac-etsy.blogspot.com for more info

Please stop by and say hello to the following members of the Sac Etsy team:

prairieprimitives
BKD Signature
mchristo
Oh My Posh
Bailoutabarista
oddartist

and also the following members of the Sacto Metro team:

mrstalbott
maleaab
DazzlingDogz
rockknitmomme

Your support of our teams is much appreciated! We hope to see you there!

DIRECTIONS:

From Hwy 50, go north on Hazel past Madison and make a left at the light on Pershing. When you get to Beech, turn right.

From Folsom, go down Greenback to the first light past Hazel and turn left onto Beech.

From Hwy 80, take the Greenback exit going east until you have passed Illinois. Turn right at Beech (there's a stop light at that intersection).

The house has a tall cedar out front along the road near the top of the hill, a large deep concrete driveway and a black mailbox with grapes painted on it. There will be signs out early, probably at the corner of Greenback and Hazel, among other places!

A New Kind of Status Symbol ...

"Handcrafted products produced by individual artisans could be a new kind of status symbol, and that bodes well for retailers that sell handmade products. According to OPEN Book: Trends from American Express Open Small Business, luxury's new form consists of products and services based on "authenticity and exclusivity."

"In addition to the handmade nature of the product, the story behind the item is just as important. So if you're selling, say, handcrafted quilts, you emphasize not only the beauty of the quilt, but also the story of the person who made it, the materials used to produce it, the significance of its design and other elements.

"The new luxury consumer appreciates the time and effort that goes into the manufacture of such products," says the publication. Small businesses who sell handcrafted products are in a good position to provide their customers with their products' story and, the publication adds, such businesses "will find that promoting great craftsmanship can pay dividends."

(Published in Country Sampler's "Country Business," February 2010)

My dear artist friends, it looks like our time may have come!

PayPal's Micropayments

If you process a large number of small transactions, you may be interested to learn about PayPal's micropayment processing. This seems to be one of the biggest PayPal secrets unearthed to date! PayPal introduced micropayments in August, 2005, although this feature wasn't available worldwide until late in 2008. The rate for US to US micropayments is 5% + $.05 per transaction; fees for cross-border payments are available in a link on this page.

The regular US to US processing fee charged by PayPal is 2.9% + $.30 per transaction, which means that payments below $12.00 will be less expensive to process with the micropayment plan. The only "gotcha" is that you'll need to set up a separate PayPal account in order to receive micropayments. This is because each PayPal account is associated with one processing rate.

According to a recent article in Business Week, PayPal may be considering allowing merchants to accumulate micropayments until they reach a certain amount and then release the funds to the merchant, charging just a single processing fee!  

You can use this link to sign up for an account to accept PayPal micropayments.

New IRS Rules to Take Effect in 2011

Starting next year, the IRS will require payment processors (including PayPal) to report how much money each user has received through their service. Many of us will probably be exempt from this since it only applies to sellers who sell more than $20,000/year AND who have 200 or more transactions.

The time is also coming when we will have to provide our Social Security Number (or employer ID # in lieu of a SSN) to whatever payment processing companies we're registered with. If we fail to do this, the processors will have to do backup withholding (this is usually a rate of 20%) starting in 2012.

More info here:
http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y210/m03/abu0258/s03

The Doll on my Business Cards

After much delay, I am delighted to announce that I have made a few more of the clothespin doll which is featured on my logo & business cards, etc.!!!

The first of these dolls is currently listed on eBay! The original doll didn't have a face, however after much prodding from a friend (you know who you are!), I have given this girl a lightly penciled face. If you squint just right, you can see Hannah's face in the photo below ...

I am delighted to announce that Hannah received a bid soon after she was listed! As of now, she is at a very reasonable $34.50. This auction will end on Sunday, February 28th. I hope you'll consider adopting Hannah into your family!