A Disturbing Abandonment

We live way out in the country. Over the years I have taken in many dogs that people have dumped or abandoned on our road. It's a disturbing trend around here. Yesterday takes the cake though. Someone abandoned a dog and her 8 (yes 8!) puppies. It was so sad. They simply all stayed in the spot they were dumped at probably thinking their owner would be back for them at any time. I was so angry. Now it had become MY problem. There is no way I could leave them for the coyotes and yes that is exactly what would have happened. They would be coyote snacks before morning. Calls were made to humane shelters all over and everyone was full. I have 10 dogs ( yes, most are rescues ) and just no more room or dog food for 9 more. Thankfully, one of my neighbors (1/4 miles away) agreed to take them all in. God Bless you neighbors! I hope they can all find homes.

Please Please do not abandon your pets. It is a cruel and inhumane thing to do. They don't all get lucky like these did and the ones that have come before them.

Almost a new year! I am starting mine with High speed internet. I have had dial up for years and finally got to the point of wanting to throw my computer out the window. My only option out here in the middle of somewhere was to get a satalite installed. Went with WildBlue. They seem ok but of course now I have to pay 60.00 a month compared to 14.00. So far it is worth it! I bet most of you don't even remember dial up!

That is my most exciting news for today and it's probably only exciting to me!

Garagesalearcheologist - Auction Addict - Bonanzle Lover

Garagesalearcheologist and Auction Addict, that's me! I am the one at the garage sale that carefully looks over everything and then goes back through to look again. I have found many obscure treasures and oddities this way. Auctions are of equal passion. I love the thrill of bidding against your opponents and winning that one treasure you just had to have! I love collecting and have had numerous collections over time. When I get tired of one collection I simply sell it off and move to another. I have been selling for years, 10, to be exact on Ebay. I am not real happy with them the past few years, they don't seem to care much about us Mom and Pop type sellers anymore. O.K. they don't care at all. The sense of community is gone. The fees are outrageous. If you get a buyer that is mentally insane, well, there isn't much you can do about that either. So I have moved on.
I need a place to sell my wares and collections. I mean there is only so much space in my life for storage and only so much dust I have time to clean. Treasures gotta go! Bonanzle is the place I have chosen to sell my vintage and antique treasures. They will sit in my booth there and wait for their new owners to find them. While they sit, I will enjoy the close knit Bonanzle community and the easiest listing set up I have ever seen. I will be calm not worrying about how much my listing fees will be. I have a goal to list items everyday!
You might not have heard of Bonanzle yet, but you will, you will.
Click on the picture and it will magically transport you to my booth there.

A Bit of Imperfection is a Good Thing

We, as humans, are constantly striving for perfection of which we will never attain in this life. Primitives strive for that bit of imperfection. They are never quite perfect and that is a good thing! That is part of their charm.

I love making primitives for that reason. I don't have to worry about being perfect. I made some awesome grubby candles this weekend. They are up for sale in my Etsy shop. Grubby candles are great for that early lighting look. My Grubbiest Grunge Dusted candles truly look 100 years old. They are 3rd from the right at top of picture. How cool is that?! Click on the picture and be wisked away back in time to my shop of imperfection.

Prim Grubby Candles

I received my order of new and yummy scents! I made some great picks. My boys asked me to please quit putting scent bottles under their noses! These are the times I wish I had girls! I did get an idea of which scents boys or men would like though. That information will come in handy when I go to make soap!

Today I am going to test some in grubby candles and tarts. When I sell one of my Colonial farmhouse candle holders I also send along the scented grubby candles to go with them. I have had requests to sell the candles seperately. My prim grubby candles are well loved. I am happy because I put a lot of time and effort into perfecting them. In the Primitive world perfect is imperfect!

My first ones came out looking like pan fried sausages! I have come a long way since then!

My Vintage Selling Life at Bonanzle

I love my Colonial farmhouse and Primitive items. Re working and crafting these items makes me feel all warm and fuzzy! I have to tell you though I have always been a vintage and antique seller. I have all this stuff everywhere! Vintage jewelry, old toys, pottery, glassware, collectables, and all sorts of unusual and odd items. I don't want to put any of this in my Etsy or Artfire shops because it will wreck the look I worked so hard to create. I love to hang out with the Vintage sellers in Etsy chat and CarriersCozyCottage turned me on to a website called Bonanzle. I went there and absolutely love it. I listed 22 things already. Listing was a breeze and the site is the most user friendly I have ever come across. A little promoting and I expect to see great sales! I can't wait to have the time to put more items in my booth! Please have a look if you get a minute.

http://www.bonanzle.com/booths/PlowandPony

or click on the picture!

ARTFIRE vs. Etsy Search Pages

I checked out the ARTFIRE search engine today. This being in response to a concern someone brought up in Etsy chat. It goes something like this. Etsy puts your items up in the top 5 search pages by time listed and this makes it so you have to list and relist constantly to get noticed. This generates money for Etsy and cuts deeply into your profits. It does not take long for your items to become buried somewhere below the "who Knows" x amount of search pages. If you do not list and relist, suddenly you see your views and sales fall! The concern about Artfire was this: O.k. So if you do not list on ARTFIRE daily won't your items get buried in 100's of search pages anyway? The answer is NO!!!! I checked this out for myself. Artfire has a different way of searching. They go by lowest price or highest price. You choose. I had my items come up on numerous pages of the first 5 of the word I searched. They came up on just about every page including the 1st page!!! I know people are seeing me! I haven't listed in there in over a week either! I believe they have plans to optimize their search even further but am not sure. Will blog when I find out! This is so much more FAIR! I absolutely love it! Want to find out more about how Etsy is operating? Go to: http://www.etsybitch.blogspot.com and see what everyone is saying about the new way Etsy is having your items NOT get seen!

My Favorite Incense! Best I have Found!

I LOVE these incense sticks by Zombie Sticks. His sticks have the best scent throw I have ever found. You don't even have to light them to have them fill a room with scent. So many scents to choose from too! I have plans to try as many as I can! American made at it's finest!! Great pricing! If you love incense like I do, go here: http://www.Zombie-Sticks.artfire.com or he has his own website at: http://www.incense-stick.com

My EBAY Selling Days

I have been so busy talking about Etsy and Artfire I completely forgot about my Ebay selling! I have some items listed this week that end tomorrow. A link is provided under My Links on the left side of the page. I have been a seller on Ebay since 1997. Long time huh? I have 1678 positive feedbacks. I have many many more than that but repeat buyers don't get counted. I usually list odd items that I find at garage sales, auctions and estate sales. Some of my areas of expertise are pottery, glass and vintage jewelry. These days I just tend to list whatever strikes me as odd that an ebayer might want to buy. Pottery and glass collecters have pretty much collected everything they need for their collections so the price of items isn't what it used to be. Ebay is also not what it used to be. They have high listing fees, the seller can no longer accept checks, they protect the buyer which is good but have really no protections any more for the seller. Yes, there are scams on the seller too! But all in all it is usually a pretty quick way to make some fast money to pay that electric bill. The shops, Etsy and Artfire, take a bit more time. I have NOT listed any of my homemade or re-worked items on there and hoping I never have to. For some reason I feel it cheapens them. I feel my work is quality and I want it to be seen as quality. I like the idea of a more specialized store for my Colonial primitive items. I do notice that I tend to put items I would normally put on Ebay into my Etsy shop, like a few of my finest pieces of vintage jewelry. Here is a picture of an item I have up for bid this week.

I WON A Blog Giveaway At NEST in BLOOM

It could be the winds of change are blowing in a more positive direction. I woke up to 2 good sales in my Etsy store yesterday morning! 2 of my favorite things too! I am going to miss them. 1 is that beautiful Colonial 5 candle candelabra! It was featured in a treasury and really is a beauty. I wanted to use it so very much for my Thanksgiving centerpiece. But I didn't. No borrowing from the shop! Funny how attached I get to my own work!
Then to top off my very productive day, I won a blog raffle at Nest in Bloom! ! This from a person who always grumbles that she "never wins anything!" Winds of change again. Let me tell you that it wasn't just "anything" that I won either. It is the most beautiful,well done,scarflett with vintage pin I have ever seen! I couldn't be more thrilled! Anyone that knows me can attest to my fashion style. 1. I wear a lot of black. Always have and always will. (The scarflett is black) 2. I LOVE vintage jewelry! I sell many pieces of vintage jewelry but you should see the pieces I keep for myself! 3. I recently lost my favorite scarf and have been lamenting it's loss everytime I go out in the cold. . 3 didn't have anything to do with my fashion style but another reason winning this scarflett couldn't be more perfect!
Please go see her beautiful work! You won't be disappointed!
Nest In Bloom is a shop online is run by an artist by the name of Samantha. She makes unique scarves and jewelry. Please check it out by clicking below! You can also click on my blog title!

nestinbloom.com