Jewelry Lust

OK I am beside myself! I log off for a few and get back on and how about ANOTHER pair of my earrings were featured on a different hand picked list! What in the world! Now I haven't had any sales from Bonanzle but I have been featured more than I ever have on any other venue! So exciting! Thank you Crystalhaze for featuring my earrings in your hand picked list!

Bonanzle Featured Earrings!

I am loving all the exposure I am getting on the two new venues I joined thanks to all the research provided by Roseworksjewelry and Tiltcreations!

I logged on tonight and Miss Jones Booth had me featured on her handpicked Limes list! So exciting!

Valentine Daydream - Blog Carnival

Tell us about your sweetie or dream date. What do you like to do for Valentine's Day?

I have not seriously dated since my divorce in 2000 so I almost just wrote about a tutorial or directions but I thought hey I can dream! I can say what my dream date would be if I had a hubby (yes if I am going to dream about it – he might as well be my hubby not boyfriend)! Fact is I am a simple gal! I don’t need extravagance to encourage me or make me feel special Now mind you I do not put a lot of stock in Valentine’s day itself but since the symbolism of the day is what it is… I I think my Valentine celebration will start the 1st of February(sheepish grin). A rose a day with each rose being a different color and representing some symbolism of what I mean to him. He can write me a love note (even on scrap paper) with each rose and place them wherever his imagination tell him to. Perhaps I wil be getting in my car to go to work and there taped to my steering wheel is a love note and a rose. On Valentines day, he can cook me a romantic dinner..yes right at home, we talk and laugh and all that jazz and we ends the romantic dinner with sharing why we are more in love with each other today then when we first met!

It’s my daydream so leave me alone! LOL!

CROBBIES is AWESOME - TWO more sales! WOOT!

Can you say TWO-PEAT? WOOT! WOOT! Being Crobbies featured front page Seller has incredible perks! I got TWO more sales yesterday so that makes 4 sales on Crobbies in my three weeks of being on the venue!! I am loving it!

My FIRST Crobbies Sale - So Excited

OMG! I am so excited! After just TWO weeks of being on Crobbies! I have had not only been the featured Seller on the front page but just got my first sale and sold TWO items! I am so excited!

Featured Bonanzle Seller - Sofyblu2

Where did you sell before you started selling on Bonanzle? How did you find out about Bonanzle?

Bonanzle seller Sofyblu2 was a Power Seller on Ebay for some years. As the “handwriting” showed on the wall in the last 1 1/2 yrs they started looking around at alternatives. None of them grabbed them in the least. Then they saw Bonanzle mentioned in an Auctiva article sometime around June/July. On Aug 27th , Sofyblu2 opened their Bonanzle booth #1627!

What has your experience on Bonanzle been like?

The ride from the beginning was fun and nutz at times always something new changing or being tweaked. When we were “small” the “quarrels” LOL then were the best ways and means to promote Bonanzle. Thru September/October it was a push to get new sellers. October/November it was the push to get new customers. The oldies here, we would scan anything and everything looking for new places to drop the Bonanzle name. Then as a means (I believe) of not overly repeating ourselves the BAC was formed to hit the dirt with a new assignment each week to promote the site.

How many sales has Sofyblu2 made on Bonanzle?

Since Aug. we have sold 50 items. Now many of the “high” sellers seem to have less expensive items therefore their turnover is much faster. Our stuff is on the higher end but not the highest LOL Probably 3/4’s of those sales were to “outsiders” and they were for multiple items, many in the hundreds of dollars. Currently we are a bit stalled as sofyblu2 desperately needs more inventory added but we are trying to finish up sofy’s choice.




We are all looking for good marketing advice. What’s the best tip or trick you can share with us?

The best advice…mmmm.. google feed and google checkout. They help to boost your ranking in the google pages as well as the “master list” of places to promote.

Melissa's Got Blog Candy!

My Etsybloggers team member Storybeader shared this contest so I am joining in! Melissa has some Blog Candy! Check it out HERE

Featured Seller "Stuff" from Bonanzle

Stuff is an amazingly encouraging seller on Bonanzle. She befriended me the moment I opened my Unique Commodities booth on Bonanzle!

Stuff has been selling mostly vintage costume jewelry (along with other small antiques and collectibles) for over 20 years. Before her trek to Bonanzle, Stuff was a Power Seller on Ebay. As things started getting really crazy in 08 and sales on Ebay dropped tremendously discussions ensued of alternate selling options.

Amazon, eCrater, BluJay, Bonanzle and many others were all discussed. Amazon was the alternate of choice for those sellers with new items but for unique items without product IDs it was not the best fit. Stuff gave eCrater and BluJay a run but the traffic and sales there did not seem to be happening (at least not at the moment).

Then, someone mentioned that Bonanzle was taking off, they were seeing sales there, that the uploads to Google were easy to set up because of the almost idiot-proof instructions provided. Well, that was not rocket science so Stuff figured it was a no-brainer and jumpstarted her Bonanzle Booth on December 27, 2008.

Stuff said she was registered, had her personal info input, Google feed set up and several items listed in less than 30 minutes! And that was doing the listings one at a time.

After seeing that she then went to the boards and asked a question or two, read the posts there and saw how much fun everyone was having. Suddenly, her attitude was changed completely. She was no longer feeling the stress of being fearful each time a question was asked, each time someone contacted her just to say hello. It was a different atmosphere completely. The fun of selling on line was back – with a vengeance!

STUFF’S TIP FOR YOU IN HER OWN WORDS:

The best trick that I’ve learned about marketing in general during the time that I’ve been selling both at antique and collectibles markets and online is to buy fewer, more desirable and higher quality items for resale. If you only have $20.00 to spend, one $20.00 item is probably going to be more apt to sell more quickly for a higher return than 20 $1.00 items will.

More importantly, you only have to inventory, photograph, list, sell and package one item. Time is money!

Let me reiterate that it has always been my experience that the higher dollar items are actually easier to sell than the low dollar, perhaps less desirable items when it comes to antiques, collectibles and jewelry. This may not be the case for all areas of antiques and collectibles but in my area it has been very true.

For example: There are a lot more people looking for a wide, rare colors of heavily carved, Bow-Tie or Random dot Bakelite bangle bracelets than there are those looking for a $24.00 spacer.

So, rather than buying 20 spacers for $10.00 each, if I spend $200.00 on a hard-to-find Bakelite bracelet, the return on that investment is going to be far better and most likely, a whole lot faster. Same thing with hard-to-find designers. Chanel, Dior, older, Patented design Trifari, Phrygian cap mark Boucher and rare Reja items are almost always going to sell faster for a high price than a very common piece of Coro, Judy Lee or unsigned rhinestone piece or set priced at under $25.00.

Jan. 27th was Stuff’s one month anniversary on Bonanzle and she has already sold 8 items through 7 transactions here. There is absolutely no doubt in her mind that this is THE RIGHT PLACE TO BE for small individual sellers of unique items.

Crobbies Featured Seller - Front Page News

WOW! So I get this email in my yahoo inbox! I am Crobbies front page featured seller! First time ever on anyone's front page!

FEATURED SELLER ON CROBBIES FRONT PAGE!

Wordless Wednesday

Zionna doing much better

I shared with you guys a couple of weeks ago that my grand baby Zionna had Pneumonia and a double ear infection! Well with her Nebulizer treatments and antibiotics, she is well on her way to a full recovery. She still has the double ear infection, partly because she had an allergic reaction to the Amoxicillan they had her on. They have since given her a new antibiotic and she is much better. She is a trooper and whenever she gets her breathing treatments, she sits quietly and does really well!

And they closed school FOR THIS?!?!?

Snow in Columbia, SC! What a joke!

Word of God Speak - Mercy Me

This song was Sung during our Worship service today and it greatly touched my spirit so thought I would share!


Here are the words in case you want to sing along!

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay
The last thing I need is to be heard
But to hear what You would say

[CHORUS]
Word of God speak
Would You pour down like rain
Washing my eyes to see
Your majesty
To be still and know
That You're in this place
Please let me stay and rest
In Your holiness
Word of God speak

I'm finding myself in the midst of You
Beyond the music, beyond the noise
All that I need is to be with You
And in the quiet hear Your voice

[REPEAT CHORUS 2x]

I'm finding myself at a loss for words
And the funny thing is it's okay

OOPS I did it again, I think I'm in love

with Bonanzle because by golly I am featured again on one of the hand picked list by none other than STUFF! YES that is REALLY her booth name! LOL

One World One Heart (OWOH) Giveaway!

Well I just couldn’t be left out so I am joining in to do the One World One Heart (OWOH) Giveaway! After all who wouldn’t want to make new friends around the world!

As shared by Lisa, the incredible orchestrator of this world wide connection tool, The whole idea behind doing this and trying to get as many as possible to join in, was and is to meet new and wonderful people. Bloggers come from all walks of life, all socioeconomic backgrounds, all areas of the world, female, male......some are artists exclusively, some dabble, some are professionals in various areas, some are stay at home parents, some are teachers, some are very young and some are up in years. The common denominator in blogging is that we all have stories to tell....be it through visual means or life stories or the day-to-day or art work or handwork of varying kinds or poetry and journaling. We can be inspired or inspire others by finding a blog and taking the time to read/see someones story. Often times a spark happens....this palpable spark of recognition through kindred understanding and shared passions in life. It is in those times when we take a moment to comment and comment again.......when those comments are reciprocated a discovery is made that we share commonalities which connect us sight unseen. Sometimes we may live on separate continents or at either end of the same country or even discover you hail from the same general area. By paying attention, by connecting with others, we are creating a circle of amazing individuals who can literally enhance our lives and we can enhance theirs.

Below are my 3 free gifts that I will ship anywhere in the world! To have a chance to win, you only need to have an active blog and leave a comment on my blog before midnight EST on February 11^th! I will use Random.org Generator to determine the three winners! The winners names will be announced on February 12th and I will contact each winner to let you know you've won. So please be sure I have a way to link back/contact you. So lets get to commenting and all the best to you!

Wire Wrapped Jasper Bead Hoop Earrings

Funky and Eclectic Wire Wrapped Earrings

Green Heart Sterling Silver Earrings

I look forward to getting to know all of you!

TWO items featured On the Front Page of Crobbies too - YIPPEE!

I didn't even realize that along with Stormy Designs, TWO of my items are featured on the front page of Crobbies! WOW! My lime green and bead necklace and Pewter Pearl Earrings! So exciting to be in the forefront of a new and exciting site!

Featured on one of Bonanzle's Hand Picked List

Thanks so much to STUFF on Bonanzle for Featuring me in their Hand Picked Listing

Fill up your jewelry box: RED!

Featured Etsyblogger of the month - RoseworksJewelry

I have no clue why I am so late getting this done! RoseworksJewelry aka Ruthie is one of my absolute FAVORITE Etsybloggers team members!

Hemp Bracelet (one of her newest styles)

I don’t know if I adore her because of how much she is constantly helping her team mates, posting detailed comments on EVERY Single blog posts, sharing an encouraging word, educating and training all of us through her blogs -Roseworks Blog, and Ajedi's Musings… or just her all around loving and giving spirit! Indeed she is a team mate to set your goals and visions to imitate! I love her to pieces!

Purple Snake Bracelet

To top it all off she is one of the most talented Artisians and talk show hosts I know!
She has an phenomenal eclectic mix of jewelry items in her RoseworksJewelry shop and if that was not enough, Ruthie and her mom Patty partner in a new Etsy shop Kindred Spirit Treasures.

I am EXCITED to say I made the FIRST purchase from Ruthie and Patty's Kindred Spirit Shop! See what I purchased! Gorgeous isn't it?!

Purple Cell Phone Charm and its all MINE!

So hats off to you my dear and I hope you get TONS of sales end new followers on Etsy Twitter and wherever else you set your sights~

Donkey Smiles Valentine Candy Blog Give Away

DonkeySmiles is having a blog give away!

THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T TAKE MEN TO THE STORE WITH YOU

THIS IS WHY YOU DON’T TAKE MEN TO THE STORE WITH YOU

After I retired, my wife insisted that I accompany her on
her trips to Target. Unfortunately, like most men, I found
shopping boring and preferred to get in and get out. Equally
unfortunately, my wife is like most women — she loved to
browse.

Yesterday my dear wife received the following letter from
the local Target.

Dear Mrs. Samuel,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing
quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this
behavior and have been forced to ban both of you from the
store. Our complaints against Mr. Samuel are listed below
and are documented by our video surveillance cameras.

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them
in people’s carts when they weren’t looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off
at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor
leading to the women’s restroom..

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an
official voice, ‘Code 3 in Housewares. Get on it right
away.’

5. August 4: Went to the Service Desk and tried to put a
bag of M&M’s on layaway.

6. August 14: Moved a ‘CAUTION – WET FLOOR’ sign to
a carpeted area.

7. August 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and
told other shoppers he’d invite them in if they would
bring pillows and blankets from the bedding department.

8. August 23: When a clerk asked if they could help him he
began crying and screamed, ‘Why can’t you people
just leave me alone?’

9. September 4: Looked right into the security camera and
used it as a mirror while he picked his nose.

10. September 10: While handling guns in the hunting
department, he asked the clerk where the antidepressants
were.

11. October 3: Darted around the store suspiciously while
loudly humming the ‘Mission Impossible’ theme.

12. October 6: In the auto department, he practiced his
‘Madonna look’ by using different sizes of
funnels.

13. October 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people
browsed through, yelled ‘PICK ME! PICK ME!’

14. October 21: When an announcement came over the loud
speaker, he assumed a fetal position and screamed ‘OH
NO! IT’S THOSE VOICES AGAIN!’

And last, but not least.

15. October 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door,
waited awhile, and then yelled very loudly, ‘Hey!
There’s no toilet paper in here.