We just went out for ONE garage sale, honestly!

...And came back 2 hours later, 5 sales later, the car full. Jeez, we thought it was late in the morning to be sale-ing, but I guess the weather (coolish and overcast) was on our side; and most of the shoppers MUST be at the mall.

I was getting a wee bit panicked with 2 shows coming up quickly in January and so much of our inventory tied up in the retail store. We really stopped doing any kind of serious buying months ago and have been working on trying to sell our existing inventory, but since one of the shows is the second Sunshine City show, the sister show of the one we did in October, I had that deer-in-the-headlights feeling that we'd better not have the same old, er, old things to bring. So we found some new old things today.

A glass topped bamboo cocktail table. A 1970's era framed abstract floral needlepoint in the colors of the age, orange, green, and gold. A Penguin round ice bucket (I love these!!) - every time we find one of these, we flip it fairly quickly. It needs a bit of TLC that my newly-tended to elbow can now give. Two cute vintage mini Santa mugs from Japan, very timely. A 1948 Zenith radio in a beautiful Bakelite case, a Tone Register model. The cord looks like it would set a house on fire nicely. A very pretty set of Alessi salt and pepper shakers from Italy - stylish and they have that instant vintage look about them. And a green glass sugar bowl of a pleasing shape. Oh, and what we went out to shop for - some assorted Wedgwood Queensware dishes in cream-on-cream.

I can relax now. Ahhhh.

Antiques are Green!!

Say it again. Repeat. And again. It's true! This year, National Antiques Week was promoted and celebrated in Great Britain during the week of November 23 - 30, 2009. This week long event with the theme Antiques are Green came at a pivotal time for the antiques trade when public and media interest is heightened by campaigns such as "Antiques Are Green" spearheaded by Nigel Worboys and the petition on "Antiques" designed to persuade the British government to provide more support to the Fine Arts and Antiques Industry.

Why hasn't this caught on here in the land of consumerism and mass consumption? Oops, wrong question. Why aren't more people educated to the high value of recycling housewares, decorative articles, and furniture that are widely available in the antiques and collectibles market?

Let's take a look at some facts about the purchasing of antiques as recycling:

Purchasing antiques antiques results in minimal greenhouse gases; no rainforests are depleted, and no additional minerals are extracted from the earth. Their carbon footprint has long been eradicated.

When looking at purchasing antique furniture, look for pieces that are solidly built and made to last - in stark contrast to the made to items that eventually self destruct, but provide instant gratification that are manufactured for big box stores today. Also, it's helpful to try to buy local - look for styles that are native to your region, rather than ones that might have been transported at great cost over long distances to end up in the antiques store.

With a little bit of effort, we can each do our part to encourage our customers to appreciate the impact that they can have on the earth by recognizing the recycling process in purchasing antiques and collectibles over newly manufactured products.

It's mighty quiet

The eCrater store has been silent since September. I've been adding items dutifully, posting about them on the member forum, and blogging here. Still (gritting teeth) have not paid for any advertising anywhere. Search after search for collector forums have turned up few, if any results, for me to post about our offerings. The odd hit here and there has new rules for those wanting to post about selling collectibles. No surprise, really, since the competition is so very fierce. But the few collectible forums that exist now exact a payment - nominal, but still - for those who want to post about their e-stores. As long as we're paying rent for booth space at Patty & Friends here in St. Petersburg; that is, paying out money there, I'm not keen about paying out more money on the internet to attract sales for the eCrater effort. One money pit at a time, as it were. This year it's the retail booth space. Next year maybe I'll try a marketing budget for e-retail.

The saving grace is, of course, that the eCrater store is not costing us any money. It's just sitting there. And sitting there.

I could be writing more Squidoo Lenses - but I'm still rather at a loss about best to utilize this tool. I know that it's a directional, traffic building internet tool; but I'm at a loss at how to fill the content to my satisfaction. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, or what a Squidoo even is, just try Googling it, and see if it makes any more sense than I can explain it here!! To me, it seems like more of an informational tool, rather than something that sends buying traffic to the store.

In the meantime, then, I've taken up with some limited jewelry making designs to use the odd, single earrings and broken necklace and bracelet bits that surface from our purchasing. Lately I have been dealing with a strained elbow injury, and so I found that a project using magazine pages actually used my non-dominant hand, allowing the injured arm to continue to rest.

The photo is of my first ever necklace. I am pleased with the colors, and the use of a single earring.

Trying to Hold our Own

What kind of a title for a blog post is THAT? Oh, it's about diversity, not putting all of our eggs in one business basket, and trying several different approaches to see what works best for us. We think we have whole heartedly determined that indoor shows - even the Coliseum in St. Petersburg - are not ever going to be the best return for the money for the likes of us Time Travelers. They are expensive to sign up with; on the order of three and four times the cost of an outdoor show. Yes, we get the shelter and comfort from the elements; but it's a nailbiter to get to that break-even point on the cost of the show, and we've yet, after three years of attempts, to find the magical mix of finding what it is that people want to spend money on at our booth. If anything, the detailed records that we have been keeping have been showing that average sales are tending to go down, requiring higher and higher volumes. It's very difficult.

The website at the moment is in a dormant state. There has been a lot of chatter on the support forum about how the Google feeds have changed lately, not in our favor as independent vendors, but towards the big-box (and no-box) stores, like Target, Amazon, and other retailers with more clout. That would mean advertising dollars. Yes, I admit I'm in the doldrums on that front, what with the intense work that the eCrater site involves; but I'm still faithfully adding items on a fairly regular basis, as just doing that helps to keep the store in a more prominent position in the Google feed. (Of course, I have yet to spend a single penny on AdWords or any other type of advertising!! Note to self: get to work on another Squidoo lens, or two, or four.... mutter, mutter, mutter.)

Which brings me to the antique shop we have booth space in. I've linked to it a couple of times in the past - Patty & Friends. Bob and I are truly enjoying the sense of community that exists by going in to the store once a week or more, checking on our two booth spaces, sprucing things up; catching up on dealers' news, and of course looking at everyone else's booths. Sometimes I swear we are all supporting one another, buying each other's wares. (Hmm.) We secured a prime spot in the store when the season was slow, counting on being in the right place when business started to pick up again. That is proving to have been a good decision. The secondary space in the store has been less productive, but we are letting the entire shop have a full year of experience before we make any further moves.

The next outdoor show we have booked is not until January 2nd, 2010!!! There have been other shows around but this thing called Life gets in the way of participating in them all. Bob's Other Job has its demands too, and darn it if that position isn't the one that pays ALL the bills and keeps us with a roof over our head. So - the shows we book are the ones that we're able to do.

I think the overall tone of this post is not so happy and optimistic; I hope, though, that it comes across as realistic. We look for the business opportunities as best we can. We try not to be foolish. We're cautious but we're still trying new things (this year it's the antique store space). For myself, this mirrors how I'm feeling about the nation's economic picture at the moment. We aren't backing down. We aren't retreating. We aren't planning on "making a killing" either. We are hoping, instead, to hold our own.

The photo is of a B & C Limoges blank of a teapot form, dating between 1900 and 1907. These are usually seen hand painted with detailed floral designs and gilt edging; yet sometimes the blank forms were left unpainted for the sheer beauty of the shape itself.

A special addition to the website store

I'm very happy to add this beautiful, 1930's era Wedgwood Blue Dip tea set, in the St. Louis shape, to the Time Travelers store at eCrater. Items such as this come up rarely at auctions such as Bonhams and Sothebys, and we're thrilled to have found the set and have it on offer. It's in perfect shape and was obviously in the care of a loving collector before we came across it.

This link takes you directly to the item in the store.

Still in the process of transferring files from the eMac to the new laptop. Yesterday spent a LONG time moving all the photographs of items in the inventory over; important, because I still want links to work on tools like Squidoo and this blog, so I need the source files in the right places.

I rediscovered another resource for my Wedgwood knowledge in the course of going through my old bookmarks, too; and that's a comprehensive listing of the color names and visual representations of the Jasperware that Wedgwood has ever issued - what a wonderful tool. It's the Wedgwood Jasper Color and Date Guide, and there's the link to it.

Whew! What a lot of work for a morning - time for a cuppa tea :-)

Laptop is Working for Adding Items to Store

So maybe I'm the only person excited about this - but I'm up and running with my new laptop computer and am starting to add items to the eCrater store with this new tool. First on was a piece of Bunnykins tableware, a Don mug of marching bunnies going to camp.

It was also my first experience uploading photographs from my camera to the laptop, which went well. Putting the photos into a folder was the most challenging part (I kept confusing "tags" with "folders", duh).

Nice cup.

'Tiquing and Bargain Hunting In Pittsburgh, PA

Last week we visited family outside of Pittsburgh (in Ambridge, PA) and got to see riotous fall colors, experience chilly weather and then Florida-like temperatures. In addition to seeing the city itself, we saw Falling Water (and drooled at the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright), ate some strange salads and sandwichs, and SHOPPED.

We decided to concentrate primarily at the bottom of the food chain, and aimed for thrift stores. This would seem to be a booming retail sector throughout the nation as people look for the best ways to stretch their dollars, promote recycling, and in many cases make charitable donations to worthy causes. There were stores we stopped at where we struggled to find a parking spot, so successful this retail model has become.

I had sworn to myself that this was not going to be a hunting and shopping trip. We have so many treasures already! I even packed a relatively small bag so I wouldn't be tempted to tuck those very items in amongst my belongings. Well, that plan went out the window within 24 hours of our arrival in the area. Bob started out with an internet search of the area for thrift stores - rated by consumers, no less - plugged the addresses into the GPS dohickey, and we were off. Sigh. Irrepressible is the word. Who am I but to go with the flow (or stay at home and watch the well fed squirrels rushing like mad with their nuts in the backyard)? So I flowed. It was easy.

So we found bits and pieces - jewelry, Wedgwood, a teacup, some kitsch (our favorite). It did require the borrowing of a duffel bag in order to get everything back home. And I should know better than to think that a trip to a new place won't include a hunt for us. And yes, I enjoyed it as much as Bob did; well, I think my fun center gets filled quicker than his. I do get burned out, and I'm the one to ask for the hunt to end. I didn't meet any resistance, though.

A Transition

I'm writing this post on our new laptop. Now begins the joyful process of transferring our files, photos, music (it feels like our entire life, sometimes) from our eMac, way past its "best by" date, to this machine of the Evil Empire. Thank you, HP. So far, so good. I hope that I'm back to adding some of the treasures into the eCrater store soon; especially as there are not as many shows for us to participate in so far this season.