Sunday, April 26, 2009

Featured Collectible - Vera Neumann

Who doesn't love Vera Neumann? Her bold prints are easy to fall in love with and hard to forget! I was lucky enough to find a couple Vera sheet sets, as well as a couple of Vera placemat sets, and thought, I need to do a Featured Collectible post on Vera!

So, I started poking around, and of course there is already a ton of wonderful sites about both Vera the woman and Vera the brand:

http://fashionsfinest.fuzzylizzie.com/vera.html
http://www.theveracompany.com/history.php
http://www.flickr.com/groups/ladybugvera/pool/
http://www.theveracompany.blogspot.com/

Since I really don't need to re-write what is already written, let's get to the fun part - the stuff! I was pretty amazed to find how many different types of items have Vera prints on them - I knew about the scarves, of course, and also the linens and clothing... but I didn't know there is also dinnerware - Mikasa dinnerware, as a matter of fact!

Could it get any better? I think not!

Ok, let's have a look around... First up are the items I have up at auction this week:

Vintage Vera Blue Flower Placemats Set

Vintage Vera Mikasa Field Flowers Placemats Set

Vintage Vera Rainbow Twin Sheet Set

Vintage Vera Floral Full Sheet Set

The Field Flowers placemat set is what led me to finding out that some Mikasa dinnerware is graced with Vera designs - a quick search on Replacements returns 22 results for Vera Mikasa! Here are a couple of my favorites:

Vera Mikasa Butterfly Dinner Plate

Vera Mikasa Abstract Dinner Plate

Vera Mikasa Bamboo Dinner Plates

Apparently another company call Island Worcester also released some Vera patterns, Replacements only lists a few, and they are just as awesome as the Mikasa ones:

Vera Island Worcester Floral Cup & Saucer Set

Of course scarves, linens, and clothing are most often associated with Vera, there are hundreds of different patterns - it's a collector's paradise!

Vera Hand Rolled Silk Scarf

Set of 4 Vintage Vera Tea Towels

Set of 5 Vintage Vera Horse Napkins

Vintage Vera Butterfly Tunic Top

Vintage Vera Floral Tablecloth

Vintage Nautical Vera Dress

I could go on like this all day... I'll sum it up though, in one word - *swoon*. ;)



SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Too much new on Etsy to fit it into one title!

I am, however, going to try to fit it all into one post - I'm a daredevil like that. ;)

New Sections & New Stuff!

You might remember me mentioning a while back that I had an idea for a 3rd Etsy shop, but I was too overwhelmed with the thought of maintaining it. I thought about it for a couple of weeks and then had one of those Ah-Ha moments - why not just make a new Section, instead of a whole new shop? This of course led me to re-vamping all the sections in my shop (side note - when is Etsy going to let us have more than 10?!?).

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Coffee Shop - I love coffee - any of you who follow me on Twitter or Facebook are well aware of this fact. So, it's no wonder that my 3rd shop idea was one devoted to coffee - mugs, makers, pots, cream and sugar sets, etc. etc. - anything to do with my beloved brew! I added some fun new stuff to it today, in fact:

Vintage Royal Sealy Birds Coffee Mug and Stand Set - Japan

Vintage Ceramic Mid-Century Modern Coffee Pitcher Cream and Sugar Set

Vintage Brown Porcelain Enamel Coffee Caddy Pot Mug Cup Set

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Vintage Kitchen - Kitchenware is one of my true loves, and before I had it lumped in under Housewares. I tend to keep the majority of my dishes and kitchen items in my eBay store, but some things do end up on Etsy, and I wanted them to have their own home...

Vintage 6 Piece Ceramic Canister Set - Birds, Flowers, and Fruit - 1950's

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ephemera Scrapbook - I am totally loving selling ephemera - it's fun, it's easy to list and ship, and when you save something made of paper you REALLY feel like you are saving it - so often old paper ends up in the trash!

The last batch I listed were these amazing 1960's Workplace Safety posters - several of them have sold already, but there are still a bunch left!

THE GOOD GUYS WEAR RESPIRATORS WHEN NEEDED - Vintage 1960s Illustrated Workplace Job Safety Poster

BE SURE IT'S OUT - Vintage 1960s Illustrated Workplace Job Safety Poster

YOUR FUTURE DEPENDS ON YOUR WORKING SAFELY - Vintage 1960s Illustrated Workplace Job Safety Poster

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Curio Cabinet - I created this section for all those little what-nots that tend to end up on a shelf or side table - pottery, figurines, candle holders, etc. etc. - stuff I can't seem to stay away from!

Vintage Shawnee Pottery Lady At The Well Planter Vase

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Jewelry Box - I'm loving selling jewelry too - again it is easy to store, list, and ship, but there is one other reason I am digging it so much - I'm allergic! That means, no wanting to keep things, but having to sell them! It's like a breath of fresh air into my usually torn up, vintage loving soul. I'm so happy to be able to send the fun costume jewelry I find off to someone who can wear and enjoy it...

I've added a few new things lately, with more to come, of course!

Vintage Beau Sterling Silver Screw On Kitty Cat Earrings

Vintage White Plastic Bead Multi Strand Necklace and Clip On Earrings Set

Vintage Tiny Seashell Sea Shell and Rhinestone Necklace

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geesh, I'm wearing myself out here and I've not even gotten through all the rest of the Sections! Ok, let's do them in short order:

The Vintage Library - Books & Magazines
The Vintage Closet - Clothing, Purses, Accessories
The Craft Room - Craft & Sewing Supplies
Home For The Holidays - Holiday Items
Vintage Decorating - Wall Art, Lamps, Etc.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Of course Vintage Goodness Too, my shop "For The Young At Heart" is still open for business... I actually added an Ephemera section to it too, specifically for the adorable Good Manners posters I found - check them out!

A GOOD LITTLE BOY NEVER TALKS BACK - Vintage Childrens Good Manners Instructional Poster - 1957

DON'T BE A SHOW OFF - Vintage Childrens Good Manners Instructional Poster - 1957

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Whew! I told you it was alot, but with that half-assed ending, I did manage to fit it all into one post... ;)

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Listings on The Vintage List are ON SALE this weekend only!

Hey everyone! I'm having a sale on listings on The Vintage List - $5 OFF the price of both Regular and Featured listings! The sale price is only in effect this weekend though - so get Listed before Sunday night at midnight!

Regular Listings - $10.00
Featured Listings - $25.00

That's a one time membership fee, you'll never have to pay anything else! And when you get a paid listing you can add your blog to the Blog category for FREE if you provide a link back to the List.

If you've been thinking about signing up, now's your chance to save a few bucks! :)

That's what I get for promising...

I took the rest of my stuff to the Antique Barn today - and forgot my camera.

*slaps forehead*

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Hocking Hills Antique Barn - Moving In

The last week has been a bit of a whirlwind, between our regular work and getting everything together to take down to the Barn - but we managed, and today we moved in!

Now, I had grand plans to take a bunch of photos - the pile of stuff waiting to go to the car, my car and my friend Gary's truck filled with stuff (thanks Gary!), the spaces in progress... but, of course, I kept forgetting about my camera.

I did remember to take some photos when my main squeeze and business partner, Will, was putting together the shelves. What is it about a man using tools?

See that white table with the chrome legs? $32. I can't believe I didn't buy it - but Will had a point when he said Um, where would you put it?

For some reason, I just kept taking pictures...

I think I could look at this little scene all day...

See that little grin? I think I was telling him how hot he was looking, working with tools and all... ;)

Even though I didn't get any photos, I thought it might be a good idea to give you all a breakdown of exactly what I had to do to get everything ready to move in:

Step 1 - Choosing Items

I went through my eBay store and both my Etsy shops to find items that had been there a while, items that are a bit of a problem to ship, and items that hadn't had very many hits. This took a couple of hours, because as I looked over all of my 800+ listings, I also had to write down each item's inventory number before ending the listing.

Once I had my list of item numbers, I had to go to my handy dandy filing cabinet and pull all of the inventory sheets. To get a more in depth description of how we handle managing our inventory, see the post I did on The Vintage List blog about running a home office.

Will and I took the stack of sheets down to the basement, where all of my store inventory is stored. We found all the items and brought everything upstairs. Making room in the main office for all that extra stuff was fun, let me tell ya!

Step 2 - Pricing and Tagging

This was a huge project - partially because I made a mistake starting out. I thought that because I will be getting a single check each month for sales, I would just imput that number into my accounting software and that would be it.

Of course halfway through I realized that when taking inventory at the end of the year that single sales number wouldn't be enough - I need to be able to figure out the cost of goods sold vs. cost of goods unsold, which means each item at the Barn would still have to be treated the same way as each item we have online. I can still imput the sales number just once a month, but I need to keep inventory sheets together for everything that sells so I can get the numbers I need at the end of the year.

So, I had to go back over everything I had done and add the inventory number to the tag, and tuck the inventory sheet away into a For Sale At The Barn folder in the filing cabinet. Each month I will move sold items to a Sold At The Barn folder. Make sense? It does to me, but just barely!

Pricing was also pretty hard work - I did price research online like I usually do, but often got stuck wondering, is that too much (or too little!) for what people will pay in real life, where they are able to touch the item, and they don't have to pay for shipping? I think pricing for the "real world" is just something that I will have to become more familiar with over time, with some experience...

So in the end each tag had to have all of this information on it:

- Item description: I tried to be as specific as I could, to give buyers the most information possible, and also to reduce the ability of some sneak switching tags out to get a lower price on an item

- My initials and dealer number

- Price

- Our inventory number

- Date added to the Barn: I want to be able to look the items over in a few months and know what has been sitting and needs to be removed and sent to Goodwill

Step 3 - Pull Items From Waiting To Be Listed Shelves

I also pulled some items from my waiting to be listed inventory - stuff that wasn't really worth listing so it had been sitting around for a while, or stuff that I thought might do well at the Barn - a patchwork quilt I got last weekend, for example.

I had to do all the same things for these items as I did for the items from online, except I had to create new inventory sheets for each one to put in the For Sale At The Barn folder.

Step 4 - Pack For The Drive

The Barn is about a 40 minute drive from my house, so I had to do a bit of wrapping and creative packing to make sure everything would arrive safely, and also that I would be able to fit it all into my car! I am happy to report there was no breakage! :)

The shelves wouldn't fit in my car, so that is where Gary and his truck came in - what a lifesaver!

Step 5 - Assemble & Fill The Shelves

We (Will, mostly!) assembled the shelves outside. Thank goodness we had good weather!

To be perfectly honest, we ended up just kind of sticking everything on a shelf - it was getting close to closing time, and I knew I would be back with more things (and without Will) so I could spend some real time arranging everything to my liking on my next visit. I imagine I will do quite a bit of shuffling around from where things ended up today to where they will be for the final product.

I'm heading back down tomorrow or the next day to finish up, I WILL remember take photos of the final product, I PROMISE. :)

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Hocking Hills Antique Barn + Vintage Goodness!

It's official - next Wednesday I will be moving into my brand new space at the Hocking Hills Antique Barn!

You may remember me covering my trip to Hocking Hills last fall - it is a *gorgeous* area here in Ohio that attracts a lot of tourist traffic. It is only about a 40 minute drive from where I live in Columbus, so when I started thinking about trying out selling at a mall, I made sure to call around to all the ones in the Hocking Hills area.

Happily, my favorite one was also the most reasonably priced - so I am taking the plunge!

The Hocking Hills Antique Barn is located right off of Rt. 33 in the Hocking Hills Market complex. There is a large antique mall behind it, as well as a flea market, an awesome retro diner, a country store, and more... It's just the perfect spot for my first venture!

My space actually consists of two spaces - one inside and one on the porch.

The inside space measures about 4.5' wide and 6' deep, so I am going to have two tall bookshelves (2' wide, 9" deep, 5' tall) on the right hand side and two short bookshelves (2' wide, 9' deep, 2.5' tall) on the back wall so I can hang stuff up above them.

The outside space measures about 6' wide and 3.5' deep, so I am getting two large shelves (36" wide, 18" deep, 6' tall!) for that space.

Rent is $115 a month, with a 7% commission. They are open 7 days a week except during the winter months, when they close on Wednesdays (rent is only $100 a month during that time to compensate). Their rent was the lowest I found, and their commission is right in line with what the other malls in the area are charging.

I also really like the owners - Chelsea and Max. I first found Chelsea back when I hung out on Live Journal a lot, she keeps a blog there.

They are so young! From her blog I gather that Chelsea is around 24 years old? Amazing!! I haven't met her in person yet, I have only chatted with her a bit through emails... Max is the one who showed me around the barn and helped me with getting measurements and all that fun stuff. They are both incredibly nice and I am looking forward to partnering with them!

Of course I will be writing about the entire adventure here on the blog - so if you have ever wondered what it would be like to sell in an antique mall, stay tuned - I'll be covering the good, the bad, and the ugly from start to finish! ;)