We are chomping at the bit to reopen.  Patiently waiting are Emma, Steve, Indy, me, Cindy, Joanne and Val.

Welcome to Lynn’s Latest #17…

May 12, 2020
Watch for it every Thursday or every OTHER Thursday!
Volume I  Issue 17

 

When the Governor lifted restrictions this past Friday, I was CERTAIN that he would allow larger stores with plenty of room for social distancing to open.  But NOOOOOOOO!  Not happy about this.  If liquor stores, hardware stores, Target, etc. can be open, then we should definitely be able to open with the safeguards we have in place  Let me know your thoughts on this one…..

Clearly, all small businesses (all businesses for that matter) must reopen soon to avoid economic disaster.  In addition to that HUGE reason, I am becoming very unmotivated and need the structure of my REAL life back.

These days, I find it very hard to get to the store before 11:30 am and find myself wanting to leave by 2 pm.  I prefer working from home as that is where my peeps are…Houston, Indy, Emma, and Carlos.

This photo was taken on the night before Mother’s day when Sandy brought us some amazing white fish that her fiance Doug had caught free diving that day.  It was amazing!  Thanks, guys 🙂

Another reason I don’t like to go to the store is that it is really quite sad to be in the store without YOU…our wonderful customers and consignors.  You always bring such joy, energy, and FUN to my day!  Where are you?

I had to smile at this photo that popped up from two years ago.  It was the first time I met one of our favorite customers/consignors, Jimmy Hibbler.  He totally matched one of our first vignettes and I just had to take a photo.  I will forever call him Jimmy Ventura….doesn’t that just seem to fit him perfectly?

Since we do sell Annie Sloan paint (and thank you to all of you who have been purchasing it!!!!), that makes our store considered Home Improvement and I may try to get the city/county to sign off on our reopening because of this.  My friends who own Red Rooster Vintage in Redlands were able to get their county to sign off on their reopening.  Fingers Crossed.

Here is a new project that Peggy is working on.  It is a corner cabinet that has some glass shelves and it does light up.  She is doing a Versaille rub on the base and then Country Grey over the top.  We will also decoupage some Botanicals on the back wall.  Should turn out great!  Can’t wait to see it finished~!

For those of you who noticed, I took my first week off from writing this new ezine last week.  It was a very nice break, but I missed the process.  Writing these is very therapeutic for me and I like that I have some type of “baby book” or memories for my kids to look back on someday.

The reason I took a break was that an opportunity arose to spend a few nights at a beach cottage.  I thought about it for all of one minute and away we went.  It was amazing!

Here are the kids wearing the “house jackets” the first evening.

During those days at the beach house/cottage, I took some time off, and for the first time in years, I actually read two books (one a day). I had texted one of my best friends from college, Juliette (but I call her Capretta), and said “can you recommend any good books”? Her text back was just a photo. LOL!

So I bought those books.  Both on eBay (way more reliable than Amazon these days)…..Here I am chilling on the deck and actually reading a book.  Amazing!  It took the Corona Virus for me to slow down and realize that I actually LOVE to read books.  I will not forget this lesson anytime soon!

We will get back to the Beach house later, but let me share a little bit about Juliette.  We met on a plane to Madrid, Spain during our Junior year at USC.  I hated (too strong of a word…. disliked) her on sight.  Not kidding, she was wild and crazy and I did NOT like her.  Turns out, she and I became super great friends and we even lived together after college.  She is like a sister to me (albeit a super neat one that drives me crazy).  They always said she was Felix and I was Oscar.  LOL.

Here is a story from my 4th 100 Best Book about Juliette and something fun I sold on eBay.

Before we get back to the Beach, let’s check out a recent eBay score!  Bought this Lladro figurine in Palm Desert back in March of 2017.  When I buy at estate sales, I usually buy by the table full and that is what I did for this figurine.  I put everything I am interested in on a table and then ask the dealer to make me a great price.  I learned this trick from my grandmother and it really works!  Just like buying in bulk.

I figure I paid about $5 for this guy.  He sold with the “send offer” feature for over $100.  Yippppeeee!

Check out the listing here.

Back to the beach, our time there was so relaxing.  The kids played a lot of corn holes.  We also played a bunch of board games.  How fun!

And we had a lot of home-cooked meals.  Steak, chicken, and lots of corn on the cob.  It was a blast and I want to go back.

When we returned from the beach, I got to be a guest on my friend Jason’s Youtube show.  As always, it was a blast.  If you missed it live this past Thursday night, you can catch it here.

Thank you to my Spain USC College Roommate (no I did NOT room with Juliette), Joanne Carolan, for sending me this photo from the live show!

On the show, we talked about how long we have been friends….14 years!  And the fact that he and his wife Staci are such good friends that they even helped repair a toilet in my house in Rancho Mirage…and as Staci remembered it was in a teenage boy’s room (Houston!).  Crazy!  Here are the dynamic duo working their magic.

This was one of my very first Instagram posts back in 2015.  Time flies!

After our Thrifty Business episode aired, Jason text me with this info.  So cool when we can actually help a fellow eBayer!

Another one of my long-time eBay friends, Joel Elad, popped up from out of the blue a few weeks ago with an email.  He and I had gone thrifting years ago out in Palm Desert and I had encouraged him to try and sell men’s clothing.  He still had the box full of clothing and wanted to know if he could ship it to me for free and I could have the clothes to list.  Sure!  Thanks, Joel.

Here is that box.  He also included a copy of his recent book!  Joel is a prolific author and has written soooo many books!  Actually, I first met Joel in 2005 at a meet and greet for Wiley authors.  We had both written books for Wiley.  The editors were all fussing over Marsh Collier (who wrote the eBay for Dummies book) and Joel and I quickly bonded over the utter lack of attention being paid to us.  LOL!

When I was looking for a photo to share of Joel and me, up came an ezine that I wrote in October of 2007.  This photo cracks me up because it was taken at eBay Live in Boston in 2007 and we were at the Wiley party celebrating Marsha Collier’s 1 millionth book being sold.  We kind of took over the party as you can tell from the photo!  We were considered the life of that party!

Pictured left to right, my best friend from high school Melanie’s good friend, Dee, Some random guy who let us throw his tie over his shoulder, Melanie, me, Joel, and my mom.  What a hoot that party was!

Here are a few more of the books that Joel has written.  Check out his books that are for sale on eBay here!

In that newsletter from October of 2007, was this very interesting section of my article.  Check it out here and if you want to read the entire newsletter it can be found here.

‘Unpack for Profit‘

by Lynn A. Dralle, ‘The Queen of Auctions’

OK, before I get started on this week’s adventure/article, I want to update you on what happened with the offer on the golf mugs from last week. One sold for $32.77 and the other for $26.77. Now, if you recall, I was offered $100 for both. I left $40.46 on the table. A bit of a disappointment, however, I still believe in my policy to NEVER add a Buy It Now and end an in-demand auction early.

I also received this great email from Kathy which made me feel better about my decision and policy:

Thanks to Kathy for the wonderful email!

One reason that I wanted to share that story is because I have an item up at an auction this week that is getting a lot of attention. I have already had one person ask me to end the auction and sell it to them right now. Not going to do that! This listing has 110 views and 10 watchers so far and I just listed it on Tuesday. It is a rare Royal Copenhagen piece. What do you think it is used for?

Here is a link to that listing.

Back to the store.  The hot colors right now in Annie Sloan paint seem to be the pinks.  Maybe because we are heading into Summer.  Not sure, but we have been selling a lot of Antoinette and Scandinavian Pink.  Check out this darling end table/nightstand done in Antoinette with some stenciling.  For sale at only $125.

Don’t forget that you can always order your paint supplies on our website, by text at 760-880-3535 or by phone at 805-628-3289. We are offering curbside pickup and free delivery in Ventura. You have no excuse to not start that project! LOL! Thank you to all of you who have placed orders! We really appreciate it!

Shop Annie Sloan Here
https://lynnsconsignment.ricoconsign.com/store/category/Annie%20Sloan?sort=HL

We will be fully stocked on Friday when we receive a palette of paint from her warehouse in Tennessee tomorrow! Yippeeee! Lots of Annie’s great paint and wax brushes are also in stock. Treat yourself to a shiny new brush….Come on….you deserve it!

We also just received the Charleston Paint your Own Keepsake Box set.  It is an awesome deal at $79.95.  Order it here for curbside pickup or free shipping.

The Keepsake box features 120ml tins of Chalk Paint® in Rodmell, Tilton, Firle, along with two neutral colours: Original and Graphite. You’ll also receive one 120ml project pot of Clear Chalk Paint® Wax, a wax cloth, plus the Large Round and Large Flat Detail Brushes, and an inspiration guide. This is plenty of material to paint the box (comes with a paintable box) in a design of your own and more!

Firle: a fresh, zesty, and crisp green.

Rodmell: a dusty, damson purple.

Tilton: deep, bright mustard.

Let’s get back to eBay. Sold this humidor for the best offer of $80. What is amazing about this sale, is that the piece had a huge crack. I emailed the buyer to make sure they knew that before I shipped it and they were fine with it. Lesson learned, even “As Is” items can have real value. Here is a link if you want to learn more.

Right after we opened, I applied to become a Sid Dickens Memory Block dealer.  They turned us down as we were brand new and not quite established.  Here are what those memory blocks look like in my house. I collect these and love them!

Anyway, I reapplied this week and sent in all-new shots of the store.  Let me know what you think!  Fingers Crossed.

Robin tweaked the logo so that you can see the cat better on the first C.  Thanks Robin!

Carlos really missed us while we were away for a couple of nights…so much so that he clawed into my Natuzzi leather sectional.  I am NOT happy about this.  Does anyone know how to fix claw marks on leather?   Didn’t think so.  UGHHHH!

Thank God he is a cutie pie or else he wouldn’t be long for this world.  Here he is with Indiana when we first got him.  He is such a cute little kitty all dressed up for Christmas!

Here he is with Indiana a few days ago.  He is 7 months old now and still a kitten but so much bigger.  He has always been super long.

My love of orange tabby cats goes way back to my childhood in Bellingham.  The most recent orange tabby we owned was Kerouac.  When I was pulling that story of Juliette and me for the ezine, I happened to see the story right before it and it was about Kerouac.  Felt it was time to share about Kitty K.  So here is another story from my 4th 100 Best books.

I hope all of you Mother’s had a wonderful Mother’s Day!  I sure did!  The kids surprised me with a full-on Brunch complete with Mimosas and Diet Coke!

Before I forget, I should share that I did get all of the shirts that Joel shipped me for free listed on eBay.  Thank you, Joel!  I must admit though that I didn’t do a very good job of picking for him back in the day.  This is the shirt with the most views at 25, but no watchers.  Hopefully, something out of the box will sell.  Fingers crossed.

Check it out here.

Emma is working on opening a DePop shop to sell clothing.  Super proud of her for doing this.  She (as well as Houston and Indy) all have a great eye for fashion.  Here they are in the backyard during their first photoshoot.

What is really interesting to me is that DePop is more about the aesthetic of the shoot and how you showcase the clothing as opposed to eBay which is just “hurry up and take those photos as generically as possible”.

Here is more about DePop from their website.

“Depop is the fashion marketplace app where the next generation comes to discover unique items. With a global community buying, selling and connecting to make fashion more inclusive, diverse, and less wasteful. This is what transforming fashion looks like.”

Take care from Lynn’s Consignments team to you and your family!   Just so you know, this will get better.  This too shall pass.  God has got this.  We hope to see you soon!

Pictured…Indy, me, and my mom!

I have been meaning to tell you about the Kazi baskets that we carry in the store and I keep forgetting, so here it is.

• The Founders of Kazi set out to change the face of poverty in this lifetime, not
  just for the future generations of those they serve.
• From this, KAZI was born, focused on creating unique, beautiful products
  for the world to admire from talented artisans in remote regions previously
  without market access.
• Kazi believes women and men in rural areas in Africa can be
  agents of change for themselves, their families, and their
  community when given the proper training and consistent
  access to global markets. Their talents and gifts are incredible.
• At KAZI, we’re equipping and empowering women and men to succeed
  beyond their biggest dreams. Now, these women and men send their kids to
  school without traditional aid, through their own hard work.

We hope you join us on our journey to create a beautiful and fair world for everyone.

Kazi’s Mission:
We aren’t just bringing handcrafted things to your living room. We’re bringing you beautiful pieces that add life to your space and empower artisans to weave a better story for themselves.

Kazi is an amazing fair trade company that pays fair wages. Each basket comes with a picture of the actual artisan and tells their story. I love supporting this company!

Here is a link to shop the Kazi Baskets we have in stock. They are breathtakingly beautiful.

Here is an example of how amazing these baskets can look in a wall arrangement.  Of course, you don’t have to pack them as tightly as we did….just because we have limited display space.

They look great spaced out as well!   This photo was NOT taken in our store.  It is an example, but I am planning a vignette like this for when we reopen.  Very boho 1970’s and I LOVE it!  Maybe I will make it the new front window!

Thanks for reading my ezines!  I appreciate it….as always!

eBay with Heart & Design with Heart……Lynn

 

P.S.  All of the professional photos I use on Instagram, Facebook, and in these newsletters were taken by my friend Denise’s daughter, Jaclyn Sabo.  She is amazing!   To learn more about Jaclyn….https://www.jaclynszabo.com/

P.P.S.  If you have a friend who wants to sign up for this newsletter.