Dime Store Chic

Tonight

Hello, My Friends!~~

Tonight, around 7 p.m. EST, I'll add new springtime goodies to Beth's Bagz etsy shop! Here is a sneak peek...

And...

And...

And more to come! Hope to see you!~~~XXOO, Beth

 

Easter Crazy

Hello, My Friends!~~

I finished two new Easter/Spring wreaths today. I think they are a little crazy as I used lots of vintage bits n' bobs from the craft stash.

I'll let you all be the judge...

 And...

Both here today. Thanks for stopping by!~~~XXOO, Beth

Sub-Freezing Spring Goodies!

Hello, My Friends!~~

Holy Mackerel! It is SO cold out there! We only reached a high of 27 degrees today. I went into our greenhouse which is only heated by passive solar through the walls and roof. At 2 p.m. it was 64 degrees in there. OK, well the sun was shining.

Today I stayed in and photographed newly made spring-inspired goodies for Beth's Bagz!

I will list these goodies and MORE this evening around 7:30 p.m. EST.

Here is a taste of spring...

Shiny and brite and spring!

One of two banners going up this evening.

A springtime cottage tote.

And birthday fun!~~~Come by Bethsbagz etsy shop after 7:30 tonight and see what's new! Thanks SO much!~~~XXOO, Beth

Inauguration Day Surprise!

Hello, My Friends!~~~

Here in the Washington DC area on the Virginia side of The Potomac River, we watched the inauguration like we did last time...on TV. Even though we live in a very touristy area, we avoid the big crowd drawing events and head on into the District on less travelled days. But as the sun set on that historical day, I saw that here the sky was striped red, white and blue.

This shot was taken from our front door. What a pretty way to end the day!

Also on Inauguration Day I became a great-aunt for the first time! My neice, my late-brother's second born, delivered safely a healthy baby girl! Oh happy day!~~~XXOO, Beth

Sleepy Sunday

Hello, My Friends!~~~

Yesterday as the morning sun brightened the living room, I spied both of our pets taking a sunny morning snooze.

Here is our kitty, Gyro, not looking too pleased to have his nap disturbed as he lounges in his favorite box.

I think he quickly forgave me as he slowly went back to sleep.

Our Australian Cattle Dog, Sheila, who turns 11 years old this year, decided that the couch under the living room window was the best place to catch some z's.

With a dot of sun on her face, she slowly drifts off realizing pehaps that there is nothing of interest outside that she needs to bark at.

How nice to be a beloved pet on a sunny Sunday morning!~~XXOO, Beth

And The Beat Goes On...

Hello, My Friends!~~

As you may remember from this previous post, I have expressed my disdain at recent "unruly" customers who have done thier best to take advantage of my kindness. I worked and worked with them to find a solution, but despite that they decided that they "deserve" my first born or a pint of blood. However, all worked out, and they are no longer welcome to darken my on-line doorstep. My heart was lightened by the many encouraging supportive comments you sent my way and I thank you so very deeply. It is a hard fought battle to keep my on-line selling reputation as sterling as I could make it, ie. not getting negative feedback.

Well... as my "lucky" streak would have it, I recieved my first negative feedback yesterday. I have been selling for 13 years on this popular on-line auction site and have kept my reputation untarnished through persistent hard work. Many of you know what I mean by that. BUT a customer who deserves to be called every name in the book and then some, decided to leave me a very nasty negative feedback that not only was an outright lie but was left without ANY prior communication to me so I could possibly make things right. This person is a habitual negative feedback leaver. I blame this imbecile and I blame the system that allowed him to leave his malicious lie.

I contacted a representative of this company and did get some satisfaction in that this moron is now flagged by them, which means should he leave another negative feedback his account will be suspended or removed. But they were powerless to remove the feedback from my record even after the representative saw that his accusations of me "overcharging for shipping and late arrival" were indeed not true as tracking records proved otherwise. Powerless? I think not. It is just their misguided policy that sorely needs changing.

So on the heels of this I composed a carefully worded letter to them (the representative promised that they read them) suggesting that before anyone leaves negative feedback, they MUST either contact the seller OR file a claim. And after, say 5 days, the buyer doesn't hear from the seller and get ssatisfaction, then they may leave their negative feedback. Simple. Right? This company is huge enough to hire a gaggle of nerds to write a program for that very thing.

I am skeptical that my suggestion will warrant their attention, but it was worth a try if anything to make life easier for future sellers. Because if there are no sellers there are no buyers, and thus no mega on-line auction site. N'est-ce pas?

Thanks for stopping by. I am now going to seek my bliss and continue working on new goodies for my Bethsbagz etsy shop. Even though the weather is freaking cold outside, it is springtime in the studio! Catch you later!~~~XXOO, Beth

Estate Sale Adventures: The Best was The House

Hello, My Friends!~~

There was one estate sale near enough me that I decided to venture out in the grey and drizzle. I usually don't get in line super early for this company's sales as thier prices are higher than most. Much higher. But it was the only game in town, so to speak, and I hit the road. I got there a half hour after the sale started was disappointed to see there was still a line. Now a line well after the door opened can also mean that there is good stuff inside and worth the wait. What was worth the wait at this sale was the cute house to admire as I waited in line.

Such a cute late 40's early 50's house! And look at the detail on the map post...

Not for sale though.

After a glacial wait where the door keeper with the list called us in one by one whenever someone exited, I entered this cute little house. I walked away with very little as the prices were high on so many desireable goods, but I did manage to get a few photos of the upstairs when no one was looking.

The little peaked front of the house held a sweet nook off of the bedroom.

Here is a close up. I wonder what the homneowner used this nook for?

Another bedroom held a very cool sisxties color scheme.

This is a great room for two children. It is bigger than the photo shows.

So on this adventure, I found not so much to buy, but I found a cute house to explore. That is part of the fun!~~XXOO, Beth

 

In Praise of The Monopoly Iron

Hello, My Friends!~~

The news is buzzing about which current Monopoly game token will be replaced with a yet-to-be-determined new game token. The majority of voters want the iron gone! No, I say! It is my favorite game piece and here is why:

1. The iron has a handle which makes it very easy to pick up and move.

2. The iron is the smallest game token. Why is that good? I'll tell you. When I play Monopoly I always choose the iron because it can get lost on the game board. So if you land on an occupied property and the owner is not paying attention and doesn't notice your little token on his/her space, you can get away rent free if the next move is made before he/she notices rent is due. I don't know if that is a real Monopoly rule, but the folks I play with firmly establish a pay-attention clause before the game begins.

So, let's keep the iron, because seriously do we really need the battleship? I don't think so!~~~Off to Baltic Avenue!~~XXOO, Beth

Luck o' The Irish!

Hello, My Friends!~~

First of all THANK YOU for your comments regarding my recent on-line selling experiences. Your kindness is amazing and incredibly touching. Thanks so very much!

I have made a few decorations for the winter holidays and would like to share one with you. I made my one and only St. Patrick's Day wreath. I have a limited amount of vintage St. Patrick's Day goodies and put them all on the one wreath. I especially love the vintage glass pipe ornament!

Spun cotton mushrooms, vintage green prize ribbons, and LOTS of vintage ornaments! I have just listed this one-of-a-kind wreath on Beth's Bagz along with some fun Valentine's Day decorations!~~~XXOO, Beth

The Bumps of Selling On Line

Hello, My Friends!~~

I had dealt with some not so pleasant people in recent on-line sales. I need to vent in a public forum, as perhaps you may say "yes, I have had theis happen to me!" and may feel better after reading the following rants.

Here is story number one...

In early-December I sold some vintage Mercury glass beads on that big on-line auction site that will remain nameless but you all know which one I am speaking of. These beads were for crafting and described as vintage. I always invite potential biddders to ask me as many questions as they wish prior to bidding. The winnning bidder took about a week to pay after I sent the invoice, well past my requested 3 days for paymant. I mailed them promptly after payment. Soon after the bidder recieved the item, I got a nasty-gram from this person claiming the beads are chipped and faded and no use to anyone. OK, clearly this person has never seen vintage Mercury glass beads as none in my vast experience are perfect unless they are new reproduction beads. I wrote this disgrunteled gal back saying that she could send them back (even though I clearly stated no returns in my listings) as long as she did so within 7 days.

Twenty days passed and nothing arrived on my doorstep. Twenty-one days later I get an email from her saying she flies on an international crew and couldn't send them back. I told her that she could still send them back as long as she did so right away. Then I decided to play investigator and I checked that during the past twenty-one days, she bought MANY things on this on-line auction site. Clearly she had email access. Why didn't she email me and tell me about her delay in returnign the item? I wrote her again and told her this along with emphasizing that she get theese beads back to me right away or no refund AND that she needs to write me back and let me know that she got this email. Nothing. Three days later she writes a long note essentially letting me know that she put our transaction on the "back burner" and would it still be OK to send the beads back? She said it's my call.

OK. so I wrapped it up by telling her the following (in condensed form for this blog post): 1. being that she was active at the on-line auction site in the past 25 days since her complaint to me, I don't buy her excuses as to why she couldn't send a one-minute email letting me know that there will be a delay in returning the item. Being put on the "back burner" is essentially rude on her part (although I didn't call her that, but you know what I mean). AND 2: I will still let her make a return but I will not give her return postage or postage that she paid to originally have the item sent to her. At this point I don't feel I should be out of pocket on this transaction.

Whew! Glad I got that off my chest! Thanks for letting me do so. Would you like to see the item?

Aren't they lovely? And she got them for CHEAP! I was just de-stashing a little bit and this one came back to bite me in the butt. We'll see if I ever get them back.

NOW, here's a story, from another on-line selling site where I sell vintage goods for what I feel is cheap cheap cheap. This customer, who had never bought a single thing from me before, wrote a very NASTY note essentially telling me that I am a terrible person for not disclosing the exact condition of one item in a lot of six vintage pieces of ephemera that I was selling for $3.50. She ranted on saying that she would throw everything into "the garbage" as none of it was useful to her. And she wanted a partial refund. I gave here a partial refund but she then came back insisting that she get a full refund as she only wanted the one item of 6 in the lot. How is that my problem? If that one item was so important to her, why didn't she write and ask about its condition? After checking her info on-line I found out that she sells antiques and I's guessing that she expected to flip this one item for big bucks. Well, hey, this isn't my first rodeo and I checked on the value of this item before selling it for cheap. So after reading note after note from her condeming my selling style and how she would improve me in that areana, I finally refunded her all of the $3.50 and told her that her relationship with my on-line show was over. $50 worth of effort on her part for a $3.50 item--gimmie a break. BTW, I have over 3000 feedbacks on that site and she has a little over 400. Just sayin'

I love selling on-line, I do. But once in a while you deal with folks who just freak out and treat you like the second coming of Osama Bin Laden. Common courtesy was clearly lacking in both of these circumstances. I always want to make things better but I do get annoyed when buyers initially think I am the bad guy. Like I have nothing better to do with my life than make theirs miserable.

Thanks, my friends, for reading my rant. If you have similar stories please share. I will do my best to get back to you, but for some reason Typepad is blocking your emails and replying to you is not possible. Sigh...but please share your stories here. We can give each other a virtual hug. And I always appreciate to bits the 99.99999% of fabulous folks out there who appreciate my wares. Love you!~~~XXOO, Beth