Wow we made position # 1 on EntreCard/Travel 5/29/11

EntreCard is a way to promote a blog and eBay listings.  If you look on the right side of this page, you see a box with a photo and it says 'drop'.  For members of EntreCard you visit others sites, drop and hopefully they will drop back on you.  The more you drop the better.  We are averaging 220 -225 drops a day.


Gene has only wanted to play CLUB POGO on the computer and a little while ago he offered to help me drop,  So every night he does 100 or so and I finish the next day.  What a sweetheart he is to help me like that!!


There are over 1200 blogs in the travel category and I am so over exited we made it to #1 for however long. Just knowing it is possible is so rewarding.


The advantage of all the drops is that it tells Google we are a viable blog and that a lot  of people visit it and thereby moving it up in the rankings. 


We learned how do to EntreCard from Danna Crawford in a webinar for members at Virtual Online Learning.


If you join EntreCard (it is free) let me know and we will drop on you too!!

If You Can't Join Them, Then BEAT Them

The end of last year I bought 2 batches of beads that were shipped from China.  Normally I avoid any product from China but these beads were something I had been looking for.  Supposedly they shipped right away but it took over 3 weeks to arrive.  

And when they did finally get here, they were not anything I could use.  I had to make the decision to try and communicate with them in China,  to send them back or to just keep them and try to resell them.  

Another sore spot that I hear alot about is drop shipping.  Many buyers have been burned by drop ship companies and alot of sellers have suffered even more. 

So that got me to thinking about my eBay listings.  eBay allows us to add Custom Item Specifics so I thought that I can let folks know that we are in the US and  and ship all our items ourselves.  

How do I do it specifically?  I use 2 blank Custom Item Specifics slots.  In 1 I put "In Stock" and then in the adjoining slot "Ships Immediately from CO, USA"

The 2nd line says "Pay Before 12N Mt Time" and adjoining "Sent same business day".

Both these custom boxes show up at the top of the listing and are searchable and they are something a potential buyer sees first in the item description. Hopefully both these little details will help buyers make a decision favorable to one of my listings. .

My Newest Creation - Louise's STRING SCARVES / Scarf

At a craft show I saw a scarf that gave me the idea to make these scarves because I have tons of all kinds of yarn.  They are just multiple strands of all different kinds of specialty yarns, knotted in the middle and on both ends.  They sold like crazy at the last show. It is important to use at least 5 different yarns, threads etc.

Blues, with fun fur

Greens with fun fur

Pinks and lavender with dusty pink fun fur

Tan, grays and fun fur

Red, Purple and pink with fun fur and red & purple eyelash yarn

Blues, white and browns with fun fur

1. 

Tan with bright green, yellow and orange fun fur.

And of course being the eBayer I am, here is a link to those currently listed. 

String Scarves / Scarf Listings on eBay

Our Reduced Prices for the "12 Days 'Til Cyber Monday" Sale

 Happy Holidays to you and yours. 

We are thinking about our own holiday shopping and ways to save money.  I suspect you are thinking much the same thing.
 

As a result of these thoughts, starting on Thursday 11/18 we  have marked down some of our product lines in the Fixed Price Format.  Each sale will last just 24 hours, so check back each day for bargains, from Midnight to 11:59 PM.

Here is a clickable link to each line that will be marked down on that day -

Thurs 11/18 =  Christmas Sale Items

Friday 11/19 = Shoelace Sale Items

Sat.  11/20 =  Cake / Cookie Pan Sale Items

Sun. 11/21 = Pink Ribbon Sale Items

Mon. 11/22 = Rubber Duck Sale Items

Tues. 11/23 = Cookbook Sale Items

Wed.  11/24 = Herbs; Spices; Dried Botanicals; Mexican Remedios Sale Items

Thurs 11/25 = Smokey the Bear Sale Items

Friday 11/26 = Collectible Plates Sale Items

Sat.  11/27 = Scarf Sale Items

Sun. 11/28 = Floating Charms Sale Items

Mon. 11/29 = Hand Woven Earrings from Peru Sale Items

Thanks for browsing and we wish you the happiest of holiday seasons.  

Wordless Wed. - Beautiful Cripple Creek Turquoise Pendants

These turquoise nuggets are from Bad Boy's Mine, Cripple Creek, CO. and hand wrapped with Sterling Silver.

How I take Photos for my eBay Listings

I am not a photographer but have had many compliments on my pictures, so I thought I would show how I set up to take a batch at a time. 

The round white spot is a SOLAR TUBE.  It is not a light.  It is sorta like a sky light but does not loose heat or allow heat gain into the house. We have a back porch just outside the kitchen window , so the kitchen was always very dark.  As long as it is light out, the solar tube provides enough light so we do not have to turn on the light every time we are in there during the day!

This back ground is what the kids use for science fair displays.  It fold flat of easy storage

The little white tabs on the back are Velcro strips.  I use black fabric draped over the cardboard, that also has Velcro.  With the Velcro there it prevents the fabric from sliding off and it is even each time I set it up.

The back with the fabric attached. Notice the lamp on the left.  I place that on the table behind the display so it shines down on the item.

The front with the fabric draped.  Once it is all set up I slide the table under the solar tube and turn on the kitchen light, and the floor lamp and wait for the right time of day when the most light is coming in the solar tube. 

I normally take 50 -100 photos at a time and rarely more than one of each position of the item. After the photos are taken, I upload them into Picassa (a free Google product) in a special folder and edit them as I need them.   

 

When I edit, I can crop, straighten, adjust the brightness and highlights, and sharpen the image in less than a minute. 

From Picassa they go to My Pictures (with titles of the items rather than some code) and live there until I am ready to list them and upload them to Vendio (IMO the best listing program)  for storage and watermarking. After they are in Vendio, they are then moved to a external hard drive to live for ever and ever!   

Sounds like alot of steps but it works for me and is very fast because it is done in an assembly line method. 

To see my photos, check out my eBay store  The scarfs pictures are take in a different room on the mannequin (thanks to the suggestion from Griff.)

Colorado Springs Farmers Market, Fall 2010

Our Milkman.  They deliver 1 time a week,  year round.  The very best milk, farm raised eggs and the best dairy anywhere.  Love the cookie dough, and lemonade too. How awesome is that to have milk delivered in this day and age!!??

 

Our favorite farmer at the local markets.

Just part of their offerings.  What a bargain - fill a bag with anything on the table = $7.00 or pack a grocery, plastic bag for $10.00.

Our haul for $10.00 - Lots of eggplant, yellow and black bell peppers, 4 cukes, 6 ears of corn and fresh pulled onions.

Holiday Crafts Shows We Will Be At This Fall 2010

Holiday Crafts Shows We Will Be At This Fall in Colorado Springs, CO, area

It is time to think about Christmas and gift shopping.  

We will be making our Name On Rice Jewelry at these crafts and gift shows.  Each charm has at least 1 grain of rice in it with a name or message written on it. 

After we write on the rice it is placed into a tiny, glass vial, capped and attached to a necklace, key chain, charm  bracelet or as a charm for a cell phone.  

 Only a few of the 25 different bottles we have to put the rice into.

Sat and Sun. 10/2 - 10/3 - Palmer Lake 37th Arts Fest, at Town Hall Palmer Lake, CO.

Sat. 10/9 - 10 to 5; CSU /  Pueblo 1st Holiday Craft & Art Fair, Occhiato Ballroom,  Pueblo. 

Sat. 11/6 - 9 to 4; Smoky Hill High School - All handcrafted craft fair, 16100 Smoky Hill Rd, Aurora, CO

Sat. 11/13 - 9 to 4; Liberty High School 22nd Annual Craft Show, 8720 Scarborough Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 

Sat. 11/20 - 9 to 4; Sand Creek High School; 8th Annual Holiday Craft Fair, Colorado Springs, CO. 

Sat. 12/4 - 9 to 4; Doherty High School, Barnes Ave., Colorado Springs, CO. 

And we can do them at our house, too.  eMail for an appointment.  herbscraftsgifts@aol.com.