Nose To The Grindstone

I have had my nose to the grindstone ever since I have arrived in Scottsdale. There was lots of estate sale paperwork to do as well as preparation for the holiday pop-up sale. It took way longer than expected but I have photographed and priced all of the Vintage Cowgirl Cases pieces which will be sold. They are all great items including round clip-on jewelry cases, laptop totes, mini backpacks, fanny packs and a bum bag, squash blossom necklace and makeup brush cases, keychains, a rolling suitcase, toiletry bag, and several styles of handbags with fringe (some of which have concealed carry pockets in back, something I never imagined I would be selling!) All of the pieces I have were part of a moving sale (by the artist, not that we conducted) and rather than moving everything from Texas to New Mexico, she decided to just sell everything and start over. She has decided to just specialize in travel-related items going forward and not do the purses, etc anymore so these are all one of a kind or limited quantity finds!

For now, I am holding onto the hot pink acid wash cowhide and lavender leather pieces I purchased. I will be all set for traveling with the lavender rolling suitcase and matching laptop bag, as well as the hot pink acid wash fringed bag, makeup case, squash blossom necklace holder and small jewelry case. Silly me, it looks like I forgot to bring my squash blossom necklace along. I will have to put in the case next summer. I also got a dream piece, the coveted double decker round jewelry case in turquoise blue leather with black and white cowhide.

Although I am keeping a lot, there are so many amazing pieces for sale! For those who are not local, I would be happy to ship any of these items for my actual cost. Above are a few photos of pieces that I am selling. I will be posting the entire collection on my sale ads. I have not posted the ads yet because I would like to accumulate some more photos first. After viewing the photos, I see that I need to get my mannequin a long black skirt! She is wearing a mini skirt but it does not show while displaying the purses.

I have had my eye on Moon Ryder for a while - I purchased one of their ombre corded crew pullovers from an online boutique and this was my favorite color combination. The fabric is fantastic, it is 100% cotton and has been snow washed for softness. It has not been cold enough to wear mine yet but I am sure I will get a chance this winter. Anyway, they recently offered some of their pieces at a discounted price and I decided to get some to share with everyone and of course I will pass the savings along. They are not full size runs but rather random sizes. I kept my purchases to Medium through 2X as I have noticed that Small and Extra Small are the most challenging for the online boutiques to sell. I have solid colors such as aqua, deep pink, periwinkle and purple and in ombre I was able to get Blue/Green, Pink/Mint and Southern Sunset. They were not on sale but I also picked up some hoodies and cargo pants in Black. The matching pieces look really cute together! Next week I plan to photograph and price them.

I also took a peek at a box of clothing I ordered and had shipped while I was still in Mount Prospect. I normally do not like clothing with words on it but I just loved these Turquoise Trail T-shirts. They are going to look amazing with turquoise jewelry and are super cute layered over a long sleeve tee. I got the T-shirts as well as sweatshirts in three different colors and an Aztec print sweatshirt as well. The garage will be overflowing with goodies!

The online posting and selling has been minimal this week but I did polish a lot of Native American jewelry and posted this beautiful belt buckle and this naja pin/pendant by Navajo artist Sadie Randolph. As far as online sales, I sold a couple of different pairs of earrings on Etsy. It is really true what they say, consistent posting results in consistent sales. As we are closing in on the end of November, I will need to at least set up 21 drafts by December 2 to make my quota for the month.

I have been multi-tasking while doing jewelry polishing and pricing by participating in online live auctions. The number one thing I am looking for right now is rings, as they are by far the top seller in the jewelry caravan. I was able to find quite a few and have started to receive the first few packages. One thing I quickly realized though is items appear to be larger on the screen than they actually are. As a result I think I overpaid on some of the items but they are still nice and I will introduce them at the pop-up sale. I won a bunch of beautiful engagement-style rings in sterling silver and CZ - they are really nice quality and should prove to be popular. Another ring is really fun, it is a big dome shape covered in pave CZs. Perfect for the holidays! 

Even though I tried to prevent it by putting magnetic strips over my garage vent on the outside and cardboard and painter's tape on the inside before we left for the summer, we came back to a very dusty garage floor and a bunch of dirt and tiny leaves from the next door neighbor's trees in each front corner. It was also apparent that during monsoon season water must have leaked under the garage door and caused a dusty pattern on the floor as well. I spent some time trying to clean the floor on one side, as well as the grooves on the inside of the garage door with a combination of sweeping, vacuuming and mopping and it looks a lot better but is not perfect. I will need to tackle the other side next week and then if I have time, give it another once over before the sale. It was clean enough to at least set up the tables and line up the jewelry cases. Now I just need to fill them!

Speaking of the grindstone, it is time to get back to it! See you next time with a complete pop-up sale setup and photos. I am determined to do better with the advertising this go around!