It isn't Making Money that Defines You

Money has never defined a person.  It only tells people what you do to earn a living.  It is what we all work at to get the money $$$$$$ in our pockets.  And it is hard earned money.

Everybody always seems to be all about money.  But it isn't what we are all about.  Does money define everything you do in life?  Do you think about money way too much?  Does money make you happy?  Would you be just as happy with less money?

Sometimes we do with a little less money so we can have other more important things in life.  Many of us, would ultimately sacrifice more money to be able to spend more time with our children and our loved ones.

After all, time is priceless.  And we all wish we had more time.  The fact of life is that there is never enough time.  But that doesn't really define us either.  It's not time that makes us who we are.

It's the choices in our lives that define us.  And I mean outside of money.

Who are you really?  Who were you born as?  What have been your biggest passions all your lives?  Spending time with our children and our families and loved ones are the most important things in our lives.

And then to get beyond that, we are defined by the things we like.  Our deepest passions, hobbies, talents, and personal goals and other important things that we really love to do, whether we make money at it or not.  Those are the things that truly define who we are.  The things we love to spend time doing when we are in our free time.  Those are the things that make us who we are.

If you begin to strip all that away.  The things you loved to do since the beginning of time, gone from your soul, then you have truly lost yourself.  You can't just concentrate of the stuff that is going to make you money.

Yes, it is important, as we all need to live and support ourselves and have money to survive in this world.  We know we all need it, but it doesn't make us who we are.  It's all the priceless stuff that defines us.  More time with our families, more time to do the things we love, just more time to discover our authentic selves.

So if anyone ever discourages you from doing something that you love to do, tell them to stop it.  I recently had someone discourage me from going back to write more on my novels.  His words were, "You aren't going to make any money from that."  He seems to discourage me from doing the things that aren't going to make me money.  Why is it that people can only concentrate on the things that are going to make you money?  I just don't like that.

He just hasn't known me long enough to know that I do the things I do, all the projects and passions that I like to do because I have the desire to do it and see it to completion, whether I make money at it or not.

Why is it in our society that everyone thinks we have to make money at everything we do?   Why do people tell us not to do the things we love?  Do they think it's a waste of our time?  Maybe it would be a waste of their time, because it wouldn't be something that they would do.  It's not their talent or passion.  They have other things that they like to do that don't make them money and they don't see me telling them they shouldn't do it.

Do they hear me saying, "Hunting and fishing isn't going to make you any money."  No they don't.

I value anyone that carves out some precious time to do something they love to do.  I write, create art, paperdolls, photography, sewing, knitting, and on and on because I simply love doing it.  I love creating something that once was nothing.

To tell someone to not do something that they love, in a way is a literal way of killing them.  You take away all the things that I love to do, I am nothing.  Except a mother, daughter, sister,aunt, etc... but all that still doesn't define who I am.  They are everyone that is related to me.

And isn't it so true that sometimes it is the family members and the people that you love that infuriate you the most?  They think they are telling it like it is, but they are not.  They refuse to see the point of things that aren't related to money.

Or should I say the finer points in life.  When we end our lives we ultimately want to be defined for a lifetime of defining our authentic selves.  Discovering new things that we never knew about ourselves.  Seeing when we need to find change in our lives and making sure that we are doing what we think is right for ourselves.

What we really should be doing is not listening to anyone who has negativeness on the things we love.  Do what is right for you and don't let anyone stand in your way.  This is why the world is made up of people who dare to dream and faith that what we set out to do will come true.  But only we can do it.

If we listened to all the people who ever said we can't, where would we honestly be?  Lost in a deep trap of negativity in an abyss we created because we listened to all the people who put us down.

But we do need jobs to make us money, and I have one.  Ebay is my job right now.  I'm making money and I'm happy at it.  I get to spend time with my kids while I do it.  And I have time for my boyfriend.

And we do have bills that zap the money.  Don't we all wish we could pay our bills at the Dollar Store?  I wish.

Yet, all he can think of is that "It's terrible you don't have a job."

Well I had to let it be clear to him that Ebay is my job and I am making more money than I did at my part time retail job that I quit last year.  5 hours a week was hardly anything to write home about.  And one of my daughter's outfits sold for more than I would have made in an hour.

What we really need to do is know when to put on our ear plugs and not listen to all that.

But sometimes we do need to listen as sometimes it helps us to grow as an authentic self.  It's a matter of knowing when you need to listen and when you need to drown it out.

And it's all about our choices that define us.  It's up to us to make our own choices in life.  Don't ever let anyone do it for you.  Stand up for yourself.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted April 11, 2012

Don't let anyone tell you you shouldn't write or create your artwork. They will kill you.

http://jennyjofayfancyphotography.com/  This is my wordpress site where I started writing a few of my new novels and I really need to make myself get back to finishing writing my novels, whether it's going to make me money or not.  Sure, I've been selling at Ebay and trying to get people to my Zazzle store and my new Etsy store where my lovely photography is and my paper dolls, but it really doesn't make me any money so far at those two sites.  Ebay is good, but so far I am a little skeptical with Zazzle.  But I keep trying.  But that's not really who I am.  I am the photographer and the paper doll artist.  But what really defines me is the process of creating the photographs, the artwork and the process of writing the novels, or knitting my stuff or sewing or making the knitting markers, jewelry or rag dolls.  It's the whole process that defines who I am and not the idea of I have to make money at it.
We are in a world where if you are an artist or a writer or a crafter, it is very hard to break into a struggling world of business and actually become successful financially.
But that's not truly why we create.  We're born to create, for the satisfaction of finishing a original work of art that only we could do.  We're in a world of wonderful talented people all over the place and we all have our own vision.
If we were born to be just like everyone else, I cannot begin to tell you how utterly boring that would be.  That's what makes us interesting to others is telling our own story in only the way we can tell it.
I'm unique and there is nobody else like me in this world.  You strip me away and tell me to stop creating, that is the day that you have killed me literally.  And I will shrivel up and shrink under the carpet that once was magic and then the dream died along with the people who try to take away your dreams.  What are we without dreams, hopes and faith that someday we will leave behind a legacy for our children, whether we made money for it or not.  That's just me, Jennifer Jo Fay being who I am in this world.  Born an artist, writer mother and everything else, and that's how I will someday die.  Having fulfilled that dream.  And maybe my ashes will be scattered into the sea.  I haven't really decided what i want them to do with me.

But I have recently had someone trying to discourage me from going back and writing my novels.  One night I was telling him, I've got to get back and finish writing my novels.  Immediately he told me, "You're not going to make any money doing that.  Don't do that."

It really peeved me.  Here I'm thinking, "Hey, I'm a writer and I stopped for a little bit to sell on Ebay and do other things, but I'm a writer and I am going to go back to write my novels and draw more of my paper dolls and artwork at some point whether it's going to make me money or not."

I like doing it.  I was born to do it and I'm not going to stop doing something I like to do for anyone.

I could tell the person, "You're not going to make any money hunting, fishing, reading sports books, or other guy hobby."

But I wouldn't do that.  Sometimes guys seem to just be all about money.  All they seem to care about is if you're making money or not.  And then he seems to think that Ebay isn't a job.  That makes me boil so bad. He one day told me he thought it was terrible I didn't have a job.  I then went on to tell him that Ebay is my job and I am making more at Ebay than I did at my part time retail job that only let me work five hours a week.

 It's highly important to me that he know that I create my art and write and do other fun things just for the priceless sake of doing them, not because I am told by him that I need to make money at what I do.  And if I don't make money at something then I am automatically told that I shouldn't be doing that anymore.

I really hate that.  It makes me red with anger.

I'm not about money.  I'm all about the priceless things.  And I'm glad that I have a job selling at Ebay.  It lets me be home with my children at the same time.  And if I was to go out to work at a job outside the home again, I probably wouldn't have as much time to spend with my boyfriend.

And same with the writing sites like Triond or Wikinut.  He discourages me from writing at those as it doesn't make me much money.  That's not the point.  I know it doesn't make me much money.  But the more valuable things I get from these sites is the feedback and the conversations with other writers who share the same goals, dreams, hobbies and desires to create words and artwork.  That is the true reason that many of us write at those sites.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Pinterest is going to be the new Facebook

Pinterest is going to become the new facebook.  I discovered Pinterest back in December.  A girl on Igoogle was using Pinterest and mentioned the site to us.  I had never heard of it before.  Well, I got curious.  It said you needed to get an invite.

I requested an invite be sent to my email.  It did take about two to three weeks to get my invite, but once I got it, it was well worth it.

I used it a little bit in january, filled out my profile with all my information to all my sites, blogs etc...Zazzle.  Then, in February and March I started getting the hang of the site.  I began to use it to pin my stuff to my Zazzle store for my photography or my new etsy store.  It seemed to work.  One my blogs I could see that people were coming from Pinterest.  It definitely is a way to advertise your products.

For my Zazzle store, i simply copy my code and paste it into Pinterest and I pin my products.  Awesome.

Pinterest is a very visual site.  It is geared to women for sure.  We love to shop and all the visuals are very interesting.

Pinterest is a place to pin all the things that you like.  It is very addicting.  

A few weeks ago, I saw one pin for koolaid flavored popcorn.  Thought it was interesting and repinned it.  I haven't tried it yet, but I liked the picture.

Today I have gone in and searched knitting markers, jewelry, bottle cap necklaces, fabric flowers, paper flowers and anything I wanted to look at and see if there were anythings I would like to try making.  

There are great food recipes you can pin.  You can pin just about anything.  It is highly addicting.  I just had to leave the site as I think I have been there for almost an hour today.

I would encourage anyone to check it out.

And as I was social bookmarking stuff one day, I came across yet another site that might be trying to copy Pinterest.  I have signed up for it, but haven't really checked it out too much yet.  It's called Pinstyle and yet another place where you can advertise your stuff and also check out things that you like.  I bet it isn't as big as Pinterest yet, but you can be sure other sites are going to want to copycat Pinterest and hope people jump on the bandwagon.

Jennifer Jo Fay

April 12, 2012

Don't Let Your Kids Get Your Password!

If you have young kids, make sure they don't get a hold of your password.  Or even teenagers could abuse it.

I sell and buy on ebay.  Well, about four weeks ago, my girls wanted to know my password for ebay.  Their intentions were to start putting things into my watch list that they wanted.  My girls are almost ten and eleven.  They were wanting those Littlest Pet Shop characters.  It's the biggest craze for them right now.  They love them and nothing else.

They have gone out of their days of collecting the Webkinz.  They don't go online to the Webkinz site anymore.  Now they like to watch the You Tube videos the older girls make of the pet shop characters.  One daughter is started to paint her Littlest Pet shops with some of my nail polish.  OOAK is what they call it.

So anyway, when they wanted my password to put them into my watch list, I thought it would be harmless.  So I gave it to them.  Then they started putting things they wanted me to buy for them into my watch list.  Well, the next thing that became annoying was the idea of that the items were going to be done soon.  My girls kept hounding me to buy them.

"Mom, it's ending in ten minutes!  Can you get it?  Please.  I want it so bad!"

I did buy some for them and bought some for their upcoming birthdays in a few months.  Then, they kept wanting more.  I finally had to tell them, that was enough.

Well, one daughter figured out how to see my purchase items and sneaked a peek at the ones she was going to get for her birthday.  I got angry because she was spoiling her present.

Meanwhile, they kept putting things into my watch list.  And I let them end without bidding.

Finally one week, while I was busy wrapping packages to mail out, one daughter asked if she could bid .99 cents on a pet shop.  I said ok.  Well, about fifteen minutes later, she told me she bid again and put the bid up to $3.  I got angry with her and told her she couldn't bid without asking me.  She stopped.

A few nights later, I was driving to my boyfriend's house to spend the weekend with him.  Once there I fired up my computer and started checking my items I was selling.  Then I went to my watch list and discovered this pet shop dog on a flower.  I did a double take on it and figured out one of the girls must have put it into my watch list.  Then  I checked my bidding and I saw the same picture in my bidding.  Then I saw the price was in the green and I immediately knew one of the girls had put a bid on it and I was winning it.  I called up and my son passed me onto my daughter.  The youngest one.  I asked her who had bid on the Pet Shop Dog.  Then I heard her say, "Sorry."

Then I had to tell her not to bid anymore or else I will change my password.  So far she had bid $3 or a little more for it.  So I hung up.  About an hour and a half later, I checked my bidding and saw that she had put the bid up to $5.  I had to call up again and got my ex.  He said she was still up and he said to change my password.  I got off the phone and changed it.

So now, they can't bid anymore.  They can put something into my watch list if I am there and they tell me what they want.  I can look it up and put it into the watch list.  

I had told my sister the story and she said that I was lucky she didn't type in ninety nine dollars instead.  That would have been a disaster.  I hadn't thought of that.

So, definitely don't let your kids get your password.  Mine were little and didn't put astronomical figures in.  But they could have.  And some kids could put more in, if they really want something.  With my daughter bidding on that pet shop, I was lucky that she got outbid and she didn't win it anyway.

But I have heard so many horror stories of kids wracking up your credit cards and doing all kinds of things.  They are just kids, and think they can get away with everything.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted April 12, 2012

yardsale Season!

Yardsale season is so much fun and we are now patiently waiting for it to arrive.  It's just about two or three weeks away.  Probably right now as we speak, people are beginning to get the spring fever and are busy cleaning out their houses.  They want to clean out the clutter and then get ready to either sell it on ebay, bring it to goodwill or have a yardsale in hopes of raising some money for pizza and other little things that they do need.

And we are patiently waiting to drive around town and start to see the signs popping up along the side streets.  White signs, neon pink, orange or green that lets us know there is a sale that way.

I have always been the driver that sees the sign and quickly comes to a halt and stops and drives in the direction of the sign.

When I was growing up, we went yardsaling with our mom, Nana and my Nana's sister, my Aunt Mary.  My Aunt Mary has always been a big yardsale fan.  We used to have summer barbeques and would be waiting for her to arrive.  She wouldn't get here until later afternoon because she would also be yardsaling all day.  I have fond memories of yardsaling with her.  We also would have fun getting lost too.

But now that I am older, it is the hopes of finding that treasure that someone else doesn't want but I do.  Someone else's trash is another person's gold.

It's fun to yardsale and see what they have.  I stop at even the small yardsales.  You never know what is going to be there until you start to look over what they have.  That hidden gem could be hiding but it's there for you to bring home to your house.

And then, the other thing is the parking.  You always know there is a yardsale when you see all the cars parked.  Which means lots of people who want to find a good bargain.

I think it is also a good way to get a whole new wardrobe at an inexpensive price.  

As I have yardsaled for a long time, I find that now when I yardsale, I need to be really selective about what I buy.  You have to think when you buy their junk.  Is it going to become your junk that you are going to immediately be putting in your yardsale?  Don't get it if you don't think you will need it.

I used to come home with all kinds of stuff when I was a younger married woman.  And if you don't want to see your money go quicker, make sure you leave your kids home.

Kids love a good yardsale too and will want the expensive items that the sellers are getting rid of.  One year I took my youngest daughter more often and she wanted to bring home a bird cage (no bird to put in it), a pocketbook shaped lamp, and lots of toys.

And we all know that when we do bring our kids, they also get tired quick and just want to go home.  They don't want to spend all day in the car while you drive around going to the sales.  I usually loved going by myself and called it Mom time away from the kids.  I would yardsale for a few hours and call it good.

And the great thing, in the middle of yardsale season there was a yardsale on almost every street.  And I didn't feel that I needed to drive all around other towns to shop at the sales.  I usually have my routes.  I drive up the main streets and check for signs.  And sometimes I go up the main street into the other town as there are usually yardsales off that street too.

Sometimes there is lots of junk that I don't want, but then there is good stuff.  And now that I am selling on Ebay, I will be buying to sell.  And also will be on the lookout for crafts and jewelry and knitting that I can use.

And sometimes I bring my camera along as I like to take pictures of flowers.  You never know what will be blooming in someone's yard.  Most people don't mind at all if you would like to take pictures of their plants.

And when you yardsale, you never know when you are going to come across something that is going to be an antique.  Not everyone knows the value of something that is worth money.

And then sometimes they do know how much it is and you will find that they want a hefty price for it.  And you can choose to just walk right by.

The other fun thing about yardsales is the kids selling brownies, cookies and the famous lemonade.  I always buy something from them.  In the middle of summer we get thirsty and that lemonade goes down great.

It makes it fun for them to earn a little bit too.  Teaches kids to be little sales people.

It's so much fun to pour through their stuff and see how much you can get for a little amount of money.  You usually come out of a retail store with one or two things and in a yardsale you can come out with ten or more things and still spend less than you would on something you would buy at a retail store.  It's awesome.

And we know that Spring is here now, with plants blossoming and the signs cropping up.

Already I am seeing my magnolia tree blosssoming.  And on the side of the road, I am seeing people putting out bigger furniture for people to take away for free.  Signs are popping up.  No yardsale signs yet, but signs for other stuff.

And I am also one to stop on the side of the road if there are some boxes of free stuff.  Usually there is nothing I want, but sometimes there is.  And the way I see it is that I am helping them to get rid of it, so they don't have to take it to the dump or something.  Stopped at the side a few weeks ago, but they were just getting rid of lots of VCR tapes and most people don't want those anymore.

And as a crafter and an artist, when we go to yardsales we are usually looking for items that we can do something with.  Recreate junk into something really cool.  Lots of people like the old furniture too that they can fix up.  People have shops where they like to buy stuff to sell in their shops.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted April 12, 2012

Making Bottle Cap Necklaces, Knitting Markers and other fun stuff

Well, I do have to get back here and write.  I think I probably have had a good case of writer's block.

And the other big fact is that I have been consumed by Ebay and earning money there.  I ran out of dolls to sell on Ebay.  And I ran into a little trouble with that.  Seeing as I'm not a doll expert, one girl wanted to return her doll as there were frown lines on the eyebrows.  Must have been a manufacturing thing I would have never noticed.  So I had to give her a refund.  And then another girl decided to complain about the doll being moldy after three weeks of receiving the doll.  I was quite skeptical of that one as it had been three weeks and I know for a fact she was sent out in fine condition, no sign of mold.  I was kind of upset about that one and told her ebay's policy was returns accepted within seven days.

She decided not to ask for a refund, but instead gave negative feedback.  Since that, I went in and made sure everyone knows my return policy is within seven days of receiving item.  Seems only fair.


The other fun thing is making bottle cap necklaces, knitting markers and charm bracelets.  I got some supplies earlier to make them.  It's fun and really easy.  I like getting my supplies from China.  You tend to get more for your money and the shipping is free.

I started with the knitting markers, seeing as I have been knitting the skirt.  The fascination with them began with me needing place markers.  I started out with a bow of yarn as I couldn't find my simple cheap ones from Walmart.  Then as I was knitting for a little bit, I started looking through my jewelry and pulled out rings of my mother's and earrings with holes that I could loop through and safety pins.

Then one week I got some small jump rings and made my first set.  I sold a set of six of them on ebay and kept two for me.  Then, I caught the bug and wanted to make some more.

I went to a local bead shop and got some supplies.  I was upset though as she charged me an arm and a leg for one little charm.  $2.40.  I then went online at Ebay and found that I could get the same thing from China and get 20 instead of just one for .99 cents and free shipping.  I will not be going back to the bead store.

I bet she gets her stuff wholesale too and then marks it up.

The knitting markers became quite fun to make.  I made my second set from the supplies at the bead shop and sold it for $8 as her's were pricey.  Someone bought it at Ebay.

Then my girls and I started making some with the beads.  I started looking at other people's knitting markers on ebay and got making my own.

You need the jump rings that will fit your needles.  They come in all sizes.  8mm, 10mm, 12mm and up.  The 10mm will fit my 8 and 9 needles.

You will need jewelry pliers.  You can get some for $5 at Walmart and most places.

You get your beads.  You will need different sizes of head pins and smaller jump rings, size 4mm or size 6mm.  Then you start adding your beads to your head pin.  Then you have to bend the head pin with your pliers, attach the finished piece to the smaller size jump ring and then the bigger size.

You can do lots of different things with them.  You can add silver charms instead if you wish.  Or you can make bottle cap knitting markers.

I just finished a bunch of bottle cap ones for knitting markers and necklaces.  You will need to print small sizes of your pictures.  I like contact sheet size.  That is about the right size for the jewelry.  It's really neat to see your pictures shrunk down and you can get about thirty five to a sheet.

Then you get these cool epoxy sticker domes that you put on your pictures.  I like to attach them right to my pictures and then I slowly cut around the edge so there is no paper sticking out.  Then I glue them into the bottle caps.  You can get the bottle caps that already have the hole and the split ring or you can get the tool to punch the hole and then get your jump rings.  I'm going to do that from now on as it will probably be a little cheaper.

I've got the glass cabochons too, but I'm not sure if I like them.  I just tried to glue one to a picture and I'm seeing spots from the glue.  I don't like that.  At least with the sticker you get a clear image.  You do have to be careful not to touch the sticky part of the sticker as you can also get spots from that.  Trial and error.  My first necklace I cut and glued the picture in first and then stuck the sticker on.  Was not happy to see paper sticking out so the Audrey Hepburn necklace is now mine.

I sold one more of my knitting markers with a pretty millifiori bead in it.  And when I discovered she was from Venezuala, I cringed as I had to figure out how much the shipping would be.  But at least it was small.

If I end up selling more dolls, I am going to have to state that I don't ship out of the country in the listing.

The only down side to selling on Ebay is that they really do take their cut, and I also learned that Paypal takes their cut too.  So in the end, I am probably not making as much as I think I am.  But still, I am doing better than I ever would at a yardsale.  And I am clearing more than I ever made at my retail job last year.

I just made my first charm bracelet last weekend.  You get your charm bracelets and then you add charms and different spacer beads and murano beads and other ones that fit.

The one I made has a Twilight theme to it and I have listed it for $10 plus a few bucks shipping.  I'm not sure if it will sell.  I might have put the price too high to start.  But am testing it out.

And I have four of my bottle cap necklaces on and one of my bottle cap knitting markers of iconic actresses.  So am just testing it out to see if someone wants them.

It's hard with the handmade stuff.  I will not list my handmade paperdolls.  They don't go.  And my photography cards don't go, and my first knitted doll outfit hasn't sold.  But then it might not be the best knitted outfit.  Next time I am going to go by a pattern.  I just winged the first one on my own creation.  I also printed up the instructions for it and tried to sell the instructions.  I was able to sell one of my instructions for the yo yo pincushion patterns.  That was cool.  Then she sent me a cool thank-you card with two of the yo yo's on them.  That was a nice surprise.  She did that as I ended up having to resend the instructions to her new address as Paypal still had her old address.

I guess you just have to keep trying the handmade stuff as sometimes people do end up wanting it.

I had a few things on my etsy store which is new and my zazzle shop, but haven't had any luck with etsy and I only sold one postcard with Zazzle so far.  Those two places you really have to advertise a lot in order to have any success.

I don't advertise all the time for Zazzle, but some days I have a day of advertising some of my products on facebook, pinterest, linkedin, igoogle, digg, myspace, twitter and a few other places.  I notice after a day of advertising on facebook, I go back to Zazzle and I have had 139 visitors in one day.  But they don't buy anything yet.  But I guess it is better to have visitors than no visitors.  And maybe eventually someone will buy something.

Pinterest is a really fun site.  I like that one.  I heard in the news recently that it is going to be the new Facebook or even bigger.  I love that it is so visual.  It's so addicting to look at the pictures and repin the things that you like.  One day I repinned one for koolaid flavored popcorn.  It looked so pretty!  Haven't actually tried it yet.  It will surely gross out my older son and my girls might go for it.

And one day I discovered a copycat site, PinStyle.  Signed up for that one too, but really love Pinterest.  Some of my friends and family are on Pinterest too.


But the knitting markers are really fun to make and if they don't all sell on ebay, I will surely use them.  I am looking forward to finding jewelry at yardsales and maybe taking some of it apart and reinventing it into the markers and other stuff.

Jennifer Jo Fay

Copyrighted April 11, 2012

That's the knitting marker set that sold with the pretty millifiori beads.  It was fun to make.  I also like the iconic actress knitting markers.  I'm hoping someone will buy this one and I have a set for me too.  I've been charging cheaper prices for my sets than other people and am surprised that some of them aren't selling.  Oh well.  It's worth a try because you just never know who wants it.

I've also made some with my photography in it too.  And I printed one of a picture of my Nana when she was in high school. I'm thinking two of my aunts will get a necklace of her this year.

And then I did one of my two neices for them for christmas as a necklace and I'm going to make my sister a charm bracelet with the three of her kids on it and another one for my sister n law.  Not sure what her theme will be yet.  Maybe a crochet queen charm as I think she likes to crochet.

And then after my skirt is done, I want to knit up some smaller doll outfits going by the patterns and then try selling some of them.  Maybe better luck as I get better at it.

And I have to start firing up my sewing machine.  Or trying to figure out how to use it.  I've cut up doll patterns to sew up and it will look better if it is done by the machine.  And now I have another reason to start getting it running.  My boyfriend wants me to sew up some of his jeans.  So that is going to get me sewing on the machine.

And I can hardly wait for the yardsales as will be looking for yarn and other craft supplies.  And outfits to sell.  People love the outfits.  The kids stuff sells well and people have been buying outfits that don't fit me anymore.  I put them at $1.50 to start and sometimes they go up.  I sold a Hanna Anderson brand dress for almost ten dollars.  That was cool.  And some people are uping the anti on a Spongebob Squarepants bathingsuit that doesn't fit my daughter this year.  Cool.