Thursday, July 27, 2006

fun with ebay

do you know what's fun?

ebay.

now that I have successfully won ONE hotly contested auction, I spend my free time looking for deals on Ebay. My "items I'm watching" list grows by the hour, and if the time is right and the price is low, I contemplate bidding. So far I've managed to talk myself out of most purchases, because what if something better, cheaper comes along? There's also the issue of no, I do not need that. If other people are bidding, I gauge their ebay skills not only by their feedback rating (the lower, the more naive, in my opinion) but by the items they've previously purchased that are recent enough to still be viewable. (I hope that last sentence makes sense.) It's pretty weird to want to buy the same thing as someone who put the highest bid on this book*. Or this:



or this:



and yes, these purchases were made by THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE, people! Three entirely different individuals, with spectacularly odd tastes, all want to buy the same thing I do. You mean I have something in common with them? This makes me question every opinion/like/dislike I have ever had, and it makes me feel depressed.

*A reviewer on amazon (who gave the book 5 stars) said, and I quote:
Right up front, let me say that recapitulation is, by conventional standards, a pretty weird way to heal yourself from your past. It is breathwork in a box. That's right, a wooden box that you build and do all of your recapitulation in.
I don't even know what to say to that, so I'm just going to go back to ebay now.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

ebay

I've stayed away from Ebay for a long time. I've bought a few items here and there, but never any items over $20, or anything with competitive bidding. I just didn't see what all the fuss was about...until I bought a serger. I came in at the last minute and won! It was such a rush. It's not a great brand, but it looks serviceable and has the original box. It wasn't very expensive, either. look out, jersey fabric and rolled hems, here I come!

Sunday, July 16, 2006

the craft mafia sets up shop

Take 6 other people I've met, in person, a maximum of 3 times in my life.
cram us all into a 10'x10' space for 7 hours.
half of us are operating on little to no sleep (another is pregnant).
throw in about an hour of rain, in addition to a sunburn;
and add the above to a sparsely populated, badly publicized, ill-attended craft fair.


it's obvious what happened, right?


IT WAS GREAT!!!! I had a fabulous time, and I'm pretty sure everyone else did too. I'm so impressed by everyone's stuff, but honestly I'm even more impressed by how well we get along. Sure, there were only a few customers, but that just gave us more time to chat. Here are some items I was selling:



screen printed notecards

glass coasters--note the l'oiseau tags!!!

Here is a picture Veronica took of me while I was making pricetags (see how classy I am with the pen hanging out of my mouth...)

I bought that chair at Kmart on friday and let me tell you, that sh*t is comfy. I even fell asleep for a while during the rain. and look: I am also wearing a dress that I made.

All in all, I would say that the craft fair was successful. Considering how few people walked down the street, we sold a fair (haha) number of items. The best part, however, was how much fun we had.

for more pictures, see joi's blog.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Craft fair tomorrow!


The Craft Mafia's first collective business endeavor takes place tomorrow, July 15, in Brooklyn. Vanderbilt Ave between Myrtle and Park. 10-5. We'll be selling things.

p.s. I won't be selling much, but it'll be cute. (and if you buy something, I'll include a free gift!)
p.p.s. Our booth will contain great handmade clothing, bags, housewares, art and jewelry (+more!).