Savings Spooktacular

October has already begun. Where has the time gone? This year is just flying by. I don't know about you, but I've already started my Christmas and birthday shopping (naturally all our kids have birthdays in the months right around Christmas, so all our spending is at one time). I assume many people are already picking up gifts and holiday clothing so I'm loading up the discounts in my eBay and Etsy stores.  I haven't quite figured out how to do sales on Poshmark yet, and actually, even though I was truly enjoying my cover photo shoots, the week was eaten up by illness.

My youngest woke up Saturday with his face terrifyingly swollen and painful. He had dental X-rays and a cleaning on Thursday, so we were pretty confident it wasn't related to his teeth. The doctor eventually decided he had infected lymph nodes. At any rate, the illness required three trips to the doctor and two and a half days home from school. So Poshmark was put aside for a time. Now, of course, we are battening down the hatches in anticipation of Hurricane Matthew. We are praying for our vacation place on Hilton Head Island; a tornado was spotted right next door earlier this afternoon. and I've already been down once to bail out our elderly pontoon boat's cover. I didn't do too much photography today because the light wasn't great, but I did list a rare Shirley Temple dress in the Etsy shop. The Etsy sale is simple: through October 31st save 15% off any order when you use the code SPOOKTACULAR at checkout.

Lissy as Meg

Even with my little sick baby I did accomplish a lot this week. I am feeling proud. I restored and listed a huge Madame Alexander collection dating from the 1950s to the 1990s in both the eBay and Etsy shops. I have different dolls in each shop so you'll want to check both. Many of the dolls in the collection are super rare and they are just absolutely pristine. One, Lissy as Meg from Little Women, still had a piece of wrapping paper stuck to her box!

Wrapping paper still on the box

I finished a really exciting one of a kind project this week as well. I designed my own line of bags and greeting cards featuring my photo of my ultra-rare Lenci doll. The Lenci doll costs (and is worth) a fortune because she's such a historic doll and in amazing condition, so I thought Lenci lovers such as myself might want a more affordable way to get a Lenci fix. First I had a tote bag printed with the doll. This bag is gorgeous and useful. It's a generous size when unfurled but it folds up as small as a smart phone for portability. The bag is made of polyester faux silk, which is shimmery and sheer but strong and water resistant at the same time, and the back is printed in a blue, gray, and red medallion pattern. The bag is perfect as a gift bag, since it's an extra gift in itself, and would work for library books or doll making, felting, or knitting supplies as well.

My exclusive Lenci tote bag

The bag folds up for portability.

The idea of using the bag as a gift bag made me think of designing a matching greeting card, so I had one printed up. It's a blank card so it can be used for any occasion. The card is professionally printed on signature cardstock, so it can framed as art. It's another gift within a gift! It's a throwback to Madame Lenci herself, who used to release collections of postcards featuring each new series of dolls as the dolls became available. Those postcards are rare and expensive now, so I thought collectors might enjoy a modern version. This is an experiment I'm running to see if there's any demand for these types of products, so I have just one card and only two bags. If they do well I'll have more printed up.

My exclusive blank Lenci greeting card

 
My eBay store's Auction Event was a fantastic success so this month I'm trying another sale: my Shop More, Save More Sale. For each $50 you spend you get $5 to $10 off, depending on the category. Dolls and tons of kids' clothes and gear are included in this sale, which is running through October 21st. To get the discounts you add all the items you want to your cart and then check out. The sale cannot be combined with the "Make Offer" option or auction bids. The last sale cleared out so much inventory I was able to rearrange and consolidate my doll, baby, and kids' clothing and I ended up with three huge empty tubs. I guess it's time to shop for more!

Rearranging my inventory, with help from the kitten