PowerSelling on eBay

One of the reasons I feel confident about "quitting my day job" in order to pursue my mosaic art is that I have had an eBay business on the side for the past 10 years.

I started selling on eBay when I was working a very flexible part-time job from home while homeschooling my youngest child. I needed more income and eBay was something that I could fit into an already busy schedule. Besides, I've always delighted in finding good deals on vintage and antique stuff at thrift shops and garage sales, and I have a good eye for such things.

For a while, I also dabbled in having spaces in antique malls, but I found that the overhead is a lot more affordable on eBay. So I stopped trying to sell large items such as furniture and stuck to "smalls," as they are called in the antique biz, that I could ship to my customers. Eventually I decided to specialize in really small items-- things that can be shipped in an envelope--such as scarves, neckties, letter openers, swizzle sticks, etc.

Vintage designer silk scarves are my favorite thing to sell. It is very much like dealing in artwork. The designs are beautiful, the fabrics are lovely to handle, and it's fun to write up the descriptions.

Selling a lot of similar items, such as a batch of scarves, makes it easier and quicker to write up eBay listings. Since I found my niche, I've been able to boost my sales and become an eBay PowerSeller--that's someone who sells at least $1000 per month and maintains a very high feedback score from satisfied customers.

I waited a long time while raising my children to finally have time to do mosaic artwork. Now I'm finding that eBay and mosaic are a great combination! When I browse thrift shops and garage sales, I'm looking for both stuff to sell on eBay and stuff to include in my mosaics. Sometimes my purchases could go either way--for instance, today I purchased a complete set of Royal Doulton Fireglow dishes (see the cup and saucer above), not knowing how much they were worth. I figured if they were not worth selling, I could break 'em and use 'em in my mosaics! They have a nice retro floral design in bright colors and they're high-fired and will break into nice even tessera. Fortunately it turns out they will be worth my while to try selling them (I should about quintuple my investment)...but a few pieces may still end up in my artwork, if they don't sell.

I have yet to try selling any of my completed mosaic pieces on eBay, but that is definitely coming. Another thing I will try selling is some of the pottery tiles that I make. I made some beautiful oak leaf and acorn shaped tiles in a range of fall colors for a mirror, and I will try selling some of the leftover tiles on eBay. I've seen other artists' small handmade tiles sell for a lot, and I can see why. It's hard for most people who do mosaic to find unusually shaped tiles. Not everyone who does mosaic also has access to a pottery studio with kilns like I do.

Preparing to Show at a Local Coffee House

One of the seating options at Espresso Buono, 5106 196th St., Lynnwood, WA

Espresso Buono, a "European garden cafe" in Lynnwood, Washington, is the next place I'll be showing and selling my mosaic art. This coffee shop is a hidden gem. It's on 196th Street, a busy thoroughfare. Once you order your coffee and take it out back to the garden, it's as if you've been transported to a completely different time and place. There are ponds and trails, garden sculptures, and a variety of indoor and outdoor seating options. Check out the photo tour here: http://espressobuono.com/

Penny, enjoying a granita and a good book

The proprietor, Penny Wight, is an energetic person with great enthusiasm for the arts. Art work and books are sold at the cafe, and there are frequent concerts. In Penny's latest Tweet, she muses about hosting a music festival on the Espresso Buono grounds in 2010. She includes information about the artists currently selling at the shop in her website: http://espressobuono.com/our-local-artists.htm

I am still doing my part-time "day job" as an editor for a local university until my replacement is hired and trained, but today I am working from home. So it will be a great day to take a coffee break at Espresso Buono and wrap up the details of when I should begin bringing my work over. This venue is going to be perfect for my mosaics. People who love to sit in a garden setting to drink coffee will also like my birdhouses, I'm sure!

Next Steps

I'm back from my trip to visit family in Minneapolis, and now it's time to take some new steps in establishing myself as a mosaic artist.

First, I have some of my work on display at The Rose House, a beautiful Victorian house in downtown Edmonds, Washington, which a group of us are trying to save for use as a community center for the arts, wellness, sustainability and global understanding. I was the featured artist at this venue for the July monthly Art Walk, so my mosaic pieces are displayed at the front of the parlor, just as you walk into the house.

People have seen the outside of this gorgeous home for their entire lives, but often, now that we're open as a community center, this is the first time they've seen the interior. I've observed folks as they come in the door, and they are "oohing" and "ahhing" and looking at the wood floors, the beautiful windows, the staircase, the ceilings, etc. They are looking UP at the house, not DOWN or ACROSS at the artwork.

So one of the things I'll be doing this week is re-displaying some of my artwork at The Rose House in a different part of the house. Ideally I will use a little alcove upstairs off one of the bedrooms. It's almost like a little secret room. But everyone who is exploring the house for the first time will eventually come around the corner and see this little cubbyhole, and they will be charmed by discovering my mosaic work there.

Second, it's time to move into some new venues. I have one sewn up for sure and need to work on another one. More on this tomorrow!

Field Trips in Minneapolis

Handmade bas relief tile I made--envisioning what it would have looked like when my Grandpa Sorensen was a traveling salesman in southern Minnesota in the early part of the 1900s

I'm visiting my sister in Burnsville, Minnesota, a little south of Minneapolis, for several days. I'll also be going to see my 91-year-old mom, who lives in a memory care assisted home, several times while I'm here.

I always enjoy how rich the arts culture is here in the Twin Cities. My visit is a short one this time, so I won't get out to see and do much, but I am going to Clay Squared to Infinity tomorrow. It's a handmade tile store/studio/gallery in the Historic Art District that's been established in Northeast Minneapolis. Currently there is an exhibit there by members of an organization I belong to, Artisan Tile Northwest, plus the gallery also features work by about 15 Minneapolis tilemakers. I'm really looking forward to seeing this place! I'm excited about a studio that's dedicated mostly to tile. You can get information about what they're currently exhibiting at http://www.claysquared.com/gallery.htm

Speaking of tile, it looks as if my own studio, Edmonds Sculptors Workshop, may make tile the focus of our next yearly show! We vote each summer on the theme for the next summer's show, and the last time I checked, tile was getting a lot of votes.

Photo Album Completed!

I got my little photo album done that contains pictures of some of my best mosaic and handmade tile work. It is small enough to carry in my purse, so I can show it to people who are interested in what I do. It will be handy when talking to people at prospective venues. Also, I got it done before leaving today for a little trip to visit my family, and that pleases me a lot! I can hardly wait to show them what I've been up to lately.

It's only been the past year or so that I've had much time to devote to art. It has brought such richness and peace into my life to do art regularly. Yesterday, I was feeling too busy to go to my studio because I'm leaving on this trip today, but I went anyway, just for a little while. That hour-and-a-half spent making tiles for a new project made me feel calm and more ready to face the rest of the day. Afterward I came home and got everything done that I needed to.

I'll be visiting my sister, a successful painter who specializes in pet portraits. I'm looking forward to talking with her about how art fits into her life and what it does for her. As I spend more of my professional life in a studio rather than an office, I'm becoming very interested in how other artists make it work. I don't just mean financially--I'm interested in the place of art in individual lives. I've really come to realize that it's important to do art, regardless of whether it pays the bills. But I wouldn't mind at all learning how to take the "starving" out of "artist"!

Today's Project

I have to go spend the majority of my day at my day job, doing some proofreading. But when I get home this afternoon/evening, my art-related project of the day will be to print out small photos of my mosaic work so I can put together a small photo album that I can carry with me in my purse. This way I can share what I do with people wherever and whenever.

I'm taking a trip to visit family in Minneapolis later this week and it will be great to be able to bring my photos with me to show friends and relatives what I'm up to these days. My small photo album will also be a handy way of introducing my work to store owners before I bring the actual mosaic pieces in to show them.

My Day of "Rest"!

Last week I was so busy getting ready for the Edmonds Art Walk, followed closely by the charity garage sale I managed yesterday, that I had very little down time. Today it was great to get back out into my vegetable garden and do some much-needed weeding.

I simply cannot seem to go a day without throwing myself into some sort of project, though. Today I visited a lady who is having a moving sale. I had met her a few days ago when I stopped to shop at her sale. She is moving out of state later this week and absolutely must get rid of the last of her stuff before she goes. She won't be moving back here any time soon, and the expense of renting storage just isn't reasonable for her situation.

So...I asked her if she'd be willing to donate the things that don't sell in her moving sale to my beloved nonprofit, The Rose House, where we are holding a charity garage sale each Saturday. And she was delighted to say yes! She was resigned to giving away the last of her stuff, anyway. And she has some lovely things that will have some good resale value.

Today I went back to visit her and make sure she was still on board with this, and we made arrangements for me to come back with my husband's pickup truck at 6 pm, when her sale ends. I came home and made some phone calls and I've managed to round up a few more pickup trucks and some helpers.

I'm going to cherry-pick some of the best stuff to sell on eBay rather than at our garage sale. Our nonprofit might as well get full value for some of the more collectible type items.

A few weeks ago, I gave my notice at my part-time editing job so that soon, I will have more time for this sort of procuring and reselling, as well as my mosaic art work. I'm currently working a little over 20 hours per week at my "day job," but soon I'll have this time available for my own self-employment. The editing work I do is pretty complex (it's a legal research publication), so I've promised to stay on the job until a replacement is hired and fully trained. This could be in a month or several months.

In the meantime, now that the Art Walk is behind me, I'm going to start positioning my mosaic pieces in some other venues. A wonderful espresso shop next to a plant nursery has committed to taking some of my pieces, and I'm going to visit a local interior decor store to see about selling there, too. I think my bird houses, planters, mirrors and so on will be a very good fit in these stores!

Charity Garage Sale Day

Today I ran a charity garage sale to raise funds for The Rose House, a lovely Victorian house in my town (Edmonds, Washington) that we're trying to save and make into a community center. The house is currently owned by a corporation and is up for sale, so we hope we can buy it before someone else comes along and scoops it up.

Garage sales aren't going to generate enough money to buy this beautiful building, but they will help us pay the monthly rent so we can continue using the house until we find major donors, secure grants, etc. I've run garage sales at The Rose House for the past two Saturdays and have made $253 for the house so far, just from donated stuff and just working alone.

It's hard work, though! Thank goodness, we recently (as in a few days ago) got a Volunteer Coordinator. So I hope to soon have a team of people working with me on the weekly garage sales.

At the same time as the garage sale, we're also running an Arts & Wellness Fair at the house each Saturday from 9 am to 3 pm. Any Seattle-area artists or healers who would like to participate, leave me a comment, and I'll get you in touch with our Art Coordinator. The booth fee is just $30 per Saturday, and we don't take a percentage of your sales, so it's very reasonable. Getting in does require an application and pictures of your work. The house is just one block from the Edmonds Farmers Market, so the exposure is really good.

Successful Art Show!

Last night's Art Walk was a great success. I sold a couple of pieces of mosaic artwork and, best of all, I got to spend some time relaxing and enjoying the company of some great people. I'd been working hard lately to get a bunch of work done in time for the Art Walk, so having some time to just hang out was a great change of pace.

I especially enjoyed talking with one of the other volunteers at The Rose House who is a life coach and energy worker. I have a lot of great stuff to learn from her, and I'm looking forward to seeing her at future events.

The pieces that sold were some of the simpler, less expensive ones. I remember from my first art sale (at the Edmonds Sculptors Studio during Mother's Day Weekend 2009), this was also the case. People really seem to like things like a mosaic shaped like a cat or a fish. Usually I just apply mosaic to things that I randomly find at thrift stores, garage sales and the like--but I think I may start cutting out some fun shapes with my scroll saw.

I also took a few minutes during last night's Art Walk to drop in at the Francis Anderson Center where I had some handmade tiles on exhibit as part of the Edmonds Sculptors Studio transportation-themed show. I've been too busy grouting my mosaics lately to have much time to be at the studio, so it was great to see everybody! I made a series of tiles for that show that I called "Heritage." Each tile shows a form of transportation used either by me or by my ancestors.

Refrigerator Composition:
The Law of Attraction

Tonight is the Edmonds Art Walk, and my first real show as a featured artist at a gallery. My mosaics will be on display (and for sale!) at The Rose House, 555 Main Street, Edmonds, WA. The Art Walk runs from 5 to 8 pm tonight.

The Rose House is also open to the public on Saturdays from 9 am to 3 pm, when a weekly Arts & Wellness Fair is held. This beautiful Victorian home is just one block from the Edmonds Farmers Market. The works of about 15 artists are on display inside the house, and there will be other artists selling their work in the yard. There's also a weekly charity garage sale, with lots of fun stuff!

















I have a few more pieces to install this afternoon, and I'll be glad to have a little break from getting ready for this show. I've been gluin' and groutin' till the cows come home every night. (As one of my children pointed out, this could be quite an expanse of time, since we don't actually have any cows...) My garden and other aspects of my life need some attention.

The Rose House, Edmonds, Washington

THE ROSE HOUSE, 555 Main Street, Edmonds, WA


Here's an email I wrote to my cousin Patti this morning. I wanted to share the same information here on my blog.

Hi Patti,

Sorry it has taken me so long to respond. It has been a very busy time for me. I'm the featured artist at The Rose House, 555 Main Street, in the Edmonds Art Walk on Thursday night between 5 and 8 pm. Now that Betsy is nearly grown up and is so much more independent, I have found some time to start making my own pottery tiles and incorporate them into mosaic works. I still have a couple of pieces to get grouted for tomorrow night's Art Walk, though!

You are probably out of town now, but if you get a chance, stop by The Rose House any Saturday between 9 am and 3 pm. This is the big Victorian home at 6th & Main that used to be pink and then was repainted white about 10 years ago. There are Art & Wellness Fairs happening there each Saturday, and you can go into the house and enjoy the artwork of about 14 different artists. There will also be a few more artists selling their work outside and a garage sale going on in the back yard each Saturday.

There is a story that goes with the house. It is owned by a local company that was planning to tear it down or give it away so they could build a corporate headquarters on the lot. One of the blessings of the recession is that this isn't going to happen. The house is back on the market, and a nonprofit has been formed to try to buy the house before somebody else does and make it into a community center for the arts, wellness, sustainability and global understanding. I'm very involved in this effort. For the time being, the house is being rented month-to-month by Susan Blalock, the president of the nonprofit. She's working with major donors to try to come up with a down payment, as well as raising awareness and small donations so we can keep paying the rent until something bigger comes through.

I hope you'll get a chance to stop by the house...I'll be there this Thursday night and all day each Saturday for the foreseeable future (I'm in charge of the charity garage sale!). It's an elegant place that will be a perfect venue for lots of other nonprofits to use for their fundraising as well, plus it's a great space for all sorts of classes, lectures, cooking demonstrations, etc. Upstairs there are beautiful bedroom suites that could be used for artists in residence or to offer respite for health caretakers.

When I first heard about the multiplicity of goals that the nonprofit has for The Rose House, it all sounded kind of "whoo-whoo" to me. But once I stepped inside the house for the first time, I got it. It's just too nice of a place for Edmonds to lose. So many people have told me that they wish they could buy the house, but it's too expensive (currently priced at $1.1 million, I think). So the idea is to buy the house and make it a place that everyone in the community can use and enjoy. Oh my gosh! Did I mention the gardens, the green house, the gazebo, and the decks? Gorgeous!

So, anyway, I would love to get together with you when you're back home. You know where to find me on Saturdays so stop by, or give me a call and we'll meet some other day.

Love,

Sue

Grouting Day

Today my most pressing task is to get some pieces grouted in time for Thursday's Edmonds Art Walk. I already have a half-dozen pieces at The Rose House, but I have probably another half-dozen that are glued and only need to be grouted. Whether I get them all done in time is up in the air at this time, so I'm concentrating on the biggest and best pieces.

Normally I go to the Edmonds Sculptors Workshop on Tuesday afternoons to make more tiles, but I have not been able to do that for the past few weeks while getting ready for the Art Walk.

This lack of time for art should resolve soon. I have had a half-time editing job for the past 10 years that was a perfect fit for me while I was raising my youngest child. I needed to spend lots of time at home with her because public school was not a good fit and we homeschooled for a number of years. My editing job was flexible and portable, so I worked from home. But now that my youngest is 17 and can drive and exercise a lot more independence, I'm freer, too, and I've given my notice! I have to keep working for a couple of months while my replacement learns the job, which is very technical. But by sometime this coming fall, I'll have a lot more time to make tiles, assemble and grout my mosaics, and go out to market my work.

I also sell on eBay and have even achieved PowerSeller status. Most of my sales over the years have been collectibles and vintage items that I found at thrift stores, garage sales, estate sales and the like. My most successful niche has been vintage designer silk scarves. I will continue to sell found items on eBay, but I'm also looking forward to starting to list some of my own artwork when I've built up a good inventory. I'll probably use both eBay and Etsy.

My Studio Needs a Blog!

I've been a busy working mom for many years. All this time, I was doing mosaic in my head. Now the kids are nearly grown, so in the past year I've finally had time to actually begin throwing it down. Or perhaps I should say gluing and grouting it down.

I've emptied out a bedroom vacated by one of the kids and created a mosaic studio. I make my own tiles at a local sculptors studio where I can use a slab roller, kilns and so on. I also break plates to make pottery and china tiles, and I incorporate found items. In fact, most of the items I choose to cover with mosaic are found objects. I browse thrift shops, garage sales, estate sales, and antique stores for furniture and other items with good bones that I can mosaic. I particularly like to do clocks.

I'm beginning to have some success with selling my mosaics. I am in two galleries this month and am the featured artist at one of them for our town's monthly Art Walk. You can see my work at The Rose House, 555 Main Street, Edmonds, Washington, all this month and particularly this Thursday night from 5 to 8 pm during the Art Walk. I also have some handmade tiles on display at the Frances Anderson Center, 700 Main Street, Edmonds, Washington.

Sue Soaring Sun