Happy December 1st.  Yeah, I know.  Most of you are thinking, “ok, what’s so great about today”???  Well nothing really, except that I am smoke free for one whole month today.  I quit smoking on the 1st of November, but didn’t tell a lot of people in case I failed.  Now, a month later, I feel comfortable enough to tell everyone.  I had been a smoker for almost 30 years and I had actually quit 3 times before.  I quit smoking both times I got pregnant, but started up again as soon as my kids were weened.  I also quit a few years back, but ended up gaining about 50 pounds in the process and started smoking out of depression again.  This time, however, I was ready.  I honestly believe that if you’re not ready in both your heart and your mind, you won’t quit.

Anyway, that’s not really what I wanted to write about here today.  I wanted to talk about the little challenge that I’m taking on this month.  I joined the NaNoWriMo challenge last month, but didn’t get very far.  Then, I found a site that is dedicated to NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month.  Although this usually takes place in the month of November, they also have it set up so that you can work the challenge on any given month of the year.  I’m going to try and complete the challenge for the month of December.  Like I don’t have enough other things to do this month.  LOL

Why did I choose December?  Mainly to see if I can do this in the busiest month of the year.  Not only am I in the process of getting things ready for Christmas, a couple friends and I are in the process of opening up our own store.  Not only will it be online, but it will be a real shop right here in our little town.  The name of the shop is Calico Acres Thrifts and Gifts.  It’s going to be a classy thrift shop and a place for us to sell our handmade craft items.  I personally do quilts and quilt pillows.  Once we get our poop in a group, I’ll post the link to the site.  We already own the domain name, but I haven’t done anything with it yet.

Then, on top of all that, I’m still ghost writing for another blogger.  As of right now, there’s only one client, but that’s ok.  Sometimes, it’s better to only work for one person than a bunch of people.  You don’t get quite as confused with the orders.  LOL.  With all of this, I’m really hoping that I’ll have enough fodder to gab about for the whole month of December.  I don’t know how it will work out, but let’s all go along for the ride.  If nothing else, someone is sure to get a good laugh out of all this at my expense.  LOL

Ciao for Now,
Christine

I am once again working on opening a new online store.  Not an auction site, but a real storefront type place.  I have one store on another site, but I don’t want to put all my eggs into one basket, so to speak.  So, I’ve been doing some research into different sites and have found one that I think is a pretty good place.  The site is called Bonazle.com and it seems decent, which is why I went ahead and created my own booth called Prairied Treasures.

One of the things I look for is base price.  I’m a bottom-line-it kinda person.  The thing I like about this site is that there are no fees for listing items.  You can add as many items to your personal page as you want, without having to pay for little things like adding pictures and such.  As far as ending fees, there are some but they’re not bad.  They way they figure ending costs is by combining the total for the product and the shipping costs.  Anything under $10 will cost 50 cents.  From $10 to $50 will cost $1, and so on.  The high end is that anything over $1000 will cost you $10.

Another feature of this site is the option to have Bonanzas.  This is a super mini auction that can last anywhere from 1-3 hours.  Though I doubt I’ll be using this feature anytime soon, it’s a great way to bring in extra sales for those who enjoy the auction atmosphere.

The one thing I like most about this site is that you can choose your selling options.  You can only sell to those in your own country, or choose International shipping.  They also give you several ideas on how to promote your site to bring in more customers.  Plus, there is a great forum area filled with like-minded sellers who are more than happy to help you along.

So, if you’re looking for a place to set up shop, or you’re just looking for a place to start doing your Christmas shopping, I recommend checking out Bonazle.com.  And while you’re there, be sure to stop by my booth and say hi.

Well, as you can tell, I got bored and spruced up the place once again. For me, redesigning a blog is a lot like rearranging my living room. New looks give me a sense of accomplishment, even if I really don’t get anything done. LOL. I realized that it had been quite awhile since the last time I’d posted anything over here, so I went and found some new paint and curtains and made the place all purty again.

I haven’t been doing much of anything exciting lately. Except for the fact that I went and got myself a new online store. That’s right, boys and girls, I am now the proud storekeep of a little place I like to call Prairied Treasures. It’s not much of a store yet, but there are a few things up for sale or auction, whichever you prefer. I opened my little store at a site called Webidz.com, and haven’t once regretted my decision.

Webidz.com is a great online auction site. Unlike Ebay, this site doesn’t charge you an arm and a leg in fees. My little store only cost me a one time fee of $5 to get started. There are no listing fees, no selling fees, and no ending fees. Now that’s my kind of place. If I decide to upgrade to a bigger store, then it will cost me a little each month/year, depending on what I decide on. The most expensive store in the place is only $33 per year and that gives your store both a featured spot and the chance to upload as many as 500,000 items.

There’s no way I could ever put up that many items, so I’m happy with what I’ve got. My store lets me post 250 items and I can keep relisting them for auction without extra cost. If I decide to have one of my items show up in the featured category, it will cost me a whooping 8 cents per auction. If I want to just highlight my item, it will cost me a penny. I think I can handle that much. I’m still in learning mode, so I’m not getting too excited just yet.

Even though all of this is totally cool, the best part is the community behind Webidz. I have never met such a neat, caring bunch of people online ever. Everyone in the forums go the extra mile to help out the new kids. Because of these awesome people, I’ve already made 2 sales. Even if I don’t make another sale for awhile, I’m thrilled about these two.

So, I guess I need to get back to work and take some more pictures. I’ve got a lot of things I want to get added to my store, and they’re not going to do it by themselves. I really am happy that I found this place and I hope to make this a real business venture. I won’t claim to be the smartest kid in class, but I’ll do whatever it takes to figure it all out.