$7.00 bagel with cream cheese

I was told these were the best bagel in town, if not in the nation. The actual bagel place is called Boichik in Berkley. They got a huge write up in the New York   Times which  put them on the map.  

The coffee shop down the street goes every morning and stands in line to get the bagels for his shop. I have a gluten issue so I limit myself to one bagel a year because I know what's going to happen to my tummy. 

So was it worth it?  It was good but was it $7.00 good? I know the coffee shop had to mark it up so if I had gotten it from the actual bakery (I think $3.00) it was worth it. I have to think of it as going out to eat, I didn't have to stand in line, buy the cream cheese or toast it. So it's good but then I don't normally eat bagels. Was fun to give it a try!

Books by the box

It takes a lot of different people to run a thrift store with the business format we use at TK. I use consignment people for the more high end stuff because they can get a much better price than I could at the store. They do all the work and we just get the check, a win win for everyone. 

 When it comes to books, it's a very labor and back breaking deal. The amount I would have to go through to find the few clean ones isn't worth the amount we would get for the books. Really I wouldn't have a book section but it's something customers expect to find at a thrift store. Some people do comment that we're a little higher than the other thrift stores but I point out we only have quality books that are clean. Our select maybe small but it's all good stuff. I use an online book seller who picks up everything we get in (and we get a lot) goes through everything and brings back what will sell. His work keeps our book section well stocked with a good history of selling. In the picture, that was just one donation of hardcover books. You can't see the the all the boxes but it was 9 boxes. 

I'm still not very fluent on what books will sell the fastest but I do know we have a very nice collection on almost every subject. 

Toy Cars are in the House

At the store the volunteers run the front and handle all the sales.

I mainly handle all the donations coming in besides the business end of running the store. I do get to decide (so long as the arm chair quarterbacks don't stop by) the look of the store. I do encourage my volunteers to make suggestions and question the reason why I decide to do something. 

We do sell a lot of jewelry but with the prices so low, it doesn't add up to a lot for the space it takes up. So I decided to change up the display cases after we got in another toy car donation. The little cars have a much higher price point and they do sell well. I think the display turned out really well and now we'll have to see if I made the right choice. 

Hello or Halloween card?

This was going to be my Halloween card but time just got away from me and with the post office taking a whole lot longer to deliver the mail, I know it won't get to my buddies in time. So now do I put "hello" or still go with "happy halloween - just a bite late". Doesn't the bird look like a vampire?

Creative time - Gelli Plate

I'm slowly getting my art work space set up so I can have some creative time when I'm up for it.  Work is very mentally draining having to dealing with so many different people and sort of being an island in a much bigger and very different organization. Long story there for another time. 

I was inspired by Sand Allnock and Jennifer Mcguire's posts about using a gelli plate to make backgrounds. I turned my breakfast nook area (which I never use) into a mess art area since it has tile floors. I don't have to worry about dropping paint on my wool area rugs anymore. Working with the gelli plate is very fun and super messy!  Since I don't really have any set idea on what the finally outcome has to be it's just playtime. I do end up with a lot of back grounds!  With my stack of backgrounds, I started turning them into cards. I thought I was going to make leaves out of them but I ended up using this sentiment instead. I had to make a quick card to mail with my rent check to my landlord. 

I did pull out Tim Holtz's crazy birds stamps and I thought I would make some Halloween cards but I only got to stamping them before flashed by. Maybe someday it will turn into a card. :) 

Christmas Cards

I'm slowing working on my Christmas cards and now that I decided the main design, it's the little things. Do I just put the die cut over the paper weaving or inset it into the die cut. I know it's hard to see in the photo but the inset one does look a little better. Only my card making buddies would see the difference. :). I do plan to add a banner sentiment over the front but haven't gotten there yet.  Still thinking maybe I'll get halloween cards out, that's a really big maybe!!!

Now that I have more space and can leave things out  (I go over to Mees's house to babysit)  so my place is a hot mess! If I only have a few minutes to do something I can if I have the energy after work.  I do work much better when I can binge watch/listen to something interesting but with the pandemic there isn't much I haven't already gone through. Always in search of something!

New messy art space

It's been a super long time since I got out my paints (and I have a lot) to just play. I'm not a painter but I do make a great mess!

My new place is about 3X the size of my studio back in Cupertino (which I still miss) so what it lacks in any outdoor space, I have room to move around. It's been so busy opening the store that I haven't really spent time on making the space work for my life style. 

When I first moved in I thought the front living room area would be my art space but with my large wool rug there, I'm always worried about getting paint or ink on it. There is a breakfast nook area that I haven't used since I got my dining room table. To me it was wasted space I was paying for and not using. I finally decided to turn it into my messy art project space since it has tile floors and across from the kitchen sink. I just have to add better lighting since I like to work at night.  So far it's working out pretty well!

Truck loads of stuff

Last week I had 4 truck loads of stuff dropped off at the store. It was so much that it covered every flat surface we had in the back rooms. It took almost 5 days of sort everything out and get the store cleaned up. I was surprised that there wasn't anything for my consignment person = no high end or vintage. 

You would think there would be at least a few things. There was another group that was having a garage sale to raise money for a girl's group and they wanted us to come pick up whatever was left over. That basically means haul away their junk. I went to be polite but there wasn't anything we could use at the store. I did take all the artwork, not because the artwork was good but for the frames. I removed all the artwork that was so dirty and damaged it's couldn't be saved. The frames are from the 1960's (was a cheap frame back then too) which cleaned up well. Funky enough they should sell well. 

You can see the picture in the left hand corner - that was the one I really wanted. I didn't even know what the subject matter was until it got into the store, it was the huge gold frame that I wanted. We just had a customer come in that day and buy the artwork we had in that spot just for the frame. They asked if we had any more gold frames and I said check back because we get stuff in all the time. 

I do try to find unique things that set us apart from the other thrift store but the pressure is on now to make more money. Without the volunteer support I don't see how we can have longer hours without burning out myself and my assistant. 

Starting my Christmas Cards

I'm slowly starting to make my Christmas cards. It's been very hectic at work and when I get home I'm not really feeling very creative. I have all the supplies to make whatever I want and sometimes I feel guilty about not doing something. 

Since I don't craft everyday like I use to and after moving I still  have to search out the supplies I will need. I'm doing everything in baby steps and hopefully will get them done in time. 

I'm doing paper weaving again (did the circle a while back) with a tree die cut. Still trying to use up all the washi paper I have!

Pumpkin Time Again 2021

Back in the day I use to go all out and decorate both the inside and outside of my house. Even when I lived up in the hills in my little studio I decorated the property with full graveyards and ghost flying through the trees. 

These are the things that survived the last move I made. The bigger things went into the store for the front window displays and my daughter's yard. I just kept the smalls here to make my place a little festive. I'm still deciding if I should make Halloween cards or just focus on my Christmas cards. I'm not doing the big holiday card exchange this year since I know I won't have time to make 125. Went to a really sad pumpkin patch with Evan's family. Mees wasn't to sure what it was all about but he did like climbing the hay bales. Henk just wanted to sleep. :) There's talk we'll go to Half Moon Bay for a better experience for Jip, who thought this outing was a total waste of time. We did go to In and Out burger to cheer him up. 

Finding the red bowl

When I was down in Cupertino, I went to one of the bigger Goodwill stores and found this yellow pyrex bowl. So now I'm in search for the rest of the set. It's the hunt that's the fun part of picking! As I was cruising through an online auction, I spotted what I think is the very hard to find red bowl. The  description for the lot didn't say anything about pyrex but it's a red and green bowl to the set I'm looking for, at least I think it is. These online auctions are tough because you can't see things in person and sometimes things are damaged after the photos are taken. I'm taking a chance these are the ones I'm looking for and in good shape!

Looking to move once again.

It's just crazy nuts here in Alameda. The crime rate is through the roof and it's not getting any better. The police force here is very small but they have to deal with the rift raft coming in from Oakland which is basically a war zone.  Last week there was a drive by shooting on my street and only 4 houses away! I was lucky that I was babysitting when it all happened and I do live in the better part of town! So yes I'm starting the process to move once again. :(

Last night someone was just laying on his horn. I looked out my window to see that someone parked their car in front of his driveway trapping him in.  Park Ave (one street over from me) is the Main Street of Alameda so with all the restaurants having seating on the street, there's no parking, forcing people to park in the residential area. Another neighbor came out and moved his car so the guy could drive over the sidewalk to get out. A patrol car showed up about 45 minutes later and stayed there until the girls came back to their car. It's people doing stupid stuff like this that takes up the police time!

Really miss my little studio in Cupertino!