"What Sells and What Doesn't: Vintage Ephemera Booth Arizona"

Hello there! I'm Pamela and I'm so thrilled to be part of Carol's
series of "What sells and what doesn't..." 

I stay pretty busy with one booth, 

maintaining a few blogs and three

FB pages {including one for the antique mall},

and a new office offsite for my online business...

I currently have one booth at

 The Brass Armadillo Antique Mall

in Goodyear, AZ...

It's called, "Phoenix Scrapbook Store"...

I specialize in Vintage & Shabby style

Paper Arts, Vintage Ephemera, etc.,

{Paper Crafting items that aren't

 SOLD at the chain craft stores...}

I have been selling paper crafting items since 2006

I sell in high-volume...lots of "smalls", which

include LOTS of paper and items I package.

"Smalls" are smaller items that are priced under $5...

My first booth was too small to fit any big furniture.

My biggest seller are pretty papers...

Shoppers LOVE vintage images...

German Dresden foil for pretty crafty

and artsy creations...

I keep my prices "thrifty"...shoppers buy MORE 

and they keep coming back.

I restock & merchandise my booth 2-3 times a week.

I also advertise my booth on Craigslist

and blog about it too...

 BIG price tags are a great way

to catch a shopper's attention when they

walk by your booth or case...

I used to have two booths at BOTH

Brass Armadillo locations, but I recently

signed a lease on an office to return to

eCommerce {online selling}...so, I gave up

the booth location that was further away.

It's interesting, but each booth location would

have BEST SELLERS...painted furniture and vintage suitcases

{and LOTS of scrapbook papers too} were my best sellers at

one location...

Painted old frames, repurposed items, and paper are

BEST SELLERS at the other location...esp if they 

are pink or white!

What doesn't sell:
Wall art
Lamps
Individual old photo's
Old books
But, If I put together a package with some old photo's, book pages, stickers, and say scrabble tiles.....Selling them as packages moves them out fast.

Another great package could be old lace, buttons, and spools of old thread....You get the idea, take a lot of small items and group them in a clear bag and out the door they will go!

I am a bit bias toward pink and blues...LOL!

I always chuckle when I see an 

occasional guy wander into my booth...

they usually look embarrassed and quickly 

walk out of my booth...ha ha!

A view from the aisle...

We like to call this the "Shabby Lane" aisle, 

because there are several other dealers in this

aisle that sell Shabby-style merchandise...

Great synergy!

Pretty displays keep shoppers coming back...

I use old suitcases and train cases to display items...

I also LOVE using old porcelain 

cookware & muffin tins to

display items which are always for sale...

If you are ever in the Phoenix area, please

stop by my booth inside The Brass Armadillo

in Goodyear, AZ...

If you LOVE vintage images, you might enjoy 

my other BLOG site too:

FreeVintageDigiStamps

Thanks-a-million for stopping by!!!

xoxo

-PaMeLa ;)

Hi, Carol here!  Pamela, thank you for educating us about selling Paper Arts and Vintage Ephemera.   I love your packaging idea!  I'm thrilled to include Pamela in this selling series as a great example of successful selling of different types of merchandise.  Since I have gotten to know Pamela I have added a section to my booth with vintage book pages, scrabble tiles, bingo cards, old wrapping paper etc.


Do any of you sell paper crafting items in your booths or at fairs and flea's?   Is it a good seller?

Happy Creating!
Carol

~~~~~

I have put a tab at the top of my blog called "Selling Antiques" this is where I have put links to all of my posts regarding selling in an antique malls and guest posts from sellers around the country 

Shabby Fabric Heart...Fourteen days of Crafting!

Some day's crafting is fun and some day's crafting is really fun.....This was a really fun day making these 

Shabby Valentine Hearts!

I'm joining the fun at the 14 Days of Crafting Party at JoJo & Eloise (Formerly known as Prince "Ruby Jean")

I love vintage linen but, often end up with pieces that are stained or have holes.   I never throw the linen out when there is still some good parts left.

Now, Here's the cliff notes on making these Shabby Hearts 

Use vintage fabric

Cut two heart shaped pieces of fabric

Sew together right sides out

Clip the edges

Throw in the washer and dryer

Stuff and Embellish

For those of you that would like a little more detail.....

Cut a heart out of card stock for a pattern, cut a 4 inch loop of fabric for hanging, and 2 pieces of heart shaped fabric

Sew together right side out leaving an area open for stuffing.  I used a 1/2 seam on the puppy, but found that was to wide, I got more shabbiness with a regular 5/8 inch seam.

Now cut little slits in the side, if you cut the slits to far apart your pillow will look like a 70's vest...Said "A girl from the 70's!"

To wide a slits and it will end up looking like this...Not bad

But, if you cut the slits close together, it will look nice and shabby like this

The magic shabbiness really happens when you throw the heart in the Washer and Dryer...It won't work if you just wet it and throw it in the dryer...Ask me how I know!

Then stuff it with fiberfill, sew the opening closed, and embellish

Hurry over to visit Angelina at JoJo & Eloise where you will see adorable Valentine craft's for Fourteen days!

Angelina's son is in the hospital, so I know she would appreciate your prayers and support.  I think we should send her 14 days of LOVE

And please visit these wonderful blogs that have joined in the 14 days of crafting fun!

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia  
 A Spoonful Of Sugar Designs 
Live Laugh Rowe 
Craft Berry Bush    
Yesterday On Tuesday   
Mom 4 Real
504 Main 
Rook no17

Happy Creating!
Carol

"What Sells and What Doesn't: Flea Market in Missouri"

Hello lovelies!

 My Name is Olivia from Olivia's Romantic Home blog and I am delighted to be featured on "What Sells and What Doesn't"!

I rent two darling flea market booths in space #71 at Cadwell's and Main Street Flea Market in the old
historic district in downtown Branson, Missouri and I also sell online at Olivia's Romantic Home Etsy. 

 This is my larger booth where one of my best sellers are painted furniture and cottage signs! 

 The colors that sell the best for me are light turquoise, greens, creams and bright white.
As much as I adore pink, it is not my hottest seller.
I make the best profit off of painting and repurposing dark colored furniture.

 This is the outside space of my little booth where I have used an old hoosier cabinet top on top of a vintage enamel table to display some winter sale items.
(Winter is our off season, when I do some markdowns to clear out and get ready for the season)

I also adore old ladders, they sell very quickly when all painted up and displayed!
 I have them at the top of both of my booths where I hang chandeliers, baskets and canopies.
This old ladder I shabbied up and then added nails to the top so I could hang items off of it!

 A must have in my booths are vintage mannequins.

I love to dress them in vintage romantic outfits, layer on some jewelry and then top it off with a vintage hat! I always sell the outfits and jewelry my girls are dressed up in!

I go to town decorating up my booths, I always keep a basket of small doilies and vintage linens for people to rummage through, a super easy sell!

I use tons of linens all over my walls creating faux windows and canopies to make things feel romantic!
 I also like to display copies of Victoria, Romantic Homes and Country Living around my booths.

Keeping my booths full and fluffed up is the key to my success!
We are a tourism town, so, I try to keep plenty of items that are small and priced between $2-$20 for folks to buy and easily pack into their cars.
White painted mirrors and frames also fly out of my booth!

I always have dishes in my booths, but I do not buy expensive China.
I buy inexpensive mismatched pretty teacups, saucers and bowls.
They are nice to use for displaying and I do sell them, when priced cheap.

 I also look for cabinet and shelf toppers that will add height to my booths.
Painted grocery and wine crates are great to add and change up displays.

 I adore old dollies and try to keep one or two in each booth.
Believe it or not, people still collect dolls, as long as they are priced reasonably.
I look for items that draw character to my booths.

 I also do fairly well with antique pictures, postcards and cards.
I am also still doing well with old window, shutters and scales.
The rusty crusty stuff is pretty hot right now!

I also have a "man" section in each booth that sports antique tools, military, photos and books.
Believe it or not I sell quite a bit of old military hats, coats, flags and man style what nots!

I am a firm believer that almost anything will sell at the right price.

So for me if something is sitting around too long, I mark it down and move it out so I can buy new treasures!
 I also sell online over the top Shabbydazzle romantic decor and pink Christmas at
 Olivia's Romantic Home Etsy!

 I will tell you that I am beyond blessed to do what I adore and make enough money to allow me to be a "stay at home mom".
I am passionate about taking what you have and making the best of it!
A big squishy hug goes out to Carol for featuring me as a guest blogger.
Thank you so very much for stopping by!
xoxo
Olivia

Hi, Carol here...Olivia, thank you so much for all of your great tips on what sells and what doesn't!  Head over to her gorgeous blog Olivia's Romantic Home and look at her Shabbydazzled, Drool worthy blog, home, and Creations

Happy Creating!
Carol

Renningers Antique Extravaganza

I wish I could have brought you all along with me yesterday.   I went to Renningers, an antique market in Mount Dora, Florida, 1/2 hour west of Orlando.  

Three times a year they host an "Antique Extravaganza" with a 1000 dealers from around the country!

Rows and fields of vendors

 A vendor I always look forward to seeing is Cindy Cross, she has  a ton of small things

I bought a few of those bedsprings, I am not sure what I will use them for, but I just had to have them!

OK, so here was my buy's for the day, some springs, jars, jewels, fabric, pin cushion and linen.

I love the hat and I often buy linen just to use the crochet edge.  I can pick a stained piece up for .50 -$1.00, but the hand crochet edging....Priceless

It was my idea of a perfect day
Sunny
73 degrees
Surrounded by junk!

Happy Creating@
Carol

Join me Thursday  for a guest blogger that sells in Flea markets in Missouri

 Don't forget to your girls ready for the Dress Form linky Party