Holiday Aftermath!

All the preparations, decorating, cooking, shopping, wrapping - all over & done with until the next occasion. New Year's is almost upon us. This year, we were saavy & bought our champagne in November. Yes, we avoided the increased prices on champagne this year. Not to mention going for champagne now & discovering that they're out of stock on all the good champers & all that's left is the "el cheapo turpentine" or "California gasoline". And as this year draws to a close, it's also time to keep my fingers crossed & hope for a few more good sales to end this year. So starting tomorrow, I'll be discounting some items & listing new ones at what I hope are hard to resist prices.

And once all the holiday decorations are put away for another year, maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to have some time of my own & relax (wishful thinking!) & enjoy a cup of fragrant tea. So Happy New Year to all & to all Good Buys!

We're getting down to the wire now. We had our first snow storm on Sat. Snowed all day & all night - trapped in the house, impossible to go anywhere! Roads were a bit slick on Sunday but managed to get out & do a couple of quick errands.

Of course, who would have ever thought we'd run out of wrapping paper today?! So tonite, need to have hubby get wrapping paper. And OMG! Just discovered I have around 3-4 cards left to write & mail! Could be worse - history could have repeated itself & I could've been like my (late) mother, writing out cards at midnight on Xmas Eve.

Baking is almost all finished. But I'd love to know who the culprit is that made off with my gingerbread man cookie cutter! Necessity is the mother of invention. I made gingerbread snowmen & dusted them off with powered sugar & they are now nestled in a snowman tin, all ready for the trusty schoolbus driver.

Hopefully the 2 last minute Xmas pressies I ordered will be in the mail by Xmas Eve.

Remembering John Lennon

Today is the 29th Anniversary of the loss of the greatest musician in the world. Even after all these years, it is with a sense of great sadness & shock that John Lennon is no longer with us. While there is still sorrow in my heart today, ah, the wonderful memories that I will always remember. John has left us a rich legacy of his music, art, writings & his sons, Julian & Sean.

I chose to post this photo of the travelling John Lennon Recording Studio Bus, as I have concerns of posting my personally taken photos of & with John, for concern that they will be pirated.

I was one of the very fortunate fans to have met John and spoken to him any number of times. I was one of the lucky 1st Generation Beatles fans who saw The Beatles perform live at Shea Stadium. And also fortunate enough to attend John's One To One Concert at NY's Madsion Square Garden in the 70's. Until that horrible, fateful evening, like all Beatles fans, I was very much looking forward to John's touring again after being a househusband & raising Sean during those first 5 years.

Although Paul has always been my favourite Beatle, once John moved to NYC and eventually into The Dakota, he was the one that was the most accessible & easiest to see. Walking around West 72nd Street, Central Park, almost anywhere in NYC, it was a given that one would see John walking around like any other person. Sometimes with Sean, sometimes with Yoko or other people.

John's mood could change like the weather. One moment, he would be the devoted father & husband, then the charming, witty "I'm enjoying talking to these fans who've been patiently waiting for hours & days" to the scathingly, sarcastic, annoyed man who has had it up to his ears with persistant paparazzi that wouldn't take no for an answer.

Waiting at The Dakota in all kinds of weather with my friends. Taking turns keeping watch while we would run a few doors up to a nearby hotel to quickly use the rest room, hurrying, hurrying lest we miss seeing John coming in or out. Chatting with a variety of people who were at The Dakota from the doorman on duty to Jay in the office to any one on John's staff, including Nishi, Fred, Misaki or Helen. Having a little fun with the strangers who would pass by & throw comments our way. Once, some little old pensioner asked us who we were waiting for. Too good to pass up coming back with a snappy answer, one of us replied: "Jack Lemmon!"

Going to the Argo on the corner for coffee (John often frequented this place) & giggling like mad when we saw Tiny Tim come in! And the other celebrities who either also lived in The Dakota or in the vicinity. Rex Reed was one of the funniest to observe. He always rushed past, pretending he was ignoring us. Gilda Radner once came down 72nd Street on one of the hottest July days, wearing a red ski cap! Roberta Flack was one of the nicest Dakota residents who always had a smile & a friendly greeting while Lauren Bacall despised us & once said: "Who are you people, you leaches, you!" That was met with a burst of laughter.

But not to digress. Seeing John was always the highlight of any fan's day. We knew when to approach him & when to just stand quietly & not intrude. I saw him one last time before that terrible night. I never, ever thought that it would be the last time. John was so happy, so excited about planning a world tour & we were all just as excited & making plans that would be extinguished in a flurry of shock, tears & disbelief. I'm sure wherever John is now, he's looking down & smiling & wishing us all peace & happiness.

I Need A Few of Santa's Elves & Reindeer Too!

I just discovered we're out of Xmas cards. Bought one box so far, but it's not enough. So here I am, writing out cards. The first few going to people who've already sent us cards.

My husband informs me that we'll be taking our Xmas photos at home & he'll be setting the camera on the tripod. So photos will be late or sent out separately. Hopefully, we'll be getting our tree this weekend too.

Speaking of trees, this is absolutely our last year with a real tree. They're getting to be too expensive, it's a drag trying to find the perfect tree every year & not getting it too soon either. Plus I don't care what anyone says, I'm tired of finding pine needles in July. And the pine needles hurt my fingers.

Haven't finished shopping for gifts yet. Throw our son's b'day on Boxing Day into the mix with Christmas & that means planning 2 celebrations. One on his actual b'day with family & 2 2nd party after the holidays with his friends. And shopping for b'day presents & wrapping them. Not to mention ordering 2 b'day cakes - one for each party.

And buying & wrapping a gift for his teacher, sending goodie bags for his classmates. Yes, they still have holiday parties in Middle School.

In between all of this, cleaning the house, decorating for the holidays, buying toys for our pets stockings - all you animal lovers out there understand this! - & finally listing things to sell on eBay, Bonanzle & everywhere else in between! Oh yes, and one more detail, getting caught up with scrapbooking! Luckily I'm not too far behind - have to get the last 2 months photos in our current scrapbook album. Which brings us to my fellow scrapbookers! This week I'm listing a big lot of scrapbooking pages at: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/treasurecoop. And be sure to check out my booth on Bonanzle: GypsysMagicCaravan for more gift items!

Designs on Shirts

I've always enjoyed crafting & putting designs on t-shirts & sweatshirts is something I've done on & off for a number of years. Back in the 70's, when Holly Hobbie was really popular, I made & sold kids t-shirts with hand-painted Holly Hobbie designs on them. In the 80's & 90's when iron-on fabric appliques with fusible web backings were popular, I made, sold & gave as gifts, not just t-shirts & sweat-shirts but also canvas tote bags & aprons. I didn't just settle for placing the appliques (Daisy Kingdom was one of my favourites) on the various items I made. I embellished them with fabric paint & fabric glitter. I also personalized some of them.

Currently, I'm now making t-shirts & sweatshirts with foil & crystal designs. Some with designs that appear to be understated at first, but when someone is wearing one of these shirts, they are more eye-catching. Today I made a black sweatshirt with crystal angel's wings on the back. This took a little more time than I anticipated as I had to stop many times during the process to chase a couple of very nosy cats away in order to avoid singed fur or worse. Anyway, I'm very please with the way this one turned out. I've decided to not put anything on the front of the shirt. This way it can be worn with a pin, broach or other jewelry to complement it. I also like it so much, I've decided to keep it for myself. But soon will post a photo of it & will gladly be taking orders for ones like it.

This Is My Day

One of my favourite songs.

Welcome To TreasureCoop

Welcome to TreasureCoop & my blog. I've been selling on eBay for several years & also have a store, TreasureCoop, I also started expanding my horizons & began selling on other sites. Weather permitting, Spring & Fall, we also enjoy selling at flea markets.



Comparing online selling to selling at flea markets, both have it's pluses & minuses. The minuses of online selling being: Not getting paid at all by Buyers, which creates more work, more aggro trying to collect and/or getting fees back. Then there's the feedback issues. Buyers who leave no FB at all, undeserved Negative/Neutral FB & of course, those ridiculous DSR's (when one sells on eBay) also affect your status. At flea markets, one gets paid on the spot, no FB & no DSR's to be concerned about. Selling online, you choose whether or not to list items on any given day, you don't have to be concerned about weather & you don't have to have someone to watch over your table/space/booth while you go to the bathroom or get something to eat! With flea markets, your merchandise must be under watchful eyes at all times. And if the weather is bad the day of the flea, if it's outdoors, you keep your fingers crossed for good weather on the rain date. And if the weather turns ugly during the flea, be prepared to cover up, pack up & leave if the weather isn't about to change. Whether one sells online or at flea markets, one thing is for sure - you get to communicate with all kinds of people. Some nice, some nuisances & some just downright entertaining!

Anyway, with the holidays upon us, it's time to look for the right gift for everyone. And at TreasureCoop, my prices are reasonable, I ship fast, don't gouge on shipping & handling & I carry an eclectic variety of items for the entire family! My FB is 100% Positive & I work very hard to keep it that way. New items listed frequently & Free Gifts with every purchase, no matter how big or small!