Friday, November 29, 2013

Black Friday/Cyber Monday!

Black Friday/Cyberr Monday Sale at Move the Needle
Just head on over to my shop to start shopping. This is the biggest Black Friday/Cyber Monday discount I have had sofar!

Do you shop for Black Friday or Cyber Monday?

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Paisley Inspiration

Paisley is a distinctive intricate pattern of curved, feather-shaped figures based on a pine-cone design from India. Here is some paisley inspiration:










See more paisley inspiration here.

Friday, November 22, 2013

Personal Winter Photos

We got our first snowfall last week. It didn't stick, but I got some photos:















Do you like snow?

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Illuum Website Review

Illuum Website Review

Illuum is a website that lets you track your happiness. Every day, you give your day and rating from 1-10. You can also include a photo or a trackable for each day. A trackable lets you track things long term. You can write a goal, a big decision or anything else you want and every day, you track how you are doing. It lets you see if certain things are related to each other, like you might be happier on days you workout than days you don't.

Illuum is an interesting website. It's kind of like a journal of your mood. I like using it and I try to login everyday. I'm not sure if it's actually going to change or improve my happiness or life significantly, but it's made me more aware of what makes me happy and what makes a day good or bad. I recommend trying it out.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

New Business Pinterest

I made a new Pinterest specifically for Move the Needle here. I have a personal Pinterest here where my blog is linked, but I wanted to try making a business Pinterest for my shop. I am trying to pin paper and journal related items.




Here are a couple boards I created:

Paper



Edible Books



Writing



Feel free to follow me!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

SaneBox and Unroll.Me Inbox Cleaners Review

I tried out two inbox cleaner services that make your email easier to read. This is my review of the websites SaneBox and UnRoll.Me.

I started off by trying SaneBox. SaneBox prioritizes emails and summarizes the rest. SaneBox uses algorithms to determine the importance of each email. It moves unimportant messages in to a separate folder. Important emails stay in your inbox. If you want to manually tell SaneBox which emails are important and which aren't, you can do that too. It also has other features like moving attachments into a cloud such as DropBox and allowing you to set follow up reminders. It works with any email provider and you don't have to download anything.

SaneBox is not free. Subscriptions start at $2/month, which is not a bad price. You can try it free for 2 weeks. I liked using SaneBox during my trial because it made my Inbox easy to read. I liked that when I opened my email, I saw only important updates and emails I wanted to see right away and all the other stuff was in another folder that I could go through later. I ended up not buying a subscription because I discovered Unroll.Me which is like a free version of SaneBox.

Unroll.Me makes a daily summary of your subscription emails in one email. If you click on an email update, it takes you to the Unroll.Me site where you can read it in full. Unroll.Me supports most main email providers like Yahoo, Outlook and AOL Mail.



I like Unroll.Me because it's completely free. I use it for my business and personal emails. It's easy to control your emails and I like that this site makes it really easy to unsubscribe to emails you don't want. Some cons I've noticed are sometimes it won't recognize all emails that go through that I want to unsubscribe or add to my rollup. Other than that, I've enjoyed using Unroll.Me.

I recommend either site for managing your Inbox. Do you use any email services like these sites?

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Sold Thank You Card

I sold a greeting card to my dad:



This thank you card uses green grass decorative paper that is cut out in heart shapes.

You can check out more greeting cards in my shop.

Friday, November 8, 2013

Writing Quotes

These are some quotes about writing I like:








See journals in my shop. Did you know if you subscribe to my mailing list you will get 10 art journaling ideas and writing prompts for free?

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

These are some recent Halloween and autumn themed photos I took:

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

Pumpkin Pudding

I made pumpkin pudding for Halloween. I just used a recipe for chocolate pudding and replaced the cocoa powder with canned pumpkin.

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

I love the colors of leaves when they change.

Luna the Cat

This is a photo I got of my cat, Luna.

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

Personal Halloween and Autumn Photos

I made a skull garland for Halloween with pieces of scrap felt and ribbon.

You can see my Flickr for more photos. Do you like to take photos?

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

How to Sell Fashion Online




If you have used clothes, fashion is great to sell online. Here are some tip for selling fashion:

Choosing Where to Sell

There are many places where you can choose to sell fashion online. Some sites are aimed specifically for selling fashion while other websites let you sell a variety of items. These are some places to buy or swap fashion online:

ThreadFlip - ThreadFlip makes it easy to sell clothes. You can cashout with PayPal or use your credits to shop.

FashionHaunt - There is no listing cost on FashionHaunt and you can list as many items as you want. Get paid with PayPal.

eBay - eBay is a great place to sell clothes. They have a whole fashion section. 

Dresm - Buy and sell new, used or vintage clothing. You can renew items without additional relisting fees. 

Refashioner - Refashioner is focused mostly on designer clothing. You receive a prepaid label and ship using a USPS box.

Copious - Copious used to have a full website, but now it's just a phone app that makes it easy to give things you no longer want to friends.

Poshmark - Shop the closets of people and sell your own clothes. You can connect easily with Facebook.

Material Wrld - Material Wrld is a luxury fashion resale community. It is focused mostly on higher priced items.

Craigslist - I haven't had a whole lot of luck selling clothes on Craigslist, but some people do. You can sell clothes in bulk or individually locally.

Designer Brands

If you want to sell designer brands, these are some brands that sell well:

BCBG
Brooks Brothers
Diane Von Furstenburg
Ed Hardy
Eileen Fisher
Harley Davidson
Hollister
J. Jill
Juicy Couture
Lacoste
Lilly Pulitzer
Michael Simon
Nike
North Face
Ralph Lauren Polo
Tommy Bahama
True Religion Jeans
Under Armour
Victoria's Secret

Photography and Description

When you take photos and write descriptions of your items, make sure to include details and make it clear what the item is. Describe the condition of the item well and reveal imperfections. Writing all imperfections if the item is used will help you be an honest seller and will make it less likely that there are problems. 

For photos, take photos from different angles and have one photo from far away, one close up, one detail, one back and on front photo. Having a mannequin can help make your photos look more professional. You can find cheap plastic mannequins on eBay. 

Have basic information on your garment such as brand/designer, size, color, condition, washing instructions, fabric content and any other information that might be helpful. Also include detailed measurements of your item. 

Measurements

There can be a difference in sizing between different designers and manufacturers so having exact measurements is important. These are some basics to measure include:


Bust/Chest - Hold the garment at the underarms seams and measure across the chest. Double measurement. 
Waist - The waist is measured across the waistline, the very top of pants or the narrowest part of dresses. 
Hips  - Hips are about 5 inches below the waist line for pants. Double measurement. 
Length - The length is the top to bottom ofthe garment. 
Inseam - For pants, the inseam is measured from the seam where the legs meet the crotch to the bottom fot he leg hem. 
Rise - For pants, the inseam is measured from the crotch up the front to the waistline. 

These measurements are sometimes helpful:

Sleeve length
Shoulder width
Neck width
Arm opening width 
Thigh width 
Cuff width 
Hem width 

For garments that have some give or stretch to them, be sure to note whether your measurements are stretched or unstretched. 

Shipping and Other Tips

Wash clothes before sending them out if they are used. You should also iron them so they look in the best condition. 

Decide on the best way to ship an item. Depending on what you sell, you might be able to ship an item first class which is an affordable way to ship. I sell scarves and I am able to fit them in a bubble mailer and ship them USPS First Class. If you're not sure what shipping service to use, check the USPS or FedEx websites and be sure to weigh your items. 

On whatever site you use, be sure to leave feedback and encourage your buyer to leave feedback too. If an item or designer sells well, see if you can sell that item or a type of that item again. Sell clothes for your friends and family. If you don't want to just sell used clothes, consider buying wholesale on a site like Liquidation.com

Have you ever sold fashion? What do you like to do with used clothes?