Tag: My Background

Three things to consider when you sell items online

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn DIY, My Background, Tips for the beginner, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

When I first started to sell online, there were three things that I found out very quickly.  Here is what I learned:

#1 The price of the item itself needs to be considered.  When I list an item to sell online, what I try to do is to make double on what I paid for the item.  This way I can have a little wiggle room if something happens like paying a little more than expected on something like shipping.

#2 You will be charged listing fees on items you put on selling sites.  On a site like Etsy, they charge a small fee to renew a listing after the item is on the website after a certain amount of time (there is also a fee when you are listing the item for the first time).  You need to watch it like a hawk—this can add up pretty fast and eat into your profits.  After one or two renewals, you need to think about adjusting the price or doing something like taking better pictures.

#3 Packing costs also need to be considered.  The packing costs will include tape, packing peanuts, and potentially the box itself (if you don’t get free boxes from places like the Post Office).  If you do not watch this area very closely, you can completely wipe out any profits if you are not careful.

What have you learned when you started to sell things online?

What are some parts of a Ceramic piece?

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Beginning to collect, Pottery, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

When it comes to a ceramic piece, you can hear some pretty interesting vocabulary words that describe what it’s made of.  Here are some of the words that I have heard over the years:

Bisque – this is clay that has been fired once, and it is an unglazed piece.

Terra Cotta – it is a brownish-orange earthenware clay body.  It’s commonly used for ceramic sculpture or even architectural ornament.  It’s an Italian word that means “baked earth”.

High Relief—it’s a strongly raised or even deeply carved pattern.  This style of carving can get pretty detailed.

There are a lot of words that you will hear that describe what a ceramic piece is made of, or even a specific part of an item.  What kinds of words have you heard?

I’m now a seller on the Abebooks website!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Abebooks, Books, Sale at Wisdom Lane Antiques!, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

Wisdom Lane Antiques can now be found on the Abebooks website!  Over the years, I have acquired a wide variety of titles and learned how to pay attention to the details when buying books.  From first editions, signed copies and even best sellers can be found in my store on Abebooks.

For example, you will find a signed copy of I IS FOR INNOCENT by Sue Grafton (which can be seen here).  You can also find the first edition of FOUR BLIND MICE by James Patterson (this book can be found here).

Another book that you can find there is The Auction Catalog For The Estate Of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.  This is from the Sotherby’s Auction House, and is auction number 6834.  This catalog has the sale prices in it as well, and it can be found here.

You can also find the mystery AS TIME GOES BY by Mary Higgins Clark (which can be seen here), and even the young adult book WINTERGIRLS by Laurie Halse Anderson.  This book can be found here.

Cookbooks like THE COMPLETE NFL COOKBOOK can be found there as well.  You can see this one here.

Take a minute and check out Wisdom Lane Antiques on Abebooks, here.  You’ll find a lot of choices and many bargains!

Better keep an eye out!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Tips for the beginner, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

Whenever I am going through a flea market or even a local thrift store, I often remind myself that I need to keep my eyes peeled—you never know what you will run across.  It could be anything really, it could be any type of item that you didn’t expect.

This happened to me not too long ago when I went to a local Goodwill store.  I was walking through and saw, well…

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

When I first saw it, I knew that it was a scaled down house.  It looks like someone took a lot of time to make it, but the real question was rather simple—what was it really?

After looking at it for a little bit, I had part of the roof come off of the house in my hand, kind of like what’s pictured below.  I quickly realized that this was a jewelry box.

SONY DSC

SONY DSC

Talk about a fun way to store your jewelry!  So, it always pays to keep an eye peeled so you don’t miss that one-of-a-kind item.

What kinds of interesting finds have you run across when out at a flea market or antique store?

More vocabulary words for the glass collector to keep in mind

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Glassware, My Background, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

When you start to collect items in a certain area like glassware, you find out that you need to know some of the terminology when you go along.  Here’s some of the words that I’ve heard over the years about glassware:

Bent (or Slumped) Glass—this is glass that has been heated up in a kiln from room temperature to a temperature high enough to cause it to soften and sag into or even over a mold. The finished product will take the shape of the mold that the glass is around.

Iridescent—this is a surface treatment when a layer of metallic oxide is bonded to the hot glass surface just after the form the glass into a sheet.  The result is a colorful one, and it also has a shimmering effect.

Seedy Glass—this is glass that has air bubbles trapped in it. This is when air or gas is injected into the molten glass prior to forming the sheet causing the bubbles.

What kind of terms have you heard or run across?

Two simple steps to help spot a real piece of Depression glass from a fake

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Glassware, My Background, Reproductions, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!1 Comment

So you are out at an antique mall, estate sale or even an auction.  While there, you happen to run across a piece of Depression glass.  The piece that you’re looking at doesn’t have any damage on it, but how do you know that it’s the real deal?

When I’m in this situation, I usually use two simple steps to help me determine if the piece is real or fake.  The first thing that I do is to look at the color on it.  There are slight color variations on a real piece, these variations are just going to be a little darker or lighter on the piece.

On a piece of pink Depression glass, a reproduction will more likely have an orange pink hue to it (it’s really obvious).  With a piece that’s green, the reproductions that I have seen tend to go real dark.  I have seen forest green on a piece of ADAM Depression glass.  So if it’s off (especially for the pattern that’s on the piece), it’s a good idea to question it.

The second step that I use is to look at the pattern.  Even though Depression glass was given away quite a bit when it was first made, the glassware still had high quality to it.  What this means is that the pattern is easily recognizable, and there are no missing details to it.  A reproduction may be missing the veins in the leaves of a flower, or the beak on a bird is not as pointed.

A reproduction will sometimes be rushed through, and the pattern will show the crudeness.

So be aware—the fine details will help you determine if the piece of Depression glass will be real or fake.

What kinds of tricks do you use to help determine if you have a real piece of glassware?

A variety of graniteware pieces

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Enamelware, My Background, Vintage, Vintage, Vintage!Leave a comment

Wither at an estate sale, a garage sale, or even at an auction, I run across quite a few pieces of graniteware in my neck of the woods.  There’s a pretty wide variety of pieces that I find when I’m out shopping.  It could be anything from a tea kettle to a creamer–you never know what you will run across.

When I was young, people in my area collected graniteware like crazy.  They still do, but not as much as they did when I was young.  Here lately, the prices have cooled off mainly because there is so much of it here.

Because of the fact that the prices have come down and people have lost a little interest in graniteware, some of the pieces in collections have even come up for sale.  Some of the pieces that I have run across lately really have surprised me when I ran across them.  One piece that did was this graniteware fireplace salesman’s sample.

Enamelware Graniteware Fireplace Salesmans Sample Ashtray Advertising The Cleveland Foundry Company

This even has a plaque on the front that reads, “The Cleveland Foundry Company.”  You can see it in my Etsy shop here.

Pie pans are pretty plentiful, but they are usually a solid color.  So when I ran across this brown swirl pie pan, I snatched it up pretty fast.

Brown And White Swirl Enamelware Graniteware Pie Pan Unmarked Made 1930s To 1940s

What struck me was that it’s in great condition, usually pie pans around here get knocked around pretty good.  You can see it in my Etsy shop here, and more graniteware examples here.

What’s great about graniteware is the fact that it gives a more urban area a splash of country.

What kinds of graniteware pieces have you run across?

Here’s some more vocabulary words that new collectors will run across

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn Glassware, Pottery, Vocabulary Words, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

You never know what words you may run across when you dive into the world of antiques and collectibles.  Here are a couple that I have run across over the years:

Greenware—this is any unfired clay body before the piece is Bisque Fired, and it is very fragile.

Cased Glass—this is two or more layers of different colored glass get blown with one layer over the other.  Sometimes glass makers carve images into the glass, revealing the multiple layers and colors of glass in the process.

Mercury Gilding–this is a technique of applying a gilt finish consisting of gold and mercury to decorative objects like a mirror.  Mercury is a metal that is liquid at room temperature. When combined with gold or silver, it becomes viscous, its consistency becoming similar to that of butter. Mercury gilding is the process in which mercury is mixed with gold to make an amalgam that is applied to the surface of an object.  When the object is heated up by fire, the mercury evaporates away and the gold is left behind.  This is a VERY toxic technique and is illegal to do in many countries.

This is just a small sample of what I have heard, what kinds of words have you run across?

Welcome to my new website!

On By wisdomlaneantiquesIn My Background, Wisdom LaneLeave a comment

Welcome to my new website for Wisdom Lane Antiques!  I have recently moved here from my old blog, which can be seen here.

I will still talk about all of the great things that I have for sale, plus I will also talk about the history of an item.

My old blog will still be active so that you can see all of the great posts that I have there.  I hope that you enjoy my new site!