Thursday, October 30, 2008

Old Scrapbooks: Memories from long ago

I love old things. Old clothes, old books, mid century modern, I love it all. A few months back, I was visiting one of my weekly estate sales and I found some really old things. Rarely in Houston do I find things from the Victorian era however, this house had quite a few things. I purchased this Victorian wedding dress: I also went back on the last day and purchased these two scrapbooks:

Both books had many newspaper clippings from the Houston Chronicle however, I could not find years printed on many of the clippings. I did find a few dates ranging anywhere from 1918-1921. The copyright date on the backs of both scrapbooks are from 1878. After going through the books, I felt as if I came to know the person the books used to belong to. She was a deeply religious (Christian) woman. I also believe she was Methodist, like me. She loved poetry and various types of writings. Christmas time was a special time for her and she had many clippings pertaining to the holidays. There was also this page:This page shows many clippings of random items. It shows a man and a women, an engagement ring, an old car, a cat, a woman dressed up, a shoe, etc. Was this the ring she wanted? Was this a cat like her cat? It just makes me wonder..
I also know that she was interested in fashion, like most women. Since I went to school for Fashion Design, I totally appreciated this clipping for a McCalls sewing pattern:
There were also these other fasion clippings, totally showing fashion from the
1920's:

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Red curry chicken-Yum!

Last night, I was going through the cabinets and trying to figure out what I was going to cook for dinner. I've honestly not cooked very much since hurricane Ike. Pre-Ike, I used to cook dinner pretty much every night. Since Ike, I've cooked maybe once a week.

Last night I had originally planned on baking some chicken and making green beans on the side. I already had the chicken in the oven and then I started looking in the pantry for ways to jazz up my bland dinner. I found some red curry sauce by Aroy-D that I had purchased in Chinatown here in Houston some time ago:



I had already started cooking my green beans and took those off the stove. I continued to look in my refrigerator for additional items I could add to the curry. I had a yellow onion, some garlic and peas. I took some olive oil and heated up my pan. I then cut approximately 1/2 of the yellow onion and added to the olive oil. I let the onions cooked down until they were soft and slightly brown. I added the frozen peas, green beans and garlic. Once all items were cooked, I added in the Aroy-D curry sauce. My chicken breasts had been in the oven for approximately 20 minutes by this time. I removed the chicken from the oven and proceeded to cut both breasts into cubes. I added the chicken to the curry. I let simmer for another 5-10 minutes. This was the final result:



I normally like my curry with jasmine rice however, we only had angel hair pasta. I cooked the angel hair pasta:

When the pasta was finished, I mixed the curry with the pasta and it was yummy!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Late birthday dinner at Mark's Restaurant

My birthday was back in March and my friend Randi (the girl)Photobucket

bought me a gift card to Marks Restaurant. Justin and I rarely go out because we have Dominic and we just like staying home now anyway. Justin's birthday is on Halloween and we decided we would go out for dinner, finally. So, I called Marks Restaurant and made reservations for 8.30 last night. Justin's mom, Rosa, came over to hang out with Dominic while we went out.

I took my camera and was going to take pics of the food to post on this blog, but I would have felt like a total idiot and chose not to bust out my camera. I will tell you that if you are ever in Houston, I highly recommend eating at Mark's. They do book up a week in advance and you have to plan accordingly.

I had a salad for an appetizer and Justin had this appetizer with four different types of crab (prepared four different ways). I had the salmon special and Justin had the salmon on the menu. I was bad and had creme brulee for dessert.

I feel like a whale today, but I did enjoy dinner last night. I'm about go for my daily walk in a few minutes.

On another note...I got another custom children's onesie order from my exboyfriend's new girlfriend. She pre-ordered three different items (one for a new baby and the other two are Christmas gifts). I'll post pics of the items when I'm finished. The first item I have to make is just on a white onesie, size 3 months, which I currently have here. She wants the other onesie to be long sleeves in pink and the last garment needs to be a navy shirt for a two year old. I went out and looked for the pink onesie and long sleeve navy shirt today. Since we are in Texas and they are in Illinois, our stores really don't carry a lot of long sleeved items. I'm unfortunately going to have to order online. Ugh! Oh well. I'll keep ya posted!

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Day at the zoo and Entrecard issues....Ugh!

I took Dominic to the zoo earlier this week. I think he is old enough now to enjoy the zoo a bit more however, still too young to understand about all of the animals and to really know what they are or how he relates to them.

Here are some pics of us at the zoo:


I played around with some of the pics in Photoshop and changed the colors, etc. I like playing around with them and making them look different. I really like this pic of Dominic though. It's hard taking a pic of yourself and getting your son to look at the camera and not try to grab for it. I especially like this photo of Dominic because he looks so at ease-at least that's what I think.

And here's a really cool pic of jellyfish:

There's something about the way jellyfish just float in the water. They are so free and have no cares. I mean, they are jellyfish, but there something about them that is so beautiful.


And here's Dominic in the petting zoo.



He really likes brushes. I'm afraid he's going to grow up and cut hair, not that that would be terrible or anything. It's in his genes. Justin (his father) is a hair dresser, his grandmother is a hair dresser, Justin's nephew is a hair dresser, Justin's dad and grandmother were hair dressers.




And here's one more pic of us:


He loves to suck his thumb. It's a security thing for him. He mostly sucks his thumb when he's tired or just because, but mostly when he's tired. I think he will learn to apprciate the zoo even more in six months time.

On another note, to all of my Entrecard friends and readers...Entrecard deleted my account last night. I'm really upset over this. The reason they deleted my account is because when I originally signed up for Entrecard, I was using my old blog that was attached to my website. When I transferred all of my blog posts to blogger, I added my new blog address however, the email I received about the account deletion last night said that I they deleted my account due to abandoning my blog. Well, if they would have done a little research before deleting my account, they would have realized that I actually do post every 1-2 days. They reactivated a new account for me, but I lost all of my dropped cards and all of my favorites. I am trying to work with them to get everything back and am hoping I can do so, but I'm not going to count on it. So, if you are one of my Entrecard droppers, please drop your card again and I will visit you, I promise! Sorry. :( I'm really annoyed by this.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

More discounted vintage for sale

I cleaned out my closet even further today and listed many cute winter sweaters like this cute vintage 50s sweater:

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and this one:

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and this one:

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I listed quite a few auctions today and everything is really super duper cheap!!! In addition to the cheap auction prices, I am also offering an additional 15% discount if you mention this post. All you have to do is send me a message and I will revise your invoice. So, what you are waiting for? The holidays are right around the corner and what's not to love about vintage?

Friday, October 24, 2008

Spirituality and Self Help

I've been dropping in on my Entredcard visitors and visiting other Entrecard blogs. I found this blog and it's pretty amazing what this person has written. 

Spirituality and Self Help

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Senior design collections: more random things from my closet and other musings...

My last post contained remnants of things I had found as I was cleaning out my storage closet. It's always fun to go through your old things that you can't let go of for one reason or another.

I went back out today and took photo's of things from my senior collection when I went to school for Fashion Design. I designed two final collections my senior year. One was a swimsuit collection based off of vintage silhouettes. The other was a lingerie collection based off of vintage silhouettes as well. When I designed the swimsuit collection, I was inspired by certain designs by Halston. He used these amazing drapes and stuff in his designs. This is a bit of what I came up with:





I tried to have a very cohesive collection, which is something that I struggled with all through college. It's really hard for me to come up with multiple items that appear to go together, but I think I did a really great job with this collection. Here are some flat sketches as well:



I used a lot of vintage trims as well as embroidery on my garments. I made my sister a swimsuit from this collection for her birthday one year and she still wears it to this day.

My other collection was a lingerie collection based off of vintage designs. I unfortunately do not have have any pics from our school models, but I did have my things in a fashion show after graduating and the Chicago Reader was there. They printed an article about our fashion show in the reader and mentioned my designs (Mattie Reid Chicago is my design name):





Here are some flat sketches from my lingerie collection:





One thing that I found quite remarkable about doing both of these collections is that my pattern drafting instructor really did not want me to do either one. Her name was Jacquie DeRosa and she said noone had ever attempted to draft a collection like either one of these. I remember her telling me that we did not have a sloper (pattern base) to start with. I told her I wanted to do these and I knew I had it in me to do so-and I did! It was challenging for me, but if you don't challenge yourself once in awhile, what's the point of living? Give me a break, P-A-L-E-E-Z-E!!!

I still have so much work today. I sent off my samples to The Little Black Box yesterday. This is for their November box. I'm also going to send samples for their December box as well, which I've gotten quite a few made already. I also need to revise all of my prices in my Etsy stores and my own site as well. I'd like to sell some things this holiday season and with the economy being so crappy, I need to lower my prices a bit.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Old poetry: The heartache of meandering

I was very productive yesterday. I had been planning on cleaning out my storage closet in our sunroom for quite some time now. In that closet, I have extra stock of vintage clothes, other vintage inventory and old boxes of photo's as well as a box of notebooks from college (I went to school for Fashion Design in Chicago).

I used to write a lot. Before I decided to get my BFA in Fashion Design, I was an English major. I took poetry as well as creative writing classes in school. I went through a phase of writing a lot of poetry. I actually submitted a poem to be published and it was published. I found the book yesterday along with all of my poems that are scribbled on random pieces of paper. This almost makes me want to start writing again and publish my own book.

My poem was published in this book:



and here's my poem:



I'll post more tomorrow about other things I found yesterday.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

Beautiful Sunday...Great day to list vintage clothing!

I don't know about the rest of you, but we had an absolutely gorgeous fall day here in Houston. The humidity was low and the temperature was awesome. There were no clouds in the sky. The day could not have gotten much better.

I woke up early and went to the early church service and then to Sunday school. Came home and checked emails. Justin left to help his mother move stuff out of her salon (her salon received damage from hurricane Ike and she has to move out). Dominic took a nap. I cleaned the house and then started to take pics of items to list on eBay. I listed about 8 auctions today, I think.

I listed this cute vintage 50s lace illusion dress:
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and this cute vintage 50s cashmere coat:
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Both of those items have a low starting bid of $24.99. I also listed quite a few additional items. Please check out Lone Star Vintage Clothing. I'm offering 15% off if you mention this post.

I will be listing a lot more items if time permits this week.

I also made some more jewelry today. I'll post pics of that stuff tomorrow.

On another note...my poor little sister's husband, Kyle, has been having an affair with another woman since this past January. My sister found out from the woman through Facebook. This woman sent her a random message and told her she had been having an affair with her husband and blah, blah, blah. My sister confronted her husband last Sunday and he at first told her that message was spam, etc. He finally came clean later that evening and admitted to the affair. My mom being the freaked out worry wart that she is, flew up to Chicago this past Monday, helped my sister and two nieces pack up my sister's car and they drove back to Springfield, Missouri. My sister is going to stay in Missouri for awhile. She managed to rent an apartment two days ago and is going to decide whether she should go back to Kyle at some point. She wants to make him realize that what he has done is wrong. It is wrong. What a jerk. I prayed for him. My sister is probably one of the nicest people on the face of this earth and she does not deserve this. Anyway, that's the drama in my extended life this week.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Holiday season = craft time....

I know I posted a few days ago and said I would follow up with a craft post later this week. I've been so busy. I've signed up for several different places to contribute samples to this holiday season. One place is at The Purple Box.
I finished 75 samples for them last week and shipped them off last Friday. I've also just finished making 100 samples for Shop A Holic Events. I need to ship those off first thing on Monday. Lastly, I contacted the girl in charge of The Little Black Box and told her I wanted to participate with their box as well. I am still waiting on her second reply for address info (where I need to send my items).

I typically work in my office/work room, but since I'm making so many samples right now, I moved all my stuff to our kitchen table. I have to be able to keep an eye on Dominic and that would be quite difficult right now if I had to work in my room. I've taken some pics of the massive mess on my table as well as some of my samples:

Talk about a mess! It's amazing I can even find anything in this mess.









I've also made a ton of vintage button rings!! I think I have nearly 175 in this box and I still have a ton more to make!










As you can see, I've been really busy this week. I've also made some really cute greeting cards as well. I think I'm going to make more greeting cards tomorrow.




I also listed quite a few items on eBay today. Check out my store for some great deals:

. Mention this post and I'll discount your invoice 15%. Mention "15%OFF" and I'll revise your invoice!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The eVintage Society: Member spotlight is Lone Star Vintage Clothing

Member Spotlight Lone Star Vintage Clothing
October 9th, 2008

Can also be found here: eVintage Society.


This week we spoke with Heather who owns Lone Star Vintage Clothing. In the coming weeks we will turn the spot light onto each of the eVintage sellers so that you will have an opportunity to know us.

Q. Tell us about yourself, where do you sell, your store name, your background and experiece with vintage clothing.
A. My name is Heather and I own and operate Lone Star Vintage Clothing (Lone Star Vintage Clothing.), a web based vintage clothing and accessories store (I also sell vintage sewing items as well). I also have a store on Etsy.com as well as Smashing Darling.com. I have my BFA in Fashion Design, which is where I get my fashion history experience. I sold vintage lingerie on eBay during college. After graduating, I took a break from selling and focused on working in the fashion industry as a product manager for Stride Rite. I had my son, Dominic, in January 2007 and started selling vintage clothing again in April 2007. I have been selling since April 2007 on eBay, my own site and on Etsy.

Q. Why do you find vintage clothing appealing? And, what should a buyer look for when purchasing vintage clothing?
A. I find everything about vintage appealing because most vintage items are made much better than items that are made today. Most vintage items have amazing detailing that you just cannot find on garments today. The materials that were used are of better quality than those materials used today, at least in my opinion. I love vintage patterns and have a huge collection that I keep for myself, in addition to the items I have listed for sale. All or most women could sew back then, which is pretty amazing. I went to fashion school and sewing is not my strong point. When buyers are looking to purchase vintage clothing, they should look for a reputable seller-a seller who has been around for quite some time and has a good track record. They should make sure the photos give a good representation of that item. Accurate measurements need to be given. Any issues with the garment need to be listed. The seller basically needs to be honest and not throw in any surprises for their buyer. It also helps if the seller is a part of a well known group of sellers like the eVintage Society.

Q. Do you have a favorite era? Do you specialize in a certain look or era?
A. Gosh, I like them all. I would say I really love the 30s-50s the best. I specialize in 40s- 60s because those are the garments that I find at most estate sales here in Houston.

Q. Do you wear vintage clothing, and how? Every day, mixed with contemporary clothing ect….
A. Yes, I do wear vintage clothing. I wore a black 50s shirtwaist dress to church today. What I will typically do is wear contemporary items and pair those items with something vintage.

Q. Do you have a favorite designer? Tell us what attracts you to his/her work?
A. I like the vintage designer, Nelly Don, because her dresses were/are everywhere. She made garments for everyday use. I also like Halston a lot! He did a lot of great draping with his designs. In my senior year of design school, I incorporated a lot of draping into my designs. Halston was my inspiration for that collection.

Q. What are your tips for buying vintage clothing online?
A. Know your measurements and buy from a reputable seller.

Q. What is your favorite piece of vintage clothing you have owned? What made this a favorite?
A. I have two. I went to an estate sale in May of last year. The house had been vacant for nearly a year. The people having the sale found several bags of old clothing in the attic. They had placed the bags on the closet floor and when I found the garments, most everything was in amazing condition. I kept two pieces for myself. One is a navy 40s wiggle type dress by Paul Parnes. It’s made of rayon and has an acetate type fabric at the sleeve hems and upper bodice. There’s a brooch at the centerfront neck. The second dress is a late 40s/50s black cocktail dress with a satin band at the waist and satin tails. There’s a brooch at the waist as well. This dress is by Goodman Original. I can’t bring myself to sell either one of these dresses. They are so pretty!

Q. A little unrelated, but what are your interests and hobbies outside of vintage clothing?
A. Do I ever…I’m really into crafts. I have another site, Mattie Reid Chicago, which is also web based. I also sell on Etsy and another site called Smashing Darling as well. I make custom baby garments, little keepsake boxes made from vintage trims, rings and hair accessories made from vintage rhinestones and vintage trims. I’m also really into making greeting cards right now. They turn out so cute and are so much fun to make. If time permits, I really want to start designing garments again. I’m also into blogging. My blog is called, “Adventures in Vintage” and can be found at Adventures in Vintage. It’s basically about my life. Not sure if that’s so exciting, but there’s always so much going on.

Q. Do you have a special function or job for eVintage? If so, what is it?
A. Yes, I have taken over advertising. We are trying to grow eVintage Society and need to find additional advertising outlets that would be a good fit for us.

You can find Heather and her vintage goodies at Lone Star Vintage Clothing..

This weeks Member Spot Light brought to you by Special Somethings Vintage Clothing.


Member Spotlight |

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Pumpkin Patch: Boo hoo!

Each and every year at Halloween time, there's a public pumpkin patch held in Bellaire, Texas at the Nature Discover Center. Since I missed taking Dominic to the pumpkin patch last year, Justin made sure I knew to take him this year.

I decided to take Mr. Dominic yesterday however, made the mistake of taking him when he was really super tired and cranky. I could not get a decent pic of him. Not one.





I could not get him to look at the camera once. I guess he was over stimulated or something. Who knows. Okay and check out his adorable shirt. It has little cows and lasso's (Western theme). I went to an estate sale a few days ago and this lady had kept all of her son's garments from the 50s. I bought all of these really cute little retro 50s shirts for Dominic. Most of them fit him now, but some of them are still too big. The surprising thing is that most of the items are in really good condition with little to no staining whatsoever.

I'll be adding some creative posts later this week. I have so much going on right now, I don't know if I am coming or going.

Friday, October 10, 2008

New vintage clothing: Cheap auction prices

Since I've returned home from my little evacuation excursion, I've decided to downsize my vintage clothing collection. I have so many items-some have been listed before and some have never been listed. I could list items for months and never run out of things to list.

I listed this cute little vintage 60s/70s hoot owl handbag for $45:
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I listed this cute little box purse for $25:
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This cute little vintage 50s embroidered paisley wiggle dress:
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and these cute vintage 50s rhinestone hair combs:
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Many of the items posted above are actually in my fixed price store inventory however, I assure you I have tons of items listed at low start auction prices. The items are all great-I just have too much stuff and need to consolidate.

On another note, I got a lot of stuff done today. I have ADD and tend to forget to make to do lists however, when I do make to do lists, I totally stay on track and focus on what needs to be done. I made a list last night and have gotten most of the items off my list, but I still have a few things left (which will probably have to be carried over through tomorrow). I woke up pretty early today and cleaned, walked Dominic in his stroller and took and Hana, packaged my giveaway items for the Purple Sampler Box (this is a fall and holiday box I signed up to donate my handmade items to with hopes of getting some exposure. I donated 75 items for the fall box and mailed them today). I followed up with a man named Randy at my church. They want me to write a devotional for church and I volunteered to do so. I followed up with some other people, I have now written my blog post. I went to two estate sales (they sucked!) and went to Justin's salon and got my hair colored. Whew. I still have more things to do, but they can wait until tomorrow. Oh and I need to write my dear friend Louise in the UK. I miss her! Louise, if you are reading this, I miss you!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

What I do for work outside of Etsy: A lot!!!

A requirement of being part of the wonderful Etsy Bloggers Street Team is to participate in a blog carnival. I still don't fully understand the concept of a blog carnival however,I have participated in a few to date and I know how to post them (what website to go to). I think it's a way for other members to get to know each others blogs, etc...That's what I think.

The topics for this month are:

Please choose 1 of the following subjects to write about:

1). Work: Blog about anything to do with your work (past, present or future) which is outside of Etsy.

OR

2). Relax: Blog about what you do to relax.

I'm going to write about #1.

I am a stay at home mom of a 20 month old little boy named Dominic. Taking care of Dominic is first and foremost my most important job. My chosen job is selling vintage clothing. I sell at my own site, Lone Star Vintage Clothing, on eBay at Lone Star Vintage Clothing at eBay and I also sell on Etsy Lone Star Vintage Clothing at Etsy.

When Dominic was born last year, I was still working a corporate type job as an employment recruiter (yuck!). This job was stressful and the hours totally sucked, not to mention that there was an older woman (no names will be mentioned) who drove me absolutely crazy. She would not let me work the way I wanted to work. She had to coach me on everything, so she thought. She was totally old school and I honestly wanted to smack her right in the face a few times. When I had Dominic, I knew I only had 7 weeks to stay at home with him (I had no short term disability and this was the longest they would allow me to be gone from work). I dreaded going back to that company. To make a long story short, I did not go back. I started selling vintage clothing as a hobby and it's become my job. I have my BFA in Fashion Design after all and I may as well put the fashion history part of my degree to good use. The rest is history. I've been selling online since April 2007. My most favorite part is the hunt for my inventory. I frequent estate sales here in Houston on a weekly basis. Currently, I am trying to sell things from my old inventory. With the way the economy is, I don't need to be going out and buying more stuff to sell, when I could honestly list things for the next few months and not have to worry about running out of items to sell.

Selling vintage clothing is very time consuming, let me tell you. You have to find items to sell. If any of your items have issues, you either have to fix the issues or note the issues when you list the item. You have to prep the item before you take the photo's (ironing, etc.). You have to take the pics. You have to download the pics and then edit the pics. You have to list the items, which means coming up with a good description that will make your customer just have to have your item. You have to print your shipping labels and package your items. You have to take the items to the post office and you have to email your customer to let them know their item has shipped. You also have to market your business and your items. Each time I list a new item, I also add it to my Style Feeder. I get a lot of traffic from Stylefeeder.com.

There's a lot that goes into selling vintage clothing, especially when you are a one person business.

If anyone reading this post wants to purchase anything from any of my stores listed above, I will offer you a 10% discount at any of my stores. Just mention this post and I will revise your invoice! :)

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Etsy Blogger Street Team - October blogger of the month

As many of you know, I am a member of the Etsy Blogger Street Team. A requirement of being a member of the street team is to promote other members of the team of your blog. The blogger for the month of October is bfbeads. Her blog can be found at Mama’s Magic.

She has two stores on Etsy. The first is called Baby Friendly Beads and the second store is called Mama’s Magic Studio.

Her first store, Baby Friendly Beads, has a wide variety of beaded nursing necklaces and bracelts. To be quite honest, I have never really heard of nursing necklaces until I started to write this post. I even nursed my son last year. Ugh! Where have I been? These items are really great. You can find this lovely
Citrus Sparkler Baby Friendly Beads Nursing Necklace:
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So show some love and visit my fellow Etsy blogger. She's got some great stuff in both of her stores.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

The power is back on: Now what?

As I was cleaning up around the house the morning, I realized that it has been nearly a week since our power was restored. It's been only a few days since the Internet was restored. I realized this week went by so quickly. It's amazing how much work you can get done with power. When you don't have power, time seems to creep along so slowly. You have to use the daylight hours to do important things because when darkness arrives, you are left to use flashlights and it's really difficult to get anything done.

I do know this event made me realize that life is short and if you don't stop around once in awhile, you will miss it (I think that is a clip from Ferris Bueller's Day Off when Ferris was talking to Cameron). I realized that I work way too much, even though I make way less money than when I worked for other people. I also realized that my son is growing up way too fast. He's almost 2 already. Where has time gone? Because of this storm, I spent nearly two weeks with my son and did not have to do any work. I think he learned more in those two weeks than the past year. He's so smart already, it's insane. This storm also made me realize that I need more balance in my life. I should be able to juggle selling vintage clothing, making my handcrafted items and working with my son:
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Thursday, October 2, 2008