Harry Potter and the Order of Vintage Fabrics...

Hello all

I burrowed myself in the house this week, all pent up about the last Harry Potter book I finally got my mits on.

Feeding Gabriel gave me some great time to sit and read, read and read, so I got through the mammoth book quite quickly. I also found myself hustling my butt off to bed early to read in silence...such a treat these days...

I finished it this afternoon with such mixed emotions - the highs, the lows - the good and the bad. Overall, I was so sorry to leave the magical world JK Rowling created. Whether you liked Harry or not, reading about the magical world really was magical.

Next book on the list couldn't be anymore different - The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I studied his books when I was at uni as a great form of 'copywriting' (yes, I studied the creative world of advertising), but reading conversation without talking marks put me off him for life. But I'll try reading McCarthy again as this book really appeals to me...

Happy Friday and Happy Weekend all!

PS - the shot is of one of my fave Harry Potter characters 'The Sorting Hat' - wouldn't you love one of those to direct you down the right path in life?

Vintage fabric sale on now for Aussie buyers!

As we're going through the website's current inventory we realised it was a great time to offer some fab vintage fabrics at great prices - and with free postage for our Aussie buyers...

And you know we usually don't offer sales...so here goes one! If it's fun we might offer some other ones throughout the year...

Just spend $70 or more in one transaction at our Etsy store (NOT the website) and we'll cover the postage to you. You have to be an Australian resident with an Aussie address and purchase the fabrics before midday AEST this Friday...

Store is here.

To do list...what we're working on at the moment...

Do you find you never stop thinking about how to improve things?

I think about improving processes constantly - how to save more, how to get the most out of the supermarket without being ripped off, what day to best buy petrol on etc etc...everything in life seems to be turning into a strategy. If I drive on cruise will it give me more petrol for my dollar, if we use flannels instead of wipes how much will we save, if I took photos on just one day a week would that make me upload fabrics faster etc etc....ARGH...all too much and a definite sign of an overworked brain.

Having said all of that - these are the 'thoughts' I am currently working on and strategising...perhaps to keep the dementia away!

1. VIP club for our buyers. We are not fans of sales as we feel it just cheapens the fabrics and, unless you're on our mailing list, you'll miss out of a 24 hour sale etc etc. So at the moment I'm thinking about a six or 12 month VIP club membership for either/both Etsy and the website...I think I'll offer different subscriptions for different prices...keeping in mind they're good savings for buyers who regularly shop with us...

2. Reducing the number of fabrics we have here - without a word of a lie I think we have more than 3500 prints of vintage fabric. So we're putting some half yards up on our Etsy store with some crazy prices to give us some more room...and a tear to see some of our favourites go!

3. When to start overhauling the front of our home. I'm going with a modern pebble look with bright red high grass (yes, believe it or not) - but I'm debatin whether to just paint the house bricks, render them...what colourway etc etc...then do I get the carport done at the same time and our front entertaining courtyard done at the same time...etc etc

4. We're overhauling the website - taking down sold out fabrics, putting in a daily information area so we can quickly pop in the latest information/day to day activities, thinking of where to put the VIP information etc etc...and then when to find the time to pop up new stock????????????

5. What's better - a ute or a family car? We already have a family car and want a versatile second one for days when we're both out on the go...ute or family car??

6. Do we go back onto Ebay or has that site busted? We have a look every now and then but the prices there are sometimes ludicrous and there's lots of mass produced stuff...and if we do go back on there, when do we find the time to do this???????????

7. Public or private school? This is a hard one - public seems so good, but private seems like the quality. But instead of sending the eldest to a private school wouldn't it be better to keep that money and treat him to what life has to offer every year - short trips away, surfing lessons (for example) etc etc

8. When does life become easy?

9. When will days get longer and I get 28 hours instead of 24?

10. When will I find the time to stop being super woman and to just sit and do nothing?

Ugh...too much thinking!

Courage...

I got the courage up after talking with other Etsy sellers and popped the Scandinavian bird up on the shop...more sweet little vintage fabric art will be put up soon...

Somehow I feel naked. It's one thing selling vintage fabric supplies...it's another thing flogging your words and ideas to people you have never met.

Give me a business meeting any day!

Look ahead...and vintage fabric

Hello all

Well, I had al ittle break. Didn't mean to - it just happened. I think having a break has done me some good - it's enabling me to get things into perspective.

Life is busy as per usual. The business is going well, although we have made a conscious decision to pull back on it, fix and then build on it some more. We're going through the website fabric by fabric to ensure the right yardage is available for purchase - and then, if given the time, offering half a yard for sale in our Etsy store. Such fun! We might as well make sure what we're offering is correct - cos there's sooooooooooooooo many other pieces here that should be for sale it's no longer funny!

We're removing most of the sold fabrics from the website, too, to make it easier for you to purchase. It's amazing how quickly the fabrics move, though - some weeks we're struggling to keep up with it all...

Apart from waiting to see my gallbladder surgeon in early March and entertaining the two kiddies I've been taking more time off just for me. FINALLY reading the last Harry Potter book - and can already tell I'll be sad to let the series go. Also doing some baking (for others - I'm on the blandest diet due to those darn stones!) and pottering around.

While pottering I've been mucking around with some vintage fabric pieces - like small mini art pieces. Dunno if anyone else wants them but I think they're really cute. I mount a piece of vintage fabric and then write what I feel when I look at it - as, before I was the vintage fabric goddess I am today, I was an award winning copywriter in the advertising industry...but don't hold it against me :)

Have a pic of one above...it's called Look Ahead.

HUGE NEWS! We're in the movies!

Sorry for not blogging much lately - little Gabriel obviously has his Dad's thin eardrums and, at just 12 weeks, has infected eardrums...so he's had to sleep upright to remove the pressure inside them...and that means we sit up in bed holding him up for the whole night!

HUGE NEWS!

I can't say much - but some of our fabrics have been purchased by set decorators and designers from Sony Pictures, Hollywood...for reference? For movies? Don't know why...but it was an exciting sale, nonetheless!

Woo hoo! We're very proud of ourselves...and a little on Cloud 9...getting into the New York Times is one thing...this is an entirely new realm!!

Day something or other/30 - slightly his fault. I haven't been around...

I know we are blessed. So blessed. He sleeps 11 hours at night. Goes down at around 8.30pm and gets up anywhere between 6pm and 7.30pm. No waking during the night. And he's only 11 weeks old.

Only problem he wants to stay awake all day. All the hours except for about 2.5 of them.

You can't have it both ways.