New functionalities on the website

The website now has some new gizmos for our lovely customers. Now, at the top of each fabric listing, you can also choose to send the listing directly to someone via email, you can 'like' it to send it to your Facebook profile, you can 'tweet' it so show up on your Twitter feed and you can 'plus 1' it for your Google + feed.

Most importantly, our customers can now leave personalised reviews of any fabric they have ordered and can give a rating out of five stars for the fabric. How good is this! We are totes excited about these new gizmos - it gives the Retro Age community some great platforms to recommend particular fabrics for particular projects...hurrah!

Back to work for me - I am uploading today...

Have a great Sunday...

xNess

There is Fanfare today....hurrah!

Yes, there are fabrics that are magical...absolutely magical. This Jonelle fabric is called 'Fanfare' and it's one of the most magical fabrics we have seen in a while. The design is intricate and has many eye-catching motifs. It's also a lovely cotton sateen...certainly a piece to covet. Most of one piece is already sold, but if you're interested, we have another here.

A five cent coin can buy a lot

I don't know where to start. And I don't know where to end.

Somehow we were in another vortex of a different reality over the last 24 hours.

Our little three-year-old Gabriel choked on a five cent coin yesterday. We were talking in the dining room and heard strange gurgling sounds from the lounge room - I rushed in and noted he was struggling to breathe, bright red and completely scared - realising he was choking on something, I performed the Heimlich hug on him and out came vomit, but nothing else. It took us a couple of minutes to convince him to tell us what he had in his mouth - it was a 'doin' (his version of coin). Within minutes there was a pain onset around the chest and spasms started around the same area. We had a mad dash to emergency, who took us straight through to x-ray to find the rogue 'doin'. It was lodged in his esophagus, right in the middle of his chest. And then there was a transfer to the Royal Children's Hospital for the quick surgery to remove the 'doin', which in the end turned out to be five cents. He went under a general, was scared like any little boy or girl would be, and spent the night being monitored in the Short Stay Unit. We were discharged today and have now returned home utterly exhausted but oh so thankful we got the coin to move out of his throat, to the RCH team, the surgeons and the special care the RCH nurses take with out little ones.

The universe is giving my family some strong messages this year. We are hearing them. Now we just have to put it all together.

Sanctuary

Today was a public holiday at these parts, so we took part of the day off and journeyed to a local sanctuary to enjoy a BBQ, some company and relax a little. So we connected with water, land, flora and fauna. A lovely day with much needed time to relax...

xNess

PS. Yes, I got that photo of the swan just as the feathers were coming up and an ominous snake-like hiss came out of the beak. It was a gorgeous couple of swans - beautiful lovers - with their goslings in tow. Sweet - but defensive...and rightly so!

Psychedelic 60s and beautiful 50s...

I put these lovelies up onto the website today - you can tell they are a personal favourite by the way I describe them! My favourite eras for fabric is the 40s, 50s and 60s and I adore psychedelic patterns. These two are hard to part with...but I may have already taken just a little cut for my own stash to remind me of their splendour.

Happy Friday, all! Have a fabulous and safe weekend...
 xNess

PS. Happy birthday to Justin for tomorrow...we're getting on a bit, babe, but gosh you're still gorgeous :)

History and what it may have seen...

Some of my favourite times in our business is the photographing of the fabric and the uploading of the stock onto the website. When I photograph the piece I often find myself wondering what history it's had, who owned it and what the fabric has been a part of. The amazing piece at the top is an original Art Nouveau fabric , as you can see - the fabric feels so soft and silky, but it's just cotton. When I ironed it I smelt perfume...gorgeous, feminine perfume. I wonder what that piece has seen in its decades of existence? It was an estate purchase with a lot of other fabrics and was well stored, with it's owner obviously loving it enough to keep it for a lifetime (perhaps). Perhaps it will find a new home just as loving....

It's always tomorrow, lately...

Gosh - I am hoping this totally continues. Well, kind of. Yes...actually...no, I am totally hoping. Recent weeks have seen a deluge of sales...so many, in fact, that we are struggling to upload fabric onto the website every day. And that is a first in a long time! I started this morning at 8.30am and ran into the post office at 3.10pm to make today's mail, then came back and we worked on another three orders, all of which are going to Europe. A customer mentioned us in the a big newspaper this week and took the time to scan the article and email it to us...with these lovely words...

Just letting you know about an article that was published last week featuring my business. Don't know if it's legible enough to see that I have mentioned Retro Age Vintage Fabrics as one of my favourite websites. I have always been really happy and impressed with the quality of the beautiful little gems of fabric I've received from you guys. It shows that you take alot of pride in what you do, as do I with my business. So I was more than happy to mention you in the article.

We are getting more and more customers referred by family and friends and we couldn't be happier with how the business is going. We're working to offer a larger style and date of vintage fabric, a larger range of price point and a larger range of fabric sizes - and, as many of our customers know, we are still treating every order personally from start to finish, including wrapping the fabrics.

So tomorrow I am hoping to sit for a while and upload fabrics to the website...I have to, as the storage is just building and building. We get more fabric than I can list...which may mean we need staff in the future! Oh, how I would love that...I could list to my hearts content and someone would help with the booking in and out and customer orders...sigh, these are what dreams are made of!

PS. Sorry to the person who scanned the Bloomcraft Picasso advertisement - I have saved it and lost your credit! Many, many apologies!

The oak tree, the vintage fabric and one great Sunday

This morning brought me a tip off to some fabrics for sale at an auction, which meant a mad dash into the country and, frenzied bidding later, the stash was in the car and coming back with us.

Then it was another drive (shorter this time) to the annual 'Bathurst' family and friends event at Teesdale. Love this day on our calendar.


This means we get to visit the big oak tree we got married under four years ago this month. I got married barefoot, nine months pregnant and in sheer black - everything opposite to the society average- but it was a wonderful day I wouldn't have any other way. I love our big oak tree.

Two weeks

We've been in old gaols, we've been on horse carousels, we've been to the beach, to the footy, to the woods and back. We've been laughing - and crying (the kids) - and losing our patience (the parents). We've had two weeks of family time over the school holidays and have gotten away when we could. In between, we have been dealing with arthritis in the neck (me), loving Bowen Therapy (me), hoping for a full recovery (Justin) and learning more about our whippet and why he sings (all of us). And then there have been fish and chips on lazy nights, cookies (Justin), some of Australia's best vanilla slices (me) and much playing with Smurfs (the kids). So there has been Smurf buying (the parents - only vintage will do - and that includes the cottages), lots of Lego play (all), reading the third Millennium trilogy (me), looking into laser discs (Justin) and paving the front path.

And throughout these times we've kept the business going and have been wrapping like mad people, thanks for the many orders days-in and day-out. Have I have five minutes to upload new fabrics? No, more is the pity - but it all changes on Monday...hurrah!

xNess