Saturday 31 December 2011

Looking back...

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Looking back, this year has been a pivotal year, I think. It will be one of those years I will always remember - as you know there are some that just disappear into the ether. 2011 isn't one of them. We've had tremendous highs and lows of the lows. When I think of 2011 I think of my Nan passing. I think of Justin's awful fight with viral encephalitis (that is still continuing) and Gabriel's surgery at the Royal Children's Hospital to remove a coin that had lodged itself in his chest after he swallowed it. Then there's the arthritis. But then I think of all of our wonderful celebratory birthdays, the arrival of Syd-the-whippet, loving working with fabrics each and every day and the love Justin and I continue to have for each other. Even through the dark days we truly feel blessed to live where and how we do. I am also so thankful for having the loveliest Mum who continues to support us with each step in life we take. Our boys had great years at school and kindy and we move into different grades and levels next year - new challenges to excite us all.

We went to the beach this evening - I felt the need to wash 2011 away, to cleanse the end of the year to start the new one afresh. I feel a new life coming on, to be honest. Bigger and better things. New horizons. I am ready. Oh yes - I am so ready.

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Thursday 29 December 2011

It's all this and that...

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This time of year is all family and all fun. Lots of water play and lots of slothing. We are doing the basics with the business, but we want to make sure our little ones have a fun and memorable Summer. After all - we can work any time, any day...so who wants to work now when it's Christmas and New Year? Not us. No, siree. Just a tad of work here and there - and the rest is play. As you can see, lots of time lazing on huge blow-up donuts and riding down green slides...with dancing kidlets to the side. Hurrah for Summer...hurrah for family and fun times...hurrah for life...xx

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Wednesday 28 December 2011

Just mine

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I am on the other side of Christmas and I am waiting at the door to open for 2012. I am already calling it twenty twelve. Shame how it rolls off the tongue before I even get to the year.

Christmas was lovely. Too much food. Lots of laughter. Lots of family time. Lots of lovely pressies. I am now thinking of taking the kidlets to a welfare center/soup kitchen next year to remind them of what Christmas means to some. For not everyone is as blessed in life - and I would like my kids to learn about how hard, sad and difficult life can be for some, no matter how or why they got there.

Business returned to normal today and I started on the backlog of orders that have come through in the last week. I'll continue tomorrow and Friday and will definitely have everything off by then. Hurrah for Saturday dinners and then drinks, celebrations and then toasts and midnight smooches and then slight hangovers on Sunday.

Before the year ends I have been 'spring cleaning' the house and have created a new little nook for myself. I love it. I turn the red lights on of an evening and all of a sudden the spirit and the body relaxes and I can just be. Just. Be. Me. Perfection.

Friday 23 December 2011

Merry Christmas vintage fabric lovers!

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It's that time of year when we say adieu to the online world to spend as much quality time with our loved ones as possible. We are still working here at Retro Age and will continue to post when it's not a public holiday. I may pop some pics up on here - or I may not. We'll just see how everything rolls...

Merry Christmas, vintage fabric lovers! May all of your Christmas dreams come true - and may 2012 be all that you wish it to be!

Thank you for such a fantastic 2011, too - it's been another blast of a year!

xNess, Justin & boys (waiting for Santa on the firetruck to arrive, above)

Tuesday 20 December 2011

Welcome to the new Retro Age Vintage Fabrics...and a world first


Our entire theme for 2011 has been 'think big'. Reasons for this theme haven't always been clear to us as we were mainly running on pure gut instinct, but in recent months it's become very clear. Retro Age Vintage Fabrics is now not only the world's largest vintage fabric store, but it's now the first and only one to offer video footage of the fabrics. Yes, that's right - in each listing (time permitting - lots of work in this!) there will be a short piece of video footage of the fabric with moi chatting away about colour, drape, rustle - anything I can feel and hear, really. I also want to show weaves and any shine the fabric may have. This is one of my first efforts, so to have a laugh for Christmas I have uploaded it onto our new YouTube channel. Our channel is called retrovintagefabric and you can easily subscribe to see the videos as they are uploaded.

We are totally excited about our new direction and we know our wonderful customers are too - now you can see the fabric moving! What a virtual store we shall be...hurrah!

Monday 19 December 2011

Ye gads

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Ye gads.
I am bloody tired.
I am totes enjoying the festive season.
I am loving the homemade egg nog (and the bottle of scotch and white rum that goes into it)
I am bowled over by the amount of orders coming in each and every day.
I am taking lots of quiet time to think and ponder and question and evaluate and grow.
I am loving taking my kidlets to see Christmas lights, Santa and special local window displays.
I am looking forward to the Summer break (a little).
I look forward to slumber every day.
So...this is Christmas!

xx

Monday 12 December 2011

Paring back...

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I am minimizing and de-cluttering our environment again. I am horrified at how much stuff we still have - in fact, anything more than 'one of' is just starting to seem excessive. I started early last year and regularly go through the whole house to par every thing back. It's cathartic, to be honest. This last weekend was going through the boys rooms top to bottom, inside and out, and donating what they no longer use and throwing out what they have used and abused. I am also paring back our linen - who needs five doona covers? Who needs 25 towels for a family of four? Not us. Time to minimise and simplify even more, I say. Since starting to eat primal our pantry has reduced, too - full of lots of herbs and goodness and bereft of packaged foods - yee har for that!

I got a great list from here and am starting to adapt it to my own environment...it gives me a basis to continue on from! I shall fill in the blanks more as I think of them...
  1. Glassware - yes - need to do more
  2. Cookbooks - yes - need to do more
  3. Kitchen gadgets - yes - need to do more
  4. Kitchen appliances - yes - done!
  5. Pots / pans - yes, done!
  6. Mixing bowls - yes - need to do more
  7. Tupperware - yes, done!
  8. Water pitchers - yes, done!
  9. Magazines - yes, done!
  10. Newspapers - yes, done!
  11. Books - yes - need to do more
  12. Over-the-counter medicine/medicine cabinet - yes, done!
  13. Make-up - yes, done!
  14. Barretts / hair clips / ponytail holders - yes, done!
  15. Cleaning supplies - yes - need to do more
  16. Personal beauty appliances (hair dryer/curlers, electric razors) - yes, done!
  17. Bottles of shampoo/conditioner - yes, done!
  18. Photos - nope - all in boxes...
  19. Personal memorabilia - nope - all in boxes
  20. Sewing supplies - oh dear
  21. Craft supplies - oh dear
  22. CD’s - yes, done!
  23. DVD’s - yes, done! - but husbie could do more!
  24. Decorative items - yes - need to do more
  25. Interior decoration items
  26. Personal journals and writing - nope - all in boxes
  27. Kids memorabilia - nope - all in boxes
  28. Vases - oh dear
  29. Audio/visual components - ask the husbie
  30. Audio/visual cables - ask the husbie
  31. Computer equipment - ask the husbie

  32. Furniture - yes, thanks to the crazy whippet
  33. Video game systems - ask the husbie and the boys
  34. Video games - ask the husbie and the boys
  35. Video game accessories - ask the husbie and the boys
  36. His clothing
  37. Her clothing
  38. Kids clothing
  39. Shoes - yes - all done!
  40. Laundry cabinet
  41. Kitchen cabinets
  42. Kitchen drawers
  43. Piano room shelving
  44. Jewelry - yes, done!
  45. Purses/bags - yes, done!
  46. Bed side tables - to be done
  47. Bedroom wardrobes - almost done
  48. Towels - to do
  49. Linen sets - to do
  50. Televisions - ask the husbie and the boys


  51. Artwork - oh dear...what do I do with all of my vintage prints?

  52. Home office supplies - yes, done!
  53. Pens/pencils - yes, done!
  54. Old batteries - yes, done!
  55. Tools
  56. Hardware
  57. Rolls of duct tape - yes, done!

  58. Manuals - yes, done!


  59. Sporting good supplies - yes, done!

  60. Aluminum cans - recycled
  61. Glass bottles - recycled
  62. Garden - to be done
  63. Automobiles - yes, done!
  64. Scrap pieces of wood - work in progress
  65. Brooms - work in progress
  66. Rakes - work in progress
  67. Shovels - work in progress
  68. Garden tools - work in progress
  69. Plant containers - work in progress
  70. Empty cardboard boxes - work in progress
  71. Board games - done!
  72. Puzzles - done!
  73. Decks of cards - done!
  74. Unused wedding gifts - done!
  75. Baby clothes - done!
  76. Baby supplies - done!
  77. Old schoolbooks/papers - oh dear

  78. Bath toys- done!
  79. Toy balls - done!
  80. Toy cars/trucks - done!
  81. Toy musical instruments - done!
  82. Stuffed animals - done!
  83. Plastic toys - done!
  84. Childrens’ old school papers - what should I keep for them?
  85. Pantry
  86. Fridge and freezer
  87. Christmas / seasonal decorations - oh dear

Wednesday 7 December 2011

Extra! Extra! Our big news is out...

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It's out!
It's started!
Herald the vintage fabric Christmas fun!

There is too much to say...but I will hint that we've got some wonderful offers on the website to double your vintage fabric money! For example - buy a $10 offer and we'll create your very own special website credit for $20! Yep, we sure are going to have fun with this. Spread the word, peeps - we have several listings up and they will remain up on the website until Christmas Eve...and then the 'double your vintage fabric' fun stops!

You'll find the listings here. Merry Christmas, vintage fabric loving peeps!

xNess

Monday 5 December 2011

25% off at Retro Age Vintage Fabrics - ends Wednesday!

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Oh yes, dear vintage fabric peeps - we have a sale going on over at Retro Age Vintage Fabrics headquarters for those of you who are in dire need of fabric beauty before Christmas. Use the code 'Christmas' at Checkout to receive 25% off your total - no minimum spend, either! Hurrah for fabulous vintage fabric sales! Sale ends this Wednesday evening, AEST. And then...well...we have a little treat some of you may love...

xNess

Friday 2 December 2011

Where have all of the original vintage stores gone?

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While cleaning up around here I came across these pages I had ripped out of a 1973 Woman's Day magazine. They had obviously struck a cord with me for me to keep them - and I can instantly understand why.'Cos me being me and thinking of silly things I realised that if you fill up a shop right now with all cool stuff from today and not sell a thing, you could sell it for a bomb 20-30 years later! How's that for an investment and a retail space of the time? Apart from that, it's quite sad that some of our retail spaces just don't last the decades....