my give-away sneak peek

Here's a photo of the special give-away I promised, I will post all the details tomorrow. Make sure to come back and enter to win!

weekend find

I must be thinking so much about tea cups, tea pots and tea parties from my last post and this weekend came upon this exquisite vintage Imperial Russian porcelain tea set for two in mint condition. Price tag: $15!

If this isn't what you call power of suggestion, I don't know what is.

I will be revealing my next huge give-away and big sale coming up at Modish Vintage this week. Stay tuned!

teapot collectibles

Is there anything more soothing and comforting than a cup of tea? Probably not, and that is why I think teapot collecting has grown in popularity over the years. If I only had enough shelves in my house to display my collections of teacups and teapots then I would definitely keep this and this.

Etsy has a wide range of collectible teapots for every personality, taste and every budget. But for the fun purpose of this post I only picked the most expensive ones I found on vintage and handmade category of Etsy. I'd say if you're in a market for collecting teapot and have the dough to splurge why not start with these lovely teapots instead?

Victorian 1884 Sterling Silver Repousse Tea Set by Charles Edwards by QualityVintage for $5,799.99

Russian Soviet Coffee Set by far4 for $4,950.00

Seaform Teapot by Katyjane for $2,500.00

Bliss (two sided teapot) by rainharris for $1,500.00

STELTON 1967 JACOBSEN Cylinda TEA Set by Sweetshorn for $699.00

Now, that's serious collection of teapots.

to discount or not to discount… that is the question

I’ve seen many sellers run sales and discounts who had great results but running sales never really worked for me personally so I don’t really offer them at my shop. But with the recent down turn in the economy and sluggish sales, one can only hope for a sale by slashing prices and offering deep discounts. I am confounded with the mixed advice/ideas offered on the forum about the subject. And I need to move my item or stop going to thrift stores for like a month until I figure a solution of how and where to store my finds. Slower than usual sales, lack of space and my uncontrollable urge to go thrifting is what I’m confronted at this time.

Having almost 400 item listed for sale in my Etsy shop is quite overwhelming; having 400 inventory laying around all over my house is another story. And I still probably have another one hundred other items still in a box or plastic bag that needed to be inspected, cleaned, photographed and listed. If you’re a daily thrifter like I am then you’re bound to find something each shopping trip and therefore need to be very creative about storing such finds before hubby trips on one of your train cases and start to really get annoyed and would never let you out of the house again.

I have converted two rooms in my basement to store my inventory, half of the garage to store my packing peanuts and various sizes of boxes, part of the family room downstairs as shipping area and I’m still in need of space. The two instances where I spent a whole weekend looking for a sold item to package in the sea of my ever growing inventory was not a deterrent to stop my thrifting obsession, I take it as a sign that I need more shelves in the house.

So what to do, I have been thinking of running a sale, buy-one-get-one-half-off-or-something-the-like, free shipping is out of the question since most of my items are heavy. But I will definitely try some kind of discount sale in April for my Etsyversary, so stay tuned.

What do you think? would you discount price to boost your sales or maintain prices to preserve your product?

weekend finds

It was a nice and lovely weekend, we had one chilly and cloudy day perfect for lounging around, cooking, crafting, reading and a nice sunny day and a visit to the park, couple of hours of gardening and of course a bit of thrifting.

But before I reveal my new finds, I just want to do a couple of shout-outs to the following lovely Etsy people. I was pleasantly surprise to find Modish Vintage featured on the Etsy's Storque "Etsy Find Vintage" column this weekend. A big thank you to TeenAngster for a great and informative post!

And also a big thanks to nataliesnest for including my owl paperweight on her new treasury; to jewelcard for adding my pin buttons on her lovely treasury and my cobalt blue cups on cindylouwho2's treasury as well. Thanks guys! You made me feel like a celebrity this weekend!

So onto my weekend finds:

Beautiful vintage tins. I just can't get enough of this tins especially the one in teal with bouquet of flowers.

Red vintage shoe form, I have a few pairs of this in natural wood colour I bought for hubby but never in red, it would make a great display on the wall or on a window sill.

A modern print fabric streched out on a canvas. So cute!

A bright yellow vintage swivel chair I will use as prop for my photos, also serves as an endless amusement ride for the kids at the moment.

And last but not the least, my heart-stopping, eye-popping, amazing fabric find ever. I am keeping this and maybe make a couple of pillows or tote or something.

It's one of those days where I feel like I hit the jackpot in thrifting, and in my excitement of it all I left a bag with my desk lamp in it. Guess I have a reason to go back shopping there today.

today

So my husband recently suggested that Fridays will be kid’s day. It’s hubby’s day off and for me it means no thrifting, photographing, obsessing about Etsy or anything online related for that matter; the whole day will be focused on the kids only (because you know I just don’t get enough of them).

So today the first half will be spent crafting, learning, singing, dancing, and the second half will be spent swimming at the nearby Community Center pool and later in the evening pizza dinner at Chuckie Cheese. Fun! (and I mean that in the most lovingly motherly way).

Happy Friday!

newly acquired gem

Very excited about my new find, a 22 pages of what appears to be all original illustrations of the world renowned cartoonist Ronald Searle about his famous Searle's Cats. Actually I didn't have any idea of who was the artist when I saw these drawings, I just thought the illustrations and the captions are too hilarious. So I bought it. When I came home I immediately googled the artist name and found out he is an influential English artist and cartoonist and some of his illustrations was recently sold at this place at an obnoxious amount of money. I have all the 22 pages, they are in excellent condition except for the darkening of the paper due to it's age, all signed and dated. And the best part? I got it for 25 cents!

These photos are just a few of the funniest ones.



"Inefficient cat captured by an astute goldfish"




"Happy cat in its bath unaware that the house in on fire"



"Vegetarian cat regarding a plate of fried eggs"




" A rather timid wolf in cat's clothing"



"Young cat already regretting puberty"

"Balding cat walking out in an unsuitable wig"

"Remarkably hairy cat faced with the problem of dandruff"

"Gluttonous right-wing cat attempting to digest the left wing of a chicken"

"Exhausted Persian cat contemplating the advantages of monogamy"

"Embarassed cat discovering that all cats are not the same in the dark"

"Two cats quite calmly making beasts of themselves"

"Two cats discover that love is a many-splendoured thing"

recent finds I really wanted to keep for myself

So I have been getting lucky in finding neat stuff from my latest thrifting pursuits. Or maybe it’s not so much the luck, it could be that I may be developing a keener eye; the things I used to ignore before I’m finding them now. I’m very selective when it comes to the stuff I pick for the shop and therefore finding myself having three piles of stuff at the end of my shopping trip, which are as follows;

pile 1: amazing stuff I might keep

Pile 2: amazing stuff I want to keep

Pile 3: amazing stuff I will definitely keep for myself and maybe hand it down to my daughter someday.

So these recent finds are actually in between piles 1 and 2. Stuff I really wanted to keep for myself, but I can’t because they either don’t go with the rest of my décor or I don’t have a space for it.

Unique and whimsical piano or desk lamp in polished brass finish with a music note motif.

Georges Briard large tuxedo ice bucket

Quirky 'wimpy' red and white cappucino cups and saucer made in Germany.

And a vintage body form (I will add photo later) which I don't have a clue how to ship if it ever get sold.

Please look for these items at Modish Vintage shop shortly.

the happy colours of spring

vintage teal travel alarm clock made in Germany

yellow enamel fondue pot

enamelware floral tea kettle

large yellow melamine serving tray

and what's a 'spring' post without the birdies...



Please look for them at Modish Vintage shop!

need I say more?

I will be adding lots of fun vintage stuff at modish vintage shop in the next couple of days, please stay tuned. I am also trying to come up with some kind of special give away for April to celebrate the shop's first year. Any suggestions?

chicken enchilada with green chile sauce

The kid's swimming lesson was cancelled yesterday so I was able to make my super easy chicken enchilada recipe (and take photos of it while my husband looked on in confusion) I explained that I'm trying to kill two birds with one stone; it's for dinner and for my blog. Anyway, this is a very quick, no fuss recipe as I used a canned green sauce instead of making it from fresh ingredient.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken breast
1 big can Las Palmas green enchilada sauce (medium hot)
1 white onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
24 white corn tortilla
1 tspn Cumin
1/2 tspn Mexican oregano
Grated cheese
Salt, pepper to taste

1. Boil chicken breasts until tender, set aside. Pull chicken breast apart by hand into shredded strips.

2. Saute garlic, onion, add chicken, cumin, oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. In a pan, pour canned green sauce, simmer in medium to low heat. Dip tortilla until fully covered with sauce and softens a little.

4. Arrange a layer on a baking dish,then add a layer of the meat filling. Add another layer of tortilla and meat. Top with remaining enchilada sauce.

5. Sprinkle diced onions (optional) and grated cheese on top.

6. Bake for 15 minutes in preheated 350 degree F oven until cheese is melted. Add sour cream and/or serve with Spanish rice and beans.

Enjoy!

a day in a life of an etsy shop owner (work-at-home-mom)

9:00 Wake up, hit snooze button within two rings to avoid waking up the kids. (yes I own an alarm clock and use it from Monday thru Thurdays, which are kids school days)

9:01 Lay in bed, think of what to feed the kids for breakfast.

9:02 Go back to sleep, kids will wake me up eventually.

9:30 Wake up suddenly to realize I didn’t hit the snooze button, I turned it off. Kids are still sleeping.

9:32 Go to the kitchen and make a pot of coffee.

9:40 Go downstairs to the basement office, check Etsy shop, read emails while having coffee, hoping kids will sleep for another half hour.

9:45 Kids are awake, can hear their little footsteps walking downstairs to look for me.


9: 46 Go upstairs to the kitchen, put PBS cartoon on so I can get some breakfast ready.

Realized were out of bread or tortilla, but there’s still half gallon of milk.

Tell kids we’re having coco puffs for breakfast. Kids jumps in excitement.

9:49 – 10:20 Breakfast. Chaos in the kitchen.

Meals usually consist of crying over spilt juice/milk/water.


Screaming for MORE CEREAL/JUICE/MILK/BREAD/ETC!!!!


Questions (more like demands) such as WHERE’S MY DORA CUP???!!! WHERE’S MY DIEGO PLATE?????!!!!! WHERE'S MY RED CUP, BLUE CUP????!!!!

10:20 Finish breakfast. Will do the dishes later.

10:30 Get kids ready for school.


Endless pleas to put their shirt, pants, socks, shoes, jackets on already.

11:30 Get the kids to the car. Endless pleas to get them to sit on their car seat already and quit trying to get in front of the steering wheel.

11:45 Drop kids to school. Sudden sense of freedom and bliss.

11:50 Stop by favorite thrift store.

12:15 Run series of errands, ie. grocery shopping, bank deposits, return books at the library, Fedex, post office.

1:30 Rush home to photograph some items.

2:30 Upload photos, while checking and answering emails, filling orders, finding just the right boxes in the garage and packaging items to ship.

3:10 Pick up kids from school.

3:30 Go home for snack, check Etsy and emails.

Plan something for dinner.

4:45 Take kids to swimming lesson.

5:40 Go home and prepare dinner.

7:04 Dinner time, as usual chaos in the kitchen table. Wondering when will we ever experience another quiet, enjoyable, peaceful dinner.

7:47 Finished dinner, will do dishes later.

8:00 Do some arts and crafts/practice writing/colouring/ painting/reading books.

Will intermittently open laptop to check etsy and email.

9:10 – 9:45 Kids bath time.

10:00 Get kids ready for bed. Read books.

10:30 They’re finally asleep. Freedom!

10:38 Do dishes, clean up kitchen.


11:10 Take a quick shower. Mental note to buy a new shower liner on my next Target run.

11:40 Edit photos taken earlier today, research items, list, relist, answer emails/convos, package sold items.

Read blogs.


Open mails.

Pay some bills.

Write something on my blog.

Read Etsy forum; window shop on favorite etsy shops.

Read some more blogs.

Suddenly realizing a good two and a half hours was spent just reading blogs.

4:01 A.M. Vow to do the taxes tomorrow night.

4:06 A.M. Turn the ringer off, go to bed.

my third entry for the day

Google Analytics (GA) rocks and treasuries too! I’m one of those obsessive compulsives that constantly checks their views on GA and with the sudden spike in views yesterday found out my miniature cups (which have been listed forever and relisted again) was on the front page treasuries, sadly no takers but nonetheless I’m very happy with the views. thank you!

newly acquired vintage fabrics

My new acquisition from yesterday's thrift store run. I found a nice stack of wonderful vintage fabrics all in one shop which doesn't happen very often. It's either the thrifting goddess was with me or all the crafty thrifters must have taken a day off from thrifting yesterday bacause, well who could have missed these colourful wonderful vintage fabric goodness?

I might actually make something with the yellow checks with Hollie Hobbie prints, they would make an adorable summer dress for a girl and will be listing the rest in the next couple of days at modishvintage shop.