Trying Something New - Vintage Inspired Clutches

I've been doing a little more designing and experimenting with my shop. Nothing too drastic of course, I'm not a terribly fashion forward kind of gal. In fact I usually joke that I'm "fashion backwards" because my style is so firmly rooted in the 40s, 50s and 60s.

Last month one of Randys coworkers asked me to come up with a gift for her 6 bridesmaids. She wanted something using her wedding colours and she wanted each item to be personalized. Oh and I had a really strict budget. Panic! I had no idea what I was going to do. I took a day to think about it and came up with the perfect idea that night while I was falling asleep - which is incidentally the time when I do my best designing.

The next morning I got up & excitedly emailed my idea to her - 6 simple clutches done up in navy blue with blush pink lining, each with it's own special button. She loved the idea and I started drafting a few different patterns to find the best shape. I also got hooked on clutches and have now made 10 of them, these little purses are addictive!

The final clutch design, one of the bridesmaid gifts.

These are my first two patterns. I love how both of them turned out and am really pleased to be able to offer some new bags to my shop. I've got a few more to be listed in the next few days, including solid coloured bags for those of you who aren't as pattern obsessed as I am!

Yoko Japanese Fabric Clutch

Ida Vintage Barkcloth Clutch

Learning to Live with my Fears

Stuff No One Told Me #22 By Alex Noriega

When I first saw this drawing by Alex Noriega I probably said something like Holy Shit! It couldn't have been more perfect if he had drawn it just for me. It looks like me, I drink tea alllll day and I am pushing myself out of a deep anxiety rut.

A few yeas ago I went to see a new age therapist while I was working through some childhood issues. It wasn't anxiety based but we did touch on it, since it's such a large part of my life. Agoraphobia is like a scar. You can definitely get better and function normally but there's always a part of your brain that won't forget.. especially if you keep picking at it.

I remember one session she had me sit on the floor with my shoes off and draw on a huge pad of paper with those fat Crayola markers. She would tell me to draw abstract things like where I see myself in 5 years or what would be inside a gift box that I gave to myself. I think I gave myself a ball of glowing light that would give me energy. (I should have given myself a car or a mortgage-free house.)

Most of the things she asked me to draw were simple and didn't require too much thought, until she asked me to draw my anxiety. I remember just sitting there looking at the ceiling trying to visualize what my panic disorder would look like if I could get it down on paper. It was huge, looming, scary. Evil.

I took the purple marker and drew a big giant blob the size of the paper, with a messy, jagged edge. I added horns, to make it more evil. My therapist was asking me about it while I was drawing it and I remember saying that it was just a really, really, big menacing monster. After looking at it for a while I decided to draw on eyes and a mouth, to give it a face. This ended up making me laugh instead of scaring me. My anxiety was adorable! He had googley eyes and a little grin, like he was in on the joke with me. I added little stick arms and legs and that was that. I couldn't believe I had been so afraid of this guy. He was a big scary monster sure, but he was easy to tame.

After that things actually did get easier. When I felt the shadow of panic creeping over me I would picture the monster behind me, tapping me on the shoulder and running away. It still sucked (and sucks) but it would at least make me smile for a moment when I thought I would go out of my mind with panic.

He's been coming back to bother me lately, but instead of worrying about him I think I'll just offer him some tea. I don't think he's going anywhere so we might as well get reacquainted.

DIY Hang Tags (on a budget!)

I have been brainstorming ideas for making professional looking hang tags to use locally during the upcoming craft show season. Up until now I had been using a business card with a regular hole punch, but the cards are big and get in the way and it just seemed a bit too amateur. Using items I already had, a little graphic design work & elbow grease I was able to come up with a classy hang tag that I think looks pretty sweet!



You will need two craft punches for making your hang tags. I used the "Extra Jumbo Marvy" 1.5" scalloped circle for the tag and a quarter sized hole punch for the string. Both were purchased from Michaels using the weekly 50% off coupons. These go on sale all the time too - don't pay full price for them! You can use whatever shape or size you like as long as it is no bigger than 1.75" wide and 2" tall.


Here's where the graphic design comes in. I used Vista Print and waited for a premium business card sale with free uploads. Trust me, if you sign up for their mailing list you won't have to wait very long! I get multiple free offers from them every week.

I used the "design your own business card" option, uploaded the background image from my blog and laid out the text boxes so I had two identical graphics on each side of the card. You will need to play around with this a bit - and it helps to have a business card in front of you with the holes punched out so you will have an idea where your borders will be. I was a bit worried that my 6 pt font would be too small to read but it turned out beautifully.

Of course you can use any printing company that you like but you can't go wrong with 250 cards for free + $10 shipping. That's 500 hang tags! Just be careful during your check out that you don't select any of their optional add ons. It ends up being cheaper to wait and order more items from their next promotional email.


And then the elbow grease. This is the least fun part of making your own hang tags but it's also kind of satisfying. I removed the plastic bottom from my Marvy stamp at first so I could make sure I was punching each card in the correct spot. After a while I was able to tell just by looking at the side of the stamp if the card was lined up in the correct spot.


Once my cards were stamped out I used my mini hole punch on them. A regular sized punch would work too but the smaller size looks cleaner to me.

Finally, I used embroidery floss to hang the tags from my purses. Floss comes in hundreds of colors so you can pick out the perfect shade to compliment your hang tags or your items.

I'm still not sure yet if I'm going to attach them to the inside of my purses with little safety pins or if I should just loop them around the buttons and snaps of my items. What do you think?

I'd love to see your tags if you try this method - if you already use the method - or if you purchase premade tags!

Oh Yoko

Yoko Green 7 Pocket Wallet With Change Purse

Yoko Pink 7 Pocket Wallet with Change Purse

Yoko Pink 7 Pocket Wallet with Change Purse

The Oh So Retro bifold wallet has 6 deep, staggered pockets for easy organization and massive amounts of storage! Keep all your business cards, bank cards, rewards cards, coupons and cash organized in one place.

Features:
- 6 inside pockets, 3 on each side.
- 3.5" zipper pocket on the back to hold a ton of change.
- Secure tab with metal snap closure keeps everything in it's right place.
- Measures 4.5" wide x 8" long (4" folded.)
- Interfaced for strength and stability.

Available in a pink or green version. Made with authentic Japanese fabric featuring large dots and patterns on green cotton. Lined in a matching print textured cotton with solid accent fabric.

Visit my shop for more wallets - or custom order one with your own choice of fabric and options!

Flashback Friday #4 Hello, Goodbye

The day he was born was a rough one for me. I actually hung up on my mom when she called to tell me that I had a baby brother. It never occurred to me that you might be a boy, I was sure I was going to have a little sister named Sarah. Instead I had a stinky brother named Michael. This was my first taste of disappointment.



It didn't take me long to warm up to you. We shared the second bedroom in our small house and I can remember standing beside the crib, looking in through the bars and holding his little feet. Who knew finger nails could ever be that small. I loved to hug and squish him.



When Michael was 3 years old he was diagnosed with a spinal cord tumor and given one month to live without immediate surgery. My parents flew to Toronto with him and I lived with my grandparents. The doctors prepared us for possible paralysis and we excepted him to come home in a wheelchair. (He ran off the airplane to meet us at the airport.) At the time I didn't understand the seriousness of this event. I still can't fully understand it.



(Further proof that I am the smart one.) Christmas was the best. Having someone to share that excitement with.. the moment before our parents would give us the go ahead when we both sat shaking with excitement before the tree, counting presents and seeing who got the biggest one. Michael would rip his presents open one after the other and then sit and watch as I meticulously unwrapped my gifts.


There's a big gap without pictures of us because there's a big gap where we hated each other. Hated. Now I realize what a waste of time that was. I carry that regret with me even though my brother has forgiven me for how I treated him. (We're not just talking sibling rivalry here.)

It's taken years but I consider my brother one of my best friends. He's moving to Montreal tomorrow to start his new career at Aerospace as an Engineer and I am SO proud of him! I am going to miss him something fierce and will probably be making the same face that I am in the first photo but I'm excited to see what he's going to accomplish in his life.

The sky is yours Michael, one step at a time.

Thrift Shop Finds

I love books. I love books more than I love fabric. Well maybe not quite that much, but they're a close second.

Actually let me restate that: I love second hand books. I love hunting through a heavy shelf in a thrift shop for well loved books, finding a forgotten bookmark treasure or vintage library card. One of these had tickets for a draw to be held in December 1989. I guess they didn't win.

This week I found these books at my local Goodwill - a great find. My high school had the entire collection of New Canadian (NC) paperbacks, these same editions from the 1970s with abstract paintings on the front.

Margaret Lawrence is an amazing Canadian author, if you haven't read her yet I strongly recommend "A Bird in the House" and "The Stone Angel". I haven't read "A Jest of God" yet but it's next on my list.

The Margaret Atwood "You Are Happy" book of poetry was my absolute favourite in high school. Some of the poems I had read so much that I was able to recite them from memory as I was reading them. I was so excited to find a first edition, and one in great shape too.

Anais Nin is of course classic and the Stephen Leacock book - well I just liked the design. Sometimes you just have to buy a book if it's going to look good on your shelf.

As cool as I think the e-readers are, I will never own one because they don't come with the dusty library smell, you can't sit and look at the titles and they won't make for very fun thrifting in the future.

Reintroducing...

It's been a long time coming but I am finally ready to restart Oh So Retro Accessories up full time. I'm really excited to be designing & creating again after a two year hiatus in which OSR was put into bare bones mode. I'm feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, inspired and ready to get back to work!

I'm hoping to put up at least one brand new item a day in my Etsy shop until it's nice and full for the upcoming season. I will also be taking wholesale and custom orders. You can email me at ohsoretro@gmail.com if you have any inquiries.

As always you can follow me on twitter or add OSR on facebook. You can add my personal facebook too if you want more me, less spam.

Thanks to everyone for your support over the last two years -- it means a lot to me to know so many people are still excited to see what I'm up to in the sewing room.

Vivian Vintage Inspired Purse in Jacobean Linen $52


Maybelle Vintage Inspired Purse in Polka Dot Canvas $42

A few thoughts before we get on with it.

I've recently discovered that the problem with depression isn't the painful sadness or the intense apathy, the lack of hygiene and nutrition and sunshine and friends...

It's the fact that being depressed takes up a lot of time. Weeks, months, years go by in a haze and before you know it one morning you're waking up (exhausted) and looking at a calendar unable to recognize the date. 2010? How the hell did that happen?

Coming out of a depression is really like coming out of a coma.

The really sad thing is that I didn't even know I was depressed until I started to come out of it. I've been living life at a dull hum, not really doing anything except the bare minimum needed to get by. I have no excuses for this. I'm tired of making excuses.

I don't want to waste another minute of life! I've been making some small changes over the past month, getting out more, being with people more, taking photos and sewing and drawing. Getting dressed, showering, eating. The simple things. The things I used to enjoy doing. The things that make me "me".

So that's it. No more excuses, no more bullshit. It's time for me to get on my way.

Introducing... Hair Bows & Headbands!

When I was a little girl (waaaay back in the 1980s) I loved to draw and design my own clothing. I had an empty school notebook that I used to fill up with pictures of impossibly proportioned girls in ill fitting clothing; mostly tiered skirts with strapless bustiers all covered in giant bows. I was obsessed! Hair bows, sock bows, front bows & bum bows, bows on shoes and ramdomly placed all over dresses. I was kind of like the kid in Superbad, except with bows.

So when I noticed the resurgence of the bow I was really excited & decided to bring my childhood drawings to life. I wanted something that would suit everyone. Some of my drawings featured giant upright bows (think Lady Gaga's hair bow) and others were more feminine and laid flat over the ear. After some tweeking I was able to come up with a bow that does both - in fact it can be worn any way, any where on the plastic headband that it comes with. The secret is the fabric band that keeps it in place while it's being worn.



Because the bow is not permanently attached to the headband you can not only change it's style but you can remove it completely to swap it with one of eight other bows in this custom listing. The extra bows can also be used on their own to sew onto bags, jackets, shoes, pet collars, necklaces, bracelets... anything you can think of really. Because everything looks better with a big bow!



Check out my new Hair Bow section on Etsy! New fabrics & sizes coming soon. Wholesale & custom orders available.

As a special offer, FREE SHIPPING in North America is available on all bows & headbands in my shop from now until July 1st!

Wear Sunscreen. And Leave the House.

"Be Free" by pennywishes

The other morning when I was watching old videos on youtube (I do this every day) I came across "Everybodys Free To Wear Sunscreen" by Baz Luhrmann. I remember Much Music playing the video over & over & over back in the day (they had a way to kill everything good) but rewatching it 10 years later I was struck with the soundness of this advice. If only I had listened, but advice is one of those "best seen with hindsight" things, intentions are all well and good, but you have to live through things yourself to be able to understand the advice.

The line "Do one thing every day that scares you" stood out especially for me since I have become so complacent in dealing with anxiety. Lately I have been feeling motivated to pull myself out of the rut I've created and find myself again, so to speak. I feel like I'm coming out of a fog. I feel like myself again. It feels good.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the class of ’99
If I could offer you only one tip for the future,
sunscreen would be it.
The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience…I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked…

You’re not as fat as you imagine.

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing everyday that scares you.

Sing.
Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours.
Floss.
Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with yourself.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.
Stretch.
Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don’t.
Get plenty of calcium.
Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone.
Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe you won’t,maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever own..
Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.
Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them.
Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.
Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.
Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.
Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85.
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it.
Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen…

Day 2, or Mr Boots Laments the Rain

It's been a very, very rainy day today and it's just as well since I'm feeling a little under the weather myself.

No walks today, hopefully tomorrow.

The re:365 Project - Take Two, Day One

I finally remembered to throw my camera into my bag today when I went out to the shops to buy ingredients for supper. I find myself saying "I wish I had my camera" almost every time I'm out. (I wish in a way that I had a cell phone with a camera, but that would involve having a cell phone in the first place.)

So on my little walk this afternoon I decided that I should attempt to do a 365 again as a twofold sort of project - one, to get out of the house more often and two, to take more photographs. My anxiety has been acting up the past few weeks so getting out of the house as much as possible will be a good therapy.

This photo was taken in the parking lot outside my building. The arrow points up to a light standard. I'm not sure who's watching, or where they're watching, from but I hope they enjoy the view.

Breakfast For Dinner Of Champions

Alright, I'm back from my self-imposed seasonal depression sabbatical -- because the last thing the internet needs is more self pitying blog posts, amiright? Anyway, Randy and I were making thee best breakfast-for-dinner meal this weekend when I realized that I hadn't put together a blog post in a while so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures before we sat down to eat.

I could probably eat breakfast 3x a day... and sometimes I do. (Although I'm not sure if Koala Crisp counts as a meal.) We forgot it was a holiday weekend and so instead of fighting our way through the Safeway we just raided the fridge & freezer and threw together a delicious meal.

Scrambled Tofu w/ Bacon





Mmm. Bacon. That part was pretty straight forward - we had half a pack of bacon in the freezer so I zapped it in the microwave for about a minute so I could peel it apart before putting it in the frying pan. We had two batches of bacon to cook so that took the same time as the tofu.

I buy prepressed organic tofu so I skip the whole pressing under a plate step but if you buy water packed tofu make sure you press it for half an hour first. I like to use firm or extra firm. Medium works too but it's a bit mushy. Pour a tbsp or so of oil in the pan (we use canola) and crumble your brick of tofu into the pan while heating it over medium-high. I don't measure any of my ingredients, it's all to preference. Add in about 1 tbsp of tumeric and mix it up so your tofu turns a nice bright yellow colour. This won't last so enjoy it while you can.

Next throw in anything you have in your crisper, I added some green onion & green pepper. Anything watery, like tomatos, should be added right at the end. I seasoned it with some garlic, onion powder and the best part, soy sauce. I use gluten free low sodium soy sauce so I really pour it on, but if you had a nice dark sauce you could use a lot less. I'm a bit of a soy sauce addict hence the brown scramble.. but it's delicious!

You can cook it until it's heated up and browned a little bit, serve it with bacon (or any veg side dish) and you've got yourself a delicious & super easy breakfast-for-dinner.

Thank You Thank You Thank You

Last month I was one of the lucky winners of The Rik Rak Studios Eco Week Giveaways! I won a beautiful hand woven recycled rug from the extremely talented Pegg of Five Forty.

This was exciting for a number of reasons, one of which was the fact that Pegg is also from Northern Ontario. There's a special connection between everyone I've ever met from the Lake Superior region, I think it has to do with the water and trees and rocks. Being far away now it's always nice to find a little bit of home. Pegg has a beautiful shop full of hand woven rugs and handmade jewelry.

Mr Boots especially enjoys the new rug!





Thanks so much to both Pegg, for the beautiful rug, and RikRak Studio for hosting such fun giveaways. Be sure to visit both of their shops to look at all the eco lovelies they have for sale!

Flash Back Friday #4

I was one of those babies born so bald they don't need a haircut until their 3rd birthday. My brother was the same, although he did have little whispy ringlets at the back of his head. I had nothing! My mom had to stick frilly bonnets on me and always had me in pretty dresses when we went out, otherwise the cooing strangers would call me fella. I'm always amazed when I see a baby with a full hair of hair, especially babies born with the same amount of hair that I have in this picture.

I'm probably around 18 months here. This was taken in our backyard during the summer of 1980 - although in black and white you would swear it was the 50s. That old shed has been torn down now but the houses & the fence are still there. Oh & I have a lot more hair now, thankfully.



I hope everyone has a great weekend! I've been working on some new things for OSR and I hope to have a blog entry announcing them on Monday.

Surprisingly Delicious Gluten Free Lasagna

The one thing I've missed most since being diagnosed with celiac is a good lasagna. Nothing fancy, no vegetables disguised as noodles. Just meat, cheese, sauce and noodles. And more cheese. Lots of cheese.

I was a bit skeptical when I came across a recipe for lasagna using rice instead of noodles. There was no way that could taste good I thought. But the reviews, along with my pasta craving, convinced me that it was worth a try. How bad could it be anyway? Tons of casserole recipes use hamburger, tomatoes and rice.

I changed up the recipe a bit just to make it more like my moms lasagna and to make sure it was gluten free. The results? Success! I loved it. It had just the right amount of gooey cheesiness and the rice held together really well. Randy wasn't as crazy about it, although he said it was a 6.5/10. He's not a tomato fan though, and really doesn't like tomatoes with rice. (I know right, what's not to like?!)




Surprisingly Delicious Gluten Free Lasagna

Ingredients

Nonstick cooking spray
2 cups Minute Rice, uncooked
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 container Ricotta cheese
1 pound lean ground beef
1 tsp minced garlic
1 jar Catelli Garden Select garlic & onion spaghetti sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Coat 13x9-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
2. Prepare rice according to package directions. Cool slightly. Combine rice, eggs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese in medium bowl. Mix well; set aside.
3. Combine 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, Mozzarella cheese and Ricotta cheese in separate bowl. Mix well; set aside.
4. Add meat and brown over medium heat; drain off excess fat. Add spaghetti sauce and minced garlic; continue cooking until thoroughly heated.
5. Spoon one-half rice mixture into baking dish. Cover with one-half of cheese mixture. Top with one-half of meat sauce. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
6. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Click here for the original recipe from Minute Rice.

Flashback Friday #3

In the summer of 2005 Randy and I decided to go on our first road trip together. We were just going a couple hours north to stay at my parents camp for the weekend but it was one of the first really big things that I did once I started overcoming my agoraphobia. Back in those days I had a hard time travelling in cars because I was phobic of being stranded somewhere, even if it was just the mall or grocery store. I was nervous but I remember being really excited too. I made us a lunch so we could have a picnic and we packed up our things and the dog & away we went.

Of course what happens? We ran over a bag full of nails and got a flat tire! I remember getting out of the car in the middle of nowhere and telling Randy that I was going to walk to my parents camp! A couple minutes later I realized I was being ridiculous and calmed right down. We flagged someone down to help us change the tire and all was fine. That's me waiting for help, you can see our doggie sitting in the back seat and (yuck) I'm smoking! (I quit smoking that September.) We had a great weekend & slept under the stars. :)

Free Shipping Wednesday!

I've been going through my stack of not-quite-finished and not-quite-started sewing, trying to remember what all these pieces of cut fabric were supposed to end up as. Before I start anything new I want to finish up these projects. I previously used to sew items as I sold them but part of my restructuring plan is to make the stock and then sell it - no more midnight binge sewing sessions for me.

I was pretty excited to find 4 cut and ready brown leaf bamboo pillows just waiting for their zippers. I have one in my living room and it's my favourite pillow. I think this fabric is out of stock now but I wish I had bought more, I would love to make myself placemats out of it. Anyway, to celebrate me getting off my butt and finishing these pillows after they sat in the to-do pile for over a year I'm happy to offer free shipping on them! Hooray for small accomplishments. :)



See the listing for theGreen Leaf Bamboo Cotton pillow slips or the Chocolate Brown Bamboo Cotton pillow slip!

Welcome to the new Oh So Retro Accessories! It will be very much like the old Oh So Retro except it will be updated regularly and kept organized. At least that's the plan.

You might have noticed that I've dropped the "Design" and replaced it with "Accessories". This is because I have renewed my business license and realized that my work is less about design and more about .. accessories. Less fashion & more function, as it were. I'm also hoping to do more local shows and thought that Oh So Retro Accessories was a better way to describe myself.

While working on my blog I went through my old photos to find an image for my header. I was really struck with how abruptly my photos stopped in the spring of 2008. There's still pictures but they're not the same, there's no flowers or trees or artsy fartsy macro shots. This is also around the time that I stopped sewing anything new - I'm still selling the same items in the same fabrics as I was in the spring of 2008. I was always aware of my depression, it was kind of a low level static that hung over me like gauze but I had no idea how deep it went.

I feel in a way as if I'm picking up where I left off. I won't ever be able to get those two years back but at least I can move forward from here. I don't ever want another year to go by with no pictures to add to the photo album. Or no money in my pocket, as is the case of not doing my sewing! It's all uphill from here & it feels good to finally be looking up.

Finally, Facebook Fans

Randy & I had both been saying that we needed to make Fan pages for our respective businesses so we sat down together on Saturday afternoon and got to work. It was much simpler than I anticipated and I really feel organized now, especially since I had stopped using Flickr last year when my pro account ran out and had no where to store my pictures. At one time I would have said that Flickr was your best promotion online but now I think Facebook is the necessity.

One thing I noticed when uploading my photos is that I haven't made anything new in ages.. Really it's almost been a full year since I did any real work besides wholesale orders. No wonder my store has stagnated! On one hand I'm mad at myself for getting lazy and falling so far behind but on the other I think maybe I just needed the break. It feels good to feel good again & be excited about something. But I still need to kick my bum when I'm feeling lazy!

My next project is to redo my blog template to make it more personalized. I don't think I'm going to get too crazy with it, mostly because I don't have the skills. I have an idea of what I want in my head and hopefully I'll be able to make it appear on the screen! I see so many beautiful customized blogs and I know I need something prettier and less default template. Wish me luck!

If you'd like to become an Oh So Retro fan on Facebook you can find me at http://www.facebook.com/OhSoRetroAccessories
& if you want to check out Randys art he's at http://facebook.com/randyortizDTD

Happy Easter!

Easter Eggs by Torsten Reuschling


I hope everyone had a great Easter or long weekend if you're not the Easter celebrating kind!

We decided to do away with a traditional meal and headed to my parents place for a barbecue instead. It looked like rain all week but at the last moment the weather cooperated. I was even able enjoy a cup of tea out on the patio with my mom, which is unheard of for an Easter weekend. I hope this weather keeps up, I want to get out for a bit of a walk every day and can't wait to use my balcony.

We had a really nice time hanging out with family. The Easter bunny even stopped by with some chocolate for me, which was rather nice of him considering I'm 31 years old and should not be eating a six pack of Cadbury eggs. (I won't complain though!)

I love a holiday weekend but I'm looking forward to getting back on track, especially since I have so much to do this week -- but more about that tomorrow. I'm going to be attempting to personalize my blog template so hopefully I won't mess it up!

Flashblack Friday #3

Looking at Tias pictures of her & her husband I decided to dig out an old hard drive backup in search of my 2003 photos

Randy & I met in the spring of 2003.. he was a friend of the boy I was dating (I use the term dating loosely here) and we had talked to each a few times over the internet. The boy I was dating had warned me that Randy was "weird" but we seemed to get along pretty well so when Randy needed a new roommate in a hurry, I offered to move in with him. We hung out a few times, found the cutest little house and moved in together on June 1, 2003. Less than two weeks later Randy had stolen me away from his friend and the rest is history.






In case you're wondering, no ones feelings were ever hurt. The boy I was dating was happy for me & Randy & we're all still good friends. This story has a very happy ending. :)