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

Motivational Monday #1

I've decided to start an inspirational quote book, which is something that I should have done when I was 16 like most girls do. Every now and then I'd come across a quote in a magazine that resonated with me and would clip it out and paste it in my journal but it never amounted to any more than that.

To be honest, I found quotes boring. At least I thought I did, but now that I am older and wiser (humour me) I've realized that I just couldn't relate to them because I had no hope. That's really what quotes are, little bits of hope and love wrapped up into bite sized text.

We all know there's nothing more tedious than a large collection of someones favourite quotes so I will just post these two that are going to be the first entries into my hand written, hard bound, inspirational quote book.

"And then the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." - Anais Nin

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." - Lao Tzu

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Feel free to leave your favourite quotes in the comments section! I would love to see what inspires you and maybe be inspired myself to add it to my collection.