Darling Heart Vintage

Thank you so much for all your well wishes and congratulations on my last post! I have serious love for the handmade and blog community, and knowing that there are people out there who support and love what we do makes this gig all that much more satisfying. So much so that we're going to open another store? Why, yes! I've been thinking on opening up a small vintage store for awhile now, and now that I've started thinking more about moving and what can and can't come with us I realise that not everything I've collected over the years will be able to come with us (this hasn't always been an easy process. I mean, why not take hundreds of mis-matched tea cups half way across the world?). So, I present to you Darling Heart Vintage, a little bit yard sale, a little bit treasure trove.

As tough as it is not being able to take everything we own with us, I'm pretty happy knowing they'll be well loved somewhere else. Also, it makes me feel a little less guilty/justifies my continual thrifting despite knowing we're leaving the country, ha! There's more to list hopefully over the next few days, and I think I'll just keep it up slowly as I thrift for myself. There's also going to be a range of household and clothing items, with a range of sizes in the clothes. As a plus size gal, I know how difficult vintage shopping can be so I'm hoping to dig up some good second hand stuff for us curvier gals, and as that's where I predominantly shop for myself I think you can be sure it won't all be teeny tiny. Not that there won't be teeny tiny, but there will be clothes for everyone. Let's not leave anyone out!

I hope you're all having a fantastic day, might I suggest this Lo-Fi Ladies mix to keep you company? I listened to it last night as I replied to emails and ate chocolate chips straight from the bad. Shh!

Etsy-versary!

Hello! First of all, I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for all of your wonderful Portland tips! The train ride down was absolutely beautiful, and I completely fell in love with the city. Unfortunately though, Richard woke up extremely sick on our first morning there and had to spend the rest of our holiday in bed! It was such a bummer as we'd planned so many fun things to do and also because it really is horrible to be sick in a hotel room. I did venture out to see a few things, but mostly played nurse, and while it bummed us out it has made us all the more excited to head back down there sooner rather than later! I'm going to do a little Portland in review style post in a day or so once I get my film back that I took there. Our point and shoot has pretty much given up on us so sadly I have nothing yet to show for our visit.

On a more exciting note, it is our one year Etsy anniversary! Secretly I think it might have actually been a day or so ago, but oh well, I'm going to find myself a cupcake to munch on later on in celebration. It's crazy to think we've been in business for only just a year when it feels like so much has happened. We have been overwhelmed by the support of the handmade and design community, and to think that we're now beginning to wholesale and the like is really exciting. Giving up our day jobs are still a ways off, and I'm not even sure if that is where we'll end up, but having some autonomy over our work like and doing something that we both love is something that we're both extremely grateful for!

So to celebrate and say thank you, we're going to be giving away 3 custom buntings! Each winner will receive the bunting of their choice, either one of the pre-written ones in the store or one with a message/name of their choice. They of course will also be able to choose the colour bias tape they would like, and I have some lovely new colours that will hopefully be available in time. They will also receive a bookmark of their choice, and some little added extras that I will rustle up to fill out the package.

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post! The winners will be drawn Sunday May 23rd at midnight and announced the following day. Please feel free to spread the word, and good luck!

And the winner is...

image by kyerabianca

....Dana! Congratulations! I'll send you an email soon in order to get all your info.

Thank you all so much for entering and for showing such fantastic support for Finch, it was so great to read all your comments and I'm sure even more so for Tanya and Phil!

Finch

Two things I like; re-using and typography. So when I found out about a friend of a friend back in New Zealand that had started making wallets and bags out of re-purposed coffee sacks and cute thrifted fabrics I was pretty excited. They have a nice summer vibe to them, don't you think? I love the big bold lettering and graphic prints on the burlap and I love that Tanya and Phil are all about breathing new life into old things. You can take a look at the Finch store over here to see all their other lovely goods, and they have very generously offered this sweet bag below* as a giveaway to one lovely reader! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post before next Wednesday April 7th at midnight and you'll go in the draw. Feel free to spread the word and show this new store some love!

*the bag is 12" x 10" with a 20" long strap when worn.

Now in stock!

Hooray! Finally the bunting is listed and up for grabs in the shop! There are both pre-made ones and custom orders, including a lovely wedding banner. I'm actually not totally thrilled with how the wedding banner photographed. The dark wood is so, so lovely in real life but is tricky to see in the picture so I think I'll re-do that this week. But for now, please go take a peek! They are all made with recycled wood veneer and cotton bias tape that is often thrifted. I hope you like them!

xo

Help a sister out

Beautiful plaid coat from Dutch Drift

A few of my talented friends have recently opened up shop on Etsy, they're all so great I wanted to share them with you! When we first started our store we were lucky enough to be featured on a few blogs, and that's something I really love about the online craft community - we're always quick to help each other out and spread the word. Go check them out!
My lovely friend Maya (who also sells the most adorable Amis de Montagne dolls here) has started selling beautiful vintage clothing at her shop, Dutch Drift. Maya has such fantastic style, this is so perfect for her! I already want pretty much everything she has listed, most especially that coat! She also has a lovely wee blog, here.

Awhile back Evie posted some photos of these insanely cute brooches over on her blog, and I really really hoped that I might soon be able to get my mitts on one. She is such a talented gal and her blog is always full of treats, that I knew her shop was going to be really good when she announced it, and it was even better than I could have thought. The beards! Little Indie Girl Brooches! Check out the packaging as well. talented I tell ya.

Lastly, I was really excited to hear that Amy from the fantastic design blog Handmade Evolution had too opened up shop! Another Vancouverite, I met Amy through Twitter (and will hopefully do so in person sometime soon!) and she always features such great stuff on her blog, both visually and thought provoking. I love 'Peace' print so much, I have such a think for origami! She has them all in a range of colours, now I just have to decide which one I love the best! You can find them here, at Field Trip on Etsy.

New keys!

We've added some new images to our wooden bookmarks, you know how the choice of five lovely vintage keys to choose from! A Valentines Day gift, perhaps? Find them over here!

Cyber Monday Sale!

I had no idea what Black Friday or Cyber Monday was until recently, but I do love a reason to celebrate and give a bit of a treat to all you out there who support us! For my fellow non-North Americans, Black Friday is the crazy sale day after the US Thanksgiving and people line up at 3am for $1 computers from Best Buy. Cyber Monday is the following Monday when all the online stores have their crazy sales once people are back at work....or secretly shopping online (thanks to Lili educating me in the ways of crazy sales days). So, up until midnight tonight everything in our store has been marked down by 15%! Also, because I love you readers so, I am offering free worldwide shipping to you all for the day! The sale prices have already been marked, so all you have to do to take advantage of the free shipping is to enter the code "Cyber Monday Bliss" and I will send you an updated invoice (note: do not pay when etsy prompts you to, but wait for the new invoice instead. If you forget, not to worry, I'll just reimburse you!)

Happy shopping, lovelies!

Shop Update!

New bookmarks and clocks in the shop! I'm particularly smitten with that wee woodgrain one up there, and also the subject heading bookmarks which are taken from an 1883 edition of an encyclopedia that Richard found in an alleyway, of all places, and that features such chapter titles as; courtship, grammar, astronomy and letter writing. So lovely! We are also taking part in the current 'Indie Love' Poppytalk Handmade Market, along with many other fantastic crafters and designers, so be sure to take a look.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that I have received a few comments and such about my note on Thanksgiving in my last post that I'd like to address, but will do so in a post or two.

Happy Tuesday, all!

xo

Tick-Tock

For the past wee while Richard and I have been working a few new products for the shop, and I'm really excited to show you some of the final products! It's no secret that we (ok, I...) love embroidery hoops and on a thrifting expedition awhile back I noticed that there were shelves and shelves of old clocks. While an electric blue stained glass windmill or ceramic duck may be someones idea of a lovely clock, I was pretty sure that we could whip up something a little more appealing.

I used some thrifted wool suiting for the clock faces and then embroidered the numbers on freehand. I really enjoy the rhythm of embroidering, so we cozied (ok, maybe not cozied per se as it was so bloody hot) up on the couch on the weekend evenings with our string of Bette Davis movies, cold beers and some embroidery floss. Richard was in charge of putting them all together, which is good because as it turns out I have no patience for fitting them all together when it's so hot, haha.

Not only are these now in our shop (with more to come!), but they are also on our 'table' at the Poppytalk Handmade Market as part of the 'Home Sweet Home' theme. The current market is running from today until August 15th and you really should all pop over and check it out, there is a lot of great handmade and vintage stuff to pretty up your home!

iluchka

As I was reading Modish the other day, and taking a peek at Jena's Etsy wishlist, I came across the amazing Iluchka from Tel Aviv. Aside from the adorable clothes, I was instantly smitten with the product shots. I love the colours and the campy pop collage kinda feel to them. So good!

Oh, its all too much! I love the guns, the fluro, the glasses and the feisty looking models. I especially love doubles, and that it all looks like it has been taken on some kind of crazy set for a Lost in Space episode. Ilana Bronstein, the woman behind Iluchka, also runs a boutique in Tel Aviv and has a fantastic website that is well worth checking out.

Ok, back to work for me. This to-do list will not finish itself (no matter how had I wish for it).

Happy Wednesday!

xx

Shop Update!

Hello! I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! Ours was so nice and relaxing, just what I needed.

This is just a quick note to say that we have just listed these lovely magnets in the shop, ready for you to snap up! They're mostly made from vintage playing or game cards, and also a lovely vintage looking map of Paris, one of my favourite cities. There will be more to come over the next couple of days, enjoy!

psst....giveaway!

The very lovely Danni from Oh, Hello Friend (her equally lovely blog!) is hosting a giveaway of one of our Embroidery hoop chalkboards! She has also done a little interview with the two of us where I gush about how much I love working with Richard. You can details on how to enter here, along with how you can get free shipping on anything in our store for this week only!

Thanks Danni!

Cigar Trinket Boxes

I've not usually been much of a cigar box fan to be honest. I find that many of the Cuban ones are a little too cheesy for me, not because they actually are I don't think, but have become so due to an almost touristy obsession with them. In saying that, awhile back we stumbled upon a collection of Danish cigar boxes that I completely fell in love with. They're a little less slick, covered in beautiful vintage-y labels and illustrations of leaping stags. Both Richard and I have been using some for our own trinket holding purposes, but we have decided to list some in the shop so that you can have some of your very own!


There will be more, in more shapes, sizes and fancy illustrations, in the shop on Monday.

I hope you're all having a lovely start to your weekend, its amazingly hot here and I plan to soak it up!

xo

Thank you, thank you.

It is no secret that I love Etsy. A lot. Ever since an internet friend showed me her little bird portrait pendants (on wood no less, so cute! If only I could find her again now....where are you friend?) and I didn't really get how it worked, I have been smitten with the handmade wonderland.

Oh, how fun to work here!

Now since opening our store, we have both been completely overwhelmed with the amount of support we have received from them. As we package things up and get ready to head down to the post office to ship off our first batch of orders (so exciting! I love the wrapping part!), I wanted to express our gratitude to all those who have chosen our products for gift guides and front pages, or who have sent us messages of encouragement and the like. We have been totally overwhelmed and humbled by how people have responded to our products. We knew that we really loved them, were proud of them and most importantly (I think) enjoyed making them, but you never really know what others are going to think, you know? So, a big thank you to Modish, decor8, oh, hello friend,(keep an eye on this one, I have a feeling there could be a Bliss in a Teacup giveaway in the works for later in the year) Ez of Creature Comforts and the Etsy staff for all your lovely words and encouragement. It is very, very much appreciated!

Letter Brooches and technical difficulties.

I can't tell you how good the weather has been here lately, so lovely and sunny! I've been spending lots of time at the park or beach, picking up seedlings and getting excited about summer fruit (seeing a giant half barrel of cherries at the market today was a beautiful thing!). We've also been busy making some more treats and filling orders for the store and I was so happy to have what I thought would be perfect lighting to photograph our new Letter Brooches last night. Apparently not though, as it turned out these are the hardest things to catch on (digital) film! They're little glass tiles in rather light shades of blue and pink, and every time I thought I would have a shot and snap it they somehow just turned to being fluro white. Argh! Not soft and dreamy romantical like I had envisioned. We tried various backgrounds, eventually deciding white would work best so thank goodness for Richard's Value Village wedding shirt. It was too funny seeing him in a shirt and tie (he's more of a t-shirt and cardy, or plaid shirt kinda guy), especially as it had been taken in from being rather large so was hugely long on him and paired with old cargo's it looked like he was off to a ska concert, haha.

Anyway, we're both really happy with them and I'm loving the colours. I also love that there is a rather odd selection of letters (these were just found second hand at a local store), lots of x's and z's. So, if we don't have the initial for your name, but you're a xylophone player or zebra enthusiast then we still have a brooch for you! They will be in the shop tomorrow with some other treats like pretty magnets made from vintage floral playing cards and the like!

Alright, it is the start of my weekend so I intend to bake something very chocolatey, eat ice cream (thank you Amber!) and watch movies. Love it.

Happy Birthday Queen Victoria

Goodness, she looks serious. Really, it is her birthday so perhaps we could've gotten a bit of a smile? Anyway, we've decided to celebrate (the long weekend also..) by having a wee sale over at the shop. We've taken $5 off our embroidery hoop chalkboards, one of which is featured in the Graduation Gifts gift guide!

We've also adjusted the shipping costs on our Writing Slates, as apparently I'd done some crazy calculating and they were listed at about double the real costs! So sorry!

Enjoy your weekend!

xo