Welcome Madam Butterfly

I'd like you all to welcome one of April's new sponsors, Madam Butterfly's Vintage Boutique. Based out of Christchurch New Zealand (look them up if you're in the area). Because of the earthquake business is not doing so hot, so they've opened up an online shop to expand their business...now that's what I like to hear! More vintage to get my hands on! WHOO! They've already got some cute pieces up in their shop. Here are some of my favorites, how about you?
his dress is jaw-dropping! I'm so in love with it and it is CHEAP! Just $30!
pretty little blue sun dress
This gorgeous navy skirt is perfect for summer!
And nautical treasuries like this one: Oh Captain, My Captain (by me..hehe)
Love this green, blue and white shirtwaist...a staple in my closet!
How about this Hawaiian print dress, the beach is calling!
lovely floral dress in my favorite colors!
beautiful tangerine nightgown, this would be so wonderful to wear around the house this summer.
WOW look at the color of this dress, asymmetric button bodice, pleats kind of like a zebra print..very cool!
Drop-waist watercolor floral dress with belt, darling!
Oh wow, this faux wrap dress has the prettiest print. Has a beautiful pleated skirt and a cute little rosette at the waist.
There are so many more dresses and separates to see in
Madam Butterfly's Vintage Boutique
have a look wont you?

Front Page

Hooray! One of my items made the Etsy front page today in this treasury from TheFancyLamb
Featured is this blouse from my shop...in the coveted #1 spot on the treasury :)
It sure was nice to make it to the front page...I hope it happens again soon (and more of then than in the past..which is an average of 2 times a year...) I'm hoping one of MY treasuries will make i to the front page soon...I'm in love with this one, this one and this one!

Today's treasury "Pink Lemonade" was featured on this blog as "treasury tuesday's Elite Eight"
Its not one of my favorite treasuries...i don't even think its very good...but i guess i don't know what willis is talkin 'bout.
And lastly I want to remind everyone of the Coupon Code sale that's going on, use code RAINGOAWAY
to save 25% on everything in my shop.
Even the Sale section items that are already 30% off..yeah, some big savings happening there! I've added lots of new items so there are plenty of things to choose from ;)

What a good way to start the week!

Coming Soon

I found lots of pretty things this week for the shop...lots of sweaters and baby cuteness as well as a couple items that I have to get new pics of...oooh mysterious!
"Stars at Midnight" 50s angora and lambswool sequin cardigan...love this!
"New Fallen Snow" Chevron pointelle cable knit angora sweater
"Duck Hunt" striped wrap cardigan with bell sleeves
"Professors' Own" Silk, argyle sweater vest
"Berry Smoothie" pointelle sweater
"Dinner and Dancing" mad men open swing coat with that iconic large collar!
"My Only Sunshine" ADORABLE 70s nylon and lace party dress
"Woodland Friends" animal embroidered poncho with hood, more animals on the back too!
"New Addition" 50s hand knit 4 piece outfit for newborn (boy or girl)
"Our Daughter" hand knit 4 piece outfit for newborn in pink
"My Teddy" sweetest little boy's blue cardigan with bears
"Little Red Riding Hood" BEST BABY JACKET EVER! corduroy with alpine floral trim and faux fur around the hood. For infant -3 mos

I'm hoping to get a lot of these listed tomorrow but I've got a pretty full day so they may not hit the shop until later in the week. If you want me to get anything up in the shop right away just let me know!
There have been so many babies in 2010 in my life, my niece, my boss and my some of my favorite tweeps...with even more babies to come! So to honor them I made this treasury :)
"Here is to New Beginnings"
Enjoy and share with new mommies and daddies you know!

I'm SOOOO close to 300 followers, spread the word, a "thank you" giveaway is ready to go once we hit the big 3-oh-oh

Fancy FP

Speaking of fancy things...I made this treasury Classiest Holiday...Ever inspired by this dress from Dear Golden Vintage. And today it made it to the Etsy Front Page.. (patting myself on the back). Its one of my favorite treasuries...it was a hit, as is apparent by the 52 comments, my highest ever!
Here it is..in all its glory.
It features some of my favorite shops
Dear Golden Vintage
Swanee Grace
Allen Company Inc
The Church of Vintage
and many many more...follow the shop links in the treasury to visit all the shops. :D

FRONT PAGE BIOTCHES!

WHOOO HOOOO After what feels like forever I've finally got another treasury on the FP! It wasn't even one I thought was particularly spectacular or anything. I really wanted my MAPS treasury to make it. Its my fav of the moment.
But my Love Birds treasury was on the FP :) And I have to admit, i think its pretty darn cute there..teeheeIt featured 2 of my favorite vintage shops DearGoldenVintage and MonkiVintage as well as several of my handmade favs like TheMustardSeedCo and RedLightStudio. Plus lots of new faces you should go check out.

The Etsy Seller's Best Friend

Doing treasuries has made me much more aware of the state of my pictures, I had no idea I was cropping them too small for etsy thumbnails as well as over exposure from my old white background. What works for ebay, doesn't work for etsy. So now I'm using a baby blue background, which is perfect for almost everything and I've discovered the etsy seller's best friend...the hanger on the wall.
If you sell vintage you know that 1 mannequin is usually not enough, a lot of the high-end sellers have 2 or 3 or more dress forms and mannequins to choose from because (and especially with vintage) things are all over the place size-wise. I have 1 dress form and one 1/2 mannequin and myself and that is still not enough, but I can't afford to go drop $100-$200 for another dress form...so I use the hanger trick. Its easy....so easy in fact I can't believe it took me this long to use it!
It works for baby clothes
CroatiaKidsVintage
That ONE dress that just won't fit on the mannequin (both mine have very wide shoulders so I have this problem..A LOT
PurpleDeerVintage
Bathing suits can be tricky if you don't have a mannequin with legs. I had to buy one!
Sometimes you don't even need a wall...just hang it from your mannequin
SimplicityisBliss
I find a lot of vintage dresses have really small busts..and its very difficult to get a small bust to look right on a mannequin that is too big.
..look at the colors in that..wowie!
MsTips
Rompers are another good example. You could probably fit it on the mannequin..but then you get that line right where the bum ends and it drops off..hate that
AdelaideHomesewn (who recently did a feature on one of my dresses, check it, she called me "the cutest" I could die happy right now!)
For some items it may just look better on the wall. I know that this shop has a lot of mannequins/dress forms to choose from but this light, dainty pair of tap pants look at home against the cool gray wall
DearGoldenVintage
Some sellers show you both, here its modeled and up on the wall
MouseVox
I've seen the collection of mannequins and dress forms this seller has and its amazing! but sometimes you can't beat the hanger...plus they have that super cute bug hanger...nice! I should get an anchor! :D
AllenCompanyInc

Also great for more "artsy" pictures
I adore this seafoam sweater with pearl details
Kids clothes! Adorable set of kid's jammies!
Classic example of things that you just can't get good shots of together, jackets and dresses..without arms and such...it just doesn't have the same feel.
See it in action in the shop...taking full advantage with the gloves (more to come) and hankie (I'll be adding to the shop this weekend)
See you soon!

Also if you happen to have an extra mannequin or dress form hanging out that you're not using.. I'd be happy to take it off your hands ;)

Not Much to Report

Well I am sad to say I don't have anything exciting to report today. I reduced 25 of the items in my store. Today I got to wear my sailboat necklace from Land Pirahna Vintage (with my jumblelaya dress of course) and found a few things for the shop on the treasure hunt. I did make some cute treasuries today though if you'd like to check them out.
I am selling the seashell dress on ebay right now. I'm thinking of pulling it and sending it to vixen vintage for some pics. I just can't get it to look right on the mannequin. I'm also thinking of sending her a couple other dresses if she'll let me ;)
I always love with friends buy things from me. I recently sold this amazing Jantzen bikini to Twila Jean (of Mysterious life of the Metropolitan Housewife and exquisitebones) and it looks amazing on her. I caught some candid shots of her on facebook wearing it. Its perfect for her!
Oh and I'm bidding on another Jumblelaya dress (seen below)...someone has already outbid me so I'm thinking its not going to go well but she said that she has a dress she will list on Tuesday that is right up my alley so I'm pretty stoked for that.
Well I guess I had more to report than I thought.

Oh also ArtDecoDame on Etsy is donating 20% from her sales this week to this wonderful 26 year old woman with breast cancer...yeah. It really hits home for me since I'm turning 25 in a couple months. You should read her blog "I am NOT my breast cancer". You never know what life with throw at you! Please take time and check out her shop and purchase something, you're not just helping Des reunite her family but you're helping a young woman with cancer pay her medical bills.
Sorry this picture of me is terrible but it cracks me up too...i think its a very "Bettie Page" lookobviously we take ourselves VERY seriously!

I slack :/

I know I suck lately at posting...really bad actually. I've gotten a twitter account, had a mini battle with another similarly named store via facebook and hit the motherload this week for inventory and I'm considering a .com site. So lets start with the Twitter account....

I'm still learning how to use the darn thing, I don't know how pictures work or really much more than how to post, follow and reply to things. Hints would be a treat..I'm feeling really overwhelmed by having to learn a whole new networking site. But if you've got a twitter account please follow me, I have some things that are twitter exclusive!

The mini battle was between myself and "Bombshell Bettys Vintage" a vintage site that posted up on their wall that I was imitating HER...uh no. Until then I had never even heard of her store and it sent me into a tizzy. I have been selling vintage for 5 years (this year...don't worry I will make an event of it) and I've tried HARD to make a name for myself in the vintage community...I highly doubt that I would copy some random shop on ebay that just happened to have a similar name to my own. Anyway...that just hit my pissy button.

Inventory!!! OMG I found the best pieces (for a steal) at my favorite place to shop for abandoned vintage. I found 1 50's shirtwaist (that I really want to keep for myself...but..you know me) 3 60s cocktail dresses, one minty brocade, one suit set with matching duster and a LBD with rhinestone detail. As well as 3 60's MOD dresses: one early MOD brown cocktail dress, one mini school girl dress in magenta and a pumpkin colored mini with adorable neckline. I saw a few more at the store and if they're still there on my next treasure hunt day I'll snag them. Most of the new items are up in my shop so have a look if you haven't already.

I was going to order some business cards to send with my items when I ship them out so that my buyers get the same experience that others get when they buy from etsy. I recently received an amazing skirt from BomshellShocked on Ebay and the package came all wrapped up with a big red riboon and a business card that had all her info on it.not to mention an adorable picture of her! And I started in making a set of my own and realized I had to put about 10 links on it...well I thought about how much easier it would be if I had just 1 address, a .com to give that then they could go and shop or read my blog or befriend me on facebook from there. So I'm searching through for the best price and hosting. I'm thinking godaddy.com but I've heard you don't actually own your domain so if you wanted to use another service..well you can't...hmm. Not sure if it would be worth it...or if I should just have the card with 10 addresses on it.

I also wanted to post about this adorable handbag. My first custom project from etsy and it did not disappoint. I saw this amazing blue sailboat bag on pete & paul's facebook page
after I used one of their pillows in a treasury and they linked to it on their page. I HAD to have this bag but it had already sold in their store. So I contacted them and asked if they had any more and if I could order one. Well...just my luck they were out of the fabric and couldn't make another one...so I got one of those AH-HA moments and asked how much material they needed because I had a sail boat shirt that I bought on my trip to seattle. She said...sure, no problem.
So I sent her the shirt and she had it made in just a few days, I picked the colors of the fish and WHA-LA
I am so totally in love with this bag. Magenta and Buttery-Gold fish with the amazing vintage sail boat print...LOVE! I am so impressed. I suggest you stop by their shop. The woman I worked with was super sweet and easy to work with. I'm thinking of asking her to make me a clutch out of the leftovers..Oh and its lined in super cute fabric too!The magenta matches my dooney perfectly (I have the first pink one, its magenta leather). I'm so pleased with it! Its the perfect tote for me. They're currently on vacation but I suggest you stop by their shop when they return and check out the super cute stuff they have.

Clue Treasury Series

I had so much fun making this treasury series. I'm going to have to try more themes in the future!
Miss Scarlet
Colonel Mustard
Mrs White
Professor Plum
Mrs Peacock

Mr Green

Sale is still on...PLEASE check it out...There are such crazy deals...2 of my favorite dresses are 50% off right now! Pieces change in 1 hour so get them while you can!