Fresh Etsy finds

Along my merry little treasure hunt today on Etsy, which actually is no different than any other day, I came across items that deserved special recognition. Not for any particular reason. Just because I like them. And I think you will too :) Enjoy!

RewElliot

Waterrose

ShadowJewels

BPRdesigns

Hoganfe

Scraphappylyrebird

Abacusbeadcreations

Twigsandlace

Vintage Fix is having a giveaway (anyone can win!)

Hey everyone!

If you haven't been by the shop in a while, you have been missing out! Not only have I been adding fresh vintage DAILY, but I have also been increasing my exposure around the interwebs, meaning consistant sales have been fluttering my way. Woohoo! Thanks friends!

In a small effort to show you recent shoppers just how much I love you, I wanted to give you a chance to win a cute pair of my handmade fabric button stud earrings.

I've been making these for a while now, and one of my favorite things about them is how customizable they are.

What do you need to do?

1. Become a member of my blog by clicking the follow link at the top.
2. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/vintagefixstore or @vintagefixstore
3. Leave a comment saying what you like about these earrings and how you would like to customize them.

Once I reach 20 comments, I'll announce the winner, who will be chosen at random!

Thanks friends! I can't wait to hear from you!

xo. Brooke

Summer Fun: Interview with Sugarcube Vintage

Hey guys. Hope you have been enjoying the first week of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere!

I sure have been. The boyfriend has a boat along the Pacific Ocean here in Southern Cali, and I just enjoyed a wonderful weekend down there. And just to be clear, when I say wonderful weekend, I mean a weekend in which I did absolutely nothing except for taking long naps in the warm afternoons, and eating the yummy Mexican food Cali has to offer. There's nothing quite like the food down here, I must say.

So besides taking time to work on things at Vintage Fix, lately I've been collaborating and meeting tons of wonderful folks on Etsy as well. I'm very happy to be a part of a wonderful team there called "The Brigade" where we spend a lot of time encouraging each other and helping to promote each other's shops in any way we can.

Today, I wanted to introduce you to my friend Bec at Sugarcubevintage, who also sells amazing vintage. Her story starts in the mid-west where she spent her childhood in auctions with her grandparents (how cute) and ends in Portland with a Double Soy Latte in a coffee shop with her Mac. My kind of woman.

Enjoy!

~~~~~

Vintagefix: How did you get interested in vintage?
Bec: When I was little, my grandparents lived in the Midwest and used to take me to
auctions every weekend, early training in finding a bargain. We’d pile into the
wood panel station wagon, drive through the countryside, sit for hours on high rise
bleachers in dusty overcrowded auction houses, usually bid on some boxes of fabric
for my grandmother who was a quilter, or some carpentry tools for grandpa, then stop
for ice cream on the way home – sometimes I even got to hold the bidding paddle!
I loved every second of those days!

Milking stool

Vintagefix: How long have you been collecting/selling vintage?
Bec: I’ve been collecting for as long as I can remember - cameras, globes, tins, books…
I just started selling last July on Etsy after moving back to Portland from Tokyo
(where I lived for 5 years).

Midcentury Metal world Globe

Vintagefix: What is your favorite time period or era you like to sell?
Bec: If I had to pick I’d say Mid-century but mostly I buy things I would like in my own
home. Unfortunately that often means it’s hard to part with things. My husband is
convinced we’re going to end up on an episode of ‘Hoarders’ .

Edgar Allen Poe Hardcover

Vintagefix:What else do you do apart from working on your shop? job, hobbies, etc?

Bec: I was trained and worked as a designer but somehow I always managed to make

vintage part of the job. I worked as a graphic designer and photo stylist for different

ad agencies, and an illustrator/animator for a media company. While in Tokyo I

worked as a trend researcher for a New York company. I started Sugar Cube Vintage

on my return to the US but still take on freelance projects doing prop and photo

styling in Tokyo and here in Portland.

Matryoshka Nesting Doll Set

Vintagefix: What's your favorite part about selling vintage?

Bec: The fact that every piece is unique and has a story keeps me inspired.

Of course I always love it when other stylists and producers from big retailers (sorry,

my lips are sealed…) use my products for their shoots.

Portable Sage Green Typewriter

Vintagefix: Was there any particular item you were selling that you wanted to keep for

yourself, or felt connected to in some way?

Bec: When I first started on Etsy I sold a librarian bell from an estate sale that I still regret.

It was one of the most interesting estate sales I’ ve ever been too. It was the estate of a school librarian who traveled the world when she retired. She had the most amazing collection of vintage books and trinkets. The bell would have been a nice memento to keep. I still think about that sale and all the things I passed up and should have bought.

Initial Monogram sign

VintageFix: Describe a perfect day for you. 

Bec: My ideal day would go something like this: double soy latte with my Mac at Portland

Stumptown coffee, hitting estate sales for new inventory, lunch at the farmer’ s

market, hike at forest park, happy hour margaritas at Por Que No with friends, eve at

home chilling out with my hubby and 2 ragdoll cats, Winston and Pimms.

Haegar Terra Cotta Pottery Planter

Vintagefix: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Bec: I would love to move back overseas and open a second Etsy shop selling local items.

I’m pretty open to wherever I land and a bit of a gypsy at heart so I don’t plan too far

in advance.

Thanks for sharing Bec! 

xo. Brooke

Wooden wedding inspiration

Wow. What is it about this time of year that makes everyone want to get married? The warmth, the holiday get-togethers, not to mention we are finishing up spring here in the U.S. and the birds and the bees have been doing just what God intended them to do!

I was a bridesmaid in my older sis' wedding a couple weeks ago, and my roommate AND bf's sis are planning their weddings as well! Talk about wedding feva!

So it's pretty hard for a girl not to have wedding on the brain. Instead of wondering why is hasn't happened for me and my bf of 6.5 years, I decided to become inspired by all the amazing loveliness that Etsy has to offer. Many of my pieces are wood or french related, which I'm majorly swooning over at the moment!

Enjoy! And let me know your thoughts/comment on all this wedding stuff too! I love to hear what you guys think!

Retroheart

Mrstiddlemouse

PurplePeonyCouture

Braggingbags

Rootsjewelry

Amazing right?

Oh, I forgot to mention, I also included these items in my newest Treasury HERE

xo, Brooke

Etsy Front Page Feature!

Hey guys!

How are you doing on these lovely spring days? So I know I've been a little MIA, but....I figured I could make up for it by sharing something I'm super excited about. My team (the Global Arts Team) and I made it to the front page of Etsy, thanks to an inspirational treasury I made the other day! This is not only exciting for me, because I feel like I was FINALLY noticed for one of my treasuries (which I take very seriously by the way) but it feels good to do something for the team I just became a part of.

Thanks to everyone for the inspiration on the team. Hopefully it brought you guys some well deserved success in your shops!

Happy Friday!

xo, Brooke

Creative Packaging Ideas for jewelry at Vintage Fix!

Hey guys!

I hope all is well in your lives these days! I know that I've truly been enjoying the small bits of warmth that's been scattered amongst Southern California lately. What a blessing it is! Let's here it for spring!

Among all this lovely weather, I've been working on new ways to add a handmade touch to Vintage Fix, but still keep the look of my shop consistent. It's so important for me to still have my things look retro or vintage-y even it they aren't.

As you may know, my retro button studs have been up since Valentines day, as they were a promotional item I came up with to celebrate the month of love, but now since I've decided to keep them up as a customizable item for anyone to make any time of year, I felt I could get really creative with shipping them.

I chose to incorporate some items I had on hand, like vintage buttons and vintage fabric to wrap them Furoshiki style, a style I've been obsessed with recently and the reason for doing this is to not only re-purpose my own fabric, but to offer the fabric in a cute way so that it may be re-used by my customers in any type of project they may need it for. Everybody wins!

Here's what I came up with:

Step 1: Materials

a piece of scrap fabric, fabric scissors (not pictured), measuring tape, twine, a button or charm, a small craft box, burlap material, a rubber stamp to decorate a note, a stamp ink pad.

.
Step 2:

Cut the fabric to approx. a 9" x 9' square. Feel free to make the square bigger or smaller to suit your needs. Just make sure its a square.

Step 3

Cut the burlap material to fit the inside of your small craft box (both can be purchased from a craft store).

Step 4:

Fit the cut piece of burlap into your box and attach your earrings or jewelry. I used my customizable studs, which can be purchased here.

Step 5: Make a note. 

Handmade notes are a wonderful way to show the person your giving the gift to how much time you took to make it special. I always type my notes with my vintage typewriter and I stamped a butterfly for this one (feel free to be creative here).

Step 6: 

Cut the note smaller to fit under your box (Or you can attach the note on the outside of your wrapped box with the charm by hole-punching it and tying it on with the twine). Place note and box diagonally on the piece of fabric with fabric face down.

Step 7: 

Fold top right corner over the box and tuck under.

Step 8: 

Fold bottom left corner over the box and fold under also. It should resemble a crepe :)

Step 9:

Flip it over.

Step 10:

Bring both leftover ends together in the middle and tie them together.

Step 11:

Tie on charm with the twine.

Voila! A cute way to re-purpose fabric and wrap a gift! 

Enjoy your Thursday!

xo, 

Brooke

Love comes in many different colors.

I think many people can agree that one of the best things in life is love. Love can be an enabler, a leader, a teacher of lessons, a gift, a past, a memory, or a thoughtful intention.

Lately, I've come across some amazing sellers on Etsy who know just how to get their messages across about love in discreet ways. To me, it's more clever to express love in a way that only you and the person you love would understand. Its makes the bond more special, don't you think? I do.

Here are some adorable little ideas to give you inspiration this Valentines Day:

Angeldogdesigns

MintyFreshStudio

Thelittlerice

Yummypocket

Plus, Here's a sneak peek of what's going to be coming to Vintage Fix for this upcoming Valentines day!

I've always loooooved fabric covered button studs. I've checked them out on Etsy. and on various sellers websites, but noticed a similar theme- they all are exactly the same with some type of pretty fabric or picture on them! So, one day recently, I decided that I wanted to change the way we modern women wore button studs - with sweet little messages on them. How cool is that? Messages about love, life, and everything in between is what you can expect from this girl shortly. But for now, in celebration of Valentines Day in a couple weeks, I will be focusing on love notes, customizable messages, names of those you love, initials, etc.

Stay tuned. They will be up for sale shortly!

xo, Brooke