Just Picked Vintage

Dress A Day

2008-05-21T16:16:00.000-06:00

What an honor to be featured in A Dress A Day Blog!

Sale on Vintage Knitting Patterns

2008-05-21T15:35:00.002-06:00

We're currently having a sale on our vintage knitting (and crochet) patterns - Buy one, get one half off! Perfect to get started on your summer projects!

We will be closing up the shop for this summer. Our last day will be May 30th, and then we'll re-open in August. So if there's something you've beem looking at, now's the time to get it!

Happy Spring

2008-03-22T12:42:00.002-06:00

Happy Spring!

This upcoming week is my Spring Break! Ahh... a whole week off... (to clean the house, go to doctor's appointments, grade papers...) With this time, there will be new items posted on Etsy.

This summer I will have to close shop for two months - so a Spring Cleaning sales is in the works! If you would like an early heads up on the specials, send me at justpickedvintage@gmail.com and let me know what you're interested in (buttons, patterns, fabric) and I'll let you know when they'll go on sale!

Part Two...

2008-02-22T16:03:00.003-07:00

(Geeze, I am so bad about this blogging! Must do better!)

So the real reason we went to the National Western Stock show was the see the sheep shearing contest. Men and women came to compete on who could shear a sheep quickly and efficiently. (They would add points if you went over an area twice; lowest score won.) For yarn addicts like us, it was great fun.

Another fun part of the National Western Stock Show is to walk around, looking at all the vendors. Normally when one ponders on what one would buy at the stock show, things like a John Deere tractor, cowboy boots, a halter for your horse, equipment to tag your livestock, maybe even a hot tub, come to mind. What did I buy? Yarn, of course! There was some fabulous yarn from the Daybreak Criations Alpacas. How can I resist yarn that has the name of the animal on the label? (Thank you, JJ, Jasmin, Oman, Amber and Sandman!)

Stock Show, Part One

2008-01-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

This weekend I took a break from sorting and posting and went to the National Western Stock Show. For those of you not from Denver (and not in the Ag business), the stock show (currently in its 102nd year) is an huge show that lets city slickers get in touch with their inner cowboy. There's all types of horse shows, rodeos, farm animals of every kind. This young man was kind enough to pose with his turkey, who he gives corn feed, which according to him, really is not a superior feed. (City girls have to ask these types of questions, because we have no clue.) Nevertheless, there he was with his bird, completing on a national level.

While the birds were quite interesting, Mom and I were there for other reasons.....

New Year, New Changes

2008-01-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

Welcome, 2008!

After a quiet holiday, it's now to get back into the swing of things. There have been some changes here at Just Picked Vintage. While Donna (Mom) will still be playing a vital role in this company, it has been decided that I (Christine) will have more of the day-to-day responsibilities. Since blogging is included in those tasks, I will be dropping the royal "we." It's difficult to write using "we" especially since my Mom and I never really discussed these posts. I don't want to be including her voice in something that she may not agree with. (Like, if there is one more post about Vintage not belonging on Etsy, I'm going to hurl my computer across the room!) She's still part of the company, but I'm taking over the blog. (And quite honestly, I'm not even sure she reads this...)

With this re-organization, we also looked hard at our schedules and realized that we most likely will not be selling at the markets this coming Summer. We might be able to squeeze in one or two, either at the very beginning or the very end of the season. Mom has a trip to Mexico in May, my son will be graduating high school in June (*sniff*) and then we are off to Europe of a couple of weeks, and then I'll be staying on to do some work research. All said, I'll be out of the country for eight weeks this summer (!!!). With us not doing the markets, I'll most likely be needing to move some of the vintage inventory on Ebay as well as Etsy.

We recently came into a TON of patterns. I had the joy of going through these beauties this past weekend, and now they are slowing coming into the shop. All of these patterns came from one owner, and it was fascinating to see how many dress patterns only had one section cut, such as the top or the skirt. This indicates that this amazing seamstress was swapping pattern parts around, making a dress with a top from one pattern and the bottom from another - that's talent!

Aww.. our little baby's all grown up...

2007-12-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

When you sell vintage supplies, you often wonder what the buyer will do with their newly found treasure. Are those cute buttons going on a dress, or a sweater? How are they going to make up this pattern? It certainly would be out of place for us to pry, especially since some materials go in the "some day" project cabinet, and may need to be dusted off a couple times. (Not that we know this from personal experience..... oh, no ...... not us.......)

So you can image how happy we were, not only to see some of our fabric go to a good home, but to a fellow Etsy crafter, Bean Pickle Sprout, who made these adorable potholders out of them! Not only did the fabric find a talented crafter, but is possibly some one's holiday gift as some of these gems have already sold! How cool is that?

Christmas Get To Know You

2007-12-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Zazazu. Ok, here it goes.....

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both - depending upon how much time I have and what I have down in the basement. We reuse bags all the time, but there is something about ripping open paper wrapping.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Well, real is nice - but picking pine needles out of the carpet in January is not. (Plus hubby is allergic.) We've been using the same artificial tree for over ten years. We're looking to upgrade with that has built in LED lights, but we can't seem to find them this year.

3. When do you put up the tree? Not until the middle of December. I was raised "old school Catholic" and my Mom refused to put up Christmas decoration until the third week of Advent. With my husband's birthday in the middle of December, we try to wait until after his birthday. (Though that sometimes doesn't work out...)

4. When do you take the tree down? After New Year's. Sometimes as long as Epiphany (January 6th). My Mother was clever and stuck little presents in the tree right before we took it down. Nothing like bribery to help with a depressing chore.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes - with brandy! However, since I'm the only one in the house that drinks it, I rarely buy it.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Easybake Oven, Judy Blume books and Legos.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes - a fairly large one from Costco.

8. Hardest person to buy for? Sometimes my husband.

9. Easiest person to buy for? Mom.

10. Mail or E-Mail Christmas Cards? Mail, but I'm toying with the e-mail aspect.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Chocolates and candy right after I had my son and I was already as big as a house.

12.. Favorite Christmas Movie? "Love Actually." Typically, I do not like to watch the same movie repeatedly but that is one of my exceptions. When my son was much younger, I made a VCR tape of a whole bunch of Christmas shows - God forbid I miss the "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown"! My favorite of them all is The Snowman. It'll still make me cry.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? In the summer, then I'll forget where I put everything. Typically around November, I'll get serious. (And yes, I'm crazy/brave and go out the day after Thanksgiving.)

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, but not very often.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Cookies. LOTS of cookies.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear only. While I do like some outdoor lights, I swear some people must a version on the bible that reads "So Joseph and Mary entered the town of Las Vegas and there was no room in Circus, Circus or The Bellagio...."

17. Favorite Christmas song? My son and I agree that the only positive thing to come from N*Sync was their Christmas CD. Another favorite is "O Holy Night," it was my grandfather's favorite, so every time I hear it I think of him.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay at home. But one year I want to go to Denmark to celebrate St. Lucia's Day with my Hubby - since that falls on his birthday. I would love to spend Christmas in a different European country each year.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Hmm.. Donner, Cupid, Dasher, Prancer, Blitzen, Rudolph... how many are there? No, evidently I can not.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel, but either works for me. (Those really big ribbons with the tails cascading down are pretty cool, too.)

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Typically presents from family on Christmas Eve, then from Santa on Christmas morning. However, since Santa is dealing with a teenager at our house who likes expensive things, we seems to be opening more on Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People putting up Christmas lights in the beginning of November and TURNING THEM ON! Now living in Colorado, I understand the allure of putting them up on a warm Fall day rather than temping fate and freezing your butt off in December. But really - must you turn them on? We call them "Thanksgiving Day lights." Then, they come down on the 26th. Do people not realize that the 12 days of Christmas come AFTER Christmas! But since everyone has all of their decorations up since Halloween, they are pretty sick of them by the 26th. I think one of the reasons I have such an aversion to people taking down their decorations so soon, is that on one Christmas Morning (I guess I was about 14 or 15) after we opened all our presents, I took the garbage bag of wrapping paper, etc. to the dumpster, while Mom and Dad got breakfast ready. I swear to God, in the dumpster was a live Christmas tree with tinsel still on it - ON CHRISTMAS MORNING!!! Ok, I'm done ranting now.

23. Favorite ornament theme or Color? Depends upon my mood that year. Sometimes I'll go old-fashioned. I also have a nutcracker collection I sometimes bring out. This year I'm thinking about only using burgundy and gold.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? I'm really not picky on Christmas dinner - ham, turkey, Cornish game hens. All works for me. But for Christmas Eve we have fondue with our neighbors. We've been doing it for so long, I can't image not doing it!

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? Well, my husband already got me a Donald Driver jersey while we were in Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. (Yes, I'm a Cheesehead!!) So I guess beside the whole "Peace on Earth" thing, I want what every knitter wants - yarn and time to knit!

There is goes

2007-12-06T20:45:00.001-07:00

Miss Popularity apron sold - probably just when I was post the last entry.

That can't be right

2007-12-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, we're a small business. We are a blip on the map in the Etsy world. We do not have one hundred hearts. We do not update our store every day. (Though, I must admit to be adding more lately, because quite honestly, I am the queen of procrastination when it comes to grading.)

So how on God's green earth did one of our aprons have over 200 views! In less than a week?!? I double checked the treasury several times. Though this little cutie was included in one, Miss Popularity was not. Not on the gift guides, not on storque. I even did a Google search to see if someone had it on their blog - nope. Is "Chartreuse" a popular search? I'll totally admit it's a cute little apron, one that you inwardly wonder if you should sell. (Desire for more yarn usually wins out.) What or who is pointing the way to our apron? If you know please drop us a line. I would love to thank them.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

2007-12-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

Oh my, December.

To keep yourself clean during cookie making, or looking retro-sexy for your holiday party, we are posting vintage aprons just in time for the holidays! More will be listed this week.

I just came back from Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. Had a wonderful time with my husband's family and taught my three nieces (and young nephew) how to knit! I myself had wonderful yarn candy from Hobbledehoy, which helped make the ride through Nebraska bearable. Oh such yummy yarn! (And the lovely spinner is from Shippensburg, PA, very close to where my great-grandmother came from! Small world!)

Veteran's Day Sale

2007-11-08T16:39:00.000-07:00

^*^*^*^*^*^VETERAN'S DAY SALE^*^*^*^*^*^

As part of the Military Brat's StreetTeam, we are having a Veteran's Day Sale: ALL PATTERNS ARE HALF OFF! This includes both sewing and knitting patterns. Keep checking back, as we'll be adding more patterns this weekend. (Once you check out, we'll send you an updated PayPal invoice.) Sale ends Monday, November 12, 2007.

What happened to October?

2007-11-02T16:01:00.001-06:00

Even though October has 31 days, for some reason it feels like it was too short. October is great month, it's still fairly warm, the leaves are changing, we have no excuses for not indulging in pumpkin bread and Halloween chocolates. The holidays are coming, but there's still the illusion that there is plenty of time to knit mittens for everyone in your family.

Then November comes. November changes the tone of the holidays coming a couple months, to NEXT month, like 8 weeks away. Oh boy. Ready or not, here they come.....

Feeling the Blog Love

2007-09-16T21:43:00.000-06:00

(Christine speaking as Christine)

This has not been an easy month. When you lose a parent (somewhat unexpectedly) things change. Getting back to the day job and this business has been difficult. I would much rather hide under my comforter for a couple of months, but sometimes you just don't have a choice but to go on.

So this past Saturday, we were at the Ball Park Market, trying to get back into the grove of things. We had a lovely conversation with Delta, a fellow artsy person and blogger. She included us in her blog and I'm feeling quite special. Nothing like a little nudge from the universe to keep moving along your path.

Back from the edge of the world

2007-09-09T20:53:00.000-06:00

Christine and Donna have been mourning the loss of Chuck, father to Christine, husband to Donna.

Now that the funeral is over and things are returning to "normal" (though that terms seems impossible on some level) Just Picked Vintage is slowly coming out of its hiatus. We will be at the Ball Park Market this Saturday.

New items will be posted on Etsy by the end of the month.

Thanks.

Get your knit on

2007-08-13T08:33:00.000-06:00

While Donna and I are in the handmade & vintage business, we are both avid knitters. (We did consider opening a yarn shop, but thought better of it. Inventory would "disappear" into our stashes.)

The Orphan Foundation of America is starting their "Red Scarf Project." The red scarfs are given to college-bound orphans, as an sign of "warmth and encouragement." If you're not the knitting type (or are already behind on your holiday projects this year - yikes!) they are seeking donations to help defray shipping cost.

Check out the 2008 Red Scarf Project Blog from Now Norma Knits.

Just Picked Buttons

2007-08-13T07:51:00.001-06:00

This photo is only of the "new" loose buttons we acquired this Saturday. Not the carded ones. Not the ones we already had. They were quite dirty, so we gave them a quick little bath - after we picked out the nails, razor blade, safety pins, fabric and leather buttons. Then of course came the sorting. We were able to rope Christine's husband into helping - albeit with wine, guilt and the timer to make sure he only helped for one hour. At times it felt like a combination of a giant puzzle and a game of "Go Fish," - "Do you have any that look like these?" "No, go fish."

Donna has been busy in the sewing room making aprons. We recently bought "The Apron Book: Making, Wearing, and Sharing a Bit of Cloth and Comfort" by EllynAnne Geisel. (Another fellow Coloradoan!) While it certainly has fantastic patterns, the history and stories are comforting like tea and biscuits. Geisel is a great apron historian.

Little Growing Pains

2007-07-31T17:35:00.000-06:00

The markets are over (well, at least for us, for a week or two), and now the tedious paperwork remains. Filing sales taxes, updating inventory, trying to read "market trends" with our two markets. (What sold, where and why?) Inventory is still reigning supreme in my dining room. (I am taking steps to improve it, but they remain unnoticeable to the untrained eye.) Mom's place is no better, so it's not like one of us has the upper-hand on the chaos.

To add to this, my day job is knocking on the door for attention. "Hello? Are you aware you'll have over a hundred students in three weeks? Do you recall things called syllabi?"

With this strain comes a bit of a slow down on Etsy. Or at least a perceived one, when you are checking it obsessively, (and avoiding writing syllabi) things appear to be slower. And some people are on that thing called a vacation.

So this week won't be filled with stocking inventory, or even doing a lot of pricing. Rather, we'll be busy in our craft rooms, sewing and crafting away - because it beats filing taxes.

To market, to market...

2007-07-25T10:33:00.000-06:00

When we first started this business, we thought we would do one weekend-market per month. With one market and Etsy, we thought that would be manageable. “Walk before you run” type of mentality.

This past Saturday, we had our first market. This was not an easy feat being the morning after the Harry Potter book release. (Normal people would make sure to get enough sleep before their first sale – we were not those people.) The Ballpark Market went quite well, despite the heat. We made our sales goal (a modest sum, but we hit it). Several customers commented on our products, always nice to hear. But then there were other vendors who not only complemented us on our booth, but couldn’t believe this was our first time out. A dealer from Wyoming not only thought our booth looked great, but also said we had good prices. (If a customer says that, you then question if you priced things too low!) The icing on the cake is when Kim, one of the owners of Sweet William Market stopped by our booth. Not only was she very kind and encouraging, but she invited us to show at their market – this weekend.

This invitation took some consideration. Would we have enough inventory? Do we have the energy to do this again so quickly? After some thought, we agree to take the leap and sell at the Sweet William market. I e-mailed Kim on Monday to let her know, trying to focus on my “day-job.” Kim called later in the morning; she was so happy that we were going to be there – because “Country Home” magazine will have a photographer there, this Saturday.

Holy Moley!

We started to panic a little about inventory. But yesterday was a gold mine day – not typical for a Tuesday. Most estate sales start on Thursday or Friday; sometimes Wednesday if you’re lucky. Well there was one that started yesterday – and they only posted on Craigslist. No signs, no ads in the papers. (Insert angels singing.)

We no longer need to worry about inventory.

Just cleaning, pricing, inventory... little things like that (that add up to a mountain of work).

Ballpark Market this Saturday

2007-07-19T13:33:00.000-06:00

Whew, it's been a busy week here.

We are up to our eyeballs in inventory and we keep finding great "one-of-a-find" items. This Saturday we are having a booth at our first market, the Ballpark Market in Downtown Denver. We have all sorts of goodies - vintage aprons, buttons, photos, jewelry... all this great stuff that's been living in our dining rooms for too long! A lot of what we'll have is too big to list on Etsy, so be sure to check it out. (We'll be the two red-heads wearing aprons!)

Our first customer (all the way from England) got her items just fine the other day - hooray! Happy customers!!

Vintage on Etsy

2007-07-14T18:00:00.000-06:00

(Ok I'm speaking as me, Christine. I'm not 100% sure Donna would agree with what I'm talking about.)

Many people have said that posting in the Forums on Etsy is a great way to learn things, get your name out there, etc. Well today there was a forum "Vintage - Does it really belong on this site?" It totally rubbed me the wrong way, and I ... well I ranted a bit. Since I spent to much time on this, I thought I would re-post it here.

In my full-time job, I teach art history & art appreciation for a local college. This discussion reminds me of the "What is art?" lecture on the first day of class.

By defining something, you are also then stating what it isn’t. An orange is a citrus fruit with a peel, it is not an apple. This is nearly impossible to do with art – and to a point with Etsy.

In the early 1900’s art was pretty easy to define. Art is a painting or sculpture done by a dead white guy. Stuff from Africa or Asia? That’s not art; that is an artifact. “Quilting” and “art” would not be in the same sentence. You can certainly see the philosophical flaw with that idea.

The concept of art is so difficult because one can not easily state what art is not. One of my classes took this argument so far they came to the conclusion that the act of vomiting is not art, but taking a photo of someone vomiting is. (Trust me, I did not make that up!)

If you were to strictly say that only handmade object could be included on Etsy; that rule would have forbidden Marcel Duchamp, Donald Judd and many other artist from selling their work here. Is that really what you want to do?

Bamabella outlined the work it takes to clean, mend etc. vintage clothing. So vintage item should not be sold here – but an ATC that someone took 2 minutes to paste two magazine ads together should? Who determines the degree of time and effort for something to be listed here?

If you are indeed going to stick with handmade only - how far are you going to go? No one can sell jewelry unless they make the beads and chains themselves? No oil or acrylics can be used because hey – you didn’t make those paints. Hand mixed temperas and oils only please. Forget collages, because one doesn’t “make” anything there, now do they?
This line of reasoning is ridiculous.

With this being said, I agree that vintage items should be never be listed as an original work. Separate categories work for me as well. But banning vintage items will have serious repercussion, on an artistic and intellectual level.

Our First Sale!

2007-07-12T16:06:00.000-06:00

We officially had our first sale today! It is already in the post and on its way to our first customer - in England.

This is a bit ironic since we both have lived in England, and do have a deep fondness for Typhoo tea. But we are crossing our fingers and praying to Gabriel the Archangel, patron of postal services. England is a good distance from Colorado (on many levels) and there's room for error. Vintage patterns are not easily replaceable. Customs must be passed. Our first customer feedback is at stake.

Must.stop.worrying.

The wait is over

2007-07-11T17:42:00.000-06:00

Here is complete pillow from that teaser a couple of weeks ago - now available for sale on Etsy!

New banner

2007-07-11T09:41:00.000-06:00

Krystan has put the final touches on the files and the pdf’s are uploaded to Vistaprint. Whoo hoo!! The official brand label of Just Picked Vintage is finally revealed. (canned applause…)

(We are suffering from Harry Potter jetlag this morning. Nothing like a 12:01am movie showing to remind us that we are not the night owls we once were.)

Stain

2007-07-09T15:50:00.000-06:00

The other day, Mom & I checked out the “Goodwill Graveyard” the Goodwill store where the other ones dump their un-sellable stock. It’s noted for the huge window paintings yelling “99¢ Ropas.” While rummaging I found a great vintage dishcloth with Amish foods printed on it. The colors were crisp, the fabric unfrayed; alas mere mortals could not see the beauty which was blinded by a large yellow grease stain, smack dab in the center. It didn’t reek, the fabric wasn’t cakey, but the yellowing was undeniable. Mom arched her eyebrow – “You really think you can get that stain out?”

“Doesn’t the Queen of Clean say you can use WD-40? It’s probably cheap, so the worst that will happen is that we’ll lose a buck.”

Now if my business-minded husband was present, there would been a sensible, left-brain comment. “Then it wouldn’t just be a dollar now would it? There’s the cost of the WD-40, which you would most likely take from the garage, plus the detergent, water, and of course your time and energy.”

This is when the stubborn 3-year-old side of me likes to dig in her heels. My mind blocked out the sensible comment and took it to the register. They only charged 49 cents for it, so I took it as a sign that this wouldn’t be so bad.

Today the fabric was soaked in WD-40 (yes, I pillaged one of three cans of WD-40 in the garage, and I feel no remorse.) After the soaking in grease, it was then scrubbed with dishwashing detergent and then borax. My nails now feel soft and mushy, and while the stain has faded, it is certainly still there.

Now while other people would shrug and give up – I am admittedly determined (some would say stubborn). The fact is that I'm trying to salvage a piece of fabric with a stain, and I am someone who is covered with freckles. This metaphor is not lost on me.

It is not my fault, this is a genetic condition. My great-grandmother, who passed away just over a year ago, was a determined (read stubborn) woman. Someone had to tell her when she was in her 80’s, that maybe it wasn’t a good idea that she crawled out of her second story window to wash the side of her house. She cooked, cleaned, crocheted, ran a snack bar and raised her son as a single mother before that term existed. Her divorce in the 1940’s made the front page news of her small town. She was not a woman who feared confrontation.

So here is the dishcloth as is, and soon, you will see the result of my craftiness.

I need to go put lotion on my hands….

One more step closer.

2007-07-03T23:19:00.000-06:00

We’ve hired a graphic designer thru etsy, Krystan Santagata. Though the process is not quite finished, it is really exciting to see our brand coming together. Krystan has been great to work with, you should check out her site.

Tomorrow for the 4th, we’ve having a BBQ – with amazing ribs. Oh, so yummy.

Happy 4th of July.

Sneak Peak

2007-06-25T20:49:00.000-06:00

The EIN number is established and we’ve open the business bank account. Now we need to open a PayPal account and load QuickBooks to keep track of the finances. All of this paperwork is reaffirming my life choice NOT to become an accountant. (Not that there is anything wrong with accounting…)

In the meantime, I’ve posted a teaser of a pillow Mom finished. The face is a bowling towel, I’m thinking from the 50’s. It’s a great example of our interests, take something vintage and turn it into something new and unexpected.

It is somewhat frustrating not to be up and running yet, but I know enough that you can’t always rush things. Sure, we could make something up to open the Etsy store, but it won’t have a professional look – and let’s face it, on the internet looks are everything.

Here we go!

2007-06-11T10:07:00.000-06:00

This is the first step on our crafty journey. Today is the official beginning of Just Picked Vintage, a new craft enterprise using vintage items. As a mother & daughter collaboration, we are still in the establishment /paperwork stages of our company.