Sunday, 28 April 2013

Retro/Vintage Inspired Faire

Yesterday I was a vendor at the very first Vintage & Retro Inspired Faire held in Parksville! Only I would do a market just two days before our move... and in fact, I actually cancelled on Friday as I was very overwhelmed with the move. But then that night, I realised that it would probably be a good thing for me to get away from the house and have some time away from thinking about and preparing for the move.

So on Saturday morning, I packed up the van and headed to Parksville! I wish I brought my camera as hall looked amazing and there were so many great items for sale. But you'll just have to take my word for it: it was a great day with lots of treasures to be found.

I wasn't expecting to really sell very many soaps as it wasn't that kind of market but I did really well! My soaps are wrapped in vintage papers and I think the shoppers really liked that. It didn't stick out too much from the vendors selling their vintage wares. It was hopping busy but for a few quiet moments when I was able to quickly sneak away to make purchases or catch up with my vendor neighbours: Thorne Crate Co. and Old Farm Handcrafts.

My best sellers of the day were:
Coconut scented body butter. This is made with organic shea butter and organic unrefined cocoa butter (as well as some almond and avocado oils)which smells absolutely amazing! I sold out of this scent within the first hour and sold 2 ylang ylang scented ones too. They smell predominately of chocolate from the cocoa butter with a hint of scent. I'm using the ylang ylang right now which is a blend of ylang ylang, patchouli and vanilla. 

The most popular soap was You Are My Sunhine which is a bright sunshine-y and lemon-like scented soap. It really is a beautiful bar of soap!

Being that it was a vintage faire and I LOVE all things vintage, I couldn't leave without making a few purchases. Lucky for my wallet though that I was alone at my table so I couldn't do too much shopping.

From Lexuss Vintage, I bought two of these Pyrex inspired tea towels. These are CUTE!

I also bought a cute little stool from The Painted Pear, brought home candies for the kids from The Vintage Candy Shop, and my daughter is the proud new owner of an adorable necklace from The Fox & Fawn Collection (brand new side business for one of the owners of Wilde & Sparrow in Parksville). 

It was such a fun day and it was organized so well. Mirella from Biscotti De Notte has told me they'll be hosting another vintage faire in the fall in Errington which I'll for sure be a part of!

So while yesterday was so much fun, it was back to reality today as we made a few trips to the new house, cleaned out the chicken coop and packed (and packed and packed). In fact, time to stop procrastinating and get back to it! My next blog post, I'll share photos from the new house! See you soon. :)

Thursday, 18 April 2013

Etsy Finds

Still avoiding packing so here's yet another non-soapy blog post! I was clearing out my favourites on Etsy and here a few that are major wants for me:


Stirling wedding band set from artifactum. Dave and I both lost our wedding rings (he at Pipers Beach and me... who knows where!)

Unicorn mug from mudworks. I can think of a few people in my life who need this.

Vintage primary colours pyrex mixing bowls from Retroburgh. I have the large yellow but would like he other 3. 

Hot Air Balloon Skir from Zoeslollipop. Because it's cute. 

Salt pig and butter jar from DragonPottery.

Vintage marbles from nancyplage. Wouldn't these look pretty in a vintage mason jar on a sunny window sill?

Vintage feedsack from thelostrooms

How about you? What do you have in your favourites on Etsy?

Wednesday, 17 April 2013

25 Things About Me

I've seen these on other blogs I've been reading lately so I thought, why not? Here goes!

1) I'm am just shy of 35 years old.
2) I'm a mama to three (ages almost 17, almost 5 and 3).
3) We're a homeschooling family. Well, only one of our children is currently homeschooled. The other two will be when their time comes.
4) I worked as an Early Childhood Educator in Winnipeg, Port Alberni and finally Nanaimo for around 12 years before I had my third child.
5) I keep backyard hens. We have a very small flock of 3. Their names are Big Bird, Chicken Little and Becka.
6) I grew up in Winnipeg until I was 15 (and then again for 2 or so years as an adult).
7) I have crooked pinky fingers.
8) My favourite movie (and soundtrack) is Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?. So good!
9) I'm currently watching Call The Midwife on PBS online and it's fantastic!
10) I'm crazy about vintage pyrex, sheepskin, and vintage linens.
11) My favourite magazine is Mary Janes Farm, although I really like reading back issues of Mothering.
12) I went through a spell of bad haircuts as a child. The worst that I can recall is a having a very long rat tail.
13) My husband and I have been together for two weeks shy of 7 years.
14) We've been married for 5.5 years.
15) We got married in Bowen Park.
16) I am not a competitive person. I'm finding that other's competitiveness to be exhausting.
17) My favourite essential oil is ylang ylang. Or orange 10x.
18) I'm a big fan of unscented soaps that are anything but plain.
19) I love tea.
20) My favourite tea is either Cream of Earl Grey by David's Tea or Mysteaque by the teafarm.
21) I have a HUGE fear of spiders. Which has been heightened to full out panic mode since last night when I saw a gigantic (seriously, almost the size of my palm) on my leg. yuck!
22) I have the mouth of a sailor. I'm not proud of that and yes, I'm working on it. My son (almost 5) tells me his job is to "keep it clean around here" and he's doing a great job of reminding me to watch my words.
23) I never wear makeup. ever.
24) My favourite books are historical fiction books.
25) I'm a feminist and am doing my best to raise feminist children.

Monday, 15 April 2013

A glimpse back in time!


I was sent an email last week by someone who buys my soaps. She said her and her partner love to read the packaging of my soaps after they unwrap them (I use pages from vintage books to wrap my soaps) and she thought this repro catalogue would be perfect. My children and I have loved looking through the pages and we're just shocked by the prices and some of the odd things that can be bought by catalogue! I've taken a few photographs of the pages so you can have a glimpse at 1908 catalogue ordering! This week I'll be cutting up these pages and wrapping my soaps in them for the 1st Annual Vintage/ Retro Faire in Parksville on the 27th.