Just an ordinary Saturday

It has been a good day, not eventful but reliable and comforting.
Football season for my husband...Oklahoma Sooners vs. Missouri Tigers.
Me: Run to the post office earlier. Pizza evening and bretzels. Crochet work is done. Free time. Reading.
Ideal time to showcase some items from other Etsy sellers that I have received recently.

I have received this fabulous art print from FigurativeHarmony as a PIF. My photograph doesn't do it quite justice though, hadn't time to frame it yet. It will be displayed soon.



I have purchased this wonderful macrame necklace from macraMe, it's part of my owl mania. I just love owls, they remind so much of the 1970s style and I just love owls period.

Owl sterling silver earrings from mydesertstudio. Love, love these, too.

I have more purchases to share soon.


Last but not least I finally have some time to continue work on my patchwork peasant skirt. I can't make up my mind what applique to put onto a side pocket, owl or mushrooms? I most likely will go with mushrooms since they will harmonise with the kitchen feel of the vintage Orleans Rose print of the bottom tier. This is a skirt made entirely from vintage fabrics, some are recycled. We already have enough
"wear once throw out" products in this world, recycling is the logical thing to do.

How the FLYLADY can make your artist's life easier

I always thought that chaos and creativity were best friends, that a genius had to surround her/himself with chaos. Don't we just all love to think of ourselves as genial?
But, in the long run I found out that chaos is a sign of stupidity when it comes to my time schedule and crafting surrounding, well, the creative person needs time to create, and chaos is sucking up more time then necessary. Looking for stuff, pressure to send out orders because the due date has passed? If we do as the flylady says (here are her 11 commandments, I copied and pasted from the website here) our lives will become easier.
The reading is absolutely worth it, and the kitchen sink make sense, I tried it, and believe me, I hate household chores, so, take it from me.
And one more thing, I don't always follow the rule of the street shoes, flipflops are just fine for Oklahoma 2/3 of the year, but I replaced it with wearing earrings.
I think this site is inspirational to change some things in our daily schedule and set time free for the things we truely enjoy.

1. Keep your sink clean and shiny.
   
   
2. Get dressed every morning, even if you don’t feel like it. Don’t forget your lace-up shoes.
   
   
3. Do your morning and before bedtime routine everyday.
   
   
4. Don’t allow yourself to be sidetracked by the computer.
   
   
5. Pick up after yourself. If you get it out, put it away.
   
   
6. Don’t try to do two projects at once. ONE JOB AT A TIME.
   
   
7. Don’t pull out more than you can put back in one hour.
   
   
8. Do something for yourself everyday, maybe every morning and night.
   
   
9. Work as fast as you can to get the job done. This will give you more time to play later.
   
   
10. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. It is contagious. Make your mind up to be happy and you will be.
    
    
11. Don’t forget to laugh everyday. Pamper yourself, you deserve it.

I am not a passionate shopper, but had a great day at the stores today

Great German foods at ALDI, the Germany based grocery store chain with a frugal twist. Great products, even better prices, less convenience service and no fancy displays (this philosophy made ALDI famous and it is an icon among Germany's grocery stores).
I bought my German style coffee, Chocolate (real important from Germany), Potato Salad (German style, made in the USA), German style cheese, and German style whole grain bread (that's loaded with real whole grains and vitamin B). I even found a pet orthopedic mat for our dog Oscar to make his dog house more comfortable, needless to say, the price was right. and, it was NOT made in China. (No racism here, anyone who knows me will affirm that I am NO prejudiced person, I only write this in respect to product safety. Additionally I believe in the shortest ways of transportation of goods to conserve the environment and minimize pollution due to shipping goods from one corner of the earth to the other when local or domestic producers could provide the goods as well, of course with a certain mark-up, but this would be the price we would have to pay.)
Also a 100% cotton carpet set for our bathroom made in India (well, I have purchased many products made in India in my life, the blouses and dresses have always captured my eye. I don't wish to support child's labor for sure and I am not at the top of information as to how India enforces work laws these days, but have never suffered from any hazardous dyes or other poisonous additives in those materials. I really wish there was another choice to support domestic industries in the textile area though.)
Afterwards I invaded Hobby Lobby once again since they had a Lion Brand yarn sale this week, lots of great fall color yarns in excellent qualities. Blends and wools, can't wait to start new projects with those goodies. Even with yarns I have started to look at the country of origin, well, Lion Brand is still very much reliable to NOT produce in China. I never thought I'd be happy to see wool made in Turkey since they have a questionable reputation as far as being a democracy among European countries, but times and priorities definitely have changed when it comes to imports and commerce.

Sharing some digital art

My husband does digital art and photography. Still on the side since he works full time for a local refinery, but plans on becoming professional in a couple of years. Here are 2 of his latest digital photoshop art pictures:
GHOST DANCE & A FACE IN THE CROWD
Red Earth Art
Here is a picture of us attending a dinner meeting of photoshop seminar members at "The House of Blues" in Las Vegas last month. We are on the outside left (and I was dead tired of the flight and heck of this town:).

New Hippie Snood Dreadlock Tam Hats listed

I got my listings done early today, looking forward to a quiet Sunday, enjoying the last warm days of October (who knows though, in Oklahoma you may wear a t-shirt around Christmas), but anyway, I am going to enjoy a cup of instant cafe latte by nestle from the discount store Hispanic isle (yeah, they have some European/Spanish stuff right there at a great price).
I am proud to show a bit of a variety here today, OOAK creations.
Earthy olive brown long patchwork sock tam
Retro snood
Feminine ballon tam
Woolblend fall color large tam
They are for sale here on Etsy

My new supply & vintage store on etsy -- Retro Chic Boutique

Retro Chic Boutique is my registered business name and my first business venture ever.
I established myself on Ebay selling Custom Boutique children clothes for about 2 years. Until I lost interest and got stressed out over commission work. It still has been my first-born baby though, with website and a long history of cute creations. I considered reviving it, but was not sure about crocheting and sewing children clothes again. Well, the shop name leans itself also towards my vintage finds and patterns, so, I have opened a new store for these type of wares on Etsy.
Retrochicboutique on Etsy
(Some past designs as Retro Chic Boutique)

I closed my Ebay store today

Should I feel sad after one year of "Purple Sage Handmade Designz" on Ebay? I don't think so.
First, let me say, I have had super customers on Ebay, a few non-payers, but overall they were just great. Thanks so much, guys. Will I leave Ebay completely? No, I will list auctions or Fixed price items as long as there is interest in my work.
But keeping an Ebay store just seemed worthless. Hidden from search, 10% final Value Fee, it takes the fun and ambition out of the store-ownership. The final straw was the new search "playground". Too much best-matching, pre-formatting search results, too far away from a true natural search where you just can pull up whatever you typed into the search bar.
Now I will offer some of my "liberated" hats on Etsy and on my website for your consideration.
See great deals and from now on strictly auctions only on Ebay here