Getting Crafty

Eversince this little project rekindled my interest in crafting; I've been mentally bookmarking other projects that would be fun to do.

There's something about crafting that has an almost therapeutic effect on me - forces me to sit down and focus on creating something with my hands; something which I won't otherwise be doing in my normal everyday life. It brings me back to a simpler time; way before writing emails and spending countless hours in front of the computer started to muddle with my brain. 

Or maybe its just my creative side trying to peek out; after years of being pushed aside to free up time so that I could complete other more "pressing" things. 

While there are still many other "pressing" things to do; I was able to complete two DIYs recently. The first was a simple paper banner that was inspired by this video. Although they used fabric for the flags, using paper was much easier and they turned out equally cute. 

The other project was a skirt refashioned from a vintage maternity romper that was way too huge to be sold. I liked the little floral prints on the fabric so why let it go to waste?

This was a pretty challenging one for me since I don't have much sewing skills but I'm hoping to get better at it! I think I'm going to add that to my 2012 to-do list.

Hope you've started thinking of new year resolutions!

Xmas Day Post

Whether you celebrate Christmas for religious reasons or not; you probably won't be immune to the general sense of festivity in the air. To me, the Christmas season is a time to get together with friends, indulge in good food, take stock of things in the past year and start thinking about the next.

With that I just wanted to drop a quick post to thank all those who bought a little something from our recent sale. Erlina's Vintage was humbly launched 5 months ago today and the experience has been nothing short of awesome. Here's a quick review of some of the stuff that got bought up during the sale:

I'm heartened to hear that these vintage pieces have found new happy owners and am looking forward to bringing more cool stuff next year!

In the mean time, I'll be celebrating with some homemade buttered popcorn for breakfast

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

I was left in the dark and I'm sorry

Before you start thinking this is going to be an emo post don't worry; I will never subject you to such torture.

What I meant to say is - I've been in the dark on how to remove the background from a photo. Now that I've learnt how to do this efficiently, I can't see how I can ever go back to posting images with so much shadows in the background.

Just the thought of it makes me cringe; and I'm so sorry I had to put you through all those horrid shadowy images! On the flip side; I am truly grateful to all those who bought from Erlina's Vintage despite those images.

Just look at the difference:

BEFORE 

AFTER

I have this overwhelming desire to re-edit all my old photos, but in the interest of time I'm telling myself that I'll just have to let it go and move forward. Especially since there's loads more stock to be photographed and edited.

Here's some sneak peeks of things to come...

Lookout for these listings and more this week!

Have a Cupcake & 30% Off All Items

One of the great things about running your own store is the ability to run your own campaigns, based on what YOU want and what YOU like. This month, I wanted cupcakes and cupcakes I shall have.

Its even better when we both get a win-win situation - I get a cupcake campaign; and you get 30% off all stock online, including new stock that will be listed this week. Yup, I'm not just clearing stuff. This is a true discount for all you vintage lovers out there.

That's what I call having my cake and eating it too.

Anyone knows of a bakery with awesome cupcakes?

Inspiration Wall & Crafting

A few weeks ago I blogged about creating a dedicated work space... I'm pleased to update that progress has been good so far and I also rediscovered how gratifying DIY-ing and crafting can be!

There's still some finishing touches to be done but already I'm pretty happy with my feature / inspiration wall:

Ok so the cork board and photo frames are still empty; but I am definitely looking forward to filling them up in the weeks to come!

Glued on these cute wooden mannequin cut outs and alphabets for a personalized board.

Was inspired to create this from A Beautiful Mess' tutorial.. I picked up a whole stack of these paint sample cards from the Home-Fix store, while avoiding the suspicious stares from all the store assistants. The alphabets were just chip board stickers meant for scapbooking.

I used to enjoy doing crafts and think its time I pick it up again. 

Have you done any DIY or craft projects lately?

White or Black

Which do you prefer?

Buying Vintage Online : Size Matters

Online shopping has its perks (late night shopping? no problem! Store's open 24 hours!) but the biggest bane has got to be the inability to try on your clothes before buying them. As both an online seller and buyer, I've been thinking a lot more lately about how to make buying clothes online a "risk-free" experience. This is even more challenging for vintage as vintage sizes are very different from modern day sizes.

It would be awesome to have a virtual fitting room where people key in their measurements and "see" how the clothing item fits on their body. Zegna has done this but obviously the scale of my business is nowhere near Zegna's and there's no way I can get a programmer to do this on the cheap.

With no million dollar marketing budget to tap on or super programming skills, its back to the basics for me.

BODY SHAPE RECOMMENDATIONS

Sounds simplistic and almost cliche, but I'll be adding body shape recommendations to help customers determine if a particular item is suitable for their body types.

There are many different body shapes, but I'll be using the four most common basic types as reference:

Source: google.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Here's a loose description of each "shape":

Apple: A top heavy shape, with wider shoulders, a larger bust and slim legs
Pear: Small shoulders and bust comparative to a heavier bottom
Hourglass: Bust and hips are almost equal measurements with a slim waist
Rectangle: Shoulders, bust and hips almost equal in measurements, often referred to as a boyish shape

BETTER DESCRIPTIONS
For all upcoming new pieces to be listed on www.erlinasvintage.com, I will be putting in more descriptive details on how the piece of clothing fits e.g. (i) Loose fitting bodice, suitable for people who prefer to wear loose flowy tops or (ii) Flared skirt, flattering to curvier bottoms.

Most importantly, do take note of the measurements provided! I've tried to make it easier by providing an indicative range like "Fits like a S or UK 8 - 10". However an S may mean differently to different people so its best to fall back on the measurements again :-) Elsie from A Beautiful Mess has written a very comprehensive post on How to Shop for Vintage Clothing so do check it out too.

So which shape are you? Do you have any other suggestions how to make it easier for you to figure our sizes?

Vintage Inspired Work Spaces

I'm planning to dedicate more time on the vintage shop so I've been trying to find ideas on how to create a vintage inspired home office where I can edit photos, blog, sew and basically be INSPIRED.

An inspiring workspace puts you in the mood to create inspiring work, no?

Here are some spaces I'm particularly drawn to:

Source: vintagehome.tumblr.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Source: myrevelment.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Source: ariannainteriors.blogspot.com via Erlina on Pinterest

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

I'm also having a current obsession with anything that's robin's egg blue.. this color palette is so vintage-y and girly right?

Source: design-seeds.com via Lynn on Pinterest

Time to start furniture shopping!

Anyone has any awesome work space pics to share?

Erlina's Vintage on Bloglovin!

By far, my favorite way to follow blogs. In fact, I've stopped reading books and buying  magazines. I just read blogs now. Ok so maybe that's not really a good idea.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Vintage Chairs - To DIY or Not?

I recently dropped by ReStore at Tanjong Pagar Road - which is a small little cafe that also sells restored vintage furniture. I was alittle disappointed that they close so early on a Saturday (5:30pm); especially since I was so in need of a coffee and some cake at that time!

In any case, their reupholstered chairs are so adorable! Check out the lovely prints:

I am particularly partial to the blue one with apple prints but find the SG$350 price tag a little steep for my shoestring budget.

I'm now thinking if I can reupholster an old chair with my fabric of choice, but am not sure if this is a project I can manage... This DIY video makes it look so easy though!

 

What do you think? Anyone attempted to reupholster their own chairs before?

My First & Favorite Vintage Treasure

I came across this Vintage Treasure photo contest and was inspired to write a post on my favorite vintage treasure.

This 1970s tote bag immediately comes to mind - not just because it was the first piece of vintage I've owned but also because it used to belong to my late grandmother; who used it as a day trip bag when visiting relatives in Johor.

As a fashion conscious teenager in the 90s; I used to think that this bag was outdated and belonged deep in the back of the wardrobe. But now I think it is nothing short of awesome. And that granny had some serious good taste.

What's your favorite vintage item?

SNEAK PEEK: Vintage Leather Purses & Envelope Clutches

I was so excited to lay my hands on these vintage purses that I couldn't resist sharing a pic..

These babies are just waiting to be cleaned and restored to their former glory.. and YES, there's a vintage Ferragamo among the pile!

Check out the AWESOME handles on this  structured 1980s purse:

That's all for our sneak peek of things to come.

Ok Bye.

Blue + Green

All items are listed on our website and Etsy store.

Hello World