Happy Friday

from this lovely Etsy shop

Happy Friday Everyone!
Wow. Another week has flown by. Can you believe we only have less than 2 weeks left this month? Soon Spring will be here. I don't know about you  but I am ready for a new season. But for now, let's enjoy this weekend first :) 
I have lots planned, just like what I wrote in my earlier post(s). I am going to a vintage-buying trip this weekend. I hope to find lots of goodies for my vintage shop. If you love vintage jewelries, get ready for new listings on my Etsy vintage shop this weekend. I am going to have a handful listed everyday starting tomorrow.

Sewing Expo is coming to Lakeland, FL next weekend (Thursday thru Saturday). I was planning on going but as of right now, it doesn't look like I will be going. I have been going for the last 3 years ... I believe. Fun stuff. Loved going to that event. I still very much would like to go, so we'll see. Perhaps I'll decide on last minute---I'm notorious on this! If I don't go, I'll stay home and take care of my little shops.

Have a great weekend friends!
xoxo

silent Wednesday



all images are from this Etsy shop



hello happiness!

from this Etsy shop

Happy Thursday Friends!

This week has truly flown by. So excited the weekend is almost here. Little Miss and I don't have much planned. We'd love to do some vintaging on Saturday morning after our sweet breakfast. Then I'll be pretty busy organizing my Etsy shops. The vintage shop was just reopened yesterday (yay!). I have LOTS of inventories I need to photograph and to list.

My baby shop will be back in business around March or early April. So very excited. LOTS I have to plan for that shop! Hopefully I'll manage to get some stuff done while Little Miss is taking her afternoon naps.

The house could use a little cleaning and organizing this weekend. I will be using the "family room" as my office until my official office room is completed! The family room is quite large so it will do just fine. I am actually excited. I already have a huge desk in there where I will do my "office" works from. The dining room will be my unofficial sewing room for now. There is a huge, gorgeous, vintage dining table in there where my sewing machine is going to perch on. There is enough room in the dining room to cut and assemble fabrics together. I am keeping all my fabrics upstairs; however.

All this work talk is so exhilirating for me. Finally after months, I am able to seriously thinking about my shops again. I could always use the extra income :) And those are the things I absolutely enjoy doing, though I have the best day job ever now! (honest!). I just find it so nice that my day job is so stress-free that it is not draining my crafty brain. I love it.

Ok friends, I am happy today and it's a good thing!

Hope you find your happiness today as well :)



shops update....

Happy Monday!
Another beautiful day today. I feel blessed and very thankful just to be alive. Lots of fun stuff are planned for this week. It's a big week for me. The vintage shop is opening this week. I am planning for this Wednesday. I'm trying to polish up few little details tonight and tomorrow then DG Vintage is back to business this Wednesday evening! Yay for me.

If you love vintage jewelries, you definitely want to check out DG Vintage. LOTS of beautiful vintage jewelries will be listed this week. As always, I keep my prices reasonable. As a single mom, I know how challenging it is sometimes to juggle budgets buying neccessities while still have extra cash to look fabulous! Don't worry friends, you'll find prices on my vintage jewelries to be very budget friendly! And since you will be buying vintage jewelries, you can almost be sure that yours is one-of-a-kind!

Another update is that I am going to put DGD shop on hold for now. Sad decision but it is for the better. I'll be reopening my baby shop, Max and Olivia, between March-April this year. After much considerations, I am planning to focus my time and energy on my vintage and baby shop at the moment. The plan is to grow Max and Olivia into a baby + mommy online boutique. And that's going to take a whole lotta work lol! I am doing everything on my own while raising a toddler, living with 6 dogs, and holding a full-time office job. So, it's going to be a crazy busy for me.

Max and Olivia will not only carry pretty little things for babies but also for mommies too! Chic diaper totes, diaper wristlets, to-go pouches, some make-up bags for pretty mommies! They would make wonderful baby shower gifts not only for the baby but for the momma too. Why not make baby and momma happy, right ^__^

So, that's all the update for you right now. See you tomorrow!

it's a new beginning...

First, let me say, Happy Weekend! 
For those of you who work Monday-Friday (like me!), I am sure you're glad the weekend is finally here. Today is going to be a good day. I have lots planned already. On my lists today:
- vintage shopping for my Etsy vintage shop
- sorting out vintage inventories
- taking pictures
- making descriptions of each item to be listed on my shop
- jotting down more plans to grow the shop

If you noticed, I own 3 Etsy shops--a vintage, pouches, and baby. In the past, I had time to manage all three---still don't know how I did that!!! Now with a toddler and life on the way, I barely have time for myself. However, I would like to earn extra money. And  I have to admit that I love selling. I enjoy sewing and crafting and vintaging. I am at my happiest when I do those things.

I've always loved collecting vintage. That's why I bought this home I am sharing with my daughter and 6 pups now---it's a vintage 1909 victorian. It's an awesome home and I plan to live in it for years and years to come. Anyways. I was battling for awhile to decide which 3 shops I should start back up first. Thought about the pouches shop but then after observing my daily activities,  it almost seems impossible to find time to sew anymore nowadays. So, I decided to reopen my vintage shop first. At least to get it going. Afterall, I love, love, love vintaging! So far, I have 60 items in my vintage shop. All those will be renewed in the next week. I will have at least 5-10 new vintage listed per day everyday for the month of February. My goal is to always have between 75 - 100 items listed on the store everyday.

The vintage shop will have few new categories--vintage linen and jewelries are some of them. The shop will have pretty much the same policy: refund for any shipping overage more than $1.
Customer service will be as stellar as usual.

My original shop, Downtown Girl Designs, will be reopened closer to April. Then the baby shop, Max and Olivia, will follow hopefully around June/July this year.

That's all the update I have for you.
Have a wonderful weekend!!!

handmade zipper pouches

These are some of the pouches I finished for my etsy shop. I have A LOT more ready to be stitched closed. I'm also working on getting some iPad and 15-inch laptop sleeves done for the shop. I can be very productive if I stick to my plans.

new changes

I apologize for the patchy postings on my blog. I have been very busy for the last 2 weeks. Seems like when things happen, they happen all at once. Thankfully, it is a good thing.

A lot is happening with my little shops. A new baby boutique that just opened in town offered retail opportunity for me, which of course I gladly took.

I am planning to revamp my 2 Etsy shops --- the main one and the baby one. The main shop will have a new (fresher) feel. The baby shop's transformation will take a little longer as I'm still working on fulfilling order from the local baby boutique. However, I'm super excited for it. I'll be better prepared for the holiday shopping rush this year than last year. It was a nightmare last year (note: I was very pregnant during the holiday season last year).

So, get ready for some new changes. I mean, it won't be totally different but it'll still be nice changes.

new month

Oh dear. It is almost September already. Three more months to Thanksgiving and four more to Christmas. I better get busy making stuff for my shops. Sales have been down due to lack of creating and listing new items.

September will be better. I promise.

few things ...

I am so swamped with orders right now. Both from my Etsy shops and custom orders. Did I ever tell you having a baby is like having another full-time job? Sometimes I wonder when do I ever find the time to sew. Maybe I actually sew when I sleep. I don't know. It's like I magically produce all these things for my shops. I wish I had Doraemon. If you don't know him, just forget what I just said. But if you do know him, you know what I am talking about and I know you wish you had him too!! admit it.

So. After much thinking, I have decided to momentarily stop taking custom orders. I need to catch up on restocking my Etsy shops. They are looking pretty old right now. I keep on relisting things I sold. What I want is to list new things. Like a veggie shop, you want something fresh. I run three one-woman Etsy shops, though one of them doesn't require much work really (talking about my vintage shop). Yes it gets hectic for me sometimes.

I have few new things in the making right now for my Etsy shops---both baby and pouches shop. I want to introduce new items. Then have a giveaway here. I am also thinking of hosting giveaways at my bloggie friends's blogs. Should be fun, right?

And on top of all this madness, I am also thinking of creating a craft group. This is just a maybe. If I have the time. I envision of a craft group that meets once a month for 1 - 2 hour. Do fun and easy craft projects. Nothing serious. Swapping ideas. Connecting with other crafters in town. Oh and it has to be free. I mean, sure you have to bring your own supplies and all to the meeting but other than that, no fees to join. I'll give update on this later.

happy to say....

Wheww. A week has passed by since last I posted here.
The fundraising event for baby Ayden Driggers was a HUGE success!! I am happy to report that. The salon (I believe) was able to raised about $3000. And my little shop that I set up inside the salon was able to raise $245!! WOOOHOOOOO!!
I gave the money directly to Nicky Driggers, Ayden's mom. Oh I got to meet her btw. I was so happy to finally be able to meet her. She is a very, very sweet lady and I truly admire her strength in dealing with this difficult situation. I told her I'd like to meet baby Ayden in person someday. She proposed a playdate and a reunion! How wonderful. I can't wait already :)

Another update I'd like to report: my Etsy shops has been able to raise a little more than $350!!!! Woooohoooo. So in total as of today: close to $600!! Wow. I am amazed by everyone's generosity. People keep on buying items from my shop to help Ayden. For those of you who has made purchase(s) through my Etsy shop for Ayden, huge THANK YOU for you!!! I am not related to the Driggers at all but I know how much this means for them. And I cannot wait to send the check to Ayden's family :)

I have 3 more days left to raise more money for Ayden. Please let everyone know about this :)

Happy Saturday!!

sweet offer.....

FREE DOMESTIC Shipping offer is going on now at Downtown Girl Designs and Max and Olivia in honor of Earth Day.
Offer valid from April 22 - 25 only.

International shipping gets 50% off.

*shipping fee will be refunded the same day payment is received*

This sweet deal only happens few times a year so take advantage of it while you can ;)

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

This is it. 2009 is about to go away and very soon we'll be entering a brand new year.

I am very, very excited to welcome 2010 for several reasons. One, because our first baby is due next week. Two, I get to stay home with my baby for 3 months. Three, I am going to sew a lot more when I am home.

I have many goals for 2010 that I would like to achieve and one of them is to be able to craft more handmade lovelies for my shops.

As of right now, I am working on several clutches and bags for my Downtown Girl Designs shop. And as for my baby shop, Max and Olivia, I am working on finishing up several super cool travel changing pads. I haven't found many vintage items for Downtown Girl Vintage shop yet so I haven't been able to list any in a while.

Happy New Year!!!!

so many things to do so little time...

I am 37 weeks pregnant by now. I am excited to welcome our first baby. Up to now, I am still sewing things for my shop. I do get tired faster though so I work in a slower pace now than I used to.

My husband is trying to get my craft room done before Christmas. So far it looks really good already. I am hoping I can start moving all my stuff in there by tomorrow or Christmas morning. Will post pics of the new craft room for sure.
I am very excited about decorating it. I do have most furnitures to go in it ready already--using what I already have mostly. I am sewing the curtains for the windows myself. I am also planning on making my own small floor mat to go under my big sewing table.

Also, since I will be delivering the baby soon, I am planning on taking my maternity leave from my shops to start January 7 or 8 until the baby is born (due date is January 10).

In the meantime, feel free to browse around my Etsy shops. As of right now, I can squeeze in 2 - 3 custom orders in case you'd like to have some custom made baby items or any other handmade goodies.

www.downtowngirldesigns.etsy.com
www.maxandolivia.etsy.com