Wednesday 10 April 2013

Happy Wednesday

Happy Wednesday Peeps ~Its the middle of the week and to be honest? I awoke on this rainy day not feeling very Fabulous. Ohhh no not at all ~generally a pretty upbeat and perky kinda gal ~various things managed to drag me down. "Begone Rapscallions "~ I said to my Doldrums......... and begone they did. 
 
Photo  By Isaac Weddings 2013

 We were lucky enough today to have a visit from Adrian ~One half of the amazing New and Fabulous Magazine called ~Isaac Weddings! What a bloody brilliant Idea folks??? Seriously??? Its a colorful fun magazine full of really really cool articles and information. All the help a Girl could need planning her Big Day from Around the House Do it Yourself Ideas ~ ( I am serious ~funnest Idea Ever on how to quickly and efficiently make your guests wine glass personal! ~I reckon even I could do it ~ not withstanding the never to be again mentioned Mason Glass Tinting Fiasco ... or the Chalk Paint Fiasco .. or ~I digress as usual). Beautiful pictures including the one I have gone back to from Frosted Delights Cakery ~ A gorgeous Wedding Cake surrounded by frilly lace which is ICING??????? *SWOONWORTHY*


Photo By Isaac Weddings 2013
 Poor Adrian made the mistake of asking about our Mason Jars while in the Fab Shoppe Of Sorts ~the poor man had the bewildered look of someone hit in the face with a fish after I said "Well ~Adrian ~Let me tell you ~Back in 1913.................". The man now has a brain full of trivia from why Vintage Masons are Blue to when the Heritage Blues will discontinue. He took it all in his stride and must have been listening ~after a night shift~ ( I was impressed by THAT) ~ as he did ask some really good questions!
Now the Mag is chock full of super fab things like Naturally Beautiful ~information and recipes for natural facials for your Big Day / Seasonal Flower information / Where to have your Wedding/ Stories from Beautiful Brides and as mentioned ~ Do it Yourself Tips and Step by Step Tutorials. Thats just a small portion of whats inside!

Pop over to their Facebook Page or read the latest happenings at

http://isaacweddings.blogspot.com.au/2013/04/when-everyday-gets-in-way.html

Plenty of copies available NOW right here at fs vintage!

Tell them Fabulous scents Vintage sent you!

Stay Fabulous

fs vintage
xx

Tuesday 9 April 2013

Dexter The Wonderdog

Dexter The Wonderdog ~ By Kate Redmond Photography
Have you met Dexter? Our beautiful boy?  
Mr Fab and I were talking about getting a dog and I was not really keen. We were looking at photos of 12? I think? Puppies for sale and we both pointed to our boy at the same time and said "That one".
He came into our lives in November 2011 and we have not regretted one single day! Yep he thinks he is the Alpha in our household but who could resist that face?
Dexter By Kate Redmond Photography

Dexter by Kate Redmond Photography





Stay Fabulous

fs vintage
xx

Monday 8 April 2013

Its Monday

Heritage Blue Mason Jars
Monday has rolled around again ~ Pour day here at fs vintage. Now today is kinda interesting because I am doing ~ vintage glassware along with Heritage Blues and stock. A customer has entrusted me with their Uranium Depression glassware and Russian Teacups. I don't sell recycled vintage glassware but I am happy to refill it for customers. I wont fill anything that doesn't " feel right " ~ or on inspection ~ has even the smallest or most miniscule fracture / scrape or crack.  Also the last of the Heritage Blues are rolling out and I must admit ~its kinda sad. The frenzy they created still leaves me blinking like an owl in surprise! Wow! I had no idea when we first started to think about bringing them into fs vintage that they would be received even HALF as well as they have been. And ~ yeah yeah ok I admit its STILL kinda deliciously squirmy cool that we seem to be the only ones with them ~ Makes me feel all serene and zen just thinking about it.
Update on that ~New American order on the way and Australian order ~still no more information other than May 1st.

Stay Fabulous....

fs vintage
xx

Saturday 6 April 2013

The Tinting Fiasco



Huge disaster
Thought I would try my hand at Mason Jar tinting ~Cannot even begin to tell you what an abysmal failure it was. I now have a sink full of weirdly tinted wide mouth mason jars and a dishwasher full of the ones I have managed to remove the Mod Podge from. 
I tried both the American and Australian versions ~found on many many pages and Blogs. Followed the instructions TO THE LETTER.....
and I have come to the conclusion ~I suck at Mason Jar tinting.

This will NOT be something available at Fabulous Scents Vintage. 

Think we may just stick to what we know.....


Quilted Ball Mason Jar as Fabulous Scents Vintage Soy Candle with Rusty Lid



Keep being fabulous

fs vintage
xx

Imitation the highest form of Flattery? I think not....

Vintage and New Heritage Blue Perfect Mason Jar Candle
No I am not grizzling about MY copycats ~although....*cough* I digress. A friend of mine has a Copycat ~(don't we all) Now I automatically went to ease her pain with the usual platitudes.....

"Its the highest form of flattery"
"Don't worry ~ your the original"
"Take it as a compliment"

But then I remembered how I feel when someone else tells me about the ones who copy ME. I don't care what the platitudes are ~I am frustrated and cranky and basically gobsmacked. Not speechless ~never speechless but completely and utterly gobsmacked.
Why? The unmitigated BALLS (Seriously no pun intended) Yes the BALLS of these thick skinned people who imitate.
So ~ Can one of you who has copied or imitated please please PLEASE tell me how you justify it to yourself? What are YOUR justifications and how do you have peace with doing it? How can you sell a product you have copied and literally stolen an idea from someone? I am genuinely asking this question because when I am unable to understand something ~I research and delve till I found the answer. I NEED to know. I WANT to know. I have to admit ~sometimes I go and have a look at my imitators and I see they have incorrect information ~ or they are going on about something and its completely wrong ~ or their customers are saying how clever they are ( yeah yeah ok that's annoying as well I admit it)~I start getting incredibly itchy just wanting to send them a message and ask....why? You have decided to copy another persons idea but you are using incorrect information or not producing a product with the same quality or your imitation is only half way there ~WHY DO IT???? Lets talk about this honestly ~so ~you obviously have some creativity or you would not be making a hand made product correct? You obviously enjoy it or you would not be wasting precious time on something which has such a small return ( I hear the Crafters and Hand makers reading this saying "Oh yeah sister you got that right") So ~use that beautiful brain of YOURS!!! ~ yep there is only a finite amount of things you can do in crafting but why not put your OWN slant on it? Why not do the hard yards and figure it out for yourself? I will freely admit to roaming the Internet and Etsy ( Shameless Plug ~Please visit our Etsy store! https://www.etsy.com/shop/fsvintage ) I found ideas and thought "hmmmmm how can I make that Fabulous." I didn't trawl pages and think "Hmmm that's a good idea I might copy it exactly and then carry on as like its my idea". 
Vintage Mason Wire Ball Pint burning with New Ball Mason Pint Jar


Just be true to yourself till next time fabsters....

fs vintage 
xx


Are you feeling Blue?

Vintage Perfect Mason Jar with Heritage Blue Perfect Mason Jar
Around the beginning of the year I was googling for some information on a Vintage jar when I came across ...The Limited Edition Heritage Ball Blue Mason Jar. This Jar was commissioned and produced by Ball to commemorate 100 years of the Perfect Mason. I almost swooned ~literally. My heart started beating faster and I was fanning myself like a delicate  Southern Belle ~ Ohhh lordy ~ Ah do de CLARE I said to myself (still fanning) I have to have those!!!! So began The Search. Eventually I found out they would not be released till March so I started contacting a few American companies I had used in the past for our normal square Half pint Masons. Wasn't getting very much feedback so I spoke to our dear friends in the US and said ~FIND ME SOME OF THESE JARS!!!!

Subtlety is not my strong point....

Heritage Ball Mason Blue
Thankfully she found me what I was looking for and the long process began. We are not 100% sure but pretty darn close to it ~that we may well be the first ones in Australia to have these jars!!! How exciting is that??? Yes VERY exciting.......and kinda cool but nerve wracking! We have sold out of the first batch and have ordered again from the same supplier ~ Bless em ~ and should have more stock in about 2 weeks ~ fingers crossed.
You can of course purchase them from us empty but DAMN ~they seriously make the most beautiful soy candle EVER. I have them burning every single day (In the interests of testing for quality control ~ as ya do....) and I have to say they are probably up there as my faves. Well I love all the jars but ~*serene sigh* They are so beautiful...... 
Heritage Ball Mason Blue Soy Candle

Are we bored yet?

fs vintage

Its been Months

Vintage Pint Perfect Mason Jar Candle Photo By Kate Redmond Photography
Its been months since I have written ~where to begin?  Sadly I have let the frustration of others really get to me which really? STUPID! So ~why not write about it?
Let us begin ~ When we started doing Mason Jars as a soy candle ~both Vintage and new last year ~ oh my goodness ~ we were poo pooed ~ "You cant use those ~they are not candle JARS"? "Are you insane?" / "They wont sell"/ "Yuk they look stupid"/ and so on and so on. We ignored it and brought our first batch of jars and proceeded to turn them into beautiful candles. We tested those suckas for weeks and weeks till we had it PERFECT! Initially? *shrug* Yeah sure slow going but after awhile? People were contacting us to say ~"Hey I love those jars to". 
Gotta tell you ~I was chuffed! So we sorted out which ones worked ~and which ones were a dismal failure and eventually we managed to stock exactly what people wanted.

Vintage Perfect Ball Mason Jar Candle with Burning Heritage Blue Ball Mason Jar candle
Then the emails began ~Yep people telling us that this page and that page on Facebook had started to copy. Gotta tell you ~that saying? Imitation is the highest form of flattery? Nope its not. Its annoying and frustrating and in this Bloggers opinion? RUDE! Get your own bloody ideas and dont pinch mine! Now settle down people ~Not saying we here at Fabulous Scents Vintage are the Boss of Mason Jar candles but DAMN ~Cant you at least find your own way of packaging????? Don't copy mine!
Hmmm do I feel refreshed finally saying all this? You betcha! And I must add ~it is nice to be back and continuing my woffling. Read this or dont ~your choice ~but come along for the ride as I regale you with whats happening.

fs vintage