Made a decision

After asking many peoples opinions and looking over the sites from time to time I have decided to go with etsy for selling purposes. I have really dont like the look of eBay and I think the esty "community" is something i would like to help support. Some people have suggested I would most likely make less money on etsy, but I am really just looking to pay for my acting classes and maybe some headshots or any other costs that may occur (like taking a day off to audition). And as I've said before... I just need to get rid of stuff. Stuff i loooooove and wish I could keep in a nice organized closet space. Someday... BUT until then, my loss is your gain. Soon.

Sooo... Coming soon! shopRagdollVintage!! On etsy!!

Check out my profile and some of my favourites. Notice how there aren't any clothes. Just home wares and jewlery. I have actually learned my lesson. But am still living in my mistake/obsession. I will have a "collection" up for sale on etsy by March. I will be posting more sneak previews this week and for weeks to come. If you are interested in seeing the final shop or in purchasing anything click "follow" me down to the right bottom of the page.

I'm excited to see what happens! Acting classes, here I come!

Harder than i thought

Going through your clothes, when you have THIS many, is really hard. Organizing and stages of purging.

1. You get rid of the stuff that you have had for years and bought purely for function and not for fit or style. Maybe it even has holes are bleached from hair dye. You have no idea why you have it anymore... Probably because you couldn't find it underneath all the awesomeness. But why did you have it in the first place...?
2. Then you get rid of the stuff that fits you well, looks great and is quite practical, but you never wear... Not your style... Colour... Whatever reason. at some point it must have been your style, but you just cant see yourself wearing it again.
3. Then get rid of all the clothes you purchased for work or for a specific even. Dressy dresses. Clothes you purchased at your store because you were suppose to wear new product and it was the closest thing you could find to working into your wardrobe and not giving up a style you enjoy.

one of the times that I had people over to take stuff.  not an outfit I would have put together, but we got distracted playing dress up for the rest of the night.  She wouldn't have actually worn this outfit either.  She normally dresses very comfy, yet stylish, yet futuristic, northern/eastern european.  The shoes were one of the first things I bought at a thrift store a million years ago when I wore grandpa pants and tight vintage t-shirts with bleached blonde hair with a purple patch and skate shoes.  These were my alternative to skate shoes.  They still hold a place in my heart.

I've done all of this.  Friends have left with bags and bags of clothes at a time... but it wasn't enough.  For most people it would have been.

4. The hardest step is the one I am on now... Almost everything left (still way too much and well over 100 pieces) I actually really like and want to wear. Some of it I won't find the occasion to, but what if I do..... So i think i need to create categories. Formal-going to a wedding, work-right now black dresses and tights, casual-leggings and oversized T's and sweaters and blazers, daily wear outfits- vintage pieces...dresses, pants, etc. But more importantly, how many do I really need of each category and making sure I sell everything else, no matter how much I want to keep it. It is crazy how you can grow attached to something you barely get to wear. It makes no sense... But that is my biggest problem. I look at an article of clothing and automatically envision all these outfits that i would love to put together, but rarely have the chance to actually go through with.

So here are my numbers...i think.  Nono... These ARE my numbers to be left with after the selling:

Fall/winter:

Leggings - 10 pairs
Oversized pull over sweaters - 5
Oversized cardigans - Er...ummm... 7?
Jeans, skinny - 4
Wide leg - 4
Pants, skinny - 5
Wide leg - 3
Dresses - 15
Blazers - 7ish
Coats - 3

Scarves - 10 or less


Spring/summer:

Leggings - 5
Shorts - 5
Skirts - 5
Cardigans - 7
Dresses - 15
Pants - 5
Blazers/jackets - 10...15

Dressy, wedding attending/Christmas party/etc type clothes - 10

Purses, big - 10
Small - 10

Shoes, boots - 10
Platform - 6
Flat sandals - 10
Flat closed toe - 10

total:
Leggings - 15
sweaters and cardigans - 21
pants/jeans/etc - 21
dresses - 30ish (depending on how the party type clothes go)
skirts - 5 (I really don't wear skirts much... they ride up when you walk... why not just wear a dress)
Jackets/blazers - 22? (ok... I may have to choose less than that.  but considering what I haveeee...)

Work clothes, black dresses - 5

Black pants - 3

Black button up shirt....I have none. Need to buy...

*** I didn't put shirts since they take up less space and are necessary for every outfit...right... HOWEVER, I will be selling a bunch!***

I dont know what my actual numbers are of what i have... Once i counted my dresses and i had 120ish... So this will hurt. But it's for a good cause. My boyfriends sanity (and mine) and of course, acting classes with a teacher who has worked with successful actors. Woo! Definitely worth it.

just a few things.  not a lot of colour in this picture... but I do have some florals and pinks and burgundy's that I will be selling soon!!  and my dresses come in all colours of the rainbow.

 Where i am at right now...? I had three days off in a row so i pulled out all the clothes that cushioned any fall out of bed.... Heck, it basically extended the size of our bed to the size of the room the "pile" was so high. Seriously. Anyway, all those clothes are in the living room and I am dividing them up AGAIN and figuring out what I can part with.

not a pretty picture.... and definitely not everything I have to sort through.  possibly 1/4 of it.... possibly.  but my bedroom is about 1/3 the size of the area of this area (if not smaller) so you could imagine the floor space!

Gluten Free'd and Vegan Trial Recipes

Coming soon!

So, I have been trying to make a pizza dough that is gluten free and vegan... I want it to be a bit biscuit-y so I have been trying out and combining recipes and it is turning out to be a somewhat goldilocks experience.... first one too hard... second too soft... next hopefully it will be juuuust right.  But I guess that is what happens with and why we bother with tests.  Anyway, this all came about when Chris (awesome Kate's brother and my man-friend...)'s parents bought me a kitchen aid mixer for Christmas and Kate suggested we have a recipe a month and try things out and discuss our results from afar (her being in ottawa and I, in Toronto).  Then I needed a biscuit break and decided to try to gluten free and veganize MY brownies with peanut butter icing.  The original... pretty deadly and I am sure even after my recipe is "revisited" that it still won't be actually healthy... but it will be improved and...heathiER.  =) ... I have some pictures and recipes I will post this week too.  If anyone who happens upon them has any tips, feel free.  I did just use relatively easy to get ingredients... I haven't experimented with the likes of xantham gum or anything like that yet.  but we will see.

Sneak Peak

ok... for some reason I have been having problems with typing this post.... things kept deleting or disappearing... I really don't know!  frustrating.  Anyway.  I have been on and off organizing and I need to go out and buy some bins and garment bags to get to that final stage before styling and taking pictures can happen.  There are all sorts of items.  Dresses from or inspired by the 1920's all the way to the 70's and a little bit of futuristic pieces too.  Hats, belts, scarves, shoes (which may appear as "lots" so that people who enjoy and entire outfit can purchase the trimmings).

I had to grab a friend of mine to come in and act as a mannequin so I could put together and play around with shapes and colours for the outfits.  I want everything I am selling to be relevant.  Great vintage pieces, but the way we really wear them.  Originally, I was going to make everything look authentic to the decade they were from, but everyone knows what it looked like.  I want to make it now.  How I would actually wear it.  What I was actually thinking and obsessing over when I bought each piece.  So that I know each piece is going to a good home and will be treated the way I would treat them.  More of a clothing adoption.  Before I end up sounding more pathetic and clothing obsessed, here are just a few of the pictures from a few nights ago when Katie brought over some wine and let me play dress up with her:

Vintage Army Green Shirt Jacket thing.  Vintage Floral Romper/jumpsuit.  Mimosa Black Strappy Platform Shoes... along with other shoes scattered about....

Army Green thing again and Floral Maxi Dress with Flutter sleeves.  and boot mugs... no we were not drinking wine with a straw.  that was scotch?

....again jacket thing... there are a lot of pictures with out this jacket, but I just HAD to try it on everything.... sorry.  pale yellow floral wide neck dolman sleeve dress and a pile of clothes including a vintage fur coat in the background.

  Everything pictured and that willll be pictured is vintage from my closet (except for most the shoes.  I have vintage shoes... but it will take longer for me to part with them).  Most I will be selling.  There will be hundreds of pieces...seriously.  I just need to decide how and where I will be selling it all and how I want to organize it.  I think I am going to do mini collections with colour themes and style themes.  I have enough... I am sure I can whip something up.

to be continued....  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Now this is a few weeks late, but meh.  I received some awesome gifts for Christmas and found some awesome stuffs at thrift stores in Ottawa during my brief visit over the holidays!  My Granny even gave me a bunch of her old dresses from the 50's-70's.  Pretty awesome!  Here are some pictures:

A few of my Gifts:  Baking theme!  I am not really a New Years Resolution Theme person, but if I had one, it would be to cook and eat at home more.  I enjoy doing it and enjoy eating it... but making the time is my problem.  I will do it!

I have wanted one of these even before I new what I could do with it.  They are just pretty!  I have always wanted white or stainless steel and I got white, YAY! Thanks to Chris's mum and dad!

yummy vegan and almost gluten and sugar free cookbook... awesome!  Thanks kate!!  She also got my a bunch of accessories for baking.  We are going to have a little bit of a friendly bake off... not to see who wins, since she would clearly, but to experiment and find some great recipes.  I am sure we will be blogging about it.
Month #1:  Gluten Free Vegan Pizza Dough!

Thrift Store Finds:  I have been focusing less on clothes... since I have too much already... but housewares is safe... for now.

Daisy (my kitty) already trying to destroy these glasses... She enjoys doing that at 3am!

boot mugs to go with the one kate found me a while ago when I was looking for them!  woo!  people always enjoy using the ONE I had so now we can all share nicely!

look like the glasses on the madmen season...something cover.  I haven't been able to get into the show, but when I saw the cover with a glass like this I obsessed a bit and found some at a thrift store for a dollar each!  I saw some on etsy for $70 for a set of 6.  Say What?!

milky glass bowls and serving ware.  pretty.

for when I dont have enough boot mugs for the peoples at my place, some glass tree trunk looking ones.  weird.  I like.

Granny Gives:  Being vintage obsessed I reallllllllly love getting stuff that has been in the family and means more than simply an awesome find!  =)

The long one to the far right is my favorite!!  I really need to start taking picture with a better camera..... or not with my cell phone......!

I am pretty sure my granny made all of these.

love these prints!  my granny made the one on the far right!

She also gave me her "wedding China" which in a note said that she had been collecting in a hope chest well before her wedding.  collected it piece by piece.  She also gave me some writing paper: I am GREAT at writing letters... but TERRIBLE at actually sending them.  =( 

There is more, but it is all still packed since I have been working ever since I have got back.  I did pretty well though!   I'll be sure to post pictures of thing I have sorted and am going to be selling soon!  I have given myself a deadline (back to the time management thing...) it will be a happenin' soon!

Christmas Spirit/What's wrong with kids....

source: fullhousereviewed.wordpress.com

This one is a combined "What's wrong with kids..." and Christmas Spirit post:  I remember I was never really into full house.  My best friend use to make me watch anything Olsen Twins related when I was a child and I never understood the appeal.  With all the shows these days that have the same token bratty kids and the stories are more about the parents fighting, etc... I get it.  or at least it would be more....refreshing... or something.  ANYWAY,  despite never understanding the appeal of the olsen twins back then... a few years ago, I had been in chapters a few times and for some reason I felt the need to check out the olsen twins book "influence" I sat down in the aisle I found it in and flipped through it.  I loved it.  It was like a really great magazine in hardcover (though the dust cover or whatever it's called had to go immediately, but it had a great matte black textured cover underneath, yay).  I bought it.  The end.

Ashley Olsen's "page"

Mary-Kate Olsen's "page"

With interviews from great artists and designers etc and style photo's, it's perfect.  They also have done the proust questionnaire, which I love reading for some reason.  But not the facebook ones that you have to send to every person you know because they must care.... but that is a rant for another day.

picture from book with interview with Karl Lagerfeld

picture from book of some of their freakin shoes.

LULA WHERE IN CANADA ARE YOU!!

SO, I JUST SAW THAT THERE IS A NEW Lula FINALLY OUT!!!   ... only two months late, but whateves.  But now to find it.  I work right beside a Chapters so I have been looking almost everyday and have yet to see it.  =(

The opening page of the site leaves something to be desired... it seems so 90's fan page still under construction... but I am still excited!

I love the blue they used on the cover!  I want to paint the wall above my apartments fireplace (not working... =( ) that colour... but maybe a wee bit darker.

Anyway, I need this to appear at Chapters or that random corner store around the corner immediately.

{Please and Thank You!}