25% off Christmas in July sale on now in my Etsy shop (+ an update on the Canada Post strike situation)

In a statement that I don't often make, this July has actually felt like something of a long month so far. I don't see this as a negative or positive per se, but rather the by-product of a rocky June that progressed into a new month with somewhat unsure footing as well.

No small part of such was due directly to the swirling vortex of uncertainty that was the Canada Post strike situation, which I discussed in detail here back on the 1st of the month.

Though we experienced a wide range of postal service disruptions and ensuing ramifications (such as many online sellers having to temporary cease shipping and/or shut down their stores briefly), and while the risk of such happening isn't off the table yet entirely, so far a complete strike has not actually materialized.

This is absolutely fantastic, of course, and meant that - when the official news of a negation truce was announced - I was able to promptly reopen my Etsy shop, for business as usual, back on July 8th.

There is still the risk that a strike might happen (though, really, I suppose there is at anytime), but again, for now, Canada Post has officially said that there are no service disruptions or other issues that will impact the general public at the moment.

Earlier in the year I'd been planning to hold a sale in my Etsy shop to celebrate Canada Day, the 4th of July, and my birthday (on the 10th), but when the worst of the strike situation was underway and I was forced to temporarily put my store into Vacation Mode, that possibility went straight out the window.

Hop ahead some three weeks, and as things are back to normal on all fronts, I felt like I still wanted to off you all a fabulous sale. There's no major holidays here at the moment to directly tie this sale into, so instead I've decided to have my Etsy shop's first ever Christmas in July sale!





{All the fun of December sales without any of the seasonal hecticness, lineups, or holiday mail rush!}



That's right, months before jolly old St. Nick comes bounding down the chimney again, you can shop and save with the same sort of discount that I offer during the holiday season (you might even to do some actual holiday gift shopping now ahead of time).

Between today (Friday July 22nd and Sunday July 31st) absolutely everything in my Etsy shop - more than 950 listings (including hundreds of exciting new vintage and antique offerings that have been added there in recent months) - has been marked down by 25%.

This discount has already been applied to the entire store, so there's no need for coupon codes or anything of that nature. Simply shop and save big with this festive sale.

And, I'd like to mention, for those who may be new to my shop or otherwise unaware of such, that I happily ship worldwide, offer very low combined shipping rates on all orders, and only ever charge true shipping costs (refunding any overages of $1.00 or more, if such does occur).

So while July got off to a less-than-ideal start, it is my sincere hope that this sale can help the month do a full 180 before it wraps up, and love being able to offer you a summertime sales event after all (please note: the next sale in my Etsy shop won't happen until at least mid-autumn).

Thank you, truly, so much in advance to everyone who shops - and saves - with this fun Christmas in July sale.

Time to make some proverbial lemonade

This wasn't the post that I had planned for today. Not in the slightest, however sometimes things arise in life that are beyond our control and one of those is impacting Canadians from coast-to-coast right now.

As things stand at the moment, it is exceedingly likely (to the point of almost being a given) that Canada Post, our country's national postal system, will go on strike or lockout from tomorrow onward.

Rumours of such began to swirl around recently and when the local post office employees confirmed them to us in late June, we knew that things had become deeply seriously. This strike (or lockout) will mean a complete and total ceasing of Canada Post's services.

This in turn will result in no mail being able to be sent or delivered inside or out of the country.



{A sight we won't be seeing again on Canadian soil for, as things appear now, at least a few weeks time - the delivery (or sending out) of any mail from Canada Post. 1940s image source.}



As a result, like many other online Canadian small business owners, this means that (as things like courier services are out of the question price wise, especially in relation to the modest average transaction totals from my shop) I have pretty much no choice but to - for the first time ever - temporarily put my Etsy shop into Vacation Mode until the strike is over.

Effectively, "Vacation Mode", as Etsy calls it, allows my store front, sans listings, to still be visible. However, as no listings are shown, customers cannot purchase items for the time being.

After a somewhat slow (minus certain periods) spring, much as with that of 2015, I was incredibly eager to embrace the summer and hopefully see an increase in sales, which has happened during that season for the past two years.

We don't know for sure how long the strike will last. Some sources are saying it could be 3 - 4 weeks, others have mentioned the possibility of it running into August or even September. Strikes by their very nature are an uncertain thing and we, as the public, are simply at the mercy of the postal system and the Canadian government for this one.

My shop will remain in vacation mode until the strike lifts, at which time, I will resume normal business - complete with many new listings.

The mail itself however, will have a large backlog and that will take several weeks for Canada Post to work its way through, so even after the strike is over, online businesses will continue to feel the impact of this summer pause in normal postal speeds and services.

While I will be heavily impacted from an economic standpoint because of this strike (my shop is not a hobby for me; it is a full-time business and a vital part of my income), in a lot of other ways, it will still be life as usual when it comes to operating my Etsy store.

Though I can't sell online at present, I can still source and photograph items, and draft listings, all of which I certainly plan to do during this time.

I'm a million miles away from happy about this strike and how it will impact my business and income alike, but I've always been the sort to try and look for the silver lining in life and that's what I'm going to do here.

I'll rejig my usual work schedule a bit and focus even more on the blogging side of things, while perhaps also allowing myself a (*gasp!*) day or two off - at least when my birthday rolls around on the 10th of this month.

Oh, and today as well, which speaking of birthdays, just happens to be Canada’s 149th! (Believe me, the irony of a Canada Post strike potentially starting the day immediately after Canada Day itself is not lost on me.)




{Happy birthday wishes to Canada, eh! Home of stunning landscapes, Mounties, moose and bear a plenty, countless doughnuts and hockey sticks, and one of the loveliest, safest and most beautiful countries you could ever hope to encounter. Vintage Image source.}



Going beyond the sudden and very disruptive impact of this postal strike (which I know will impact/hurt many other Canadians as well - and that, of course, there is an impact on postal workers themselves, too), June was a pretty rough month for me due to some extremely stressful and emotionally painful family related situations, that I can't go into further detail about due to their extremely private nature (Tony and I are both fine, please do not worry).

As well, my health had some ups and downs (in no small part due to said personal life issues), and the abundance of rain started to take a toil on me, too, from a mood perspective.

I usually enter July in high spirits and with recharged batteries, so to speak, but this time around, I just want to find a couple of shady trees, string a comfy hammock and recoup for the next two months.

No dice, I'm afraid, but I will be going easy(ier) on myself for a while, as I continue to deal with the emotional impact of June's events and the stress of this postal strike alike.

Life will always throw curveballs, challenges and upsets our way. For better or worse, such is unavoidable. What we do have, at least to a degree usually, is some say in is how we opt to respond to and deal with these surprises and stresses.

I've never been one to shy away from a challenge or to let the universe get the better of me, so I'm going to gather my proverbial lemons and make so much lemonade, I might just have to set up a stand on the front yard and keep my selling skills at this sharpest this summer after all!



{Recent weeks have hit me hard, just as this summer's Canada Post strike will, but I'm holding my head up high and will soldier on. Making lemonade aplenty from each of these unexpected events. Vintage photo image source. }


I might not be feeling like (or making even a minute fraction of) a million dollars today, but the sun is shining, the birds are genuinely are chirping at this moment, and I've got a fun Canada Day themed outfit all lined up, so you know what?

It's all good.

Sooner or later the strike will be over, I'll have bounced back from June's difficulties, and we'll be looking fall, my most beloved of all the seasons, in the face once more.

First though, I've got my nation's birthday - and my own - to celebrate. Ice cold glass of lemonade firmly in hand, naturally.


Happiest Canada Day wishes to all my fellow Canadians and an amazing, fun filled start of July to all those elsewhere! 

Celebrate my Etsy shop's 2nd birthday with a 32% off flash sale!

Two years ago, on a day both much akin to, and also very different from, today, I took my life - and career - in an exciting new direction and opened an Etsy store dedicated to selling vintage and antique treasures of the sort that have brought me joy ever since I was a young child.

This wasn't a decision that I rushed into, nor that I came to lightly. I poured countless hours of thought, discussion, and research into the topic before Chronically Vintage on Etsy came into being.

No matter how long I live, I will never forget the rush of emotions and thoughts that were swirling through my mind and heart alike when the big day came! It was a magical experience and I was touched to my core to receive some of my very first sales (as well as plenty of others since then) from my very dear blog readers here.

In the twenty-four months that have passed since that day in 2014, my shop has grown and flourished in ways I could hardly have conceived of back then. I've gone from less than a hundred listings initially to having as many as 1,100 items in the shop at once (a record that was hit last November and which I hope to surpass later on this year).

I've been honoured to receive a good percentage of my business from repeat customers around the world, supplied items to dozens of brides for their special days, sold vintage goods to numerous Hollywood production and theater companies in both the US and UK (including having some of my vintage gloves worn on the TV series The Astronaut's Wives Club), and grown both as a person and a business woman with each every piece that has sold from my shop.

With all my heart, I want to thank you, my readers and customers, for your fantastic support and business over the past two years. It has been an incredible experience selling to many of you and I look forward to continuing to do so as Chronically Vintage head's into its next year of life.







Whether you're a returning or first time customer, to celebrate this joyful occasion, I invite you to pop on over to my shop, where you will currently find every single item on sale for 32% off (I was planning to offer 30% off, but it struck me that since this is my shop's second birthday, "32" would make more sense :)).

This flash sale is on from today, May 6th, until Wednesday May 11th. All prices have already been marked down and no coupon codes are needed. Simply add any item(s) you wish to your cart and watch the savings pile up!

A lot has changed in my world and in some respects, with my shop as well, since this same date two years ago, but what remains the same is my commitment to providing top-notch customer service, wonderful vintage treasures, and a fantastic buying experience for each and every person who visits my shop.

These points will never waver and you can bet that as Chronically Vintage on Etsy heads into its next year of life, things will only get better and more exciting there!

Etsy unveils a new, different look for all shops to mixed reactions (mine included!)

But perhaps I'm jumping the gun a tad...

Let's back up just a moment, especially for those who are not Etsy shop owners. Back around the middle of March, Etsy sent out an email to all shop owners informing them that their shops would be getting a bit of a makeover. These changes would be site wide and were not optional (aka, sellers couldn't select if they want to present a new or an old/existing version of their shop).

Those with Etsy shops were given the chance to preview (and edit) how things would look ahead of time, and from the very get-go, my reaction was one largely of slight back-and-forth head tilting and tentative bottom lip biting.

The details of these planned (and now implemented) changes were discussed in this official Etsy Seller Handbook post, and the reasoning, Etsy states, behind them is to try and give shops a great sense of brand awareness, individuality, and creative flexibility (with a key feature of such being the fact that your shop can now have a cover photo, in much the same way as one can on some social media sites).

While shops can still have small banners, the push is towards creating a cover photo, though both are (at present) entirely option.

Where once people visited a shop, saw a small banner and shop announcement, then dove right into your listings, the homepage of each Etsy shop is now (at least when viewed on a desktop or laptop computer) - to my mind - bulky and somewhat less intuitive for those who may be new to Etsy.

In essence, this homepage layout format remains the same, with an exception made for the fact that some shops will now be using cover photos instead of banners. However, the design ramifications of such are that the whole page is more stretched out and somehow, to my eyes at least, less clean and professional looking (the opposite of what Etsy was trying for).

I fully understand the importance of branding and get why Etsy made these changes, but they're the not the only ones that they've unveiled, and there are others that I like even less.

For example, in the past, when a seller renewed or relist an item, that listing would automatically appear on their homepage, assuming their shop was set up to show a seller's newest listings first. Now, the listing remains in the same spot that it was (assuming it was currently active) in one's shop – unless you manually rearrange it yourself.

I can live with that, though I did like the fact that at times when I hadn't added anything new to my shop, but had renewed/relisted items on a given day, they were shown on my first, second, etc pages, thus differing from the items that viewers would have seen there in recent days.

At present, I cannot find anything online yet that says whether or not renewed/relisted items will appears first in relevant searches carried out by Etsy users (who have their search settings set to "most recent") or not. If such is not the case, this will come as a huge blow to sellers everywhere, as renewing listings has traditionally been a way to get your products on the first few pages of a given search term on a regular basis.

Etsy also unveiled two new features that they say (in posts such as this one) sellers have been asking for: an increased limit of up to 15 shop categories and the ability to hide sold orders.

I'm absolutely delighted about the increased shop categories (prior to this, shops had been limited to a maximum of just ten categories), but personally have zero desire to hide listings that have sold in my shop and will not be doing so.

I love the fact that new and returning customers alike can check out the kinds of items that I've listed and sold so far to date. This gives shoppers an even greater picture of what my store is all about and can also be useful for those who may wish to favourite sold items for their own purposes, such as research, blog posts, and wishlists.



{Nearly all of my day yesterday was spent trying to digest and get my head around the new Etsy changes and how they might impact my shop there, while also reading countless Etsy forum posts from others across the world who have a very, very mixed bag of reactions these developments, too. Vintage image source.}


In addition, customers who want to view all of the listings in a given shop do so by hitting the "more items" button below the listings presently shown on a shop's homepage and are thus presented with a longer (continual) scrolling view. This instantly calls to mind certain social media platforms like Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr.

As much as most sites these days want to look like they're a social media hub, it's important to remember that Etsy is not one. Yes, there are Etsy apps that allow you to shop and even upload (as a seller) to your own store, but ultimately Etsy is a communal marketplace and not a shopable version of, say, Pinterest - nor are Etsy shops blogs, which in a way, is what these new changes are making them look more and more like.

I rarely bemoan change in general and am not per se doing so here, as my trepidation about this new look lie far less in terms of how I'll personally navigate and use the site - both as a seller and as a customer - but how buyers will find Etsy to be.

Chances are those who are more web savvy will get along just fine, but those who are not (a demographic that I know for a fact some of my own customers fall into) may fail to find Etsy shops as straightforward and easy to explore as they had previously been.

With these changes (which also include just three items per row, instead of the traditional four, being displayed horizontally in all Etsy shops; as well as rather curtly worded boilerplate shop polices - which I'm not happy about at all) having just come into effect yesterday, it's genuinely hard to say yet what kind of impact they'll actually have in terms of things like sales figures in the long run.

Chances are large, highly popular shops will feel little to no negative impact, but I sincerely wonder how true such will ring for the overwhelming majority of shops that are on the tiny, small, medium, and even medium-large side of the scale.

I worry, too, that some existing/returning customers may not realize - ironically given that Etsy made these changes largely in the name of branding - that they're returning to my store, even though my shop's name, logos, and listings are all the same.

Far from making shops look more individual, I fear that the opposite may have happened and that a more homogeneous quality might have been introduced into the Etsy fold (in Etsy forum threads such as this one, the term "blanding", instead of branding, has already been used to describe the new look).

I would absolutely love it if shops could be far more personalized (and no, I’m talking about in the sense of this strange new "is it a third party site, is it not?" paid service called Pattern that Etsy conveniently opted to roll out yesterday, too – a point that I’m not even going to scratch the surface of here, in large part because so little is known about it yet) and if we had the ability to create a much more unique and dynamic homepage.

It would be awesome to edit far more of the elements of my shop's homepage, from background colours to the number of listings that appeared horizontally and vertically, to being able to have subcategories for listings (oh, how I wish!!!). I'd really welcome the ability to list the same item in multiple categories, post more photos per listings (at present sellers have a max of just five photos per listing), and have visible shipping costs alongside the item price itself, too - amongst other points that would only stand to better the Etsy user experience for all involved.

It's possible that some of these features will be unveiled in the future, but for now, I doubt any of them are going to happen on the heels of a fairly big revamping this month.

I adore Etsy and I've always been very, very grateful for the fact that I opted to set up my online vintage shop there nearly two years ago now. I’ve experienced a lot of wonderful success as an Etsy seller so far and am by no means throwing in the towel – nor am I biting the hand that feeds me with this post.

Instead I am exploring and bringing awareness to the big changes that have transpired there for all sellers this week as a way of helping to sort out some of my own thoughts on them in the process (blogging is always hugely cathartic to me in that "get your ducks in a row" regard). I definitely do not plan to leave Etsy anytime soon and will be making the most of these changes as best I can.

I'd really like to know though - if you're an Etsy seller and/or customer - what are your thoughts on these changes? Do you find the new look of all Etsy shops appealing, confusing, unattractive, or something else entirely? Do you think that these moves on Etsy part will help, hurt, or ultimately have little impact on the success of shops?

As with so much in life, time will tell just how greatly (or not) these changes impact my own Etsy shop (be it for better or worse), as well as countless others across the site.

I sincerely hope that most will be able to weather this revamping and come out stronger, with the increased branding helping their sites, not hurting them. There is however, a very rational part of me that wouldn't be putting down any big bets on such - at least not this week.

Save 30% off on everything in my Etsy shop this holiday season!

We all love to save some money wherever we can when the holidays roll around, so in the spirit of the season, I'm having a storewide 30% off sale in my Etsy shop. All prices have already been marked down, so there's no need for coupon codes or the like.



{These lovely 1940s shoppers would have been a lot less chilled to the bone, had they been able to shop my Etsy store's fabulous holiday season sale instead of braving the elements to purchase their Christmas gifts! :) Vintage photo source.}


I don't plan to hold another storewide markdown sale until next spring, so now is definitely the time to pick up an item or two (or ten!) for yourself or someone you love.

If you're purchasing anything as a present, I'm delighted to offer complimentary holiday gift wrap. Just shoot me an Etsy private message or include a note with your purchase and I'll make sure to put an extra festive touch on your order.

This big 30% off storewide sale kicks off today (it's already underway) and will run until Monday January 4, 2016 (to encompass both the December holidays and New Year's).

Happy vintage shopping and the merriest of holiday seasons, everyone!

Chin up, buttercup!

My eyes felt like they'd been given a thorough scrubbing with coarse sandpaper. Weary and red, they blinked away a few more sleepy tears as I lay back against the wooden headboard, the bedroom fan rippling airwaves across my face as a full moon shone vividly across the dark sky outside. It was precisely nine days since I had opened my Etsy shop and you'd think that I would be nothing but a  bundle of happiness every second of the day as a result.

Nothing, unfortunately, could have been further from the truth. While I was, and very much am, elated that I launched a shop, what I wasn't prepared for once I'd done so was the toll and barrage of stress, challenging emotions, mixed reactions and responses (about having gone from being "just" a blog to a blog + a shop) from my online public, the toil that the financial investment I laid out to get things off the ground, and the incredible fatigue and long stretch of that zero sleep (three days or more sometimes at a time) that having done so would take on me. I was taken aback, and not in a good way, but how some people responded to me opening a shop and this hurt me to the core at a time when my emotions and nerves were already as a raw as a freshly peeled grape.

Beyond that though, was the larger picture. I was exhausted and worried and each new concern or reminder of what was troubling me seemed to heighten my anxiety and set me off into a fit of tears. This, I assure, sensitive soul as I always am, is not commonplace for me in the slightest. Quite the opposite actually, I'm usually the type to buck up instantly, smile through the stress, and plow forward with steadfast determination. But I think that I'd simply been pushing myself too hard, for too long, with a head far too full of concerns, and as a result I was going though a bit of mini emotional meltdown.

I loathed how I was feeling, knew that it was hampering my productivity, and that I truly was happy to have launched a shop, which, don't get me wrong, tons of folks (online and off) were, and are, wildly supportive of. I needed to pull myself up by the bootstraps and move forward right quickly. So that's what I did.

You see, I've always believed that we have the power to choose happiness and to create our own destiny. It's okay to be blue and sad, even to throw a pity party for ourselves from time to time, especially when such is justifiable, but hitting low points like that are incredibly draining and won't help you do anything more than tread water at best and at worst, they may cause you to sink entirely.

Glancing towards at the silvery May moon, I blinked away those straggling tears, got up, splashed cold water on my burning eyes, quite literally shook my head a few times, and vowed to look upward and onward, not down at my worries from here on out.

My Etsy shop is not my blog and I needed to realize that I can't see it as merely an extension of such. It is a brand new baby, with much growing and developing on its own to do. Yes, it may get a bit of help from my blog, its five year old sibling, and its audience sometimes, but I must look at it as the separate entity that it is and foster its growth and development right from the start in ways that are mix of familiar and brand new to me.

I had to remind myself that this (opening a vintage shop) was already the fulfillment of a dream of mine that took root years ago, that I'd already done so much and that I didn't have to push myself, no joke, to the point of collapse every single day for the shop to succeed. And, most of all, I had to tell myself that there will be times when peoples' true colours are shown and no amount of tears in the world will change the fact that there are plenty of fair-weather friends and blog readers in this world. It's flat out naive to think otherwise.

In the days since that last painfully long night, I have reevaluated and rejigged my schedule, stopped worrying quite as much (I'm a natural born worrier, so I'll never stop there entirely), began pacing myself better when it comes to handling the new trifecta of my shop + my blog + daily life, done several things that I believe will help grow my shop's sales numbers and reach, and above all, stopped crying, put a smile back on my face, and banished my temporary blues.

These are new and exciting times. I can't expect myself to know everything or to get each step 100% right all the time. I may know blogging like the back of my hand, but online business ownership and operation is brand spanking new to me and it will come with its fair share of challenges, and ultimately, I believe triumphs as well. Hard work and problem solving have never scared me away from anything, no matter how big the challenge, and I'm not about to let this be the first time that happens.

{Image source}

 

No way, no how! I'm following both pieces of advice in the graphic above, keeping calm and keeping my chin up alike. I can do this. I will do this. I am already doing this and it's going to be, as I knew months ago when I decided to open an Etsy shop, but nearly forgot in the process, incredible.

Chin up, buttercup? You better believe it, I've got a new business to run, grow, and to see turn into something utterly amazing!

Announcing Chronically Vintage's new etsy shop

It is with the greatest of joy that today, at long last, I reveal my top secret vintage plans! As the title of this post gives away, I've launched my first ever etsy shop!

Given the fact that plenty of folks already know Chronically Vintage (the blog and social media presence) online, it made perfect sense for me to name my shop the same thing, which is precisely what I did. The shop officially opened to the general public a few hours ago and now 100% live and ready for business.

In these early initial days, you will primarily find a good sized selection of antique and vintage jewelry, with pieces spanning the Victorian era right on up to the 1980s, with a particular emphasis on items from the mid-twentieth century, as those are the decades I - and I know many of you - hold nearest and dearest to our hearts, in the listings right now.

In the coming weeks (and beyond!), I will be adding lots of great vintage clothing, hats, handbags, sewing and knitting related items, ephemera, and other great vintage goodies. Likewise in the near future, I will also be adding an in house line of handmade nickel-free jewelry (made by yours truly), a lot of which will have a vintage vibe to it (and/or be made with various vintage jewelry components) and all of which will be timeless in its style.



{Run, don't walk over to Chronically Vintage's Etsy shop, add it to your Etsy favourites, like and share it on social media, and by all means feel free to buy to your heart's content! :) Image source.}


I'm not entering into being an Etsy shop owner lightly in the slightest. Before I even registered a new etsy account, I set about going through the proper legal channels of opening a sole proprietorship business (the Canadian term for a small business with a single owner), registering for GST and PST (tax) numbers, doing a phenomenal amount of research on small business and Etsy shop ownership and operations, hiring a graphic designer to create my Etsy shop graphics (as well as new coordinating ones for my Facebook and Twitter accounts), ordering packaging and shipping supplies, had new business cards and address labels printed up, spent weeks photographing items and drafting listings, and perhaps most importantly of all, have been combing the Okanagan right, left and center for amazing vintage items to list in my shop.

As you've likely heard me say here before, this part of the world is not exactly overflowing with vintage fashions or accessories, but there are items - especially jewelry - to be had around these parts if one knows where to look, and I decided around the start of 2014 that the time had finally come to fulfill a very longstanding dream of mine to become a serious online vintage shop owner, no matter what hurdles (small volume of local merchandise, my health, life’s unavoidable curve balls, etc) came my way.

Making this decision has already proven to be one of the best and most fulfilling of my life and I believe in my heart of hearts, in no small part because of all of your support, that this shop will not only succeed, but flourish beyond my wildest dreams!

Though things may still be extra hectic for me for the next little while, I want all of you to know that I have every intention to keep blogging at more or less the same kind of regular basis that I usually do here and that I'll soon be back to visiting all of you at your wonderful sites and hanging out on social media at my usual clip.

This has been an incredibly exhilarating, at times stressful, eye-opening, creative, action packed, indescribably busy period for me over the past several weeks and I feel a sense of lightness and elation at being able to finally announce what has been keeping me so busy with all of you lately. Today is really and truly the realization of a  major dream of mine and one that I feel so blessed to be able share with each and every one of you.

Here's a sneak peak of just some of the (currently 85+ and counting) vintage listings that I have up in my etsy shop already. There's lots more (including Bakelite, novelty brooches, and oodles of 1930s, 1940s and 1950s jewelry) in the shop.




Thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone for your support and encouragement lately, even though you didn't know just what exactly it was that I was up. It has meant a tremendous amount to me and really helped make getting through the uber busy days easier.

This is such a fantastic, life changing new part of mine - and yours, my sweet friends - world. Chronically Vintage is expanding from "just" being a blog to being a blog plus and Etsy shop of the same name. This is so exciting, so much fun, and most of all, so very chalked full of even more vintage awesomeness for all of us!

As my way of further saying thank you, please use the Chronically Vintage exclusive coupon code GRANDOPENING between today and Monday May 12th to save 15% off any and all purchases from my Etsy shop. (As well, if I see that you're a Chronically Vintage reader and have used this coupon code, I will include a free surprise gift with your order.)

Happy shopping & many heartfelt thanks in advance for your wonderful support of Chronically Vintage on Etsy!