Thank you HumbleBumbleB & ThreadBanger

When I discovered that I truly had a passion for hats I was completely lost and didn't know where to start. I started researching on the internet and found a very informing video posted on ThreadBanger of the proprietor of http://www.humblebumbleb.com/, Brenda, making one of her signature hats. Her business name is an apt description because she was generous enough to share one of her patterns which gave me the confidence I needed to venture out and create my own patterns and designs. Without her inspiration I'm not sure where I would be today.


With that in mind, Andie, my sister and business partner, discovered that her crafty and creative side ventured further than she anticipated. She began to fall in love with sewing and was delighted when she discovered that she could mix her passion (and obsession) with handbags with her newfound passion of sewing. Thus began VinChic Designs.

Very soon you will see another member joining in with her own creations, our mother, Diane, but that will be a surprise that I beg you to come back and discover for yourself.

One final item is a shout-out to ThreadBanger for the endless amounts of creativity they have inspired and their ability to mold everyone into an environmentalist. Though I have only recently discovered them, I have watched every episode they have on their website and hunger each and every week for more. Rob and Corinne's personalities are contagious and their passion and knowledge are overwhelming. Their friend and co-star Meg also has an addicting show and her spunky and kitschy personality make you fall in love with her.

I encourage everyone to take an example from both HumbleBumbleB and ThreadBanger and support the handmade movement as well as your local thrift stores and always remember to recycle.

Etsy and Etsian's Unite

If you are signed up with Etsy and receive their "Etsy Success" e-mails AND have read them, then you no doubt realize the wealth of knowledge within those e-mails. Granted the relationship between Etsy and its Etesian’s is symbiotic, but the information that is given is like a GPS for the struggling artist. It's like a road map to the next step in becoming an amazing and successful entrepreneur. Moreover, I find it even more amazing and enlightening that Etesian’s even try and help each other become successes and isn't that the way we should be living anyway? Imagine how different our lives would be if we felt empowered by helping others, even our competitors, to succeed. Imagine how enriched our lives would be were we to feel sympathy and empathy for everyone regardless. I realize what I am saying has been regurgitated a million times before but this kind of pathology in man is so hard to come by that each and every time I encounter it, I am in awe. It is a small step in the evolution of mankind that could change the landscape of our thoughts for eternity. A small and delicate butterfly flaps its wings and causes a tidal wave that envelopes an entire city, theoretically. Befitting symbolism, don't you think? That is why I say Etsy and Etesian’s, artists and artisans unite. If we know how to live together, thrive together, and be happy together, why don't we stand up and teach the world? We are leaders, so why don't we lead? We are creative, so why don't we create? Perpetuate the movement that began long before me and will continue to struggle long after I am gone and let’s show generations to come that no matter the struggle, no matter the sacrifice, no matter what, we will persevere.

The YoYo Lifestyle

Am I alone or is anyone else sick and tired of fad this and fad that? Everything from cars, to clothes, to diets, even the fad "facts" are a sad nature that is stagnating in its complexity. A few years ago drinking from a can would give you cancer, now it doesn't...enough of the yo-yoing!!!! I am the first one to admit that nothing in life is a guarantee and in the infamous words of Francois de la Rochefoucauld, "the only thing constant in life is change". At the drop of a hat your organized life becomes chaotic and a constant in your life is demolished and life as you know it has changed forever. This post is not going to be a Debbie Downer it is merely a statement of exasperation that began many lifetimes ago and is perpetually driven forward generation after generation. Women are beautiful. Women have a beautiful form that can easily be appreciated by both sexes, even setting aside sexual orientation. Why do we allow ourselves to be roped into the fads of what we should be rather than what we want to be? I'm not going to say that I am immune to this, in fact I am greatly infected (and affected) by this disease of needing to be thin, needing to be in style, needing to be in the right this and the right that and frankly my energy is waning. I have started experimenting with the clothes I have refusing to purchase anything else and I must say it is opening up my world. Now, a great leg-up for me is that I sew and am a milliner so I am able to make new things or even revamp new things if I truly wanted. However, I am very devoted to making things to post in our Etsy shop so much that I don't take time out to work on my own items so I am left with what I already have. It is liberating...its redundancy creates a fluidity that allows me to live a freer and truer life. I welcome each of you to enter into this world and be a better woman for it.

Today's Woman

Okay, so we have all seen an old movie, or an era movie or just a picture of women in the early to mid 1900's, correct?  Let me preface my next statement by saying that I am not saying that we revert entirely to the fashion of that era, some of the clothing looks extremely uncomfortable.  However, the women then all seemed to be beautiful and I believe it is simply because they took better care of their appearance.  It was considered improper for these ladies to remove their hats even in church!  There is a movement that has begun towards hats being a more common staple in the wardrobe of today's women and I'm not talking about the basebal cap or, God forbid, a visor I am referring to real hats.  The pillbox hat, the gatsby hat, the combat hat and so many others that I simply can't name them all and I, for one, am happy to see it.  It is time we started caring more about ourselves and our appearances and I don't mean that every woman must be a size 2 and be perfect, but take care of your bodies, inside and out and it will thank you.