Trends: Aquamarine

As it's going to be staying in the mid 90s this week in Upstate NY, I can't help but be reminded of exotic beaches and beautiful blue seas.

I pretended yesterday - I took baby Blythe up to the lake and started on teaching her to swim. Thankfully she isn't afraid of the water, she adores it in fact, which is great as I'm far more of a water sports person than anything else - in fact I think I'm going to take a long weekend soon and go kayaking, I've not been out in ages and I fancy it.

But there is nothing that says sunshine and summer to me more than aquamarine - try it - you'll feel so cheerful :)

Vintage 60s Dress $112 starletvintage.etsy.com

 Vintage Silk Jacket $34 nickiefrye.etsy.com

 Vintage Satin Evening Coat $78 CarolMai.etsy.com

 Turquoise and Gold Bag $49 aandvdesigns.etsy.com

Gem Mystic Earrings $160 MarieMarie.etsy.com

More? Check out the Treasury.

(The last one made the front page of etsy on Monday!)

Friday Finds: Party time!

Okay, as some of you know, I'm off to Tennessee today to visit my dear dear friend HauteCountryVintage.

I'm so excited. If you'd like to read the background on the pair of us, the Storque did an article a little while back - you can find it here:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/handmade-life/etsy-love-stories-best-friends-who-have-never-met-7323/

All of which puts me in a party mood, and I was lucky enough to be sent a link to this amazing site:

http://eventsualitiesblog.com/miscellaneous/oh-for-the-love-of-gin-and-smoke/ which inspires my finds today.

Lekiah designed the most AMAZING MadMen themed table for a competition, and how fabulous would it be to create your own?

Thankfully, she didn't buy up all of Etsy's Mid Century Modern stuff - so here's the best of what's left :)

Mid Century Italian Smoked Glasses $34.99 VintageModernDesign.etsy.com

Ben Seibel Mikasa Hacienda Service for 6 $175 JBirdHome.etsy.com

Mid Century Chrome Ashtrays $19 mavenvintage.etsy.com

Industrial Vintage Stamp Rack Holder $49 AustinModern.etsy.com

(This would make a seriously cool center piece)

Vintage Lead Glass Bowl $25 MrsPsHome.etsy.com

I'll be checking in later with photos from my trip, right now I have to go finish packing!

Wardrobe Wednesday: European Vacation

Before we begin, I'd like to clear up some common misconceptions about Europe for our American friends.

• Europe consists of many countries, cultures and social differences.
• Therefore, what is acceptble in one country may not be acceptable elsewhere.
• Therefore, despite what popular teen movies may lead you to believe, not every 'European" girl is going to be a bed hopping, nekkid happy, buxom babe.
• Also, many parts of Europe are very damp. I still hold that Sinead O'Connor didn't shave her head to make a social statement - it was coz she was sick of fighting the frizzies.

Now, that being said - let us start our packing list:

 Salts.etsy.com

Jeans - a must have - I recommend cropped jeans due to the afore mentioned damp - there's nothing worse than wandering around with wet hems - plus, they look adorable with ballet flats:

HydraHeart.etsy.com

Which are another essential for wandering around cities.

Now, I mentioned the rain right? Check this baby out:

 persephonevintage.etsy.com 

WANTS!

For the evening, one can never go wrong with the LBD - like this one from HauteCountryVintage:

Enjoy!

Tuesday Trends!

This season, I'm totally loving on the Jewel tone trend - it makes such a nice change to the usual muted colours that tend to dominate this time of year. A huge colour is of course deep purple - like the dress above from SnappyFish Vintage.

Anything Peacock is also getting my vote - check out this fab headband from LovMely.etsy.com, it's a colour that looks especially lovely with that fall favourite, chocolate brown:

 

Like these FABULOUS 40s trousers from NodtoModvintage.etsy.com   (actually I should have kept them a secret - WANTS)

And of course - boot season is nearly upon us - but we can put it off for a bit with some shoe boots - like these from MaidenRaptureVintage.etsy.com

 

With funky patterned tights of course!

#etsyFAIL

I'm hopping mad. In a nutshell - DesignedByLucinda sums it up really well in this forum post:

"Too angry to type. What is the Title of YOUR latest listing?

DesignedByLucinda says:
Think you know? I got news for you - - It isn't what YOU think you submitted. The title that gets submitted to outside search engines (like Google, Yahoo) isn't (take one of my latest as an example) "Red and Yellow Cell Phone Charm Leash Pendant Colorful Bumpy Lampwork", which is what I have i
t titled as so it is friendly to the bots of the search engines. The title that Etsy submits to Google is "Handmade Accessories on Etsy - Red and Yellow Cell Phone Charm Leash Pendant Colorful Bumpy Lampwork by DesignedByLucinda", see?

(head)(title)Handmade Accessories on Etsy - Red and Yellow Cell Phone Charm Leash Pendant Colorful Bumpy Lampwork by DesignedByLucinda(/title)

So what is the big dealio? Well, Google and other search engines prefer titles that range from 60-75 spaces - - and having Etsy add in 31 characters to my title means I will run over the limit (and don't forget my shop name added at the back end, too) so my item is now either skipped entirely by Google as being too long OR it stops reading at the 60-75 space, effectively meaning my t.itle is read as "Handmade Accessories on Etsy - Red and Yellow Cell Phone Char" ...

Check your listings. Open one, right click on your mouse, pick View Source and see what *YOUR* titles really look like.

Your titles are cluttered with "XYZ on Etsy - " and that is what is being submitted to the big search engines and THAT is why perhaps things are a bit slow for you. Your most valuable cyber real estate has been pimped out to feature Etsy in your titles, NOT your items themselves unless you can make your title *really* small and you have a short shop name.

What can you do about it? Nothing, except maybe speak up... *I* don't like having vebiage added to the titles I chose. Do you?(I will never make the FP now, and that is okay; I will speak out if I think something is wrong and THIS is wrong.) "


Added to this - Etsy Admin is running around closing threads about this left, right and centre - and using ridiculous excuses to do it.

paperstreet, who originally broke the news, has been working tirelessly in the forums and one on one with sellers to fight this mess - you rock girl. Please check out her blog here:

http://bit.ly/13km8M