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Archive for September, 2009

Frugal Fashion Never Impossible!

September 30th, 2009 at 03:04 pm

Guess the cost of the outfit below (no peeking at the end of this post!)

No matter what your size, your style, your age or budget, thrift stores are worth some time.

Get over walking past the lady with the flaming orange hair, avoid the rapid fire Spanish speaking mom with the baby stroller full of junque (the 'baby' is pulling out stuffed animal after stuffed animal), suppress your amazement at the goth young person pierced in the cheek.

Those folks are everywhere anyway. (And if I've offended anyone, please know I fit right in that motley group!!)

I love shopping at the thrift because I always find my size!! That is; short legs, long torso. Instead of hours of exasperation in the mall where the clothes are made for the 'typical' size (meaning taller and larger than me), it's a relief to have a relatively huge amount of choice.

So here's the outfit:



(1) Green Sage Ribbed Cardigan. Buttons are big woven leather look. 100% cotton

(2) Cinammon Turtleneck. 100% cotton

(3) Off White Trousers. Bill Blass (a good petite designer), stretch cotton. I think I hemmed these a couple years ago.

I accessorize with my own jewelry designs (are you kidding!!). Notice the red and white Y style chain, with a small Buddha stone pendant.

Have you guessed how much? For the top 3 pieces $8.50.

Not shown? My classic navy square 2-sided nylon bag (thrift store price $4) and milk chocolate kid leather lace up boots (WHOA $60-70 from Nordstrom 25 years ago, resoled twice).

The Buddha necklace? what would you pay?

5 Things a Day, C'mon Supermoms

September 29th, 2009 at 06:37 pm

My fellow bloggers on Saving Advice have unknowingly brought out my competitive side.

I used to be SUPERMOM, with cleaning/cooking/teaching/crafting/organizing and girl scout leader hats.

OK, I gave up the girl scout leader hat.

So now I just have -

the cleaning hat (if you DON'T do laundry every day *raise* your hand),and sayonara to 2 pesky mice visiting our pantry (thank you traps), one more to go we're sure;

the cooking hat (scalloped potatoes last night and for lunch today, tonight it's homemade applesauce [previously canned from our tree's fruit] and frozen chicken nuggets WOOT convenience foods)

the teaching hat (only needed on occasions for math and geography homework lately, phew)

the crafting hat (home biz anyone? am 'test-driving' a rich colored pearl bracelet to work today, one of 5 boxed beauties made yesterday for holiday events next couple months)

the organizing hat (the thrift store donation bag in the garage almost full, then off it goes next time I pass by with the car)

thassenuff

So what are you going to be for Halloween?

Get out the 'sewing' hat...

Monkeying around with Marketing

September 25th, 2009 at 11:07 pm

For over a year, my mailing list for Pretty Cheap Jewelry was inside a Google Group. The concept was good:

~ free service (no cost) to me
~ unlimited number of members allowed
~ easy to add people who signed up during craft events
~ easy for people to add themselves via the web
~ nice appearing newsletter, I could compose text and images
~ unlimited amount of messages I could send
~ very secure and private for members

Only one problem. The Google Group system is more buggy than a bee hive. I thought such a trusted brand would be the best way to go.

Almost from the beginning I had problems with my webpages NOT being saved. After composing a great offer, beautifully laying out text, photos, etc. and sending it out to the members, it would disappear and they would receive a blank email.

Bleh.

Google administration did not step up. Their help desk (overwhelmed as might be the case) did not respond to repeated requests from me or others with similar experiences.

So I quit! Many small biz shops (on Etsy) recommended MailChimp. So there I went as of today. The only drawback?

~ free to me for up to 500 members

Sheesh. If I get over 500 members I'd gladly pay a small fee to send out newsletters!

So don't you all stampede to the mid-left sidebar and sign up (see the purple box?).

Thanks and Here comes the happy holiday newsletters!

Sweet (and no calories)

September 24th, 2009 at 08:06 pm

'Time is money' so the saying goes. When I had an unexpected day off early this week with a sick kid at home, the time was spent wisely producing future savings and income!

~ Canned 7 quarts of tomato sauce for pasta, pizza and the like (using 2 giant cans of puree as a base costing $4.98)

~ Crafted 5 confection pearl rings for upcoming holiday events.

Here are a few peeks at the work. All are freshwater pearl, with 14K gold filled wire. Sizes vary. Come gift wrapped in a bow box.

PINK CRYSTAL CREAM


DEEP SEA GREENS


CRISS CROSS BLUES


PICKED FRESH BERRY


Visit my shop for a closer look at one listed for sale, or comment below if you have any questions. Thank you for the clicks.

Text is Pretty Cheap Jewelry and Link is http://www.prettycheapjewelry.com
Pretty Cheap Jewelry

Feeling Valuable

September 17th, 2009 at 08:05 pm

Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. We have a date planned for Saturday night:

~attend a reception for a portrait artist (whom I know) at my art assoc gallery. I happen to have a piece on display there as well as of Tuesday - YAY. We will likely sip some wine, courtesy of the reception.

~try an unusual, inexpensive restaurant immediately next door. It is all vegan, and some raw food menu. My hubby is interested.

~catch the improv comedy show downtown. These are so funny!!! I am such a geek and love watching these folks think on their feet. The shows are extremely low cost since they are no names ($10 entrance). There is alot of audience participation too (ie they ask you to call out a 'lunch box item' or some such silly thing.)

~the biggest expense is the baby sitter and this is probably the last time we will need one. (We quizzed our oldest what to do under a variety of emergencies and were not completely satisfied with his answers, so will give it another 6-10 months before he is in charge!).

These little plans make me feel valuable, more than the actual expense will be.

And I've been creating valuable little things lately. Size or cost is not the point here:

Picked for You Card

Detailed sprig decorated with tiny green and pink beads below a clever pun. Offered at $3.25 plus shipping

Golden Heart Key and Lock Charm Earrings

Sweet assymetrical accessories feature fun 1 inch charms, rich gold freshwater pearl and 14K GP french wires. Cost: $5.00 (yes you read that right)

Click on the blue 'prettycheap' upper left sidebar for more detail and information.

No Vacation For My Tomatoes

September 5th, 2009 at 02:18 am

Didn't they know summer is over?

Of course not. This is just today's pickings.

More pickings from the summer inventory of

Text is Pretty Cheap Jewelry and Link is http://www.prettycheapjewelry.com
Pretty Cheap Jewelry. Everything made by me with care, sold for fun.

All items shown will be offered at $5 plus shipping at the website above.

FLAME JOURNAL
Great for the geek. Slim blank journal filled with graph paper. About 25 pp.


DREAM JOURNAL
Write down your musings, subconscious or not. About 100 pp. vellum.


EWE ARE MINE JOURNAL
Cute and clever. Give it to the newlyweds. About 50 pp. vellum.


DOG DAYS JOURNAL
Funny little guy makes light of your troubles. Small enough for the purse, beagle lovers only. About 20 pp. vellum.