… from Colonel Mustard and us. It’s his birthday, you know.
How could I resist posting this?
Mar17
Category Archives: news
Mar9
VK Apothecary (Our Big Secret Revealed!)
Welcome to VK Apothecary! Balms, soaps and candles for unrivaled grooming for ladies and gents. We’ve tinkered and tweaked formulas in our former Oddfellows hall for the past few weeks, and Ainslie even created her own tattoo balm!
We wanted to create a line of products that are unisex and evoke a feeling of the past. Below is a bit more about each product, although we recommend coming in for a whiff.
Body Balm
Made with cocoa butter, shea butter, bee’s wax, sunflower oil and vitamn E, this hydrating salve features a hint of lavender, cedarwood and real vanilla. Use it on hands, feet and other dry spots. A perfect blend of scents before bedtime to help you relax. $9.99 for a 2-ounce jar.
Lip Balm
Our lip balm features wintergreen and vanilla. We did a lot of testing on this one to get it right. (And not on our cats or anything like that. We tested it!) Ingredients include bee’s wax, sunflower oil, vitamin E and cocoa and shea butters. $2.99 for a .15-ounce tube.
Tattoo Balm
What is tattoo balm? This is the stuff you put on your tattoo as it’s healing. Ainslie specially formulated this, and we’ve packaged it in an easy-to-apply container; you don’t have to touch your fresh tattoo. The ingredients include camphor and comfrey, an Appalachian healing herb. (Fun fact: Ainslie grew up in Appalachia.) $2.99 for a .15-ounce tube.
Soaps
VK Apothecary soaps were made by a fellow over in Indiana for us. Every soap contains organic shea butter and no animal fats. $5 per bar
We currently offer these types:
Bay Rum
Cherry Almond
Cool Citrus Basil
Eucalyptus Aloe
Gobi Gold
Grapefruit Tea Tree
Hydrangea Rose Goat Milk
Jasmine Lime Scrub
Lavender
Lemongrass
Nag Champa
Oatmeal, Milk & Honey
Peppermint
Rosemary & Thyme
Sandalwood
Tobacco Flower
White Tea Ginger
Ylang Ylang Lavender
Chicago Candle Company
We are excited to also offer candles from Chicago Candle Company at Vintage Karma. You’ll find these soy candles in our apothecary display, and each one is hand-poured in an upcycled wine bottle and based off wine, cocktail and drinks scents. $15.50 for a candle that burns approximately 22 hours.
Choose from:
Cabernet
Chardonnay
Irish Coffee Stout
Kentucky Bourbon
Old Fashioned Cocktail
Pear Vanilla Apertiff
Pop The Bubbly
Sangria
Please be patient with us as we load VK Apothecary items onto our online shop! In the meantime, feel free to drop by and check it out!
Feb23
We’re going to Hatch!
A week from today, we’ll be selling our VK goodies at the Hatch art fair in Champaign. We’re bringing us a big old box truck full of repurposed art. Yay! (Fun fact: I love driving box trucks!)
So, our shop in Tuscola will be closed Saturday, March 2. Plan to come to the Hatch art fair instead! We’ll reopen Sunday morning at 10 a.m. in Tuscola.
For more info, check out the Hatch website here. You can also R.S.V.P. at the event’s Facebook page here. Hope to see you there!
Feb22
Meet VK’s newest artist!
Check out this great blog post by Laura of The Shop & The Blog of Worldly Delights! She is our newest artist at VK, and her post tells the story of how she got into making her adorable plushies and accessories. It also shows what Vintage Karma is all about — supporting local artists and their dreams!
Welcome, Laura! 
Jan16
Ainslie Heilich included in new tattoo book!
We are proud to announce that Ainslie Heilich is one of the artists featured in the updated edition of Bodies of Subversion: A Secret History of Women and Tattoo by Margot Mifflin !
Two of her pieces were included along with several quotes.
You can purchase a copy of your own through Amazon by clicking below or clicking on the book in the righthand column.
Bodies of Subversion was the first history of women’s tattoo art when it was released in 1997, providing a fascinating excursion to a subculture that dates back to the nineteenth-century and including many never-before-seen photos of tattooed women from the last century. Newly revised and expanded, it remains the only book to chronicle the history of both tattooed women and women tattooists. As the primary reference source on the subject, it contains information from the original edition, including documentation of:
•Nineteeth-century sideshow attractions who created fantastic abduction tales in which they claimed to have been forcibly tattooed.
•Victorian society women who wore tattoos as custom couture, including Winston Churchill’s mother, who wore a serpent on her wrist.
•Maud Wagner, the first known woman tattooist, who in 1904 traded a date with her tattooist husband-to-be for an apprenticeship.
•The parallel rise of tattooing and cosmetic surgery during the 80s when women tattooists became soul doctors to a nation afflicted with body anxieties.
•Breast cancer survivors of the 90s who tattoo their mastectomy scars as an alternative to reconstructive surgery or prosthetics.
The book contains 50 new photos and FULL COLOR images throughout including newly discovered work by Britain’s first female tattooist, Jessie Knight; Janis Joplin’s wrist tattoo; and tattooed pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber. In addition, the updated 3rd edition boasts a sleek design and new chapters documenting recent changes to the timeline of female tattooing, including a section on: celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D, the most famous tattooist, male or female, in the world; the impact of reality shows on women’s tattoo culture; and, therapeutic uses of tattooing for women leaving gangs, prisons, or situations of domestic abuse.
As of 2012, tattooed women outnumber men for the first time in American history, making Bodies of Subversion more relevant than ever.
Dec24
Merry Christmas from VK!
Bianca says Merry Christmas, too!
Thank you all for your support in 2012. We can’t believe so much has happened and we’ve met so many wonderful people along the way! 2012 is a year we will always remember, and we are looking forward to continue growing our business in Tuscola in 2013.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you!
- Laura and Ainslie
Vintage Karma Holiday Hours
Christmas Day: Closed
Dec. 26: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Dec. 27 through Jan. 1: Closed for a holiday break
Jan. 2: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and resume regular hours
Nov25
Holiday Open House 2012
Thank you to all of the artists, our family and all of the great visitors who came to our Holiday Open House last night!
We had almost 80 people attend (and one cat), and we were able to raise $70 in donations that we are going to use to buy pet food for the Tuscola Food Pantry. Yes, Ranger, the famous cat in Tuscola, attended with his Santa suit on!
Thank you so much! The night went off without a hitch and we were blown away by everyone’s support of local handmade art!
If you missed it, we still have plenty of holiday goodies here for you. Our artists were even bringing in new items last night!
Check out some of the photos from the open house:
Folks shopping and having fun. That kitty at the bottom of the photo is Ranger Foote! Scroll down for more pics of that handsome puss!
Bianca had her party dress on!
Snacks and cider.
New items that arrived just for the event! Letterpress cards by The Living Letterpress and decoupaged boxes and book lamp by The Prickly Pair!
And, Burn353 released a special line of steampunk jewelry at the open house! You can only find it here!
Our giveaway table! We had 10 giveaways and raised $70 in donations to purchase pet food for the Tuscola Food Pantry.
Shani Goss (whose cuffs and neckaces you can find here!) won a giveaway!
Kari Carter won the hour of tattoo time!
Rachel Green, right, won Melissa Mitchell’s escutcheon-plate peep! That’s Melissa snuggling with Ranger!
And Ranger is all partied out!
Hope you had as much fun as Ranger did!
Nov7
Holiday Open House
I realize that I just posted about not rushing through fall, but people need to plan, right?
We hope you’ll join us after you’re all stuffed full of turkey later this month!
Click the picture for more info. You can R.S.V.P. on our Facebook event page and keep up with the latest!
Oct24
Meet the Robots
Hello! We recently got a new bunch of assemblage robots in from sisters Cheryl Slifer and Janet Alred of Decatur, and they are too fun not to share. Cheryl and Janet aren’t keen on giving interviews, but their work speaks for itself. Check it out!
This rather dapper fellow is Brad. We love his bow tie made from a brooch and antennae fashioned from a wall hook!
Crystal is pretty big city. She’s got her nice purse and her little dog in her arms. I could definitely see her making her way through Manhattan.
Next up is Tattoo Man.
Those are tattoos up and down his arms. His full title is “Tattoo Man aka Snowflake Ain’t No Sissy.” He’s pretty tough with all those tats!
Picture Perfect’s pretty tough, too. I don’t think I’d want to get her angry. She already has her hands on her hips and her head cocked to one side. I get the feeling she doesn’t put up with any B.S.
Don’t even think about touching her purse, or she’ll smack you silly!
A friend of Picture Perfect is Soldier Boy. His body is an ammo canister. Awesome!
Last but not least is Queen Benita. Her name was inspired by her face, a Baby Ben clock. She wears a vintage flower clip and spends her days looking regal.
Hope you enjoyed checking out these wonderfully fun pieces of art! They’re hanging out at VK until they find new homes! Maybe for Christmas?
Sep16
Urban Escapee interview!
Last week, we were interviewed over on Urban Escapee, where the tagline is “Ditch the Commute, Build a Business, & Revitalize Main Street.”
It’s pretty easy to see why we were so excited to be featured there:
Ditch the commute. Check. Ainslie no longer travels about an hour a day, and I sure don’t mind giving up my old commute. When I added up my time on the road, I found I gained approximately 40 hours of life back PER MONTH.
Build a business. Even though some folks think we are crazy, we moved Vintage Karma 800 miles away to a small Midwestern town to expand and offer retail online and in person.
Revitalize Main Street. We’re both excited to be part of what Tuscola is creating! We opened here in April, and more changes are coming to Sale Street with a fitness business, coffee shop and home decor store on the way.
We discovered the Urban Escapee site through our friend James, who was nice enough to introduce us to Katie, a small business owner and the voice behind Urban Escapee. She is also writing a book, and is the author of
The manifesto has lots of food for thought in it about community, small businesses, the environment and rural/small town living. A good read filled with beautitful photos. You can get it here, and it’s free!
