Fresh Picks: Loud Luggage

Check out the stereo speakers retrofitted into a vintage suitcase in the upper corner of this Chicago Tribune Photo. What a brilliant DIY project! Here are some swell vintage cases to get you started, or Follow This Link for dozens more choices.

vintage OSHKOSH Blue SUITCAS... thevintagegree... $150.00	Circa 1880 Box, Suitcase Lea... justbecauseshe... $58.00	Vintage Leather Trimmed Mend... keeky27 $55.00
Vintage Vacationer Suitcase ... vintagegoodnes... $24.95	CHRISTMAS IN JULY Vintage 19... Flyingace $45.00	Vintage Roller Skate Metal C... DimeStoreVinta... $39.99

Treasury tool by whalesharkwebsites

Beat The End of Winter Blahs & Sell!

It's that blah time of year. The weather is overcast, likely chilly and seems like it's been the same for days. Combine that with tragic events in Japan and it's easy to see why people may not be buying.

What do you look for at the end of Winter? A change. Cheerfulness. Gardens. Moving homes. Rearranging furniture. Spring cleaning. Freshening up. Summer vacation planning. Weddings. Graduations. Mothers Day. Fathers Day. Anniversaries.

Green Enamel Brooch & Earrings by reconstitutions

Why not provide what people are yearning for?


Brighten up your shop. Look at your shop with an objective eye. Stand back from your computer by 5-6 feet. What primary color do you see? Brown? Grey? White? Just like everyone loves the feel of crisp white sheets in the Spring, they'll be attracted to your shop if it feels light and bright. Make it feel fresh, alive.

Vintage Cake Pan by CheekyChicVintage

Make your shop feel all new, ready to be discovered. You can either re list items or use the custom sort feature. Think of it like a treasury-give your customers a reason to come back to your shop. I like to swap out my featured items every 2 days and rearrange the front page every 3-4 days. I have noticed the featured items get marked as favorites every time I change them.

Vintage Suitcase by MellowMermaid

Rephotograph older items to give them a new look. While your old photos may be fabulous, if the item is still in your shop, perhaps it needs a new perspective. I recently bought OTT lights. Wow. My lighting has improved 100% and so have my photos. I'm now slowly going back and redoing all my original photos. It's been working! Several items I've done this with have sold within 10 days.

Citrus Litho by vintagegoodness

Raise your prices! While this may seem counter intuitive, it's actually quite sound logic. As I've blogged about here before, it's vital to know who you're marketing to. Since we can't read minds, you can operate with some general information. What's the pricing comfort zone for an item to decorate the home? If you're drawing a blank, look at Potterybarn.com or CrateandBarrel.com. Both are very popular with the 30-50 age group. Both companies are blatantly copying vintage designs-and you're providing the real thing! Raise your prices and show that your items are worth it. Nothing causes the "what's wrong with it?" suspicion more than prices that are too low.

Pear Pottery Bowls by Shoptastic

Provide companionship. Are you talking to your Facebook fans? Do you treat them as potential friends or just as an audience to sell to? No one likes to be advertised to all the time. Stop just showing them your new listings and treasuries. Ask them questions. Tell them an anecdote about yourself. This also works well on your blog. Everyone likes a conversation to contribute to, especially in these bleak last days of Winter.

Seed Starting Tray by birdie1

Think of all the catalogs that come out this time of year. They likely arrived a few weeks ago to get you in the mood. The scenes in them are staged differently for each season. Spring is about bright colors, a fresh palette and a clean slate. Update your shop and see your customers respond!

Vintage Buzz: The Lady's An Animal!

This Leopard Print Purse with matching earrings
from Bit Of Butter is just begging to go home with you!

This sexy 40s 50s SILK Leopard Wrap Top
is one of several hot animal prints from
Erstwhile Style.

MEOW!

Release your inner animal with a warm, bold leopard print.

Leopard prints can be sophisticated, sexy, brash yet socially acceptable all at the same time, and nothing says fashion like Vintage Animal!

No piece of clothing or accessory is exempt from wild leopard prints: belts and blouses, coats and hats, belts, handbags and more! 

Here's a selection of slinky, be-furred and fantastic leopard prints from the Etsy Vintage Team. Click here for more vintage leopard from the team.



This Vintage Leopard Print Cloche
from Vintage Goodness makes a
fabulously feline fashion statement.

 

Oh Baby!
Bad Baby Faux Leopard Crop Coat Jacket

from Haute Country Vintage is the cat's meow!

 


Vintage Buzz: Portraits In Relief

These Vintage Bergere Enamel Cameo Woman Clip On Earrings from Vintage Goodness are a beautifully affordable way to adorn yourself in cameos.

Cameos are perhaps the most sought after pieces of jewelry in the vintage world. While fine cameos are certainly sought after, the depth of the collector's pocket determines what they can actually acquire -vs- what they can merely drool over. Fortunately, cameos come in a broad range of prices making it possible for all collectors to obtain some degree of satisfaction. 

ChrysalisEShop offers this traditional looking Large Vintage Cameo Pendant on Link style Chain.

 Many materials are used to make cameos: alabaster, shell, porcelain, metal, coral, lava, ivory and plastic to name a few. To the purist, a cameo is only a cameo if it is a carved relief image, but many collectors and creators of vintage and vintage-inspired jewelry enjoy portrait style pieces where an image is painted or transferred upon porcelain, glass or plastic. Intaglio is also a form of cameo, where the image is created in reverse, impressed into glass or lucite from the back, sometimes painted or glazed, and visible from the front. A cameo with an added setting of a precious or semi-precious stone is referred to as 'habille' and are especially sought after. 

From Callooh Callay, this antique White Coral Cameo Vintage Brooch is the classic cameo.

Cameos of beautiful women are most common, with angels, mythological characters and children also common. Whether placed into a simple setting of gold or an ornate setting encrusted with stones, a cameo speaks of class and refinement and were the favorite adornment of the Victorians. Wikipedia has a good article about cameos that's worth reading - check out the gorgeous Roman 27 B.C. eagle cameo! Search the Etsy Vintage Team for a variety of beautiful cameo jewelry.

Vintage Buzz: Ephemeral Memories

Autumn is a memorable time to many: chilly football games and warm homecoming dances; homecoming picnics with church and club friends; school days, crisp apples and flaming trees. A fun way to commemorate those precious days is by creating scrapbook pages and multimedia art treasures with beautiful vintage ephemera. Sellers on the Etsy Vintage Team have lots of fabulous paper goodies to offer! Check out the selection below and click here to search 'etsyvintageteam ephemera'.

Opalessence is home to this fab 70s Vintage Pattern - McCalls 2845 - 1971.
The Vintage Gooding Amusement Tickets can be found at The Happy Hoarder.

Vintage Goodness has crisp and tasty Vintage FRUIT Illustrated Prints - 1960s Book Pages.
Nachokitty has this wonderful Old Halloween Magazine Cover...The Country Home, October 1933.

Callooh Callay has these fabulous 1950s Paper Dolls, Vintage Retro Couple.
The Bakers Daughter Too is home to the Dick & Jane Poster.

Vintage Wonderland Featured Shop - 12.2.08 - vintagegoodness

happy tuesday! today's shop of the day is vintagegoodness.

to enter for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to this shop: visit her shop, pick your favorite item and comment on this post {please remember to include your email address within your comment!}. start here...silhouettes are hot, here is a great set!

for complete details on this giveaway, visit here.
for a complete list of vintage shops participating in the vintage wonderland giveaway, look over there on the right. visit these shops, and all etsy vintage team shops, for great gifts this season.

a friendly reminder for those entering these giveaways: please, please remember to put your email address within the comment you leave. we want you to have a fair chance at winning! this is our way of contacting you. -thanks, vintage street team

EVST Daily Dose: 7.28.08

Classic and useful - a trio of Pyrex Butterfly Gold casserole bowls with covers from vintagegoodness for a steal!

This is a really nice Pyrex casserole set in their Butterfly Gold pattern that also coordinates with Corelle and Corning Ware.

The sizes are marked as 1 quart, 1.5 quart, and 2.5 quart. All three are complete with lids, and are in very good vintage condition - no chips or cracks, but could use a detailed cleaning which I am leaving up to the buyer.

Overall a must have addition to any Pyrex or Butterfly Gold collection or retro style kitchen!

EVST Daily Dose: 6.12.08

One of my favorite things to collect are vintage greeting cards. But in the not so traditional sense, I use them to give to friends, family or whomever would normally be getting a greeting card from me! I never have to worry about showing up to a party and having the same card as three other people. My cards are always a welcome surprise and yours will be, too with this group of four of unused long glittery style cards from vintagegoodness.

This is a lot of 4 cards that are marked Made In USA on their backs. They measure 4" x 7.5", but 3 of them open up longwise! 2 of the cards have glitter accents on their fronts - too cute!

There are cards for anniversary, get well, birthday, and baby congratulations. They are in very good condition for their age, no marks or tears!

These would be a great addition to any collection, or to send to friends and family. They would also come in handy for collage, scrapbooking, or other art projects - the illustrations are just wonderful!

EVST Daily Dose: 4.30.08

Today's featured pick is also our featured seller! Vintage Goodness is just that. Tons of vintage goodness. So much to choose from in their shop but I fell in love immediately with this newly listed garden figurine.

Check out this cutie - a large ceramic squirrel that I assume is meant to decorate your garden! He measures approx. 7.5" tall and 5.5" wide. He would be an amazing addition to any collection or new spring garden display!

It's Wonderful... It's Marvelous... It's Vintage Goodness!

I am really excited about today's feature... I love Mitzi and Will's shop Vintage Goodness! I advise that you head over there pronto (but only after reading our interview here, of course) to check out their fab array of vintage treats! If after reading (and shopping) you are hooked on their goods you can always find out what the latest is from these two by bookmarking their site vintagegoodness.com.



Vintage Goodness seems to have a heavy focus on housewares and pottery. It seems that your location (Columbus, OH) would really lend itself to finding great stuff like that. I have always heard it is a great region for antiquing. Is this true? What are the venues? Flea markets, estate sales? Is there stiff competition out there for laying hands on the good stuff?

Yes, I am in a great spot for finding old dinnerware, kitchenware, glassware, and pottery... Columbus was home to Lustro Ware, who made plastic kitchenware in the 50's, and Federal Glass, one of the larger glassware companies from that era. Ohio was also home to most of the large pottery companies - McCoy, Hull, Shawnee, Roseville, Weller, Hall, etc. I focus alot on dinnerware, especially on eBay but I have also listed some on Etsy too, I tend to find a lot of dishes from companies like Homer Laughlin, Royal China, Taylor Smith & Taylor, Universal Potteries, etc.

I get most of my inventory from garage, estate, and church sales, and also Craig's List and thrift stores. I am hoping to try some different avenues this summer, like live auctions and flea markets. In fact I am going to attend the Springfield Antique Show and Flea Market at the Clark County fairgrounds in May, it is only 45 miles from here and from what I have heard it is HUGE! I am going to cover my trip there on my blog as well... http://vintagegoodness.blogspot.com/




There is competition, but not to the point where there isn't enough out there for everyone. No one can be everywhere all the time, and every dealer specializes in different types of items, so it's really just a matter of shopping until you find what will work for you. For me time is the biggest factor - there is so much other work involved in selling online that I can't be out sourcing inventory every day! I tend to hit the sales on Friday and Saturday mornings, and the thrift stores once a week or so.

I am trying to broaden my inventory into different areas, especially on Etsy - jewelry, clothing, books and magazines, greeting cards and other paper ephemera... I have a lot of those kinds of things waiting to be listed. I am actually considering opening a 2nd shop devoted to vintage children's items - books, toys, games, dolls, etc. I also make jewelry from vintage components, I have a few of those for sale in the store now with a lot more left to list, but I am holding off until I decide if I want a separate store for those also. That's the great thing about selling vintage - there is a huge variety of things you can get into!




What do you personally collect or covet for your own design style in your home? Do you have a favorite piece?

Becoming a seller full time has really changed my collecting habits - I have to sell the things I would normally have kept for myself! What I tend to keep these days are the things that aren't worth selling - my house is kind of like the Island of Misfit Collectibles!

I would say I have always had a love of old kitchenware, so I have a decent collection of vintage drinking glasses, a Lustro Ware bread box and canister set, some Corning Ware casserole dishes, and we use the Corelle dishes my Mom used when I was growing up... I am a huge fan of Corning and Pyrex, and Fire-King!

Another aspect of having the business is what it has done to my house - I used to pride myself on having a cute house nicely decorated with fun vintage things... That all changed once I started the business! We rent a half double, and the downstairs is now the office - incoming inventory, the shipping and photography areas, and of course my desk which I call Command Central. The basement is full of shelves holding store inventory, and we are basically living in the 2 bedrooms upstairs. It's tough, everything is cramped and cluttered! That keeps me from buying for myself also - I don't have room for it! I'm hoping things go well and in the next year or two we can afford to buy a house. A big one. ;)




What is the most rewarding aspect of selling vintage for you?

Getting items into the hands of people who love them, who have been looking for them forever, who are looking to replace lost or broken pieces, things from their childhood or that they remember from Grandma's house... it is so satisfying to know that I rescued something and found it a new loving home! I also love that buying and selling vintage is often a transaction between individuals - no cheap, low quality, overseas mass production, environment harming nightmares - just people trading quality items that they really love!

I think I am a bit biased because I lost my job as an ad designer for the newspaper that I worked for for 10 years because they outsourced our department to India. That is when I decided to go into business for myself, so I am in control of what happens to me! I am more aware now of how big money corporate interests are harming our country, and I am more dedicated than ever to shopping secondhand and supporting independent businesses - the vintage trade offers the best of both of those worlds!




You and your partner Will run the business together right? Do you have the same taste in collecting or does each of you bring something different to the table?

Yes, he does all the packing and shipping, and a lot of the photography. I don't think I could do this without him - there's just too much work for one person to handle!

We do have different tastes - his interests lean more towards collectible toys, older video game items, comic books, sci-fi, things like that. He has definitely contributed to my knowledge of those areas, and I don't overlook those things like I would have before. There is a big market for that kind of stuff!




Would you ever consider running a brick and mortar shop or do you love the freedom of online selling too much to make that change?

I have always loved the idea of having a store - but I realize the expense involved, and even with the fees to sell online, I think a store would still be more expensive. Rent, utilities, not to mention the time to run and maintain it... Maybe some day, but for now I think I will stick to selling online!

Thanks Mitzi! Vintage Goodness is offering a special for blog readers only... you can receive 25% off one item in their etsy shop. Just mention the 25% off Blog Coupon in the notes to seller when you make your purchase and Mitzi will send you a revised invoice.