New Member Spotlight

Kateblossom

Shabby chic gypsy eco prairie romatic custom

The Etsy Vintage Team proudly welcomes one of our newest members Kate from Kateblossom!

 Kate brings new meaning to taking the old and making it new. Her up-cycle clothing creations are truly one of a kind masterpieces! Each item Hand-died, Hand-sewn, and embellished with fine vintage linens, lace, and/or buttons. Each selection tells a whimsical tale and perhaps peers into Kate's very own childhood dreams. You cannot help but to stop and smell the proverbial roses while browsing her shop. It sparks your own imagination (which is just fine with her). Shes happy to work together with her shoppers & help them create a custom masterpiece.

Meet Kate the owner and creator of Kateblossom! 

"Hi Sweet Friends! I am Kate and I live in North California with my dear Husband. I love to create unique, earthy, ethereal, sometimes edgy, carefree, fun, country, chic, farm, bridal, ranch, cottage clothes for women and children.. casual, yet with a touch of elegance. I love God, and his Son Jesus, His Word....and pleasing him every day is my goal. What a blessing that he is our creator. "

More from Kate:

"Etsy has been a way for me to use my own creativity. I have always loved Vintage Things, even when I was a little girl at my Grandmothers house. I loved visiting Thrift Stores as a child. I find thrill in taking thrifted or handed down clothing and making them into something new. I also enjoy using bits and pieces of things, kind of like making a collage with clothing. Old lace and lots of different fabrics, buttons and other textiles go into my creations."

...and what a wonderful collage Kate creates!

Fabric Art isn't Kate's only talent... 

She enjoys reading, cooking and an array of outdoor activity. All seemingly inspirations for her creations. She has recently written a Historical Fiction picture book that her husband illustrated, and it will be published this Summer!


She has a Second Etsy Store Katerustic where she creates "Handmade Rustic Farm Girl Home Decor Folk Art."

Shabby Spring Twiggy Doll


As being one of our Etsy Vintage Team Members, you can shop Kate's store confidently, knowing you are getting the highest quality product and customer service possible!

Ten Killer Tips for Attending a Sheriff's Auction

So you want to attend a Sheriff's auction. I'm talking about a personal property auction not a real estate auctions held on the courthouse steps. Sound intriguing? Not only does it sound interesting but  I have it on good authority that items go for cheap—dirt-cheap.  Pickers of vintage goods need to buy low and sell high. I’m going.

I often bring my mom along with me for some quality mom and daughter time. She is as enthusiastic about searching for treasures as I am. We make a good team when we aren’t shouting at each other about directions and my propensity for ‘curb hopping.’ Without further jabbering, I’ll let you in on the secrets to a sheriff’s auction.

1.     Get there early. It may or may not be crowded but regardless there are very few chairs. Auction attendees mostly mill about or prop against a wall. You will also need to get a bid number. I did notice people arriving late but they were still able to get a bid number.

2.     Wear comfortable clothing. Especially shoes. You will have an opportunity to dig through items.

3.     Stand or sit next to people who know what they are doing. We formed an immediate camaraderie with our little contingent of auction attendees. Five total strangers rooting for  each other, the ‘regulars’ whisper tips to mom and I, such as: “stop bidding, the person you are bidding against will not quit.” Or “Bid on the table, its very good.” Our helpful neighbors are not storeowners but what I’d call, ‘auction zealots.’ They love a good auction but not dealers from out of town. Luckily, I have a home in Blaine County or I’d be kicked to the curb.

4.     A regular (usually a dealer) will always start the bid. It’s not a rule but it worked that way at this auction. Anyway, don’t worry about starting the bid.

5.     Bids start between $1.00 and $10.00!!!! I’m not kidding, however I’m sure its different at all auctions depending on the inventory and the county.

6.     The auction will most likely go all day long. Not joking, but don’t worry, you can cash out at one-hour break intervals. Cashing out is quick because the auction clerk records a finished bid  as soon as it’s made. I checked out at the end of the day in five minutes.

7.     This is not a professional setting like an auction house; there isn't an official auctioneer. The sheriff assistant will hold up an item like a hatchet and ask, “how much for this hatchet?” That’s it. As a side note, my mother became so excited about the low prices that she bid on — well she bid on the hatchet. I hissed at her. “Mom, stop this instant, what do you need a hatchet for?” I’m still mulling over her response. “I need a hatchet for the back of my motorcycle.” No my mother is not crazy and she USED to own a variety of motorcycles but she is long past rides in the backcountry and camping in the woods. Apparently, it's a very fond memory because she wants another hatchet for her long gone motorcycle. It's fortunate that no motorcycles are up for auction. My mom simply succumbed to a sort of ‘auction frenzy.’ It can happen.

8.     Be prepared to pay with cash or check. No credit card. There is no auction fee.

9.     Personal property auctions happen because someone has not paid their debt. The property is seized and auctioned by the sheriff. The debt is made whole to the person owed the money within days. This is the system in Blaine County, and I would imagine elsewhere. The auction stops when the total cash amounts to debt owed, in this case, $14,350. Done.

10. And finally, I asked three people in charge about the remainder of goods not auctioned. I have no answer as of yet.

Have you been to a sheriff's auction? I'd love an answer to tip number ten. Auctions are loads of fun with all sorts of interesting attendees. I purchased ALL of the pictures below for $40.00. The frames alone are worth the price I paid.

 Feel free to post YOUR auction finds and a link to your store in the comment section.

Vintage Industrial Decoration Ideas

By: Melissa Delise Ruby 

http://rjsthisandthat.blogspot.com/

Many people do not realize the advantages of decorating their homes with vintage items. Of course there is the Mother Earth friendly side to it (which is always a plus), the economic side, as well as a vibrant showcase of your own individuality. As I am hunting flea markets and old warehouses for industrial gems of the past, I scoop them up in excitement. Perhaps it's because I know something that the other passers-by don't. Those rusty dusty items are truly gems in disguise. I've decided to share with you a few great ways to decorate your home using vintage industrial items. You can create a modern and welcoming look, using not so modern items. You'll be sure to get lot's of "ohhhs" and "ahhhs" at your next get-together. 

Vintage Signs as Decoration

For a fraction of the price, you can spruce up a boys room using vintage road signs! The best part is, it's a style that can grow with them as the years pass!

      

Railroad Signs for the train lover

Industrial flare for our industrious Teen's 

   

Travel Signs for the car lover

Purchasing these signs is very simple and you can come across a variety of them online. Here are just a few I have found currently on sale. You may click the photo's below if you are interested in purchasing these signs or pricing them.

  

Industrial Lamps 

Do you know you can own lamps created from industrial salvage?

You can purchase them already created or purchase the material for a DIY project. You are left with a stunning, one of a kind addition to your living space. 

Bedroom

Dining-room or Kitchen 

Great Room

again, many of these ideas are directly at your fingertips for a fraction of the price it would cost you in a modern store! Here are a few I came across just today! You may click on the Photos below for price and location of these goods.

Bathroom

Below are some examples from my own guest bathroom. I decided on the Americana theme with an Industrial flare (it's still currently a work in progress). These were all items I purchased online to create the theme. I used old door knobs as towel hooks, a rust bucket, shoe forms, a brass eagle plaque and various other finds to decorate. I pained the door knobs with metal paint and distressed.

Once more these items were found by the click of a mouse or a click of your mouse! 

Truly an exciting and original way to decorate!

Cool things I found to help run my Etsy shop

As an Etsy shopkeeper;  I am a big supporter of teams and making treasuries. I know a lot of people see treasuries or try to make one and it takes hours and hours.  Searching for the right items, copying and pasting the links, saving it and then sending a convo to everyone that is your beautiful new treasury.  UGH, it can be overwhelming!

My little secret, which isn't that big of secret anymore is  ENHANTSY.  Enhantsy had a few hiccups in the beginning and it works great now. I joined it and pay the $2.00 a month to use all the features, because I use it all the time.

It was free but as of January 27, it will be free for one week and then the charge will apply.  Personally I think it is the best $2.49 to spend my money on.  I think of it as advertising and promotion money. (I do not do the ads on Etsy - ever!)  Since every time I make a treasury - and I mean every time, my views go up, my likes, and followers go up.  I believe and my experience backs it up that treasuries improve the traffic to my store and in turn my sales improve.  Also by making at least 3 or 4 treasuries a week, and that is a very very low estimate I am in turn featured in on the low side about 15-20 treasuries a DAY!

Treasury featuring EVT members made with Enhantsy

This application works directly inside Etsy, Enhantsy works by tightly integrating with etsy.com making enhancements and features requested by the Etsy community but not implemented by Etsy. Some enhancements are re-introducing functionality once present at etsy.com and since removed. Others are new ideas not (yet) implemented on etsy.com.  Enhantsy sits at the top of your etsy.com pages and quietly rewrites them with new functionality. Once installed an Enhantsy link is displayed in the links across the top of the page. Clicking this opens a menu allowing you to toggle which enhancements are enabled and gives links to specific Enhantsy pages.

Here are some of the things you can do with Enhantsy - There are more!

• Treasurease - what you use to make the Treasuries
• Treasurease Clone - use an old treasury you made and CLONE it into a new treasury
• Treasurease Convos - instantly send Convos to everyone in the treasury you just made!
• First dibs - have all new stores and new items show up on your home page -
• Canned Convos - have several Convos preset to send when you create a Treasury
  

Want to know if an item from your shop or a treasury you made has been featured on the Front Page?
check out Statsy - Featurator   this will send you an email anytime an item or a treasury you made is on the Front Page - Statsy has some other cool features but I only use Featurator.

Another one is Craftcult.com  CraftCult   With this you can add treasuries to Blogs, webpages etc, use the widget. Also checkout the VAULT on CraftCult- you can look up treasuries your items have been featured in or all the treasuries you have made, you can do this in search in Etsy from the main treasury page too

Some other features but these are the ones I have personal experience with.

 ShopValueCalculator.com
Here you can see top shops on Etsy, the estimated value of YOUR OWN STORE!, views and all sorts of great into.  Don't get sidelined at the top stores, they may have lots of sales, but quite a few are very low value items.  I don't know about you but I want to make sure I am making a decent profit on the sales as I have them and not selling tons of little stuff for $2.00 I see that as a time suck.

Then I just found Etsy Gadget  This one is by donation, so if you love it you can donate to the author.  I think the shop status is the best use of this site. With shop status it will sort your items by view and admirers, AND the best use is it will let you know if you are missing keywords.  It doesn't tell you what keywords to use, but if you are like me you will have a bunch of items you renew over and over and they may have less than the 13 keywords.
 You can also see where your products fall in search, and where your store falls when searched by keyword combinations.

Last one for now is Etsy Fee Calculator  from Ecommercebytes.com

It will help price your items, this works for both vintage and handmade!

Just fill in the shaded fields.   Review the breakdown of fees based on the data you entered.

 If you accept PayPal or Etsy Direct Checkout, check the appropriate box.

  Use Profit Calculator to help you price your goods.

You can also check ratings of online marketplaces, all kinds of them - and find some new ones.

Ratings 

Another great thing is the Collector Corners Resources

Ecommerce Bytes has a ton of good info, and links to all sorts of great things - I haven't even scratched the surface.


 Have Fun!

Welcome New Members: Jinxxy, Zip Zap Kap, Just Because She Can, and AlexSandras

Vintage Bobblehead Elephant

Wonderful vintage fruit jars, kitchen and décor items, toys, prints from children’s books, and creative supplies such as doll heads mix beautifully at jinxxy, a new EVT member from Salem, Oregon. “I don't really consider most things under 40 years old vintage,” says Kat, the store’s owner. “There are a few exceptions, but most of my stuff will be pre-disco. Or at least, pre-New Wave.”

1960s McCalls Dress Pattern

ZipZapKap offers more than 300 of the most wonderful patterns, from the 1930s through the 1990s--all wonderfully presented and with all the details you need. Based in Evanston, Indiana, the shop is "the work of a British girl who upped sticks for a Kentucky boy and became a weird English/American hybrid who can coexist peaceably with both iced tea and hot tea with milk."

Brass ink wells

Justbecauseshecan offers such an elegant mix of vintage and antiques--everything from a rustic wooden spool cabinet, to vintage jewelry and clothing, to glassware. The owner lives in North Carolina but sometimes travels as far as New York for the right estate sale. 

Vintage 1950s Playsuit or Swimsuit

A self-proclaimed "vintage Dame," the owner of alexsandras wears "classy bits and bobs from the closets of local ladies of a time gone by" and is invited into homes to buy some of the most fantastic vintage clothes, jewelry, and accessories. She's a seamstress specializing in historical and bridal restoration, "breathing new life into old things."

Fenton Silver Crest Spanish Lace

Fenton Silver Crest
Footed Cake Stand
by Treasure Hunt Vintage

Last week I talked a bit about Fenton Silver Crest and alluded, in that blog post, to a highly sought-after treatment to Silver Crest, known as Spanish Lace.

Spanish Lace was first introduced on a Silver Crest footed cake plate in 1962.  Spanish Lace continued in production until the 1980s.  The hardest to find in this slightly common line are the footed salt & pepper shakers,  and the Gone w/the Wind hurricane lamp, a most impressive piece at 24".

Collectors can also find the hand-painted decoration, Violets in the Snow, on Silver Crest Spanish Lace, but I will talk about that treatment next week.

Fenton Silver Crest
Spanish Lace Candleholder
by Silk Creek Gallery

Spanish Lace is not exclusive to the Silver Crest line, and can be found on a number of crests, including the teal and plum crests.  Additionally, Spanish Lace can be found w/out the crest in limited supply, on lines such as carnival glass, Country Cranberry, Persian Pearl, and Ivory Satin Glass.  Spanish Lace without a crest continued in production until the late 1990s/early 2000s, with some of these lines being made for QVC.

I'm a big fan of milk glass, and think, in general, it decorates a table like nothing else, especially at Christmas & Hanukkah time.  But when you couple milk glass with a highly ornate, and sometimes hand-painted, treatment - your guests are sure to be envious of your table and have nothing more to do than shower you with complements.

This classy Fenton line looks spectacular paired w/red and green, or blue table treatments.  Even placed on the mantle or on side tables to offer holiday bon bons, Fenton Silver Crest Spanish Lace simply dazzles.

The Etsy Vintage Team offers a wide selection of Fenton - please click here to review those pieces.

A Milestone Celebration!

This week the Etsy Vintage Team reached and surpassed 200 member shops! Drum roll, please...fortuitous #200 is Oh Dear Watson, the shop of Cody and Amanda from North Carolina. They offer vintage home decor and housewares, presented with a delightfully fresh perspective. Who wouldn't love to have this 1930s Hall China mixing bowl set in their vintage kitchen?

After #200, we approved five more shops as our Membership Committee burned the midnight oil to catch up with a long list of requests. Numbers 201-205 are:

Seagull Island
Nostalgia R Us
Reconstitutions
Peacock Gypsy
Peacock Gypsy Vintage

Two hundred members is not a lot in terms of Etsy Teams. Some number in the thousands, but we are smaller for a reason. EVT is a professional association, and for 3+ years both our standards and our loyalty to each other have remained high. Our mission statement:

The Etsy Vintage Team (EVT) is an organization of Etsy sellers who are passionate about vintage and antiques, as well as items handmade with vintage components. Members are certified after undergoing a thorough review process to ensure they maintain high standards of professionalism, integrity and customer service. With an Etsy Vintage Team Certified Shop, you are purchasing authentic vintage goods from a knowledgeable, trustworthy dealer.

We thought it was high time we celebrated EVT certification! Beginning today, members are officially called "Certified Shops," and will display this new badge in their Etsy listings, blogs and more.

Special thanks to Mitzi of Vintage Goodness for creating all our Etsy Vintage Team logos, including this new badge! To see the full listing of Certified Shops, visit our Etsy Team Page.

Initially Yours

12Karri presents this beautifully monogrammed set of Silver Art Deco Gentleman's Brushes.

One of today’s significant fashion trends makes a very literal statement as monogramming has once again become a stylish way to identify yourself. Sifting through piles of old linens often reveals meticulously monogrammed linen napkins and table cloths, carefully stitched in white, delicate handkerchiefs with tiny and ornate initials, and even more humble representations in colorful cross stitch on cotton. Everything from Laverne’s signature ‘L’ to carefully engraved sterling and crystal are once again in mode and vintage items are a nostalgic and beautiful way for you to join the trend. Click here to find monogrammed items from the Etsy Vintage team.

Create your own monograms: Handcarved Intaglio Round Onyx Monogram C from Fascinating Hobbies adds a sophisticated touch to your next jewelry project; Sassy By Design offers these Vintage McCall's Embroidery Patterns to help you expand your needlework repertoire. 

The January White Sale

Fenton milk glass from My Milk Glass Shop

It's January, when the holiday furor has died down but it's too cold to do much of anything--so what better time for some Internet shopping, and for the Etsy Vintage Team's White Sale.

Throughout this month, we'll be highlighting all things white--not just the usual linens, but also glassware, jewelry, hats, clothing, and home decor...anything with this most stylish of winter colors.

To see more of what the Etsy Vintage Team has to offer, follow this link to search Etsy or follow this link to visit our curated collections of all things white in the Etsy treasuries.

Lace peignoir from JoJos Retro and Vintage