So here's
the thing: except for the picture shown here at the beginning of this post I've never actually sold a single photograph on Schaufenster. This particular photograph was taken of a poster in Hamburg which I later digitally enhanced. I sold it in the first few months I was on etsy, a time when I had pretty regular sales even though I was mainly only selling collages which aren't exactly a hot seller. Why? Because I had something listed in the gift guides for a long time which gave my shop a lot of exposure. I'm still sad etsy got rid of the gift guides. I heard they did it largely because of criticism that everything there had a certain "look" but I think that's a bunch of b.s. The only thing the items had in common was they were all beautifully photographed, but I think that's fair enough. I discovered a lot of great shops by browsing the gift guides, something that is harder to do through a general search....
But, to get back to my photography and my lack of sales, you might wonder why I even bother posting them for sale. Basically, it's because my shop Schaufenster is my little world filled with things I like. I don't really make much of a profit on anything I sell in the shop and I love all of the photographs I have posted, so there they shall stay.
Although my passion for vintage clothing and doo dads (for the jewelry) is my main motivation behind running Curious Knopf, I do also hope the shop will eventually become lucrative (and I'm finding more and more great stuff from the 40s and 50s, so it just might...) which frees up Schaufenster all the more.
Still, I would like to sell some of my photographs. I've played around a lot with the prices because I've learned, quite by chance, that you are less likely to sell if your items are priced low. I don't know exactly why this is. Do people consider higher prices more professional and, therefore, more trustworthy? Do they simply like to spend money? I don't know. All I know is that once, on a whim, I raised all of the prices in my shop and almost immediately I started selling better. Go figure...
Still, it is a fine balance, and I don't want to be overpriced basically because I like the idea that, whatever it is I sell, it will always be within the price range of anyone who might want it. Economic democracy if you will, with enough on the profit end for me to keep things going. And I do have these new animal portraits that I'm offering for sale in Schaufenster, taken in the Museum of Natural History. I love the intensity of these animals, amazing really since they are no longer living. Who knows? I just might sell a photograph yet. ;)
No mom, I'
m not pregnant. Although I still do get a little weak in the knees any time I see a teeny tiny baby, Jasper and I are both sure we don't want another one. Frankly, I don't think I have it in me to go through babydom another time. Granted, I love my babes but still, the day I no longer have to change diapers or push a baby buggy in front of me is going to be the day I throw a bigggg party...The new addition I'm talking about is this adorable little goat here who has joined the Schaufenster/Curious Knopf family.
But first a little background information: I am a total and complete compulsive eBay shopper. A lot of people say there are no deals to be found on eBay but personally I just think it takes a certain kind of person. A very patient and very obsessive person. Like, for instance, myself. I, my friends, am a true eBay warrior. Two tips about eBay shopping: take people by surprise and really bid in the last twenty seconds. Otherwise you will only drive up the price and then still have the item stolen out from under your nose by a warrior like me. Tip number two: keep a cool head. Decide before hand how much you are really willing to spend and don't allow yourself to go over it. If joe schmoe really wants to pay 36 bucks for that Bakelite pencil sharpener then more power to him...
Every once in a while I'll stay up late (not unusual for a night owl like me) and have a couple of glasses of wine (ahem...also not unusual) and then bid one Euro on a series of random things just to see what will happen. The problem is I sometimes end up actually buying more of them than I wanted. This little billy goat was one of my one Euro treasures. But when I saw that the shipping was a little bit pricey I got kind of cranky. "Crap," I thought. "Well, I can probably try and sell him on Schaufenster." Imagine my surprise when I opened the package a week or so later only to find just about the COOLEST THING EVER! (and something I wasn't at all expecting because the pictures on eBay weren't that great.)
Entirely (and skillfully) handmade and hand-painted, this little goat balances on his hind legs on a stand coated in gold paint. Bad billy also seems to be a little bit randy (as you can see in the pictures, it's pre-tty obvious he's a boy!) I guess a sweet looking she-goat must have just sauntered by....Needless to say, I won't be selling him in Schaufenster. He weighs almost 2 kilos which means shipping would cost 35 Euros (42 dollars), but that's not the real reason. The real reason is I'm totally in love with him and, yes, Jasper is a little jealous. ;)
Beside, he does display jewelry oh-so-wonderfully. I'm sure he'll also someday make his appearance in Schaufenster.
When I photograph something for Schaufenster, I sometimes use random props like this vintage globe on a Bakelite stand (which, by the way, I got for free along with a truck load of other amazing things from an old lady's house in the middle of b.f. Brandenburg, but that is another story for another time....) Mostly, however, I use the same props again and again and I've gotten kind of fond of each one. Because of this, I thought I'd write a post to introduce you to my little Schaufenster Art & Vintage family. Here goes:
1. Otto, the Sekretär
Nearly all the photographs I take for Schaufenster are on top of good old Otto. Otto is a late 19th century Biedermeier secretary roll-top desk. He is an heirloom from Jasper's family that he inherited when his step-mother passed away around eight years ago. At the time Jasper didn't really even want to have Otto. He was still a bachelor living in a sparsely furnished apartment with a mattress on the floor. "What, are you crazy??" his brother said and then basically forced him to take the desk home with him when they cleaned out her apartment. I have one smart brother-in-law!
2. Trixie, the Two-Holed Vase
Trixie, a vintage 1950s vase, is actually for sale at Schaufenster. I've used her so much that I would feel a little bit sad if someone finally bought her. But I'd also get over it...You can take Trixie home with you with one easy click of a button if you go here.
3. Weeping Walter, the Very Sad Cow
Jasper's stepmother was, among other things, an artist and ceramist. Weeping Walter is one in a series of cow sculpture she made. Both Jasper and I think he looks sort of melancholy and maybe a little repressed, but then his stepmother was a rather stern person, so I guess the feeling fits.
4. Hank the Hand
Hank the hand is another of his stepmother's pieces that Jasper inherited. I am very fond of Hank as he is rather odd and masterfully crafted. I've heard before that hands are very hard to paint. I suppose they are also hard to sculpt, so I'm glad we have little Hank.
5. Arnie, the Arzberg Vase
Arnie is a vintage 1960s Arzberg vase in a very mod style that I gave Jasper for Christmas this year. Both he and I are really big fans of Arzberg porcelain, or at least their design classic series. They also did a lot of really kitschy stuff that I still like as it is extremely high quality. Jasper can't handle it though. It reminds him way too much of his grandmother. I guess I have the foreigners license to see the beauty in it.
6. Tick, Trick, Track und Onkel Dagobert, the Mid-Century Handmade Danish Design Candle Holders
These lovely teak candle holders were another of my Christmas presents to Jasper this year. I named them Tick, Trick, Track and Onkel Dagobert which are the German names for Huey, Dewey, Louie and Uncle Scrooge of Donald Duck fame. In Germany, instead of Duckville, they all live in Entenhausen (Ente=Duck in German).
Both Arnie and Tick, Trick, Track und Onkel Dagobert were bought at the fabulous ebay shop, Esthetiko. And yes, in case you're wondering, they do ship internationally.
7. Hermann the Horse
Hermann is new to the Schaufenster family, although I've had him a while. I bought him this past summer from a couple of kids. When the weather is nice in the summer, kids in Berlin like to set up shop with a blanket laid out on the sidewalk where they sell some of their beat-up old toys. I remember also being a young entreprenuer, with lots of get-rich schemes like selling painted rocks for five bucks a pop or the iron ore I collected from the desert sand with a magnet which I was sure must be worth a fortune. Once, when we were at my grandparent's cabin in Flagstaff, my sister, brother and I even made our own Fred Flintstone's Place out of old refrigerator boxes. The admission fee was only 6 dollars, yet no one came. Remembering our disappointment and because I like to make their day (as well as Miss Mia's and Baby Li's who, of course, adore presents) I always buy something from every kid blanket station I see. I think I paid about a Euro for Hermann. He is signed with some ballpoint scribbles on the side you can't see which makes him truly one of a kind.
To sign this post off, and to go off somewhat on a tangent, here is the link to Fred Flintstone's Place which is on a highway somewhere close to the Grand Canyon: Flintstone's Bedrock City. If you're ever in the area you should definitely stop by because it is bad-ass, or at least I thought it was when I was ten. ;)
So I just opened a new shop for vintage clothing and handmade jewelry called Curious Knopf. Knopf means button in German and I actually set up the shop a few weeks ago thinking I might use it to sell my vintage button collection. I tend to collect them and collect them until I have more than I know what to do with....Then again, maybe I can use them to make jewelry for my new shop.
Views have been slow, but then I expected that. It was one of the reasons I didn't really want to open a second shop. I ran a separate jewelry shop for a while called Rose, red Rose but I hated being so spread around not to mention having to try and promote two different shops. Better to just throw all your eggs in one basket. The trouble is, that basket was beginning to get mighty jumbled. After some advice from my fabulous etsy-loving sister (visit her vintage San Francisco based fashionista shop, Golden Valencia Vintage. Trust me, you will not be disappointed!) I decided to give it a whirl. Schaufenster is going to be my vintage German kitsch, original stitched art and photography shop with a bit of mid century thrown in there for good measure. Curious Knopf will be for the vintage clothing and accessories.
Who knows? It may pay off. This ring sat in my shop for at least 4 months, but when I transferred it in my new shop it sold within a couple of hours. Anyway, wish me luck. Or, as we say in this neck of the woods, toi, toi, toi!
So Euro Week at etsy has been very, very good to me. Who can say why? Maybe it's partly because I was of this interview I gave about me and my shop on the brand-spanking-new German Street Team's blog. Most likely it's because etsy featured one of my items in their Go Euro article, this stitched kitsch postcard that has always been popular but never sold.
Until now that is. Fifteen sales in five days. Whatever the reason, I'm just thanking my lucky stars not to mention my lovely customers.
Packing up the various packages has reminded me of one of the things I love about running Schaufenster: it opens up this wonderfully international network. Here I am, this little old girl finding and making things in Berlin-Kreuzberg and then sending them off to Sydney and Boise and Paris. Case in point, this dress:
This dress I bought at a second-hand shop in San Luis Obispo when I took a road trip to Southern California a couple of years ago. It sat in my closet for some time because I kept hoping I would finally loose those twenty pounds and/or the dress would magically fit me. Recently I've decided to come to terms with the fact that I simply love chocolate way more than I love sit ups or jogging. The dress will probably never fit me. Time for it to move on.
The dress was snatched by a leopard print fanatic from Israel earlier this week. From San Luis Obispo to Berlin to Jerusalem. Not bad for a little stretch of animal print cloth!
My husband and I are both big fans of Danish Modern design. We got lucky with a teak sideboard on ebay and have a lot of vintage mid-century wooden home decor. I love how simple yet elegant the pieces are, both beautifully and deliberately designed and yet they still have a lot of warmth. It's also so easy to add other pieces and bright colors to funk them up. If the everyday me were to choose some new home furnishings I would definitely go with all of the above from Fabulous Mess.
But, let's face it, I'm also a total closet kitsch lover. Although maybe I'm being slightly unfair, I blame this love largely on Pick 'n Save, the dollar store before there were even dollar stores. We used to go there when I was growing up in Tucson and I was always amazed with all the great things I could buy with my five dollar allowance: elegant lady figurines with rhinestones in their hair, fluffy Persian kitty cat (four of my most favorite words from the age of at least four to twelve...) folders and trapper keepers. and many other tacky bits of loveliness. Then again, maybe I can blame the whole thing on the Grand Canyon. I spent at least twelve family vacations there and how many desert scenes depicted inside of a shot glass or real scorpion paper weights did I buy at one of the hundreds of gift shops we visited? As much as I could talk my grandparents into, with some petrified wood and cactus candy thrown in for good measure.
Thank god I have Schaufenster to let out my inner kitsch loving demon. If I didn't there's no telling what kind of havoc she might wreak on my life.
For anyone out there who is less of a closeted kitsch lover, here are some great pieces I found recently for sale on etsy. And yes, I would be proud to plop each one of them down on my new vintage Eames table. ;)
Alligator ashtray from Flabby Rabbit, Horse Sculpture from Skyparlor, Chicken from Fish Bone Deco, Bambi Salt and Pepper Shakers from Ethan Ollie.
Having two babies back to back has not exactly been easy on my figure. The good news is, I tend to gain weight proportionately. The bad news is, pretty much everything about me these days is round. There are some women (aka bitches and hos) who loose all the weight and then some from breast feeding, but unfortunately I am not one of them. Still, I have lost twenty pounds since Lilly was born and have started doing yoga regularly. Hopefully this will help do the trick because it is simply not possible for me to diet. Eat more in moderation yes, but I'd rather be pleasantly plump than give up butter and ice cream forever.
But let's look on the bright side: I am now a size 14 which means I am just on the cusp of plus size. It's still possible to shop in normal shops, but there is simply a lot less in the way of great vintage clothes in my size (darn those petite women of the 40s, 50s and 60s!) If I were my normal size 10/12 I would be spending A LOT more money on the following items.
This 1950s wiggle dress is such a beautiful color and still classic enough to be easily worn in modern times. But the 28 inch waist is, for me, most certainly a problem. Available here at The Church of Vintage.
I'm a sucker for polka dots. This mini 1960s wool dress would look so cute over a pair of jeans. It is listed here as a size small/medium by Allen Company Inc.
Of all the decades of vintage fashion, I think the 40s are by far my favorite (and the 80s passionately hated, as anyone who reads this blog knows.) This suit is simple yet elegant but, at size extra small, something I will never ever be able to wear. Available here at Small Earth Vintage.
Words cannot even begin to describe how gorgeous this 1970s skirt is. Not only does it have a simple modern design, it is also made of a blend of virgin wool and silk and feels wonderful to the touch. Ironically, it is my "old" size, 10/12, but it will take at least a year of downward dog if not more before I am that size again. Somewhat reluctantly, I am offering it for sale here at my shop Schaufenster.
Last but not least is this lovely red number from the 1960s, wool which means wearable in winter (as well as alliteration....) With a 32 and a half inch waist, this dress is also about a size 12. Sigh. Available here at Capricious Traveler.
Happy vintage shopping everyone!
the thing: except for the picture shown here at the beginning of this post I've never actually sold a single photograph on Schaufenster. This particular photograph was taken of a poster in Hamburg which I later digitally enhanced. I sold it in the first few months I was on etsy, a time when I had pretty regular sales even though I was mainly only selling collages which aren't exactly a hot seller. Why? Because I had something listed in the gift guides for a long time which gave my shop a lot of exposure. I'm still sad etsy got rid of the gift guides. I heard they did it largely because of criticism that everything there had a certain "look" but I think that's a bunch of b.s. The only thing the items had in common was they were all beautifully photographed, but I think that's fair enough. I discovered a lot of great shops by browsing the gift guides, something that is harder to do through a general search....
