Meet Vintage Think

Tell us a bit about you and your shop

We are a young couple – Kristaps is 25 years old and Elina is 24. We both still work our full time day jobs but we always knew that this is not the way it should be - to go to work and spend so much time of your life  with what you do just to make other people rich.We opened our shop ''Vintage Think'' about two months ago because we wanted to start something on our own and there wasn`t two thoughts about what it should be because we both  appreciate heritage of past a lot and we also think that  it`s a very obvious way to recycle –  it is very important to us.

How did you choose your shop name?

Initially 'Vintage Think'  was meant to be 'Think Vintage'. After I drew the banner for our shop it turned out that the name 'Think Vintage' was already taken (although I checked before and there wasn't a shop with that name at the time). We decided to just change the sequence of words and keep our existing banner because we love it a lot. But why 'Think Vintage'? We think that it is a very concise name for a shop and that it describes lifestyle that includes love of old things with their own story and history very well. Its also like manifest to think more about our past.

Where else can we find you?

Because we are fairly new at the moment we are only on Etsy.

Where did you get your love of vintage from?

The love of vintage goes hand in hand with our love to recycling and green lifestyle. People talk a lot about receycling and sorting/reducing waste – so why should we let things that could still be used go to waste? We mostly sell things from the soviet era - here in Latvia people don`t appreciate them so we save these things from being thrown away and give them another chance.

But love of vintage – I don't exactly know why. We live in a small period house and almost all of our furniture is vintage, restored by us. We also have vintage kitchenware,decor and clothes –  vintage things just give more meaning and joy to us.

Do you have a vintage obsession, for instance, I am totally addicted to vintage glasses, I have way too many?

It definitely has to be furniture. We find old and shabby vintage furniture and give them new life with fresh paint and textiles. We can't imagine our life in a new apartment filled with  modern furniture.

What’s the strangest item you have ever found?

I don`t have anything specific to tell you about but flea markets are just filled with strange things.

What is your favourite item in your shop?

We have this old mechanical clock JANTAR in light blue. It's placed in our living room until  somebody buys it and it fits in there so well. It also makes a very restful tic-tac sound.

Tell us what you love about your favourite era?

Our favourite era is 70s and 80s from Soviet time. Every single design, print and detail was very well-considered. There wasn't any any flashiness at all – everything was simple and tasteful.

What advice would you give to people just starting out?

The only thing you should do is not to be afraid to start. And after you start everything goes it`s own way

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?

No – we are happy with the way things are now.

If you could learn something new what would it be and why?

We really want to learn to dance 60s dance moves – twist, swing, boog-a-loo, jerk and such  from this decade. It would be so much fun.

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?

Our small house where we live. The building is very old and it has such a perfect aura. We have lived in a lot of places but none of them can be compared with this house. We can really call this place home and see ourselves in the same place in future.

I’m a big foodie fan, what is your dream meal?

It would be something fresh and organic. A lot of local latvian vegetables and fruit.

Once upon a time……

Once upon a time everyone was more ceative. Because none of the technology that does the thinking for you was invented. So people had to figure things out using their own mind, imagination and creativity.

What question do wish I had asked and what would you answer be?

Can't think of any. We are quite happy with yours! Thank You!

Meet Stevie Sputnik

Tell us a bit about you and your shop?  

I've been collecting vintage figurines, vases and furniture for over thirty years.  Over the years, I've found so many wonderful things that I had to get rid of some of my treasures in order to have room (and money) for more.  I am totally incapable of passing up a good deal or an extreme rarity (a major personality flaw if you ask my wife, Rhonda).

How did you choose your shop name? 

I've always been fascinated by the space race. While I don't have a lot of space-themed products for sale, I'm constantly looking for Jetsons style.

Where else can we find you?  

I sell on eBay under GetCoolStuff.  One of these days, I'll get it changed to Stevie Sputnik!

Where did you get your love of vintage from?  

My parents had a real love of mid-century modern decor.  Many of the pieces I collect came from their home including a wonderful Frederic Weinberg wall sculpture, Howard Pierce horse, and some great furniture pieces.

Do you have a vintage obsession, for instance, I am totally addicted to vintage glasses, I have way too many?  

Over the past few years, I've become obsessed with mid-century modern dinnerware.  I've always collected teapots and "things that pour".  Now I collect a much broader range of dinnerware.  We use Franciscan Del Mar as our everyday dinnerware.  I have a lot of Grant Crest Tempo which is similar to the highly collected Franciscan Starburst pattern.  I'm hoping to eventually have a set of Eva Zeisel's awesome Hallcraft Century White.  Red Wing Spruce is another collecting obsession.  Be sure to check out MODish.net if you love mid-century dinnerware.  It's a great forum for all things mid-century modern as well.

What’s the strangest item you have ever found?  

A Salem Free Form teapot and snack set that has the most awful brown dead fruit decal design (official name is "Sepia Fruit").  Salem Free Form is my favorite dinnerware shape designed by Viktor Schreckengost.  How this design was ever produced is beyond me!

What is your favourite item in your shop? 

The Rosenthal Swimmer nude figurine is spectacular.

Tell us what you love about your favourite era?  

Mid-century modern is #1, but Ettore Sottsass' Memphis movement is a close second.

What advice would you give to people just starting out?  

Learn as much as you can about what you want to collect before you buy.  Be selective...buy one really nice piece rather than lots of lesser pieces.  Always try to upgrade your collection as your knowledge and tastes evolve.

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?  

Paid a lot more attention to mid-century modern dinnerware when I started collecting decades ago.

If you could learn something new what would it be and why?  

I'd like to know a lot more about some of my favorite designers like Richard Saar and Clyde Burt, but there just isn't a lot of information out there.

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?  

New York City.  I lived there for ten years and miss it every day.

I’m a big foodie fan, what is your dream meal?  

My mother's Prime Rib, baked potato and Brussels sprouts. 

Once upon a time…I owned a punk rock bar.

What question do wish I had asked and what would you answer be?   

How have my collections changed over the years?  I started collecting Art Deco in the late 70s.  That's when I started collecting porcelain Will-George flamingos which started my love of stylized porcelain figurines.  When my wife and I moved to New York in the 1980s we sold most of our Deco collection and started collecting Memphis pieces.  After moving back to the Midwest in the 1990s we bought a 1957 California modern ranch and became fully immersed in collecting mid-century modern collectibles and furniture.  We still have a lot of our Memphis pieces which mix well with the 1950s and 1960s furniture and collections.  Last year, our house was one of five homes on the Indiana Landmarks "Back to the Future" home tour.  Our home will be featured in the fall issue of Atomic Ranch magazine.

Meet Swirling Orange

Tell us a bit about you and your shop

Ugh, how can one describe or talk about themselves inside a little box?  Suffice it to say, I am way outside the box, lol.  My shop, initially, I joined Etsy as a jewelry designer.  I had 5 designs that I wanted cast in silver in a variety of metals and articles.  I did have one cast, a small Ganesha Pendant which sold out, but then silver, even cast silver got so expensive I could not get the rest of my designs cast.  Fast forward 6 months, I was waitressing at the time and was tired, it is hard work, and went on a rummaging trip with a friend.  By the end of the day I did not want to see an old thing ever again.  I ended up talking to the shop owner and we became friends over the next few months.  She was in a dilemma and needed someone to work the shop with her and I wanted out of waitressing, this was the start of my obsession of old stuff, vintage, retro, eclectic etc.  So here I am.

How did you choose your shop name?

My shop name goes back to my initial jewelry design on Etsy.  I love yoga and practice almost daily and there is a study of energy centers that are not tangible but easily accessible.  The second chakra, is orange, and after practice one day, the name popped in.  The second Orange Chakra, is the seat of creativity, it so fit what I was doing at the time that it just stuck!

Where else can we find you?

I do have my own website, http://swirlingorange.com but it is sort of a test site at the moment.  You can reach me there and I do offer discounts if items are bought through my website as the fees are non existent except for paypal which allows me to pass that discount on to my customers.  I am researching ecommerce solutions right now, so the site will go under some changes over the next few months, though I will always be reachable there.

Where did you get your love of vintage from?

Ah, my love of vintage originated with my Grandma, I loved her jewelry and still have her pearls that are way over 100 years old as they were given to her by my great grandmother on her wedding day.  I did not have much of an appreciation for everything vintage until I was older and really began to see the quality difference between what is made now and what was made in the US before the 1970s.

Do you have a vintage obsession, for instance, I am totally addicted to vintage glasses, I have way too many?

Absolutely YES I am obsessed with anything fortune telling.  I have been a practicing psychic astrologer for all of my adult life, yeah, over 30 years, YIKES, but never knew there were fortune tea reading cups and games and the like.  I was always into tarot cards, but honestly I love anything old with destiny, fortune telling or astrology connected to it.

What’s the strangest item you have ever found?

Hmmm, the strangest item I have found or sold?  LOL, I have found some really weird stuff, mostly taxidermy which I think is really gross.  I found some old scrimshaw (whale tooth etching) that I thought was absolutely fantastic but sold it before it made it to Etsy.  I have not come across anything much like that in some time.

What is your favourite item in your shop?

This is seriously difficult to nail down.  The reason being, is I buy for resale only things I can stand looking at, as I not everything sells right away, so I figure, I best like what I am selling in case it hangs around a while, so to be honest, I don't have a favorite, I love it all :D

Tell us what you love about your favourite era?
My favorite Era is a cross between Art Deco and the 1960s.  I love Art Deco because it was such a drastic change from Victorian and primitive.  It was like space age for the time.   The 60s, is the same thing, it was all Hippy and so flower power so different and varied from any era before it.  It seems to me that most of the other eras now are a variation of something before it.  These two eras seem to stand alone which I love.  I also love the contrast between the two as the Deco era is sharp linear lines where the Hippy Dippy 60s is all round and fluid, think lava lamps etc.

What advice would you give to people just starting out? 

Starting out on Etsy?  Persistence.  You need to know that you may not be found immediately, but this is a good thing in reality.  I was lucky my shop did not explode the first few months I was online as it is a learning period of how to ship, how to pack, how to market, how to take pictures etc.  But if you don't let that get you down, there is room for everyone.  Also, I think buying the things you love helps too, as I mentioned above, if you are "stuck" with something, it is a much easier pill to swallow if you can use it or like looking at it while you wait to be discovered.  Patience is the biggest piece of advice.  We all want to quit our day jobs, but truth be told, it takes years to build a business whether on line or in real time, I still consider myself a novice and am always open to learning.  This is why I love what I do, it is a constant learning process so you can't get bored.

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?

Yes, I wish I had taken the time to understand how to market and that I had established a facebook page much earlier than I have done.  I dislike fb but feel compelled to have a presence as a business.  I think had I established this way way back,  I would have more of a presence there now.  But, truth is I try not to look back and don't really think I could have done anything different than I did.  I am one of those people who learn fast and furious from Mistakes, LOL.

If you could learn something new what would it be and why?

OMG SEO for sure, Graphic Design on a basic level, the inner workings of the web, SEO is only a portion of it but understanding and learning the languages ie. php, c++, etc.  I would love to learn how all of this is intricately entwined.

 

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?

My Yoga Mat!

I’m a big foodie fan, what is your dream meal?

I love love love Salads, but I hate hate hate cutting all those veggies, my favorite meal is chopped salad with all fresh garden grown veggies and real sour cream ranch dressing YUMMY!  Okay, I love love love Nachos with tons of cheese and jalapenos too, but I thought the salad would be a better thing to put first :D

Once upon a time……

Once upon a time, there was a girl who grew up on the beach building sand castles.  While building one day, she found a shell, a very special shell.  When she ran to the ocean to wash it off, it sparkled brightly and as she was coming back to her castle, a big cloud of smoke started to emerge from the shell ... in that cloud was a genie ... and well you know what the genie offers ... 3 wishes.  My wishes if they were able to be granted would be Peace for all beings, no poverty or hunger, and a place where creativity is appreciated whether it be through art, food, writing or any other avenue, just that it was appreciated more than it is today.

What question do wish I had asked and what would you answer be?

What really makes you tick outside of Etsy/your shop?  Oy, not enough room to answer it, but in a nut shell, I wish I could share my passion for yoga, vintage, and life more widely without judgement.  Hope this make sense!

Meet Apartment 528

Tell us a bit about you and your shop
I'm a color-loving gal who lives in a color-filled apartment with my gorgeous husband. We're obsessed with bowling even though we suck at it and we eat like 5-year-olds in a candy shop! We have no kids but for some reason we watch the Disney channel and Nickelodeon all the time. Apartment 528 started in 2009 as a way to peddle fun, quirky, colorful housewares that fit in to today's homes. Our goal is to offer products that can actually be used in your house to cook, clean, entertain, play, work, and live. 

What is the story behind your shop name?
Apartment 528 is named after my mom. Her birthday is 5/28. She's an amazingly gifted woman/mother/designer/everything who always encourages us to try new things. I hope to be her when I grow up!

Where else can we find you?
We try to be everywhere. We have our own website (www.apt528.com) where we sell vintage as well as handcrafted housewares from talented designers. In a few weeks, we'll start market season and travel around the midwest and maybe even make a stop in Boston doing vintage markets. We're also working on opening a brick and mortar shop here in Chicago this year.

Where did you get your love of vintage from?
I honestly don't know! The first vintage item I ever bought was a 70's alarm clock at a thrift store back in high school. It was just so neat looking to me. Then I got addicted to old tshirts and even started collecting colorful men's ties. Once I was on my own, I bought vintage furniture off craigslist simply because it was all I could afford. After awhile I noticed that I kept buying things that were the same mid-century/retro style and I knew I was on to something. 

Do you have a vintage obsession?
Absolutely! Once I see that pop of color or something teak, I have to have it. Our house has been handmade-and-vintage-only (except for our gadgets of course!) for 5 years now and I love it!

What’s the strangest item you have ever found?
Hmmm...I stumbled upon a gynecological exam table and some old medical machines once at an estate sale. That was weird. And kind of scary. Why would you need that in your garage? It was like the set of a twisted scary movie!

What is your favourite item in your shop?
I LOVE the George Briard acrylic tumblers. Each cup has a coaster that doubles as a lid. So neat. I was going to keep them until I realized I'm not cool enough to own them. They need to go to someone who has a big family or who likes to entertain so that they'll be put to use.

Tell us what you love about your favourite era?
I am ADDICTED to color and I love clean lines so I think that's what draws me to the 50's-70's. Back then, everything from your countertops to your furniture to your carpet, was colorful. Nowadays, countertops are neutral, furniture is neutral, and carpets are beige. I don't know how we made it to this point but I want to go back to the days of avocado-colored fridges!

What advice would you give to people just starting out?
If you're collecting vintage for fun, be practical, otherwise you'll end up on an episode of "Hoarders." It's easy to go overboard so make sure you actually need something or you really like it and have a plan to switch stuff out. If you're doing it as a business, edit yourself so your shop's not a hodge-podge. When you're first starting, you tend to buy stuff just because it's vintage. After awhile, you figure out your style and your shop's aesthetic and it becomes easier to pass up things that don't fit. And whether you're doing it for business or pleasure, you have to be creative about repurposing things and suggest to your customers ways they can do so. I use fondue pots to hold things from plants to silverware to napkins. I turned a non-working 70's Crockpot into a planter. We took 2 wood record cabinets and made them into a window bench to hold electronics and DVD's in the living room. You can use platters and serving bowls in your entryway to hold mail and keys. It's all in how you look at things.

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?
I wish I had better impulse control sometimes. I love to build things so I'll often buy something broken or that needs a little TLC thinking that I'll fix it later. Then years go by and I still haven't fixed it. Such a waste of time, space, and money! Every few months, I end up giving things away or donating them back to the thrift store because I just don't have the time for anymore projects. I have to learn to be more realistic about things! Pricing is the other thing I wish I'd figured out earlier. Some of my early customers got AWESOME deals! I'm still learning pricing but I'm getting better. 

If you could learn something new what would it be and why?
I'd learn to sew so I can stop using fabric tape and finally do something with my stash of vintage fabric! My mom's a designer and sews everything by hand and it's better quality than stuff made with a sewing machine. She's been trying to teach me to sew since I was a kid so that I could do my own basic repairs but it seriously takes me over an hour to make a 16" hem on a pillow. Whenever I go home I bring something with me for her to fix! I think I may break down and buy a sewing machine and take a class this year.

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?
I guess it would be a tie between my apartment because it's so colorful, my mom or grandpa's houses since both of them are amazing cooks, and Home Depot because I'm constantly building something.

I’m a big foodie fan, what is your dream meal?
A bowl of my grandpa's seafood gumbo, a few slices of my mom's homemade pizza, a big pile of shrimp fried rice, a pork burrito from Chipotle, a side of cheddar bay biscuits from Red Lobster (they're amazing!), a jar of Claussen pickles (they're my favorite food) and for dessert, a cookie dough blizzard from Dairy Queen. If all of those things were in one meal I think my head would explode!

Once upon a time……
...there was a girl named India who lived and breathed rainbows.

What question do wish I had asked and what would your answer be?
What's my TV design inspiration? A mix of the house from "The Brady Bunch" the furniture and style from "Bewitched," and the warm homey feeling of "That Girl." One day...

Nest Party Shop Feature

Tell us a bit about you and your shop
I am a San Francisco-native photographer and multi-media artist, and a lot of the inspiration for my work comes a very specific period from the past -- the psychedelic era from about 1967 to 1973. I love the music and fashion and design from that brief era and I wanted to combine my love of cooking and nesting and comfort with my attraction to bright color and wild paisley and floral designs. I think my curator style could best be described as “Psychedelic Farmhouse.”
How did you choose your shop name?
I got the inspiration for my shop name in part from a band I was in college, called “Owl Party.” Nest Party seemed a bit more general and more akin to what I wanted to sell.

Where else can we find you? 
Right now, just on Etsy.

Where did you get your love of vintage from?
I’ve always had a romantic fascination with certain eras of the past that I never lived in and always wondered what it would have been like if I had. I also started collecting vintage clothing when I was in high school as that was the only form I could afford to buy.

Do you have a vintage obsession, for instance, I am totally addicted to vintage glasses, I have way too many?
Pyrex nesting bowls, and psychedelic mini-dresses. I have way too many of both. 

What’s the strangest item you have ever found?
When I was at a flea market in Rome, I bought myself this novelty carrot and potato peeler from this Neopolitan guy who was a Youtube star. There were supposed to be a dozen different ways you could peel and cut your veggies with this thing, and the guy was doing a demo when I bought it from him and I was pretty charmed by his performance. It wasn’t vintage, but it was definitely a strange experience at the flea market.

What is your favourite item in your shop?
That’s difficult to say. I have a couple of enamelware stockpots that have beautiful floral designs on them that I will probably end up keeping for myself if they aren’t bought soon!

Tell us what you love about your favourite era? 
As I said above I am absolutely in love with the period from about 1967 to 1973. So much happened during that period of just a few years, and I feel like it was the most vibrant and exciting period in modern history. It seems like it would have been an amazing time to be a young person just starting out in life.

What advice would you give to people just starting out?
I feel like I am in that category still of “just starting out,” but I would say, make sure you are having lots of fun!

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?
I’m not someone who has a lot of regrets, and I am still experimenting and playing around a lot with the style of items that I sell. It feels like a constant work in progress. I am considering selling vintage psychedelic-era dresses as well, and possibly locally made jams and pickles.

If you could learn something new what would it be and why?
I would love to learn to sew so I could make vintage-inspired aprons with some of the beautiful vintage fabric that I have.

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?
Rome, Italy is the most magical city I have ever been to, followed closely by Kyoto, Japan.

I’m a big foodie fan, what is your dream meal?

I’m obsessed with Burmese food, though it’s so complicated to make, I never make it for myself. It seems like every dish includes about a hundred ingredients! They use a lot of fried garlic and shallots, which I adore!

Once upon a time……
I was an English as a Second Language instructor in Italy, then in Japan.

What question do wish I had asked and what would you answer be?

Who are your biggest role models/idols?
Currently, my older friend and mentor and astrologer, Joyce, and George Harrison of the Beatles. Along with many, many more...

Thank you for a lovely interview.  I'm a huge garlic and shallot fan myself.  I'm dreaming of my dinner now :)

Rose and Water Vintage Feature

You lucky lucky readers!  Natalie from Rose and Water Vintage is offering you all a 10% discount code, just use 10PERCENT2013

How did you choose your shop name?
I’m terrible at thinking up names for anything, and can’t make a decision to save my life. So when it came to my shop name, I sort of cast my eye around the room and it fell on a vase of roses that I had on the table, and thus Rose and Water Vintage!

Where else can we find you?
I have both Twitter and Pinterest accounts that I’ve linked to the shop.

Where did you get your love of vintage from?
I was an odd child. As a ten year old I was obsessed with Antiques Road Show and my goal at the time was to find a rare antique in someone’s attic. That love of vintage and antique items never quite left me, and it’s evolved into Rose and Water Vintage.

Do you have a vintage obsession, for instance, I am totally addicted to vintage glasses, I have way too many?
I do actually! It does tend to change from time to time though. Right now I’m loving vintage quilts and blankets.

What’s the strangest item you have ever found?
That would probably be the “Rock Concert” which was a paperweight that was made up of a large rock with several other little painted rocks with little eyes glued on to it holding up a sign that said “Rock Concert”. It was strangely adorable, and I’m glad it recently found a new home in Australia.

What is your favourite item in your shop?
I love all of the items in my shop, but the kitty coin bank is just so cute.

Tell us what you love about your favourite era?
I love the whole time period from the twenties to the sixties. I know that’s a huge time period, but like I said earlier I’m not great at making decisions!

What advice would you give to people just starting out?
Do what you love, and trust your gut when it comes to that special item that you can’t make your mind up about.

Is there anything you wished you had done differently?
I wish that I had started my Etsy shop years ago! It’s so much fun, and I absolutely love finding new items for my shop, and seeing them go to loving new homes.

If you could learn something new what would it be and why?
I would love to be handy with a sewing machine, so I would love to learn how to use one. I’d also like to learn how to quilt and re-upholster furniture.

Where is your most favourite place on Earth?
I love Andalucia. Driving to the beach through fields of sunflowers and torros was just amazing. It’s one of those places that really make me feel like I’m at home.

I’m a big foodie fan, what is your dream meal?
I’m a big foodie fan too! My dream meal would be honey lemon chicken with cherry tomatoes and a lovely salad. Followed by a decadent salted caramel brownie with ice cream.

Once upon a time……
I had an idea, and it bloomed into an amazing adventure!

What question do wish I had asked and what would you answer be?
Who is that cute dog has been spotted on Rose and Water’s Twitter?
That would be our shop mascot Marley the Cockerpoo! We adopted him about 6 months ago, and he has been my constant companion and best friend ever since. This Summer he will be going out with me to markets to help me find new items for my shop.

Thanks so much for a fantastic interview Natalie, I am now craving a salted caramel brownie!