Hey guys. Hope you have been enjoying the first week of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere!
I sure have been. The boyfriend has a boat along the Pacific Ocean here in Southern Cali, and I just enjoyed a wonderful weekend down there. And just to be clear, when I say wonderful weekend, I mean a weekend in which I did absolutely nothing except for taking long naps in the warm afternoons, and eating the yummy Mexican food Cali has to offer. There's nothing quite like the food down here, I must say.
So besides taking time to work on things at
Vintage Fix, lately I've been collaborating and meeting tons of wonderful folks on
Etsy as well. I'm very happy to be a part of a wonderful team there called "The Brigade" where we spend a lot of time encouraging each other and helping to promote each other's shops in any way we can.
Today, I wanted to introduce you to my friend Bec at
Sugarcubevintage, who also sells amazing vintage. Her story starts in the mid-west where she spent her childhood in auctions with her grandparents (how cute) and ends in Portland with a Double Soy Latte in a coffee shop with her Mac. My kind of woman.
Enjoy!
~~~~~
Vintagefix: How did you get interested in vintage?
Bec: When I was little, my grandparents lived in the Midwest and used to take me to
auctions every weekend, early training in finding a bargain. We’d pile into the
wood panel station wagon, drive through the countryside, sit for hours on high rise
bleachers in dusty overcrowded auction houses, usually bid on some boxes of fabric
for my grandmother who was a quilter, or some carpentry tools for grandpa, then stop
for ice cream on the way home – sometimes I even got to hold the bidding paddle!
I loved every second of those days!
Vintagefix: How long have you been collecting/selling vintage?
Bec: I’ve been collecting for as long as I can remember - cameras, globes, tins, books…
I just started selling last July on Etsy after moving back to Portland from Tokyo
(where I lived for 5 years).
Vintagefix: What is your favorite time period or era you like to sell?
Bec: If I had to pick I’d say Mid-century but mostly I buy things I would like in my own
home. Unfortunately that often means it’s hard to part with things. My husband is
convinced we’re going to end up on an episode of ‘Hoarders’ .
Vintagefix:What else do you do apart from working on your shop? job, hobbies, etc?
Bec: I was trained and worked as a designer but somehow I always managed to make
vintage part of the job. I worked as a graphic designer and photo stylist for different
ad agencies, and an illustrator/animator for a media company. While in Tokyo I
worked as a trend researcher for a New York company. I started Sugar Cube Vintage
on my return to the US but still take on freelance projects doing prop and photo
styling in Tokyo and here in Portland.
Vintagefix: What's your favorite part about selling vintage?
Bec: The fact that every piece is unique and has a story keeps me inspired.
Of course I always love it when other stylists and producers from big retailers (sorry,
my lips are sealed…) use my products for their shoots.
Vintagefix: Was there any particular item you were selling that you wanted to keep for
yourself, or felt connected to in some way?
Bec: When I first started on Etsy I sold a librarian bell from an estate sale that I still regret.
It was one of the most interesting estate sales I’ ve ever been too. It was the estate of a school librarian who traveled the world when she retired. She had the most amazing collection of vintage books and trinkets. The bell would have been a nice memento to keep. I still think about that sale and all the things I passed up and should have bought.
VintageFix: Describe a perfect day for you.
Bec: My ideal day would go something like this: double soy latte with my Mac at Portland
Stumptown coffee, hitting estate sales for new inventory, lunch at the farmer’ s
market, hike at forest park, happy hour margaritas at Por Que No with friends, eve at
home chilling out with my hubby and 2 ragdoll cats, Winston and Pimms.
Vintagefix: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
Bec: I would love to move back overseas and open a second Etsy shop selling local items.
I’m pretty open to wherever I land and a bit of a gypsy at heart so I don’t plan too far
in advance.
Thanks for sharing Bec!
xo. Brooke
