Happy Tofurkey Day to all!
I think I’ve mentioned it here on the blog before but JT and I have always dreamed of one day doddering away our time in a joint venture, “Thompson Guitar and Thrift” – a store full of amazing guitars and vintage furniture and objects – kind of just a place you would want to hang out in all day. Add in Sophie and Shenanigan as two lazy shop dogs and you’re painting my dream picture.
At any rate, a brick and mortar store isn’t something we’re ready to commit to at this point in our lives. We both have full time day jobs and frankly like the security and 401ks those bring. But we still dream of the shop and so we’ve both taken (online) steps to make our dream a reality.
JT has been doing the guitar thing for a while now, first on eBay and now on Reverb. Reverb has been great for him – the percent they take from your sale is way less than eBay and Reverb is geared right at him and his fellow musicians.
JT has his very own Black Friday sale running until Sunday evening.
He’s got some good stuff squirreled away — the ’78 Fender Telecaster, a whole Strat or just a Strat body and pickguards galore. You can see his store here. He has 24 reviews right now and I think they’re all five star – he’s a responsive seller and he knows his guitar stuff.
Not to be left behind, I decided to open my own store on Etsy, focusing on the vintage goods side of things. It kind of grew out of necessity as I was bringing so much stuff home that the house began to feel like it was overflowing. The online shop became a reality last week and I already made my first sale – you can find me at Thompson Thrift!
Both JT and I have the same philosophy when it comes to curating our shops – we make it a point to only offer items that we would buy for ourselves. In fact I keep making side eyes at the copper colander I have up right now … maybe I will set it out as part of my Tofurkey Day table setting.
I made a little photo shoot spot in the breakfast nook window as it faces north and gets nice diffuse light. The Ikea faux sheepskin has been working hard as a nice wintery neutral background for my photos. I’ve actually been photographing everything with my iPhone using the Camera+ app – it has great controls for focus and brightness along with handy little grid lines to help center things up. I also started using the Google photo drive to quickly send all my photos to the computer where I can edit and upload them. I don’t think this Etsy venture is going to be a path to quick riches but it’s a fun hobby and helps justify my weekends spent at the thrifts.
Have a great holiday all. Thanksgiving is my favorite time of the year. Food, family and relaxation can’t be beat. And I’m going to try out this vegan Pumpkin Bread Pudding recipe for dessert. Cheers! CT
Living Analog 