EGST Profiles: Schaufenster

Name: Rebeccah Dean Von Schlieffen
Location: Berlin-Kreuzberg (about 15 minutes from Etsy's Berlin headquarters :) )
Etsy Store: http://www.schaufenster.etsy.com
Website: http://www.schaufensterbabe.com
Blog: http://www.schaufensterbabe.blogspot.com
Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Schaufenster-Art-Vintage/229896246793
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/schaufenster

Tell us a little bit about what you make.
My store is pretty eclectic. I carry jewelry I've made from vintage materials (especially Bakelite which I love); original art work I've made from a collage of vintage stamps or emphemera as well as vintage photographs (most pieces are also embroidered in some way); original photographs and photograph sets and, last but not least, vintage clothing, housewares and home decor. My vintage items tend to be either mid-century, German kitsch and sometimes both.

What are some goals for your Etsy store?
My ultimate goal is to make a nice supplemental income from my store and have the satisfaction of making a living partly from something so creative I enjoy. But I'm also here to have fun. I love everything I sell. Most of the vintage pieces in my shop are just around my house until they are sold, so the customer is sometimes literally buying something off of my wall! I also like to use my shop as a creative outlet and a varied one at that. If I'm most interested in making jewelry I do that for a while, if I'd rather stitched I do that, if I'm in the mood to comb through ebay or flea markets for cool vintage finds then that's what I do. The goal, I guess, is never get bored and so far I've been very successful at that. :)

What item has been a ‘best-seller’ in your Etsy store ?
Since everything in my shop is one of a kind (except my photographs which, sadly, do not sell well) nothing could be described as my best selling item. This skirt, however, is definitely my best loved. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9725665 Almost 3,000 views and 44 hearts and yet no one has bought it!

How would you describe your style?
Quirky, funky, vintage-inspired, feminine, kitsch-loving


Is this your full time work?
I have two young daughters who are 3 and one and a half, so right now they are my full-time job, though etsy is a close second. I also write (mainly short stories) and teach English at the TU Berlin where I will start working again part-time once my youngest daughter starts Kita in a few months. I mainly teach evening classes, however, so I will still have plenty of time for everything else.

Where do you do your work?
If it's the jewelry making and artwork stitching, then I work at our dining room table. If it's the vintage shopping, then all over Berlin or (on ebay) all over the country and sometimes Austria. If it's the photography, then also around the city or, when I'm lucky enough, other places around the world. Of course, I also spend a lot of time behind a computer just like everyone else I suppose.

How would you like to see Etsy develop in Germany?
I would like to see Etsy also offering workshops and inspiring more and more people to get the handmade and vintage bug. I love how personal and creative it all is and, in the case of vintage, also a great and stylish way to recycle.

What do you see as some of the benefits/potential benefits of being part of the German Etsy Street Team?
I think it will be great to be part of a community. Since our shops are on the internet, the whole process can be pretty lonely and impersonal. It will also be great to get to know other people who are running shops in Germany, since Etsy has been so U.S. focused before. I'm an American, but I do speak fluent German and would find it great to see more done in German as well as other language