Here at Amber Ostrich Estate Sales, we have many shoppers who are business owners and come to our estate sales to buy for their businesses.
This shopper profile is part of installation of a blog series about our shoppers who are also business owners.
Andee Knutson, aka Betty Crafter, with an original UT art piece from a recent Amber Ostrich Tarrytown estate sale.
If you’ve ever dreamed of quitting your day job and just selling vintage items on consignment, then you should meet Betty Crafter.
Although, technically, she got laid off during AISD’s rounds of teacher layoffs a year and a half ago, she did just that.
Andee Knutson, aka, Betty Crafter, once a special education teacher, now divides her days between her pre-school aged daughter and digging through yard sales, estate sales, thrifts stores and flea markets looking for great finds, mostly from the 1950s-1960s.
And she makes a good living doing so.
She consigns her items at Hog Wild Vintage on the North Loop in Austin.
One of her favorite places to find amazing scores is in Detroit and its suburbs, where she travels regularly to visit family.
And of course, she shops local sales, which is how we came to know her here at Amber Ostrich. She’s one of our customers!
Even though she’s only been a seller professionally for a couple of years, Knutson has been shopping vintage and antiques since she was a young adult.
“It takes some practice,” she said. “It’s how people get started selling. They don’t want to stop shopping (for themselves)!”
Knutson’s favorite items to shop for her personal stash are lamps and clothing. But she admits that furniture is where the real money comes into play.
Knutson, with her stash of Crewel Embroidery
“Furniture is the bread and butter.”
When asked to share a few trade secrets she said that one recent
trend she’s noticed is Crewel Embroidery Kits from the 1960s are gaining in popularity. And she has several herself.
She also collects Enid Collins purses and adores Bakelite.
Knutson has approximately 40 Enid Collins purses on a wall in her home.
And she uses her 1960s vintage Singer sewing machine for all her crafty projects.
She’s even got her husband on the vintage kick. He’s a band manager, but his office is decorated with vintage gas and oil signs.
“His office is decorated as if Don Draper (Mad Men) was an oil executive.”
Knutson's husband inside his vintage office.
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