The next featured vintage hunter in our Green With Indie series is our very own: The Fancy Lamb! Find out more about Robin in her interview, below + be sure to stop by her booth at Green With Indie this Saturday!

Q: Tell our lovely readers a bit about yourself. Is buying and selling vintage your full-time gig or a hobby? How and when did you get started in this business?
My name is Robin and you might know me from the Addicted To interview column, where I interview other vintage sellers each week. So it’s kind of fun to have the tables turned on me! The Fancy Lamb is my full-time job, and it includes selling vintage as well as creating handmade goodies out of vintage components. My vintage book journals are probably my most popular line of handmade goods but I also sew things using vintage fabrics and work on other miscellaneous projects with my treasures.

I’ve been in and out of antique malls my whole life — I think there’s a hereditary collecting gene in all the females in my family — although when I was younger, I didn’t exactly enjoy the junking like I do now. I really began doing this as a business endeavor after I got laid off from my real world job in April 2009. It was a perfect scenario for me to be able to do something I enjoy, while finding a little more balance between my work and my home life. Little did I know that The Fancy Lamb would soon swallow up everything (sometimes I feel like I work 24/7/365!) but at least I can do much of it from home in my pajamas, and take a break to walk one of my dogs whenever the mood strikes me.

Q: Are there any items you’ve regretted selling and wish you would have kept for yourself?
When it comes down to it, I don’t really regret selling anything. Although there are many pieces I’ve loved and hated to see go, if I don’t have a use for something I don’t really see any point in keeping it. It feels much better to pass it on and hope that someone else enjoys it even more. Plus, most things I purchase with the sole intent to resell them so I never really get too attached.

Q: Pick one and tell us about it: Weirdest, most valuable, or most satisfying find?
This probably qualifies as one of the most valuable AND most satisfying finds… My husband and I were out estate sale-ing, which is our standard Saturday morning routine. We stopped by a home that looked totally normal and current from the outside, but the moment we stepped in, we knew that this was no normal home. It was a snapshot straight out of the ’60s, with flocked wall paper, shag carpets, and retrolicious hanging lamps. As I made my way into the first bedroom, I saw a hint of red peeking out of the closet. Making a beeline for it, I knew it was going to be something special. And I was not disappointed! I discovered, hidden in the depths of the closet, a set of 3 bright red matching Amelia Earhart suitcases. They were in amazing condition inside and out. Oddly enough, though, they weren’t marked with a price (although it seemed that just about everything else at the sale was). I asked my husband to lug them up to the front check-out since they were too large to carry through the house (of course, I needed my hands free to pick up other treasures) and while he was up there, he asked the boss-man how much they were asking for them. “How about $2 a piece?” he replied. You’ve got a deal, boss-man!

Well, months later, they’ve all sold but I am pleased to report that 2 of them were purchase by the upcoming movie “The Sin Bin.” And my little $6 investment turned into a cool $234. Not bad for a morning’s work!

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