Shop Dreams
I finally put my latest cat plate in my etsy shop! It was sooooooo fun to paint. I want to paint plates all the time but I can’t because it’s costly and the studio I’ve found with best price is all the way down in San Diego. Will someone please open up a pottery-painting studio across the street from me? There’s a perfect spot for it.
There’s a little storefront across the street from me that is so adorable. It has big windows that are slanted outwards at the top. If I were up on my architecture I’d tell you what time period it is from but I’m clueless. This poor shop used to be my laundromat. I thought I had a photo of it but this is the best I can come up with. Did you see my wee tiny fluff-and-fold baby?!!! Those were the days…I was so terrified.
Anyway, this storefront must have terrible rent because it’s been several different businesses since the laundromat and nothing seems to be able to stay open. Maybe it’s cursed.
I have a daydream that my uncle who imports and sell beads (my cousins run the online shop) will open a shop there and call it “Beach Bits.” They could hang strands of translucent beads in the window so everyone who drives by will see them. We live on a big highway with lots of exposure so everyone would see the pretty beads sparkling and admire them. We could sell shell beads and beachy kitsch to the tourists and host beading parties for the locals.
While we’re daydreaming we might as well put a kiln in the back and have a little pottery-painting studio too! Maybe we would warm up the cement floors with old braided rag rugs and of course hang some SAJ and Bug masterpieces on the walls. There would be a orange tabby shop cat named Myrna and a French press brewing fresh pots of coffee all day long. Bug would hang out with me in the back and of course I would blog the whole thing.
And then it would tank horribly because the economy sucks and parking around here is more trouble than it’s worth. But it was a nice daydream!
In the meantime I’ll keep my etsy shop open!
15 Comments
Annika
But where do you do your laundry now?! Did you post about it and I missed it?
SAJ says: Yeah… we found a new laundromat. I posted about it here.
Aunt Kathy
I think you have a great idea! As long as you have the coffee pot on count me in! And with Bug as a mascot the shop wouldn’t tank:)
Tamara
What a wonderful place it would be!!!
Glenda
LOL, you’re so funny *B*! I love how you dream outloud – I do that all the time :)
Laurie
Sounds like a fantastic little shop. I would bring the boys – not because they would want to play with beads, but the atmosphere is not to be missed!
LVGurl
I’d buy a dog plate ;)
Gayle
Wow, what a great daydream, until the end when the economy tanked!
Ninotchka
That really is a great daydream.
Helena
Oooh … and a circle of easy chairs with a couple shelves of used books to buy or trade. You could even have a monthly book club there. Aren’t pipe dreams wonderful? :)
Jennifer
I love this dream. Can you have a knitting corner too? :P Down the street from me there were a bunch of loft/storefronts built in the middle of this economic downturn. Downstairs street level is a small storefront, upstairs a small studio apartment. Every time I drive by there I dream of buying one and knitting away upstairs in the evening and hanging out with all my goods in the daytime.
Maybe we could open up a shop together and make our dreams come true. This I could pitch this to an investor?
Jennifer
I didn’t mean “this” I meant “think” I could pitch this….
*submitting to editing fairies* :)
BeachMama
I love daydreams, now if we can only just snap our fingers and voila the store would be open, all would be well. You should have a shop, maybe someone else could work there so you could be out creating stuff to sell, but still it should be your shop.
karen
Add a coffee urn and a little table where someone could bring cookies and I’m there all day! :)
Tara
You should check to see if you have a local pottery guild that would let you use their facilities/kiln for cheap.
lynne
This is a good dream! You could sell your paintings and all your friends art works too. You could run workshops too. I bought that sarong I sent you from just such a shop, I can remember the stings and strings of beads hanging eveywhere, but that was in Ocean Beach near San Diego. You could make it happen but I know this year is just a dodgy one economy wise for new ventures, but us freelancers we run our own business all the time…
I think Taras comment is a good one there could be a community art college nearby which has evening classes you could join just to use the pottery room facillities.