About the Face Behind Dawn To Dusk

Hi, I’m Jen! I’m an artist, creative person and the human behind Dawn To Dusk Online, based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. I love early mornings, use dark mode on basically everything, and have spent enough years of my life online from dawn to dusk that the name of this shop has become increasingly appropriate. I’m also a dialysis patient living with kidney failure, and I share my home with Eloise, my beautiful cat and #1 source of daily joy.

Dawn To Dusk actually started a few years ago with an idea: I was moving and thought it would be fun to create my own online estate sale. There was just one small logistical problem—I had to actually move. The move happened long before I managed to photograph, document and list everything I could potentially sell, and Dawn To Dusk eventually went quiet.

In 2026, I brought it back with a new life as a secondhand shop. At the moment, The Cabinet is almost entirely closet-sourced from the collection of things I’ve accumulated through years of hobbies, interests, projects and life adventures. I’m decluttering, but I don't particularly like thinking of it as simply getting rid of things. I’m finding new hands for my treasures.

I have always loved interesting things. Miniatures. Witchy things. Art. Books. Ephemera. Craft supplies. Collectibles. Beautiful objects. Strange objects. Things that make me stop for reasons I can't necessarily explain. Long ago, I managed to reach the maximum number of interest keywords LiveJournal would allow on a profile. I think that probably tells you everything you need to know. I am a maximalist in my whimsy.

My background is in art and web design, which eventually led me into customer service and ecommerce. Along the way, plenty of adventures—and a few rollercoasters—helped me accumulate quite the treasure hoard. In 2024, some serious health issues caused me to begin reconsidering my belongings, my environment and, more broadly, what I wanted my life at home to look like. The Cabinet has become part of that process.

Dawn To Dusk Online also gives me somewhere productive to put all of that time I've historically spent online. Instead of falling into doom-scrolling or constantly consuming something new, The Cabinet puts me into what I affectionately call business babe mode. I photograph. I research. I catalogue. I write. I organize. I sell. I learn. And eventually, something leaves my home and begins another little chapter somewhere else.

One of my favourite unexpected parts of selling secondhand has been hearing those stories. Sometimes someone has found the perfect gift. Sometimes they've discovered something they've been looking for. Sometimes another reseller has found a great deal to source for their own business. All of those outcomes make me happy. I get to make more space in my life while something I once enjoyed gets another opportunity to be useful, appreciated, collected, gifted or loved.

When I list something, I ask myself one question: What would I want to know if I were buying this? That's the standard I try to bring to every listing. I photograph the actual items you're purchasing and document their condition and relevant details as comprehensively as I reasonably can. I want you to know about the wear, the quirks, the measurements and the little things that might matter when you're deciding whether something belongs with you. One day I am definitely going to need a bigger lightbox. Until then, I work with what I have and aim for transparency over perfection.

I've also changed how I approach returns as the shop has grown. If something isn't right for you, I don't necessarily need to know why. Provided it comes back to me in the condition in which it was received and within the terms of my return policy, that's enough. Secondhand things have histories. I don't expect them to be perfect, but I do believe you deserve to know what you're buying.

There is one other very important member of Dawn To Dusk, although her contributions to day-to-day operations are questionable. Her name is Eloise.

A significant part of the environment and lifestyle I'm building now is about creating a wonderful home for the two of us. I want her to have an enriching, safe single-cat household where we can both live our best lives. That has meant letting go of belongings and even old hobbies that aren't compatible with having a curious cat wandering around my home.

And, strangely enough, that's brought everything full circle. The Cabinet isn't just about selling things. It's helping me decide what stays, thoughtfully say goodbye to what doesn't, create space for the life I want to live now—and hopefully send a little joy out the door along the way.

Thanks for stopping by and getting to know the face behind Dawn To Dusk.

— Jen