{ About the Artist }
I am a happy married lady, to a wonderful and understanding Greek man; we have 2 beautiful girls, Maddison 7 and Anastasia 6, who keep us on our toes and love to help me with all things Shabby and Chic.
Let’s just say I love anything from Shabby Chic, Cottage Vintage, New Country, Junk Chic and French Provincial. Basically everything to do with design! It started when I was in Warragul about 18 years ago when I came across a show called Shabby Chic by Rachel Ashwell. I taped every show to be inspired. No one in Warragul and Melbourne had really heard about Shabby Chic nor knew much about it except the few who had actually seen the show.
So I got to work, sourcing furniture, scraping and cleaning to prepare for painting. All on the front porch of the Californian bungalow home we where staying at. People passing by would call out to me "that looks beautiful, would you like to sell it to me?" So this is where my business began. We already had a business in the small town called the Warragul Chicken Bar where we sold BBQ chickens and roasted dinners. All the people in town started calling me THE SHABBY GREEK LADY (I am married to a Greek Man), which inspired me to call my interior decoration business “Shabby Greek Interiors” (copy right law’s apply).
Our girls came along in the car every weekend to garage sales and hard junk run’s. About 5 months before Maddison’s fourth birthday, she picked up one of my books: The Gift of Giving By Rachel. She had the most exciting look on her face, sat down on the floor opened the book to page 158 and said "mummy, mummy, I want a Shabby Chic party, I want the same party, it has to be the same mummy!" I swear my family must have thought I brain washed my child….lol! So I sourced similar fabric, bought the dye and got to work so it was all ready for the big day….Trust me, Maddi always had the book on hand to tell me if I was doing it wrong or yes mummy that’s right….hee, hee. Her big fourth birthday was a hit! She loved everything about it and so did her friends and family.
I also had a lot of family and friends asking for my advice as to what color they should paint their rooms, and where they should move furniture. Many times I was told I should do this for a living. Unfortunately we sold our business and had to move back to Melbourne. All our family was down there and we felt it was the right thing to do. So once we got settled in at my father in-laws, I decided to enroll myself in the interior design and decoration course, 2 years of study, I had know idea how hard it was going to be!
My girlfriend had a baby so I made her a gift tag to put on the present. She loved it and said I should go into business, so this where I found my way. I started reading the secret and changed my whole way of thinking and started applying the secret rules in my everyday life. I believe it works! I got busy making tags and listed them on eBay, things where going well, but even better when I received an email from Vintage Glamour. They requested I make tags for furniture and chandeliers as price tags. They loved them so much they asked could they sell them in the shops, of course I would!
Three weeks later they put my tags in a new magazine called French Provincial, as part of their product line. You can read all about that on my blog. I also had another review in a magazine called Country Home Ideas. I have now opened the doors to my very own shop! This has been such an exciting experience for me!
I would like to thank a few people if I could...
To my Hubby for carrying all my stuff around, with out getting sick of it and throwing it out :-)
To my beautiful girls Maddison and Anastasia, for a putting up with a screaming, yelling stressed mummy sometimes! T
o Jenny, Linda and Karen, for teaching me everything I need to know about Interior design and decoration
To Vintage Glamour- Maritza and Paul, for selecting me out of all the other sellers on eBay, to be your resident designer of tags for both your shops.
To Amy- at Vintage Age Papier- for opening my eyes and doors to a whole new world of blogs and other creative ladies, and asking me to become a member.
And last but not least thank Me, for putting up with all of the stress and hard work :-)
Hugs
Kirstie
{ Shop Details }
When I first saw Kirstie tags, I knew she would be a perfect fit for AgedVintage Papier! He style is vintage yet perfectly shabby. Her online boutique is amazing and full of eye candy as you view each delish page! And her Store front looks so appealing... I wonder how long the flight is from NY to visit, lol! Thank you Kirstie for sharing your story. It is certainly inspiring for me and I am sure it is for others who are dreaming of owning their own brick and mortar boutique someday.
Warmest Blessings and have a refreshing weekend,
Amy Sutter
