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My Story

Hi everyone and welcome,

my name is Tamie and I'm the founder of Blessed Vintage.

 

Having always had a creative, arty side and passion for home décor (or home wares), renovating houses and rejuvenating furniture.  I find myself drawn to and influenced by Rustic, Country, Edwardian, French Provincial, Hamptons, Vintage, Farmhouse, Shabby Chic and even a little Industrial design.

 

To tell you a little about me, I did a large part of my growing up at Logan Village, Qld and my parents still live there.  I’ve always lived within this vicinity and my family are really important to me.  My one and only child, Riley is a large part of my world.  Conceiving a child did not come naturally to me, at all.  I waited 10 years for my mini me and in the end I chose to try ICCI to conceive him (which is a procedure like IVF, a little more expensive though).  So, he's my little miracle, literally.

 

I’ve never been fond of cooking.  I call a spade, a spade.  I hate fake.  I’m a sensitive soul which I’ve only really embraced the last few years as it’s a gift.  I love pink tones and pastel colours.  I value quiet time but also love catching up with friends.  I’m a behind the scenes person so I’ve been out of my comfort zone with business stuff at times.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention chocolate … well it is definitely one of my favourite things – when all else fails, chocolate understands!

 

My business name came from my love for vintage items.  Blessed has special meaning to me.  Like many fellow upcyclers, I am self-taught. I have always tinkered around with my arty side.  I love transforming something drab into fab.  I’m a big believer in restoration – not just in material things, but also for our very lives and when you think about it, there are so many other things to restore that the list is endless.  The meaning of restoration is the act of returning something, repair, fix, mend, overhaul, rebuild.

 

I was married for 20 years and in short, hubby decided he didn’t want to be married anymore and left.  Our only son was young when he left.  Not even three months after him leaving, he announced his engagement to his young Russian bride.  I felt somewhat traded in and like I was swimming in the land of what the heck is happening here.  His marriage didn’t last long though.  From someone looking it on, it very much looked like as soon as the Australian Visa’s came through, she ran for the hills.  When I look back now, it was the best thing that he left.  I did everything – the house, the cleaning, the garden, the mowing, the cooking, the finances and worked in my day job also – you name it, it was me.  I was exhausted without knowing it and just accepted it being the loyal one.

 

After he left, I did not want another relationship … well that was until I met my new man, Will (or Willie) as I sometimes call him and to be honest I never thought I’d meet someone that ticked all the boxes on my mile long list.

 

I now have a supportive man.  Sure, he can still act like an idiot at times (lol), but overall, the maturity is there.  He was the big motivating factor to push me forward with doing this business.  He is my behind-the-scenes helper and always getting things for me.  I’m slowly filling his shed up with furniture bargains! In fact, I think we can now call that a ‘She Shed’.  There is a sad side to this story though, Will has a daughter and there have been many challenges with the ‘blended families’ thing.  Both of our children get on well.  I just did not anticipate any step-daughter/step-Mum difficulties and the disapproval has definitely been directed towards me.  I have sought professional help at times for how to deal with these issues.  It’s been hard and I’ve had to learn to not take it personally as it would have happened regardless of it being me or another woman.  Being a step Mum to a child that doesn’t want you around is not for the feint hearted, but you do it any way and hope one day it will be smoother sailings. Life goes on.

 

With all that aside, Blessed Vintage kicked off in July 2018.  It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster ride some days.  Establishing relationships and which products to stock (and discontinue) are big steps and are also important to me.  I have also worked part time as an Administrator / Bookkeeper whilst doing the business which was a huge juggle in itself, but had to also be done.  Everyone starts somewhere.  As a business owner, you wear many hats and deal with many behind the scenes things.  Being in business stretches you, but it is also very rewarding.

 

So, I don’t bore you to tears and in closing, here at Blessed Vintage you will find many items for your furniture DIY upcycling projects.  I stock chalk paint, mineral paints and finishes – Aussie brands are important to me, and I try as much as I can to support this.  You’ll also find Cling On Brushes, re-design with Prima Transfers, Flexible Resin Appliques, Gemini Creative Stencils, Rice Papers for your decoupage projects and Saltwash (to add beautiful texture and different applications to your projects).  I regularly have upcycled furniture pieces for sale. I also run and organise interactive project focused workshops where I teach others how to create and achieve the look they are after (held regularly on the Southside of Brisbane).  I also have a small amount of homewares.

 

You can check out all my upcycling goodies right here. It’s amazing what a little bit of imagination and persistence will help you create. Try it … painting and creating are also therapeutic, so it’s good for you.

 

Wishing you a blessed day!

Tamie x