A Chat with Terrie Ireland of Chic to Antique
|
VINTAGE FINDS MAGAZINE SITS DOWN WITH TERRIE IRELAND OF CHIC TO ANTIQUE.
How did you get started in this business and how long have you been selling vintage? Getting started has evolved for many years. I started embroidery when I was 12 yrs old, sewing in junior high school, and that is where it all began; my love to craft. When my children were young, I worked painting fish for a company that made trophies for fishing tournaments. I worked part-time and crafted with my girlfriend Tammie. We did craft shows in our local town and other venues. Then I went coastal for awhile but didn’t find a great market for selling. Wildwood Antique Mall opened a store in Titusville and I rent a booth to sell out of and love decorating my booth there. I also do a lot of decorating for events and facilities and several corporations during the holiday season. My sisters and I were passed down many heirlooms from our great grandmother which sparked the interest in vintage. While I can’t quite part with any of those heirlooms, I started seeing other items like them and wanted to start a rental business of vintage items for events. One thing has lead to another and here I am today selling in the greatest market out there for vintage, shabby, and antique items and loving every minute of it. What's your favorite thing about being a vendor? Creating a space that welcomes the customer. I love meeting the folks who stop in and finding out where they are from. It is such a small world out there and I love to hear stories. I love creating memories. |
|
Where's your favorite place to shop?
Pick is more like it, but I can’t give up my secrets on that! I do love Webster but don’t get there on many Mondays. Deland is great too, as well as our local flea in Cocoa on Wednesday’s is great.
Have you ever sold something that you wish you would have kept for yourself or an item that you just could part with? If so, what was it?
I want to keep it all! I buy it because I love it and just know that someone else will love it too. My favorite item that I’ve parted with was a market bag that I sewed from vintage lace and fabrics. I didn’t take a picture but I recall who bought it and the story that she told about what she was going to do with it, which made me very proud.
Do you have future plans or ideas that you want to implement for your business?
I love doing shows. I’d like to attend as many of the top shows as either a vendor or a buyer. My style and taste changes with the inventory that is readily available. I have lots of dreams and hopes and you just never know what lies around the corner. Sometimes just “putting it out there in the universe” makes it happen (borrowed from a dear friend). My sister has recently moved to Florida from Montana and she has helped me to grow even bigger.
What advice would you give someone else going into the business?
Surround yourself with dreamers, doers, and believers and people who support you in all your ideas, it makes everything else fall into place! I have a great support team with my husband, daughter and son. All I have to say “what if” and then next thing I know my idea has come to life. They have always been there helping me accomplish many dreams.
Thank you Terrie, for sharing your story with us!
Pick is more like it, but I can’t give up my secrets on that! I do love Webster but don’t get there on many Mondays. Deland is great too, as well as our local flea in Cocoa on Wednesday’s is great.
Have you ever sold something that you wish you would have kept for yourself or an item that you just could part with? If so, what was it?
I want to keep it all! I buy it because I love it and just know that someone else will love it too. My favorite item that I’ve parted with was a market bag that I sewed from vintage lace and fabrics. I didn’t take a picture but I recall who bought it and the story that she told about what she was going to do with it, which made me very proud.
Do you have future plans or ideas that you want to implement for your business?
I love doing shows. I’d like to attend as many of the top shows as either a vendor or a buyer. My style and taste changes with the inventory that is readily available. I have lots of dreams and hopes and you just never know what lies around the corner. Sometimes just “putting it out there in the universe” makes it happen (borrowed from a dear friend). My sister has recently moved to Florida from Montana and she has helped me to grow even bigger.
What advice would you give someone else going into the business?
Surround yourself with dreamers, doers, and believers and people who support you in all your ideas, it makes everything else fall into place! I have a great support team with my husband, daughter and son. All I have to say “what if” and then next thing I know my idea has come to life. They have always been there helping me accomplish many dreams.
Thank you Terrie, for sharing your story with us!
Vintage Finds Magazine, June 2013
An Artful Journey
by Geanie Finley
|
LIfe is such an adventure is it not?
I cannot begin to think what it would be like without these artful journeys. I live in Brandon, Florida a recent transplant from Polk County after divorcing a couple of years ago. Wow what a difference over this way. I am a mother of four boys, the last one left at home and I have two wonderful grand babies. I have always been an artist and yes it took me a very long time to call myself that. In one form or the other being creative has always had a part in my life. I guess more of an escape in the roller coaster of life at times. |
|
|
At one low point I had visited my mother whom I had not seen in many years and she had this sewing machine that she introduced me to. True love it was and has been from that moment on. Fast forward a few years and one day I was in the
book store and came across a book about soldering....second child was born. That was five years ago and since that point I have searched to find a way to "marry" those two loves. I recently went to Virginia to visit my mom and the two of us were looking for something to play with. I asked her if she happened to have any old slips. To some this may be odd but my mom has always had a passion for collecting things. Her eyes lit up and back into her bedroom we went. As I sat on the edge of her bed she bent down and the only way I can describe it is she was like a magician pulling the never ending scarves out of the hat. She kept finding them and finding them and before it was all over the whole bed had a mound of slips. We went to the store and bought dye and at that moment the "Fair Belle Maidens" were born. |
|
I flew home with a suitcase full of vintage slips and went to work. Once I finished the first "saloon slip" as I like to call them
I decided to contact my friend Lori McGee who is a mixed media artist and have her create some original artwork so that I
could bring my slips to life with one of kind pieces of jewelry. I guess you would say the rest is history. Here I am now with this wonderful focus and an unstoppable passion. All of my items are one of a kind. They are made from cast offs. Clothing that I have taken apart, hand dyed and up-cycled as well as bits and pieces of broken jewelry and other objects cast aside long ago.
I am currently sketching out my fall line which will include boot jewelry, vintage belts with the most amazing belt buckles and a line of saloon pants and coverlets for my slip dresses so they can be worn in the cooler weather. I am so excited to announce my line of wares will be available for sale in the near future at Glitz & Glam Emporium, and my blog as well http://www.bellejuju.blogspot.com. I do so hope to be part of the Fancy Flea crowd in the fall with my own booth….See you then!
I decided to contact my friend Lori McGee who is a mixed media artist and have her create some original artwork so that I
could bring my slips to life with one of kind pieces of jewelry. I guess you would say the rest is history. Here I am now with this wonderful focus and an unstoppable passion. All of my items are one of a kind. They are made from cast offs. Clothing that I have taken apart, hand dyed and up-cycled as well as bits and pieces of broken jewelry and other objects cast aside long ago.
I am currently sketching out my fall line which will include boot jewelry, vintage belts with the most amazing belt buckles and a line of saloon pants and coverlets for my slip dresses so they can be worn in the cooler weather. I am so excited to announce my line of wares will be available for sale in the near future at Glitz & Glam Emporium, and my blog as well http://www.bellejuju.blogspot.com. I do so hope to be part of the Fancy Flea crowd in the fall with my own booth….See you then!
Vintage Finds Magazine, Issue 2, Summer 2012
Thrifting: it's the new retail
By Kitty Breed
Back in the 80's I was like everyone else, hitting the malls and buying everything new. I got really good at finding great retail bargains. It didn't hurt that I was a size 8 and could always find clothes on sale. I ventured out a bit into the the world of thrifting at consignment shops in nearby towns. I had a good time. But when I went to the flea market where I lived, I
found mostly cheap new stuff so I kind of forgot about it.
found mostly cheap new stuff so I kind of forgot about it.
Nevertheless, I created some great collections via Etsy and retail sources. Over the course of the years my house got crowded and I realized that a good culling was in order. I thought maybe I could sell some of my stuff after donating several carloads to charities.
Fast forward to the present… I spend every weekend at the flea market running my own booth and love it! I get to go out picking and have learned a ton about selling vintage items. I've met the nicest people and scored some great deals along the way.
I started out with a booth at a now shuttered flea market mall and sold decorative items I was ready to pass on to someone else. I kept collecting and graduated to a huntress of well, junk. I've developed an aesthetic that embraces the chippy and patinaed. I don't think I can go back to the mall anymore… too boring.
Fast forward to the present… I spend every weekend at the flea market running my own booth and love it! I get to go out picking and have learned a ton about selling vintage items. I've met the nicest people and scored some great deals along the way.
I started out with a booth at a now shuttered flea market mall and sold decorative items I was ready to pass on to someone else. I kept collecting and graduated to a huntress of well, junk. I've developed an aesthetic that embraces the chippy and patinaed. I don't think I can go back to the mall anymore… too boring.
Even if you're never thrifted before, it's not too late to start and I'll be glad to share a few pointers I've picked up along the way. For starters, get a GPS even if you're good with directions. Get to know a few vendors in your local area. When you're ready to open a booth of your own, their advice will be invaluable. Pick at every possible opportunity and get to know typical price ranges.
Most importantly, determine what makes up the essence of your style. Doing this isn't as easy as it sounds but it matters. Whatever it is that you always gravitate to will be what you can sell. One tip I can offer is to try to brand your personal style using only two words to help guide you in your purchases. {I cheat and use three words. Mine are "Shabby Vintage Industrial."}
Don't sweat the small stuff. You'll learn as you go. Just don't spend too much on your wares and remember that thrifting is the new retail. You'll never go back.
Most importantly, determine what makes up the essence of your style. Doing this isn't as easy as it sounds but it matters. Whatever it is that you always gravitate to will be what you can sell. One tip I can offer is to try to brand your personal style using only two words to help guide you in your purchases. {I cheat and use three words. Mine are "Shabby Vintage Industrial."}
Don't sweat the small stuff. You'll learn as you go. Just don't spend too much on your wares and remember that thrifting is the new retail. You'll never go back.
Heart Vintage Designs - Renningers Flea Market, Mount Dora, FL - HeartVintageDesigns.blogspot.com
Vintage Finds Magazine, Issue 1, Spring 2012