Greetings & welcome to my first blog post!
I thought I would start my blog by firstly introducing myself.
My name is Eliza Jane and I am a self confessed vintage addict! From a very early age my addiction started whilst listening to my Dad's Elvis records, tuning into re-runs of I Love Lucy & watching movies like Grease, Dirty Dancing & Back to The Future.
I met my soul mate at the age of 23 & we married in 2009 in a "Rocktail" themed wedding where I wore a dress handmade by my mother out of 1930s taffeta. My hair was styled in 1940s Victory Rolls & my wedding ring was my grandmother's and dates back to 1944.
My husband & I have shared many adventures over the years including living in both Sydney & Melbourne & travelling overseas to New Zealand, Canada & the US. Our biggest adventure to date has definitely been becoming parents to our little girl, Bettie-Mae, in October 2012. We were inspired to name her after Bettie Page & added Mae which was my grandmother's middle name.
We decided to move to the Central Western NSW town of Orange in mid 2012 when I was pregnant, to be closer to family. It certainly is a slower pace compared to city living, however we live a darling life in our 1930s double brick home surrounded by furniture & collectables from the 1950s & 1960s.
The things that I mainly collect are Mid Century furniture, kitsch ornaments, vintage suitcases, vintage handbags & jewellery & religious iconography.
Over the past few years I have been up cycling pieces of furniture such as the dressing table below, as well as sewing things using vintage & retro inspired fabrics.
Mid way through 2013, I decided to combine my love of collecting vintage & retro as well as handmade & up cycling, by starting a business from home aptly named Bettie & Me.
Off the back of the great success the business has received over the past few months I opened a pop up shop for the month leading up to Christmas. Dotted Eight Cafe in Orange has been the home to the exciting venture & has been well received by the town, opening the door to the possibility of another in the future!
2013 has been an exciting year. Bettie - Mae turned One ( We survived the first year!) Bettie & Me was born & the success of the Pop Up Shop has been overwhelming. And there is no sign of things slowing down! In the first quarter alone Bettie & Me will be having a stall at the following events -
I am also in the process of launching my events business "Pin Curls & Pearls Events" with some exciting yet to be announced projects! Bettie & Me will be working towards hosting Vintage Tea Parties, Vintage style workshops & hopefully in the second half of the year, offer Vintage hair & make up styling services. I look forward to sharing more of this news as it happens.
In the mean time, you can check me out on any of the following links & buy your own piece of vintage gorgeousness too!
Stay Fabulous,
Eliza xx
