This shopper profile is part of installation of a blog series about our shoppers who are also business owners.

Andee Knutson, aka Betty Crafter, with an original UT art piece from a recent Amber Ostrich Tarrytown estate sale.

If you’ve ever dreamed of quitting your day job and just selling vintage items on consignment, then you should meet Betty Crafter.

Although, technically, she got laid off during AISD’s rounds of teacher layoffs a year and a half ago, she did just that.

Andee Knutson, aka, Betty Crafter, once a special education teacher, now divides her days between her pre-school aged daughter and digging through yard sales, estate sales, thrifts stores and flea markets looking for great finds, mostly from the 1950s-1960s.

And she makes a good living doing so.

She consigns her items at Hog Wild Vintage on the North Loop in Austin.

One of her favorite places to find amazing scores is in Detroit and its suburbs, where she travels regularly to visit family.

And of course, she shops local sales, which is how we came to know her here at Amber Ostrich. She’s one of our customers!

Even though she’s only been a seller professionally for a couple of years, Knutson has been shopping vintage and antiques since she was a young adult.

“It takes some practice,” she said. “It’s how people get started selling. They don’t want to stop shopping (for themselves)!”

Knutson’s favorite items to shop for her personal stash are lamps and clothing. But she admits that furniture is where the real money comes into play.

Knutson, with her stash of Crewel Embroidery

“Furniture is the bread and butter.”

When asked to share a few trade secrets she said that one recent

trend she’s noticed is Crewel Embroidery Kits from the 1960s are gaining in popularity. And she has several herself.

She also collects Enid Collins purses and adores Bakelite.

Knutson has approximately 40 Enid Collins purses on a wall in her home.

And she uses her 1960s vintage Singer sewing machine for all her crafty projects.

She’s even got her husband on the vintage kick. He’s a band manager, but his office is decorated with vintage gas and oil signs.

“His office is decorated as if Don Draper (Mad Men) was an oil executive.”

Knutson's husband inside his vintage office.

The post Betty Crafter, Local Vintage Seller: An AO Shopper Profile appeared first on Amber Ostrich Estate Sales.

This shopper profile is part of installation of a new blog series about our shoppers who are also business owners.

Angela Jiles, Confection Composer and owner of Blue Note Bakery

Angela Jiles doesn’t just bake cakes, she is an artist and a sculptor. Her art is edible. And delicious.

Jiles is the owner of Blue Note Bakery. Her business card gives her title as: Confection Composer.

Blue Note Bakery is not the kind of shop where one can drop in and buy cookies or pre-made cakes, although they are quick to offer up samples to anyone who drops in, even unannounced. All of their confections are made to order, sculpted birthday cakes and designer wedding cakes are the specialty at Blue Note.

Vintage hat box, used as a cake stand.

As an Amber Ostrich Estate Sales shopper, Jiles buys vintage items to go with specific orders. At our last sale in August, Jiles bought a vintage hat box and old wire basket to use as alternative cake stands for an upcoming show.

Vintage items and baking seemed to be Jiles’ fate. As an infant, one of her very first Christmas gifts was the Pillsbury dough boy doll (pictured above) and as a child, she loved to bake.

“I’ve always been into vintage,” Jiles said, noting that she had been married in a 1940s vintage wedding dress when she married her husband.

Angela Jiles' favorite recipe from childhood.

For Jiles, the fact that vintage weddings are popular right now is inspiring to her as a cake designer. She loves to use vintage items as inspiration for many of her cake designs, and is currently designing a line of display cakes to take to wedding shows. Other inspiration for her cakes come from fabrics and materials.

Understanding that the cake is just as important as any other part of the wedding, Jiles said she designs wedding cakes to fit perfectly in with a special day.

“I’m not just selling the cake. I’m selling the idea of your dream wedding.”

Blue Note Bakery is located on 4201 S. Congress and can be found online at http://www.bluenotebakery.com/ and also on Facebook, where they host delicious contests on a regular basis. Check them out!

If you’re a local business owner who shops at Amber Ostrich Estate Sales, and you’d like to be featured on our blog series, drop us a line: deb@amberostrich.com

The post Blue Note Bakery: An AO Shopper Profile appeared first on Amber Ostrich Estate Sales.

AO shopper: Ashley Jo Green, wedding stylist and owner of To Have and To Hold

Here at Amber Ostrich Estate Sales, we have many shoppers who are business owners and come to our estate sales to buy for their businesses.

This shopper profile is the first in an installation of a new blog series about our shoppers who are also business owners.

To Have & To Hold: Wedding Stylist who buys antiques and vintage items

Even though she is not married, Ashley Jo Green’s creative space feels like the idyllic married haven upon walking in, you are greeted by lace, milk glass, silver and romantic charm.

Ashley Jo Green, a wedding stylist, and owner of To Have and Hold, in Buda, is one of our shoppers and first came to us looking for milk glass.

Her business is unusual in that she sells a look, a certain feel, for brides who wish to revisit a simpler time. Her term for this look is “whimsical” and “timeless.”

Upon entering her showroom, one gets the feeling that you’ve entered a simpler time. Lace hangs along old doors, collected and used to separate her work room from her sitting room. Old books, black and white photos, tin bird cages, and vintage suitcases are her stacked decor. Mirrors with fading paint give the room a country charm.

These things, and more, are all for rent to brides who are looking to give their weddings an old-fashioned appeal. Green says they usually don’t want to buy these things, so she rents them out.

How She Got Here

Green studied fashion at Baylor and at the time, fell in love with a blue, antique door owned by her roommate.

“I’d always see that darn, blue door. That got me hooked. Now, I can’t get enough,” she said.

The door was eventually given to her and it became her muse. After college, she opened a bridal boutique using this type of decor. Customers continuously asked if they could use her things at their weddings. At the time, she was making bridal dresses, but realized that this could also become a part of her business and also feed her desire to seek out new, old things.

“I love this; I love old things,” Green said.

She was inspired also by her mother, who died from breast cancer when Green was just 14. Her mother’s spirit inspires her to stay creative, she said. “Mom was always very creative. She could make something out of nothing.”

And so it seems, so can Ashley Jo Green.

Not only does she make bridal dresses and style weddings, but she has also started doing wedding photography for her clients, a passion added to her business.

Happily ever after.

When asked what she will do if this type of wedding becomes less popular she said that while she doesn’t think it will, given that Texans have long loved the romantic feeling of the old days, she is always open to exploring new avenues.

“I’m always doing something new,” she said. “I think you have to mold and shape your business with the way things are changing.”

If you are a small business owner and also an Amber Ostrich shopper, and you’d like to be profiled on our blog, please contact Deb Larsen, deb@amberostrich.com

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