i'm opening a shop!

Sorry for my blogging absence, things have been a bit busy lately.. but for good reason.  If you have followed me for a while you know my story before Aspen Summit was that of a salon/boutique owner, it was something I loved very much, but moved on from and have missed the 'shop owner' side of things ever since.

When I first moved to Portland, I had dreams of opening a little shop in a quaint neighborhood and I've looked here and there for places, but thought maybe it just wasn't in the cards.  Fast forward to about two weeks ago when I found a little building for rent and texted my friend Casey who had mentioned wanting to open a second location for her own shop.  I emailed the owner of the building that Saturday to view it Monday and she said it probably would be gone already- so we didn't think much of it for the rest of the weekend.  Come Monday, I get an email that said she could show us the place that afternoon and by the end of the appointment we had a deal the next morning to sign the lease and pick up the keys!

follow along on our instagram ^ to see sneak peeks of our progress!

So we are doing it!  It will be called work/shop its a botanical gift boutique & collective work space.  Imagine part retail -lots of plants, bath & body, gifts, stationery, etc.- and part workshop space for classes we will teach -weaving, block printing, candle making, etc.- along with selling our own items we have teamed up with some amazing makers, some who don't sell in Portland yet and we can't wait to share them with this city!

We are opening on Friday November 13th (you heard that right, super soon!!), which also happens to be my birthday- so if you live here or will be visiting soon, we'd love to have you stop in. xx

portland flower market

Flowerrrrrssss!!! Thats my thought every time I walk into the wholesale floral market here in Portland.  I remember the day I found out that I was eligible for a wholesale buyers pass (even though I'm not a florist) and thinking I finally made it.  Like I was given the secret knock or password to a cool kids club.

prop swap + pop up

One thing I love about being a maker is the community that surrounds it.  Meeting and collaborating with others that have a similar passion is one of the greatest rewards- well I guess besides making things, selling them and being my own boss haha.. but you get the idea!  This weekend I participated in a pop-up market at Elder Hall, hosted by Ashley- Local Haven and Adriana- Xochitl Adriana.  Its was a small gathering of makers and collectors offering wares for sale and trade.  The space was so beautiful and inspiring- I can't wait to go back!

workshop: textile block printing

heyo portland friends!  i wanted to share with you a workshop i am co-hosting with cultivate portland- we are teaming up with a new local shop here, field trip, to teach some textile block printing.  as you might know, i joined forces with two amazing ladies and we formed a fun little collaborative group (read more about it here).  we hosted our first larger scale workshop back in june and have a few things lined up for the remainder of the year.  this workshop coming up is a bit more intimate with limited space and we are so excited to just get our craft on!

its a super chill night where we will show you how to create geometric foam block stamps that you will use to pattern print on tea towels.  there will be a shop discount to field trip for all students, some drinks and desserts and of course plenty of fun!  if you are local and would like to attend you can purchase a ticket at the shop or over the phone. hope to see you there! xx

BLOCK PRINTING WORKSHOP

thur. aug. 27th

7pm $20

@ field trip

3725 se division - pdx

971-703-4523

shop local: artemisia

If you follow me on instagram you might notice that I tend to explore around this city, a lot.  Theres just something about finding little shops, tasting all the food, sitting and just taking in this place that does it for me.  Most days I try to find time to visit at least one local joint (even if that means just sitting in a coffee shop) while out and about running errands, or between freelance jobs.  Its just something that I've made a part of my life here, almost like a hobby.  Meeting shop owners, perusing the goods and people watching are just my jam.

I've thought for a while about bringing on a feature here sharing all of the places I visit, my version of a shop local guide to portland.  I just always lose touch with this blog when life gets busy, but I think I've finally found some balance and can't wait to get back into the swing of things.  

Today I'm sharing a shop visit with Artemisia located in the Buckman-East neighborhood and offering an overflowing amount of pretty.  With a part retail - part workshop experience, its hard to leave empty handed and even harder to not pull out your phone and take a million photos. 

recap: #cultivatepdx weaving workshop

At the beginning of summer I met up with a few new friends here in Portland- so new in fact this was my first time even hanging out with them- we chatted over coffee and a few hours later we had left with a new business partnership and big ideas.

Cultivate Portland was created with a passion for community and a desire to bring it to the city of roses.   We recently hosted our first event (a weaving workshop) at a beautiful venue in North Portland and I couldn't wait to share some of the evening- via photos- with you!

portland guide: farmers markets

The season of farmers markets are upon us!  Although there are some that go year round, most stick to a May-October schedule and if you love them as much as I do, then a one day a week pop-up isn't enough.  Today I'm sharing a portland guide: farmers market for my local friends (or those of you planning a visit) so that you can find a market any day of the week! 

Portland Weaving Workshop

I'm so excited to offer my first set of weaving classes here in Portland.  If you have wanted to learn how to start weaving or even if you have started and would like to learn a few of the proper terms, a little history about weaving, techniques and resources for finding supplies than this class is for you!

I've scheduled two classes to allow people with scheduling conflicts to make one of the classes work for them!  Space is limited as I'm keeping them small to allow for 1-on-1 time with students and make a comfortable setting for everyone.  Each student will receive a lap loom as well as some other goodies.  All supplies will be provided along with refreshments.  If you are in the Portland area and are interested in attending one of the workshops- you can purchase a ticket directly here (Oct.27th workshop | Nov.2nd  Oct. 28th* workshop) if you have your own loom and wish to skip getting one in the workshop please use code 'myloom' at checkout to save 50% off the workshop price- or if you have any questions please don't hesitate to get in touch through my contact page! *we changed the date of the nov 2nd workshop to oct 28th because there was way more interest in the evening offering than the sunday morning one- thanks for understanding!!

sponsorship opportunity if you would like your business to contribute to our event we are looking for items to fill our guest bags with- physical product, discount codes, samples, etc.  or an item for a giveaway I will be hosting here on the blog when the event is over.  please email me for details- and if you are local and would like to sponsor the event plus attend, there is a 25% off discount code that I have for you- just get in touch!

solo sunday

I've been slowly working on my 33 wishes and along the way I'm becoming more surprised how checking off one thing from my list actually accomplishes a few extras that I didn't expect.  Today I decided to take a solo trip out to a Cistus Nursery, since its been on my list of local places to visit for awhile.  I was stuck behind the slowest farm truck ever, but I was in no rush.  I know it might seem like such a small thing to some- to practice patience or not cuss at idiot drivers, but sometimes I let those ugly traits get the best of me and forget to just chill out when I want to be somewhere.  Going for the drive, with no set time time limit and then wandering around the nursery by myself was exactly what I needed.

Summer seems to have just swooped on in to this year and I'm trying to take every day just a little more slowly than previous years.  I love autumn so usually I look forward to summer being over, but this time around I'm in no hurry.   Just like when I was behind that truck. These days, months and years are flying by and I'm over here pushing the breaks in hopes that every night when I go to bed, I know that I had a good day- or at least made an effort to.  

If that means slowing down to enjoy the now then thats exactly what I'll keep doing.  I have five months until my list of wishes is up and I get to start new, but right now I'm enjoying this one.  

I'm enjoying the now.

[all photos via iphone edited with vsco]

life lately

I'm trying as much as I can to get settled in our new place, but with so many ideas for projects rolling around in my brain, its been hard to focus, unpack or even rest.  I'm okay with that though because it just keeps me busy and seeing the end result of all the crazy ideas I keep coming up, sounds more fun anyway!  This last weekend my mom came up to visit and help me with a couple of the projects I wanted to tackle.  It was the first time she has visited without my dad and for longer that two days ( I had her for almost 5!) and we tried to stuff as many things into each day as possible.

We hit up the Milwaukie Farmers Market, which is one of my top favorite markets up here (i vote it 2nd to psu), its so adorable and packed with goodies- plus its just 5 minutes from my house.  I showed her a few shops I adore, took her to the pearl, we ate all the foods and each day tried to explore as much as possible for the first half of the day.  The second half, well into late night, was spent working on the house.  I mentioned on instagram that I wanted to have open cabinets and paint my kitchen white and I'm happy to say, with her help, its almost done.  It's my first project as a home owner and I can't wait to share the progress!

With my husband being gone in Peru still and my mom visiting without my dad, we took full advantage of having a girls weekend.  It was exactly what I needed to feel just a bit more settled.  Having my mom see our new house for the first time, feeling comfy in our home and having the first official guest... I think I can get used to this!

Thats life lately, hows yours?

fields of flowers

Last week we ventured out to the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm for their annual Tulip Festival.  Usually this isn't something I would ask my husband to go to with me, but I casually mentioned I wanted to possibly go and he surprisingly said he would take me.  Mind Blown.  Brandon is a die hard dude and in all reality I imagined him 'taking me there' meant he would drive me and sit in the car while I walked around looking at flowers, but I was shocked when he got out and enjoyed it with me.  Obviously I'm using the word enjoyed very loosely =) Still, I'm glad I was able to get out there before the end of the festival and even better- it was on a weekday during a break between some wind & rain showers so we practically had the place to ourselves.

If you are local or just plan on being in the area, the festival is almost over and finishes up this weekend on the 4th.  It was totally worth the little 1/2 hour drive from the city to see fields of flowers and it will be fun to come back in October when the same fields are full of pumpkins!

neatly organized things

After reaching the one year mark of living here in Portland, I started getting the itch to get out of the house a little more than just adventures, shopping & coffee dates.  Although I do stay busy with my own projects (like this blog & launching my new shop) I thought finding a small side job would be great because I could meet people, do something I'm good at and make a little cash too (who doesn't like that?).  I came across an ad for a 3 day a week gig working for a super cute stationary shop in the pearl district and jumped all over it.  Thankfully the owner liked me enough to offer a position I actually just passed the one month mark!

I have been self-employed for so long that I actually haven't worked for someone else in almost 10yrs.  Having a boss is almost foreign to me and I never thought I would have a "day job" again, but the reasons are different and I was able to go about this on my own terms- so it works!  Since I had previously co-owned an online paper & pretty things boutique, I've been able to help out in some areas where the current owner just hadn't had time to focus on because besides running the shop, she is also very busy designing invitations for clients.  One of my favorite tasks is heading up the instagram account for Ecru.  I decided to go with a 'neatly organized things' theme over there and I love how its turning out.  Its a great way to show off the products we offer, connect with our vendors and get a little creative in inventory photography. Its a fun challenge to set up these little vignettes and the feedback we have received is great.  I'm glad I get to leave my house to do things like this! Hashtag do what you love.

If you are on instagram and you like organized things- follow along! @ecrumodernstationer

friends & fonts

A few months back Rebecca from Manzanita mentioned she was going to be visiting up this way and I was so excited knowing we would be able to finally meet.  We have been chatting for a few years now and it started through a mutual friend when we both had accessory businesses.  We have always tried to collaborate somehow, we follow each other on instagram & keep in touch when possible, but meeting in real life with her in Colorado and me here in Oregon just didn't seem possible.

As the weeks grew closer to her visit she threw out the idea of hosting a calligraphy workshop locally and wondered if I could help arrange a few of the details.  It all worked out perfectly and we found an affordable location (during the start of the very busy wedding season), all the supplies arrived here on time and people signed up without a hitch.  The workshop took place a few nights ago, here are just a few iphone photos from it- I would have taken some on my camera, but I was making a mess with the ink while shoving my face with cupcakes & meeting a new friends!

I got to freshen up my calligraphy skills (I studied it in school like 13yrs ago), but meeting and instantly connecting to someone was by far the best part!  I am always amazed and so thankful of the relationships we are able to build and nourish through blogging, instagram & other social media platforms.  When sometimes there can be dark negativity and craziness on the internet, this is one of those times when there is light.

treasure finds: aurora mills

I love me some adventure, especially if the chance of me walking through aisles of overpriced old stuff is where it leads me.  On Saturday we ventured out to Aurora Mills, its about 35 minutes south of me and worth the little drive through the country.  Even though I want my life and everything in it to remain calm and simple, I love the feeling of browsing old cluttered shops with floor to ceiling nostaglia.  There was a time when I would leave with a car load of goodies from a place like this, but now its fun to walk away empty handed, but full hearted and imagine the stories that go along with all the old things.

For me, walking around and just looking at everything- seeing how it all lasted the test of time is so much more fulfilling than spending a day trying on clothes in a mall fitting room.  Something like this or something outdoors, those are the things that are good for my soul.   How about yours?