The majority of my windows face east towards the dawn. Outside these second story windows were two trees. These trees were old trees; at least 100 years old. They towered high above the houses on my block; they were the view from my windows. Were. For the past 15 years I watched these trees and their inhabitants and visitors. They marked the season changes. They were full of birds and squirrels. The pair nuthatches that took turns emptying all of the sunflower seeds from the feeder lived there. The creepers who circled the trunk in search of bugs. The northern flickers and downy woodpeckers that came to the suet feeder,…

Behind the scenes here in Piper Ewan land, I have been slowly coming to terms with the changes that I am needing to make in my business that I have been working on with numerous distractions for the last while. I have finally given up on the idea of an ETA or a deadline. The best I can do is keep on task. I have made every attempt to live my life on my own terms, and have been attempting to run my business on my own terms since I started back in 1998. There has been some straying from this here and there in order to try things out…

I am not the most fond of the holidays; I have spent too many years in one form of retail or another, and the holidays boil down to two things for me: 1. I have to make a ton of stuff. 2. I have to sell the stuff. A long time ago when I was in college, I started making all of my Christmas gifts myself because I was too burnt out on selling to do much shopping. Nowadays, I still make quite a bit of my holiday gifts, but not all of them. This year was especially cumbersome even though I only did two shows. I spent November getting…

SATURDAY 7 AUGUST IS MY LAST DAY AT 323 NW 6th we will be open from 12-6 yes, in all caps. come by, take away some sample pieces at amazing prices. and if you come to view this post afterwards, here’s what is happening (until you hear otherwise). i am NOT going out of business. what i am doing is taking a bit of time to regroup, and focus. first up: my wholesale and online etsy store will continue as usual. there will be a couple of days where i won’t ship (monday and tuesday 9-10 august), but after that i will certainly be filling orders on time as always.…

or at least i feel like i am slow. in actuality, i am pulled in too many directions, so something is always left to the wayside. in this case it is my blog. i have had many people comment that i haven’t posted in a long time, and that would be right. my convoluted sense of how things have to be done has led to a strange list of conditions i put on myself when it comes to posting here. the first one of them is photos. i am an awful photographer. you might disagree with this until i tell you that i don’t take many of my own photos.…

this is the state of my floor as i prepare for shows 2 and 3 of this weekend. since friday: 50 feather hairpins (3rd photo, some sold) 10 feather pieces (added to the pile in the 2nd photo), several plain flowers (lost count of how many), goodies and coupons for sunday’s handmade nw formal show, organizing the vendors for the p:ear show next weekend, and probably more, but i can’t remember. my mantra for getting everything done, and it’s working: one thing at a time from start to finish. here is the short list of shows: 12.5 Sunnyside Environmental School Holiday Bazaar 11a-4p 3421 SE Salmon Street to raise funds…

here are some photos of my new studio. i am still unpacking boxes, and trying to get into the swing of things. today i painted a screen that i have been meaning to finish for the better part of a decade (i know) and my a-board sign. i had help from my painter friend brent wear who is in charge of the art on the walls. i am still on the fence about having regular hours, but i am available by appointment if you want to come visit. i will be posting my *by chance* hours on my twitter page.

so if you hadn’t heard, i am moving my studio out of the egg. moving is always a bit scary, but i was bursting at the seams in my tiny space. as much as the egg has done for me, i am ready for something new. so i am moving. i will be back downtown tucked away in the back of the virtuoso gallery. it is a larger space that will be a work space and a permanent showroom. for those of you who live in portland, oregon (or just visiting), come see me in my new space! it is located at 323 nw sixth avenue between everett and flanders.…