PROGRESS REPORT

A few little shots of what's happening over here in remodel land. Progress is feeling slow, but steady. Got water last week, rewiring happens next week, and then things should move a little quicker from there on out. Still searching for a few key items: anyone in Portland got a lead on cheap Velux skylights???

ON MOVING // MOVING ON

When I started working for myself, almost 9 years ago, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. But I knew one thing: if I was going to make jewelry making my job, I needed a space away from the house to do that in. I needed to be able to get up in the morning, leave the house, and go to work. I'm lucky that studio space is still relatively cheap and easy to find here in Portland, and so since day one, that's exactly what I've done. And that's worked really well for me for a long time. I needed the regimen of getting into the car and going to work to keep myself in check. The studio was for work. Home was for, well, not work. And everything sailed along just fine. Until now.

Around the beginning of this year, getting in the car to go to the studio began to feel less like a daily routine, and more like a daily annoyance. When I moved into my current studio about 6 years ago, my business was in a different place, I had two employees and required a lot more space. And I have a lot of it there. Tons. Way too much for just me. What used to feel just right started to morph from a place that I felt good working in, to a cavernous enclave that was slowly making me feel unfocused, discombobulated, and cranky. Lots and lots of cranky. And then I started looking at my garage. A perfectly lovely, one and a half car detached garage that I've never put my car in. A garage that has been quietly acting as storage space for a whole bunch of stuff that I, quite frankly, don't need. A garage that I wouldn't have to pay any extra rent on. A space that would allow me to walk out the back door and work till midnight when I need to, without having to haul stuff back and forth across town and drive home late at night. A space that has massive potential for being pared down, light, and cozy. A space where I could put a wood stove! And that pretty much sealed the deal: You guys, I'm moving home.


Self employment comes with a myriad of both challenges and joys. One of the joys that I am trying to focus on lately is that working the way that I do really allows me the freedom to create exactly the life and schedule that I want, and this move feels pretty integral to that right now. As much as having that space away from home has been important to me for so long, the fact is that this is my career: after almost 10 years of self employment, I've got my routine down (I hope!), and I should be able to maintain that wherever I'm at. And at this point, it's much less where the space is at, and much more the space itself that matters to me. Moving my work home feels like a move towards much more flexibility, freedom, and most importantly, simplicity. (And, of course, a reclaimed barn wood ceiling...) I have the opportunity to build my dreamy dream studio, and it's time to go for it.

This move marks a huge change for me and my business. One that will involve all sorts of upheaval in the next month as the garage is transformed and I transition out of my current space. So shop updates and actual jewelry production will most likely be light as I comb the Rebuilding Center for doors and figure out what color to paint the floor. I'm super excited and all sorts of nervous all at the same time. It's a 'whole new chapter' kind of thing, and I'm so, so ready. I've already ordered the wood stove and everything...

VACATION

Hello from Kauai!!! If you haven't gathered from my mad twitter posting and instagram-ing about it, I'm on vacation!!!!! Spending the week in Kauai with my very best friend, her amazing partner, and their ridiculously gorgeous and adorable baby girl, the tiny T. We arrived Saturday afternoon to a very tropical downpour, but were rewarded with a fantastically gorgeous day on Sunday. Staying in a rental house across the street from 'Baby Beach' (no, really, that's what it's called) in Poipu, and loving every single second of being here. Highlights so far include waking up bright and early (As in, 6 a.m. bright! Not my usual schedule, but traveling with parents of a young toddler means early to bed and early to rise. Somehow, it's working for me.), morning runs along the shore, sea turtle sightings at the beach, and reading the "Mr. Brown Can Moo!' to that baby over and over again.


Spending a couple hours this morning taking care of a little work from my 'office' on the wrap around porch. Work is so much more pleasant with a view of palmtrees and the sounds of the ocean as a backdrop. I'll be checking and answering emails periodically this week, but take note that if you place an order this week, it won't ship until after the 13th, when I return.

And with that my dears, I'm off for a swim...

GIVEAWAY WINNER!!

And we have a winner!!! Yel olde random number generator picked comment number 29. Christy, you'll be getting one pair of Metamorphic earrings to brighten up your spring! Shoot me an email with your address and I'll get em out the door to you by the end of this week.
Thank you all so much for your sweet comments, they truly brightened up my week. And stay tuned for another giveaway in another couple of months!

IT'S GIVEAWAY TIME!

It's spring! Really, truly, spring. And this one is a good one here in Portland. We're getting some actual sunny days interspersed with the rain, the garden is flourishing, and the studio is busy, busy, busy! All of these things are putting me in an extra good (and generous!) mood!

I realized that in the haste to get the S/S 2011 collection out, I never really did a proper giveaway to celebrate! So it's time! I'm giving away one item of your choice from the S/S 2011 collection. This one is super simple: head on over to the site and pick your very favorite thing from the new collection, then just leave me a comment with your choice below. One winner will be chosen at random on May 31st, one week from today. I'll announce the winner here, and on facebook and twitter.

Now get to entering!

xo

these kids.

today feels like this:

feeling this today.

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through.”

- Ira Glass