See you tonight!

xo~betsy

***Song of the Moment:  Drunk Girls, by LCD Soundsystem***

Will sorts the 8,500 maps we had printed into piles for delivery to stores.

I turned off the TV and with a silent house, my brain wheels started moving…like, kinda fast.  The commercial made me think about all those awesome shops we love so much in Portland.  Shops, like Radish Underground, Mabel & Zora and Tender Loving Empire, that have supported my efforts as a designer, from the very beginning.  Shops that help designers, like me, believe that our work is worth something.  Shops that search high and low for products that mean something to them, with you in mind.  Shops that can tell you a story about the designer behind the product.  Shops that helped build a community with character (and most likely, used their own hands to do so). I started thinking—why can’t we do something together that makes people want to shop a different way on Black Friday.

Will came home that night and I sort of hesitantly brought up my idea–I knew it was pretty much INSANE for us to take anything else on this season, much less organize a whole new event.  BUT I felt so excitedly passionate about it, that I went for it.  It was Will’s response and enthusiasm that really made this thing move forward. We geeked out in a swift 30 minute brainstorm session, and the rest is kind of history.

Little Boxes, was born.

We're a happy duo. And we LOVE working crazy hours together...really, we do. Photo Credit: Motoya Makamura, The Oregonian

I am so amazed by the community’s response to this.  In 3 weeks, the support and enthusiasm that our amazing design team, the unbelievably awesome shop owners, press, and general public has shown towards this event brings tears to my eyes.  Yep, I’m a sap (er, didn’t you already know that by now??).  But seriously, isn’t Portland awesome!??

It's the link you've all been waiting for, and the Little Boxes 2011 Logo, courtesy of Keel Creative.

Now, all you gotta do is shop the event and meet your favorite local shop owners!  Let’s let this event be the kickoff to an amazing, local, sparkly-lighted, mulled wined, ginger-snapped cookies holiday season.  Who knows, you might even win an iPad or tickets to OVO by Cirque du Soleil.  We’re all open from 10am – 8pm and we can’t wait to see you.  Click for more details about Little Boxes.

THANK YOU, PORTLAND.

(you rock my world).

-betsy

Walks in St. Johns.  New favorite coffee.  Gingham love.  Friends.  Beer.  Fall.  Way too much work. Yep.

xo

~betsy

***Song of the Moment: Amsterdam, by Peter Bjorn and John***

Okay, it’s not that serious.  And it’s not quite what you think.  We’re happy to be a part of the big yet quaint PDX Collective Sale at the awesome venue, Ace Cleaners, in Downtown Portland.  Two days of insane sales from some of your favorite boutiques/designers.

We are about to give you some of the biggest deals you’ve ever seen from betsy & iya.  Some of these styles we’ve had from the very beginning and it’s just time to say goodbye.  I have more ideas than I have room for on my workbench, so it’s time to make some space!  Expect earrings and necklaces as low as $10.

Come say hello and help us say goodbye to some of our best friends while sending them on to bigger and better places!  …like ear and neck college.

lots of love,

betsy

***Song of the Moment: Dancing in the Street, by David Bowie***

On June 3rd, we signed the lease for a new space on NW Thurman and 24th.  Whoa.  Let me back up a little…

Many of you know that it hasn’t even been a year since we opened our current studio/store, so it might have come as a big surprise to you.  Well, it did for us too.  Just after we made our way back from our second road trip, we learned that the rent on the b & i studio was going up.  And not just a little bit, it was going up 11% and without much of a warning.  Now, rent on a tiny space (289 square feet, to be exact) is not unreachable, so even with an unfair hike, we could have still afforded it, but it was the principle plus their corporate guy’s lack of flexibility (and down-right rudeness) that launched us in a new direction, one that we hadn’t quite dreamed of yet—opening, like, a real store.  uuuuuuugheeeerrraaahhhhhhhhohmygoodness!!!

We started looking right away.  It’s amazing what you begin to see of a city when you’re looking for something you had never been looking for before.  I felt like I started understanding the neighborhoods in a different way, getting major feelings from each, rather than just an impression, like which friend would I want to spend the most time with—and which friend would accept me into their already existing, beautiful circle.  Truth is, we love so many neighborhoods in Portland, it became a daunting task to narrow down the options.

About one week before we left for the awesome Renegade Austin affair, we put an offer in on a space on lower SE Hawthorne. For reasons I won’t bore you with, it didn’t work out.  We realized it wasn’t going to work out (for certain), the day before we left—the day that things were insane in our world.  We were trying to nail down a new display for our booth that would easily flat pack for plane trips and with that new display idea came a revamping of how we display…well..everything. This meant new card stock for earring cards, new necklace cards, new display packaging –cough, overachievers– and new printing.  On top of all that, we still had orders to get out and jewelry that needed to be made for the show.  It makes my heart skip a beat to think about all we were stuffing into 48 hours.

Will had stayed up way too late the night before, getting spreadsheets finished and new items listed online.  I wanted him to have a full night sleep (not just because I’m nice, but because less hours of sleep  = cranky William and I needed happy-go-lucky William that day)…so I got up at the crack of dawn and started running errands while he slept a bit longer.  This is pertinent to the story because I drove into work a little bit differently that day.  I needed to go to the printers before, so I took a right turn one street too early.  That mistake drove me by the most beautiful space with a more beautiful sign on it that read, “SPACE FOR LEASE,” in lovely bold, capital letters.  I remembered that space because I had admired the building before.  It’s an old cinema building, full of charm and character and stories, just how I like it.

We were leaving the next morning, early, so the window of opportunity seemed to be closing in on us and fast.  I drove home, woke Will up, took the early turn again and told Will how I felt about the space–I was basically foaming at that mouth while I tried to spill out in 5 minutes why that space would be a dream.  Luckily, he felt the exact same—it was perfect for us.  It was more perfect than any other space we had looked at; it had a back room, a loft, character…and BRICK.  I love brick so much. It was exactly the size we needed and in exactly the kind of neighborhood we are ready for–quaint, but full of life and community.  There is something so special about this neighborhood.  As cheesy as it sounds, it felt right in my heart.  No other place had given us that feeling.

We ate lunch for the first time at the amazing deli, Kenny and Zukes (the NW Thurman location), sat outside in the first Portland sun in months and watched how many people walked by, guessing what kind of people they were and dreaming about the kind of shop we could make for the neighborhood.  This kind of dreaming lead me to realize that I wanted that space, in just a few hours, my heart was already set on it—something they tell you NEVER to do when you’re searching for a new place to live or work.

We called the amazing woman we were working with, Marilen from Elliot Associates, and expressed our sentiments for the space. Then we left for Austin. Over that weekend, Marilen and Lupe were able to see the inside of the space.  They said they contained themselves while in the presence of the landlords, but in their own time and space they had a squeal or two.  They loved it and they knew we would love it…the inside even more impressive than the outside.

you didn't think we were going to keep that carpet, did you?

When it was our turn, I wanted to do a dance with the landlord and gush about how much I loved everything about it–it had a bathroom INSIDE for goodness sakes!  In just a few days, I had fallen head-over-heels in love with the neighborhood and I wanted to run to the rooftops and tell the world that it was ours.  But…that’s not how it works when you’re looking for a space.  You have to be all formal and pretend that you could go either way.  So I pretended that the space was alright and might work for us if we choose to make an offer.

This part is the boring part: negotiations, paperwork, lawyers, numbers, meetings, etc.  What’s important is that they all lead to the same thing: WE GOT THE SPACE.  !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We got it!!  We love it!  We love our landlords!  We love the neighborhood!  We love each other!  We love our jobs!  We love it all!! …

And now we have to make a shop out of it.  Oh yeah YEAH YEAH. The weekend of the signing, we had a HUGE show in San Francisco then on to a trunk show in Santa Cruz, then on to important meetings and two MORE shows in LA.  We decided that Will needed to stay in Portland to get started immediately on the shop (of course, we’ll be doing all the build out work ourselves, with the help of some amazing friends) and that I would head on to California with Lupe.

It was Friday, June 3rd.  The signing took so long that we didn’t get on the road until 4 pm when we had planned to leave by 10 AM at the latest.  We had to be up by 6 am to set up our booth for the Union Street Fair in San Francisco the next day.  It takes 11 hours to drive to SF…

stay tuned for part 2.

missed you guys!!

xo~betsy

***Song of the Moment:  When the Deal Goes Down, by Bob Dylan***

As is often the case when pastrami is a menu item, I ordered and indulged.  Pastrami and I get along very well.  Bets had the Prosciutto with homemade fig jam.  And we had some tasty stouts.  And we had some soup.  And when we were full and happy, we had a rousing match of Ms. Pac-Man.

I did not know this about my wife: she’s a Pac-Man Wiz.  She sailed through the levels.  I’d wait for my turn and watch agape as she devoured those little dots.  We squealed together and shouted at the ghosts she squeaked past.  We laughed and high-fived.  It makes sense that she’d rock at Pac-Man.  It’s chaos and order; high-stakes; rules and patterns.  She’s good at those things.  And it was fun.  She’s real good at fun.

Today, we’re getting ready for Crafty Wonderland (it’s TOMORROW [5/7/11], Portland people! And we’re going to have a great sale bin!), we’re sending orders, sending samples to an exciting possible new account, crossing our fingers, finalizing some design choices on the new line,  eating the ghosts we can get to, and devouring all those little dots.  One level at a time.

High-five.

***Song of the Moment: 1000 Miles Per Hour, by OK Go***

It happened.  Portland bribed the sun.  Every year about this time, the mayor sends an email out begging for contributions.

We all chip in and send a pillowcase full of dollar bills to the sun and the clouds.  They split it 60/40 (no one is sure who gets the larger share) and give us something we’ve all needed for months.  Warmth: sweet, sunny, warmth.

***Song of the Moment: Pretty Bird, by Jenny Lewis***

***Song of the Moment: Rode Null, by Hauschka***

And in our case yesterday: no drinking chocolate for poor, poor Helga.  Good news for us, though, because Cacao is AMAZING and basically in our own backyard.  We all walked in feeling kind of tired.  Even though the days are getting longer, 5:20 is still right early for the sky to be dark.  We walked out buzzing, overdosed on spicy drinking chocolate.

One shot of this thick, heavenly, mouth-coating, chocolate blessing ($2) is plenty for any appetite.  A standard size (what B and I ordered) is basically a Mike Tyson in liquid form.  A delicious Mike Tyson.

Folks, we’ll share our goldmine with you.  There’s more than enough to go around.

***Song of the Moment: I Say Fever, by Ramona Falls***

The plan was always to start work back on the 3rd of January.  Here is what we did instead:

The bridge to home.

Hypnotized by color.

That guy. He's my favorite.

Not sure if it's within our reach, but I sure do love it.

I love this city.

Lunch.

Is this the one?

Mt. Hood puppet show.

The best.

We had decided not to give each other presents this year.  We’d promised we weren’t going to break the rules, and sneak a gift in at the last moment.  I think that will go down in history as the worst promise we’ve ever made.  Yesterday made up for it.  The great thing about life and being human is that you can always decide to reverse something that wasn’t supposed to be.  You can decide to make a change.  In our case it had to do with silly Christmas presents and deciding that it wasn’t silly at all to give your loved one somtehing.  So we went out in search of the things that would give us warm feelings for years to come, something that would make us remember what we got for Christmas 2010:  a new bed.

I think we hit every single furniture store in Portland and didn’t quite find what we were looking for…but we had a heck of a day trying.

Happy Tuesday!!

-b

***Song of the Moment: Runaway, by the National***