A whole table full of color and pop (all in a day’s work!)…

Spiral bound notebooks (for love letters and daily journaling), zodiac pocket notebooks (for spur of the moment thoughts and observations), and the prettiest PENS (yes, you read that right…miss ephemera FINALLY has pens!) to write it all down.  All in the punchiest, juiciest colors (colors that, on a warm humid day remind me of things like lemonade and the ocean and watermelon and snow cones).  Happy sparkly sunny day!

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Nothing makes us happier (really!) than sending something out into the world that our customer is just as crazy about as we are.  Even better is when we get to send something out into the world that, we believe, completely encompasses the mood of the upcoming wedding, party, or, in the case of identity design (yes!  we do that, too!), the business that it was created for.

We recently had the opportunity to work with the stellar Amy of Amy Allen Photography (check her work out right here: http://amyallenphotoblog.com/) to redesign her identity system to something a bit softer, richer, and more tactile.  When we sat down to chat about her wish list (something memorable!  business cards that would be held onto!  something polished!), I quickly realized that, for her, the solution lay in letterpress.

Oh what fun!  Oh what fun!  We can’t help but be smitten.

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There is a quote I love by choreographer Martha Graham:

“There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique.  And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium, and will be lost.”

-Martha Graham

I think, deep down, most of us know that to be true.  Aren’t there just days when you can FEEL the need to sit down and create something?   A little itch inside?  A small voice urging you  to put your personal stamp on something brand new?  Something that speaks of who you were or what you were feeling or how you were interpreting things in that particular moment?

So many times, though, another voice speaks up.  Oftentimes, it speaks a little louder and a bit more forcefully than the gentle guidance that tells you to create.  Yammering on and on about how you’ve got better things to do, that the end result won’t amount to much anyway, that you are not creative enough…

I must admit that I, over and over again, have give The Voice an audience.  And, many times, have actually welcomed it as a good excuse for laziness.  Actively observing the world around me and then going on to create something from that experience proves to be exhausting at times.  What I know, though, is that laziness quickly becomes a habit and so I do my very best to fight through it (despite what I’m sometimes naturally inclined to do, which is to roll over and go back to sleep, to stare mindlessly at the TV, to clean something or grocery shop or do ANYTHING but create…).  And these steps, sometimes, can be so, so small.  The process doesn’t have to be a big, intimidating thing.  It doesn’t have to result in a symphony or  a novel.  The bar doesn’t have to be raised Mona Lisa high.  After all, making things is supposed to be fun (remember?).  Have FUN!

One night, I stole a little roll of pretty masking tape from the shop (don’t worry–I left some for you!), and did nothing but tear little pieces off and stick it to things.  And just like that, the little voice was squelched.

What can you make today?  From string?  Or from twigs?  From bits of paper and a bottle of glue?  Tin foil?  Some imagination?

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Fifteen pounds of FREE cheese, that’s what!

You may think that we forgot about this little blog of ours. But no! I’ve just been waiting for something really, really, really good to blog about.

CHEESE. Yes, cheese is what brought me back to the blogosphere.

Cabot Cheese in Vermont sent us the cheese for our Green Wall Art series. Speaking of, next up is Garrett Cornelison on Friday, May 6 (from 6 to 9!). Come for Garrett and stay for the cheese!

Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

That's a lot of cheese!

karen brady and the tower of cheese!

Fifteen pounds of  FREE cheese. Sometimes I can’t even believe little miss ephemera’s luck.

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It’s the first Friday of the month which means that the  November installment of our “Green Wall Art For All” series will grace our walls beginning this evening.  Here’s a sneak peek from the three incredible ladies who have proven to us over the last couple days that they can do just about anything (and everything they do is just absolutely, positively going to bring a smile to your face the second you see it…).

And if you’re in town, stop by from 6:00 – 9:00 to snack a little, chat a little, and take a little something home with you!

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Once upon a time, right down the street from here, we started a shop in a little space and waited and wondered what form everything was going to take.  One winter evening, we met a fabulously talented couple who we knew, right away, was working their way through those same exact questions.  She a jewelry designer/metalsmith, he a graphic designer.  We talked a lot during those first conversations about the BEGINNINGS of things, how it happens, when to start…  One day, when the time was right for them, we were lucky enough to have them move in just a few doors down from us so that they could open their own studio space.  Lucky enough to have someone to visit when we desperately needed a break during our oh-so-late nights, she sawing through sheets of metal, us pasting paper together.  Lucky enough to pad around in slippers and sweat pants on cold winter mornings when the very best thing was to eat scrambled eggs with friends who knew EXACTLY how it felt to try something new.

Like us, that lovely couple has moved on, and the business that they began two years ago has evolved and taken new shape–one that suits them perfectly.

Tomorrow, Saturday, October 23rd, Ephemera is lucky enough to share with you the incredibly beautiful shape that that dream has taken.  Stop by from 10:00 – 5:30 to ogle the tiny masterpieces created by our friend Ms. Carrie Hoffnagle (and, if you feel so inclined, take a tiny piece of lovely home with you!).

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This is the time of year I most love spending time in the shop.  It starts to get a little bit chilly outside, which makes life inside these four walls feel a little bit cozier.  We begin to fill our shelves with all sorts of goodies in preparation for the holidays, and, in the evenings,  the classroom is ALWAYS bustling with activity.

Last night was no exception.  The fabulous Ms. Katie stopped by to show 10 ephemera friends how to needle felt.  This was a brand new endeavor for most everyone–a technique many had seen at some point and wondered “how’d they DO that?!”  Yesterday afternoon, before class began, a man stopped by and we discussed how, so many times in life, the most accurate response to many, MANY questions is simply replying “magic.”  Magic.  That is exactly how I feel about what happens when you take a tiny little tuft of wool, a needle, and some patience and turn it into something friendly and cuddly and simple.  Magic.

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Miss Ephemera will be, in a few short months, embarking on her FOURTH Holiday Season…  Every year, the Holiday Season (notice the capital letters) shocks and surprises Miss Ephemera.  November rolls in, traffic picks up, and we find ourselves caught up in a happy, festive spirit which is countered by an immediate sense of sheer panic and a constant state of Busy.  Do we have enough?  Did we do enough?  Cookies on the counter?  Hot chocolate in the thermos?!?

This year, we are taking a novel approach.  Miss Ephemera is PLANNING AHEAD (gasp!)!  We just un-boxed a new custom Holiday Stationery Album which is just simply brimming with an array of SUPER COOL and AFFORDABLE (yay!) options for your stationery.  It feels so good to be ahead of the game so that, when the time comes and we find ourselves in the thick of hustle and bustle and elated exhaustion, we’ve got one less thing to think about.  We think you should try it!  No excuses for not getting pretty cards and updates into the hands and mailboxes of your friends and family!  Order ‘em early so that you have plenty of time for gingerbread house building and party-attending and snowman-constructing.  One more thing, DONE.

We can’t wait to see you!

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Miss Ephemera is at it again…

As we all know, the best things in life are often bedecked in red & white stripes…candy canes, stripey straws, baker’s twine, barber poles, circus tents…  So, when Miss Ephemera whispered in our ear (once again!) and indicated that what she would really, really like in order to set her apart from the crowd was an awning out front, we knew INSTANTLY that it would have to be of the striped variety. Oh what fun!

In order to make this happen, Miss Ephemera will be offering up all sorts of delightful little activities and events in which the proceeds go directly to the awning fund.  To get this thing kick-started, we’re offering little Bags o’ Goodness full of tiny treasures that are absolutely GUARANTEED to make your day a better place to be.  Make sure to pick yours up and become a part-OWNER of our dream-awning!  (How many people can say that they own a Red & White striped awning?!?).

Let’s make another ephemera dream come true!

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Is it the first Friday of a NEW month already?!?  The general consensus is that summer is, indeed, flying by and we know this to be true as our first art show has already been taken down and our 2nd installment in our Green Wall Art for All series is up on the wall and ready to strut it’s stuff tonight from 6:00 – 9:00.

The lovely Angela Claus, Artist Extraordinaire, spent the day yesterday pounding nails and hanging, what I deem to be, the very best use of scribbles, layers, and neon paint I’ve seen in a very long time.  Stop by, grab a bite, and do a little scribble-gazing of your own.

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