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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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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One day, two young ladies wandered into the shop (as they often do…).  Best friends.  Absolutely beautiful.  And full of such positive energy.  We chatted and made sure that they headed out into the big world armed with warbling bird whistles (as we often do…).

Soon after, one of the two wrote ephemera a love letter and so ephemera wrote her a love letter back.  And that began such a nice friendship between the two girls who began ephemera, two girls who love ephemera, and miss ephemera herself.

I feel so, so lucky that this space provides opportunity after opportunity to meet and greet others who are willing to share little tidbits about their own adventures through life.  Such a perfect way to learn and keep perspective.   I’m constantly thrilled that this space seems to INVITE that.  And these two?  From what I hear, both are certainly at one of those crossroads where everything is being shifted and things are opening up and coming back together and ending and beginning. So full and so very interesting.   And I am just so excited for them as they continue to find the ways in which they can best leave a positive impression on this big ol’ warbling world.

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Our friend Paige has been painting and painting and painting beautiful, light-filled, glowing masterpieces for quite some time.  And, for quite some time, they have been hiding in her not-so-light-filled apartment.  Yesterday afternoon, they came out of hiding and took their proud and dignified places on the sprawling and blank back-room walls of Ephemera.  Tonight, our friend Paige will be showing them off to a small slice of the world.

This is Paige’s first art show, appropriately titled “My First Art Show.”  Today, Miss Ephemera salutes Miss Paige because taking those things that you love the most (so many times those things that you love so secretly and quietly) and showing them off to the world can be such a scary and thrilling thing to do.  “Hello, World!  Here are my paintings all hung on this wall!” or  “Hello, World!  Here is the business that I’ve always wanted to start!” or “Hello, World!  Here is my voice that I’ve always wanted to hear through a microphone!”  Jump, jump, jump!  Whatever it is!  If for no other reason than the FEELING of DOING it.  Show it and tell it (and I promise that your life will feel much more interesting!).

If you are in town, stop by tonight!  We’ll be here admiring from 6:00 until 9:00 pm and would love to have you join us!

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Is it naive of me to believe that if everyone carried a warbling bird whistle around in their pocket, the world would turn ’round just a little more gracefully?

REMEMBER THESE!  Miss Ephemera practically DEMANDED that we hand these out as party favors at her 2nd Birthday Party so we got a very large, nonsensical bundle of them for the occasion.  We, of course, had a bundle to spare when the big event was over and so our lovely customers were re-introduced to warbling bird whistles (I say RE-introduced as it seems that EVERYONE has a memory of these from their childhood…).  Have you ever handed someone a Just-Because-I-Think-You-Need-One Warbling Bird Whistle?  It is such FUN!  So much fun, in fact, that we quickly ran out!

But today, dear friends, a whole new flock of ‘em have flown back in!  Hooray!  And this time, we’ve got ‘em in ORANGE!!!  Come in!  Trade one of your stories for on of our warbling bird whistles!  Tell us about how, last night, your dog chewed up your favorite shirt or that it is your birthday or that you’re in love or that life is just plain and good or plain and not-so-good.  We’ll make sure that you leave with a new friend to tell it all to.

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This is how we do it…

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Yesterday I sat down with my set of watercolors and spent a short while painting yellow dots (if you’re wondering if painting yellow dots on a cloudy day helps change your perspective on things, it does!).  The yellow dots reminded me of our fickle friend Little Miss Sunshine and as soon as she made her appearance on my masterpiece, she demanded that I round it out with some sort of affirmation.  Ta-Da!  This is what I came up with:

I think that in the middle of all of the day-to-day “stuff” that happens around here–the phone calls and the e-mails to return, the bills to pay, the new inventory to price, the customers to chat with, and, of course, our new orders to take and design and print and assemble, it is really, really easy to let the actual CREATION of things lag behind and get lost in the shuffle.  And it is the Creating part, the really refreshing make-something-just-for-the-fun-of-it process, that led me to this type of work in the first place.  As it turns out, I NEED to play in this way, even if just for a few minutes.  When I do, I find myself so much more energized and focused and ready to take on the not-as-much-fun parts of my day (that would be the bill-paying I mentioned earlier!).

Remember when we had things like recess and art class and music class?  We actually had time set aside for us to run around and pump our legs until we could get as high as we could and paint self portraits and sing songs complete with clapping and stomping?  And then we grew up and all of those things that were a part of the routine just sort of went away for a lot of us?  Is it any wonder that so many people trudge around and wonder why their days seems so utterly short and unfulfilling and, well, just not FUN?

As we all climb out of our winter shells, I advocate play time.  Whatever that is for you.  For me, it has much to do with short little walks and colored pencils.  And for you?  Well, I guess we’ll find out soon enough, won’t we.

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Look what we found blooming on our front counter!  It’s a whole new crop of Springtime lovelies that just popped up this morning!  Freshly picked necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings from local jewelry designer Sunday Greaves!  (P.S. This is a pretty good example of why we love our job.)

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Step right up, ladies and gentlemen!  For a limited time only, ephemera has freshly mopped floors!  This doesn’t happen very often, folks, so if you want a chance to see it, come on in!  Just remember to dry your shoes first!

Bethany Kohoutek takes sweet shots!  Check out more of her work!

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