New Adventures and an Etsy Shop

Remember a few weeks ago, when I posted a two-part tutorial on block printing? I realized about halfway through writing the second part of the tutorial that most of my regular readers are not going to take the time to learn that particular skill. (If you do, I’d love to hear from you!) I mean, I could barely get through writing it, and I’m passionate about this stuff! Let’s just say that some arts and crafts are easier than others.

While I was realizing this, I also realized how much I enjoy making these prints. So I decided to open an Etsy shop to allow me to keep making things I love, and so that you, dear readers, can have a chance to get your own block printed tea towels, without having to make them yourself! See? Win-win.

It’s insanely easy to open an Etsy shop. It’s not so easy to stock it, get it ready, and put all the marketing in place so people can find you. That’s why I’ve been a bit absent from the blog lately, but I think I’ve got a good start now, and can get back to juggling both.

(If you’ve never heard of Etsy.com before, you should check it out. It’s an amazing online marketplace for all sorts of handmade items. It is THE place to find cool, unique, artistic gifts and items for your house, or even just interesting and unusual things to look at.)

The hardest part (for me) of opening a store is picking a name. I stayed up nights thinking about this. (It’s OK. It beats all the other things I’m usually staying up thinking about.) I thought about using the blog’s name, but since this is a slightly different endeavor, I wanted something fresh and new. Something that evoked a feeling of home and permanency. Everything I do creatively is about making my house a home, and creating a comfortable, safe, and inspiring environment for my family. So I chose the name “Ever Evangeline” after the name of my street. This is home for me. And while it’s the name that describes my current physical home, it also goes all the way back to my Cajun family’s roots. “Evangeline” is the title of the epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow that traces part of the origin of the Cajun people. So I love the name for its past and current references to my own home.

Ever Evangeline is a shop dedicated to hand-block-printed tea towels and other decorative home items. For now, I’m concentrating on tea towels, but I hope to expand to all sorts of other printed pieces in the future. I design, carve, and print all the pieces myself. (I don’t make the actual tea towels – sewing is NOT one of my passions.) I really enjoy each part of the process, and I hope that joy somehow translates into the pieces themselves and blesses the homes of whoever buys them.

I’d love for you to drop by and take a look at the shop. I’ll be adding new designs all the time, as well as taking custom orders by request. So if you think of something you’d like to see, let me know. Also, I’d be so honored if you’d check out (and possibly “like”) my new facebook page dedicated to the shop, and share it with your friends. This is where I’ll be sharing shop updates, sales, specials, etc. It will be colorful and fun, and I promise not to bore you!

And finally… Thank you. Without your encouragement and feedback over the last couple of years, I don’t think I’d ever have gotten the courage to take on something like this. I truly appreciate each and every one of you!