Over the last few years, discussions about our business and our creative lives have begun to turn to the topic of Next Chapters. We had (and continue to have) a lot of ideas and ambitions within and outside of Hemlock & Heather, but throughout those conversations a definitive theme began to emerge: A need for community and a sense of belonging among us small business owners. As entrepreneurs, we often feel like we are on an island. Our problems (and there are many) seem unique to us. And the solutions? Well, the internet is full of information, but it’s not always obvious how to tell the good info from the useless. We realized that one of the things we look...
I worked today. Not long. Maybe 4 hours. But it was the 4th of July, and while most people were having backyard bbqs and beers with friends, I was waxing, putting D-rings on, and stamping pieces that either need to be photographed or shipped. At some point, it occurred to me that it was a holiday and that I could probably be relaxing in front of the TV or taking a nap. There was a time when I probably would have gone down the self pity route. But instead of thinking “Why me?”, I felt grateful. I can’t say that I always feel that way, and I would be lying if I said I felt that way last week. Truth...
I was scanning through our Instagram feed the other day and reflecting on how our style has changed over the almost decade that we’ve been making reclaimed wooden art. If you’ve recently stumbled onto our site or social media feeds, you might think we’ve always been about bold colors and a retro aesthetic, but those of you who have been with us for a long time (thank you, by the way!) know that our style has changed a great deal over the years. The truth is, I always wanted to try using retro colors in our pieces, but I had to overcome some fears before we were able to successfully pull it off. For the first 4 years of our...
“This is the year, Kris!” I’ve lost count how many times Kelley has said this at the start of a new year. It’s a running joke between us at this point. (She even said it at the beginning of 2020. Ha.) I tease her for it, but honestly, many of the milestones we’ve had with Hemlock & Heather began with that optimism and forward-thinking attitude. We balance each other out The truth is, I’ve never been the optimistic one in our relationship. As much as I hate to admit it, for many of the obstacles we’ve overcome and projects we’ve taken from concept to reality, my first thought has often been how we can’t rather than why we can. I...
New Year, New H&H (Ha, J/K, we still have the same ol' problems) We've been a bit quiet over here lately. Frankly, we just needed a break. A break from social media. A break from reality. A break from the shop. A break from our to-do lists. And definitely a break from this weird transition from 2020 into 2021. We took this pic the last week of December and patted ourselves on the back for being already focused on our goals for H&H when typically we wait until the first week/weekend of the new year to even talk about our goals. Here's what happened: We crashed and burned. Those pats on the back we gave ourselves for goal setting early? A bit...
