· By Phoebe Carpenter Eells
August 2025
August 17th
Soaking up summer
August has been full and lovely! After the July Valley Made Market we kicked up the studio time and cranked out a bunch of new creations. Artwork, hats, sailboat zip hoodies, and fresh tees. Then we snuck away to the Bay Area to visit family and soak in a little city and NorCal beach time. It was an amazing trip and just what we all needed. We drove home in a day and hit the ground running prepping for the studio sale and printing wholesale orders.
We've been busy launching the Valley Made Market Holiday applications (open until August 31st at midnight), working on a few custom designs (more peeks of those soon), planning the massive sale that we're in the middle of, and dreaming on a new window display for fall (Paige is plotting something BIG).
I've been particularly struck with gratitude lately- a deep thanks for my health, mobility, relationships, and the ability to do this creative and community oriented work. I remain hopeful despite the messy state of the world and I think that much of that is because I get to interact with such delightful humans through elSage and Valley Made. There is so much good in this world, and we all have massive amounts to be grateful for. I think that joy and connection are coming back, but we may need to prioritize them more heavily. I believe that community and gathering will help move us forward and that all in all the youth is an amazing group who give me optimism about what's next.
Up next is more creating, more community events, and more joy. I hope you'll join me and stay grateful, find some connection this week, do something that makes your heart happy.
With heart,
Phoebe
Dates to remember: