· By Phoebe Carpenter Eells
December 2025
Thursday December 11, 2025
Behind the Scenes, Flood Prep Edition
The Skagit River is running hot and we spent yesterday deep in conversations about risk analysis and then in action preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. Original models had the river rising in Mount Vernon to 42 feet but this morning those have backed off to a projection of a little over 39 feet. This would still be a record high, but falls under what the downtown flood wall can handle. We are feeling grateful for the flood wall and fairly confident in the technology but there's another concern. The risk of flash flood is high with a reputable source believing there's a likelihood of levee failure under these conditions. No one knows which levee would fail, so we are all preparing to see water and hoping to stay dry.
With the flash flood risk the city is asking that downtown businesses stay closed to keep people out of low-lying areas. Safety is always number one so we will be closed for at least today, we're excited to open our doors back up as soon as it's safe.
Yesterday we prepped the shop and downtown with sandbags and plastic. Our teens and Jonathan made over 250 sand bags and delivered them to downtown. The MVDA, business owners, citizens, and random guys parked nearby helped get bags into place. I saw teens I've known since kindergarten at the sand bag stations, working all day just to help the community.
The silver lining of things like this is to watch the community come together. To feel the love and care of people checking in. I'm blown away by this community, by the people in it, by the downtown businesses, and our ability to lift big together.
We will head out shortly to grab more sandbags for downtown and to see how everything is looking. I'll be updating our social media and replying to messages as I can. If you have any questions or words of encouragement you can always reply to this email.
If you want to shop the online shop is set to free shipping on any order- no code required! We would love to send you some indie-made goodness.
Fingers crossed,
Phoebe
December 30, 2025
Behind The Scenes, Small Business Life
Final Installment.
The past few years I have tried out different projects each year. For 2025 one of my commitments was to write blog posts each month showing a little peek at what our business has been working on lately. It's been a fun way to collect my thoughts, to reflect, and to share behind the scenes with you. I'm still working through what my 2026 projects will look like. I'm planning to keep this blog active in some way but it will likely look a little different than these entries. A thing about me is that I need to change things up if I'm going to stay interested. I hope that you have enjoyed reading my musings and snippets of small business life. If you want to see the collection you can find the whole year here.
For this final entry I am excited to wrap up our year! I love New Years- the closing of a chapter and a fresh era ahead. New ideas and goals to implement, reflecting on what went well and where we can improve. Our team has lots on our mind for 2026 and we're super excited to jump in after just a little more easy-on-the-nervous-system restorative time.
Last time I wrote we were mid flood stress, and mid holiday season. The following weeks were delightfully packed with holiday retail, Valley Made Market, preparing for our own family Christmas, hosting family, and then taking a big deep breath and a long beach walk.
Small business life and main street retail can swallow you whole if you let it, and sometimes December feels like a survival swimming mission. Have you ever been in big waves in the ocean and not been able to get out- only to realize you need to go with the flow for a little bit and just survive until you have a break in between sets to scurry yourself to the beach? That's a little what December fees like for me. There is a rush to it all, and a joy in the chaos. The biggest wins of the 2025 holiday season is that I did not get sick, I did not cry, and I do not feel totally wrecked on this side of the madness. Those wins are huge, and it's a first to have all 3 in one year!
This past year has had many other wins, we've connected with many of you in the shop, in our DM's and at Valley Made Market. We have worked on many custom projects for local businesses and groups in our area. We created a studio work area in the shop to show off some of our process and an ever changing in-progress view of what we do. We moved in more greeting cards than ever and created a dedicated Spanish Language section, PNW Artists feature, along with the normal birthday, love, pride, sympathy, thank you, and friendship sections. We produced Valley Made outdoor (6 shows!) and a Holiday Series (3 shows!). The community response to those was overwhelmingly positive and people love the new holiday market location.
We created new designs and pulled in new products, we framed art and printed on wood panels. We applied for a grant to revamp the store interior (and got it! More on that soon). What a joy it is to create a space for the community to enjoy. To support indie makers along the way and have the opportunity to be creative. I am ever-grateful to be able to do this work, it's because of all of you that we're still here.
I may be back with some 2026 intentions. I have a list- and it's filled with stuff I'm excited about. I'd love to hear from you if you want to share what you're excited about for 2026.
Thanks for reading,
Phoebe