· By Phoebe Carpenter Eells
November 2025
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November 11, 2025
Behind the scenes, small business life
Our Halloween Downtown Trick or Treat went off swimmingly despite the atmospheric river that hammered us with rain. Thanks to all of your donations, we had plenty of candy. We’re already thinking about how we can continue this event as a community effort for years to come. Big thanks to the MVDA Promotions Committee for their help networking candy donations, to MVPD for the glow bracelets and crowd work, MV Parks for helping with advice, MV Mayors Office for encouragement, to all the shop owners for donating their energy & time. A special thanks to every individual donation that came through. We had donations large and small and they all helped immensely. It was a great reminder to me that a small group of engaged citizens can make a huge impact.
There was a little shy of $200 left from the Halloween candy fundraiser and I turned that into food for the elementary school food pantry and donations for the MVHS Migrant Leaders Club food drive. We’re continuing that effort to keep people fed as we head into the holidays and the political landscape continues to be unsteady. I’m at $300 raised so far and will head out shopping again soon. If you want to donate you can drop non perishable food by the shop or send a cash donation.
We voted and hope you did too! The nationwide and local results were buoying and hopeful. Locally, we had some really interesting races and surprising outcomes. I’m excited to see the youth vote show up and some new, younger faces in the mix.
Custom work continues to flow out of our shop. We loved the opportunity to print for Mount Vernon Education Association (if you have an order with this group, they are ready for pick up at elSage through end of day Saturday. On Sunday we will pass them off to your union president). We also donated design work to League of Women Voters Skagit, printed a special request for our PNW Sailboat design, and a sweet ode to a favorite kitty.
Last week we were surprised by water pouring through the ceiling of the shop! A plumbing issue upstairs meant we spent a day on damage control and clean up. Thanks to the quick action of Paige we escaped with under $150 in damaged product (could have been so much worse)! Here’s hoping that’s our hiccup for the holiday season (there’s always one).
Looking ahead, we kick off Valley Made Market in the new location at Hillcrest Park on Saturday and Sunday November 15-16. We are super excited to see you all. Each holiday market has a varied line up, so if you can join us for all 3 you’ll see something different at each one. After the Saturday market I will head to elSage Shop to stay open late for Ladies Night Out. A ticketed wine walk in Downtown Mount Vernon. Although elSage is not on the official map we will be open late with cookies from Skagit Valley Larder and a hydration station to keep you going!
Thanks for reading, and being a delightful part of our community. We are grateful for you and everything you bring to elSage.
With Gratitude,
Phoebe
Coming up:
Small Business Saturday Nov 29
 November 25, 2025 | On Gratitude, ever-grateful Since I last wrote, we kicked off Valley Made Holiday Market and hosted a pit stop station for the Downtown Wine walk. Both were a smashing success with the brightest of people and so much small business support. Since then, we have been working to finish up the 2025 custom printing queue and making new and restock goods for the shop. You will see work flowing out of our printshop up until 12/24 and new curated arrivals as well. I am seeing some supply chain limitations, even with our USA made garments, so if you see something you love- I recommend grabbing it. We will keep the shop filled and make sure there are plenty of gifts at all price points ready for your list! Our holiday window display is mostly up (some finishing touches will go in today). Big thanks to our gal Paige who has become our window display lead and is crushing it! With your help, we passed over many pounds of food to local food pantries and school groups. We will continue to collect food & grocery gift cards at the shop along with donations via Venmo. All donations that come through will be turned into food or food gift cards to pass onto local families who need a little help this season. If you're ever feeling down about the world I highly recommend doing something kind and altruistic. It feels really good to make a small difference. We can all do what we can, where we can, to make the edges of the times we're living through a little softer. Our quote wall in the shop currently states: The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see. I'm wishing you all a grateful week and holiday season. I hope that we can all find brightness and delight in the chaos of life. I am reminded often that life without any bumps or tension is a boring existence and that adventure and excitement live in the unexpected. Stay close to things that light you up, invest in what you want to see thrive, and make memories/collect all the stories as you gather with loved ones this week. I'm grateful for each of you. For the opportunity to do this work, and to be part of such a dynamic community. I was interviewed last week by a local magazine and there was a part where I had the opportunity to talk about you- and how lucky I feel to be able to come up with new ideas and have people be excited about them. This season you've shown up for: Mainstreet candy drive, kid's food pantry stocking, Valley Made Market, and shopping small. You stop by and say hello, you ask about my kids and I ask about your mom, we talk about the weather or the latest election results. Its not lost on me that I am the lucky one- we are the lucky ones. Community is queen is one of my mantras (should we put that on a shirt?) and I feel ever-grateful to live a life that reflects the deep community that exists around elSage and Valley Made. I hope to see you soon or send you something lovely. We will be putting freebies in shipped orders this week and sending out another email Saturday morning with a fresh batch of hoodies for the last day of the sale. We appreciate each of you and all of the ways that you support us (not just purchases but telling your friends, showing up to Valley Made, commenting on socials, sharing posts, leaving reviews, donating, & saying nice things about us when we're not around). Have a lovely holiday & enjoy a little rest. With Gratitude, Phoebe Read the years worth of Behind the Scenes posts here Shop New Arrivals here Drop us a note here Sign up to get this as an email |