How It Began
Sparrow's Cottage began in 1998,
less than a year after I married the one whom my soul loves.
It was too bad that we couldn't
just live on love, but new school teachers don't make very much money.
We both were middle school teachers,
and had our summers off, so we decided to begin creating and selling at
the crafts fairs that went on in the park in our little town. My husband,
Wes, used his woodworking skills to build the cutest little birdhouses
with rusty, scalloped tin roofs. I made a few packages of cards, and did
some stitchery to fill in. We called our business "Bitterbrush Birdhouses"
to begin with...we wanted something that sounded local and was down to
the point. We looked at what grew abundantly around our first home: bitterbrush.
And since the main thing we sold were birdhouses...well you can see where
our thought process went to. It was good until we began making more than
birdhouses (dining room tables, cabinets, shelves, cutlery boxes, mirrors,
frames...)
Soon, we were selling our goods
along with my mom at the Magic of Christmas shows each year in Portland,
Oregon. Business was good, and it was so much fun. We changed our name
in 2000, to Sparrow's Cottage and I began making anything my mind would
come up with.
How It Changed
In 2002, we had our first baby.
Oh starry-eyed joy! What a bolt of lightening there was when he was born.
Our focus completely changed, and our thoughts were on him. I decided to
stay home with our baby, as I couldn't imagine leaving this perfect precious
gift for a minute.
As he grew, I felt that I had to
get a "real job" and began tutoring almost full time for local homeschool
families, toting my baby along with me. I had such a great time doing that,
but like anything else, this was only a season and wasn't meant to last
forever.
In 2005, our little daughter was
born. What a perfectly wonderful time of life! Two sweet and precious children...
When I finally took off my rose-colored
glasses, I didn't know how I was going to take a 3 year old and a
newborn baby from house to house and concentrate on tutoring! I had to
end up quitting the tutoring, and was saddened and frustrated. I HAD to
have something that was just for me...something that would complete me.
One frustrated afternoon, my mom
sent me this quote:
Begin doing what you
want to do now.
We are not living
in eternity.
We have only this
moment, sparkling like a star in our hand
and melting like a
snowflake.
-- (Marie Beyon Ray)
That probably changed my life. I
began thinking about what I wanted to do...
I wanted to create, to share, to
inspire, to DO ART!
I dusted off my supplies, and now,
Sparrow's Cottage is all of my own making, completely me, all my own.
A Real Thing
I feel very strongly about my art,
as well I should. This business that began as a way to finish paying the
bills each month during the summer, and then was quickly and quietly tossed
asided during the "baby" years, has blossomed into a REAL thing. I am amazed
when I look back on it all, and don't think I could have imagined that
I would be doing what I am doing today. Without the support of my gracious,
long-suffering husband, and the frenzied idea-swapping I have with my mom,
I wouldn't be able to do this. I am also so lucky to have the most wonderful,
loyal customers who have helped me all along the way. They have given me
encouragement when my confidence was weak, and fortitude when I almost
felt like giving up.
I have found my voice in my art,
and at times I am looking so far into the moment, that I am stop-in-my-tracks
speechless to see what lies behind me.
I see parts of my soul, my deep
inner
longings, reflected in the most precious of my work.
Every doll I make even looks like
me in one way or another.
My art is my becoming, and I am
just in awe and wonder at being so fortunate that I am able to do this
for a living.
Down The Road
My future lies before me as a bright
haze...something like what hangs over a hot meadow in the heat of summer.
You can see the bright colors, and smell the sweet grasses. You can hear
the buzzing bees and the gentle roll of a heat cloud in the distance. I
don't worry about it, but I just keep stepping in the direction of my dreams,
and know it will all be so wonderful.
I have sketches upon sketches of
artwork that has yet to be, and plans and ideas aplenty.
Thank you for taking this journey
with me - I have finally begun doing what I have always wanted to do.
********************************
What
I love inspires my art:
I love the day-to-day
history of 18th and 19th century women.
I love the Olde Spellings
for words, before we needed to standardize it...which is why I love to
write "goode" and "ladye".
I love old handwritten
script, roughly cut antique books, and beautiful old woodcuts & engravings.
I love dolls and the
little things I can make for them.
I love the sound,
the feel & the flavor of a goode worde, thus, I love to write.
I love to read, but
more so, I love a story.
I love being a mother
and a wife.
I love the unexpected
& the magical.
I love finding the
path to my own heart.
I love to share myself
with you, through my art.
I love Sparrow's Cottage.
I love me...well,
I do.
********************************
If you want to read
about me more often:
Homekeeping
Hearts
is my online journal
& you're welcome to read it
********************************
Send
Comments to:
Katie
Estvold
Sparrow's
Cottage
P.O.
Box 3500-307
Sisters,
Oregon 97759
Email
Katie Directly, and you will be directed, in the right direction.
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Thank you for respecting
the copyright laws by not duplicating any of my artwork, or using any designs
or pictures on this site.
Unless otherwise indicated,
all images are copyright © Katie Estvold, paper artist.
Duplication is prohibited,
all rights reserved.
This page was designed
by Katie Estvold, Sparrow's Cottage