About Me

Welcome. I'm Stephanie and I live in Portland, Oregon with my husband and our six-year-old daughter and four-year-old son. I have been making things my entire life. It's what I do. You can buy the things I make at my etsy shop. To receive email updates when new things are added the shop, email me at littlebirds{at}comcast{dot}net with the subject line "email list".

I love to take pictures with my new Nikon D50 camera. Sometimes I use my lensbaby lens which gives my photos a soft focus around the edges. You can read some of my tips on taking photos in a post I wrote last year here. Please ask permission before using any of my photos on your personal or professional site.

I started blogging a year and a half ago to share what I was making with my sister and my mom who are both talented artists and crafters in their own right. At some point we realized that more and more people were listening in on our family chat. Blogging has changed all of our lives quite a bit.

I named my blog and shop little birds because I always called my daughter "birdie" and after my son was born the two of them became my "little birds". They are an everyday inspiration. It is through them that I am able to stop and notice the beauty and humor and wonder in my daily life. Motherhood is an overwhelming task; I often feel as though I am being pushed into the margins. My blog is my own empty page to fill as I please. I am thankful for it.

Please feel free to email me at littlebirds{at}comcast{dot}net. I will do my very best to get back to you as soon as possible!

{the little birds manifesto}

I believe in valuing experiences over material things.

I believe that handmade things are superior to mass-produced, because they are experiential.

I believe in always being mindful of minimizing the waste that I produce.

I believe that buying secondhand reduces waste.

I believe in things with history, with dings and loose threads.

I believe in things made from other things.

I believe in aprons.

I believe that children should be seen AND heard (hence their presence on this blog), HOWEVER, I do value their privacy and expect that you would too. Please ask for permission to use photos.

I believe in cool shoes.

I believe in community and the inspiration of others.

I believe in clean lines and simplicity.

I believe in ornamentation.

I believe in good coffee made properly in a french press with a splash of half and half.

I believe in painting it white.

I believe in brown and aqua blue and green.

I believe in Yo La Tengo.

I believe in family, but I do not believe in a narrow definition of family. I believe in as wide a definition of family as possible.

I believe in playing outside every day.

I believe in an endless supply of paper and crayons.

I believe in striped socks.

I believe children should go to bed at a reasonable hour so their parents can sit around and drink and swear like sailors (and watch HBO series on DVD).

I believe that I can enjoy good style and design and still live within my means.

I believe that it would be great if I could respond to everyone's comments individually. I am sorry that I do not.

I believe in trying new things.

I believe food tastes better when you know what it is, where it came from, and how it was raised or grown.

I believe in using my imagination.

I believe I will end this manifesto now.