Hai friends! Welcome to my new blog platform! For whatever reason, Wordpress was being a jerk and wouldn't let me post new things so I moved my critical posts over here and I'll be blogging from Shopify from now on! All my old posts have a date of April 5th but this one is for real a new post from TODAY. If you saw my Instagram stories from this morning, you know what I'm here to talk about: REOPENING! But I want to get all those thoughts 1) organized and 2) in a place I can refer people to once my stories expire. You guys know I have been closed to since last March, save a few weeks around the...
I don’t know what I can say differently that you haven’t heard from every other small business you love, or from what you read in the paper or online. The only difference if it will be said in my voice, and that’s what you guys come here for, right? Shit’s weird. Let’s start at the beginning. Halfway through March, more and more businesses and shops my size close up. I used to love seeing a pretty shelfie from my favorite shops on Instagram, but in March ’20 that started to mean one thing: “we’re closing”. It felt like a killer was making it’s way down a hallway, stabbing everyone in each room, and soon he would come for me. And...
When I first opened 3 years ago, I did these little updates, sort of like a baby book; Calliope at 3 months, Calliope at 6 months. I just re-read the 3 month one. I remember writing it. I remember those feelings of fear, doubt, and more fear. I remember going home exhausted or crying. Driving straight to my mom’s house in tears for a hug. Those days are gone. There aren’t many tears these days. There has been fear. You guys have been with me for all of it and here we are THREE YEARS LATER! I can’t believe it. They say the first 2 are the worst. (No shit.) And by 5 you can breathe. well I’m right in...
*EDIT On November 30th, I announced via Instagram that my new Somerville store will NOT be called Dear Miss Dolly, but will carry the name Calliope, and be consistent with my current branding. The short version is basically I felt the name change to Dear Miss Dolly was the wrong decision. I thought I would be comfortable renaming even a concept store that would be nothing like the Natick location, but I wasn’t. I have worked very hard to make Calliope Paperie a name, MY name, and it is because of that hard work I was found and pursued by Bow Market. Even though the developers didn’t want even a HINT of a chain at their new marketplace, they were...
Sunday is my last outdoor market selling cards. Ever. I am committed. 2 people are coming during breakdown to take my display pieces. Some time next week, someone else will be by to take my tent and weights. I. AM. DONE. By the way, anyone who read the title and thought I was going all Walt Whitman, can exit through the side door now. Thanks. Calliope kind of began in the primordial soup of the Boston outdoor market scene. I started doing the South End Open Market in 2008 with (wait for it) fill-in party invitations. I had 3 or 4 designs that were all made from just paper. No illustration or lettering. Just patterned scrapbook paper, ribbons, and open...
