It's Been Awhile...

It's Been Awhile...

It certainly has been awhile since we've posted a Blog, that's because sometimes life just gets overwhelming.

We are finally getting a chance to catch our breath after an extremely busy Summer of working hard, traveling, and visiting friends & family.

It all started with the Oregon Country Fair, back in July. We love the OCF, but there's no denying that it requires an immense amount of work and dedication to make the trip a success -year, after year. OCF is only a 3 day festival, but when you factor in packing, driving, set-up, and clean-up it ends up being a solid week of work, not to mention the months of sewing Betsy must do to create enough inventory for the booth. To say the least, it is a huge effort for us to make it happen. This year rain created an additional obstacle, that extended the cleaning well into the following week. We arrived home in mid-July, to prepare for a busy month of visitors.

Betsy counted 18 different people that stayed at our house throughout the month of July! It was a fun month seeing family, and friends, but all the energy we spent hosting guests didn't leave us much time to prepare for the Anacortes Arts Festival.

We had an excellent time in Anacortes this year, as usual it was great to see some of our westside friends, soak up the coastal air, eat great food, and immerse ourselves in the amazing art that is present at the festival year, after year.

After the AAF, Betsy was absolutely exhausted and in desperate need of a break. We decided to pack up the truck and head to Canada.

We had big plans to climb lots of mountains, but the relentless rain and other unforeseen events deflated our dreams. Somehow we managed to salvage the trip, and got a fair bit of climbing in between storms. We got to check out some major tourist attractions, such as Lake Louise, along the way and narrowly missed an encounter with a Grizzly Bear.

We returned home in early September to catch up on work, and prepare for Winter. Betsy was busily catching up on orders that came while we were away, and Pitkin focused on building the giant woodshed we've been needing for years. Once the shed was complete he cut, split, and stacked 10 cord of wood to fill the new structure, just before we left for our next trip, a family wedding in Maryland.

We had a good time seeing Pitkin's family in Md., we attended the Grakin Wedding, and got lots of quality time with everybody, especially our nephews! We coordinated our trip with our semi-annual trip to the City of Rocks National Reserve in Almo, Id.

The City of Rocks is, without a doubt, our favorite climbing destination. It has some of the highest quality granite we've ever touched, and the best camping anywhere. We've never been disappointed by any of our trips to the City.

This trip was especially awesome because we had a crew of old friends from Whatcom co, and most of them had never been to the City! It was great to share some of our favorite spots with them, and explore new areas as well.

Now we are back home, and hunkering down for the winter. There's already snow in the mountains, and we are looking forward to sticking around our Valley and focusing on work for the next few months... and hopefully do some skiing too!

Cheers,

Betsy & Pitkin

In the Studio

About Us:

Intertwined Designs has been growing, and evolving, since 2001. This year, 2016, is no exception. 

Throughout the past year we have been working on improving our home based studio, and planning on some future expansions. The improved studio space has been proving it’s value, as things get busier for us.

By this Spring, the remodeling should be complete, and we will begin equipping the added space with the Screen Printing equipment that we have been coveting for the last few years.

Our long time customers will remember some of our Screen printed clothing from several years ago. It featured original art work by Pitkin, but was printed out of house.

By the end of 2016, we hope to be producing our own original designs, printed in-house, on our handmade clothing. This should be the beginning of an exciting new era for Intertwined Designs, as Betsy and Pitkin, will truly be Intertwining their skills to produce some amazing new Designs.

In the Studio:

Step into our home-based studio, where Betsy has been hard at work creating new designs for 2016.

From the raw fabric, to designing patterns, and finally creating the finished product, every garment continues to be handmade, just as it has for the last 15 years.

Having an improved workspace has been a blessing for our business. For many years the business was taking up most of our living space in the house, finally over the past year Betsy has gained some breathing room to create!

So stay tuned for lots of great things from Intertwined Designs this year.

A Gift from Us:

Have you ever wondered what it is like to get a package from Intertwined Designs?

Well, it is like giving yourself a present!

Once your handmade garments have been specially sewn - just for you, we then carefully hand-package your clothing with love. We wrap your order in tissue paper, created from 100% recycled materials, and tie it together with Hemp twine. We always include a handwritten card to let you know how much we care, and appreciate your business. We want you to know that we are sending this to you, with care, in hopes that our clothing brings you pure joy.

The personal connection to our customers is important to us. We are not a huge faceless company, we are normal people just trying to create good things in the world.

We thank-you for supporting our small business, and taking the time to visit our website.

Cheers,

Betsy + Pitkin

Mid-Winter 2016

Above: Our Valley, can you see why we can't leave?

It just occurred to us the other day, that we haven’t left our valley in over two months! That must be a sign that we like it here in Mazama.

The winter has been cold, and relentless. Many extra hours have been spent snow blowing, and shoveling -only to do it all over again, and again. The funny thing is, we’ve been happier than ever in our ‘snow cave’ of a home. 

We thought we had an unexpected visitor at our door the other day, when we heard a strange rumble on the porch. Only to find out it was our roof-top glacier collapsing, and crashing (literally) through the front door. See More Here 

Betsy can’t see out of her studio anymore, now that the snow has covered most of the windows. Pitkin had to exhume our reserve firewood from under a blanket of snow and ice four feet thick.

Above: Betsy making the Commute 

We had to chuckle a bit when we realized that we’ve put more miles on our snowmobiles, than our cars in the past few months. That’s a first for us! We have some of the most fuel efficient snowmobiles available, and they use considerably less gas than a car. Not to mention they are much more fun to drive than most cars.

Above: Our Friend Doug threading the needle

The one thing that makes all this winter hardship worth it, is the fantastic skiing we’ve been doing this year! A great run in the backcountry can keep you smiling for days! 

Obviously, all this snow has been pretty distracting, but we’ve been making a conscious effort to keep things at Intertwined Designs moving along. Betsy has been busy designing some great new things for the upcoming year, and we are getting excited to finish the new screen printing studio this spring.

We also have released a NEW item on our website, the Men’s Hemp Backcountry Hoodie. It is a comfortable, and durable Mens Hooded Shirt, that is going to be very popular. See It Here

12days of Christmas

12days of Christmas

We are planning our biggest giveaway ever for this Holiday Season!

We started our Instagram account a year ago, and have really enjoyed sharing our photos with the world. We have also enjoyed connecting with a whole new community of people that we might never have crossed paths with otherwise.

As a 'Thank You' to our IG followers, we are having a 12 day giveaway event starting Dec. 13th. We have a nice selection of prizes that are ready to go for 12 lucky recipients. So follow us: @intertwined_designs for your chance to win.

The contest rules are simple:

1. Follow us on Instagram @intertwined_designs

2. When we share each of our '12 days posts', re-post them daily

3. Tag us, in your re-post: @intertwined_designs, #HandmadeInMazama , #ITD_12days  -each day

We will post each morning from Dec.13th-Dec.24th, and then select a random follower each evening. You must meet the above criteria to be eligible to win.

So best of luck to you all! ...stay tuned.

Thanks,

Betsy, and Pitkin

We Love Winter!

Above: (L) Betsy booting up to the top of her run | (M) Pitkin & Betsy soaking up the sun | (R) Betsy surfing the Powder, Photo: MKB

It's no secret....

We Love Winter!

Washington Pass closed this week, and the next day we were buried under 2ft of snow! This is the way winter usually announces itself in the Cascades... loudly, and without warning.

Although we spent a lot of extra time shoveling snow this week, it does not lessen our love of winter. It is a time of quiet reflection, for us here in the valley.

The highway traffic slows down, and so does the pace of life. We are greeted daily by nature's wonder, being expressed in endless frosty forms.

Most importantly a new playground starts to take shape as the snow soothes, and softens the rugged landscape. 

Above: JB of eqpdgear.com surveys the playground | Photo: MKB

Truly our most favorite part of winter is backcountry snowboarding (..and skiing!). When the highway closes, it becomes the domain of those lucky enough to own a snowmobile. The deep access, and dangerous conditions, keep the crowds away, but those willing to put in the effort will always be rewarded.

We were fortunate to get out skiing a few times before Thanksgiving this year. It was a blast hanging out with our 'winter' friends, JB & MKB from eqpdgear.com . They share our passion for the outdoors, art, and quality handmade products.

It's not even December, and it feels like we've already had a lot of winter adventures - and looking forward to many more!

Above: Betsy feels her love of winter Photo: MKB | (R) Half Moon, Wallaby, & Liberty Bell guard the playground

Follow us on Instagram ( @intertwined_designs ) Twitter (@intertwind_D) or Facebook  -to see more photos, and hear more stories.

Thanks,

Betsy & Pitkin

Bliss Pants

Wow, It’s truly amazing how time flies, I can’t believe I’m going into my 15th year in business!

 In the 15 years I’ve been in business, I’ve changed and evolved constantly. Last year, was probably the biggest challenge I’ve ever had, as I moved my business -and life, from the west side of the Cascades, to the amazing Methow Valley, on the east side of the Cascades. With this move, I now have stopped doing the Bellingham Farmer’s Market ( I sure love having my Saturday’s free! ), and am now only doing 2 art shows this summer, the Oregon Country Fair and Anacortes Arts Festival.

Currently most of my business is done online, and selling to stores.  With this change, I needed to streamline my designs and concentrate on what makes my business run smoothly & efficiently. Unfortunately, this means discontinuing my Hemp linen fabric, that I create my beloved Bliss pants and Drawstring pants out of. I have been debating this topic for over 6-8 months now, and bottom line, it’s just not economical  for me to work with this fabric anymore.  I dye all the Hemp clothing myself, and this fabric requires multiple washings to get the desired quality I need.  Not to mention, it creates so much lint, I’m somewhat scared for my septic system -and health

.    

Over the years, the cost of this fabric has risen dramatically to the point that I can’t justify paying the cost between, fabric, dye, and buttons.

( I know, I know, I’m crying too :(  ) The 3/4 length are a huge personal favorite of mine, and I rock these everywhere, I’ve climbed mountains, traveled the world, and worked many BFM’s & OCF’s wearing them. But, I guess being a good business owner, means making decisions that are right for the business, and recognizing the time to do that.

I do have some pairs left, and they are all listed only on the ITD website. If you love these pants make sure to get a pair before they’re all gone. However, if things change with dye, cost, etc, I may decide to bring them back.

I appreciate everyone’s business, and love of my pants through the years, and hope you can find just as much love for other things that I create, as well. 

Please enjoy all my new designs, I’m super happy with them and love the new photography, my good friend, Donni Reddington (donnireddington.com) is doing….she captures both the beauty of the Methow and my clothing quite wonderfully!

As Always, Thank you sew much for your continued support for helping me live my dream,

xoxo,

Betsy Cassell-Thomas