Thank you to Meredith at Cookshop and Brett at Kitchen Table Magazine for organizing the “Winter at the Kitchen Table” market. I enjoyed spending the day set up between the baked goods from Slow Rise Bakehouse and the tangy spice of Marshall’s Haute Sauce. Even better,
was seeing all of you! So many friends and family stopped by the market, as well as the most lovely new customers and Carrot Condo supporters. It was wonderful to see you all, thank you so much! (Special thanks to h. who helped me pack up…that was fabulous!)
This wraps up my in-person events for 2025, but I have a few items left. If you see anything here that you’d like, message me, and we’ll figure out payment and shipping/delivery. (Shipping adds ~$5 to the total.)
Market bags printed on both sides with long handles, deep pockets that line all four sides, and hidden messages inside, $35:
My first seasonal card featuring all things cranberry. I have individual 5×7 cards for $5 each or 2 for $8, or 4×6 cards in sets of six for $22:
My favorite cloth napkin design, a set of 4 for $25. They’re 18×18 inches and show the story of pouring and sharing a good cup of coffee (or tea, if you prefer):
A kid’s apron for $30, and kitchen towels for $20, including a new design with spice jars and utensils that turned out inadvertently Christmas-y with the red and green.
And lastly, blank greeting cards, $5 each or 2 for $8. As newsletter subscribers, if you purchase anything noted here, tell me which greeting card you’d like, and I will include at least one for free just to say thank you for your support.
That’s it for 2025! The start of the new year looks like it will bring me big opportunities to sort and re-organize my creative life, reflect on what I’ve done so far, and dream up ideas for what I want to do next.
So, until I have something fun to share, best wishes to all of you in the new year. And, as always, thank you for following my creative journey. Your interest and support mean everything to me! Thank you for being such cool people.
Thank you to all of you who visited me at Kitchen Culture last weekend! It was nice to see some familiar faces, and to those of you who signed up for this newsletter: welcome!
I don’t remember what I’m laughing at here, but Kitchen Culture is a great place to hang out for the day. I left with a new-to-me cookbook!
My next, and only other, in-person event is at Cookshop on Sunday, December 6th:
I’ll be joining an incredible line up of 14 other vendors featuring locally handcrafted hot sauce, chai tea, beautiful kitchen knives and wooden bowls. And, I just realized, my friend Jen Kenworth of Juanita’s Velvet will be there too. Her work is amazing!
I will have greeting cards, my first seasonal card featuring the cranberry, hand-printed kitchen towels, cloth napkins, kid’s aprons, and an adult apron made of soft, organic cotton that feels lovely to wear. Oh, and I’ll have my market bag with “hidden messages” inside.
I think this is going to be a cheerful, festive market, and I hope to see you there!
As always, thank you for your interest in my creative journey. It’s encouraging to know you all are out there. Gosh–especially the recent support on Instagram–what a boost of confidence you all gave me.
Get ready to gather! Come see me at Kitchen Culture on Saturday, November 8th noon-5pm and stock up on all you need for winter feasts and festivities.
6300 SE Foster Road in Portland
I’ve been working on new block print designs for soft, lovely adult aprons. Cute little kid aprons. Cloth cocktail napkins. Cloth dinner napkins. A seasonal card celebrating the Pacific Northwest cranberry. And more…
Shop for host gifts, restock your own kitchen supplies, and collect some unique handcrafted items for the winter holidays.
Kitchen Culture is offering 10% off new retail items if you spend $25 or more at Carrot Condo.
I’ll have sweet treats for you. Coconut-lime cookies were the favorite in June. I’m considering spicy chocolate cookies for November. Something to warm you up. We’ll see…!
Mark your calendar. Invite your friends. I look forward to seeing you soon!
Join me on June 21st to CELEBRATE THE HOME COOK 12pm-4pm at Kitchen Culture (6300 SE Foster Road, Portland)
What we eat every day and who makes it, matters! Carrot Condo’s art amplifies the importance of food and cooking. Kitchen Culture aims to build resilience and joy in kitchens and cooks.
We see you, home cooks! Shopping, prepping, making, and cleaning up dozens of meals every week. So:
Enjoy a sweet treat and cold drink while you browse the shop. Choose a free gift from Carrot Condo with purchase, while supplies last.
Check out hand-printed dish towels and tote bags (with “secret” messages inside), original art, greeting cards, and stickers by Carrot Condo.
And the ever-changing collection of colorful bake ware, dishes, and kitchen appliances curated by Kitchen Culture.
Saturday, June 21st noon-4pm Carrot Condo will be at at Kitchen Culture.*
More details coming at the end of May, but get this on your calendar. You won’t want to miss it!! *(6300 SE Foster Road in Portland)
In the meantime, a few things to share with you all:
Thank you to PNW CSA for commissioning a pen-and-ink illustration. I wanted to convey how exciting it feels to open up your CSA box each week: full of abundance and color and possibility. I love the watercolor-style paper they chose for printing greeting cards–it makes my illustration look like a piece of art ready to frame.
My “Thank you Thursday” project continues each week. At the time this newsletter is going out, I’m on thank you card number 15 out of 52.
The only thing that has been difficult is sharing on social media. I don’t want to share the specifics of the thank you–that’s for the recipient–and yet I want to share what makes the person I’m thanking so meaningful. I’m hoping by number 26, half way, I’ll have found what works with social media posts.
Many of my thank yous are anonymous–I don’t want anyone thinking I hope to get anything out of this, so I sign my cards with something like, “from, a long-time fan.” However, I made one letter public because I don’t know the name of the person I’m thanking nor how to find him. Here it is, a simple cartoon illustrating a moment that has stuck with me for decades:
Lastly, at the end of March, I attended an event called Creative Morning, Portland. These are monthly lectures from and for creatives of all types, from writers and designers, to filmmakers and musicians.
I’ve watched the archived lectures online, but this was the first one I attended in person. I felt hesitant. I think I worried I’d be surrounded by Super Impressive Creatives and imposter syndrome would kick in. Turns out, I probably was surrounded by Super Impressive Creatives, but the welcoming atmosphere put me at ease.
After the lecture, I explored Kiln, the cool modern building where the event was held. I came across two walls filled with large, square watercolors by David Shrigley. One of them summed up my experience exactly:
Sometimes it’s hard for me to decide if I should push through my nerves and do something that stretches my comfort zone, or if I should pay attention to my anxious reaction and say “no thanks.” I’m learning that creativity requires times of risk–attending the Creative Mornings event for example–and times of inward focus, trusting my vision, blocking out any other influence.
It’s a balance I’m learning to appreciate.
Thank you–as always–for following along my creative journey. Your interest and support are everything! I’ll hope to see you on June 21st. More details soon.
Well, spring has sprung, as they say. I thought I wanted more winter. The late arrival of daylight and it’s quick exit in the afternoon feel like permission to stay inside, quiet and reflective. A week ago, however, blue skies, a gentle breeze, and a sweet scent in the air had me practically skipping from task to task. I’m more ready for light–of all kinds–than I’d realized.
It was great to see some of you at Share Fair!! Not only did I get to savor the smells coming from the cooking demos, and eat the samples you all brought to me, I shared space with Terra Farma, and they brought their Great Pyrenees puppy who kept us company.
She’s a ball of fluff now, but she’ll grow into a giant, vigilant, formidable watch dog.
My tote bags sold out! I forgot to show people the “secret” messages inside, so I’m excited that they’ll discover them later. All but a few towels sold–the rest are in my Etsy shop. And now I’m working on some new ideas….oh, wait…that reminds me of one more exciting moment from Share Fair. A customer asked if he could turn my beet-sticker drawing into a tattoo for his shoulder. What?! Do I mind? Not at all! I mean…I can say my drawing is now on skin?? Okay, that sounds odd, but I’m thrilled! I hope he thinks to send me a pic when he gets inked. I’ll let you know!
Thank You Thursday is also going well. This week will be number nine of fifty-two. This card got a lot of love:
I’m not sure I completely agree with the quotation, but I deeply love the affirmation that what we do in the home matters. That how we live our values every day with each decision we make and act we take, matters, even if we can’t see our individual impact on a national scale.
I had the idea for Thank You Thursday many years ago, and I recently reviewed my research from 2018. In one study, participants composed three letters of gratitude over the span of one month. They could write to anyone as long as it was positive. With each letter, writers reported feeling higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and lower levels of depressive symptoms.
Thank you, as always, for following along on my creative journey. I appreciate your support and interest, especially as I stay committed to my 2025 goals. More on that next month.
You’re invited to: SHARE FAIR on Sunday, March 2nd!! 10am to 1pm at The Redd 831 SE Salmon, Portland
Soak in some cheer while perusing a bounty of thoughtfully grown and harvested foods from local farmers. Carrot Condo will have a table at Share Fair stocked with fresh batches of hand-printed kitchen towels as well as food-themed cards, stickers, and original art. Oh, and…a brand-new creation … market bags!
These canvas bags required a lot of time, trial, and error. In fact, I’ll have my two “trial-and-error” bags available for a discount. These are the first and only four bags–come check them out and tell me what you think. There are even messages inside the bag to encourage you to live your values.
Enjoy the beautiful and friendly atmosphere at the Redd, meet local farmers, learn about community supported agriculture (CSA), and attend a cooking demo or two. There will kid activities, as well as Comida KIN’s food cart featuring ingredients from Washington County farms.
Thank You Thursdays #1, 2, & 3 out of 52
Every Thursday for one year, I am writing and sharing a thank you card. Follow along @carrot.condo or #thankyouthursday on Instagram. I’ll share a few in each newsletter as well.
The first two sets of cards pictured here thanked people for hosting me in their homes, but had other less obvious gifts. In one, I felt how lovely it is to connect with people who have known me my entire life. In another, I got a glimpse of what it means to be a terrific grandfather. And in the third, I thanked someone famous, who will probably not see my card, but it felt good to write out the reasons why I am grateful for their work.
A Story about Marmalade, Memory Care, and Paddington Bear
And finally, I haven’t had a chance to tell you that Kitchen Table Magazine published an essay of mine and made it look beautiful online, even using some of my illustrations!
It’s about marmalade, memory care, my dad, something called deipnophobia, and Paddington Bear. The comments this essay received on various social media platforms were heartwarming and so kind. I know there’s a lot of bitter in the world, but the sweet is out there too.
As always, thank you so much for following my creative journey. I hope to see some of you in person on March 2nd!!
Some of my current work tools: pens, sketchbook, & a drawing representing my iPad.
My favorite quote by Dr. Martin Luther King is about work, and it has been my favorite quote for over twenty years, which is interesting, because my “work” has changed dramatically in those years. (For example, I used to never feel the need to put quote marks around the word “work.”)
When I was an English instructor, I deeply loved my career and felt I was doing something good: helping people find their confidence and their voice, helping them develop skills that would serve them well for life. This meaningful work inspired me to bring my best self to class every day.
However, when I changed paths to take care of a home and a family while starting my creative business, I felt so terribly small and insignificant. I never felt like I was doing “enough” and wondered how my life contributed at all to the world. Even so, this quote remained my favorite.
If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well. –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Initially, I felt MLK told me: you have important and meaningful work that helps others, let that inspire you to give it your all every day. But in my insular domestic and creative life, it suggested to me that I might feel small, but how I did my work mattered.
More of my current work tools: containers holding pencils and scissors.
The quote is not about perfection, at least not for me. He was direct with his original audience that they would have to aim for perfection to get any chance of acceptance and success, and that they should strive for such achievement. He spoke to junior high school students in the late 60s facing racism and sexism that is on the rise today, but was even more overt, sanctioned, and normalized then.
For me, rather than aiming for perfection or striving for barrier-breaking achievement, the quote is about ongoing commitment to effort and intention. No more whining about feeling small: do the work in front of me and do it well.
If the work in front of me is, as a typical day might be: taking care of others, working on a drawing, drafting an essay, making meals, and cleaning up, then I know this will not make headlines or catch the attention of heads of state. But it is the work in front of me.
More of my work tools: so many notebooks and a book telling the stories behind colors.
For over a decade, I’ve carried this idea with me to the grocery store, post office, library, medical offices, and schools I frequent each week. No matter how I’m personally feeling that day, I commit to opening doors for people, smiling, helping where I can, complimenting the good things I see.
Some days, it’s just a day. Some days, I’ll admit, I fake it, but only when I’m driving and feeling stressed. I figure my windshield has enough glare to hide that my smile is fake as I let someone turn in front of me. But other days, I get glimmers of how daily acts matter. For example, I was once stopped by a woman jogging at the park who told me it meant so much to her that I had smiled at her when we’d passed on the previous lap. That’s it. I’d simply smiled at her–genuinely because, hey, we’re both out there sweating our booties off–and it mattered to her, enough to stop me, a total stranger, and say so.
Truthfully, the evidence that my “work” matters, is subtle and infrequent. Probably the same for a street sweeper. It’s easier for me to see how I’m not making any noticeable change to the problems I perceive in the world. But that’s part of the reason I love this quote. I read it and think–just keep going. Keep trying. Keep sweeping as best as I can. Stay committed and have faith that my “work” matters, and doing it as best as I can is important.
More of my current work tools: paint palettes, papers, sketchbooks. (The feet of a Kermit figure sitting on top!)
I hope daily effort builds over time. In Animal Dreams, one of Barabara Kingsolver’s earliest novels, she says:
The daily work–that goes on, and it adds up. It goes into the ground, into crops, into children’s bellies and their bright eyes. Good things don’t get lost.
While I’ll keep an eye open for bigger and better ways to contribute to this world, I’ll keep sweeping the streets of my small corner, doing my work in hopes that it adds a little light and cultivates some cheer for others.
Have a wonderful Martin Luther King Day. If you’d like to read the short speech “What Is Your Life’s Blueprint” where my favorite quote comes from, I found it at the Seattle Times from 2017, which I am trusting is accurate, even though there is a typo in the text.
Thank you, as always, for following my creative journey! –TRISTA
More of my current work tools: pencil, laptop keyboard, and a drawing of my favorite type of pen.
November flew by in a blur, and now December has arrived in a burst of frosty colors here in Portland.
A little bundle of tiny pencils. Any fairies missing some writing supplies? Sunny but freeeeezing–a crisp start to December.
December is also an interesting month for me. As I wrap up the year–literally wrap up orders, and figuratively wrap up ideas and projects–I’m already a few steps into new projects for 2025. It feels like closure and new beginnings all at the same time.
If you’re thinking of Carrot Condo for winter-season gifts, the USPS sent me this reminder that your package should ship by (or a touch before) December 18 to arrive by Christmas, if that’s your holiday.
Also this month, Carrot Condo is featured in Portland State University’s Gift Guide! I feel quite honored! The online guide is nicely designed and easy to navigate. You can shop by category, or even curated themes. I’m listed with a really cool group of artisans, and the guide has already resulted in some purchases and fun messages from PSU alumni.
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And just in case all the holiday shopping hubbub overwhelms you and you want nothing to do with getting even more stuff, you can take comfort in my Corningware card. I drew the first version of this a few years ago when I was craving all new bake ware. That desire motivated me to draw my baking dishes–stains and all–and in that process, I began to not only appreciate them again, but appreciate them more and for different reasons.
They stack neatly in my cupboard, for example, and they make me think of my mom and maternal grandmother. I also learned interesting things about my dishes, like if the label is spelled as one word “Corningware” or two words “Corning Ware,” it helps tell you the age and value of the dish.
If you’re practicing a less “consumer-y” gift season, consider shops like Kitchen Culture that sell used dishware–or even shop from your own shelves. Give the secondhand gift along with this card telling the dish’s story, and it’s likely to be appreciated even more than something new.
I mean, what host/hostess would not want a handed-down-dish that comes with a story they can share at their next gathering? “Oh, this dish? It’s the one my great aunt dropped on the floor and splattered mayonnaise on top of my grandma’s head…just minutes before a wedding! Hahahaha…” (This may, or may not, be loosely based on a true story.)
Used, new, or no stuff at all–I hope December treats you well with many moments of comfort and time to reflect before the new year comes barging in with all its suggestions of resolutions and change.
I’ve been busy printing towels. Every towel is different because each shape is hand printed. So, nothing is placed exactly the same from towel to towel. Also, I mix my own paint colors, so each roll of paint shifts the color slightly as more white is picked up or more yellow is rolled into the red. The broth in the jar in this photo, for example, ranges from turmeric orange to butter yellow.
Thank you to everyone who pre-ordered cards and towels in October, and to those of you with current orders. It’s been such a joy for me to wrap up packages, get them to the post office, and know my work has found a home.
All of my new cards are now in stock. They are blank inside with a story on the back and make good thank you cards, encouragement cards, host/hostess cards, and even birthday cards.
If you’re ready to think about holiday gifts, I’ve got original art:
Gifts that fit in an envelope and are easy to mail:
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And at least two themed packages. For nature lovers and/or avid Oregonians: Judy and Little Bear, the Silverspot card with the State motto and story on the back, and a few holographic butterfly stickers. For the gardener and home cook: the “make your own veggie broth” kitchen towel, card, and original tiny drawing.
I also have a few towels in stock. If you know you want some for holiday gifts, connect with me now, and I’ll make time to print more. They take two weeks to print, cure, and wash.
That’s it for November. Now, I’ve got to go wrap up another order and get to work on a new project. Hurrah! More soon, and as always–thank you for following my creative journey and for all of your support. It’s so nice to know you’re out there!!
