We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Elizabeth Pickett a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Elizabeth, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I’ve been very fortunate to have had a number of meaningful projects cross my path. Out of all of them however, is the creating and making of a mourning wreath. I’ve been honored to be chosen by the city of Black Hawk, Colorado to make a group of 5 wreaths for their city offices, to be chosen by San Francisco’s Fire Department Engine 29 to honor a fallen firefighter, as well as hundreds of grateful customers.

I had already been making ribbon wreaths so the transition to a mourning wreath was just a change of ribbon color. The idea of a making these wreaths came about when a friend’s father died, and again when my own mother passed away. Timing, supplies, and life got in the way of making those wreaths, but it would only be a few months before I added a mourning wreath to the inventory of my handmade shop on Etsy – Bittersweet Design, and it sold almost immediately.

Grief is a strange thing to navigate and it seems to hit differently every time. Many times after a death, a mourning wreath will be the first thing a bereaved individual will order. They want to ‘put a face’ on the sadness that is happening beyond the front door. I knew that by offering these for sale, that I would be able to provide some type of comfort to those that were grieving.

I have had many customers contact me during the process or months later. So often they say how grateful they are that I offer this type of wreath, and what a comfort it has been to have it.
My latest wreath I shipped, never arrived. According to the USPS it is still in transit. The wreath was only being delivered 1.5 hours away. I was extremely upset that the postal service failed us both. I immediately made another wreath, painted the sash, drove an hour and a half, and hand delivered the wreath in person.
Joan invited me in, and we hung the wreath on her front door, We sat in her kitchen and chatted over a cup of peppermint tea. She told me about her husband, Calvin, who had passed, her children, and grandchildren. We spoke about loss, how grief causes you to do things that you have never done before. We touched on how generous friends and neighbors were. Before I left, we hugged. We were both blessed by this moment.

Knowing that through me, these wreaths can bring comfort to someone in a time of great distress is extremely humbling and satisfying.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have loved color and creating from the time I was young. Old buildings also left an indelible mark on my memory as a child―the plan of a house, the creak of a stair. I went on to follow these muses by getting degrees in both interior design and later, historic preservation. Since that time, I have renovated corporate headquarters as well as designed interiors for former governor John Connally and his wife Nellie. Projects were as simple as color selections through complete interiors for homes valued over $2 million.

Being a sole proprietor involves being flexible and thinking on your feet. In my relocation back to the northeast as I was pursuing my degree in historic preservation, I scaled back my design business to focus on homeowners with smaller budgets. I taught the homeowner to look at their furnishings and decor differently. Many times, just moving pieces around created more harmony within the space and totally changed the look of the room.

My history endeavors include work and contributions on several books, the complete restoration of four homes, as well as multiple consultations on historic properties, and lectures on architecture/restoration.

Vintage adventures have included products being used in ad campaigns (including Tommy Hilfiger), photo props for artists, items being featured by Etsy and Artfire on site and in emails, and sending off items worldwide.

My handmade products have been featured on the Today Show, decor8blog.com, and published in Pushing the Envelope by Lark Books, as well as finding happy spots in thousands of homes.

Instagram is my new playground―finding your people as an artist is a huge thing and so inspiring. I have been able to connect with knowledgeable vintage lovers and sellers, designers, historians, architects, journal-makers, creators, and more.

I’ve always been conscious of the environment, and the idea of selling vintage and creating with vintage was a seamless transition from my background in history and design. I find inspiration in not only the beautiful but the mundane. Perhaps that’s the key to keeping creativity fresh. My ideas are boundless and I hope to live long enough to execute them all!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I’m still in business after 40 years. Because I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom, that meant I needed to work from home. I built my business from the ground up with very little capital and continued to put my profits back into my business. During this time, I participated in 30+ juried antique and craft shows a year. Based on the amount of times customers asked me if I had a shop, opening a shop of my own seemed like a viable option. Late August of 1993 found me greeting these same customers from shows in my 1928 renovated outbuilding on my property.

To make more connections and to give back to the community, I began volunteering with preservation groups and headed departments within Ladies’ Board hospital sales and St. Mary’s holiday bazaar.

My biggest disappointment was when I had to close my shop in 2011 due to a change in the buyers’ attitudes towards selling venues―shows and smaller shops were out, and online shopping and larger scale shops were in. Resolved to continue with my business in the changing environment, I started selling on Etsy in 2008 in two different shops: Bittersweet Design (handmade) and Missing Heirloom (vintage) and connected with many happy customers.

I have continued the interior design and historic preservation part of my business, and also have expanded into garden design.

If you stick around long enough, you may see a renaissance. When I first started out in the craft and vintage business, I was foraging for bittersweet/grapevine and flowers to dry to make into wreaths, swags, and arrangements. Come this autumn, I will be reopening my shop for a new set of customers and the steadfast ones that never left.

Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?

This particular incident happened early on after the opening of my shop. Funds were very tight and every dollar made a difference. I had been at an auction in the fall where I picked up some items that had been left outside and were free. Among the items were several Christmas tree toppers made of red and silver heavy aluminum foil.

I was now doing my holiday open houses and selling these new old-stock stars that came in their original box for $9 each. That doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but when you are plowing every dime back into your business, it feels like a fortune. A friend had brought her mother-in-law to see the shop. Her eyes lit up when she saw this star and she told me a story.

It was when she was a young girl during the Great Depression; Christmas was coming around and her mother and father only had 25 cents to spend at the store for Christmas. The whole family bundled up in their winter coats and went off to the general store to decide what to spend that quarter on. They decided on a red and silver aluminum star for the top of their Christmas tree.

She had this star in her possession until sometime in the 1960s, when after a move it had gotten lost. She had thought about this start often, but never thought that she would find one again. I am certain that she could have easily paid the $9 for the star. I also know at that moment, I truly needed that $9 in my pocket. But she had given me a gift with her tender story of only having 25 cents to spend at Christmas, so I knew I needed to send her off with a gift of the red and silver aluminum star. Money may have meant a lot to me at that moment, but more important to me was being able to give the little girl inside that grown woman her star back for Christmas.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bittersweetdesignstudio.com
• Instagram: @bittersweetdesignstudio
• Facebook: Facebook.com/elizabeth.n.pickett
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-nolin-pickett-4b675141/
• Twitter: @lizbittersweet
• Other: www.etsy.com/shop/bittersweetdesign www.etsy.com/shop/missingheirloom