06/14/2026
Welcome to Buttonwood.shop! As we find ourselves making new friends, it felt like a good time to share a little backstory…
Three years ago, I opened a little retail gift shop in my small downtown—because who doesn’t want amazon alternatives? I knew I’d be lucky to break even, but it was about purpose over profit. I surrounded myself with a curated collection of independent, hand-made goods, and the inspiration worked.
By “worked,” it wasn’t exactly in the way I’d expected. It worked because It pushed me to begin creating for myself. It became harder to remain interested in working for other people. (Meanwhile, my remote job was inevitably on the chopping block because AI is a decent copywriter.)
At the time I didn’t know that my life would be shifting direction, too. I didn’t expect to part ways with my husband of almost 20 years. Buttonwood Shop was the fork in the road, and it’s the point (though not the reason) we began to walk different paths. I can understand how onlookers perceive my directional change as going astray. But funny enough, I’ve actually wound my way back onto an old, familiar trail. One I never meant to leave. One that supports the life I always imagined.
That’s when I met my partner, Eric (Piney), walking the same road. We fell into step, fell into love, and in-between a lot of important moments and developments, I watched Buttonwood grow. Truth is, one strong mind can get an idea off the ground. Two strong minds keep it afloat. We started a collection of our own offerings, which quickly became the majority of our inventory.
Math doesn’t lie, and this winter proved our retail location was hindering, not helping our success. We closed the retail space and began making our goods in our home studio in Sutton, NH. We’ve got a small line-up of summer markets locked in, and more in the making!
The true heart of our story is this: We have built a business that supports our lifestyle, just as much as we’ve built a lifestyle that supports our business. This right here is why dreams and reality are one and the same. It is all possible, though not without rock-solid alignment between the life you want to live, and the work you want to do. ❤️
