Into the Great Beyond: Katie Evans

Wow! You should be proud...working for the "Spade." good for you!

Thanks for sharing this WONDERFUL article!!

i have a hard time giving up...so my husband "helps" me...and i never know it is missing.... My children have also suggested regifting the unopened packages of findings that i just had to have....brillant idea....i would never know...lol..

Thank you for sharing this article too!!

there is a box of jewelry and other possessions waiting for my mom and i to open - my aunt sent on from my grandmother who passed away 2 weeks ago. and i've been doing lots of thinking about just this topic. where does all our stuff go? sometimes, so very happily, just as you wrote about, something off our shelf or from our closet goes to someone who gives it such wonderful new life. and other times our possessions move on to people who remember us through them - like the odds and ends of vintage dishes in our kitchens going back many generations. thanks for a great piece!

I love Frankies 457 too! YUM

roommates like that are the best :) i love the love lobster print.

Great article. Thank's for sharing.

So inspiring to see you guys using your creative talents outside the day job - the note cards look fabulous! I especially like the hydrangea and lobster one.

I love the thoughtfulness ....Give to get...it works!

Fab Idea :) i hate giving things up :)

thanks for sharing!!

Love the story!!! You are amazing! xoxo

Love the illustrations, great article!

Into the great beyond ...I look forward to reading more posts!

Thank you for sharing! Great article

life is just like stuff... give and take

Fantastic article... Thanks for sharing.

Nice story. Great to hear sometimes things remind us of loved ones.

yay! wonderful article. :D

Fantastic post. I met a girl at random who had her Grandmothers jewels and she was heart broken with what to do them, she heard tht I take vintage jewelry and recreate pieces, so we put our heads together and came up with the OLGA MILLER COLLECTION of renewed jewels from old fashion to high fashion. I am still working my way through creating them but the feeling each time I list one makes me so joyful~ This is what life is all about the circle of life and those who touch us.

Fantastico! Your bracelets are sooo delightful!! We should be friends!

All the best, to ya! Peace, DevineCollectilbe

I hate giving things up too. My husband says I am a pack rat:) Since moving to NY, I am not as bad as I used to be (less space and less things to keep:) Thanks for the great article!

Thanks for the wonderful article~

I've started a collection of jewellery to give to my daughter and my 2 sons one day. I hope they appreciate and treasure them the way you, your sister and mother do. Really cool illustrations, best of luck with your career. Thanks for sharing your story.

Wondeful post, great illustrations!!!

Often I have daydreamed about removing everything from the house and only putting back what I really need or love. After a recent cross-country move, this became a reality. We only took our most basic possessions. At first, it was absolute torture being "without" because there is a void. But now, I'm on my way back to pack up the rest, and the three-month letting go process has shaped my perspective. The "need" pile has dwindled, and the "want" pile has become a little obsolete. (I also had the opportunity to do some massive thrifting, which resulted in some awesome vintage finds.) Thanks for the reminder that letting go is necessary and actually quite useful.

Half of me wants to live in a tiny cabin with just the essentials, the other half loves stuff, lots of stuff. Slowly I am learning to let go of stuff and hang on to essentials. Not an easy process, but it feels nice. It seems often that I want stuff for the sake of wanting it, not for the thing itself. And that's kind of pointless.

"We understand ourselves not only by what we have acquired, but also by what we have given up." Love this quote! Letting go of stuff is a constant challenge but can be so liberating!

I have a slight attachment problem. It is not that bad. But, I discovered a joy to purge some and gain more room. I am trying to be more simple and have only stuff that I truly love.

Glad to see my photo has been put to good use. For a profile and more photos of Katie Evans please check out www.GoodThingYoureHere.com . Thanks.

Great post; Reminded me of my music teacher, she was always talking about the silence being the most important part of a song.

the rotation is a good idea. I like it- going to mention this to my sis and mom ♥ Great article.

I'm in search for the perfect bag! Hope I'll have a better ending. Cool article!!

Such a great article and fun idea. I have to brain storm what I could draw to add to the flickr group... Maybe its time for some of my many bags to move on to bigger and better. Years ago I worked for KS too, and that discount was killer. I became a bag buying addict. :)

Excellent post.

haha, this article reminds me of having roommates in college. When I was in college my mom would send me a care package and would always have the need to "fill" the box with things that I may "need". It was usually a shirt she found at a garage sale that didn't fit her any hopefully I would like (usually didn't) or some old socks and underwear that I purposely left at home. Oh, mom.

great original article & lovely art work! xoxoxoxoox

Ahhh, yes, the follies and lessons of youth! As we grow, we learn what is worth having in the "stash." Thank you for sharing your story! In my home, we have recently declared that it is much better to go without, than to have a "bummer" possession that hangs around for a decade.... ~In order for anything to come home these days, we ask, "Do I really love it?" Keeps life it bit more clutter-free, and has made me, as an artist, raise my standards of creation.

I swear I read a quote on the etsy blog awhile back along the lines of, "only keep around what is beautiful or useful to you, & get rid of the rest" Something like that..but I really liked that and agree, especially when I think sentiment is beautiful so I can live by that! Maybe "inspirational" was in there too somewhere. Nice post!

The article was wonderful! The rotation idea will have to be tried! Thanks!

Thanks for sharing!!!

i happily gave away an ex-husband, consequently gaining an extra closet for my shoes.

Fun article! My mom is an artist also and we have both wondered about what will happen to all our pieces and prints and 'art stuff'. The rotation idea is great, but what to do with all the art...?

lovely work!

thank you for sharing, nice story!

What an awesome project. I love the idea of getting rid of the useless crap that our society tells us to buy--and holding on to the beautiful, timeless, irreplaceable items that tell us stories about our families and histories. love the line drawings! xoxo, Gina

How cute!

LOVE this article. Beautiful art.

Fabulous!!

Thanks for the interesting post!

Thanks for this wonderful article!

Saw that news report the other night on the guy who reduced his life down to 100 pocessions, although I know I could never get that stream lined, it got me thinking! I am working on it. Joining the flickr group too.

Lovely article its important to think of the life of an object, not just what happens to it when you own it.

We could all purge some things, it is hard though! We have SO MUCH STUFF! Hopefully this article will insprie me enough to get rid of some things!!

Thank you, what a wonderful article!

Formidable article ! many thanks !

a treasue from mom or grandmother or aunt is truely a treasue! being one of eight-never thought I would get that treasure -she hand delivered mine before I lost her what a treasue ! be glad when your's return !

Sweet article! I'm in process of preparing to move and must only take necessities and a few extras. I think before I give away some of the more precious items that don't make the cut, I'll take pictures of them for times when my memory is fuzzy. Thanks for sharing your life with us. May you always have what you want and want what you have!

Ooooooops... I just thinking about great competitor,,, hahaha.. nice article. thank you..!

I love your simple line drawings. And I love the idea of possessions given away and negative space - which, in my mind, simply holds unlimited possibility. Or not.

My brother just moved into my parent's basement which was my mother's work space for ages. She's since had to move everything and get rid of most of it since it won't fit anywhere else. I've come into much of the things she is purging, and while I'm happy to adopt them I feel a sadness as she looks through the old projects she never was able to complete.

This is a really great article! Thanks for sharing! :)

I'm such a sentimental person and a complete hoarder (just in case) so I rarely get rid of anything. My mother how ever had a collection of Unicorns she had been compiling since before I was born. I grew up mesmerized by them, and every year would buy her a new one to add to her collection. Three years ago (and to my shock and many protests) she decided it was time to start fresh and gave them all away! They had been the story of her adult life and I still can't believe that she did that. I know she's glad she shed them though, and that year she did literally start fresh. She met the man that became my step father :)

Wonderful article!

Mu husband is currently helping his son build a tiny, 8' x 20' house. So I've been thinking lately about how much paring down I'd need to do in order to live in such a small, environmentally sound space. And although the Etsy artisans are here to sell...you know, more stuff...there's a through-line here that if you own little, what you own is more likely to be special. Thanks for the article.

Great article! I have a hard time giving things up but I recently moved and got rid of so much stuff! I feel lighter!

What a great article and fun blog! I'm looking forward to going through more of the past posts.

this article reminds to clean out now.... have a good holiday season in your shop

love the post and the shop!

Very beautiful art!

Love that you have jewelry from your grandmothers! Mine went somewhere, not sure where and I would have loved to have a piece or too! Good luck in your adventures and much future success wished for you.

Kate Spade and your own company too! Your article was delightful and thought provoking. Thank you.

GOOD SUBJECT!!! I went to a garage sale with my aunt, when I was in Jr.High. I saw her picking up little trinkets, like a cute elephant vase. I wondered what she would do with them. She said that she liked to find treasures, rearrange things in her house, enjoy them for awhile, and then pass them on either at one of her own garage sales or give them to someone. I seem to do the same thing with my "treasures". GOOD advice, since I can enjoy pieces, but not have a house FULL of things. Family pieces STAY though, or given to other family members.

great article, fun read...we even sound a lot alike when it comes to *stuff*! it's crazy good for awhile until you realize all of your *stuff* is taking up one's valuable space & have no more room for more *stuff*...too bad we cannot charge our *stuff* rent! i loved the part about the *someday wanting to entertain, but we never do*! i love it! :D

Great idea to illustrate what you've "sacrificed". I think I'm getting to a point where I'm finally willing to give up some things I have cherished. Hard to fight my innate archivist tendencies (bad habit?)... Thanks for the fuel for thought.

Great article! I had been handed down some of my grandma and great grandma's jewelery, but it was given to me when I was WAY too little to appreciate it (and I think, without my mom's knowledge!). The rings and necklaces were played with endlessly, until they either broke or were lost. Every time I go into my jewelery box to grab something, I always think about those beautiful, antique pieces that are missing and that I should have loved more. But at the same time, it still always make me think about those two amazing women and makes me appreciate them all that much more. Thanks for sharing your story!

Thanks for sharing this interesting project!

i am legitimately a hoarder (this comes from my psychiatrist, my fiance' and my family/friends, not just me being silly.) it's very hard for me to give things up. however, i have found that with etsy, i am using some of my older things to make new things to sell. every little bit helps, right? it's just difficult to sort between what's truly meaningful and the junk!

I love Into the Great Beyond! This story is lovely and Katie's works are great!Thanks for sharing!

i'm in the business of picking up those items that people no longer want, so I am so glad to hear that you gave them a chance instead of throwing them away. that is a form of recycling also.

Boots are so essential to fashion, Treasured heirlooms seem like you will always have a part of the memories of the person whom owned or loved the item before you were graced with the item