We Make Portland Awesome: lil e creations

"We make Portland awesome" is a twice-monthly series. I’m interested building our community of artists by helping us all find out more about each other.

This week: Erin of lil e creations

Who are you?
Hi! I’m Erin, or “lil e,” which was my childhood nickname and the origin of my business name lil e creations. I’ve been creating my whole life… pilfering the recycle to make candy dispensers, weaving kids’ potholders on metal looms… okay, I’m still doing the latter as certain family members won’t let me stop: twenty-eight years and counting! In high school I discovered thrift stores and vintage clothes and out of altering-necessity for my still growing 5’11” frame I learned to sew. Having always loved dress-up, this opened a whole new world of creation. It was while pursuing a degree in Arts and Crafts at The Evergreen State College that I discovered I was a fiber artist.

What do you make?
Like many crafters, my hands won’t stop and they are all over the place!

My primary Etsy shop, lil e creations, focuses on wire-free wings and costumes. I wanted to create a lasting product that could withstand rough-and-tumble play: by kids and, who are we kidding, myself!

Last year, I also launched two new shops: Images by lil e, which is a shop of cards and small canvases featuring found heart images and a wedding favors shop called wedding fun by lil e.

Besides making things, what do you do?

Currently, I am setting up a blog that launches on Valentine’s Day called 365Hearts. As the name suggests, each day’s post will be of a found heart image, from myself and guest heart contributors.

Otherwise, I love playing in nature. I love swimming in fresh water… lakes, rivers, ponds (I may be part otter). I still love dress-up and encouraging others to dress-up. I love reading, especially historical novels. I recently built a barn-shaped Little Free Library on the Olympic Peninsula with my nephew. I adore weaving but don’t do it as much as I’d like. And I love baking… good thing I have all those handy potholders!

What inspires you?

In the world of wings, I am most inspired by the custom requests I receive. I love the imaginative ideas people come up with and using the part of my brain that pieces together how to make those ideas a reality.

Where can your work be found?

You can find my work on Etsy… challenge me with a ridiculous concept for wings!
This year I am also working towards being in brick-and-mortar stores as well.

What do you love about Portland?

I lived away from the Pacific Northwest for 5 years and I was ecstatic to return to where things are green and the mix of people are fantastically outrageous. I love all the delicious food at my fingertips and being so close to the coast and the mountains.

Make sure you check out lil e creations' Etsy shop. Thanks for sharing, Erin!
And if you'd like to read more We Make Portland Awesome interviews, you can check out the full collection HERE.