It was a beautiful evening on one of the lingering days of summer. The sun was setting, and the sky was lit up in pale pink as my airplane drifted over the water and landed in Portland, Maine. I, Emily, live in California and hadn't ever been to the East Coast before, so I was looking forward to this week spent with the rest of the Making team in this beautiful place. 

For me, experiencing a new place is one of my favorite ways to play, recharge, and fill my creative tank. New experiences help our minds to grow, contributing to greater creativity. Creative energy, in my experience, is a source that comes and goes, and it's important to take the time to care for that energy and refuel, which was, in part, the purpose of this week. Though we did experience a good amount of play, the week was not without work on upcoming issues, photoshoots, discussions on future projects, and dreaming for the future of Making. 

After I arrived in Maine on a chilly Monday evening, Ashley and Carrie, Making's editors, and I headed off to dinner at an adorable Thai food restaurant downtown. In our world of online interconnectedness, it's such a pleasure to spend time with friends face-to-face. I'm a firm believer in the importance of face-to-face connection and taking the time to hear each other's voices and stories. Over dinner, we shared our hearts for the creative work we're doing and discussed some exciting new projects. 

We rented an adorable little Airbnb painted white and adorned with black shutters, as many of the homes in Freeport appear. The house backed up to a grove of trees, making it feel as if our backyard was a forest, one of my fondest wishes. This place was to be our meeting point for the week, where we shared meals and long conversations about creativity.

On Tuesday morning, we picked up Denise Bayron, Bayron Handmade, who was joining us for the week. Denise is a knitter and sewist who I've followed on Instagram and admired for some time, so it was such a treat to meet her in person finally. Denise is one of those special people that makes you feel as if you've been friends forever. When we met her walking out of the airport, she greeted us with an infectious smile and a great big hug. Then we noticed that Denise and I were both wearing the same handmade jacket, the Wiksten, hers made from linen and mine from flannel, and clogs. It was then we all knew these friendships were meant to be. 

After we finished talking about our love of clogs, we took a tour of the Making warehouse, saw the stacks of the upcoming FOREST issue ready for subscribers and stockists, and got to meet the rest of the Making team, Lily, Cecily, and Suzanne. Denise and I explored the supplies in the warehouse for a while, feeling the beautiful yarns and looking through all the little treasures available in the online shop. Making, as a team, is spread all over the country, but our warehouse is located in Portland. You've probably noticed this is where your orders come from if you're a subscriber or have ever purchase goodies from the website.

Later that day, we headed to an adorable coffee shop nearby called More & Co. that was filled with greenery and handmade ceramics. As we sipped our coffee and chai lattes, we snapped some photos and admired the beautiful view of green outside the window. We at Making are highly inspired by the natural world around us, which is one of my favorite things that's reflected in each issue of the magazine. One of the first things that struck me as I arrived in Maine was the amount of lush greenery that comes in contact with the water. I loved seeing the sweet lighthouses tucked into the edges of tiny islands, how plants seemed to cuddle up next to homes, and how tall the trees grow. The beaches of southern California where I grew up are dry and sparse, beautiful in their way, but the beaches of Maine are stunning with their inclusion of greenery at every sight. 

On Wednesday evening, as magic hour approached, we headed to a nearby beach park to shoot Denise in her Indoorsy Tunic, available in our most recent issue, FOREST. I've taken part in a Making photoshoot before; you might remember that I was the maker model for Making No. 7 / DESERT, which was shot in Joshua Tree. But this time, I got to help with some of behind the scenes work, namely, assisting Denise. The photoshoot went perfectly, Denise glowed in her tunic, and we all couldn't wait to look through photos after as we celebrated with pizza. 

One of the highlights of our week was time spent learning a new craft—we took a ceramics class. Since we're all makers, we thought it would be fun to expand our creative palettes. One of my younger brothers is a ceramicist; you can spot a few of his handmade mugs in my Pot Holders post. Pottery is something each of us adores and collects, so it was exciting to try our hand at it! Learning a new craft is hard, but worth it. We all left feeling inspired, joyful, and excited to see our finished pieces. Later that evening, we joined a local knitting meetup at PortFiber, which was the perfect ending to the week. 

The next morning, we all hugged and said our goodbyes before Denise and I headed to our separate flights. On the journey home, I reflected on the week and couldn't help but feel overwhelmed with gratitude for the Making team, Denise, and the bond that was formed between the four of us. 

I hope you enjoyed this behind the scenes glimpse of a special week at Making. Thanks for following along!