Dear Suncatcher Friends and Lovers,
artYful’s business has reached 10 years this year.
It all started with my own Suncatcher installation after I moved back to the States in 2012. Because of our location in Forest Grove on the corner between Lower Mountain Road and Forest Grove Road, lots of people who drove by enjoyed the look of the Suncatchers. They contacted the Post Office across the street to find out what they were and how to get them.
A year later in 2013, we were finally able to sell Suncatcher’s under our name “artYful”. In the beginning there were lots of skeptics asking questions like why and how are they glowing on the rim? Are they battery powered or LED/solar-powered? None of this is the case as the lucite acrylic material glows by itself from dawn ‘til dusk. At night, you can make the Suncatchers glow by adding an artificial light source, (e.g. a spotlight) and your garden becomes a glowing spectacle.
Our house became known as the “Suncatcher House”.
For lots of people, we have become somewhat of a landmark, with our large and colorful Suncatcher installation receiving admiration from those who drive by. My personal excitement and my favorite experience was and still is to meet very nice and interesting people. I listened to stories about their life, happiness, tragic events, the purpose and reason of the Suncatcher gifts, saw pictures of gorgeous gardens and Suncatcher installations. We were involved in creating installations and with some of my customers, we created great friendships and bonds which I hope to never lose.
I have to say, in a world that has become filled with lots of negative energy (hate, jealousy, anger and greed), our little Suncatcher house experienced only nice, polite and friendly people with big smiles.
And as the world has changed, the environment and society has too. COVID-19 opened our eyes in a scary way and showed us how quickly life can be gone and impacted. For many, it is getting harder and more difficult to handle life, family, finances, etc. When prices increased on each platform, our business, “artYful”, was impacted too. Production prices and shipping fees increased tremendously. We tried to keep our prices stable and not to increase them, more the opposite, we tried to give even some discounts.
After lots of contemplation and sleepless nights, we are at a point, where we had to make decisions. Do we increase the prices to cover our expenses or shall we stop selling Suncatcher’s and move on. Besides this, I had to take a full-time job which doesn’t allow me to be home for my clients, so I operate only by appointment.
With sadness and tears in our eyes my husband and I came to the conclusion that after our 10 years of introducing “artYful’s” Suncatchers, we will close our doors by the end of this year. Our dog Aza will be very sad, because all of our clients were her friends. She has always welcomed and greeted everyone as you are family.
Over the years, we have organized an “artYful Holiday Open House”, inviting local artist to participate. Many of our clients were looking forward to this event. Some brought family members and friends to introduce them to artYful and to get gifts for the holiday season.
This year, we will have our final event on Dec. 9th and 10th (from 10am until 4pm on both days), but this time without other artists. We will be presenting and selling out our Suncatcher’s until they are gone (maybe some antique items might be there for sell as well).
We would love to see you at the event or before the end of 2023 to say “Good bye” and especially to Thank you very, very much for enjoying our Suncatcher’s and being such loyal and sweet customers and friends.
Wishing you and your families a Happy Thanksgiving,
Gabriele, Chris and Aza Santarella
