Willow Works, a new handcrafted gift boutique located next to Jayne & Co. Salon along Highway 9 in Felton, held its grand opening Saturday, after a four-week soft-launch period.
It’s a collaboration between two young women, Mariana Timmer, the owner of The Clay Chalet, and Ali Osborne, the founder of Desert Moon Designs.
“It’s a collaborative space,” Osborne said. “We have other vendors in the shop, other artists—like Out West Design, Sunday Outpost and Lowly Arnold Studios—to bring just another little space to shop for gifts and goods and pottery.”
Santa Cruz resident Jenner Howland, 50, first headed down to Steamer Lane, before taking a quick trip into the mountains to become one of Willow Works’ first customers.
“I just like supporting local artists,” she said. “The shop is super cute.”
Osborne said she liked how much light there is in the space. Plenty of beautiful items caught her eye: silver and gold pieces, small bowls and art prints. She said she was glad to have a new excuse to head up to Felton.
Timmer said she hopes the shop will feel like an immersive experience.
“I definitely wanted it to feel like a step outside of reality,” she said. “This kind of just fell into our laps. It’s been a really fun, exciting experience.”
Timmer discovered ceramic arts in college. She changed her degree and began studying at San Jose State. She thought she might become a teacher, but wasn’t too sure about what path to follow.
Then, the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
“I had to figure out what to do,” said Timmer, noting she’d been pursuing childcare but found it wasn’t resonating with her to the same degree. “And so, I bought my wheel and I just invested in myself.”
This month marks five years since she began The Clay Chalet.
“It’s been really awesome,” she said.
Similarly, Osborne has been doing jewelry full-time for seven years.
“I am 100% self-taught,” she said. “I quit all three of my other jobs and decided to pursue this full-time. I’ve always been kind of into jewelry-making. And I thought, I’m going to try this. And it worked!”
That doesn’t mean it’s not a lot of work.
“It’s pretty hard,” she said. “But, you fake it ‘til you make it. You put yourself out there.”
Their labors of love have paid off in a big way, so they now have two customer bases to draw on for their new venture.
“We just decided to create a space that’s all locally-owned businesses and handmade items,” Osborne said. “We just wanted it to be pretty and sweet and something new and fresh in Felton.”
For the time being, they’re open Thursday through Saturday, 11am-5pm, though they’re looking at expanding that in the days to come.
“Right now, we’re both still running our full-time businesses, on top of owning a shop,” she said. “So, we don’t want a ton of overhead. We’re trying to be really smart about it, and just make it work—and keep it still pretty special.”
Willow Works is located at 5980 Highway 9. For more info: instagram.com/_willow_works_.
