The Reason I Made My Vase Collection

It all started with one conversation—three years after I cast the very first Barely Cinched vase.

In May of 2023, I was designing a wedding for a couple referred to me by the mother of a previous bride. SB had sung my praises, and I loved working with her (alongside my ride-or-die planner, Susan Norcross) for her daughter AB’s wedding at the Barnes Foundation in April 2022. We spent most of 2021 planning that celebration—right in the heart of my slip casting experimentation. I was creating vessel after vessel, exploring what could be possible in clay.

I get to know my clients pretty well. I’m something like a personal chef meets interior designer with a splash of family therapist. SB had been following my work on Instagram and loved the vases I was beginning to share. At one point, I showed her some early bud vase prototypes, and she asked if we could use them at the cocktail hour. That kind of faith—trusting experimental work enough to include it in such an important moment—meant everything to me.

As a thank you, I cast a Barely Cinched vase to deliver AB’s bridal bouquet in. I wasn’t there when it was dropped off (I was deep in a cherry blossom forest setting up their ceremony), but I later heard they cried when they opened the box.

A year later, at another wedding, I ran into SB again. Naturally, she was there—she had referred me to this new couple too. We chatted for a few minutes, and she told me how often she used the vase. It was always out on her kitchen counter, ready for whatever she clipped from her Main Line garden or grabbed from the market.

Hearing that stopped me in my tracks. I already knew how often I used my own prototypes. But when you work alone, you’re often in a vacuum. You don’t know if something is actually a good idea—or just an idea.

That moment was the spark that pushed me to pursue this collection for real.

Nothing that came next was easy, but I’m so glad I took the leap. Because since then, I’ve heard from so many of you about the joy these vases bring into your homes. And I’ve never forgotten—through 15 years of floral work—that it’s been clients and customers like SB who’ve made it all possible.

Despite what hustle culture says, you can’t grind your way to a creative life. You need your people. You need support. And for me, these vases—from their forms to their gift wrap—are my way of saying thank you.