What even is Sandrilene?

Hello! I hope you have had a fantastic week!

We have a big event happening in Des Moines this week - The Dew Tour! From their website: “The Dew Tour is a global Olympic qualifying event for skateboarders and the only one that will be held in the United States. Athletes will compete to earn points to help them secure a spot on their country's Olympic team”. We are excited to have a brand new skate park in Des Moines. My family is coming to town today so that we can go and watch some of these events. What are your weekend plans? I am hoping for a break from all of the rain we have been getting because I have plans for gardening and a meeting with my hammock!

So, what is Sandrilene???

Like everyone, I often get asked what I do and what Sandrilene is. This is the main question always asked when meeting new people and I have been struggling to give an easy and succinct answer. My goal with creating Sandrilene has been to combine the things I am passionate about into one business, offering multiple services. I’ve been working to create Sandrilene for over 10 years. My ideas have changed and evolved over time.

I originally wanted to open a bake shop. That developed into a building with a bake shop on one side and an event and store space on the other side. Then I was thinking maybe a house with a restaurant in it that can be rented out, along with a store in part of it and an office to work on design projects. I thought about camper options…The list is long! I felt stuck and unable to make a big move. This led me to baking and starting most branches of my business out of my home when I lived in Omaha, NE.

When we moved to Chattanooga, TN in 2016 I put Sandrilene on hold and practiced Commercial Real Estate full time. I knew that when we moved to Des Moines in 2018 I wanted to get back to Sandrilene. I looked for properties where we could live and work from. My ideal option was a duplex or small apartment complex. We ended up settling on a ranch with two large living spaces on either end. One of the reasons we bought our house was so that I could have an event space to host parties in and to work on Sandrilene. We are hoping to able to open it back up for events in late 2021 or 2022. I also plan to hold art shows featuring local artists, return to offering classes and hold seasonal farm to table type dinners in this space.

We got married at our house. It was the first event!

Photo by Ariel Panowicz.

What services does Sandrilene offer?

• Design services and consultation

• Vintage resale

• Hand made art, home decor and accessories through my jayestar label

• Pies, pastries and fermented items by order

• Events and parties (resume offering as soon as is safe)

• Classes (Plan to resume offering as soon as is safe. Some topics listed below.)

  • Baking

  • Fermenting

  • Sewing

  • Crafts

  • Gardening

  • Weaving

What services are planned for Sandrilene in the future?

• Art shows (resume offering as soon as is safe)

• Farm to table type, seasonal dinners (in the works, hoping to start in 2022)

• Real Estate services

• Edible landscaping consultation

My ultimate dream is to purchase a big old building to hold multiple offerings, classes, parties, restaurants, office space and shops. A building where we could live above and work below would be ideal. I have high hopes of partnering with friends and associates in the near future to make this dream a reality.

In the meantime, check out the Shop page to find my Etsy Shops, order a pie on the Pies page, or get in touch with your project ideas by contacting me here!

This is the day we closed on our house and started Sandrilene officially!