Merchants of Easton: Lille Syster

Katie Antonson has lead two different lives, one leading to the other. From teacher to paper flower artist, Katie has followed a risky dream that has finally made her self-actualized and happy. Her shop, Lille Syster, which is Swedish for "little sister," is located at 228 Northampton Street, Second Floor.

"I was a teacher for eight years, in New York City and then in Easton, and when the budget cuts started happening in the Easton area School District, it kind of coincided with my sister's wedding. She was getting married outside in Vermont in January, so her flower situation was kinda awkward, 'cause, like, real flowers don't make sense. I had made paper flowers as a kid, so I was like, 'Let me get my hands on some paper. I'll see if I can figure out what we're going to do.' For her bridal shower I made all these flowers out of paper, and then she came surprised to the shower. Then I made flowers for her wedding--she'd decided she wanted them for the wedding--so we decked the entire inn in Vermont with thousands of dollars worth of paper flowers. When it was all done, my husband said, 'We're all done with this, right?' because my dining room table was a mess, hot glue guns were everywhere. And I was like, 'Really? We're gonna be done with this? Because I'll sell these things! You watch!' So I put them online and within three weeks I was overwhelmed with orders. I taught for two years and did the paper flowers at night. I went to bed at one o'clock and woke up at five for two full years, and then finally, I was like, my identity is a teacher but my life is leading me in this other direction. So, I resigned. The fact that Easton was in such upheaval and I never knew if I was going to have a job or not led me to follow my own path. I worked at home for a year and got a little stir crazy in my living room which had become my studio, but it still wasn't enough so I opened the shop. The way that my two lives intersect is that at my core I'm a teacher; I want to share what I know with everyone else, so I've created workshops and birthday parties and all of these other learning experiences for others." 

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