I’m not sure I’d ever create a proper intro post on the business Instagram account so I recently created one… it went over well over there and started lots of conversation so I figured I’d create a blogpost as well where I can go a little more in depth and also share some photos of the neat work I got to be a part of during my time as a Custom Fabrication Project Manager..

I’m Lacey, owner & operator of A Little Cup of Sea… Sea E O you might say.

I grew up, mostly on the West Coast of this island, in Corner Brook… this is where I met my husband Chris in high school waaaay back in 1999.. After high school I spent four years in art school to get my Bachelor of Fine Art in Visual Art… not because I wanted to come out at the other end an artist but more so because I love the process of creating… after graduating from that program we spent a year in St. John’s before heading west to Calgary… because that is where the work was 💸

Once we were settled out West, and thanks to my education, I spent many years working as a sculptor at a fabrication house that created large public artworks that are installed all over the world… 

I honed my body work skills, working imperfections (bumps and dents), out of these Douglas Coupland floats, located in Toronto… funny not funny story… after many hours of body work, by many people, these were wrapped in clear plastic and strapped to risers on a flat deck to be delivered from Caglary to Toronto… they were not in a covered truck… and the sun was hot… they’d been sitting out for awhile… a couple MELTED (greenhouse effect) 😐 aaaand needed to be remade.

While at this company that shall not be named, for it was like the terrible lord Voldemort himself, I worked my way up through the ranks to become a Custom Fabrication Project Manager. I worked with and for artists such as Douglas Coupland, Avicii, Jed Lind, Inges Idee, Ned Kahn… I got to be a part of some really cool work… here’s a small taste of a few more neat ones

…when this place would burn me out I would pop over to an oil and gas company for a while as a break and well the great pay…

I refinished furniture, treasure hunted for vintage goodies, and created home decor to curate booths at local vintage markets in Calgary, one year pulling in the award for Best Booth!

Aaand sometimes I would shoot product photos for local businesses like Natura Soy, Sugar Cube and Buttercream Clothing for fun.

Okay I just remembered… I’m jogging the cloudy memory here digging for these photos… it turns out that 2015/2016 were the years of doing ALL THE THINGS… One more aside and this one is so random but it ties back in (which was mind blowing when it happened… so hang tight). In 2015 there was an ad on Kijiji… a couple guys from Newfoundland who were living in Calgary put out an ad looking for someone to cook them jiggs dinner just like Nan IYKYK… these guys were missing home. At this point we’d been away from home long enough that I could cook a deadly turkey and jiggs dinner so I responded and they chose me, haha… we ended up on various radio stations, and even with a filmed CBC news segment.

Our home in Calgary had a nautical vibe… an east coast nautical vibe… I found being landlocked especially that I craved nautical items in my home… If I couldn’t see the sea I needed to bring it into my home however I could. Ever since I was small I alway had a deep love for the sea, the beach… playing in the landwash during summer family visits to St. Lawrence.

Our home in Calgary had a nautical vibe… an east coast nautical vibe… I found being landlocked especially that I craved nautical items in my home… If I couldn’t see the sea I needed to bring it into my home however I could. Ever since I was small I alway had a deep love for the sea, the beach… playing in the landwash during summer family visits to St. Lawrence.

When the opportunity presented itself in the Summer of 2019 to return to the island we stopped to think “what do we want for our lives, for Finley…” the answer was: to slow down. We rat raced hard, working our way up quickly, both becoming Project Managers… so in the Fall of 2019 we were headed back east.

Returning to the island we knew we wanted to be near “Town” – as far as an hour away. We found the perfect spot in Colliers and moved in Spring 2020. During Spring 2021 I had begun working on the business plan for A Little Cup of Sea with the idea to rent paddlboards and kayaks out along with a cute little hut for guests to warm up in after a paddle… we started to build in June 2021 and by November 2021 the beach hut opened ✨ one the hut opened the script flipped and the beach hut became the start of the show!

My vision for the hut was that it would be a seaside sanctuary for you… a reprieve. Somewhere to help you stop, slow down, savour the moment – if just for a moment… and from all of the thoughtful feedback I’ve received it seems I have created just that 🥹

I’ve been able to continue to be a stay at home mama (work from home mama) for Finley 💕 and I get to share my love of the sea with paddle and beach hut guests…

Full circle moment number one… remember that I cooked jiggs dinner for those guys in Calgary?… Well it turns out that shortly after we came back to the island Joel also returned to Newfoudland, and lives pretty close to where we are!… AND he now installs docks around the island… GUESS WHERE I GOT THE DOCK FOR THE BEACH HUT!? HAHAHAHHA Joel’s company Midshore Construction! What are the chances!?

Full circle moment number two… while I was working on the business plan (not many people knew about it at this point) a family friend sent me a photo of a poem I had written in grade four. It was called The Beachcombers Harvest, and was based on a field trip to Bottle Cove.

My jaw hit the floor:
One – I couldn’t write like that now haha
Two – my love of the seaside ruuuuuuuns deep
Three – this was sent to me out of the blue while I was pouring my love of the seaside into developing this business. It felt magical… a sign that I was on the right path

Hanging in the beach hut now, as a part of the beach hut collection, to commemorate this incredible full circle moment is a miniature painting that I commissioned of Bottle Cove where the field trip took place that this poem was based on.

And I’ll end off here… this sort of got away from me… but all of those pieces combined have landed me right here today 🙂 If you want to see more of what’s up behind the scenes and the business day to day be sure to follow the business on instagram! When you’re ready to book, pop over here to the beach hut page for all of the booking details and to make your booking for your relaxing seaside experience.

xo
Lacey