About

Why RusticLily? "It's when people I loved kept saying that I had missed my calling. That's what made me jump. This is what I was meant to do!"

Stacey (Cavallaro) Hilton came from the Bay Area and is now living in the Sierra foothills with her husband, three daughters, a cat and two dogs.

RusticLily by Stacey Hilton came about on a chance and semi-perfect timing. "As a Christmas gift for the first year in our brand new home, my husband gave me the gift of building my workshop. It started with a miter saw, router, routing table, skill saw and a little lumber. He

knew that it had always been a dream of mine to make home decor and eventually furniture to decorate our home. My husband was the start of making my dream come true."

Stacey was working remotely as an Executive Assistant for a bay area tech company and was impacted by a reduction in force - a blessing in disguise. Stacey and her husband were able to figure out a way for her not go back to work for a while, which gave her time to spend with her three girls and start to make her dream, RusticLily by Stacey Hilton, a reality.

Stacey is no stranger to hard work and learning, as she has been working since the age of 8 years old.

"My mom would bring me into the tech company she worked during the summers. She was an administrative assistant too. I would copy and file and set up conference rooms and I would get paid at the end of the summer to go toward school clothes. It was the best experience because not only did I learn about what it took to work in a corporate environment, it also taught me everything about technology and maturity. I would also babysit the neighborhood kids like a normal teenager and I worked in a sandwich shop saving money for my foreign exchange trip to Spain. I even worked as an English tutor while I studied abroad too. Heck, the summer after my Junior year in high school, I had three jobs! I have always worked. So not having a traditional corporate job brought on some anxiety at first, but this is the most rewarding thing I've ever done!"

Stacey has also always been artistic and seemingly has always been able to make anything work. 'Let me play around with it', being her typical phrase of choice when presented with any opportunity.

"It's what I do. I look at the problem, be it a pattern for sewing, new software, or a new technique for working with wood; I can somehow picture it in my mind, take it apart, turn pieces around and fit them back together. I've always been able to picture the end result with all of the details to get me there."

Stacey gets her inspiration from everything! "Every time I watched infomercials, checked out DIY ideas or looked at items to purchase at a store, I've always thought to myself - I could do that. Or when looking at a sunset, I thought - I could paint that!"

The 'happy accidents' channeled from Bob Ross, perfected 'jigs' and attention to detail from Norm Abram on The New Yankee Workshop and the instruction of melding shapes into something greater from Sewing with Nancy was what started this creative journey. Then when you take all of those influences from the PBS greats of the 80's, sprinkle in a bit of McGyver, you get one heck of a crafter! "I feel like I've been training for this my whole life!"

Stacey has taught herself the fine arts of writing, sewing, crochet, painting, floral, vinyl cutting, glass etching, sand blasting, framing, silk screening, graphic design, videography, photography, and woodworking. Obviously there are no boundaries to her creativity.

"I am constantly learning and applying that to the pieces I create."

After the layoff, Stacey spent most of her time training with her new tools, learning new techniques and adding more and more machinery to her workshop. Then her great uncle passed.

"He was an amazing man and was self taught in everything. Woodworking, painting, sewing, and had his own flower shop for years!"

Sound familiar? These traits seem to be genetic.

"I inherited his entire workshop and paint studio and every power tool, nut, bolt, rusted out nail and best of all, his ancient lumber pile. I am using everything! Implementing history into new designs. I have a feeling Home Depot will be missing me for a while."

When asked what she wants to learn next, her answer was simple, "Welding! Can you imagine the possibilities?!"

What's next for RusticLily?

"This is just the beginning! I have an online store, I am showing at local art and craft fairs and am currently working on a handful of custom orders. My dream is to make this a business that my family can depend on and that my girls can look back and say, 'Wow! Mom did that!'"