This Handmade Life: In Brick & Mortar.

Oh good news!!! How I love when everything comes together :)

So ... I have been pondering (for months now) ... how I could create some sort of partnership between my love for all things handmade ... and my photography studio. I had signed a lease for a space (see my previous post) ... that was to be the photography studio. BUT the stars aligned in a different way than I had planned ... and now ... through a series of fortunate events ... I now have rented additional space in the same building ... and am able to re-introduce a new (and much improved) Studio 36 ... as well as ... a retail shop full of handmade goodies! And the shop title? You guessed it (pretend you did) ... This Handmade Life.

This Handmade Life will be filled with goodies from my Etsy site, as well as goodies from other vendors. We will also host some fun crafting classes and get-togethers. Very exciting stuff!

Want a peek at some of what the shop will contain? Well, here are a few items we will soon be carrying in the shop ...

First ... some fun, geek & chic jewelry ...

Some sweet, sweet, hand-knitted finger puppets of every variety ... including Harry Potter ...

And these awesome-can't-wait-to-get-my-hands-on kits for making felted critters (so easy to do & with awesome results) ...

As you can see ... we plan to carry some whimsical, out-of-the-ordinary goodies. Lot's more to come ... but I wanted to give you a sneak peek as to some of what we will be carrying on opening day. When is that you wonder? Our "soft-opening" is February 2nd ... and our Grand Opening is during the Downtown Bangor Art Walk scheduled for March 18th.

170 Park Street, Bangor, ME

Hours are 11-5 Wednesday thru Saturday.

Looking forward to all of it! And wait till you see the photography studio! I am so in love with it. Other area photographers are too ... and we have created a co-op. For details, please see http://www.studio36bangor.com/.

Love,

Jodi

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The End of Handmade Children's Products?

I wish that I didn't even have to refer to this recent article from another blogger ... but it is a MUST read for anyone who wants safe toys for their children, who believes in buying local and handmade, and who supports creative economies rather than the "big box" stores.

PLEASE READ THIS and Act Upon It.

Thank you,
Love,
Jodi

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Buy Handmade (please). It's Good For All Of Us.

So, we all know that there are a million and one reasons why it is better for you, your community, the earth, your kids, the economy, etc. for you to buy handmade goods, right? Well, if you can't think of at least a couple good reasons let me remind you of the lead paint issues with Chinese imports and that Free Trade does not equal Fair Trade ... just for starters.

In recent years, I have become quite convinced that handmade is best. And on every occasion, I try to support local artisans by purchasing my gifts and home decor from Etsy (unless of course I can make it myself :)

And now, I invite you to take the handmade pledge as well:



And perhaps you can take that pledge JUST IN TIME to check out my Etsy shop ... JUST UPDATED TODAY (as promised). However, as I stated before, I plan to do another update next week as well (some goodies didn't quite get finished in time).

Thank you & Enjoy.

Love,
Jodi

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