Meet Your Maker: Pear & Peacock

Erin McCloskey of Pear & Peacock is one of our fave Eco-crafters! Pear and Peacock is handcrafted precious metal jewelry.


Why the Earth loves her
"I strive to reduce environmental impact by using recycled precious metals and vintage beads," say Erin. "Sometimes throwing in a few hints of enamel for color here and there."


Why we love her
"I want my jewelry to inspire confidence in anyone who wears them. Pear & Peacock pieces are simple with a unique modern edge."

Find Pear & Peacock at Holiday Heist tomorrow!

Meet Your Maker: Palace of Varied Industries & Great Sock

A Crafty Double Feature
Sisters Joanna (The Palace of Varied Industries) and Isabel (Great Sock) Church have been both artsy and crafty for most of their lives, and are bringing the family busiess to Holiday Heist!


Joanna Church, of Palace of Varied Industries, makes novelty pictures and other "small art," including animal silhouettes, shadow box scenes, and children's illustrations, using found frames, objects, and images to combine into one-of-a-kind decorations with a sense of humor.


Isabel Church, of Great Sock, makes stuffed toys out of socks (new and used-but-well-washed!) and other random scraps of material, turning them into frogs, cats, monsters and many more.


Toys are stuffed with bamboo fiberfill and average between four inches and ten inches or so and depend on the size, shape, and stretchiness of the sock.


(See Akimbo, above, my personal favourite!)

Why we love them
"Thanks to a steady diet of Muppet movies, Smothers Brothers albums, and similar family favorites, we love creating slightly odd things for others to enjoy. Happily, we are capable of sharing a booth: no sibling rivalry in our crafty world!"

Muppets and crafting? You're preaching to the choir, ladies :)

Besitos,
Vanessa

Meet Your Maker: Fisticuffs

Fisticuffs' John Davis makes some cool f*#&ing stuff. Sure, I love dropping F-bombs. I love even more that Fisticuffs leather cuffs inspires me to wax poetic all up on this blog.


Fisticuffs makes handmade leather wrist cuffs/watchbands/dog collars from 100% recycled leather and found objects. And makes all that hard work look good.

Find Fisticuffs at Holiday Heist. F*#& yeah.

Besitos,
Vanessa

Meet Your Maker: Phil Barbato

Fun stuffed toys that kids and adults alike can enjoy and appreciate. No, not from Mattel, from Phil Barbato!


His work isn't stocking stuffers; sometimes, they are stockings!

Meet Thorgrimm the Defeated:


And Ronald Jeremy Hyatt:


You've gifted many things over the years: Socks, ties, perfumes, Norelco shaving kits, and my personal favourite, the Barack Obama Chia Pet. Have any of these brought more than a pasted-on smile and a cardboard "thank you, I always wanted one!" from their recipients? Don't repeat the same mistake this year; give a Whiskerbear and get a genuine smile out of your friends. And for god's sake, return the Snuggie.

Besitos,
Vanessa

Meet Your Maker: Bette's Bag

Betty and Maggie Mudd, the talented mother-and-daughter-designer team behind Bette's Bags have an interesting story to tell:
"Maggie purchased a very expensive designer bag and before she left the mall she saw another woman carrying the exact same bag. To tease Maggie, I made her a "One of a Kind" bag. She liked it and used it; friends and co-workers commented on it and wanted one of their own. We made several bags as "gifts.” After hearing from friends and family things like, "you two should start your own business,” “where do you sell your bag,” “do you have a website” and “how can I get you to make one for myself?," we started Bette's bags.

And that's how Bette's Bags all started. Lucky us!!
Betty's beautiful bags are all made individually from start to finish. They make one bag at a time so you can be assured that they put quality and care into every stitch.
Check out Bette's totes, handbags, purses, yoga bags, diaper bags, etc. at the Holiday Heist Craft Show this Saturday!