Today is the first day of early voting in Wake County, North Carolina. If you bring in your “I Voted” sticker between now and Tuesday November 5th to Gather Goods Co you’ll get 20% off your order, good for one transaction.
You can get all of these items in the shop and online too: Votes For Women t-shirt (runs large), Vote art, Vote mug, Vote Pin, Vote Your Values Pin, Votes For Women Sweatshirt
I am teaching a dried flower wreath class at Gather Goods Co in downtown Cary on Monday September 23rd at 6pm. Students will be able to choose from a 10″ grapevine wreath base or a gold metal one with a wide variety of colorful dried flowers to choose from. There are still spaces left if you would like to join. You can sign up here.
I’ve rounded up some dried flower wreath inspiration to get the creative ideas flowing:
A round-up of summery items from the Gather Goods Co shop for relaxed, outdoor (or indoor near an air conditioner) celebrating. This week we are open Wed, Fri, Sat & Sun from 11am-5pm but will be closed Thursday for the 4th. Hope you are enjoying a little respite and a vacation state of mind this week.
I’ve pulled together some graduation gift ideas from the Gather Goods Co shop. Whether you are shopping for a recent high school graduate who will soon be decorating their dorm or a college graduate who has completed their school and is off to pursue a professional path, these items are sure to be a hit.
The Gather Goods Co online shop is open 24/7 and we ship everywhere. If you want to shop in person the Gather Goods Co gift shop is open Wed-Sun 11am-5pm at 417 Kildaire Farm Road in downtown Cary, North Carolina.
This past Monday and Tuesday night’s I taught a beginner embroidery class at Gather Goods Co. Students got to pick one of four of my designs that I assembled into kits for them. I assembled 26 kits over a few days. Kits included a #5 embroidery needle, a 3″ wooden hoop, a pre-printed piece of fabric with the design of their choice on it (either a hydrangea, zinnia or butterfly bush flower), the accompanying embroidery floss in the colors they would need for their design and a card with the corresponding embroidery floss numbers on them in case they need more – though they shouldn’t. I also included a take home guide with instructions and a picture guide with illustrations of a few additional stitches beyond the basic ones we learned in class: the satin and running stitches.
For all the classes I teach I am for them to be laid-back and accessible, relaxing and conversational but still walking away with a new project to grow into. What’s cool about embroidery is you can keep it as simple or make it as complicated as you want learning a myriad of complicated stitches if you chose to. I just enjoy it as a relaxing craft that keeps me off my phone in the evenings and allows my brain to relax and get into a flow state.
Because the gift shop is small and the front room that is usually merchandised with gift products also functions as the classroom I have to take down all the merchandise on the front table and bring in folding chairs and additional tables for the class. For each class I provide light snacks and drinks. At the beginning of each class we go around and share recommended books, shows and podcasts as an icebreaker and to get to know one another better. It feels wonderful to connect with others and have authentic conversations around a variety of topics, plus everyone leaves with new things to discover as well. At the end of the class everyone is able to shop the gift shop and they get 10% off items in the store if they purchase them at that time.
Here are some additional stitches that are good to know and practice for embroidery, though again, it doesn’t have to be complicated:
And some additional items I recommend for embroidery projects:
– A needle minder which is essentially a magnet that helps you to not lose your needle
– Embroidery scissors to help you trim your thread ends
– A pouch to keep your projects nearby
– A clip on light for making things easier on your eyes
– Extra needles because they are easy to lose
– An embroidery floss kit and case with so many colors
Sign up for a class
If you’re local and live in the Raleigh, Cary, Durham, North Carolina areas you can sign up for another class at Gather Goods Co on the website here including this Beginner Embroidery Class but also other craft and flower arranging, business and photography classes here. If you’re not local you can sign up for the free beginner embroidery guide PDF that I created for the class and get added to the waitlist for the online class at the bottom of this post.
Last but not least, I’ll leave you with this pretty embroidery by Cristin Morgan. I love the organic squiggle shapes and the colors in this piece. It’s a perfect illustration of how a simple pattern with bold color can really make a stunning statement.
I’ve pulled together some Easter basket ideas for teens and young adults from the Gather Goods Co online shop:
If you live near downtown Cary, NC the Gather Goods Co gift shop is open every Wed-Sat 11am-5pm, otherwise, everything is available in the online shop and we ship everywhere!
On Tuesday February 13th I am hosting a small maker’s market inside The Mayton Inn from 6-8pm in downtown Cary, North Carolina. You’ll be able to meet and shop from local makers selling their wares. There will be jewelry (including permanent jewelry), art, ceramics, leather bags, candles, gifts and more. Below are the Triangle area local makers that will be there:
Daniella Cho of Bezalel and Company who makes jewelry from a variety of materials and also will be doing permanent jewelry at this event (think dainty bracelets that are forged together so it stays on).
KangJiahn Studio is the creative art studio from artist Jiahn Kang. She will have nature inspired fine art.
Ware Ware is the whimsical and functional line of ceramics made by Katy Petrisin in her Raleigh studio.
Weather and Story is a line of handcrafted leather bags made by Lainey Wright a newcomer to the area.
Jessie Jellicorse is a Raleigh based fine artist whose work is often created with frayed textile edges.
I met Melissa of postmodernform when she attended a Vision Board class at Gather Goods Co a few weeks ago. At the end of the class she casually dropped that she also made candles and left me some samples. I was impressed by the packaing and the depth of scent profile in her candles. She recently moved to Durham from San Francisco.
While You’re Up is a sourdough based micro bakery from Oona O’Toole. Her baked goods are outstanding and a must have. My husband may have bought out all her liege waffles at the last pop event she participated in with us. Oona moved here during the pandemic from L.A.
Lastly, I’ll have a table with my nature-inspired art and cards as well as gift goods from the shop.
The Mayton Inn is located at 301 S Academy Street in downtown Cary, NC. The Galentine’s Maker’s Market will be held on Tuesday February 13th from 6-8pm. Hope to see you there!
As a consummate homebody I believe that making everyday experiences at home makes for a more relaxing, cozy and special space to retreat and live. Setting a nice table and creating a pretty table design whether that is for an everyday meal or a special occasion like Thanksgiving dinner, Christmas, Hanukkah, Diwali, New Years, a birthday, or having friends over makes things feel a little more festive and special. In my household every person has a birthday between Halloween and just after New Year’s including my parents as well. It also happens to be the busiest time of year for my business and my husband’s who makes peppermint bark which is a family affair where we are breaking up bark, boxing and labeling and shipping and participating in more markets too.
So when it comes time to celebrate, my favorite way is just a nice home cooked meal with a fancier than usual table. And while I appreciate beautiful things I also like things to be accessible and laid-back too. I’ve rounded up a handful of items from the Gather Goods Co online shop that make setting a beautiful table easy. All of these items are designed to be mixed and matched whether you want something colorful or a little more subdued and because this is one of my favorite things you’ll find lots of items to shop from not just what I’ve included here.
You can find all of these items online at GatherGoodsCo.com or in-person at our downtown Cary, NC gift shop Wednesday-Saturday 11am-5pm (or anytime by appointment). Gather Goods Co is located at 417 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary, NC 27511 and you can park right in front of the shop in our parking lot.
Many retail stores use trade shows as a way to discover new products, get a sense for what an item looks like in-person and of course to further relationships with makers. Since these shows usually occur at certain times each year and in major cities like New York, San Francisco and Atlanta I often don’t go to them because as much as I love the sense of discovery, I don’t love big cities, the hustle and bustle of quick travel, schmoozing, or the cold, and I enjoy finding things in a variety of different ways. That said, I was excited when Shoppe Object, a highly curated makers market for retailers that typically sets up in NYC was coming to High Point Market, just a few hours down the road from me.
My favorite parts of the event were of course seeing inspiring wares in-person, meeting new makers, but also in running into maker friends, other business owners and design heroes from the many years I’ve been running a business. Here are some photos that I took of makers whose goods I especially enjoyed seeing in-person:
Decorative wall hangings by MQuan
A beautiful display of colorful glassware at the sir | madame booth
Hanging block-printed textiles from soil to studio
The most beautiful, sculptural ceramic lights and vases by Cym Warkov Ceramics
Colorful tableware from MoMA and a skateboard collaboration with artist Faith Ringgold
Ceramic wall shapes by Lauren HB Studio
I am always impressed by the quality of goods, the perseverance of marketing ones products and the effort that goes into setting up and selling at a trade show of this caliber. Though many of the companies exhibiting had sales reps and employees who were present, a good amount were manned and set-up by the makers themselves. It’s no small effort and it’s inspiring to see the work that goes into making a business like this succeed at just one of many touch-points that the maker has in place to sell their wares.
I’ve been on the Heidi Caillier train for awhile so it’s exciting to see that she has a book out with many of her gorgeous interiors inside. While all of her work is beautiful, I especially love to see her signature style applied to bathrooms. Maybe it is because I live in a small eighty-year old house with only one bathroom that I dream of updating one day that I am so drawn to her inventive applications in such a small but important space. I appreciate the way she brings moody colors and tiles, decorative wallpaper and traditional elements like bead board and brass sconces together in a way that feels old fashioned and classic without feeling fusty and also modern without feeling like something I’ve seen everywhere. The design is executed impeccably as well.
I’m fantasizing about reglazing the early 90’s beige stone tiles in my bathroom. The most obvious choice is white or my favorite green gray blue color but with the trends headed towards roses, burgundy’s and greens those look gorgeous too and would make a big impact. I always did like my Grandmother’s pink tiled bathroom and the other’s light blue velvet upholstery. The avocado kitchen appliances I could do without.
These bathrooms by Heidi Caillier inspire me to go outside of my typical traditional box towards something that is both classic, cool and fun even though I know in thirty years (or sooner) those things will look “of an era” too. Still, with all white everything being so popular then the modern farmhouse style, this aesthetic feels like a more natural combination of the two combining antiques and vintage designs with new ones too which I appreciate. More than that, this look feels authentic and lived in and like it has been there for centuries versus faux new farmhouse which was always a little kitschy to me.
Images via Heidi Caillier’s instagram. You can see more of her work on her portfolio site here.