I wanted to give more details about each of the makers that will be popped up at our Shop Local Holiday Market at Gather on Saturday December 7th from 11am-3pm. It’s sure to be an amazing time. Not only are the makers participating really talented with great gift-able products but downtown Cary itself which is always charming is even more so at the holidays.

Academy Street will be lined with Christmas trees decorated by local citizens (the winner gets $500 donated to the charity of their choice), many local businesses will have gingerbread houses decorated by citizens that you can vote for as well, the light poles are festooned with wreaths and there is even a mailbox for letters to Santa (that get responded to on Santa stationary) for the little ones.

So bundle up, and prepare to get your dose of holiday hygge on with us. We are located just a crosswalk away from the new library and adjacent parking deck at the downtown park. I recommend parking there and walking over to Gather. We are located at 417 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary, NC 27511.

Now on to the makers that will be at the event:

Jordan Grace Owens work incorporates graphic shapes, illustration and portraiture and somehow feels both retro and modern at the same time. Jordan will be at our holiday market selling prints, posters and other work. You can pictures from a visit to her home studio a few years back on my old blog here.

Wonderpuff is a 100% local vegan and organic cotton candy made by Jackie Morin with delicious flavors such as chocolate and peach tea. I can tell you the first booth my daughter will be begging to visit at the market…

Wendy Varr Burgess is a Raleigh based artist whose nature inspired work is made with alcohol inks and a variety of different media. She will have art and other pieces for sale at the Gather market. I love the way her work is textural and looks like it belongs underwater.

Unpredictable Jewelry is a line of contemporary jewelry that feels like sculpture made by local artist Vivian Blanco.

Paige Puckett Pottery is made by local maker Paige in her home garage studio. A passionate gardener she uses pottery as another creative outlet for expressing her ideas using materials straight from the earth. Paige will have an assortment of pottery for sale at the market.

YoungbloodMade is an art and illustration company based in Raleigh by Heather Youngblood. She’ll have cards, prints and temporary tattoos for sale at the market. Fun fact: Heather wrote about art for us on our blog indieNC way back in the day!

Fly Honey Oils is a locally made line of handcrafted, essential oil based products designed for holistic self care by Bri Hart. She’ll have essential oil roll on blends, and oils for your face and body for sale at the market.

In addition to curating wares from other makers, I am a product designer as well. At the market you’ll find my own Gather Goods Co goods featuring my pattern design and art on note cards, coasters, apparel and more in addition to the new line of soy based candles I just launched.

Heir Raleigh is a jewelry company based in Raleigh made by Sophie Wiseman-Floyd. Her work is minimal and dainty. She’ll be at the market selling her earrings, bracelets and necklaces at the market.

Plastic Flame Press is a line of silk-screened art and music posters by Chris Williams based in Durham.

The Apothecary’s Kitchen is a line of peppermint bark made by my husband Ben Smith. He creates it seasonally exclusively for the holiday season. It makes an amazing gift and is made with fair trade dark chocolate, a thin layer or white chocolate and organic candy canes.

& a few more makers as well.

The Shop Local Holiday Market at Gather takes place on Saturday December 7th from 11am-3pm. Gather is located at 417 Kildaire Farm Road, Cary, NC 27511. Everything inside from the Gather shop will be 20% off. There will be holiday tunes and hot chocolate and everyone who comes will be entered to win a pair of tickets to an upcoming Gather class of their choice for you and a friend, one of our new candles, AND A BOX OF PEPPERMINT BARK. Please spread the word and hope to see you there!

I’ve long had a health goal of trying to integrate a more vegan based diet into my day to day. While my family eats a lot of vegetables and not that much meat as it is, I can’t deny how good I feel and how yummy just eating vegetables is to me. Plus it just makes a lot of intuitive sense. Still, the idea of giving up creams and cheeses and milks seems cumbersome and daunting since they have been programmed into our diet for so long. I have huge binders full of recipes I’ve been collecting since I was a teenager and changing it all up seems like a hassle.

I had been hearing a number of health-minded fitness friends mention The Game Changers documentary so I watched it. The premise of the movie is to bust typically masculine stigmas of strength and power by showing high performing athletes eschewing meat and instead relying on vegetable protein. Unless you are fascinated by watching said athletes talk about these things for an hour or so, I would say you can take my summary above and apply it as you see fit.

Regardless, it spurred a discussion between my husband and I and a goal to try out a completely vegan diet for a month which would give us time to try out soy based alternatives and really dig in properly more than say a week would. Our goal isn’t to become 100% vegan, but instead to be more comfortable with the plant based alternatives that are out there so we can make healthier choices in our everyday cooking and eating. I’m really looking forward to it. We’re waiting until the holidays pass to make it easier but I’m armed with a stack of cookbooks from the library and I can’t wait to dig in.

Do you have any go-to vegan recipes? I’ll be sure to report back with cookbook and recipe recommendations.

Sometimes it can feel like all of the internet is leading us to believe that everyone is an overnight success and has “made it” more than ourselves. This illusion also makes it seem that success comes easily and is all about “faking it till we make it” or that the secret isn’t really just about a lot of hard work, baby steps, brave leaps and pivots, big mistakes, heaps of self doubt and a lot of forging ahead with a belief in something bigger than yourself. Certainly none of it is a linear or an immediately logical path, or at least it hasn’t been for me.

Since I’ve personally had to take a lot of steps to get from there to here – and it’s still very much a work in progress – I thought I would share, in a chart, some of that elbow grease and meandering that over many years has lead me from there to here in the past twenty years or so. It makes me hopeful for the next leg of my journey, however long that may be, knowing that it will be full of rich experiences, many of which I can’t even imagine at this point.

Read if you dare, print out if you want, make your own version with your own markings and choices. Most of all I hope this inspires to give yourself more grace on your own path to wherever you are headed. I hope it allows you to enjoy your journey with more perspective that the dips and swells are all part of a life well lived. Because really, it’s not about the place where we end up, but how we got there that has the most value to our lives. I’ve made two versions, one with my personal path, the second a more humorous perspective. You can click on either image to see them larger and to open in their own window and print out at home. Enjoy.

Lastly, if you do decide to make your own version, I’d love to see. 🙂

Shop local this holiday season from over a dozen emerging local makers selling their wares on Saturday December 7th from 11am-4pm in the big backyard and front parking lot of Gather Goods Co in downtown Cary. Over 12 emerging local makers will be selling their work, the Gather shop will be open for it’s once a year open house and everything from the Gather shop will be 20% off. Everyone who comes will be entered to win a pair of tickets to an upcoming Gather class of their choice for you and a friend, one of our new candles, AND A BOX OF PEPPERMINT BARK. Please spread the word and hope to see you there!

Featured Makers:

+ Jordan Grace Owens
+ Wonderpuff
+ Heir Jewelry
+ The Apothecary’s Kitchen
+ Gather Goods Co
+ Unpredictable Jewelry
+ Wendy Burgess Art
+ Cool & Brown Shop
+ Cottonbook
+ Plastic Flame Press
+ Fly Honey Oils
+ Paige Puckett Pottery
+ Youngblood Made
+ & More

There will be holiday tunes and hot chocolate at this festive celebration. Downtown Cary itself is hosting their annual holiday celebration throughout the downtown as well, so it’s sure to be a fun day of holiday merriment. Parking is available at the new deck by the fountain.

Please tell your friends and I hope to see you there. Gather is located at 417 Kildaire Farm Road in downtown Cary, NC.

I feel like most of the artists I have met (including myself) have an affinity for natural collections of things. That by having an assorted collection of things at hand it helps to inspire us and ground us to the world around us.

Have you heard of a mug cake? It’s basically a single portion cake where you put all the ingredients in the mug that you will eat from and then microwave them together. It’s the perfect remedy for when you have a sweets craving but don’t want to keep lots of leftovers around. Below I’ve rounded up some recipes I’ve found online:

Banana Bread Mug Muffin (image and recipe via The Local Sprout)

Cinnamon Roll Microwave Mug Cake Recipe (image and recipe via Kim’s Cravings

Mocha Chocolate Mug Cake Recipe (image and recipe via The Recipe Rebel)

Cinnamon Nut Swirl Mug Cake (image and recipe via Budget Bytes)

Which one are you inspired to make? I think our cool gray latte mugs in the online shop would be perfect for one of these…

“Do you know where you are going?” This coming year, starting in January, I am excited to lead a year long course at Gather aimed at helping you to find clarity, accountability, momentum and community. Through this intimate, hands-on course you’ll discover what you value, what to aim for, how to cut through the noise and when to give yourself grace when plans change. You will create a clear path outlining where you are going and want to go. This small group class will happen every other month at Gather in downtown Cary with at home exercises for each of the twelve months in 2020 as well.

Whether you are looking to pivot, go in a new direction, feel stuck or are just looking to renew and refresh your perspective you’ll find value in this class. You don’t need to be a business owner, just someone seeking positive personal growth and the willingness to put in the time and effort toward that. I’ll be there every step of the way and I can’t wait to encourage, help and guide you on your journey.

Space is limited to a small number of attendees and is of course a year long commitment. The cost is $20/month if you sign up before this Friday November 1st (or $220 if you pay all at once), and after it goes up to $25/month (or $275 if you pay all at once). You can register here.

Hope to see you there!

Class Meeting Dates:

– Thursday January 9, 6:30-9pm
– Thursday March 9, 6:30-9pm
– Thursday May 7, 6:30-9pm
– Thursday July 9, 6:30-9pm
– Thursday Sept 10, 6:30-9pm
– Thursday Nov 12, 6:30-9pm

For about five years I have been working on creating a Gather Goods Co candle line and I am happy to say that after a thoughtful process, they are available for sale in the online shop here. The candles are made with clean burning soy wax and come in a handsome 8 ounce frosted glass jar with a textured linen label that I designed especially for them. They are hand blended and poured here in North Carolina and all of the scents are phthalate free. ⁠Available in the following scents:

• Happy Place – An uplifting blend of Citrus & Grapefruit
• Cloud Gazing – A botanical blend of Green Grass & Bamboo
• Wooded Walk – A refreshing scent of White Pine
• Peaceful Pause – A serene blend of Green Tea & Lemongrass
• Cozy Home – a magical blend of Balsam & Evergreen

I hope you love them as much as I do and if you know of any stores where you think they’d be a great fit, please let me know. For now, you can purchase them in the online shop here.

On Thursday November 7th at 6:30pm artist Kristen Solecki will be teaching an illustration class at Gather Goods Co in downtown Cary, NC. Together, we’ll make a set of 4 postcards to swap & keep of favorite feminist women in a loose portrait style that Kristen is known for. You can sign up for the class here.

Kristen is a recent transplant to the Triangle. Prior to living here she was based in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a professional illustrator she has created work for NPR, St. Martin’s Press, Cup of Jo & the tv show Mad Men among others.⁠

I asked a few questions to Kristen about her process and what’s inspiring here, see below:

What is inspiring you currently? Being outdoors, hiking,  and traveling. 

What is a recent great book you’ve read or podcast that you’ve listened to? Syllabus by Lynda Barry is really excellent, and Normal People by Sally Rooney.

What are your favorite Triangle go-tos? I go to Flyleaf Books on an almost weekly basis, love their selection and staff recs. 

What other illustrators or artists do you like? There are so many but Margaret Kilgallen, and Edward Gorey are two artists whose work I go back to again and again.

What are you listening to lately (music wise)? Loving the new album from the band Better Oblivion Community Center, an awesome collaboration between Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers.

Why illustration? How did you get into it and what did going to school for it teach you?

I chose illustration because I love drawing and storytelling. I also really love the variety of work in the field, each project is different. I didn’t know Illustration was something you could study when I was in high school. I was first introduced to it as a career through an open house lecture. Going to art school taught me a lot of technical skills as well as allowed me to explore a lot of mediums and creative works I wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.

Any daily rituals or routines that help with working freelance?

I stick to a pretty tight routine during the work week, especially when I am on deadline. I try to keep normal work hours daily but it usually goes over that. 

You can sign up for Kristen’s class at Gather Goods Co on Thursday November 7th here.

I recently made a playlist for a friend with some of the music I’ve been listening to lately. I’ve shared it here if you’re interested. I recommend listening to it in “shuffle” mode. What are you listening to these days?