by Noella Noelophile®
(Royalty-free image by kweuffen0 from Pixabay.)
Today is Small Business Saturday! Here are just a few of the talented artists and artisans currently selling their work through their small businesses, whom you might like to support as you do your Christmas shopping.
Author and artist Ellie Lieberman takes a magical approach to creativity. Her handcrafted fairy doors for all seasons, along with her star sachets and fabric pumpkins, are my personal favorites.
And her books have an excellent balance of darkness and magic.
I’m looking forward to reading her just-published “An Impossible Dream”, while her first book, “Society’s Foundlings”, remains one of my all-time favorites.
Ellie also writes and illustrates an enchanting children’s series, “Basil the Basset”. You may just want to pick up a copy of her latest book in the series, “The Way the Cookie Crumbles”, to slip under the tree for a favorite small person in your life.
(Royalty-free images by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay.)
Bibliophile/reviewer/editor Pamela Willson is a talented artisan, with a new angle on creating scented candles.
Pamela crafts scented candles inspired by books by her favorite independent and self-published authors!
As mentioned in our earlier interview, Pamela currently has more than 30 scented candles available, with scents like sea salt mixed with orchid, gingerbread with dark chocolate and citrus with sriracha.
Two other pluses here:
Pamela has currently been working with Ellie Lieberman, above, to create gift sets which include scented bookmarks, a scented candle and a copy of the book which inspired it, and a bar of chocolate. Sounds like a fantastic gift for any reader on your gift list!
In addition, Pamela is a highly-talented editor. If you know an author who’s looking for editing and proofreading services, she may well be available to edit and proof their work. (A note card in a beautifully-wrapped box, telling your recipient that you’ve engaged Pamela’s editing services for their current manuscript, would be a fantastic Christmas gift for any writer!)
(Photo courtesy of Icarian Photography, and used with permission.)
Linnea Oliver’s jewelry designs incorporate the clean lines of her Scandinavian heritage, along with the fun and colorful basic shapes of midcentury design. As we discussed in an earlier interview, there really is something for everyone among her creations.
Her inlaid tie bars for men put a new slant on the striped tie, while her hatch cuff links have a quiet elegance that will please any hard-to-shop-for male on your list.
I personally love her earrings and necklaces, though.
While I’d originally planned to mention her diamond-shaped art deco necklace and “Vera Arch” earrings as two favorites that would make great gifts, she now has new Christmas jewelry!
Check out her Christmas tree designs, along with her studs, which would be fun to slip into a stocking or give as a “secret Santa” gift.
(Photo courtesy of Torrance Craftsmen’s Guild.)
Angela Jackson, as mentioned in previous posts, says she’s never had formal art training.
But if she hadn’t told me that, I’d never have believed it.
Angie can custom-design just about any type of greeting card, invitation, note cards, etc. that you might have in mind.
For Christmas 2023, I’m admiring her green holly-leaf star, and her minimalist Christmas tree against a white background.
But she has no less than fourteen Christmas designs on her webpage, along with a Hanukkah card design and a mixed-variety of special-occasion cards. Definitely give her website a look for any occasion you have in mind, this Christmas and for the coming year.
“Oh, yummm!” may well be the reaction from a favorite foodie on your list, if you give them Rondo Mieczkowski’s raspberry jam, tarragon cherries or his six-pack of gourmet vegan foods. Those bread-and-butter pickles certainly have MY mouth watering!
I met Rondo a number of years ago, during one of the first Jackalope Arts fairs in Pasadena, and he explained that he handcrafts small batches of his gourmet foods from both family and heirloom recipes.
And his website mentions all the awards he’s won for his all-vegan, 100% gluten-free creations, made with kosher ingredients. Among them: the 2019, 2017 AND 2013 national Good Food Award for his Tarragon Cherries, in the Pickled Foods category; as well as “Best In Show- All Jams and Jellies” at the 2010 California State Fair, for his Strawberry-Rhubarb Jam.
Prefer to meet Rondo in-person, and see what he has to tempt you? His Etsy shop listing says he’s at the Hollywood Farmers Market, every Sunday.
And–that’s it! Just a very small percentage of the gifted and talented artists and artisans I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, who are currently selling their work.
Happy Small Business Saturday, and may you find some amazing treasures as you shop.