Posted by Kathy Welle & filed under .
Small batch, craft made, gourmet fudge from Maine. With 30 years of fudge and candy making experience we know quality and strive to make the best fudge you’ve ever tasted. Beautifully packaged, our fudge is perfect for gift giving. We specialize in business gifts, so be sure to ask about our wholesale pricing.
FYI: If you eat our fudge straight from the knife it’s fat and calorie free! (well… that’s what we believe)
Posted by Karen Fisher & filed under .
I have worked as a clinical social worker for the past 30 years. I have always considered myself creative but never had any formal training and outside of the occasional creative hobby here and there, never really focused on art. My art business was born during the pandemic quite by accident. My youngest son was in college and declaring his major in graphic design. We needed to equip him with an iPad and purchase the Adobe software to support his major. As a result of him being at home that year due to the pandemic I was able to watch what he was learning. When he wasn’t using the software, I began to pick it up and fiddle around with it. I really enjoyed the process. I immersed myself in online educational formats to grow my knowledge of both Photoshop, Procreate, InDesign, etc. I loved the ease of use; how I could pick up the iPad wherever I was, open the application, create in the spare time I had and then save and close the program when I was done. I did not need a studio space, did not need to purchase paints and brushes, or clean up after I was done! I surprised myself by my innate use of color and being able to take an idea or inspiration from around me and create my designs from the blank screen of the iPad. After things started opening up after the quarantine I started to attend various continuing education classes at MECA to further my skill set. It has been fun to see my aptitude improve along with my confidence After providing counsel to thousands of clients over the years as a social worker, this process has become my own sort of therapy. I look forward to spending my free time creating new illustrations and I have really enjoyed seeing customers respond positively to my work! I did not foresee this growing into a part time business but it has moved in this direction over the past couple of years quite naturally and I am thrilled about that!
Posted by Travis Hill & filed under .
I am a husband, father of 4 boys, and a recently retired Maine Army National Guard/Maine Air National Guard veteran proudly producing small leather goods from our home shop in Central Maine.
In 2016 I was working as the Maine Hero2Hired rep for the Department of Defense tasked with assisting Maine veterans during the employment process when I was recruited as the Marketing and Sales Director for the last remaining tannery in the state, Tasman Leather Group. During my time at the tannery, I worked in sourcing leather for designers such as LL Bean, Rogue Industries, Origin, Kurier etc., while simultaneously created a leather overstock company, Acadia Leather (still operating in Hartland, ME). To become more knowledgeable on product development and to have a better understanding of product manufacturing from our customer’s perspective, I began learning leatherwork on the side. In 2017 I felt confident to attend my first show and from there the business picked up. For the next few years I attended 20-30 statewide shows yearly on a part-time basis and went full-time in 2020 shortly after the tannery had closed permanently due to Covid-19. During the fall of 2020, due to Covid-19 restrictions on shows, we transitioned to primarily online sales, limiting shows to now a handful a year. We are currently looking at having our product move into the manufacturing stage with a manufacturing partner here in Maine to increase product availability and brand awareness.
Posted by Julie Bernier & filed under .
My life as an artist began when I was a little girl spending time with my French Canadian grandmother who taught me to knit, crochet, sew, garden, gather wild berries, cook and bake. I also learned about selling handmade goods and giving back to my community at her elbow in the basement of St. Therese’s church in Oakland, Maine. Each holiday season, she would set up a table and sell mittens, scarves, baby sweaters and booties, and when the show was over, she would donate whatever was left to the charity box. I have always found joy and comfort and purpose in making things with my hands and heart. My first experience selling at shows was right after college and I sold handmade sewn items such as quilts, vests and holiday ornaments. I went on to teach myself how to use a fancy camera and had a website where I sold my photos of all sorts of scenes in Maine and beyond. Those skills have been very important to me as a painter, which is an art form I took up ten years ago. I am able to photograph my own finished paintings for use in designing products such as inspiration card decks, greeting cards, calendars, posters and prints, and I taught myself how to use a graphic design program so that I am able to do the designing myself. I find my inspiration for my paintings in the gorgeous natural environment in which I live here on the coast of Maine. In 2023 I have been focused almost exclusively on coastal themes and have produced 37 paintings since January. I recently showed these paintings at my favorite summer art show and not only sold 21 paintings but also received the top honor of having my painting of two young girls in swimsuits holding a swim float chosen as Best In Show, which is an incredible achievement I would never have believed could happen. I have studied and taken workshops with Maine artists Mary Brooking and Nancy Keenan Baron and with national and international artists Elizabeth St. Hilaire, Emma Petitt, and Lucy Thomas to name just a few.
Posted by Sherry Marchewka & filed under .
Our art tells a story of the Maine coast, a place known for its breathtaking natural beauty and rich art culture.
Welcome to Coastal art co., where the rugged beauty of Maine’s coastline meets the world of art. Based in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, our mosaic pebble artist, Sherry, and frame maker, John, combine their talents to capture the essence of our extraordinary coastal surroundings.
At Coastal art co., Sherry, mosaic pebble artist, takes pride in her meticulous craftsmanship. Each mosaic pebble art piece is lovingly handcrafted using a diverse selection of carefully sourced pebbles from local beaches and coves. These pebbles, shaped by nature, come together to create intricate and distinctive designs, ensuring no two pieces are ever alike.
John, our master frame maker, enhances each piece made from repurposed wood. This touch of rustic authenticity not only complements the art within but also adds a unique and timeless charm to each creation.
We’re not just in the business of creating art; we’re in the business of bringing the Maine coast into your home. Our hope is that our work brings as much joy to your life as it brings us to create it. When you invest in a Coastal art co. piece, you are investing in a piece of Maine’s coastline, a piece of its culture, and a piece of its heart.
Thank you for choosing Coastal art co. to share in our love for Maine’s stunning coastal beauty.
Posted by William MacIntosh & filed under .
There are a LOT of good skin products out there, on the internet, on the skin-care shelves. There are quite a few opposite-of-good ones too. And some are just treading water (or oil), doing not much harm or much good – their best feature’s usually the price.
The Skin Stuff’s not one of the bad ones.
It’s not neutral either.
So…it’s one of the good ones?
Nope. Not really.
If we’d been willing to settle for “good” enough, we’d have made it like everything else — followed a formula (you can find them on the internet), maybe changing up an ingredient or two. That would have taken months, maybe weeks…not the years we put in.
Our path was different – you can read about it on www.TheSkinStuff.com.
UNIQUE.
Posted by Carly Cooke & filed under .
From a sunny studio in Westbrook, Maine, Carly Cooke creates heirloom quality jewelry with old-world techniques and attention to detail. Specializing in wedding jewelry and custom pieces, Carly can help you shop for the perfect gift or work with you to create one-of-a-kind jewelry that will check all the boxes of beauty, quality, and durability. Everything is handmade with fair environmental and social integrity in mind.
Posted by Renee Robitaille & filed under .
We make our leather handsewn shoes by hand, utilizing traditional skills, passed down by family for four generations. Our current styles all feature a traditional handsewn moccasin construction, completely surrounding your foot in leather. We sole our shoes with rubber outsoles, or leather handsewn soles. This means our moccasins are resoleable allowing for years of wear of your favorite pair. We aggressively seek out the best quality materials that we can get, as close to home as we can get them. We strive to source all materials domestically within the United States. We are proud to make it our business to support other US based manufacturers and are proud to do our part to build a strong community of makers here at home.
Posted by Lynn Wright & filed under .
I started making chocolates for gifts when my husband, son and I moved to Maine from Colorado in 1999. We didn’t have extra money to buy Christmas gifts for family, so I made up recipes and sent them as our family gifts that year. In 2000, we bought an old house in Limerick which had 2 kitchens. I turned the second kitchen into my chocolate kitchen and started experimenting with new recipes and chocolate treats. Getting a box of my chocolates as a Christmas gift became a “thing” with our family and friends. One year a good friend of mine told me she didn’t understand why I wouldn’t sell them, that it would be an awesome business. It was a huge decision to enter into the business side of the creative world as I had gone to art school and not business school in college.
After 10 years of making and giving away what I made, I started to get serious about sourcing the finest chocolate in the world and finding local places to buy cream and other essentials to making truffles. I found an online school that had a course in how to run a business specific to making and selling fine chocolates. I knew I would only sell my own recipes and only what I myself could make by hand. This meant I had to figure out how to produce delicious chocolates and sell them within their fragile fresh tasting window so my customers could always have the best chocolate tasting experience. I also wanted to buy the finest imported couverture chocolate available. This meant spending a lot of money on the chocolate itself and then using Maine dairy products to create the ganache and truffle basis for all my recipes. I am incredibly fortunate to have a wonderful dairy farm in Dayton- Harris Farm- who provides a rich cream that goes into every recipe that uses cream and Kate’s butter that makes up every truffle. Also, a talented bee keeper in Cornish who provides amazing honey and my next door neighbors who produce Hilltop Boilers maple syrup, from which I created a Maple caramel specifically made with their darkest syrup.
I went through the process of inspections and licensing the second kitchen in 2012 and this became the commercial kitchen where I still produce every single chocolate by hand. I turned the 1806 cape portion of my rambling old house into a small shop open seasonally on the weekends.
I was asked to join the Snowflake Trail in 2012, a weekend in November where a group of businesses in Limerick, Newfield and Limington all open on the same days. It is a group of hard-working business owners all making something amazing in this small corner of Maine. It was a crazy first weekend for me and I sold over 7000 chocolates and gave away 3000 samples. After that people started coming to my tiny shop and looking forward to my new ideas and creations.
Originally, I sold my chocolates in prepackaged boxes we made up every Friday. After a year or so in business, two lovely customers, Joy and Julie, mentioned to me that they had favorites and could I make up a custom box, or have a case to choose from when they came in? So, I drove to Pennsylvania to purchase a beautiful, antique, glass case once used to display cigars. I came up with a picture card system so customers could choose a card with a photo and description of the chocolate they wanted in their box. From that we make up their personal selection from the case. This is still how we display the chocolates, in a much larger antique glass case but everyone can select their own box from 35-45 kinds and little picture cards go in the box so they know what each chocolate is.
During the pandemic in 2020, I decided to move my shop into a fantastic old building on Main Street in Limerick. The owners gave me carte blanche to gut the interior and make the space my own perfect chocolate shop.
From the beginning my goal was to show people that fine chocolate is special. I have tried to make it accessible to everyone no matter if they can only afford a couple dollars for a treat or much more. I take pride in making every single chocolate by hand knowing that my careful selection of ingredients and fine attention to details will bring joy to my customers.
The best part of what I do is seeing my customers excited to come in and choose their own box of chocolates. Smiling and laughing and bringing family or friends to the shop to share my little shop in Limerick. It’s a special place.
Posted by Jacquelyn Mansfield & filed under .
Hi friends! Welcome to Proxima Design Cat Toys! We are a small Maine business, specializing in handmade, joyful cat toys for every kitty play style! We use only the best, long lasting, potent organic catnip in our toys to please your feline friends. We aim for quality construction and durability in our designs so you come back for more because you and your cats love the products, not because you need a new one! Give one of our felt food shaped toys a try! Great size and weight for chasing and carrying. We also carry durable reinforced cotton kicker toys in a variety of patterns! Does your kitty like crinkle material? We’ve got several toys that crinkle, including our Catnip Crinkle Mats! Discover our brand new line of 3D Printed toys! Ring Things, Crazy Caps, and even glow in the dark varieties, Glowbe Chasers and GLOW Ring Things! Yes we wholesale!