We've had lots of folks ask exactly what the Handmade Holiday Show is and so I thought I'd dedicate a post just to this event. We hosted a Handmade Holiday Show last December because we realized that while we all like to make gifts for our friends and family, we don't always have enough time to make it all. Despite creating schedules that involve beginning our gift knitting back in August. Not finishing your handmade gifts isn't a reason to give up on the idea of a handmade holiday. There are handmade gifts to be found right in our neighborhood!

There are people in our community that devote all of their time (or a large portion of it should they still be working for "the man") to making beautiful, awesome items that they sell to folks like you and me. These people are valuable members of the community, they continue the long tradition of craft in America and they strive to support themselves through their craft. I have long been an advocate for the maker movement and make a point of spending what little hard-earned cash I make through the Gather Here endeavor on handmade, local goods.

I selected this year's vendors on a number of merits. Would I buy his/her goods? Does she/he make products that are complimentary to the crafts we teach? Have they been integral members of our community? Do I respect and admire the maker's business model?

The 2012 lineup is amazing. Featuring makers that you may not think of when you think of Gather Here. And they are all people that we hold in the highest regard. With products that we believe will make gift-giving truly special this year. <PREVIEWEND>

City by the Sea Ceramics - Yarn bowls and ceramic buttons! Amazing rope impressed mugs that I want to have in the Annex - the white ones. But I also have a soft spot for the brown and green combination. Karen's work is finely crafted, the colors exquisite and we think she makes something that everyone would love. But especially for the knitter/crocheter that has everything - one of her yarn bowls would make the perfect gift. And why not a lovely cup because handcrafts with a cup of something is required.

Eat Boutique - I seriously think Maggie Battista (founder) is the bee's knees. And whenever I am desperately seeking something new to cook I check out their website. AND when my fancy, foodie friends who only vacation in New England turn 35, 40, 45...I send them an Eat Boutique gift box. For our last wedding anniversary I sent the Paris box to Noah to commemorate our last vacation before opening the shop. It'll be awhile before we head back for vin chaud and ice skating at the Hotel de Ville but Eat Boutique made it seem less far away.

Egg-a-Go-Go - If you are my friend and you've had a kid recently chances are you've received an "I'm Being Raised by Wolves" onesie. Unless you posted a picture on Instagram of your kid wearing one and then I got you something else. When I first realized that Sarah was the maker of these genius silk screened garments I got all awkward because I think she is just too cool. So excited that we're the ONLY holiday show she's participating in this year!

Kitty Kitty Craft - Hippos and Manatees. Do we really have to say anything else? I met Karissa through twitter. And she's not only been a patron but also an enthusiastic student. She has a day-job that I think is just soooo cool working over at a major publisher and she spends her free time designing and creating plush works. It's amazing. This is her second craft show and we really hope you'll show her some love.

Made in Lowell - Is a gem. Liz is someone I hope to grow up to be. Always with sound advice and a generous spirit with a tv program promoting other makers! She manages to make some of the most detailed felted goods. And I want to own them all. I sport my cupcake pincushion ring whenever I'm sewing something fancy. And I recommend her full-size cupcakes to EVERYONE. Last year she brought adorable spool of thread earrings that I gave to so many of my maker friends.

The Merriweather Council - I'm a hoop enthusiast with a growing collection of pieces by Danielle. Danielle spends her days (and her nights) hand-embroidering jewelry and art in Providence (she used to live near Fenway). A graduate of MassArt and an Etsy Educator, she has shown her work in the shop, taught a number of workshops and will be our February Artist-in-Residence.

Migration Goods - Toast Ornaments! Hydrangea fascinators! Eling creates beautiful and whimsical pieces using hand-cut felt. We were fortunate enough to have her help us with the summer window and got to watch her in action - cutting and piecing felt flowers like a BOSS! Eling's pudgy bear ornaments make great gift wrapping accessories! (I know...)

Pansy Maiden - I proudly carry my waxed canvas Gabrielle bag all over the country. It's been to Texas TWICE this year. The perfect size for all my "things" - passport, wallet, Orange Owl lip balm, Epi-pen, notepad, ink pen, nail file and emergency knitting project. It converts to a backpack when carrying a cross-body bag is awkward. And I get all kinds of compliments all the time. You probably should own some Pansy Maiden (click for awesome behind the brand video), too.

Zooguu - Noah found Jen first. He loves toys. He's in his mid-30s and cannot help but stop at a toy vendor and pick up something. He tried to put one of her monsters in a movie. But the scene never made it to the final cut. But he owns some Zooguu (specifically a zombie narwhal) and he asked Jen to design our store window full of Yetis. He may be her biggest fan. And he wants to share all that is amazing about Zooguu with you.

Last night we hosted an Open House for the Annex, our new studio space and artist-in-residence accommodations. We couldn't be prouder of what we've done over the last three weeks and it was such a treat to share it with so many of you. The bright white space filled with textiles, the smell of butternut squash soup and a hazelnut cake baked by none other than Lizzy House was more than I could have hoped for and then all of you came. I am honored. Honored that you took time away from your work, your family, your books/televisions/knitting/Monday-night-football to see The Annex. To meet my friend, Lizzy. To share in this next great adventure.

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The space is perfect for large works. These quilts designed by Lizzy fill the large white walls and instantly inspire me to make the next thing. To get out the needles and finish off those socks. And cut into that precious piece of Liberty Tana Lawn to make a fall blouse. To piece together blocks of color and sit and hand quilt lines of stitching around each star. The Annex was created not only to provide you with space to create but to also inspire each of us to step into the unknown and create something new.

Thank you for coming to the Open House. I hope we see more of you. I hope you'll join us for Lizzy's Champion Ribbon workshop next Saturday. I know I'll be making Noah and I some ribbons to celebrate the Annex. And seriously, Gather Here Peeps are the kindest, sweetest, most generous people on either side of the river. Seeing you gather around Lizzy's quilts, touching the stitching, chatting with one another about what you were making and what you dreamed of making, truly made my heart overflow. Seeing so many lovely crafted bags, gorgeous knitwear, and one little girl in a to-die-for corduroy coat was a testament to this age of handmade. And we can't wait to see what you make next. What we can make together on this corner of Broadway and Lee in mid-Cambridge. Thank you.

Our first ever crafty genius chat happens this week! This Thursday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. we'll be spending the evening with Tara Swiger aka the Blonde Chicken. She is a writer, maker, and Starship Captain in Johnson City, Tennessee. She explores creating smart businesses through her own yarn company, Blonde Chicken Boutique, and by serving as First Officer and Community Manager aboard creative, crafty and downright adorable ships (from tech start-ups to copywriters). She creates tools (the Map-Making Guide) and spaces (The Starship) for teeny tiny crafty businesses to explore their own best businesses and marketing plans. <PREVIEWEND>

Tara's new book, Market Yourself: A Marketing System for Smart and Creative Business Owners is now available in select shops (we're one of those shops!) and as an e-book. Published by the amazing Cooperative Press, we've already poured over the book and it gets two thumbs up. It has worksheets! It has diagrams! It has the answer to so many small business owner's questions including mine. Seriously, it was like finding my future-self who's been through it ALL once and can help me make more informed decisions. A resource at your fingertips that you can return to again and again as you and your business change. Brilliant.

check out Tara's amazing yarn!!!! amazing!!!!

So join us on Thursday, May 10th. We'll provide some snacks if you provide the beverages. I'll be knitting my next pair of toe-up socks using DyeKnittinKDye's Batgirl sock yarn (did you know we carry Ady Bee's hand-dyed, one of a kind yarn in the shop???). And sipping a Pimm's Cup. Just like they did back in the 18th century...or something like that.

Who knew a whole year could fly by so quickly? It feels like it was only yesterday that I was painting walls white, putting together shelving and scrubbing old concrete floors. To be honest, I'm still scrubbing old concrete floors but the walls are barely visible now that the shelves are stocked, the many samples hung, and there is now so much inspiration on the walls made to share with all of you.

<PREVIEWEND>Some folks have referred to the 19th of February as our anniversary. But we've been calling it a birthday. Perhaps because Noah and I don't have children. Perhaps because she was just a tiny little seed of a dream in 2009. Then a reality by October of 2010 when we became an actual Massachusetts business. Gather Here was a concept, a logo, a business plan, a website and a pile of Ikea shelving. Boxes of stuff from all over the world arrived in January 2011. And the blood, sweat and tears of a village of believers made her greater than the sum of her parts by February of that year. Noah and I have watched this shop wobble, stumble and finally get her bearings and walk proudly into the community. We hope to see her run before she is two years of age.

This Sunday we celebrate the dream of one crazy crafter and the people that make it possible for gather here to grow up. We've got lots to share including some of our favorite local crafters and artists. Opening Gather Here has created opportunities to collaborate or witness the collaborations of the talented community. It's our pleasure to share these folks with you.

Who's going to be at the party:

Made in Lowell will be returning! We just began carrying her awesome cupcake pincushion rings in 2012 but we know she's bringing full-sized cupcake pin cushions. And perhaps a mushroom pin cushion, too.

Ady Bee of Dye KnittinK Dye is back with her gorgeous fibers (including vegan yarns!!!) as well as an amazing collaboration with the incredible designer, Ann Weaver. We'll be showcasing Ann's trunk show and books, too. Our professional sample knitter, Koren is in the middle of the Whiteness of the Whale cardigan out of Juniper Moon Farm's Findley. It's going to be gorgeous.

We're excited to introduce many of you to our friend, Patti of On the Edge Knife Sharpening. She'll be sharpening scissors in the shop from 3 p.m. until 6 p.m.! She can do left-handed scissors as well as pinking shears. She sharpens all the Gather Here scissors every couple of months and we think she is the absolute bomb-dot-com.

Danielle of the Merriweather Council will be opening her embroidery exhibit in the studio space with over fifty newly made and framed pieces just for this occasion. You'll have the opportunity to meet this inspiring artist and wrestle for one of her pieces. We are a bit frightened that once the wall is covered in her hoops we won't ever want to take them down.

We are fortunate to also be hosting Amy of Knit Collage who has been collaborating with our very own knitting genius, Danielle Shields! She'll have a full-fledged trunk show with lots of luxurious yarn, the newest Knit Collage pattern book as well as some free patterns. If you've never met Amy in-real-life then this alone should get you down to the shop. She is honestly the bestest person we've ever met.

And finally, we have some of our own goodies to share. There will be "craft or die" t-shirts that are hand-screened by the amazing Megan Mary Creamer right over at the Washington Street Arts Center. Limited edition draw string bags designed by Marissa Falco and also screened by Megan Mary Creamer. (I adore both of these ladies so much!) The fabulous Joe Barillaro designed the postcard for our birthday and will have some limited edition posters screen printed by James Weinberg and available for purchase. We can't wait to add this to the other two prints he created in the past year. Some of the samples that we've made will also be for sale. Like the Oliver + S dresses out of Cloud 9 Organic fabrics and a few A-line and wrap skirts. If the fabric is gone there's no sense in keeping these and we hope they'll find good homes. And we've stitched up our very own lined box bags. We don't have many of them because we want you to do-it-yourself but we couldn't resist the combinations of fabrics currently in the shop.

See you Sunday, February 19, 2012 from 2 until 6 p.m. We're excited (aren't we always?), we'll have cupcakes, and we'll have little gifts that we'll be handing out throughout the party compliments of the many companies that supply our shop with quality goods. And like our holiday party, with your $25 purchase you can enter to win a raffle prize! (Ask the holiday prize winners - those prizes were pretty sweet!)

A couple of us are going to be presenting at the ignite craft Boston event this Friday. Yes, Friday the 13th! We wanted to invite you to join us for some really interesting five minute craft presentations by all kinds of crafters. I'll be presenting my own craft journey from costume designer to owner/crafter of gather here. Mike, the nattily dressed gent who works in the shop, will be presenting on his passion for a nearly lost craft, carving horn. And there are other folks, like Maria of MOLTENi Net Works and Lucinda of Sew Wrong. We're crazy nervous and wicked excited! Hope you'll be there!

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If you can't make it, all the presentations will be recorded so you'll get a chance to see us speed through our five minutes. (Embarrassing high school photos of me!) And if you want to see what people talked about last year, check this out! Our fave Stacie Dolin gave an amazing presentation!

Woo-hoo, it's Friday! That means tomorrow is the Handmade Holiday Show and our Holiday Party! So excited to introduce friend and role-model, Eling. Her elegant sense of color and her whimsical creations not only make us smile but we highly covet many of her handmade goods. She balances a busy schedule, has a studio space in Lowell and is too awesome for adjectives. We're thrilled she's part of the show and know you will be, too!

What's your name, what's your business name and where are you based?

I'm Eling, I run migration goods as well as rhinofluff yarn & fiber, and my studio is in Lowell.

What's your handcraft? And how long have you been practicing it?

I handsew little tiny pieces of felt & fabric into adornments & fun cute things (migration goods). I'm also a spinner & a dyer (rhinofluff). I've been designing & making jewelry & accessories for almost 8 years, but shifted really heavily into sewing two years ago. I've been spinning and dyeing for about 7 years. <PREVIEWEND>

What items will you be bringing to the Handmade Holiday Show? Why do you think your (insert noun here) are perfect for the crafty-genius to give or receive?

I'm bringing an assortment of festive hair accessories, brooches, bookmarks and ornaments, plus a nice selection of handspun yarns & handdyed yarns & fibers. I've got lots of little gifts so crafty folk can still give handmade to those they've run out of time to make for (not that this happens to anyone). And of course knitters & spinners can never have enough yarn or fiber...

What are you making/giving to your friends and family this holiday?

I'm making: a bunch of cross-stitch pieces (that aren't quite finished yet, yikes!) & (hopefully) cookies from the momofuku milk bar cookbook. But mostly I'm giving goods handmade by other people that I've been buying over the last few months.

Anything new in 2012? What can folks expect to find at your (insert studio/website/etsy shop) in the new year?

I'm working on making more elaborate wearables as well as small art pieces for your walls. I've also got some collaborative custom things on the way, for weddings & events. Mostly I hope to keep making colorful things that make people smile.

You can see what Eling is up to on her blog, buy her fiber here, buy her felt pieces here, follow her on twitter, check out her photos on Flickr, and check out her stash/knitting on Ravelry.

What's your name, what's your business name and where are you based?

2012 promises to be a very exciting year, and in an effort to gently nudge myself and craft into the 21st century, I will be greatly increasing my online presence. There will be a new website with a flashy portfolio of past and current work, a blog (which already has a cool, bloggy name) for musings, shop photos and how-to, and a revamp of my current Etsy site. I'll also be engraving some wooly mammoth ivory pieces for a Los Angeles-based jewelry designer, which should be a very fun and exciting collaboration.

To preview some of the things you may find at the Handmade Holiday Show visit Mike's Etsy shop here and see photos of his recent work on Flickr.

What's your name, what's your business name and where are you based?

I'll be bringing my reusable fabric giftwrap bags and the aforementioned bejewelled stitch markers. Also, some bookmarks and cat toys, cause, I make 'em, so why not?

Erm....

Check out Susanna's reusable gift wrap on Etsy.

It's already Wednesday!!!! Only a couple days until the Holiday Party. Somewhere between posting our last feature and posting today's I decided the best thing I could do would be to make a holiday party dress before Saturday. Now that I've shared the plan with you all I have to do it! But without further ado, here's Katherine, who also happens to work full-time in the shop and teaches our crochet classes. We're happy to give her the opportunity to share her awesome fabric with you on Saturday!

What's your name, what's your business name and where are you based?

My name is Katherine Codega. I'm based in Boston.

What's your handcraft? And how long have you been practicing it?

I've been drawing basically forever. I've only been creating designs for fabric for about a year or so, when I became interested in sewing. I subsequently discovered the custom fabric site spoonflower.com, and that's when I began to explore using some of my illustrations in fabric design. <PREVIEWEND>

What items will you be bringing to the Handmade Holiday Show? Why do you think your (insert noun here) are perfect for the crafty-genius to give or receive?

Fat quarters of fabric are good for really quick, last minute gifts. There are so many things you can make with a fat quarter! And calendars are always useful, obviously. Plus you can reuse it as a tea towel at the end of the year, and I think that's super-cool and very eco-friendly.

What are you making/giving to your friends and family this holiday?

They are all getting tea towel calendars. They all got them last year, and now they expect them.

Anything new in 2012? What can folks expect to find at your (insert studio/website/etsy shop) in the new year?

I've got lots of ideas percolating--I'm thinking about sewing kits, embroidery patterns... After the holidays I'm going to devote some serious time to brainstorming.

You can find more awesome Katherine Codega designs at her online shop: katherinecodega.etsy.com

Day 2 of our series on our Handmade Holiday Show & Party! Rachel was one of our very first students when we began offering classes in March. She quickly went from doing her alterations to making custom bags for co-workers which has spiraled into an Etsy shop. We're thrilled to be Rident's very first trunk show! And so excited to see our fabrics made into gorgeous bags!

What's your name, what's your business name and where are you based?

My name is Rachel Vaughan, my business name is Rident and I'm based out of my home in Chelsea, MA.

What's your handcraft? And how long have you been practicing it?

What items will you be bringing to the Handmade Holiday Show? Why do you think your (insert noun here) are perfect for the crafty-genius to give or receive?

My niche is custom bags so that people can have input in the creative process and truly have a unique item that speaks to them.  That being said, I will be bringing some pre-made bags in my smaller sizes that will be perfect for people that want to give a gift right away, love it so much they can't put it down or just can't wait the 7-10 days for me to make it from scratch.

What are you making/giving to your friends and family this holiday?

Anything new in 2012? What can folks expect to find at your (insert studio/website/etsy shop) in the new year?