The Taea Made Blog

Monday, November 3, 2014

Kindness is Contagious

I'm a huge fan of kindness. Making a positive difference in someone else's life is something I strive for in my day to day living. My husband and I have made it a goal to complete one random act of kindness each month, with nothing expected in return. It's had such an impact on our lives, and made us happier people.

When I met Diana about a year ago and learned about her Be Nice movement, I knew I wanted to take part. Diana has created boxes customers can buy to spread kindness, called the Be Nice Box. She wrote a blog about completing 365 acts of kindness, which led to her creation of the boxes as a way for others to share in her efforts.

"As the blog was growing, I was falling in love with the idea of completing good deeds & spreading kindness. I was finding that I was happier, feeling more grounded & really feeling rooted in my community. I wanted to find a way to share that feeling with others across the country. After some brainstorming, the Be Nice Box was born!"

Through my business, Taea Made, I contributed 100 fiber art bookmarks for this quarter's Be Nice Boxes. My hope in taking part in this project is that it will inspire others to do good and share their talents with others as well.

Let's take a look at the Fall Box I received!

(A sweet hand written note.)

(My favorite part of the box! 30 different kindness tasks :.)

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to take part in this project. Thank you to Diana for asking me to contribute, and for spreading kindness!

(Give Thanks banner from this quarter's Be Nice Box.)

Shop Be Nice Box:

Minneapolis, MN

Catch the latest Taea Made happenings on Facebook!

Drop me a line at: taeamade@hotmail.com.

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Step Inside Eco Chic Boutique

I've had the good fortune to work with and get to know Maria Bosak, owner of Eco Chic Boutique, and her super sweet staff over the past few years. Whenever I've had the opportunity to pop into the shop, I'm greeted with a smiling face and a kind heart. Besides a warm greeting at the store, you'll also find eco-friendly products, clothing, accessories, home decor and re-purposed furniture (their specialty.)

Chalk Paint® by Annie Sloan is sold at Eco Chic for updating furniture and making one-of-a-kind items. This brand of paint is very user friendly for creating unique pieces. Classes on how to use Chalk Paint are taught on a regular basis at the store. You can find many furniture pieces redone with Chalk Paint at the Eco Chic stores, and from vendors at Junk Market. Junk Market, an event that was originally held in Eco Chic's parking lot, is a two day event held in three buildings at the Red River Valley Fair Grounds each spring and fall.

When I stopped into the Fargo Eco Chic Boutique location to take photos for this blog post, Michelle and Katie were working. It's easy to see that Maria views her staff as a big asset to her company. You can tell there's a lot of fun and laughter that goes on behind the scenes at Eco Chic. I'm glad to have had a chance to get in on it while I was there!

Get to know Maria and her eco-friendly store better in the following Q & A I did with her for my "Step Inside" series, featuring stores that sell Taea Made products.

Have you always planned on being a small business owner?

After spending 12 years in the corporate world managing stores for someone else, I found myself becoming more and more stifled and really felt a strong desire to be in control of my time and talent. I've always been hardworking and a little stubborn, so being my own boss in control of my own destiny fit me well.

What brought you to the F-M area?

I grew up in Webster, SD and came here to attend college at MSUM. Once graduation arrived I already had a job, so here I stayed. Once I met and married Tate, I knew this was home forever.

When did your passion for remaking furniture begin?

The repurposing passion was one I didn’t know I had until I had to find it. The original concept of Eco Chic featured more baby, mom and home eco-friendly items. It wasn’t until customers started wanting our display fixtures did I realize there was a need for such a store. We slowly transitioned into what Eco Chic is today, and in the meantime I found a love and passion for home decor and furniture that I didn’t know I had.

What makes Chalk Paint unique compared to other paints?

Chalk Paint is unique for a couple reasons. One, it will adhere to most any surface without sanding, priming or stripping. This is usually what people love the most. Also, the finish and versatility of the paint draws the customers in once they start working with it. You really have to experience it to completely appreciate it.

How did you become involved with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint?

Once we started selling furniture we were using spray paint to repurpose it. This became messy and toxic. Once we researched paint, we kept stumbling across Annie Sloan on blogs. We ordered some and fell in love. So much in love that we inquired into selling it. It was a 3 month process before they agree to allow us to sell it. They are very strict on where they place it. They want a certain family feel and love of painting to be displayed in all their stockist. We luckily fit the bill.

Do you offer advice for furniture remaking newbies?

All Day Long…We love talking to newbies about project. Heck we are still newbies. That is why we are here. To help.

What do you most like about owning Eco Chic?

I love my employees and the customers we bring joy too. It is so much fun to help others bring joy to their homes.

What do you see for the future of Eco Chic?

Well, besides our expansion into Bismarck last summer, we have big plans for a larger version of who we are in Fargo. We think we have a presence that is tv worthy. We will just have to see what HGTV thinks. (wink wink)

What is Junk Market?

Junk Market is a event that features the best junking, salvage, and repurposed vendors from the upper Midwest. It is held every May and September. It started in our parking lot but has grown so big we moved it to the Fairgrounds. What started as a one day event is now a two day event with around 100 vendors. It is like Eco Chic only on steroids times three.

You can shop Eco Chic Boutique at two different storefronts in both Fargo, ND and Bismarck, ND. The Bismarck location will soon be moving to a new downtown location! Be sure to follow their latest store happenings on Eco Chic's Facebook page.

I recently had the chance to visit the Eco Chic Boutique in Bismarck, ND, where I received an equally warm reception from Kelsey. Below are a few current photos of the Bismarck store.

Shop Eco Chic:

4955 17th Ave. S.

Fargo, ND

2100 E. Broadway

Bismarck, ND

Thank you to Maria and her lovely staff for sharing their passion of eco-friendly and remade products!

Catch the latest Taea Made happenings on Facebook!

Drop me a line at: taeamade@hotmail.com.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Step Inside Unglued

I met Ashley Morken, owner of Unglued, during preparation for the first Unglued: Craft Fest, a handmade show featuring indie artists and makers. Since then, Unglued has continued with yearly craft shows that have expanded to a bigger venue, a permanent storefront and pop-up Christmas shop. It offers the community of Fargo-Moorhead a chance to shop handmade and learn new creative skills.

Unglued is the first store that featured Taea Made handmade products. Ashley and Justin Morken own the store, with Ashley being the primary operator. The encouragement, advice, and kindness that I've received from Ashley and the amazing Unglued staff is second to none. They curate a store full of one-of-a-kind whimsical handmade products that will surprise and delight you. They truly have something for everyone!

What makes Unglued unique is their ever changing events and community involvement. Numerous classes are offered every month that share a love of creating and craft. I've had the opportunity to teach sewing classes with Unglued, and it has brought me such joy to teach new skills to the wonderful participants!

Ashley was kind enough to indulge me with a little Q & A about her store for this new Taea Made Blog "Step Inside" series featuring the places you can shop Taea Made products. I hope you'll enjoy this new series as much as I've enjoyed creating it.

What inspired you to open your own handmade shop?

Retail wasn't something I was dreaming to go into. I was a nurse for 7 years before doing Unglued full-time and what I dreamt of was doing awesome creative events and helping awesome people make their own dreams happen and get connected to others doing the same. When I saw the success of our first indie craft fest and after the suggestions of our crafters in it I began to see how opening a handmade shop could make that happen. I saw how doing a handmade shop could pull together community and small creative businesses - and also allow me to continue to do events that I love!

Upon someone’s first visit to your store, what can they expect to find?

They will find "etsy in real life." We've had people walk in and say it's their happy place or made their day 10 times better just to stop by (which is crazy and awesome!). They will find inspiration and creativity from over 250 local and regional artists and makers.

Where do you draw your inspiration from when creating new classes, window displays, and crafts?

The trick is to stay inspired amongst the insane amount of paperwork and behind-the-scenes boring-stuff that it takes to have a running shop! What I take time for most days is to briefly look at blogs like Design Sponge and A Beautiful Mess. What truly inspires me most, though, is to take time to step away and travel especially when I'm burning out even if it's to the coffee shop in Hillsboro. Any time I'm on the road or in an airplane my mind clears and new ideas and dreams come easy. Justin (husband) also inspires me through the stage designs he does to have more movement, power tools, and lighting in what we do and challenges me to make things more awe-inspiring.

What do you most love about owning your own business?

I love the way we can affect other creative business owners through our little shop. There is literally nothing more satisfying than to hear from our makers that being a part of our Fest, shop, or something like our Etsy User Group supported them to take the next step towards their dream.

Where are you from, and how did you end up in the F-M area?

I grew up on the Iron Range of MN and ended up at UND to be a nurse. From there I met my husband when I would put on rock shows and he was a drummer. I briefly moved to Mpls to be a nurse for a year and a half but then found myself in Fargo when we got more serious! Before I even spoke to Justin ever I called my mom to tell her I saw my future husband so from the beginning of that relationship I had a feeling I'd be where he was later on;)

What’s the story behind the black Fargo coffee mugs?

So when I moved to Fargo and we got engaged I made Justin swear we'd never stay here forever (I'm super restless). He would agree but still say over and over "Fargo is the greatest city in the world."...needless to say once we really found ourselves involved in our city more and an incredible group of friends we knew we'd be here for the long run and I love it and now agree!! When we opened I wanted to have a sweet "Fargo" item that was pretty cheap so being how that saying was our "thing" he designed the mug.

Why is Fargo the “Greatest City in the World?”

I fully realize I probably couldn't have done Unglued in one of those "big" cities I had always wanted to live in. Fargo is a city that is hungry for art, culture, community, and new-ness. It's a city that's not too big to drown among a million others doing what you dream of - if you have a dream I bet there's a creative way you can make it happen here and be supported by this awesome community. I've also learned to love our landscape - which I never thought was possible after living in northern MN;) We have great sunsets because of it.

Do you have any new adventures for Unglued that you’d like to share?

Well since I'm restless you can always know something new will be coming - I'd never do this if all we were going to be was where we are as a shop and annual event! After seeing how awesome Summer Camp has been going we'll have some after-school programs coming along with continuing on our next Late Night Craft Parties. Oh - and an adult summer camp next year!

What’s your favorite Bakeology cupcake flavor?

Margarita!

What is the Unglued Non-Profit Day?

Our Non-profit days happen a few times a year and are a way for us to give back to local non-profits by customers shopping (and thus continuing to support our artists as well!). 40% of the sales go to the non-profit that we feature.

Why do feel it’s important to give back to the community?

It's so important to give back. By giving back to our community it becomes that great circle of giving back to the community that is supporting us to stay here for the long-haul and being involved in something greater than we are at our little shop! It makes me appreciate doing retail more by knowing there are bigger things like Non-profit Days to allow us to donate and give by being an independent shop!