Feature Friday: Tristate Artisans

I had a little time to kill between showings so I decided to wander through some of the local shops.  Tristate Artisans is tucked back in a corner of the Batesville Shipping Village and might have been easy to miss but I'm so glad I didn't!  

I meandered into the shop thinking I'd was just coming in from the cold, but Look.  How.  Cute!

Of course I had to check out the rest of their stock and ask LOTS of questions!  Small business owners like to support each other, so I wanted to see where their stuff came from.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn most of their items are made by the owner and local artisans.  Hence, the name!

I found a collection of candles with yummy scents and snarky labels and just had to have one.  I couldn't find a scent/snark combo that really spoke to me, so I asked if the crafter ever took special orders.  Lucky for me, that was one of the items made by the shop owner, and she was planning to make a new batch later that week.  I ordered my husband a super sarcastic one in his favorite scent (peppermint!) since his birthday is coming up soon.

I'm a fairly creative person, so I decided to check out their painting classes while I was there.  They had a painting on wood instead of a canvas which I thought was a neat twist, so I booked with several friends.  We arrived with wine, snacks and not a lot of talent, and we left with some pretty awesome paintings!

We got lucky enough to have the owner teach our class.  Jaime was nice, funny and incredibly patient with us.  I not only enjoyed learning from her, but I genuinely enjoyed her company at our party!  She gave us step by step directions on how to duplicate her painting, but also encouraged us to be creative and change things up.  Each of our paintings turned out differently and very personalized to each of us.

While my painting hasn't found its new home yet, I really do like the way it turned out and I'm excited to take another class with Jaime.  When you're ready for a fun afternoon out with your girlfriends, make sure to give her a call!