Sep 29, 2008

New Fairhaven retail store focusing on local, handmade productsBy Dave GallagherBellinghamHerald.com

Bellingham, WA — Lauren Burger and Justin Feezell discovered they could work well together through challenging situations in the Peace Corps, so they’ve decided to continue that partnership in a new business.

Last week they opened The Handmade Life at 910 Harris Ave., in the Harris Square courtyard near Chispa. The gift shop features a variety of items from about 25 local and regional artists, including jewelry, photos, paintings, wood-carved housewares, clothing, pillows and stuffed animals. Burger has her own line of perfume oils, lotions, soap and shaving bars that she had been selling through her online store called DressGreen.

“We wanted to have a store with local crafters making unique gifts for people that are hard to buy for,” said Burger.

The handmade tag is Burger’s and Feezell’s way of saying many of the products in the store are one-of-a-kind products that aren’t replicated.

“You’ll find pillows here that are by the same artist, but they’ve used different fabric each time,” Burger said.

Burger and Feezell met while in the Peace Corps in Panama. After returning to the U.S., they lived in Portland, Ore., before making their way to Bellingham in August.

Read complete article.