Wandering the World for Handmade and More - South Burlington, VT

If Chunky Monkey or Cherry Garcia grace your dinner table for dessert, or you've ever heard the phrase "May your ferndocks always be krenzled...," you're familiar with today's stop on Wandering the World for Handmade and More. Home of Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream, and Magic Hat Brewing Company (one of the nation's most famous microbreweries), South Burlington is also the home of Linda and and her shop - AllAboutCats on Etsy! Thank you to Linda for suggesting her home town for a shopping local feature!

South Burlington, Vermont is located in the western part of the state on the shores of beautiful Lake Champlain, which happens to be the 6th largest natural freshwater body in the US. South Burlington became a town in 1865 after breaking from its neighboring city, Burlington, incorporating in 1971, and today is considered a major city in its own right. Interestingly, nearly a third of the city's land area is covered by the waters of Lake Champlain. Once a region of sprawling farmland mixed with areas of rocky terrain, the area didn't make its move towards industry until the WWII era of the 1940's. South Burlington is also the home of University Mall - the largest shopping mall in the entire state!

Marabell the Mouse Organic Catnip Toy

Speaking of shopping, I found some great shops while shopping local on Etsy in South Burlington, Vermont. First of course, I'd like to introduce you to AllAboutCats, which is, of course, all about cats! Cat fanciers will adore this shop filled with everything your feline or the feline lover could ask for! From adorable organic catnip toys like Marabell The Mouse on the left to Linda's whimsical coaster sets like the one shown on the right, you're sure to find

Four Reversible Cat Print Fabric Coasters

something playful for kitty and useful for yourself! In addition to toys and coasters you'll find a nice collection of wallets, key fobs, rag bags, and even swiffer covers for picking up all of Fluffy's fluffy hair. Everything has a cat theme or would appeal to a cat or cat lover - so be sure to stop by AllAboutCats and indulge your purrrrfect little angel! Not only will you enjoy picking out your favorite items, you'll love getting to know Linda and you're sure to appreciate her attention to detail and fantastic customer service!

For those of you who might not love cats (I realize there might be one or two of you), shopping local in South Burlington offers a great (albeit small) group of shops to satisfy some of your handmade shopping desires. PierreVT has some mixed wood vases and vessels that are seriously stunning. If any of you ever visited the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago prior to its makeover (that would probably be pre-1980 or so), you might remember the Paul Bunyan wood exhibit. It was there that I first realized how much I love wood and all the different grains and colors found in different woods all over the world. So it's no wonder that I love this Segmented Exotic Wood Vase/Bowl with woods including Maple, Mahogany, Purple Heart, Rosewood, Padouk, Walnut, and Lacewood. Visually impressive!

Segmented Exotic Wood Vase/Bowl

If life seems surreal at times, and you like your artwork the same way, you'll want to visit JoleneGaranzhaPrints. Specializing in colored pencil and intaglio as her techniques of choice, although she works in paints and digital design as well, Jolene's shop offers artwork showing her amazing perspective of life in the world around us. I chose this piece to share with you here because I liked its vivid colors and its somewhat quirky yet timeless feel... it's titled I of Beholder and is a print of an original done in colored pencil and ink. What a great conversation piece it would make!

I of Beholder

For those of you whose tastes in arts favor nature and landscapes, LandscapeLady may be your next shop to heart. This artisan paints her landscapes in cloth, creating quilted wall hangings and other art that are simply gorgeous! My favorite is this one shown below - it seems so reminiscent of an early autumn's day in the Green Mountain State she calls home.

Camel's Hump

Even though myfairladyvt4 is based out of Vermont, the beautiful woven bead jewelry you'll find in this shop encompasses themes from many different locales including the seashore, the mountains, and my favorite, the desert southwest. In Southwestern Flair, turquoise gemstones team up with glass in this delightful design with a Native American feel.

Southwestern Flair

Well, my "shopping local" excursion through South Burlington, Vermont has come to an end. I hope you've enjoyed the shops and items I've shared with you today and also that you'll take some time to visit them all and keep them on your radar for purchases in the near and distant future!

If you'd like to see your shop and hometown featured here, please be sure to drop me a note via the "contact me" link at the top of the page. Include a link to your shop(s) as well as the name of your hometown and anything you'd like me to know. If you're the first one to suggest your hometown, you'll be the star of the feature! I'm happy to promote any shop as long as the goods you offer are handmade, vintage, or crafting supplies or services! I'll be posting my upcoming schedule of features on monthly calendars on the "Be Featured" page which can be accessed through the link in the right sidebar.

I'm waiting... tell me about YOUR hometown!

xo,
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