Submitted by Kaylene Fischer for The Gift Gallery LLC
The holiday season may be over but gift giving is year-round. Whether you are shopping for a gift or want to treat yourself, The Gift Gallery LLC in Tumwater is the place to go. We offer a variety of handcrafted items as well as, antiques & collectibles. We also offer commercial items made in the U.S.A. and have specialty foods from around the Pacific Northwest.
If you have never been to The Gift Gallery, it is a must see! We feature handcrafted wood, jewelry, iron signs, pottery, glasswork and much more. Looking for Seahawks items? We have that too. Have you seen the handmade NFL teddy bears? It’s a good chance those came from our store. We feature just about every team in the NFL.
Be sure to stop in during the month of January for The Gift Gallery’s annual Clearance sale. Items throughout the store are 20-50% off. Every year we make room for new items. We have over 30 local vendors and some of their items will also be on clearance. You won’t want to miss those “one of a kind” items.
Our local vendors are important to us here at The Gift Gallery. We have several different talented artists from around Western Washington. Each month we are featuring some of our vendors here at the store. We’d like to give you the opportunity to know more about the people who handcraft your wonderful gifts.
For the month of January we are featuring four of our vendors. The first is Phil Christensen. Phil makes gemstone beaded jewelry. In his booth you will also find photographs for sale taken by his wife.
Second, we have Sue Lederman. She brings two wonderful creations to The Gift Gallery. Her brother lost his battle to cancer and that is when she decided to create Beads4Life in his honor. Sue creates beaded necklaces, bracelets, earrings, lanyards and even beaded trees with your bead of choice for which ever cause you need. She does hand paintings and includes her beaded trees on them. Sue also created her own blend of spices that she sells in honor of Tyler J. Rogers. Tyler was only 13 years old when he lost his battle with brain cancer. Sue sells her secret blend of 11 spices and ALL profits go to the Tyler J. Rogers Foundation which supports the “Forgotten Children’s Fund.”
Third, we showcase Katrina Wynkoop-Simmons. Katrina discovered Kumihimo braiding at a bead show in Tacoma in 2010 and wanted to learn how to do it. She fell in love with the textures and effects of using different materials and beads to create necklaces, lanyards, bracelets and more. Katrina’s latest group “Show your School Colors”, features lanyards in school colors for high schools in our area.
Fourth, Anne & Connie Weisdepp. Anne Weisdepp started “Anne’s Pyrography”. She got started in wood burning when her parents gave her a starter set as a gift. At first she only did pieces as gifts for family and friends. As her work improved, she started getting requests for personalized plaques. As a way to bring more income, Anne decided to start her own side business. Connie, her mother, would work up a design and transfer it onto wood and Anne would burn it. There were many requests for wedding and name plaques. Connie started getting into cutting and routing wood for the plaques, instead of having to buy precut pieces. As Anne became better known, she was invited to a few craft fairs, which led to The Gift Gallery, through Pam Pellegrino. Connie and Anne work together to create some wonderful pieces. They now do sports related plaques, characters, swing dance and animals. They even started creating wonderful ornaments that include many dog breeds.
Our vendors are happy to take custom orders if there is something specific that you would like.
Are you a local artist that has hand-crafted items that you would like to share? We have a few Open Spaces here in our Store. We have great prices for great spaces, sign up now for 6 months and you’ll receive one of those months free. See store for details.
You can find us on Facebook or on our website.
