The Hug Box - Newnan

December 1, 2017

PLEASE NOTE COWETA LIFE IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH ANY OF THE PLACES, PEOPLE, OR THINGS WE COVER. PLEASE CONTACT EACH BUSINESS OR PERSON DIRECTLY IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS. SENDING AN EMAIL THROUGH OUR CONTACT PAGE WILL NOT GET YOU IN CONTACT WITH THE BUSINESS BUT WITH COWETA LIFE. WE ARE NOT ABLE TO REPLY OR FORWARD EMAILS MEANT FOR THE BUSINESSES WE COVER. THANK YOU!

Update: The Sub Box now has a physical location in downtown Newnan located at 2C Jackson St. Newnan.

Imagine having a bad day. You open the mailbox and inside is a hug from an old friend. A beautifully packaged box filled with treats to make you smile along with a sweet note of support.

This is exactly the kind of service The Hug Box provides every day.

We were so excited to get the chance to speak with Vicki Wahl Sanders, founder of the Hug Box.

The idea for a gift box that is more personal than the standard basket stuffed with generic items came to Vicki fifteen years ago.

At the time, she was steeped in corporate culture working as a graphic designer. While she found many positive aspects to this job, it didn’t touch on her desire to give back to her community.

The opportunity to embark on a new journey came four years ago when she unexpectedly lost her job.

She remembered the idea of sendable hugs that she had jotted down in her journal so many years ago.

The Hug Box became a business where she could put her desire to give back into practice.

As we looked at the shelves of beautifully personalized gift boxes, we were astounded at the care that went into selecting each item in the boxes as well as the packaging.

Every aspect of a Hug Box, from the ribbon it’s tied with to the carefully crafted goodies inside, is focused on sustainability and supporting local businesses.

The artisans that produce the unique, one of a kind products that go into each Hug Box are located somewhere in the United States and source their materials ethically and sustainably.

Vicki also looks for artisans that use all natural materials and give back to the community.

The pretty and simple packaging is all made from recycled materials.

“I didn’t print on it in the hope the receiver will reuse it." says Vicki.

Her graphic design background shows in the cute and cohesive branding of The Hug Box.

When you decide to send someone a hug, you can choose an occasion, such as cheer up or new baby.

Nestled in your box are handmade gifts, like organic tea or a hand knit coffee sleeve, that can’t be found at just any store.

Vicki wanted to include things that are useful and will make your friend think about you and the warm feelings a hug inspires every time they use the item.

Vicki is also happy to help you put together a custom box for your loved one.

At the moment, a portion of the Hug Box sales go to Camp Sunshine and Atlanta Pet Rescue. Vicki plans to continue to increase her charitable donations as her business grows.

We loved the passion she has for spreading warmth and joy in the world and supporting small businesses.

You can make someone’s day with a packaged hug by visiting her website.

You can also find The Hug Box on Facebook and Twitter.

Handcrafted in Coweta - Bliss Creek Farm

August 6, 2015

As you may have noticed by now, we love attending local markets and fairs. They are such a great place to find amazing artists and delicious new products we can’t believe we lived without. Bliss Creek Farm’s handmade soaps falls squarely into this category.

We discovered these hand created goat’s milk bath products at the weekly Newnan farmer’s market on the square.

To Linda Schmidt, the creator of Bliss Creek, soap making is more than a hobby it is a labor-intensive process that she undertakes with love.

She and her husband George are involved in every step of the process from delivering the newborn kid goats to wrapping the finished bars in the Bliss Creek label.

Linda allowed us to come into her home studio to learn about her soap making process and tour Bliss Creek Farms.

Driving up to Bliss Creek Farms, we felt as if we had been transported into a Disney movie. As soon as we stepped out of the car, we were greeted by a throng of friendly farm animals.

Linda is an energetic woman with a warm personality and musical laugh. She led us into her basement studio that she affectionately called ‘the dungeon’. Our noses were immediately met with a bouquet of delicate fragrances.

All the Bliss Creek soap recipes are proprietary blends carefully created and tested by Linda and her family before being made available for purchase.

Bliss Creek Farm soaps are made the old fashioned way with a cold process method.

Lye and one hundred percent goat milk are combined to begin a chemical process in which the molecules are broken apart and reconstituted as a creamy, silky soap.

The cold process of soap making is a precise one. Too much of any ingredient can result in an inferior soap.

As she shows us her digital scale and hand blender, she tells us the process is not unlike baking. The soaps do look good enough to eat!

Beginning with high quality ingredients is also important to producing the best results, so Linda is very careful to source the best oils and butters for her soaps.

Linda began making soap around twenty years ago.

She found handmade soap in a Canadian store and decided she could make it too, so she ordered an instructional book and begin to make soap.

It was only after she began raising goats, that she realized the difference milk made.

Milk makes a silkier soap that is more nourishing to the skin. Goat’s milk has the advantage of having a higher butter fat content and being rich in vitamins and minerals that are good for the skin. Linda learned her craft through much trial and error. She laughingly recounts her first attempt at making goat’s milk soap.

She missed a vital step that accelerated the chemical process and left her house smelling burnt for months.

Learning about the soap process was fascinating, but getting to meet the baby goats was the highlight of our visit.

We firmly believe that your life is incomplete if you have never gotten to hang out with baby goats.

There were four kids ranging in age from three to nine weeks, and they could not have been more adorable.

They are energetic and curious. They love to play and snuggle. We could have watched them play and explore for hours.

Each of the Mini Nubian goats had long, floppy ears and very distinctive personalities. They are extremely intelligent animals. The Bliss Creek goats all know their names and are sometimes a little too clever.

We watched as Clementine opened the door to the milking room by sliding back the bolt and nudging the door open with her nose.

She can also unscrew the lid on the feed jar for an illicit treat.

We were surprised to learn that the goats love being milked.

They get to stand and munch on extra delicious food while they are milked and apparently having extra milk drained from their udders relieves uncomfortable pressure.

We found it amusing that every time someone went in the milking room the goats mobbed the door trying to get in.

We were very excited to get a milking demonstration from Linda.

The goats are thoroughly cleaned and milked. The milk is then immediately strained and chilled.

The free-range chickens wander in and out of the goat pen.

They are very friendly and will come right up to you.

We also found out that the popular conception of goats eating everything from laundry to tin cans is a myth.

They only eat specific things, usually preferring plants, and we learned that they will not touch anything another goat has licked.

Linda and George work very well as a team. She makes the soap and he takes it to the markets to sell it.

You can find Bliss Creek products, including soap, lotion, bugspray, bath salts, tea soak, aromatherapy sprays, free range eggs and goat’s milk, for sale at different markets around the area.

The products are also for sale on the Bliss Creek Farm website.

Follow Bliss Creek on Facebook to keep track of new scents and upcoming markets and keep up to date on current news in goat dairy products.

Handcrafted in Coweta - Adictos a la Salsa

March 12, 2015

Adictos a la Salsa Newnan, GA Photo © 2015 Susan Crutchfield Photography

We both have very different tastes and what we enjoy as far as different foods goes varies widely. Susan is not a huge fan of sauces and condiments, while Rebekah puts them on anything she can.

We can both agree though that we are totally addicted to the amazing Adictos a la Salsa that comes right out of Coweta County.

We had our first taste of this delicious salsa when Susan purchased a mango salsa at one of the Main Street Newnan Market Days.

As soon as we tasted it, we knew we were hooked. We are not alone in our addiction. The name of Adictos a la Salsa is no coincidence.

Kellie and Bob invited us into the immaculately clean commercial kitchen in Newnan where they prepare their salsa to hear the story of how they got started and to watch the salsa get made.

Kellie first began to experiment with salsa when she obtained an authentic recipe from her Arizona in laws who all have strong Latino roots. She always loved visiting them and enjoying the amazing variety of authentic Mexican food they served.

She was amazed at the simplicity of the basic salsa recipe and how delicious it tasted with the vegetables and herbs she pulled from her own garden.

Kellie has a very creative mind and a knack for research, so of course she had to tweak the recipe and make it her own.

She loved the taste of the old world recipe, but also wanted to infuse it with the flavors of the Southwest. After extensive research on different types of salsa, she came up with the amazing creation that she now calls Adictos a la Salsa.

At first she only made the salsa for friends and family. Increasingly, her friends would request that she bring her salsa to parties and events. Eventually, people began dropping by her house and ask for some salsa.

Even though her homemade salsa was so popular, Kellie had no thoughts of making it into a commercially available product. She was busy with her full time corporate job. Then, the recession hit and she found herself in the same jobless boat as so many other Americans.

Kellie says she may not have tried to start a business if it hadn’t been for the encouragement and enthusiasm of her husband Bob. He was confidant that the average person would love her salsa.

Most of the salsas commercially available in Georgia lack the flavor and depth of a traditional salsa. Bob knew that Kellie’s blend far surpassed the watery tomato sauce fare that most Southerners think of as salsa.

The first focus groups confirmed this. They told Kellie that once you start eating the salsa, it’s very hard to stop.

Adictos a la Salsa is very much a family affair. Kellie and Bob work very well as a team. Kellie is the creative researcher and Bob is good at the business side. Kellie’s sister, a graphic designer, helped develop the packaging and the cute blurbs on the back of every jar.

Kellie and Bob are very particular about safety and quality. Kellie went back to school to learn modern food handling and safety practices. They are certified by the Department of Agriculture and test their product three times a week to ensure quality.

The salsa is available in a jarred version or a fresh. Kellie and Bob make the fresh salsa each week. The jarred salsa is made to their specifications by a packing plant. During the summer, the fresh salsa is still made with the vegetables Kellie grows in her garden.

The fresh salsa is all natural with no preservatives. The salsa in the jars uses apple cider vinegar as a preservative and is also all natural. Kellie explained to us that the apple cider vinegar gives the jarred salsa a little extra sweetness that some people prefer. Adictos a la Salsa is available in rehab (mild), habit (medium) and dose (hot). They also have delicious seasonal salsas in mango peach, cranberry and pumpkin cashew that are available at different times of the year.

We love the thick, chunky texture of Adictos a la Salsa. The tomato flavor takes a backseat to the onion, garlic and herbs that meld together to form a spicy, yet savory treat.

Bob and Kellie sell their salsa at various markets throughout the year. You can also purchase it locally at the Corner Arts Gallery and online through their website and Etsy store.

They encourage people to not just think of salsa as a medium for chips, but to explore all the ways in which you can add it to your daily meals and snacks. It’s a tasty way to get a healthy dose of vegetables in your life. You can add it to pasta dishes, hot dogs and hamburgers, scrambled eggs, on top of a bagel or soups, stews and chili.

We love the passion and drive the pair have for their company and can’t wait to see where they take it. They have plans to introduce a tomatilla salsa in the near future. Follow them on Facebook and Instagram to get frequent updates. You can also visit their website for recipes and suggestions for creative uses for your new favorite condiment.

Handcrafted in Coweta - Paperlark Studio

January 14, 2015

Happy 2015! We hope everyone had a fantastic holiday season! Ours was a whirlwind of joyous chaos and we are happy to be back to normal life. This week, we are excited to bring you a profile of another amazing Coweta artist and a look behind the scenes of her business.

Regulars to Market Day on the square of downtown Newnan may be familiar with Paperlark Studio. Paperlark offers beautiful greeting cards, invitations, tote bags and tea towels. Miranda Winslett, the owner and designer, invited us into her home studio to get an inside look into her creative process.

We were warmly greeted at the door by Miranda and Bella, her sweet poodle mix who she introduced to us as her lazy coworker.

Miranda’s eye for mixing colors and patterns is evident as soon as you walk into her studio. The pale pink walls are decorated with prints of Miranda’s favorite quotes and swatches of brightly colored fabric displayed in embroidery hoops.

The small studio is neatly organized and brimming with Paperlark products.

We love Miranda’s aesthetic. Her products combine flowery fonts with bold graphics and charming prints.

We particularly love her South Mouth collection, which features sayings from Miranda’s southern grandmother over a silhouette of the state of Georgia.

We were surprised to learn that Miranda’s background is actually in journalism.

She put her journalism degree from Georgia State University to work at a Covington, Georgia newspaper.

Here, she learned the foundations that would later help her in starting her own business. Sales, public relations, social media, writing and marketing have all helped her make her business into a successful one.

Miranda’s love for design began at a young age. She started sewing early and she has always loved the creativity that comes with making a scrapbook.

Working with paper in all different forms has always been a passion.

Her love of working with paper products lead her to create invitations for her family and friends. Those first invitations got such positive reviews that she decided to start selling them.

She opened her Paperlark store on Etsy and found that her creative designs were popular.

In May 2014, she was able to leave her part time job to pursue her Paperlark dreams full time.

She loves the evolving nature of her business. She is constantly refining her products based on customer input and her evolving sensibilities.

She says that she learns something new with every experience that adds to her creative process. Inspiration can strike anywhere and often does.

She laughingly told us of how sometimes she is stopped short by a particular pattern or color that catches her eye and she must take a photo. She uses these photos to inspire new designs.

Her talent for combining colors and patterns with fresh, and often sassy, maxims is what makes her products unique.

The texts on her bags, cards and tea towels made us laugh. She loves to take old sayings and put a new and funny twist on them to make original quotes.

Working daily with paper has not put a damper on her love for stationery. She is still obsessed with scrap booking and loves to buy stationery from other artists.

It is very important to Miranda to invest in the future of the planet through the use of eco friendly materials for her products.

She uses post consumer recycled Kraft paper for her cards and digitally prints her totes and tea towels. This method of printing leaves no harmful byproducts and produces a higher quality print on fabric.

Her family is integrally involved in her business. Each new idea she has is workshopped through them before she makes it available in her store.

Miranda has just started doing craft shows and fairs. In addition to market day, she has also began offering her products at annual shows.

Her next project for 2015 is to expand her line into wedding invitations, programs and escort cards. You can keep up with her new products and get paper crafting advice and tutorials on her blog.

Be sure to also follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram where she does occasional giveaways.

You can look at more of her lovely products and purchase her invitations, totes and tea towels online in her Etsy store. She is always happy to work with you to make a custom product.

We can’t wait to see what designs she creates in 2015!

Handcrafted in Coweta - Ann Lynn Whiteside

November 12, 2014

Anyone who has been to Market Day in downtown Newnan knows that there are a lot of talented artists within the borders of Coweta County.

Our new “Handcrafted in Coweta” segment will feature local artists, their work and process.

We were first introduced to the weaving skills of Ann Lynn Whiteside at the Return From Ayr event when they displayed the gorgeous Georgia tartans she wove for the trip to Scotland.

She was kind enough to invite us into her studio for a closer look at her process and some of her beautiful products

We immediately fell in love with her adorable studio, which is nestled in a peaceful forest in a beautiful area of Newnan. The cute little workshop is surrounded by tall hardwood trees. Sometimes the nature comes inside for a visit. This cute little guy startled us by appearing out of nowhere on one of the looms.

Her artistic background is evident as soon as you enter her workshop.

The cabinets are painted with hand-lettered script detailing their contents, and there are several gracefully sculpted pottery pieces.

Ann Lynn Whiteside was originally a career art and Latin teacher. She also made and sold her own pottery.

The art of weaving caught her attention and held a fascination for her.

She describes it as a passion that came from her heart.

She plunged right into the learning process by ordering a book and a tabletop loom and teaching herself the basics.

We were left in no doubt of her passion for the art.

She was enthusiastic and engaging as she described to us the process of weaving fabric from start to finish.

Her teaching roots were evident in her vivid, coherent descriptions.

She described the highly technical aspects of weaving in a way that made them very easy to understand.

After her first few self taught attempts at weaving, which she describes as rough and uneven like hobbit clothes, Whiteside decided to take classes.

She honed her skills in weekly classes, enjoying the camaraderie as much as the weaving.

When the school at which she taught was forced to close due to the economic recession, her husband suggested she pursue her weaving passion as a full time job.

Today, she turns out several beautiful pieces a year that can be purchased at any one of the craft shows she attends.

She makes towels, shawls, hats, blankets, rugs, scarves and vests. We loved the all the garments she showed us.

They are vibrantly woven, textured items with an unstructured free flowing charm.

She also makes highly technical, tightly woven pieces that are deceptively simple in appearance.

In 2014, she was commissioned to weave over eighty tartans. These are intricate time consuming wearable works of art.

Most of the floor space in her workshop is taken up with looms.

We were introduced to April, a gorgeous antique loom made in Springfield, Ohio in 1920.

This loom is a wonderfully crafted work of art in itself.

Many of the looms crowding the floor are student looms.

Whiteside teaches classes three times a week to all skill levels.

She began to teach weaving to the students in her art class when her school was still open.

She described to us a curriculum she taught over the course of a semester called “From Sheep to Shawl”.

In this class, students learned to weave fabric by taking a trip to a farm where they sheared goats.

They took the wool back to class where they learned how to card, comb and spin it into yarn for weaving.

They then wove the yarn on homemade looms. We thought this sounded like an amazing class and something we would love to do!

Whiteside believes it is important to know where fabric comes from and the history of how fabric was traditionally made in the United States.

In addition to teaching classes in her studio in the woods, Ann Lynn Whiteside volunteers to teach classes to the economically disadvantaged and developmentally disabled on a weekly basis.

She also donates half the proceeds of her yearly craft show, The Artists Market at St. Phillips Cathedral to the Emmaus House and The Holy Comforter Church arts program.

Ann Lynn Whiteside can be found doing weaving demonstrations (and according to her talking in a funny voice) during the yearly renaissance festival.

She teaches classes Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday and has open spaces available for new students.

Her next show will be at The Artists Market in Atlanta beginning on November 20th. Stop by to view her beautiful work in person and purchase a unique Christmas gift. She is also at Market Day the first Saturday of every month on the square in downtown Newnan.

Contact Ann Lynn Whiteside to learn about enrolling in a class, commissioning a product or purchasing an item.

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