News / marion and rose's workshop

Kiva Loan update


Kiva loan is 43% funded help us reach our goal..

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Help Marion & Rose's Workshop Grow


Help Marion & Rose's Workshop Grow. Support our Kiva Loan...

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This is Oakland Book- Neighborhood Launch Party


Old Oakland hosts launch party:
This is Oakland book                                                                                                                                                      

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Outlaw Soaps: all American Makers


A big ol' exciting display for Outlaw Soaps in the shop....
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Shop Hop Holiday Party- December 21st 6-8pm

Shop in style and relax with some bubbly and nibbles while you Hop from shop to shop. 
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In the Studio: Q & A with Michael McConnell


In the Studio: Q & A with Bay Area artist Michael McConnell
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Outlaw Soaps... A Q&A with Danielle Vincent


Outlaw Soaps... A Q&A with Danielle Vincent
Nicole Grant Kriege
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American Made

We are excited that some of our vendors are nominees for the Martha Stewart American Made award!

As you know, Marion and Rose's Workshop is committed to the American Made movement and shares in the thought that change happens on the street level with small businesses supporting one other and sharing their message to customers.  We feel that planting the seed and helping it grow is our job and it is our commitment.  

As proponents of the movement it makes us happy to see a large company embracing these small makers. It's these steps that will help rebuild the Main Streets of small towns and Cities, restoring pride in these communities.  When you can say "I helped make that" or "this is my neighbors company", it gives you a renewed desire to support your neighbor and your community. Quality, craftsmanship and knowing the maker are all important aspects of how we curate the shop, and we are so happy to be able to relay their stories to our customers. 

 

Our friends at Modestics put together a great reference list to make it super easy to vote. Included on the list are a few of our vendors Blue Chair Fruit, CuppowNative StatePeg and Awl. and Peterboro Baskets (these guys have been around since the 1800's!) We've also added a few links below to more of our friends and neighbors.

Outlaw Soaps (soon to be a vendor at the shop!)

Poppy Von Frohlich - amazing jackets made in SF. Want them all.

Kate Ellen Metals- our awesome neighbor and amazing jewelry designer

 

Please vote for your favorites, you can vote up to 6 times within a 24 hours period.  

 

Thank you for your support of the American Made movement and of our little shop!! We are cannot express how happy we are to be here.

 

Remember "We are all in this together".

-M & R

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DIY Project: How to make a chalkboard sign

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DIY Project: How to make a chalkboard sign
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Our New Guest Curator... Nicole Grant Kriege!

 

We're excited to have a new guest curator in the shop… Nicole Grant Kriege! Some of you might remember we hosted The Bold Italic's pop-up shop inside our walls over the holidays, and Nicole was the visionary behind that endeavor. She's since left The Bold, moved over to the East Bay, done some marketing and PR consulting for small businesses, and joined up as a guest curator at our shop. Here's a little Q&A with Nicole so you can get to know her better.

What inspired you to join up with Marion & Rose?

I loved hosting The Bold Italic's pop-up shop at Marion and Rose, and Kerri (the store owner) and I hit it off. I was really inspired by her excitement around revitalizing downtown Oakland through commerce that supports small batch artisans. There's a magic surrounding certain retail shops, and Marion and Rose has it. I like meeting all of the neighbors, vendors, and local characters who come to interact with the store – it's definitely a community hub.

What are you bringing to the shop?

A little of this, and a little of that. There are so many designers that inspire me aesthetically, it's a constant challenge to stick to my buying budget. Kerri and I have committed ourselves to only carrying USA-made product, and often times the items we find are made right here in Oakland. The shop has an awesome ethos of spotlighting American craft traditions, and supporting independent artists and local economies in the process. Designers I've brought into the shop include:


W+P Design - Inventors of The Mason Shaker! A cocktail shaker fashioned from a mason jar.
Rifle Paper Co. - A husband and wife company selling adorable cards and notebooks.
Little Otsu - A Portland outfit and inventor of the Film Diary.

What else are you up to these days?
I'm firing up my consulting business. There's so much change going on in Oakland right now, and I'm excited to be a part of it. I've been helping out both Marion and Rose and Popuphood (the small business incubator with the vacant storefronts initiative in downtown Oakland), and I'm looking forward to working with other small businesses who want to expand their marketing and PR efforts. I'm also making our new home in Berkeley purty, and spending some time in my garden.

Nicole's in the shop on Thursday afternoons – come on by and say hello!

 

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The Oakland Indie Awards... And A New Shop Video!



You might have heard right here on this blog that Kerri Johnson, owner of Marion & Rose, was nominated for an Oakland Indie Award in the "Soul of Oakland" category! Here at the shop, we try to embody the entrepreneurial, do-it-yourself, creative, and community-oriented vibe that Oakland's known for, so we were really excited for Kerri to be nominated, especially since the other nominees are doing such inspiring work. 

While we didn't take home the main award, one of our vendors, Juniper Ridge, won the Green Award, and Tina Tamale, our fabulous neighbor in Old Oakland, won the Oakland Pillar Award. And we do have something to share from the festivities – a fun little video about the shop. (Thanks to the ever-so-talented Joshua Farr "Fish" of The Volcano Club for lending us his videography skills.)


Oakland Soul - Kerri Johnson from The Volcano Club on Vimeo.



And boy, did we have fun at the awards! The Kaiser Rooftop Garden is such a beautiful green venue. Here are some of the things we saw:

Lots of vendors! We did a little shopping ourselves at the Indie Marketplace. The free food by Souley Vegan was a hit!

Lively performances.

Beautiful artists.

And just tons and tons of people!

You can bet we'll be saving the date for next year's event – we had a blast. 

Photos by: JZ Lim, Bonnie Chan of Oakland Local, and Nicole Grant Kriege

 

 





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Put an Anchor on It!

Forget the expression, "put a bird on it." We prefer anchors! And aren't these new items from Hartstone Pottery darling? We love how they've taken the utilitarian mug, fashioned it out of the finest stoneware, and gussied it up with a sailing theme.

Hartstone has a pretty interesting backstory. They're located in Zaneville, Ohio, a river town founded in 1797 by pioneer farmers who saw an opportunity to make pottery because of the rich clay on the banks. For over 40 years, Hartstone has been continuing the pottery heritage of the region, and some of their employees come from a line of several generations of potters.

They're known for making beautiful, hand crafted ceramics that stand the test of time, and some of their designs from over the years are now collectible. Using the quality materials they find in their own backyard, their products are handmade out of vitrified stoneware clay, high-fired and hand painted. (And lucky for us, they are microwave and dishwasher safe.) We love supporting this time-honored craft by carrying this heirloom quality line in our shop!  Shop for these beauty's online here.

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