Guided To Leather Craft Shop
Tourists Discover Leather Craft Shop
Margaret MacKenzie, a tourist from Glasgow, Scotland, arrived at our leather craft shop near the beginning of her trip to order a custom guitar strap. When she returned to Halifax a week later, she picked it up. She has been enjoying spending her vacation in many of the quaint towns throughout Nova Scotia, Canada.
She said she wanted a personalized hand made craft from Nova Scotia to give as a gift to a musician in her family living in Europe. She arrived at our studio with "The Guide To Craft & Art In Nova Scotia" in her hand which enabled her to find our custom leather craft shop. The free Guide to Craft & Art made her aware of the many talented craftspeople throughout the province. I agreed that the "The Guide" is a great resource for finding unique shops and gifts from the area as well as for meeting the craftspeople that create these original products.
When I asked what were the highlights of her stay in Nova Scotia, she responded "My, there are too many highlights to narrow it down to just a few". However she did mention enjoying visiting the following communities such as Lunenburg, Mahone Bay, Pictou and Truro. She said the people were very friendly and would go out of their way to be helpful. Aboriginal Day events were most interesting. Jazz music was enjoyed at the Public Gardens in Halifax as well as visits and participation in many of the churches. Most of her touring was done on the public transportation system.
After she made her purchase, my family had to go to Halifax. We offered her a drive as opposed to waiting for the bus. Ms. MacKenzie graciously accepted. While on the way, we pointed out the sights before letting her off on Spring Garden Road to continue her touring. I mentioned the ferry, Citadel Hill and the MacDonald Bridge make great spots for taking photos of the city and Halifax Harbour. It is enjoyable meeting tourists at our leather craft shop. Over the years we have met some very interesting people from various parts of the world.
Margaret MacKenzie enjoyed her vacation touring Nova Scotia. We were pleased she discovered our leather craft shop through "The Guide To Craft & Art" when she visited Halifax. In the other hand she is holding a custom guitar strap we made for her.
Meet Talented Crafts People Throughout Nova Scotia
You don't have to be a tourist to check out the quaint studios tucked away in interesting communities throughout Nova Scotia. Let the beautiful full coloured free booklet called "The Guide To Craft & Art In Nova Scotia" guide you to the many interesting studios run by individual crafts people and artisans. See where the pottery, jewellery, paintings, glass work, woodwork, weaving, blacksmithing, folk art, leather crafts, stone work, textile creations, basketry, photography and other fine artwork are created and designed. It is available at most tourist outlets and other tourist destinations throughout Nova Scotia.
What is great about the "The Guide To Craft & Art In Nova Scotia" are the several versions that are available. The printed version is an easy carry size and very interesting with all the full colour images throughout the booklet. The web version is great to do some research in advance on your computer or laptop. For convenience when travelling, all the same info is also available in a mobile version as well for viewing on your iPhone etc. Google maps shows the location for each studio beside each artisan listing. You can easily search by region, type of craft, business name or for demonstrations.
Web version of "The Guide To Craft & Art". It is also viewable in a mobile version.
Great Info In "The Guide To Craft & Art"
What makes The Guide so useful is it's geographical divisions of Nova Scotia for easy travel. Each geographic section has short descriptions about the studios and artisans so you can do some checking to see which interests you the most.
As many shops are small family businesses, I would advise checking to confirm business hours in case they are closed due to participation in craft shows or away for some personal reason. Contact info is provided with each listing along with the normal business hours or a recommendation to call first before visiting. Although our leather craft shop has normal business hours, we still advise a call first in case we have to step out of the shop for a business errand.
The Craft Guide has tons of useful information. The artisan's social media links are provided with their listings. Many studios are designated in "The Guide" that do demonstrations. Tour the workshops to see the crafts being created. At our leather craft shop, we will walk you through, explaining the equipment and tools used in our trade. In addition to the craft studio listings, other useful info included are listings of the craft shows, craft organizations, art shows, shops and galleries throughout Nova Scotia.
With so much repetitive mass produced products in malls, it is a breath of fresh air to be able to be guided to crafts people throughout Nova Scotia making quality original unique products and gifts. How many places can you actually claim that you met the makers and designers of the products and gifts you just purchased? We hope you can visit our leather craft shop in Dartmouth as well as the many other interesting artisan studios throughout the province.
"The Guide To Craft & Art" booklet is a great resource for discovering the unique artisan studios throughout the province of N.S., Canada.
Other Craft Guides for Nova Scotia Artisans
Unfortunately, since this article was published, the "The Guide To Craft & Art in Nova Scotia" booklet and online version have been discontinued. However, there are other sources available to find crafts people in Nova Scotia. For the Halifax Dartmouth area, you can pick up the Halifax Art Map at the Nova Scotia Tourist bureau or view the online. Craft studios are also listed on the Nova Scotia Tourism site or you can pick up or request a free printed copy of the Nova Scotia Doers & Dreamers Travel Guide from them. You can also find Nova Scotia craft artisans as well as others across Canada listed on Citizens Of Craft.
