Growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia fostered within me a spirit of exploration and creation. As a child you could find me either outdoors building forts or inside constructing out of legos/k’nex/lincoln logs. Making has always been a passion and my parents often thought I would become an engineer.

This desire to create has never left me and although I didn’t turn out to be an engineer, I create every day as a full-time graphic designer. Now when I am not focused on work or my store I enjoy reading all genres of physical books (I haven’t been able to make the eBook switch), drinking copious amounts of coffee and am a fanatic about Instagram (http://www.instagram.com/mesmithdesign).

While I love graphic design and the people I work with there are ideas floating around in my head that I am passionate about and want to make for me. These personal projects sometimes are never seen by anyone but me, however every so often I want to share what I have made with the world.

No matter how many ideas I have had there always seemed to be an element that involved using wood. Sometimes I feel like using wood is cheating since it has such natural beauty on its own but that feature is what makes it so special. My store, the workshop, now serves as an outlet to create and sell products that emphasize the natural beauty of wood, a material that I have fallen in love with.

My journey with Storenvy started a few years ago while looking for a place to sell landscape photographs from my travels. I immediately knew that this would be an amazing place to sell these photos but as a designer I obsessed over all the details. I didn't want buyers to have to spend additional time and money on framing and I wanted to make sure that there was value beyond a random photograph taken by some guy on the internet. I searched for a solution that arrived ready to hang and found a company that mounted photos on bamboo with keyhole slots on the back for hanging. This propelled me forward because it matched my love for wood and solved my framing problem; that day I listed several photographs for sale on Storenvy.

Since then my store has expanded to include photos mounted on plywood, a t-shirt dedicated to wood and music lovers and my most recent obsession, hand carved spoons. Spending time on my back porch with my knives and sandpaper has become such a peaceful and relaxing way to spend an evening or Saturday. I find it extremely inspiring to carve each unique piece of wood into a usable kitchen utensil. Each species of wood poses new challenges but I am always astounded by the variety of spectacular results. My favorite species has become black walnut for both its carvability and beautiful grain.

Although hand carved spoons are more expensive you receive a quality piece that will last far longer than a $3 wood spoon you can buy at any big box store. And since I am OCD about the details, all of mine are finished with a natural wood butter made of beeswax & mineral oil and come in a custom linen pouch made just for your spoon.

The workshop has evolved over time but will always be centered around attention to detail and a heaping portion of sawdust. For me, making is not a hobby or passion, it is an extension of who I am and is deeply embedded in my being.