Category: Makers Alongside

Kris began making jewelry after taking a basic metalsmithing class four years ago.  “I had just finished a really difficult period of my life battling cancer and was looking for ways to slow down, to process a lot of what I had been through and practice a lot of what I had been convicted of. I instantly fell in love with the process of making jewelry.”  She began teaching herself and learning everything she could about the process.  “I felt a real symmetry between the craft and my struggle to heal, and just ordinaryliving, really.  I enjoyed the activity of making: the stroke of the hammer, the glide of the file, the flow of the solder. I think this really fueled my passion to learn more.”  She opened her Etsy shop not long after beginning her process, and in the spring of 2015, she launched her website.

Kris credits learning how to slow down and be present in her own life with being able to find inspiration for her craft.  “There’s a story in everything and soul everywhere but sometimes I’m too preoccupied to look or moving too quickly to notice….If I slow down, I see thatordinary things are not actually so simple or straightforward. I see that there is beauty even in the hard, dark corners. I see that contradictions can coexist. I see a lot that I did not expect to see.”  

Like we here at HDH, Kris knows the value of items made by hand.  “I find myself most inspired when I am in the act of making. There’s a presence of mind and body and a reverence for the moment there that really opens my eyes and guides my hands. I’m always pleasantly surprised by how my own ideas are altered and improved by the process of moving them from my head to metal.”  We love what Kris came up with when making something for Makers Alongside.  

Follow Kris on her website and on Instagram.  Shop the stacking ring set on our website, available today for $110.

Photographs by Colleen Eversman, 2nd Truth Photography.

We loved the result of our last Makers Alongside collaboration with Spring Finn & Co that we couldn’t resist another joint project with this small MN business. Get to know the woman behind it all, Talin Spring, a French expat, mother of two, and a wonderfully talented leather-craftswoman. 

Talin was born in Istanbul to a European family and grew up in France. Her family was skilled in various mediums such as sewing and shoe making. Surrounded by a home of hand-made creations, Talin gained an appreciation for the great value of the hand.

Following her graduate studies at Columbia University in NY, Talin returned to Paris with her husband. After a twelve-year banking career and two children, she began to play with the idea of reorienting her career toward an artistic area. In preparation for this path, she took night classes in various studio and art history courses at ´Ecole Duperré. Then in 2002 after moving to Marseille and ending her banking career, she began her craft. Before beginning her own company, she spent time freelancing for French clothing companies as a designer where she was further enthused by the artisans and design and craft process.

Finally in 2011, Talin established Spring Finn & Co. in Minneapolis where she now resides. Her leather works of bags and accessories, like HDH, are of chic, minimal yet utilitarian designs in limited edition or one-of-a-kind. Her works are of only top grade American leather and canvas and hand stitching. Additionally, the highest level of quality is applied to every phase of each piece, assuring a beautiful result that lasts a lifetime. 

To purchase the Spring Finn & Co. x HDH Belt, visit our website. You can also purchase our Spring Finn & Co. x HDH Tote Bag in the sale section of our website! For more on Talin and her company, visit her website and follow her on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and Facebook.

Photos by Paul Vincent.

Annika Kaplan, the maker behind today’s beautiful brass hairpin, studied jewelry design and fabrication at the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Minneapolis Community and Technical College.  She specializes in highly wearable and unique jewelry made by hand in her south Minneapolis studio.

Her interest in jewelry was sparked at the age of 5 when she pierced her own ears!  “I spoke to my Mom about this recently.  I think it was a little traumatic for her, but she realized how bad I wanted to wear earrings and she helped me put some hoops in and taught me how to keep them clean etc. I just had such an interest in ornamentation from a young age.”  Her desire to continue to learn about and make jewelry lasted throughout her high school and college years.  “Jewelry was really the only thing I wanted to do, the only thing I could imagine being happy doing.”

Annika has been making and selling jewelry for close to 10 years now.  She is inspired by the tradition of adornment and is currently in love with Southwestern Native American silver jewelry and traditional goldsmith’s techniques from West Africa.  “I’m obsessed with the idea of wearing jewelry for protection, luck, or some other spiritual intention.”  

For a peek into Annika’s life with her little dog Una and her creative process, follow her on Instagram @annikashipandshape. Her work can be found online at www.shipandshape.com, and at various stores in Minneapolis and elsewhere, (see my website for a complete list of shops). 

Locals, if you’d like to see her work in person, she will be showing a wide variety of jewelry, including one-of-a-kind gemstone rings, at the Walker Art Center Jewelry Mart on May 2nd.