Online shopping experience features deals, new products, & artisan videos

If you’re looking for locally sourced gifts this holiday, be sure to tune into PA Wilds Makers Market on November 4. This online shopping experience is designed to help you “find your next WILD thing,” specifically handcrafted products in the Pennsylvania Wilds. It will be a great opportunity to find the perfect holiday gift ahead of the last-minute rush!

Simply tune into the event landing page at ShopThePAWilds.com/makers-market on November 4 to take advantage of the special deals and promotions.

Businesses and organizations in the Wilds Cooperative of PA (WCO) — a network of rural entrepreneurs from across the Pennsylvania Wilds — will be participating in the online showcase on Saturday, November 4. On that day, shoppers can learn about the artisans and entrepreneurs they are purchasing from by viewing interviews, demonstrations and studio tours showcasing their businesses and products.

“Our sellers on ShopThePAWilds.com have done a lot of work to get themselves ready for the 2023 holiday season. On November 4th, we are excited to showcase their new products, special deals, and profiles, not only to give customers a chance to shop for the holidays but also to learn about the small businesses and artisans they are supporting in the process,” said Megan Steele, Marketplace Manager at the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., the nonprofit that manages the WCO and related programs for the PA Wilds region. “This has been a successful online event for us in past years, and we are excited to continue it.”

MEET THE PARTICIPATING BUSINESSES

• Allegheny Nesting: Jill Forquer is a homesteader and entrepreneur who creates seasonal home decor, handmade goat milk soap, engraved charcuterie boards , dough bowl candles and wooden jewelry.
• Artwork by Julie Mader: These hand-painted silk scarves directly transcribe Julie’s time spent exploring the Pennsylvania Wilds, making each and every piece a unique one-of-a-kind just like the person who wears it. 
• Blackberry & Sage Market: All products are not only a form of art, but also serve a purpose for a sustainable lifestyle. Tara’s focus is on reusable, compostable, organic, and eco-friendly products for one’s self as well as for the home.
• Conklin Studio Pottery: Hand-sculpted items for garden and home are hand built from mid-high fire stoneware and porcelain clays and range from garden items such as toadstools and astrological symbols to magnets and figurines!
• Ellen Paquette Art: Ellen is a fine art painter specializing in animal portraits, primarily endangered species, and creating whimsical soft sculpture creatures inspired by the natural world, mythology and folklore.
• Goot Essa: Amish-Made, handcrafted, artisanal cheese fresh from the farm in Howard, PA. Goot Essa, meaning “good food” or “good eating,” creates small-batch cheeses, fudge, jams, and honey for you to share with friends and family.
• Horner’s Pens: Handcrafted Pens make the perfect gift for that hard to buy for person on your shopping list. All pens come with a special gift box and an extra refill ink cartridge.
• Jillia Ceramics: Ceramic pieces that reflect nature and life around us. Each piece is handmade and hand glazed. No molds, slip casting, extruders, or slab rollers are used in production, only a pottery wheel and two hands. 
• Kevin Coolidge: Author of The Totally Ninja Racoons, Kevin created a series of PA Wilds based early chapter books, target audience first through fourth grade. Short chapters, humor, adventure, and one picture per chapter keep kids feeling a sense of engagement and accomplishment as they plow through these stories and ask for more!
• PA Wilds Murder & Mystery Books: Bestselling author James Baumgratz explores the cases of murdered and missing men, women, and children throughout the PA Wilds.
• Patterson Farms: This fourth-generation maple farm in Tioga County offers syrup, snacks, dressings, gift baskets, and more. Their variety of products provide something for everyone this holiday season.
• Stephanie Distler Studios: A self-taught jewelry artist, Stephanie uses nature for inspiration. She designs and creates artisan jewelry with hand tools using silver, copper and brass in wire or sheet form.
• Sue’s Salves: A modern day alchemist, Sue creates plant-based skin care products with medicinal herbs grown organically in her medicine garden, paying special attention to the celestial influences at both planting and harvesting time.
• The Wild Botanica: A nature-lover, soapmaker, and an entrepreneur, Rebecca offers safe and natural bath products to the wild folks of the PA Wilds with the goal to give back to local and global communities and to impact conservation awareness one day.
• Village Eatinghouse: Village Eatinghouse creates dressings and marinades to equip and inspire customers to simply create delicious food. Creators Clay and Melanie want to take the uncertainty out of food preparation and inspire creativity in the kitchen!

To learn more, browse participating vendors and sales the day of Makers Market, and sign up for reminders about the event, visit: shopthepawilds.com/makers-market. 

ABOUT THE PA WILDS MARKETPLACE

The PA Wilds Marketplace features products that have been handcrafted by artisans and craftspeople living and working in the Pennsylvania Wilds, a 13-county region known for its vast public lands, outdoor experiences, maker culture, and stewardship ethic.  These quality products celebrate the beauty, bounty and rural traditions of the PA Wilds, and you can too! Through this Marketplace, shoppers help sustain the region’s small businesses and rural communities.

ABOUT THE PA WILDS

The Pennsylvania Wilds is a 13-county region that includes the counties of Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Warren, and northern Centre. The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to integrate conservation and economic development in a way that inspires the communities of the Pennsylvania Wilds. The PA Wilds Center promotes the region and its 2+ million acres of public lands as a premier outdoor recreation destination as a way to diversify local economies, inspire stewardship, attract investment, retain population and improve quality of life. The PA Wilds Center’s core programs seek to help businesses leverage the PA Wilds brand and connect with new market opportunities, including: the Wilds Cooperative of PA, a network of more than 575 place-based businesses and organizations, and the PA Wilds Conservation Shop, a retail outlet primarily featuring products sourced from the WCO. For more information on the PA Wilds Center, visit www.PAWildsCenter.org. To learn more about the WCO, visit www.WildsCoPA.org. Explore the PA Wilds at www.PAWilds.com. Find regionally made products at www.ShopThePAWilds.com.