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The Tip is 'Don't procrastinate' For years I've been buying ink jet cartridges from a big box office supply store. These cartridges were made overseas and labeled with the well-known brand of a large American printer company. One I remembered a local store that advertised quality cartridges. I had traveled by this local store hundreds of times but never stopped. This time I stopped at the local store. To my surprise I discovered that they carried the cartridge I needed and it was a Made in USA cartridge. Made in Chicago, to be precise, and it was half the price of the imported ones I had been buying for years. The quality is exceptional and they last longer too. Who knew? After that experience, I make a point to stop at every store I can. By doing so, I've been finding more and more Made in America products. Occasionally the clerks don't know the country of origin; this can be discouraging but finding the origin information yourself isn't difficult I've come to realize. Believe it not, there are actually a number of computers made in the US including laptops made in the USA. When the label is not visibly displayed I use the other Made in America buying tips to help me find Made in US. If the store doesn't carry what you are looking for, use Made in America Secrets to find it and tell the manager about your experience at their store. If enough people are asking for Made in America products stores will begin to carry them. Buying Tip Continued - Read more on Made in America Products by 50 Little Birds Geoff Davis has done woodworking projects all of his life, but it was ukulele-making that sent him down a path in 2008 to carve Indiana birds. Building a ukulele requires expensive materials, exotic woods and hard-to-get hardware, he explained. During a time when I could not afford to begin a ukulele building project, I began to carve birds from found materials and scrap. As it turns out, bird carving was deeply satisfying to him. It opened the doors to a wide variety of the research and field work that I enjoyed. The work called upon my skills as a naturalist, a painter, a designer, a scrounger and a woodworker, Geoff said The public embraced his work. He donated his first 50 birds to another of his passions, the Blue Stone Folk School in Noblesville. Blue Stone teaches and raises awareness of traditional arts. Program funding has always been difficult to come by, but he was able to invest the proceeds of those original sales to host programs and a concert at Blue Stone. Geoff is a sort of explorer in wood projects. In addition to building ukuleles and carving birds, he has built boats and carved spoons. He may seem free-spirited but says he developed rules that would define and confine my approach and execution of the vision of his work. These guidelines allow my work to evolve, but maintain the elements that are most important approach and design, material choices, painting styles, color choices and presentation. Trends in bird carving strive to develop pieces that are as realistic as possible, often impossible to discern from the real animal, he continued. My approach is to capture and stylize only the simplest defining elements of a bird. My birds are far from realistic, but readily identifiable as a particular species and gender. My carvings not only visually represent birds but they also represent my stories and experiences with these birds. Indiana born and raised, Geoff says being a Hoosier is important to his work and identity as an artist and musician. Being a part of Indiana Artisan validates my Hoosierness,' he said. Since I ve become involved with Indiana Artisan, I ve become affiliated with a handful of artists producing work that complements my own. These relationships have led to gallery representation, better art show opportunities and interesting collaborations. |
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