434 Magazines

Follow the reader

Former librarian Flannery Buchanan had always dreamed of openingher own bookstore, but financial limitations forced her to get inventive: She bought a 1966 Banner camper and turned it into Bluebird Bookstop, a bookstore on wheels. The curated collection includes a little something for everyone—by design. “Right now times are hard and stressful and I’ve found […]

Caite Hamilton | March 17, 2022

434 Magazines

Reduce, re-use…

Back in the spring of 2020, while a student at UVA, Alec Brewer noticed something outside of his apartment complex that didn’t sit quite right: mattresses stacked 20-high, ready to be sent to the landfill. Around the same time, he was learning about the concept of customer discovery in one of his classes. He put […]

Caite Hamilton | March 17, 2022

Knife & Fork Magazines

Consummate culinarian

Becky Calvert loves to cook. She’s held cooking and canning classes around town—places like the Charlottesville Cooking School, Market Central, The Happy Cook, The Spice Diva, and PVCC—for more than a decade, and always with a secret weapon: her cookbook collection. Numbering in the hundreds, it spans centuries and genres.  “Cookbooks fascinate me because they […]

Caite Hamilton | March 17, 2022

Abode Magazines

Hard (wood)work

If you’ve been following Taylor Ahn on Instagram (@new_iterations), like I have for a while, you’re at once impressed, inspired, and…a little grossed out. Her current project, an antique card catalog, started as a grimy habitat for a colony of stink bugs. She spent hours ridding the piece of its occupants and rebuilding the frame. […]

Caite Hamilton | March 17, 2022

Magazines Weddings

Pour decisions

Ever wanted to drink from a horse trailer? Now’s your chance: The Loaded Pony, a Staunton-based mobile bar, offers just that.  Combining her love of entertaining, creativity, and hospitality with a unique setting (a vintage 1960s horse trailer), owner Kimerly Crawford launched the business in 2019 after transforming the formerly pale pink structure into an […]

Caite Hamilton | December 16, 2021

Magazines Weddings

Personal tastes

As if offering guests a delicious cookie wasn’t enough, these three bakers up the ante with flawless custom designs. They make a great wedding favor, certainly, but you might also consider them for a fancy day-of treat while getting ready, an addition to welcome bags for guests, or an addition to a “Will you be […]

Caite Hamilton | December 16, 2021

Magazines Weddings

100 percent inspiration

No doubt it’s fun to flip through magazines and gather inspo for your big day (we’re banking on it!). But sometimes it feels a little like sifting for outfits at a thrift store: The best parts take a little hunting. That’s where styled shoots come in.  What’s the purpose of a styled shoot? It’s three-fold: […]

Caite Hamilton | December 16, 2021

Uncategorized

Pressed for time

The bouquet is one of the most fussed-over details of any wedding, but it’s also the thing that often gets forgotten or—worse yet!—tossed at the end of the night. Self-professed “flower fanatic” Karly Murphy of Kmpressed offers a solution: Press them!  The artist began pressing plants in 2015 after working in weddings and events with […]

Caite Hamilton | December 16, 2021

Magazines Weddings

For keeps

This one’s not for the album—it’s for the wall. In addition to her own still-life work, artist Sarah Miller accepts commissions for paintings of couples’ favorite wedding scenes, from candid engagement photos to their first look. It’s a great alternative for folks who want a more artful display of their big day. She paints each […]

Caite Hamilton | December 16, 2021

434 Magazines

What a gift!

Meal-planning, traveling, party outfits—the holidays are stressful enough before you even start thinking about making a listand checking it twice. So if you’re stumped about what to buy your doesn’t-like-golf-or-beer (#holidaycliches) father-in-law or your already-has-everything best friend, we asked some local folks to give us their tried-and-true gift ideas, from home décor to sweet treats, […]

Caite Hamilton | December 16, 2021