What started as a small effort using a MN Cottage Food license and ingredients from our own garden—like fresh pumpkin—has grown into a passion for providing nutritious, homemade snacks for pets.

Following positive feedback from owners, we expanded beyond our boarding facility to local craft shows. Over the last year and a half, we have refined our process and now offer more than 20 flavors of dehydrated treats made without preservatives for a longer shelf life.

We have also expanded our handmade collection to include:

- For Dogs: Recycled material toys, tie blankets, snuffle mats, dog booties, and bowties.
- For Cats: Kitty kickers, play mats, pillows, toys, and bowties.
- For Owners: Crocheted towels with pet-themed sayings and paw print scrubbies.

Additionally, we are introducing new items this summer, including dog scratch boards for nail maintenance and pet-themed aprons for owners.

This cultural shift from urban to rural life deeply informs her mixed-media and laser work. A former writer, editor and graphic designer, Betsy’s art represents her role as “teller of stories”. The stories she tells often focus on diversity, resilience, inclusion and Minnesota’s woods, prairies and lakes.

Working in greater Minnesota has strengthened her connection to place and to the materials she uses. Her work often incorporates birch plywood, reclaimed wood, eco-wood, driftwood, lake glass, birch bark, collage papers collected over many years, hand-crafted prints, translucent acrylic and found objects gathered from both urban and rural locations. She combines these with paints, substrates, adhesives and eco-friendly stains to create layered mixed-media compositions.

Betsy’s techniques vary widely from project to project, and she uses an equally varied set of tools including sandpaper, saws, paintbrushes, gel plates and a laser cutter.

Candles are crafted at Kim’s M & K Farm in Park Rapids, MN in small batches using a paraffin-free, soy wax - beeswax blend, 100% natural fiber wicks and high-quality, phthalate-free fragrances with essential oils.

Choose from a variety of room-filling scents, ranging from clean and fresh, to sweet and floral, to warm and cozy. All candles are hand-poured into an assortment of beautiful, elegant glass jars complete with natural cork or pine lids. Come and visit Kim’s booth in Pine River and smell some candles!

Because one medium would be far too constricting to Jessica, she works with many including wood, metal, beads and fabric. She’s not afraid to try new things and has recently taken a welding class through her local community ed. “I didn’t want to have to rely on my husband being available to weld my metal creations for me so I learned how to do it myself.”

When Jessica first started Created By JT she was a stay at home mother to her 3 children. “I wanted an outlet where I could create and also make a little side money.” Her kids have since grown and she has more time to evolve her ever growing business. “I couldn’t do this without the wonderful support I get from my family. My husband, Todd, spends most of his weekends driving me to my art fairs and does all the heavy lifting for me.”

You can find Created By JT at art fairs in the Minnesota tri-state area, throughout the US in boutiques, and online at CreatedbyJT.com.

Collecting treasures from this area became natural to Bev, be it the lakes that give gnarled pieces of driftwood or curled up pieces of bark. The forest gives up many sizes of pine cones, woods, mosses, pods, antlers, feather and more. In the fields are bittersweet, grains and grasses.

Living in such beauty and bounty made Bev’s creative juices flow. Arranging nature’s gifts into arrangements make unique one-of-a-kind creations. Custom crafting is in her blood and using nature is her “gimmick”.

Word spread of their canoes and Mike’s willingness to help anyone interested in building one.

Being the youngest of seven, Steve's first job was to get in the way, but in doing so he got the benefit from learning from all the canoes that came before his in the summer of 1976. Their family had recently joined the MN Canoe Association (MCA) and entered his canoe in the annual Builder's Contest (for adults), it placed second. For the next couple years their family would build a canoe and enter it in the contest.

In the summer of 1982 Steve met his future wife Amy. She was attending the College of St. Benedicts for interior design. The next summer they built their first canoe together, it took first place in the MCA's contest that winter. Amy has worked in her field ever since graduating with over 30 years alone in the furniture business. Her skills in design and color are invaluable in their canoes' look.

Their canoes have changed throughout the years as they mastered new skills. In the mid 90's, Steve put in his first design in the bottom of a canoe. All wood material used in their side and bottom designs are made from scratch using simple woodworking tools.

Around 2011 Amy and Steve started getting requests for canoes to be hung up as art in someone's house. Different sizes have been built of 16, 12, 10, 8, and 6 feet in length.    In the spring of 2013 Steve was awarded an Emerging Artist Award from the Central MN Arts Board and McKnight Foundation. In the fall of 2013 their booth at the Millstream Arts Festival took third place with only a couple art festivals under their belt. In 2019 they placed first at this festival. The canoes they create make a statement in any space of beauty and grace using wood and the passion that was passed on to them from Mike.

In 2014, Steve took notice of the standup paddle board (SUP) craze and a possible way he could use a SUP as a new canvas. After 3 years of research and developing his own plans he created his first SUP based on techniques he knew. Amy also did her own research and found another method used by builders. They used this new method to create 2 more SUPs after receiving a grant from the CMAB and McKnight Foundation to acquire new equipment and supplies.

Through the years Steve has instructed many people on how to create their own canoes. He enjoys passing on the satisfaction that creating a canoe brings. Every canoe and SUP offers new challenges and he looks forward to helping others with theirs.