Hadley – The Goods

Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Rich McCor

July 12, 2017

Londoner Rich McCor has quite a few followers—an impressive 301k at the time of this writing, in fact. Known to many as @paperboyo, Rich first began to rise in the Instagram ranks in the fall of 2015, when the online arm of UK paper the Daily Mail ran an article highlighting some of his most remarkable snapshots. The angle? Armed only with craft knives and his imagination, Rich turns sheets of paper into intricate cut-outs that he then holds before time-honored landmarks, putting a new, improved, and fleeting twist on otherwise familiar scenes.

Somewhat surprisingly, Rich started out as a tourist in his own home, trolling the streets of London with a camera and snapping photos that looked like many others in the Instagram travel community. Soon, however, Rich realized that he wanted to do something different. He began by taking a knife to some thick black paper and creating a cut-out in the shape of a wristwatch, which he then held strategically in front of Big Ben. The rest, as they say, was history.

It’s been nearly two years since Rich began his creative journey, and now five of his best-known photographs are available as prints exclusively at UncommonGoods. Always eager to give new artists a proper welcome to our family, we took the opportunity to speak with Rich about his craft. Read on for a deeper dive into his process, plus thoughts on his studio (read: his bedroom) and an inside look at which cut-out was hardest to capture.

Gift Guides

Our Guide to Second Anniversary Gifts: Cozy Up to Cotton

July 7, 2017

Congratulations—you’ve nearly ticked two years off since your wedding! Here you stand on the threshold of your second anniversary. What do you get your sweetheart? Well, tradition says year two’s the time to give cotton, which means that the obvious choices include bathrobes, nice sheets, and novelty T-shirts, if you’re feeling a little bit funny. But… what’s that? You’re looking for something a hint more… uncommon? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered with second anniversary-friendly gifts that range from do-it-yourself painting kits to customizable wall art and comfy throws. Read on for ten of our best traditional recommendations, plus a little something for the modern among us.

Gift Guides

Our Guide to First Anniversary Gifts: Looking Good on Paper

July 5, 2017

Although it may seem like a modern invention—much as Valentine’s Day is allegedly a racket concocted by greeting card companies to, well, sell more greeting cards—the custom of giving special gifts to commemorate one’s wedding anniversary has, in fact, been traced to years gone by. We’re talking long, long ago, way back to the era of the Holy Roman Empire, when husbands first began to bestow silver wreaths upon their wives in honor of their 25th year together, with golden wreaths reserved for their 50th.

So where’d we get the “traditional” year-by-year list of anniversary gifts? It’s a bit of a mystery. (And if you’d rather get a head start on your shopping than read about any more gift-giving history, click here.) Although the Victorians likely expanded a bit upon the practice, by 1937, only eight anniversaries were considered indispensable gift-giving occasions: the 1st, 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 50th, and 75th. We do know that that year, the American National Retail Jewelers’ Association released a new, more comprehensive list of anniversary gifts by year, now known as the “modern” list, identifying a unique material to confer upon your sweetheart for each year through the first 25 and for every fifth year after that, extending all the way through to the lofty milestone of the 90th anniversary.

While we’re hardly slaves to tradition—heck, “uncommon” is half of our brand name—we here at UncommonGoods thought it a worthy challenge to make our way through the traditional list of anniversary gifts by year and select some of our most uncommon offerings for each, all the way up to the big 5-0. First up: the first anniversary, customarily marked by the giving of gifts made of paper.

Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Kristen and Ross Hunter

July 3, 2017

Photo by Neil Hanna

The death of a pet can be a source of sadness for many, but for Scottish husband and wife duo Ross and Kristen Hunter, it was also a source of inspiration. When their beloved lab Tess passed away, Kristen struggled to find a frame she liked in which to mount a photo of her as a gift to Ross. After much searching, Kristen purchased a low-quality beech wood frame, and the couple began to wonder: How could we make something better ourselves? One visit to a local salvage yard later and they had an idea in place. The pair began to experiment with a disused whisky barrel they purchased at the yard, eventually settling on a distinctly Scottish design for a frame—and so their business was born.

Kristen and Ross’s handcrafted frames, created in their workshop in the outskirts of Edinburgh, Scotland, are now for sale at UncommonGoods, where we treasure such ingenuity as theirs. Read on for word from Ross and Kristen on the importance of family, what a day looks like in their workshop, and more, including a Finding Nemo quote.

Design

Designing a Force for Good: Behind the Scenes of Our Hope Shines Necklace

June 30, 2017

For 16 years, we here at UncommonGoods have demonstrated a commitment to supporting causes we care about through our Better to Give Program, an initiative that allows us to donate $1 from each purchase to a non-profit partner of your choice (and at no additional cost to you). Earlier this year, our Product Development team joined forces with one of our longest-standing Better to Give partners, RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, to craft a unique item of jewelry to benefit their organization. The result—our Hope Shines Necklace—is an elegant emblem of what RAINN stands for, symbolizing hope, reflection, and triumph over darkness. But how did we arrive at this design?

The process was a long one—about four months—but our team began with a few ideas in mind. At first, they used text as a springboard, attempting to translate everything from statistics—like RAINN’s assertion that every 98 seconds, another American is sexually assaulted—to the number for the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline into wearable pieces of jewelry. Soon, however, they broadened their approach, exploring ways to highlight some of the more general themes associated with RAINN’s mission, like hope, forward motion, and the ongoing nature of one’s story.

Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet
Mariana Folberg

June 27, 2017

Technology and the natural world don’t usually tend to go happily hand-in-hand, though you wouldn’t know it from looking at the work of San Francisco-based artist and industrial designer Mariana Folberg. Folberg’s Let it Glow Lamp—a new addition to our assortment—melds meticulous, handcrafted design inspired by the magic of plants with electric light, creating an exciting, inventive tribute to the outdoors that keeps away things that go bump in the night.

Here at UncommonGoods, we’re always excited to welcome new makers into the fold, and Mariana is no exception. Read on for tales of traveling X-Acto knives, her young son (otherwise known as her greatest critic), and more.

Maker Stories

This Just In-spiration: Meet Alex Ahrens

June 12, 2017

The work of self-described designer and craftsman Alex Ahrens is anything but typical. Armed with a degree in engineering and a background in packaging design, the Austin-based maker turned a budding interest in woodworking into a business handcrafting fun, yet functional wooden objects in the shapes of various animals. His sleek, inventive Elephant Wall Hook, Bear Keys & Glasses Holder, and Shark Business Card Holder are all newcomers to our assortment.

As always, we’re excited to welcome such dedicated, thoughtful makers as Alex to the UncommonGoods family, where the creativity exhibited in his clever goods is so often celebrated. Read on for Alex’s insights on the power of organization and what being an artist really means—as well as how he turned his side hustle into a full-time gig.

Maker Stories

Uncommon Impact: Changing Lives and Cooking Dinner with the Non-Electric Slow Cooker

June 8, 2017

Sarah Collins, inventor of the Non-Electric Slow Cooker

Picture this: You want to cook a meal. In the US, this is an easy enough proposition, if occasionally tiring. You take a trip to the grocery store, prep your ingredients, and leave them to cook, whether in an oven, on a stovetop, or in a slow cooker. Before too long, you sit down and eat. Simple, right?

In rural Africa, no such luck. For many women, making a meal is a long, costly process fraught with danger. Every day, women across the continent spend up to seven hours collecting firewood to use for cooking, walking between 3 and 6 miles, taking away time that could be spent working or bonding with family members, and risking sexual assault and attacks by animals along the way. Those who don’t collect firewood often cook with charcoal, a fuel that eats up a sizable chunk of a rural family’s income—think along the lines of one third. The actual cooking takes hours, and the use woodfuels combined with that of an open flame contributes to potentially deadly levels of indoor air pollution. In providing for their families, these women make sacrifices that are unimaginable to many, risking their health and livelihood for the sake of a single meal. A trip to a packed Trader Joe’s at 6 o’clock on a Tuesday pales in comparison.

For South African entrepreneur Sarah Collins, this was a key problem. Her lifelong mission to empower rural Africans has manifested in many types of work, from conservation to political action, but perhaps her most meaningful contribution has been the invention of the Non-Electric Slow Cooker, also known as the Wonderbag. Now available for purchase from UncommonGoods, Sarah’s slow cooker—made from patterned cotton fabric stuffed with repurposed foam—keeps food brought to a boil cooking for up to 12 hours simply by trapping heat. For every Non-Electric Slow Cooker purchased in the developed world, another is donated to the Wonderbag Foundation, an organization that distributes Sarah’s invention to communities in need throughout Africa. Because the Non-Electric Slow Cooker doesn’t require an open flame to keep food cooking, it reduces pollution and deforestation throughout Africa and keeps rural women and families safer and healthier, freeing up their time and money for work, play, and family bonding.

As a certified B Corp, UncommonGoods is committed to offering sustainable, socially responsible products. When we first heard about the Non-Electric Slow Cooker, we were intrigued—we’d never heard of a slow cooker made out of foam! Once we learned of its impressive effect in Africa, though, we knew we needed to hear more from its inventor. Read on for more of Sarah’s story—including advice on how to contribute to her mission, even from afar.

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