Each year in August, Downtown Oronoco Gold Rush Days is home to hundreds of vendors from all over the country selling their goods. Throughout the next few months, we will be interviewing some of these vendors and featuring them here on our blog. Jennika and Matt were new to Downtown Oronoco Gold Rush Days last year and come to us from Duluth, MN. We are excited to have them and their beautiful work back in August! Meet the Pink Hammer Shop.
First question I have to ask… why the name Pink Hammer?
When I was looking into starting our handmade business, I thought about a name for a long time. Nothing seemed right until I saw the pink hammer I had in my toolbox and thought, hey – that’s it!
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your art. I’m Jennika, co-owner of The Pink Hammer Shop. I’ve been making things for as long as I can remember. I always had a craft table in my bedroom with many in-progress projects while I was growing up. I have always liked to work with my hands. Art class was my favorite in high school and I continued art classes throughout college. I knew that I never wanted to stop creating. To me, it was fulfilling and so much fun. I started The Pink Hammer Shop in 2015, when I was on spring break from my elementary school job. It started out as taking a few local orders for painted signs and selling a few things on Etsy. My other half, Matt, joined me in 2016 and took over the wood-working portion of our work while I began to focus more on the painting and design work. We began adding mixed media elements into our work, such as vintage book spines and old maps. We like the thought of up-cycling and giving new life to old books and maps that have been sitting around for years!
You were a first time vendor last year at DOGR. What made you decide to try out our show?
We heard about Downtown Oronoco Gold Rush Days from antique vendor friends of ours. We thought we’d give it a try and we’re sure glad we did!
There are some great food vendors at DOGR. Did you have any favorites?
My favorite food booth at DOGR was the fish and chips one – SO GOOD! I’ll be heading back there this year, for sure. Also, don’t forget to grab a delicious homemade ice cream sandwich (or 2 or 3) while you’re at Gold Rush – I think they’re famous for them!
Did you get a chance to do any shopping last year at Gold Rush? If so, did you have a favorite purchase? Last year at Gold Rush, my favorite purchase was a vintage globe to add to my growing collection!
What advice would you give a first time vendor at DOGR?
To a vendor that is thinking about trying out Gold Rush Days, I would say – yes, absolutely do it! The shoppers are wonderful, as well as the other vendors. The show is well-organized and benefits the community of Oronoco.
We are so excited to have you back at our show this year. What will shoppers find at your booth in August? Have you been working on anything new?
This year at Gold Rush, we plan to bring loads of our book and map signs in all sizes. We love to make themed book signs such as: Adventure/Travel, Outdoors, Art/Craft, History, Gardening, Cooking, Nature, Medical/Nursing, Poetry, English, Math, Science, etc., with coordinating quotes. These make the coolest gifts! We will also have rainbow colored book signs and framed vintage maps from all over the world (some dating back to the 1800’s!). Come visit our booth at DOGR this year, we promise our work is something you’ve never seen before! In the meantime, you can follow us on Facebook or Instagram @thepinkhammershop – and shop our website www.thepinkhammershop.com.
A big thank you to Jennika for answering our questions! We look forward to seeing you and your work at Downtown Oronoco Gold Rush Days – and we agree with you – the ice cream sandwiches are a definite must have during our show!