make good

Just for Valentines, Open Today until 7pm, and a Special Offer!

2012-02-13T14:06:00.000-08:00

Okay last-minute shoppers... if you've waited until the last day to buy your honey something locally handmade and completely unique for Valentines Day, we've got you covered. Normally closed on Mondays, we're open today until 7:00pm. We've got some amazing and totally unique Valentines Day gifts, jewelry and goodness you won't find anywhere else, all made by artists that live locally.

And check this... today only, spend $100 and receive a $20 gift certificate toward a future purchase. How cool is that?

SD Cash Mob ... Yep, that really happened!

2012-01-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 the amazing San Diego Cash Mob descended upon my little 600 square foot shop in the South Park neighborhood of San Diego, and showed me and our roster of 100+ local artists exactly what a huge positive impact a committed community of conscientious shoppers can have on our local economy.

As most shop keepers will confirm, the month before Christmas is pretty slow and January is even slower. So heading into the holiday season I was getting a little concerned that our December sales might not pull us through the slow times. When Lauren Way called me just a week earlier to ask me what I would think about her putting a few people together using social media to spend their shopping dollars here I of course said yes. Lauren made no promises, since this would only be the second cash mob in the nation, a movement started the previous month by her friend Andrew Samtoy, an attorney in Cleveland, OH, she said she couldn’t really predict how many supporters would show up, but her enthusiasm was contagious and I really liked everything she was proposing. To myself I thought, even if just Lauren showed up I would consider it a win, as Tuesday nights tend to be one of our slowest evenings of the week. Still, we were hopeful a few "mobbers" would show up.

And show up they did.

One person came in, and then the next, and then a crowd of about 30 shoppers quickly filled up the shop. It was a beautiful sight to see! The most surprising thing to me is that almost all the mobbers had never visited our South Park neighborhood or Make Good, most of them seemed to really like the store and several spent more than the suggested $20. It was great to see people so genuinely happy to be supporting a local store. I also know that many of them came back to do their holiday shopping here, and that was such a huge gift to all of us!

The other significant impact was all the media that showed up to cover the mobbing. Once those stories aired I saw a huge increase in our website activity and we gained many new signups to our Facebook page. Having some of our artists see their handmade items on television was a thrill for them (and for me), how cool is that?

One last personal note. I continue to be grateful to all of you that came out in support of our mobbing, you made a notable difference in December for us and all of our artists and our neighborhood. Huge thanks and appreciation for showing us the love with your shopping dollars in such a generous way, it’s truly humbling and amazing! Besides the wonderfully positive impact Cash Mob has had on Make Good and our artists, we deeply appreciate Cash Mobs' effort to raise awareness of small local businesses like ours, to the local neighborhood.

Sophia Hall, Owner; Make Good

ps. In case you want to see how the night went, here's a few TV media links with video and the last article has a link to the interview that was on KPBS Radio

NBC San Diego

Channel 6

KPBS

Silk screened ceramics by Sasha and Jones von Jonestein

2011-12-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

There's something deeply good about artists who collaborate. When Sasha and Jones connected and discovered their mutual passion for printmaking—Jones as a t-shirt designer and printer and Sasha as a mixed media artist using silk screened transfers onto clay, magic resulted. They describe their work as a journey into new ways to mold functional wares while pushing the possibilities of image transfers. We thinks its just plain fantastic and unique art you can use everyday.

More of their work here, but better yet, stop by Make Good for a look in person. Solid and wonderfully made, their work feels as good in your hands as it looks in these photos.

Handmade stamps, by Fawa

2011-12-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

We're lovin' these amazing hand-cut stamps by Fawa. She even handmade the wonderful little boxes they come in, using discarded magazine pages to create them with. For $5.00 each, how can you go wrong?

Lots of Good happening

2011-11-23T15:04:00.000-08:00

Want some good this holiday season? You've got lots of choices, as Make Good has a full line-up, starting this Friday.

Make Good @The Good Show
At 3rd Space in University Heights
Friday Nov. 25th
Showcasing local artists, designers and (Make Good), The Good Show is a one-day event this Friday, noon-8pm. Proceeds benefit the Corazon de Vida foundation, which helps parent-less children in Baja. Happening at 3rd Space in University Heights [map here].

Make Good @ the South Park Holiday Walkabout
At Make Good
Saturday, Dec. 3rd, 6pm-10pm
We love Walkabouts, an evening where the entire neighborhood comes out, shopkeepers open up the doors, food and drink flows and we get to hang out with some of our favorite people. The Holiday Walkabout is always extra special though, because, well, it's the HOLIDAYS! Come on out, have a drink and say hello.

Make Good @ Shop With Purpose
At the Moniker Warehouse
Sunday, Dec. 4th, 2pm-10pm
Make Good is participating with an impressive collective of vendors selling only ethical gifts. If what you buy, how it's made and where it comes from matters to you, this is your spot. Coffee, tasty food trucks and a live performance by Oliver Trolley in store. [map here]

Dia de los Muertos celebration, this Sunday

2011-10-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

From 4-7pm this Sunday, October 30th, we'll be celebrating Dia de los Muertos at Make Good. In honor of the holiday, which focuses on remembering loved ones that have passed on, we're offering 20% off all Dia de los Muertos merchandise. Bring something to add to the shrine as you partake in tasty pan dulce and Mexican hot chocolate.

Emily Grace Goodrich, at Make Good

2011-08-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

Emily is one of the Make Good artists. You'll also find her working at the store, telling stories of other Make Good artists and making more of her fantastic jewelry or linocuts. You can also find Emily's amazing jewelry made from recycling plastic bags at the Make Good online store. Check it out, her work is really incredible.

Moveable Type Truck, letterpress demo at Make Good

2011-07-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

Last week Kyle Durrie and her Moveable Type Truck visited Make Good, providing letterpress demonstrations and spreading some old school handcrafted printing goodness in San Diego. Visiting for the first time from Portland Oregon, Kyle is just five weeks into an eight month cross-country tour. Fast Company Design and The Economist were two of the many publications covering Kyle's story, and we were honored to have her hunt us down and setup shop in front of the store. Can't wait for her next visit!

Moveable Type, tonight at Make Good

2011-07-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Well, tonight we have quite the treat for you at Make Good. Kyle Durrie and her Moveable Type Truck will be here from 5-8pm, and she'll be holding hands-on demonstrations of letterpress printing out of the back of her converted '82 step side van. That's right, you can get your hands dirty, learning the old-school way of printing while hanging out at Make Good. We'll even have ice cold lemonade while you wait your turn.

As excited as we are at the the prospect of letterpress printing happening at Make Good, we're excited that someone like Kyle is coming here for a visit. She's been on the road, touring the country, spreading the love about letterpress and the craft of hands-on printing from a custom-outfitted 1982 stepside van. Others have been covering Kyle's story, including Fast Company, the Economist and San Diego's own Kinsee Morlan at Citybeat.

Kyle tells her story well from her Kickstarter page. Here's the video from there:

So stop by tonight and say hello. Meet Kyle, have a lemonade and try your hand at some letterpress. It'll be good.

Make Good now selling online at shop.themakegood.com

2011-07-16T15:38:00.000-07:00

We're very excited to announce that today we launched the Make Good online store, at shop.themakegood.com.

For some time now, customers, friends and neighbors have been asking when we were going to begin selling online the handmade wonders by our artists. Lots of folks visit from out of the area, or would like to buy and ship to friends or family from out of town. This makes all that a reality, and we're stoked.

You won't find everything we've got in the store available to buy online. With over 90 artists and hundreds of one-of-a-kind handmade works, that's just not quite yet possible. You will find a great selection though of a wide variety of items, many you've probably never seen before.

We've got everything curated by "collections," and you can also shop by price, including items under $25, items $25-50, and items $50+.

We're really curious what you think. If you're up for it, drop us a line at info@themakegood.com and let us know.

A Year to Remember

2011-06-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

Thank you friends, artists, customers (and passers-by) for making our one year anniversary celebration so great. Miss Erika Davies brought her soulful music to the evening, a fitting full-circle arc as she helped us open our doors at our Grand Opening this time last year. Make Good artists were present, representing all parts of San Diego and Tijuana, and handmade cupcakes, goodies and decorations were supplied by Make Good artist and contributor of good, Emily Goodrich.

It was this time last year that Make Good opened its doors with eight artists and a dream of bringing locally handmade art, crafts, clothing and accessories to the neighborhood. We had few expectations and a lot of hope, plenty of ideas and few resources, but folks encouraged us, local businesses embraced us, and a handful of devoted friends pitched in to paint and fix and decorate, as we transformed our six hundred square feet of space into Make Good.

It's been an amazing year, as our initial eight artists have grown to over eighty, spanning communities around South Park and into Tijuana. We've partnered with local businesses, institutions and museums, including the Mingei International Museum, The New Children's Museum and The Handmade Revolution. We've brought in well-known local artists and newly discovered talents who range in age from kids to well-seasoned grown-ups. And we've learned what it looks like to be part of a neighborhood on a deep, soulful level.

We're now looking at year two with dreams and aspirations of how we may take the idea of Make Good further. We've got some new partnerships and ideas forming that we think will help bring more attention to San Diego's growing local arts scene, something we're deeply passionate about. They include bringing broader attention to the artists behind the work, and reaching a growing audience with an appetite for locally handmade wonders. Items made from up-cycled, re-purposed materials given new life in the hands of visionaries, artists and crafts-persons. We're very excited about where this may lead.

So thank you San Diego and Tijuana for being part of bringing a little heaven to six hundred square feet of San Diego storefront, and allowing us to live out something so good.

Check out more photos of last night's good times here.

1 Year Anniversary Party next Sat June 11th!

2011-06-05T11:49:00.000-07:00

You are officially invited! Come celebrate with us and enjoy some treats and tunes ...

Make Good at the Mingei

2011-05-04T19:03:00.000-07:00

Make Good recently participated in the Craft On Tap event at the Mingei Museum. A few local handmade artists and craftsmen turned out, along with some good food, DJ spinning tunes and craft beer. Good times, for sure!

Check out some snaps of the event here.

Spring and Summer at Make Good

2011-05-03T16:49:00.000-07:00

Hey folks... sorry we haven't been keeping this site updated. There's been a LOT going on! We dusted off our Google Analytics account the other day though, took a peek at the website stats, and dang if it didn't turn out lots of folks actually come and read this thing! We like staying informed and bet you do too, so we're making a better effort to keep this place more tidy'd up.

For starters, check out the newly updated Upcoming events page. Some great stuff coming up, including the Summer Walkabout, Craft & Cocktails, and our One Year Anniversary Celebration! That's right folks, it's almost time to party.

If you haven't doen so already, like us on Facebook, as we tend to keep day-to-day stuff updated there pretty regularly, posting photos, ideas, and challenging the status quo every now and then. If you're not to embarrassed to put a bird on it, follow us on Twitter. Most importantly though, if you're in the neighborhood, stop on by and say hello. We've now got over 70 artists' work from San Diego and Tijuana, with new work coming in daily.

Making Good In The Kitchen ...

2011-04-13T23:47:00.000-07:00

2011 Spring Walkabout, good times

2011-03-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

"Grow A Pair" banner by Amy Chapman, in honor of the Spring Walkabout theme, "Plant Yourself in South Park."

Last night Make Good celebrated with the rest of South Park, for the Spring Walkabout. It's always nice to see the store full of people, but we especially like these Walkabout nights. Street music, lots of food, and friends (new and old), neighbors hanging out, with plenty of newbies discovering our little hidden gem of a neighborhood in San Diego. Our only regret is that there's so much great stuff going on at Make Good (and so many great people hanging out in there), that's it's tough for us to get out and see the rest of South Park.

Check out our photos on Flickr.

Are you on Twitter? Follow us. And make sure and friend us on Facebook.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

2011-01-17T11:05:00.000-08:00

While we're closed on Monday's, we're busy (as are many of our artists, for sure) creating, making, and dreaming today. In honor of one who truly did make good during his life, happy Martin Luther King Jr. day.

Real life Etsy shop?

2010-12-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

We hear that a lot. Folks often walk in as say "Hey!... this is just like Etsy, only I can pick stuff up and look at it (and try it on)!" Where magazine just wrote about Make Good, referring to us as a "Real-Life Etsy Shop." We dig Etsy, and take that as a compliment, but we think Make Good is something even more. It's local, as all our artists live in the area. It's giving new life to old things, in some amazingly creative ways. And unlike an online-only experience, it's a place where folks can meet the artists who actually make the cool stuff we're offering. And we dig meeting you, sharing stories of our artists, designers and makers-of-good, hearing what you think. It's rainy today, a perfect day to stop on in and say hello.

drink for a cause.

2010-12-14T09:26:00.000-08:00

We're sponsoring one of the kids at Lindsay Community School... are you? Make sure and stop by the Whistle Stop on Thursday night, right across the street from Make Good, and have a drink for a cause. Also gotta give a shout out to Holly Jones of Look See Creative for championing this effort (and designing a cool poster).

Happy Holidays. No really... we mean it.

2010-12-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

Make Good's Holiday Trunks at the New Children's Museum in downtown San Diego

It's been a busy holiday season for us at Make Good.

On Nov 27th we partnered with The New Children's Museum to curate an event of Make Good artists. It was a great day teaming up with the Museum folks, and a very cool space to hold a trunkshow. Musicians Molly Jenson, Aaron Bowen and Jon Ji provided amazing live music, while the artists brought out there best handmade art, gifts, jewelry and accessories. Check out the photos here.

The last Saturday night, the South Park Holiday Walkabout made Christmas seem all the closer, as the lights were all up, store decorations were in full swing, and we had a killer collaborative art piece going out in front of the store. We love Walkabouts, as it's a great time to hang out with our friends and neighbors at the shop (like a lot of you, we just link being there. :-) ). Check out some photos on Flickr here.

We've also been feelin' the love from San Diego, in media, fans and lovers of locally handmade goodness, as we've received some embarrassingly good Yelp! reviews, were recently mentioned in the Citybeat Holiday Gift Guide, and check this... Yelp! conducted a survey of San Diegans, asking what they value most for a holiday gift (local and handmade), and their top picks for where to get a gift this holiday season. Make Good was named as one of the top three picks. Channel 6 picked up the story and ran a feature for a week (you can see it here).

It's hard to believe we're only 8 months into this adventure, and we are SO thankful for the support we're getting from San Diego and Tijuana, the amazing artists who are part of this little dream of ours, and the good that's coming of it all.

handmade holiday

2010-11-30T11:39:00.000-08:00

We've got a slew of new and amazing work from our artists, including a number of new artists you probably haven't seen before, just in time for the holidays. If you've recovered from black Friday (or avoided it altogether, like we did), come on out to Make Good and say hello.

We couldn't agree more.

2010-11-22T09:21:00.000-08:00

RT @aperezcm4u: Creativity isn't just making something from scratch, but seeing potential in what already exists

New at Make Good: Monkeys Always Look

2010-11-21T12:24:00.000-08:00

Allison Cecil, of Monkey's Always Look, is one of the many new artists that have joined Make Good recently. As with all our artists, we're way excited to have her on board, and just love what she can do with an old fork or piece of metal. Allison was a featured seller on Etsy (for the Etsy lovers out there, you know that's a pretty big deal), and we grabbed an excerpt from that feature.

What first made you want to become an artist?
Artist? Is that what it’s called? Well let’s see, I have always had a hard time working for someone else because the higher ups were always super scared of my ninja-like reflexes, bionic arm and inability to follow rules. So I think art found me since it seems to be the one thing I fit into. I like being able to carry glass at the pool, run with scissors and stare into the sun. Rules are meant to be broken and making art is where breaking the rules is rewarded. I am happier than I have ever been and it is because I have found my little niche in the world where I can be myself, make stuff, and no one is threatened by my ninja-like reflex and bionic limbs. If that is what an artist is, then count me in!

Check out Allison's entire interview on Etsy, and go visit her blog,
Monkey's Always Look blog, here.

Oh yeah, and make sure to stop in at Make Good to see her artistry up-close and personal like. You'll be glad you did.

Trukshow next Sat - spreading the Good

2010-11-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

Dropping these babies everywhere we can think of. Have we missed the place you hang out at? If so, let us know.

More on Yelp.com... Make Good featured on Ch 6 News

2010-11-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

Special thanks to Brittany for saying all the right things! Note that there's a short commercial spot to sit through before the news segment begins.