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Brian Lehrer: Brian Lehrer on WNYC with edition one of Shop Listener 2021. Ray in Harlem, you're on WNYC. Hi, Ray. Early happy holidays. What have you got?

Ray: Thank you very much. First, I have to thank you for doing this every year because every year, I sell a lot of my small stuff and I get new clients for my big stuff so I really appreciate it.

Brian Lehrer: I'm glad.

Ray: I have a woodworking business. The gifts I have available, I have some small keepsake boxes, some wine racks, some jewelry boxes, and stuff like that. Most of my business is custom-made furniture so you can call for consultation if you want a dining table or bed or desk or anything along those lines as well. I'm happy to help out on both those. I live in Harlem.

Brian Lehrer: How do people find you?

Ray: They can find me at harlembuilt.com. They can find me on Instagram @harlembuilt. That's harlembuilt.com, all one word. They can shoot me an email, they can call me, they can get in touch however they want, and I'm happy to talk to them.

Brian Lehrer: Ray, thank you so much. Good luck this holiday season. Matt in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC. Hi, Matt.

Matt: Hey, Brian, thank you. I am allthebadcats.com and I paint your cat or dog portrait. Come at me and I'll give you a portrait of your pet or one for your friend or whatever.

Brian Lehrer: Wow, pet portraits. Now, can you work from photos if people want to just send one in?

Matt: Exactly. They email me or they text me or DM me a picture of their pet and I paint a sweet little watercolor and I'll mail it out to you. You can get it framed and it's a beautiful little thing. It's allthebadcats.com.

Brian Lehrer: How do people get in touch? Say it again.

Matt: allthebadcats.com. It's got all my information there.

Brian Lehrer: Allthebadcats.com, but you'll do dogs, you'll do birds, you'll do turtles, right?

Matt: Lizards. Exactly. Everything. I'll paint what you need.

Brian Lehrer: Ferrets. Matt, thank you very much. Alexa in Forest Hills, you're on WNYC. Hi, Alexa.

Alexa Weitzman: Hi, Brian. Thank you so much for taking my call and thanks for always doing this segment. I am one of those moms that got pushed out of the workforce during COVID. I took my sewing machine out of my closet and started making masks and then started sewing more and more things. Now, I opened up an online shop. It's called the Boulevard Sew Shop because I live right off Queens Boulevard in central Queens.

Right now, on my online store which is blvdsew.com, I have pouches, I have Challah covers if you're looking for a Hanukkah gift, I have some kids masks. I have been making a lot of custom Challah covers so those do have a little bit of a backlog because there's apparently a very big market for bespoke Judaica, which I'm filling. If you want to get on that list, you can email me through my website. Here to fill all your Challah cover needs.

Brian Lehrer: Challah cover, you're talking about covers for the bread called Challah, is that right?

Alexa: Yes. On Shabbat and holidays, there's traditionally a cover put on the Challah while you're doing the blessing over the wine so it's an opportunity to add some artistic flair to your Shabbat and holiday tables. I've been really working with people that want custom covers to be inspired by places that are important to them or family fabrics that can be incorporated. It's a great way to put some art on your table [unintelligible 00:04:13] .

Brian Lehrer: From the growing sector of bespoke Judaica as you called it, tell people one more time how to get in touch with you.

Alexa: Sure, thanks. The online shop is called the Boulevard Sew Shop and the URL is blvdsew.com. I'm also on Instagram and TikTok. I'm Alexa Weitzman on Twitter and active there as well. Looking forward to hearing from you and thank you so much, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: B-L-V-D-S-E-W, Boulevard, B-L-V-D, sew as in sewing, S-E-W.com, blvdsew.com. Alexa, thank you very much. Here's another Hanukkah-themed one. Beth in Dutchess County, you're on WNYC. Hi, Beth.

Beth Haber: Hi, Brian. This is really a treat. I've always loved this section. I was realizing that I am part of a group from Beth Shalom Synagogue which has had a 25-year history of having an international Judaica art show every year that's curated. Last year, to go online, they selected about a dozen-plus artists and they had filmmakers make videos so that we could talk about our work. They run the gamut, the work, and the site is active and shipping. We do also custom work too, but they are the gamut.

I love this last caller with the bespoke Challah covers. There are a range of all kinds of ritual work, but also art prints and jewelry, and lots of gift possibilities. My particular collection is Present Artifacts Design, but the range is all kinds of work and really worth-- they put a lot into doing this beautiful site. After an order comes in and we ship the next day. There's still a window for the holidays.

Brian Lehrer: Still a window.

Beth: [inaudible 00:06:22].

Brian Lehrer: Not much of a window for Hanukkah. Did you even-- Now, here we are on November 19th and Hanukkah starts just nine nights from tonight?

Beth: I remember a couple of years ago when it actually coincided with Thanksgiving and I made a menorah out of a big Hubbard squash gourd for the table because it was both.

Brian Lehrer: All right, give people the contact again.

Beth: Yes, the contact is bet, B-E-T, am, A-M, shalomcraftshow.org/collections. They can go in and see-- everyone has a shop collection on that site.

Brian Lehrer: Beth, thank you very much. Good luck with it. We go from Hanukkah gifts to Kwanzaa gifts with NMaat in Mount Vernon. NMaat, thanks so much for calling in. You're on WNYC.

NMaat: Oh, thank you, Brian. Our first time, long time. Thank you for having this segment every year. As 7Principles, which is my business that I started out of need to find Kwanzaa supplies myself. At 7principles365, we educate and celebrate Black culture and history daily. We seek to inspire, to live Black culture with Kwanzaa and holiday decorations, wear Black culture with earrings and totes, and learn Black culture with our flashcards, playing cards, and our framed [inaudible 00:07:49] .

Brian Lehrer: What's an example? Tell me one product that you love or that some of your customers love.

NMaat: Well, right now, we have, of course, Kwanzaa candles. We have the sets of Kwanzaa candles and hand-carved Kinaras, which is the candle holder, which we import from Ghana. Our candles are made here in the United States. We have our flashcards which are featured by Urban Intellectuals. Of course for Thanksgiving, a lot of people play cards so we have our playing cards that have Black cultural facts on each card, which I love.

Brian Lehrer: That's great. Tell people how to get in touch.

NMaat: Sure. You could go to our website, which is 7principles365, and that's the number 7principles365.com. You could reach us at our email, that's info@7principles365 or you could call us at 914-222-0502. We're in the Bronx.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, you're in the Bronx?

NMaat: Go ahead.

Brian Lehrer: Well, I was just going to say it again, they'd use the number seven, 7principles365.com.

NMaat: Yes, exactly.

Brian Lehrer: What were you going to say about the Bronx?

NMaat: People can pick up [inaudible 00:09:08] in the Bronx. My warehouse is in the Bronx so we do pick up orders from the warehouse if necessary.

Brian Lehrer: Awesome. NMaat, thank you very much. Good luck with it. Emily in the Adirondacks, you're on WNYC. Hey, Emily. Where in the Adirondacks?

Emily: I'm in Saranac Lake. I'm actually a proud Sunnyside native, fourth-generation New Yorker. I'm going to try to not cry because I'm so excited to talk to you, Brian.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, I've only gone to the Adirondacks like 30 summers, but go ahead.

Emily: It's a [unintelligible 00:09:45] but it's totally worth it, I'll take you on a canoe. I am an illustrator promoting my Etsy shop WhiteCatBlackDog. I'm so excited to say that I'm debuting this year a world's first and it's a 2022 wall calendar for not just the most passionate, native, new Yorker like myself who's tuned to WNYC every day, all day, no matter where I live in the world, but also for that person in your life who happens to be like me, a Brian Lehrer, super fan. For 12 months out of the year, it's custom illustrations.

I'm actually a scientific illustrator. It's everything great about New York City and what we all love about New York City and even miss about New York City with how hard it's all been, but it's everything from Cardi B to Jerry the Whale, and to include you because it's hard to include you in there, Brian. I'm figuring it out as I go.

It's a Weird Waldo aspects of where's Brian across New York City through space and time. The shop is WhiteCatBlackDog on Esty. It's etsy.com/shop/whitecatblackdog. You can find me on Instagram at @whitecatblackdog and I'll send you one for free. I quit my job yesterday, so I'm hoping this works out.

Brian Lehrer: Oh, wow. You're a part of the great resignation. You got sick of what you were doing and you're trying to start your own business.

Emily: I've been doing this as a side hustle for years and years and working in the environmental sciences, but just trying to start my own thing, make my own path as one of the millennials doing so. Brian, I just want to say, because I've never called in, but always think about it, you have helped and saved so many people throughout the most difficult time imaginable. From the bottom of my heart, I and my family and friends, thank you so much for everything you do. You're a light in our lives.

Brian Lehrer: That is so sweet. I can't even-

Emily: [unintelligible 00:11:50] Get that Brian Lehrer calendars.

Brian Lehrer: Yes. I can't even imagine what the [unintelligible 00:11:54] Brian calendar is like. Just make sure you put me in Long Lake in one of those spots, not too far down the road from you where I've been a million times in my life.

Emily: [inaudible 00:12:03] love Long Lake.

Brian Lehrer: Emily, thank you. That's too, too nice and too, too complimentary, but thank you very much. I will definitely check that out. Let's see. One or two more. Michael in Park Slope, you're on WNYC. Hi Michael. What have you got?

Michael: Hey, Brian. Thanks so much for having me on the air. I have a company called maptote.com. We are based in Park Slope in the Gowanus and we design maps of cities in places and all our products are made local to us in Brooklyn, New York.

Brian Lehrer: Where do people find you?

Michael: They can find us at maptote.com. That's a map like a subway map and tote like a tote bag. We do everything from tote bags to baby clothes, to gift pouches and we also do custom work as well. It's all made in Brooklyn. We source all our fabric here in the US.

Brian Lehrer: We have 20 seconds left in the show. What's an example of an unusual map that you've put on a tote or one of these other products?

Michael: Oh, gosh, that's funny. We've done a map for weird neighborhoods in Japan. We've done mythical maps of like the North Pole for Christmas. We've done some favorite haunts of savannah in Los Angeles.

Brian Lehrer: Say it again, your contact.

Michael: Oh, it's maptote, M-A-P T-O-T-E.com.

Brian Lehrer: Michael, thank you very much. Good luck. This is Shop Listener edition one. We're going to do a couple more of these between now and Christmas. Remember, you can register for it. If you're selling something that other listeners can buy from you as holiday gifts, go to wnyc.org/shoplistener, sign up or just text SHOP 2021 to 70101, SHOP 2021 to 70101 and we will send you the link.

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