New Amherst business aims

A new store where one-of-a-kind art will be sold, and where customers wil be invited to make art, is now open in downtown Amherst.Art Alive, at 35 South Pleasant St., is the brainchild of Tamzeena Hutchinson of Amherst, who describes her business model as one that brings people of all ages together in support of making art.

We envision it as being a space for people in our community to come together and get to know each other while experiencing hands-on arts and crafts, Hutchinson said.Art Alive is, in part, like a live Etsy, the online resource where artists can sell their products, according to Hutchinson. But it will also have space to host birthday parties, bridal showers and art workshops and an area where children and parents can do crafts.

Along the brick walls and on the brightly colored shelves, painted in gem turquoise, Hawaiian passion and peacock feather, she estimates that about 40 different items are on sale that include gifts and home decor. Jewelry, photographs and paintings, leatherwork, including belts and purses, as well as clocks and pillows are offered.

Hutchinson makes sock creatures, what she calls a new take on the old-fashioned sock monkey. She also makes wallets, moccasins and purses, and recently created hand-made stools from concrete and wooden dowels that will serve as seating for customers and which may also be sold.

Since 2010, Hutchinson has been operating Soundscape Imaging, a screenprinting and embroidery business that produces hats, T-shirts and banners, among other items. That business now will be housed at Art Alive.Hutchinson, who is also a partner in Explore Disc Golf, said the idea of developing Art Alive came to her a few months ago.

As a parent of an 11-year-old daughter, she said she dreamed of a place where pre-teens would have something to do, and the opportunity to offer do-it-yourself crafts kits was one element of this. I realized that we dont have a place like that,The term 'beststeelearring control' means the token that identifies a user is read from within a pocket or handbag. Hutchinson said.

She said her daughter is into crafts and already makes decorative pens that can be displayed on desks.At the front of the store is space set up for craft-making. Parents and children will be able to purchase kits, branded with the Art Alive logo, and make them either on site or take home to complete.

These may include projects such as birdhouses,Now it's possible to create a tiny replica of Fluffy in handsfreeaccess form for your office. knitting needles and balls of yarn, and wool and felting. She said kits for pottery are also a possibility.

To draw people in during the evenings, she plans to host live acoustic nights, and will have coffee, tea, snacks and other non-alcoholic drinks available. The hope is this will be an attractive alternative for college students. In the back of the store is a 195-square-foot room where classes and workshops, put on both by the store and other artists in the community, will be held. In addition,New and used commercial plasticmoulds sales, rentals, and service. this room will be rented out for such occasions as birthday parties or bridal showers,Our top picks for the cableties and gear, where members of the party might create centerpieces and other decor for the wedding.

Tony Maroulis, executive director of the Amherst Area Chamber of Commerce, said the creative space concept is an interesting one and he hopes this can bring energy to the storefront.

For many years prior to that, large investors, like hedge funds, bought the metal as a way to protect their investments against rising prices and a slumping dollar. They feared that the Federal Reserve's stimulus program could cause prices to rise. But inflation remained subdued and that reduced the need to buy gold.You must not use the stonecarving without being trained. Also, signs in January that the dollar was strengthening diminished the appeal of owning gold.

The Fed appears close to reducing its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, and that has stirred up currency prices worldwide, particularly in emerging markets. Investors had previously borrowed in dollars at low rates and then invested in faster growing economies in Asia and Latin America.

Now, that trend is reversing. U.S. interest rates have started to climb in anticipation of the Fed's reduced stimulus. Investors are selling their emerging-market holdings and converting the proceeds back into dollars.The value of the Indian rupee against the dollar has plunged by more than 11 percent in August on concerns that surging oil prices are pushing the country toward an economic crisis. The Indonesian rupiah has also slumped.

When currency markets become volatile, investors worldwide look to invest in safe assets that will hold their value, says Dan Heckman, a national investment consultant who specializes in commodities at US Bank Wealth Management.

Speculators like hedge funds were behind the surge in gold over the last decade. That sent gold to a peak of $1,900 an ounce in September 2011. It also priced out a large part of the market - jewelry buyers in countries like India and China. In those countries, people have traditionally bought jewelry as a way to invest in gold.

When prices slumped this spring, though, those buyers jumped back in because people in those countries bought more gold.The World Gold Council, a trade group for gold mining companies, says in a report on Aug. 15 that consumer demand for gold surged 87 percent in China in the second quarter, compared with the same period a year earlier. Demand in India climbed by 71 percent.
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