two gift boxes on a background with ethereal purple flowers with the words Shop Small in the center.

Shop Small - Shop Local

Adriana Compagnoni

Hi, this is Adriana, the beekeeper from South Mountain Bees.

Did you hear about our new collabs? At South Mountain Bees we are excited to announce that we are partnering with Connie's Threads and DBee Botanical Art.

Since March we've been saying: "Wash your hands." and a few months ago we added: "Wear a mask." to this directive. However, while we are proud of our handcrafted soaps and the fact that they kill germs while being gentle on your hands, we didn't have masks to offer.

But guess what? That is no longer the case. We are pleased to collaborate with Connie's Threads to offer the protection we need to do our part during the pandemic.

We love the fit of this mask! It wraps nicely around the chin, under the eyes, and over the nose bridge. The ear loops are adjustable and it has a pocket for a filter that you can add for extra protection. They are handcrafted with 100% cotton fabric with lovely patterns as well as solids in different colors by a mother-daughter team.

Washing our hands we protect ourselves, wearing a mask we protect each other.

The second new collaboration is with talented local artist and woman business owner Debra Bernath. Debra is the artist behind Dbeebotanicalart.com.

This collaboration between women was brought together by the bees. You already know that I am a beekeeper, but did you know that Debra means bee? She does a lot of botanically inspired art. In her words: "Like a bee hovering above flowers collecting pollen for the hive, I too hover over my subjects collecting images for my creations." The transformations botanicals go through inspire her to create art through painting, drawing, design and photography.

I am really excited to announce that we put together gift sets combining her beautiful botanical cards with my handcrafted cosmetics. Hope you like them!

Among our long standing collaborators are my friend Nadine Kerstan, chocolate sommelier and international chocolate judge from Barometer Chocolate, with whom we've paired delectable combinations of honey and craft chocolate, and the General Store Cooperative extending a tradition of pop-up stores into a permanent market place, where you can find our product all year around.

Stay tuned for an upcoming announcement of our teaming up with with jewelry designer and appraiser Nicci Torrente from T'rente Fine Jewelry LLC.

During the pandemic almost 100,000 small businesses closed permanently, and in September 2020, over 860,000 women dropped out of the labor force. According to the US, Small Business Administration "Small businesses are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy: they create two-thirds of net new jobs and drive U.S. innovation and competitiveness." Remember that when you purchase any of these sets, you support small, local, women-owned businesses.