Acrylic on Canvas Artist, Fine Art Photographer
Allentown, PA
I have been a commercial photographer in the Lehigh Valley, PA for over 50 years. A few years ago I decided to try painting as a hobby and soon became very passionate spending my free time painting en plein air in the warmer months and experimenting with various styles in the winter.
I am completely self-taught and drawn to Tonalism and Impressionism and love creating an atmospheric mood with fog and backlighting. I currently have about 500 finished landscapes for sale, mostly of the beautiful parks, barns and farmland surrounding the Lehigh Valley and beyond.
Hello I am David of DFCreations. I create hand crafted wire wrapped jewelry. Since 2022 I been creating my wrapped pendants. I was raised in the valley on the Lehigh/ Berks border and love this area. Along with doing various craft shows in the area, my items are also showcased in several businesses located in Lehigh and Berks.
I enjoy creating each unique piece using items such as stones, fossils, glass or shells. My love and passion for the art and sharing my creations brings me great joy. I also create custom remembrance pieces. These pendants are done using the ashes of loved ones or a beloved pet. Encased in resin and wire wrapped for a cherished keepsake piece.
If you are looking for a special gift please reach out. I would be happy to help something unique.
Shop In Person:
Local Folk Creative Studio, Kutztown, Pa
Lazy Dog Vintage, Hamburg, Pa
Bee Silky Soap Shoppe, Krumsville, Pa
Michael Thomas Florist, Allentown, Pa
AnitaTrinket, Fleetwood, Pa
Authentic Malaysian Cuisine, Catering, Private Dinners, Cooking Classes, and Cookbook Writer
Bethlehem, PA
Jenny’s Kuali is a beloved long-standing Bethlehem restaurant, with a passion for bringing delicious, high-quality Malaysian foods and sauces to the Lehigh Valley. In addition to being a full-service restaurant, Jenny’s also offers private meals, catering, and cooking classes. Their cookbooks and jarred sauces are delicious when paired with homemade dumplings and appetizers.
They starting serving their famous ginger garlic sauce and chili sauce in the Southside Bethlehem in 2012. Their customers loved it so much that they requesting to buy to take home. They started jarring over 10 years ago. A few years later, they added the satay peanut sauce. Sauces are sold online and in-person. Shipping and in-person delivery available. They also sell at pop up events, cooking class and farmers market (Bethlehem-Farrington Square)
Scroll down to see a complete list of the locations where you can buy Jenny’s Kuali products!
Novice Adornments was born out of a passion for crafting and a love of transformation — turning humble blocks of polymer clay into bold, one-of-a-kind polymer clay jewelry. Over the past two years, I’ve been creating unique, handmade pieces that fuse color, texture, and artistic details like custom color blends, shimmering glitter, and bold inks.
While earrings are currently my main focus, I’m also expanding into playful accessories like bracelets, bookmarks and keychains, all designed to bring a touch of artistry to everyday life.
Each piece I create is a statement — a celebration of individuality and color fusion — perfect for customers who want jewelry that’s as distinctive as they are. From vibrant hues to subtle shimmer, no two creations are ever exactly alike, ensuring that every customer finds something truly special. I am based in Easton, PA, where I’ve lived for the past 20 years, and I’m proud to be part of the vibrant Lehigh Valley arts community.
You can find Novice Adornments online through Etsy and at Belleville Market in downtown Easton. I’m always happy to take on custom orders to help bring a personal vision to life. For me, the joy comes in watching a piece evolve from raw material into wearable art — full of twists, turns, and surprises along the way.
Shop in Person:
Belleville Market, 20 S. Third St., Easton, PA 18042
Printing, Vehicle Wraps and Graphic Design
Bath, PA
Since 2003, MS Techz has proudly served the Lehigh Valley as a family-owned print shop offering comprehensive design and printing solutions. MS Techz specializes in everything from business essentials like custom business cards, brochures, and letterhead to eye-catching promotional materials including retractable banners, vinyl decals, and vehicle wraps.
MS Techz combines professional printing expertise with personalized service that larger companies simply can’t match. Our diverse offerings range from everyday business necessities like carbonless forms and envelopes to high-impact marketing materials such as door hangers, custom license plates, and oversized brochures. Whether you’re looking for standard black and white printing or vibrant full-color designs on premium materials, our team delivers quality results tailored to your specific needs and budget.
As a trusted local business in the heart of the Lehigh Valley, MS Techz goes beyond just printing, with a comprehensive service lineup including IT solutions and computer sales alongside our extensive printing capabilities, making us a one-stop shop for small businesses throughout the Lehigh Valley. When you work with MS Techz, you receive the personal attention and care that only a locally-operated, family-owned business can provide.
This morning I stumbled upon yet ANOTHER example of a manufacturer that I had NO idea was in the Lehigh Valley. And I’ve been living here my whole life!
Curto Toy Manufacturing Company is said to be in Easton (according to Google), and they make and sell custom plushies, especially plush mascots for companies, schools and sports teams. Curto toys, this is your official invitation to join our directory!!
Every time I discover another manufacturer, it’s always by chance and almost never by Google. Today, I came upon Curto accidentally, while researching classic car shows for Donut Rally Lehigh Valley.
Curto has been in the Lehigh Valley for decades. Way past even when I was born. So it’s kind of crazy to think that I’d never heard of them before. When I was growing up, my parents started a collection of Steiff stuffed animals. But I wonder just how much better or worse Steiff is, compared to Curto? And, if I had the chance, now that I have toddlers myself, should I have them collect Curto stuffies instead of Steiff?
The Wide Wonderful World of Toys
In my investigation of toys in Google, I came upon yet another toy manufacturer in Lehigh Valley, Big Bang Conestoga Cannons in Bethlehem. Umm… toy cannons, and I’ve never heard of them?? I love cannons! These collectible cast metal cannons make an actual BANG, and come with bonus flints for more fun. I am… shocked. Been living here for 40 years, and I’ve never heard of them either.
This directory is a passion project and a resource for the whole Lehigh Valley. I’m heavily invested in trying to get our list as thorough as possible. Big Bang Conestoga Cannon Company — WANT TO JOIN?? This is your official invitation, just like with Curto. We’d love to have you.
Lehigh Valley folks– start buying local toys! Some, granted, are at heirloom prices, but they are also made with heirloom-quality manufacturing.
I’m dying to learn of other toys produced here. I wonder if, in someone’s basement somewhere in Emmaus, there are little basswood whittled toys being made and sold on Etsy. Or, maybe someone up in Slatington has a shop that makes and sells fully-furnished dollhouses. I know for a fact that there are at least two larger 3D Printing toy makers in the Lehigh Valley. But again, good luck finding them without just seeing them randomly at a market one day.
Who is making imported toys?
The fact is, that toys are the kind of thing that are so widely varied and hard to find without questionable origins; there’s something *not right* about having your child play with a toy that was hand-painted by a rapidly-aging, hopeless child of the same age in a sweatshop overseas. Like these crochet flowers…
Instead, how about yet another local handmaker of stuffies??: Darby’s Crochet Corner. Darby makes crocheted bees, bears, elephants, critters of all kinds– not to mention other characters for holidays etc. She works day and night making these things that are frankly so darn fun and cute, that I have had to guard from my toddlers (with my life!) the two raffle items that she donated recently. LOL
Once again, Darby works not from a storefront, but from her home. She has an INTERNATIONAL following on social media, but locals might not know she’s here! Once again, without a physical address, search engines will have a very hard time finding and identifying her business as a “Lehigh Valley” maker. I’m happy to report, though– her membership on our website definitely helps her get discovered! 😀
Handmade “Toys” can be More than Toys
Makers of handmade items are always harder to find, and usually lower-volume. But handmade or artisanal items are no less valuable or important to support. Take current MiLV member, Precious Mementos by Jenell. She handmakes stuffed animals, but they are usually to commemorate someone or something. For example, to help a child cope with the loss of their father, Jenell might be asked to make a pillow or stuffed bear out of the father’s favorite T-shirts.
Are memory bears harder to find? Yes. While manufacturers benefit from having an official “business address” for Google to recognize, handmakers often do not. Jenell, for example, works out of her home studio. She does not have a storefront with which to make herself more “findable” to customers. Similarly, Etsy doesn’t recognize “Lehigh Valley,” so a search for local makers of bereavement bears is impossible, unless one filters results by each town. (Grab a cup of tea for this, and search one-by-one: Allentown, Bath, Bethlehem, Bowmanstown, Breinigsville, Catasauqua, Center Valley, Coplay, Danielsville… omggggggg… and then promptly give up and buy a sympathy card.)
Unfortunately today in Lehigh Valley we still have people who have to write to Facebook groups asking who makes memory bears. Take this post in a nation-wide memory bears group:
She was lucky. And savvy with Facebook. But guaranteed people who aren’t on social media will have a hard time with this search.
The Lehigh Valley is littered with smaller and larger toy producers. All we need to do is get them under one roof (Made in the Lehigh Valley), and then shopping for local toys will be a LOT easier!
If you’re an experienced maker or manufacturer and would like to join Made in the Lehigh Valley, go to https://www.madeinthelehighvalley.com/join and let the fun begin.
Have you ever stopped to consider how different maker businesses are from other businesses? We hope to dig a little into why makers are hard to find, but before we answer that, let’s talk about why people make.
Makers Gonna Make…
Maker businesses are perhaps some of the oldest and varied businesses in the planet. Since the beginning of societies, humans have been making and trading items. The tradition continues today, even as so many people lose their attention spans to the internet, others persist in nobler causes, and devote countless hours to making objects, hoping to be compensated (FAIRLY) for the time they put in.
But some things have changed a bit from our primitive days. Our society has gotten a LOT more sprawling, both geographically and through technology. A village crafter in a Medieval town would be known throughout the town, and customers would stop by and purchase goods as needed. Nowadays, however, many craftsmen work, hidden in the recesses of their home workshops, known only by their friends and fans. Their private home addresses are NOT their business addresses. In fact, they don’t even have a business address. They have a website (on the worldwide web), at BEST. Some have pretty good social media, but it was surprising to us recently, to meet many craftsmen who don’t have a website, don’t have social media, and literally only have a single day or two’s presence at a market… every year.
Bangor’s goats milk soapmaker, Hens on the Hill, has great social media! …and still has to field questions weekly about “where to find local goats milk soap”… It makes us want to tear our hair out.
The Nature of the Internet
So, here we are in 2024, with our talented makers hidden and overworked, trying to be seen, appreciated, and recognized on a GLOBAL stage. And who is the emcee of the global stage? Google.
Oh, Google.
Let’s remember, Google is a tech company. Google is pretty amazing, but Google is algorithms. And Google loves money, has a lot of it, and wants more of it. Google has allies in all spheres, whether political, economical, and geographical. So, pardon me while I state my humble opinion: Google does not give TWO HOOTS about the Lehigh Valley community and our makers.
To ingratiate yourself with a company like Google, you have to 1) Have a lot of time and patience to build your business around their system and 2) Have a lot of technological skills to optimize your business to their system. Makers… spend their time making. Makers’ skills are primarily in their art. Unless a maker is multitalented and has lots of hired help, how exactly are they supposed to do this? The sad fact is, many of them can’t and aren’t.
Local author Frank Stangle signs books at a summer vendor fair.
Etsy… *sigh*
Etsy is another company that is sort of the co-emcee of the handmakers’ arena. They did a fair job, til they started: giving search preference to free shipping and “sponsored” ads, allowing international makers to copy and plagiarize works of art and sell them for cheaper on Etsy, allowing people to sell A.I. products, and charging higher and higher commissions (as if makers really have that much of a margin to lose). If you want to learn all of the ways that Etsy has let artists and crafters down, just do a quick search on Youtube and you will find rant videos galore..
It can be confusing to navigate around all of the ads in Etsy and find local makers instead.
These aren’t the only problems, though– From a consumer perspective, Etsy is much harder to use than you might realize. The location filter is not available in all searches, the location filter keeps turning off, and the “Lehigh Valley” is not a location on their website. So, when you are trying to find a Lehigh Valley maker on Etsy, you literally have to know their municipality. A search for Bethlehem does not yield Bath results, even though they are like 5 miles apart.
We have found this to be an incredible impediment to finding local makers on Etsy. If you see a person selling things at a fair in Macungie, and you know they have an Etsy store, but forget their shop name (or, God forbid, spell it wrong), you then also need to guess the town where they live. Coopersburg? Macungie? Slatington? It’s impossible. It’s just impossible.
Finally, Etsy doesn’t allow their artisans to tag things that they are able to make. It only allows customers to search currentinventory. For example, if a vendor makes 3D printed hermit crab toys, and you want to buy one, searching Etsy for “3D Printed Hermit Crabs in Nazareth PA” doesn’t work if that vendor doesn’t have any hermit crabs for sale in their Etsy shop. If this example seems oddly specific, it’s because it actually happened to me. LOL
Privacy
Google favors companies with addresses. Many times, in order to be searchable, you must sign up for an”API” that gives your business a searchable location for everyone to find. Which is great, unless you want your physical location to be PRIVATE. Makers have a right to privacy, as they should. But Google doesn’t like that. And social media also doesn’t like that. (Editorial miff: How dare they set up the system to be so intrusive??)
At Made in the Lehigh Valley, we list everyone by the town where they create (eg. Northampton), but we don’t go any farther into their location unless they want to share it with their customers. The location is general. They make things… here! And that’s all the internet needs to know.
That said, they are still competing on the larger stage. So our website gives the makers the searchability they require, in combination with added SEO on Google and the major search engines, WITH the privacy makers are entitled to.
Manufacturers
Let’s talk about manufacturing for a sec. Many people see “makers” as just craftsmen and artists, but manufacturing companies and their employees are making things every day too, just on a larger scale! Surprisingly (to us, at least) it is pretty hard to find manufacturers too. Just ask any Lehigh Valley middle schooler who has participated in the “What’s So Cool About Manufacturing” competition– there’s no highly searchable customer-friendly list of manufacturers. You just have to find them one at a time. But really cool things are being made here! And as a person who likes to shop local, there is just as much value in buying things manufactured here as things that are handmade here.
Local goods require less transport, support local jobs, and they add to the social capital of our region (dare we say, pride?). I’ll write about my own experience with locally manufactured goods later. But for now, let’s talk about how easy it is to find manufactured products on Google. Actually, let’s just save time. It’s not easy. It’s downright impossible. SHOCKER.
How MiLV is Different
Made in the Lehigh Valley is a website and directory built with our region and makers at the center. We love the Lehigh Valley, and we want to support everyone making things here, from the largest manufacturer to the smallest-scale maker. Businesses pay a small monthly subscription fee to join, and they can exit and rejoin as they see fit. Their profiles are beautiful, thorough, curated, personalized, and tagged with keywords. They have the flexibility of working with a private, local company… not some tech company who just got rid of their entire customer service department.
Manufacturers can also enjoy a newfound market of customers who appreciate their products and the value of buying local. Manufacturer profiles can feature photos of their factories, products, and people, and humanize their business within the wider community.
Made in the Lehigh Valley is local. It is not global (though we do have fun ideas for working with our international sister cities at some point!!). Makers don’t need to compete with 500,000+ results for fine abstract art. They are in a regional community of fine artists, selling to their community who appreciates them. If the handmaker’s internet is a blizzard, Made in the Lehigh Valley is a warm bath.
They starting serving their famous ginger garlic sauce and chili sauce in the Southside Bethlehem in 2012. Their customers loved it so much that they requesting to buy to take home. They started jarring over 10 years ago. A few years later, they added the satay peanut sauce. Sauces are sold online and in-person. Shipping and in-person delivery available. They also sell at pop up events, cooking class and farmers market (Bethlehem-Farrington Square)
