How the heck does the time go so fast?! January is this incredible time of year when everything feels new, yet being in the depths of winter it can also feel like it's going to drag on forever! For me, this time of year is when I come up for air after a demanding holiday season and prepare for the year ahead. As a Canadian jewelry maker, I have so many things to consider, especially working with Wild Yukon Furs. We have to wait and see what each season of trapping produces on our own trap line to know what we need to purchase from other trapping families. I also have to plan on importing many of the components I use in my designs.
Also, operating a retail store across the border in Skagway, Alaska comes with its own unique challenges such as production time inclusive of importing those goods from Canada to the US. At the moment, I'm hard at work preparing for that upcoming cruise season in our Alaska shop which means I am hammering away at hundreds of pairs of hand-forged copper hoops, making countless fur hoop earrings, fur hooks, fans, and threaders. It's a very busy time!
As a matter of fact, our fur hoop earrings are one of our best selling designs and I just received a box full of a thousand pairs of hoops which will immediately go into production with fur inlay. Next in line will be our Revolve collection which is why I've made so many hundreds of pairs of copper hoops. I expect that between the two shops and the online stores, the 500+ pairs of Revolve hoops will be gone before you know it!
One of the things we're most proud of looking back on our 2022 year is that with the addition of our Alaska store, we increased our fur buying to include TEN different trapping families. I know there are hundreds in the Yukon but if we can continue to grow at this pace and serve even more trappers, we can bring the beauty of Wild Yukon Fur to more and more people which is such an exciting thought. I'm truly delighted to share that with you. Thank you for helping us give trappers an alternative way to bring their furs to market in a way that honours their hard work and the life of the animal that chooses to give itself so we can enjoy the beauty of its fur.