I was on the hunt for a specific gift for that certain someone and kept coming up short. I was looking for a piece of jewelry set with an aquamarine gem, March’s birthstone, and was on a budget.
I eventually found my way to Santa Barbara Arts next to the turtle fountain in La Arcada. Not only did it have exactly what I was searching for, I saw that the shop was chock-full of pretty things ― clothing, purses, pottery, cards, candles, glassware, paintings, books, and lots of jewelry. Every item handmade, each piece one-of-a-kind, most crafted by local artists. Accessible and affordable. Literally something for everyone.
Even if the merchant isn’t strictly local, explained owner Lynn Adams, a true-blue patriot who grew up in a family of artists and whose late husband was a union electrician, they live somewhere in America. “Everything in the store is made in the United States,” said Adams, the stars and stripes draped behind her. “Nothing is imported. That’s very important to me.”