It's sunny and bright in the studio where we make your lockets. There's an entire wall of south-facing windows that beam sunshine and shadows inside this big space, sometimes so bright that we can't even sit facing outside. What a lovely problem to have, right?

This space started out as a studio space exclusively for my sister and I with our photography business. We moved here in the Fall of 2015 before we'd even dreamt of lockets. At that time this space was shared with another local photographer in Minneapolis. After nearly 30 years in this space, he moved on and moved out. Then it was just us. From there, my sister made the decision to leave The Locket Sisters (right around the same time COVID hit the world) and so it was just me. A space that had been consumed by art and service that felt evergreen had suddenly shifted into being dominated by The Locket Sisters and these little pieces of jewelry that hold your photos and your people and your stories. 

Something about the timing of it all felt divine. Still does. 

I like to be in spaces that feel good and open and free. Clutter stresses me out, and who likes to be stressed? People often ask to co-rent the space, to day-rent it, to somehow get in to this space that holds so much light and air and space for your thoughts to expand and to create beautiful art. 

But I keep it fairly sacred for your lockets, and the occasional shoot that my sister and I still do together. There are plants we tend to and speakers that sing. We have three different ways to make a cup of coffee and a coffee shop below us, too. There are artists on either side of us, on six floors next to us, and in the neighborhood all around us. It's a creative, open, accepting, curious space. 

It has the capacity to hold what it needs to hold. And for the last six years, it's held me while I've changed from whoever I used to be to the woman I am today. This space has held my kids when I couldn't afford both a studio and childcare. It's held my kids even when I could afford childcare but it was closed because of COVID. It's held my kids because I like that they see me work, that they see me make things and make decisions. It holds candy and toys and ideas and space to rollerblade.

This space holds the stories you share with us. The big ones, the little ones, the quiet and loud ones. The ones that make us weep, the ones that make us laugh. It's a space the feels good, and so we put that feel good energy into your lockets every single day.

This space has given me so much life, and it brings life to your lockets, too. 

Warmly,

Allyssa