My partner and I had a lovely date night at Clay Dreaming!! We had a reservation and were welcomed…read morein as soon as we arrived. The employees showed us around and made sure we knew where everything was and how to paint our pottery. There was a wide range of items to paint, so there's something for everyone's interests and budget. There was also a wide range of colors and paint brushes. I've done pottery painting a few times and I typically feel a little let down when I get the finished piece back... but not this time! Clay dreaming's instructions and tips for painting helped my piece to turn out just how I wanted it. Thank you to clay dreaming and I recommend this place for a wonderful date night!

Wish we had more time with our projects. We started about 10 minutes late because the instructor…read morewas picking up coffee and muffins for the class, then she took about 10 minutes to go through attendance/contact info. 20 minutes out of 90 is kind of substantial. Maybe attendance could be dealt with once the class has clay in front of them and they can use the time to prep clay/think of surface decoration. Nice idea, (although eating muffins with hands in clay isn't easy) execution could use some refining.

Went there years ago when I was a beginning knitter. Had purchased needles and yarn for a project…read more Returned with questions on how to do something and was told "We don't give help here!" Needless to say I never went back. Stopped knitting a few years ago and have moved so was looking for a shop nearby. Surprised this one was still in business after such poor customer service!

Absolutely the bestest place to sit and knit, they are so knowledgable and kind. Beautiful…read moreselection of lovely yarns. Definitely a great place to check out, and stay to knit a bit!

We are tourists, we only get to Salem once a year but we always go into Village Silversmith to shop…read morearound and my daughter always buys a silver bracelet or necklace of one kind or another. Last year she bought a beautiful bracelet with large skulls. This year she wasn't able to go with us but I had my orders to take pictures and buy her a bracelet. I got there at the end of the night on a Sunday and took some pictures of the bracelet case and had to call my daughter to talk about which ones she liked. They were actually closing but one of the staff, a very lovely woman with a ton of patience helped me out after I explained that I was trying to do this by phone. Even at the end of the day after a very busy weekend, they still had smiles on their faces and were extremely helpful. We ended up buying a very cool crystal necklace that was a bottle and a bracelet. The staff made what had the potential to be very stressful into a good experience even though I knew that they were probably tired and worn out from the crazy October weekend. Many thanks to the woman who helped me out! See you next year.

Pretty cool little place. It was packed when we went and so we didn't get a really see the whole…read morething but I would definitely suggest spending some time looking to all of the amazing finds in the store

I highly recommend Carmens. I've always used them and I have aways have the best service. Carmen…read moreand Kate are always friendly and both are very skillful and knowledgeable no matter what you need. Honest and trustworthy!

What can I say about Carmen, He is top notch. I asked him to make a piece of Jewelry for me, a…read morependant. He designed the most beautiful pendant I could have imagined. I still wear it ten years later.

The most amazing flower shop on the planet! I had a 50th Anniversary Party for my parents at the…read moreHawthorne Hotel (where their wedding reception was 50 years ago) and Bill did the flowers for the event. AMAZING! Beautiful white floral arrangements in white and gold boxes that were different shapes and sizes. My Aunt Dotty completed the table arrangements with tealight candles and gold accents, fabulous! I've been sending arrangements to my Aunt all year, sort of an arrangement of the month plan, as a special thank-you... Bill makes each arrangement more spectacular than the last. The attention to detail and customer service is greatly appreciated. My Aunt reports that Bill saved the best arrangement for last: White orchids trimmed in gold for the holiday season. How special is that??

Bought myself a very beautiful thing from this shop last week and am so happy! I got a…read morecustom-created "fascinator", that is a whimsical headpiece with feathers and flowers. I was in the Royal Wedding spirit and wanted to get something fancy, and this shop had so many to choose from. The owner, Bill Graham is very talented and sweet. He spent time with me trying on different ones and helped me pick just the perfect one. My boyfriend has also got me flowers from here a few times and they always are gorgeous and professionally displayed. This shop has so many wonderful things and the flower arrangements he creates are just as stunning! I love supporting great local businesses like this! I

This place is awesome! Holten Artisan Gifts is my new go-to for one of a kind birthday and holiday…read moregifts. The works are unique and reasonably priced, and I love knowing that my purchase is supporting local artists. The two women running the shop are friendly and really care about crafting and community. They host a lot of workshops and public drop-in events here too. Definitely somewhere worth shopping if you're in the area!

This wonderful shop has closed but a new gift shop has opened. Holten Artisan Gifts. (978)…read more972-5179.

This is a very small store with an extremely friendly and helpful owner offering a wonderful…read moreselection of eclectic, slightly offbeat but very tastefully done handmade jewelry at moderate prices. Royal Jewelers across the street may carry twenty times as much inventory (at twenty times the average price) but I rarely find what I'm looking for there whereas I never seem to leave QP without the perfect gift in my pocket.

I love Kay, the owner, and I love this boutique…read more I have been buying my partners and family gifts here for over 5 years and it's the only jeweler shop where I know I'm guaranteed to find something funky or elegant that suites my and my loved ones eccentric yet sophisticated tastes. Just for cultural perspective I'm a 41 year old healthcare/tech entrepreneur, I am in the heart of the art, maker and innovation community. I live with 2 younger tech professionals, a programer who works in startups, and who is also a profesional electronic music DJ on the side and the other who creates high end audio systems as his day job and LARPing events for children and adults on the side. My landlord lives in the same building and she works as artist's business coach and is a local art impresario and her partner is a ex financier turned Buddhist priest, their single roommate is a professional painter who also runs gallery events and has a weekly local television show about art, culture, tech and politics. We all live and work in the Cambridge/Somerville area. In other words I have plenty of access to high end jewelry here and yet I drive 30 min each way to see Kay, and get her expert counseling and amazing fashion forward pieces. Her stock is amazing, there are items that are conservative enough to wear to premier healthcare workshops and government meetings, even formal inaugural balls, and items that you could wear to a punk/electronic music venue in Brooklyn. And what's amazing is many of the pieces are so classy and so artistic you could actually wears the same pieces to both of these seemingly polar extremes. At least a third to over a half of her stock is made in the US and some are even more local to our region. And some is also from overseas, I was actually treated to be introduced to one of her artist/suppliers from Tel Aviv as I was leaving yesterday, he makes beautiful hand wrought silver items... incredibly elegant and gorgeous! Every time I visit (and sometimes I visit multiple times to make a single purchase as I'm discriminating and often have a hard time choosing) Kay spends between 30 min to an hour helping me find the right pieces. I pull up pictures of my partner so Kay can help me match color/style to my partners hair, completion and clothing style. She then helps me decide on wrapping and presentation and then send me home confident and excited to make my special ones explode with happiness. I hope you will be as happy as I am, but I will be shocked if you aren't!

Going to Ravenstone will leave you feeling serene, grounded and blissfully magical. Careful though,…read moreit's so wonderful, you'll find yourself there every weekend. The owners are kind and down to earth and it's a pleasure to spend time with them and their lovely apothecary. There is no crystal you won't be able to find, and if you can't? The owners are wonderful enough to try to find it for you.

Ravenstone is a magical, mystical place. I'm kicking myself for not visiting sooner--I would walk…read moreby in the mornings and try to remember to pop in. But I finally made it a priority and am so glad I did. This is a must-visit, whether you live in the area or are visiting nearby. Ravenstone is absolutely gorgeous inside, with the friendliest, most knowledgeable staff. It's an oasis in downtown Lynn. And it's bigger than I expected, with the main shop on the first floor and then an upstairs area selling books, a room for magick items, and space for readings. The first floor has an impressive array of crystals/gemstones, candles, jewelry, beauty, bath and body items, and more. The candle collection is lovely and picked up an exquisite vetiver and tonka candle. I also bought the most perfect piece of amethyst. I highly recommend visiting Ravenstone and I cannot wait to return.