our herstory

When I was 7, my mom opened a small store, The Creator’s Hands, a few blocks from our house in Rochester, NY. We lived in the 19th Ward, a tightly knit, inner city community not far from downtown. The Creator’s Hands was “A Gallery of Art and Craft” that celebrated the artists represented as well as our spiritual creator, showcasing work from both Christian and Judaic faiths, as well as many secular works.

Mom first opened her doors in November of 1979 with 25 local consignors in 500SF of space. Over the course of the next 32 years, her store moved and expanded multiple times, and over that time has featured the work of hundreds of American artists. In 2011, she retired and sold the business, and it is still open today. If you are in the Rochester, NY area, please visit The Creator’s Hands and tell Shelly that Heidi sent you in!

I started working for my mom at age 11, first just vacuuming and dusting, then wrapping gifts, and finally selling. By age 16, I went to my first wholesale buying show in Philadelphia. As the daughter of a shop owner, I am acutely aware of how much work is involved, and have always said (up until 2019) that I would never own a shop like my mom.

Now I know that all those years watching my mom, I was actually learning by osmosis - training my eye to not only see what appealed to me, but also to others. How to merchandise a shop. How to attract customers. How to stay connected to artists. All of it. 

When the owner of one of my favorite local shops, ebb, announced that she was closing her business, only a few blocks from my house, my interest was instantly piqued. After much thought and a lot of planning, dandelion wishes opened our doors on October 18, 2019. Our first full year was an interesting one….but thanks to our small size and supportive community, we were not at all deterred by the global pandemic. 

Five and a half years later and the shop is still going strong, always looking for new work, while we continue to carry many of the artists we featured on our opening day. In the brick and mortar shop, you will find the work of about 160 artists and makers from all across North America (and a few "exceptional exceptions” that come from further afield). I no longer run the shop solo, but also have the essential help of the shop manager, Dana, and two awesome sales team members, Mary Beth and Michele. I am so grateful for the amazing team we have!

This dandelion wishes website was launched in March of 2026 with a small selection of the work available in the shop. Due to the complexity of selling items online, it is not feasible for us to display anywhere close to all of what we have in the shop. If you are looking for something specific you have seen on our social media, or in our store,  but you cannot find it on our website, please reach out to us - if it is in stock, we would be happy to get it to you!

If you found us online, we hope you will get the chance to visit us in person soon. Please call or check our social media first if you are travelling a ways to visit  us. We try not to close unexpectedly, but with such a small staff, it is sometimes unavoidable. Last minute closings are always announced on our voicemail, and posted to our social media account, which is visible at the bottom of our home page.