Spotlight, Vendors

Vendor Interview | Millie Hilgert of Miss Courageous

by wintrymarket

We are so excited to have one of our favorite vendors back again this year for Wintry Market! She’s been with us since the beginning, and is a bit of a local celebrity in the art/craft/jewelry scene here in Boise.  She recently rented a really cool studio/retail space on the Boise Bench, in an eclectic little mid-century strip mall next to the Golden Star Chinese restaurant. Meet Millie Hilgert, aka Miss Courageous!

Millie Hilgert designs and makes all Miss Courageous jewelry & accessories. Everything she makes used to be something else. Call it upcycling, recycling, repurposing, eco-friendly, crafting green, re-use, reinvent, or redesign. Whatever you call it, ultimately it means you get something fresh, fun and new from something that reminds you of your childhood. From vintage game pieces and record vinyl to bottle caps and altered LEGO bricks, Miss Courageous transforms pop culture into Pop Jewelry and Accessories for you and your home. Her work is constantly evolving and new pieces are created regularly.

Her work has been seen on Boise’s channel 6 news, featured in Treasure Magazine, The Idaho Business Review, the Idaho Statesman, the Boise Weekly, Treasure Valley Family Magazine, Eagle Magazine, Las Vegas Home & Design and showcased on several popular blogs.

Where is your studio/shop located and how long have you been there? 1148 N. Orchard St. I’ve been there since March 2012.

Is is open to the public? 
In the past it’s only been open during special events that I hosted, but I will be opening the front as a retail shop beginning November 15th.
Where else besides your studio can we find you/your work? 
I can be found at the Capital City Public Market on Saturdays, Green Chutes Artist Co-op on State & Collister, on-line at MissCourageous.etsy.com, and other local events.
What kinds of new things do you have planned for the future and/or may be showing at Wintry Market this year? 
Developing new products can sometimes take over a year for me, from an idea to all the phases of trial & error & prototypes to finished product can be a lot of work but that is the best part of creating. I am currently working on transforming weaponry into jewelry, but it’s at such an early prototype phase that I may only have a couple pieces ready in time for Wintry Market. The pacifist in me wants to get the gun parts out of circulation, but I think it is something that could actually appeal to people on both sides of the gun issue.
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So excited to have you back at Wintry, Millie! To see more of her work check out her flickr photostream: http://www.flickr.com/misscourageous.