Welcome to Oaktopia Design

     This is my first time to blog, and my first adventure following a dream to turn my creations into an online shop.  Let me give you a little background about Oaktopia Design.  First of all it was not my idea, but a neighbor of mine came up with the idea, designed our logo, and our ETSY shop.  So a big thanks goes out to Special K.  Oaktopia Design is a group of artisans in Oakland, most of whom  live right in my very own neighborhood.  Even though we have often talked about a group venture together it took the downturn of the economy to get us off our rears and in motion.  One of us was injured (requiring a spinal fusion), one of us was laid off after years of loyal service to his employer, another works freelance, and we even have a member who is so close to retirement he can taste it.  Oaktopia is more than just a bunch of folks who no longer participate in the 9 to 5 rat race, we are an extended family. 
     A few years ago on a camping trip, a good friend of mine Ben gave our neighborhood the nickname of Oaktopia and it just stuck.  Mostly because that's how we all feel about our neighborhood, it's a little slice of Utopia right here in Oakland where you least expect it.  We are a very tight community here on the hill, and we take care of each other.  All of us are part of the hard working middle class of America; fire fighters, Oakland Police Department, software designers, a teacher, City and County employees,  a bio-chemist, a nurse and a pediatrician.  We go camping together, we go to Burning Man together, and we even sit down to dinner at least once a week together.  We liked the name Oaktopia so much that one night we scurried around the neighborhood with city letters and nailed the name down every telephone pole in the neighborhood.  It was great fun.  There was a thrill of doing something that marked our territory as ours, and yet if you didn't know what to look for you would never see our name because it blends right in with the city markings (although the cable man noticed it when he came to install cable at my house).  I am unable to disclose where we got the city letters from, all I can say is "thanks dad".
     So it is with great excitement that I invite you to follow our blog and visit our shop at www.etsy.com/shop/OaktopiaDesign and check us out.