I was on my way to Sanctuary Home on Monday when I noticed it was closed, turned around, and discovered a new store on Platte Street. A brand-new store, which I think is the baby of Platte Street (though Unity’s second location a few doors down opened this year as well): Tomte Modern Craft.

Opened in October by husband-and-wife team Brett and Crystal from Vital Industries, Tomte sells their screenprinted clothing and glassware (such as these scarves; the bicycle is one of their dominant motifs) as well as handmade items by other artists they met at craft fairs.

The emphasis here is on handmade, which generally means made in the USA, though I did notice one sweater made in China. The T-shirts they purchase for screenprinting are domestic.

I bought a long, narrow, cream-colored pillow made by Chakra Pennywhistle and printed with a swordfish. It’s just what every suburban living room needs. You can find a list of the artists whose works they sell (such as Berkley Illustration cards and Sophia Masri jewelry) on the Tomte website.

Tomte Modern Craft itself is tiny, and several times the owners slipped behind the gold curtain in the picture above and ran upstairs to get something from the “stockroom,” which I suspect is also their home. They’ve definitely made the most of the space they have. The store is two blocks from the corner of Platte and 15th and is right next door to The Other Side Arts.