New Pierce County studio offers woodworking classes for pieces ‘that last’
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- Maeberry Design opens MD Studio March 1 in Gig Harbor for guided painting, wood workshops.
- Workshops run 2–3 hours and cost $42–$145. The studio provides supplies and refreshments.
- Studio offers private events, seasonal workshops and personalization options.
Trisha Radosavljevic dislikes waste.
“I just think there’s a lot of it in the world,” she said.
That’s partly how her creative business, Maeberry Design, was born: a way to make personalized, handcrafted gifts for loved ones that they won’t want to throw away.
On March 1, Radosavljevic will open MD Studio by Maeberry Design, a workshop space at 3028 Harborview Dr. where she’ll be able to host couples, friends and groups and teach them how to make their own engraved wood projects, from miniature houses to complete a winter holiday display to an arrangement of painted flowers.
The building, tucked behind other downtown stores in its own shaded clearing, used to be home to Green Cottage Pets, a pet food store. Green Cottage Pets closed in June 2023, according to the former business’s Facebook page.
Studio to offer hands-on woodworking and painting workshops
Workshops at MD Studio will be similar to Paint and Sip sessions — but with what Radosavljevic described as “a high probability of success.”
Guests who participate in a guided workshop will come in to find all the separate wood pieces ready for their craft. All they’ll have to do is put it together, and in some cases paint the pieces as they build. MD Studio will provide guided instruction as well as light refreshments for workshop participants.
“So we’ve taken it so that what you’re doing is broken down into pieces, so that when you are painting, you don’t have to worry about going out of the lines,” she said. “ ... you paint it, then you put it together.”
Depending on the workshop, guests could walk home with a wooden flower bouquet, a miniature farmhouse or cottage or another delicate creation. Radosavljevic said she’s still planning workshops for later in the year, and that she plans to switch them up in different seasons, as well as introduce workshops for kids. She’s also thinking about date night workshops, she said.
Her vision is to create a space that’s “warm and welcoming,” rather than a space that feels like a retail or commercial space, she said.
“I want you to come in, I want you to sit, I want you to feel comfortable to create,” she said. The cost to participate in upcoming workshops in early March range from $42 to $145, and workshops last from two to three hours, per the website. Guests can reserve spots on the website.
Groups can also pay for workshops at private events, such as birthdays, showers, work events or date nights, either at the studio or another location, according to the website.
Some items can be personalized, such as magnets. In those cases, customers can note what message they want on their projects when they sign up for a workshop, and the studio will have the personalized piece ready for them when they arrive, Radosavljevic wrote in a text message.
Radosavljevic also has a personal studio off-site where she keeps various tools and her laser for engraving (customers won’t use the laser at MD Studio). The laser machine is about 6 feet by 7 feet and weighs over a ton, she wrote.
Gifts that will last
Radosavljevic spent the early years of her career in interior design. She started looking into laser-cutting and engraving after she began working in general contracting and building, she told The News Tribune. Before opening MD Studio, Radosavljevic had been hosting workshops at her personal studio, mostly for friends, family and people she knew.
One of her earliest projects was engraving magnets to attach to blank cards, she said. Having never been a fan of pre-scripted greeting cards, she liked giving others something meaningful to keep.
The idea of making miniature wooden houses came after she had another realization: she didn’t like putting a lot of work into gingerbread houses and then throwing them away.
Instead, the studio offers three different house designs (a farmhouse, a cottage or a cabin) that you can build and customize. Each home opens up and you can put candy or tea lights in them, and customize them with decorations ranging from “teeny tiny minature Christmas lights” to garlands and wreaths.
Not that there’s anything wrong with gingerbread houses, said Radosavljevic. But she prefers something different.
“I like things that last,” she said.
