We are Raina & Ruben. We met as deckhands on a tall ship bound for Antarctica, returned to Canadian soil after our high sea adventure and began weaving together a life and family in the backwoods of Nova Scotia. We are inspired daily by our greatest teachers: our two wild and free daughters. We flow between parenting, homesteading and creating in our studio & forge. We aim to create beautiful and useful pieces that enliven your day-to-day.

In 2014, we set up shop within this Etsy community as a way of sharing who we are and what we do. We love that we are able to engage directly and authentically with our customers locally and across North America as we mindfully choose to work from home, living close to the land. Our intention through R&R Handmade is to passionately contribute to a new economy, one that celebrates creative expression, hand skills, quality and regeneration of the earth.

Ruben is the blacksmith behind all the hammering of hot steel. With over 20 years of experience and a passion for forging, he's really good at it. His work is physically demanding and his process is loud and dirty; he wouldn't have it any other way.

I (Raina) work with Ruben to fine-tune and create new designs. I am also the one responding to convos, processing and shipping orders and photographing. My studio is across the driveway from the blacksmith shop with a magical view of our evolving permaculture food forest, blueberry fields and the occasional passing fox.

We're most excited to be here and are delighted that you've stopped in!