Happy Saturday, Campers! July has come to a close, ending another exciting month here at Camp Hollow. Can you believe we’re halfway through the year already?! The middle point always seems to sneak up on us, and it can be pretty jarring to realize that time is passing by so quickly, especially when there’s so much we want to do and create and explore. So this month, with almost half of 2021 at our backs, we decided to do something we’d been wanting to do for a while, and ran our first ever Camp Hollow voting contest! 

We receive customer requests for new designs all the time on our social media platforms and through our website, and keep a running list of every house pet, jungle animal, deep sea dweller, and mythical creature ever suggested. From this list, we chose ten of our favorite possibilities for a new necklace design, worked up sketches for each, and asked our Instagram followers to vote for their favorite ones. Over the course of five days, several rounds, and thousands-- we mean thousands!-- of votes, one lucky design reigned supreme. 

A favorite from the very beginning, the humble raccoon ultimately prevailed over worthy runners-up like the beluga and snow hare. Though considered by some to be a menace to garbage bins and gardens everywhere, the raccoon has no doubt captured the affections of the mass public in recent years. With their tiny hands, poofy tails, and sweetly curious faces, who could blame anyone for finding these little bandits to be totally cute? In fact, they were actually named after one of their most-beloved features! The English word raccoon comes from Powhatan word aroughcun, which means "animal that scratches with its hands." Their incredibly dexterous and sensitive paws are crucial to their survival, along with their other famous identifier-- those black, mask-like eye markings actually help them to see and hunt at night. And while they’re out roaming and feeding and knocking over your trash cans, raccoons are also actively working to spread the growth of plants and trees! That’s right-- raccoons expel the seeds of the things they eat, inadvertently planting new berry bushes, flowers, and trees wherever they go. Intelligent, adorable, and ecologically minded-- what’s not to love! 

Thank you so much for participating in the making of a new and very special Camp Hollow piece. We’re so thrilled and humbled by the number of people rooting for our designs, and especially pleased that the winner of our first contest was something as cute and cherished as the raccoon. We wanted to show our appreciation for your enthusiasm by offering the Raccoon Necklace for pre-sale at the reduced price of $30 while supplies last. The necklace will ship in about 4-8 weeks-- check our our FAQ answer about our process to get a better understanding of the timeline!  

As always the Camp Hollow team is humbled by your ongoing patronage and appreciation for sustainable, made-to-last wearables made from quality materials with superior craftsmanship. Have a beautiful August!