The Barn Journal
From 25 Years in IT to the Loft
What happens when someone who spent a career fixing computers decides to make things people can hold.
Before she became a Saskatchewan maker, Loriann’s work lived on a screen for 25 years. Plenty of “have you tried turning it off and on again” kind of days. Good work, steady work. But at the end of it, there wasn’t much you could pick up and hand to someone.
The Itch to Make Something Real
Somewhere along the way, the itch started: to make things people could actually hold. Things with a name on them. Things that end up on a mantel, a front door or a kitchen counter, and stay there for years.
In 2018, she scratched it. Grey Barn Handwerk was born, and the desk was traded for a loft in the Barn on the family farm, just north of St. Gregor, Saskatchewan.
Turns Out IT Is Good Training for a Saskatchewan Maker
Here’s the funny part: a career in IT is surprisingly good preparation for running a laser engraver. Software that needs coaxing? Familiar. Settings that need fine-tuning? Very familiar. A machine that does exactly what you told it to, even when that isn’t what you meant? Oh, very, very familiar.
The difference is that now, when it all comes together, the result smells a little like fresh-cut wood and ends up wrapped in tissue paper.
27 Steps to Work
The commute these days is 27 steps from the house to the Loft. No traffic, no parking, the odd snowdrift. Up the stairs is where it all happens: the laser engraver, the heat press and the sublimation station, plus a coffee that’s usually going cold somewhere nearby.
What Hasn’t Changed
Some things carried over from the old career. Paying attention to the details. Checking the spelling twice (then once more). Answering questions with real answers. Those habits are why every name gets double-checked and every piece gets looked over by hand before it heads out the door.
What It Means for You
It means your gift is made by someone who chose this work on purpose, and still gets a kick out of it. Whether it’s an ornament with a pet’s name, a sign for the front door or a custom piece that started with “Is this possible?”, it’s Handwerked in the Loft and made to be kept.
Why Choose a Saskatchewan Maker?
When you buy from a Saskatchewan maker, your money stays close to home. It supports a real person on a real farm, not a warehouse three provinces away. You also get something a big store can’t offer: a gift made for one specific person, with their name, their date or their inside joke on it.
And if you have a question, you get a real answer from the person who knows exactly how your piece is made. That’s the part of small business we love most, and it’s why we’d choose the Loft over the old desk every single time.
What This Saskatchewan Maker Makes
These days, the Loft turns out ornaments, door signs, mugs and tumblers, bunnyhugs, cutting boards and a steady stream of custom pieces that started with “Is this possible?” Some are laser-cut and engraved, some are printed with sublimation, and all of them are personalized for someone in particular.
If you have something in mind that you can’t find in the shop, ask. Some of our favourite pieces came from a customer’s idea that nobody had tried before. That’s the joy of working with a Saskatchewan maker: the answer is usually “let’s find out.”
