Hi there, gorgeous!

I'm Ali (she/zie/they) an artist/maker, disability advocate, activist for bodily autonomy and queer rights, and a staunch believer in community above profits.

I've been making and selling art in various forms since Y2K was a zeitgeist rather than a retro aesthetic. There's nothing I love more than seeing the joy someone gets wearing or using something I've made, knowing my efforts have put a little more sparkle into the world.

Somewhere along the way, that joy turned into a business plan with a very specific rule attached: build it ethics-first, and give away as much as I make. I believe there are people out there like you who'd rather spend money on little luxuries knowing that money is doing some good, not just padding some random cis-het-white-probably-a-man's portfolio.

Throughout my years running HR and Operations for tech startups, climbing the ladder I was "supposed" to climb, my dream of coming back to art never died. At the same time, I became increasingly disillusioned, watching up close how capitalist companies actually treat the people inside them. Eventually the gap between what I believed and what I was building for someone else got too wide to ignore, and it took a very real toll on both my mental and physical health. I left the corporate world determined to find a new path forward.

Here's the part I don't hide: I've lived with a body that hasn't played by consistent rules since I was a preteen. Chronic conditions touch my joints and connective tissue, immune system, balance, nervous system, and hormones... all of it capable of shifting day to day in ways that are exhausting to explain and impossible to predict. What's stayed constant through all of it is that making things with my hands has always been where I go for solace. Ursa Luna Collective is that solace, turned into something you can hold.

Our Mission

Ursa Luna Collective is a community-driven marketplace by and for queer folks, chronically ill and disabled rock stars, neurodivergent whiz kids, intersectional-trans-inclusive feminists, and anyone who believes community should come before profit. If that's you, welcome home.

We believe:

• You deserve quality, luxury items you can feel good about. We never use fillers  (cheap additives that water down formulas) and we choose vessels that can be reused again and again.
• Ingredients should be chosen for their efficacy and their long-term safety. We formulate skin and body care free from the known toxins and organ disruptors common in mass-market products.
• Pricing should reflect fair wages for the people making things, and profit should be redistributed to causes in need. All profits are split evenly at the end of each year between our makers and vetted non-profits fighting the good fight.
• Above all, we believe in the power of joy. If what we make plays a supporting role in your euphoria, we've done my job.

Where "Ursa Luna" Comes From

Ursa Luna is named, in part, for Bear. She's a scrappy, gorgeous black raggamuffin cat and, without question, the love of my life. In witch terms, she's my familiar: the creature who walks beside you, protects you, and mirrors back exactly the energy you need. Bear is beauty and mischief and ferocious protective love in one purring package, and she's the unofficial mascot of everything I make here. The name is really about what she represents; something small that refuses to be anything less than fully itself, fiercely protective of the people it loves, and just a little bit magic. That's what I set out to build for you, too.

How I Make Things

Right now, it's just fabulous lil' ole me. Every candle hand-poured, every piece of jewelry hand-set, in small batches, in between the days my body cooperates and the days it doesn't. I do my best to use ingredients that are friendly to those of us with sensitivities, and to source from the best places I can afford. Sometimes that's refurbishing thrift finds, sometimes it's straight from the producer ingredients, and unfortunately, sometimes it still means a run to the big-name craft stores. While I hope to always do better and keep improving, I'm taking things one step at a time.

Down the line I hope to partner with all manner of artists from our community. If you're interested please reach out! 

Why It Matters

If you've ever had to build your own version of normal because the world wasn't built for a body or a life like yours, you're not alone here, and neither am I. Everything in this shop is made by hands that know exactly what a bad day costs, for people who deserve good things everyday.

You are valid. Welcome to the collective.