Meet Amber Hage-Ali of The Terrorium Shop in Berkeley

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Hage-Ali.

The Terrorium Shop is a partnership between Ian and Amber, a taxidermist and gardener. 

Amber started collecting found curiosities at a young age. As she grew older she began experimenting with creating little mini worlds, 3-dimensional displays with her found mementos serving as memories of her experiences in nature.

“I just absolutely adored witnessing the process of decay and regrowth found in the natural world; seeing the earth reclaiming its magical creatures. “

The Terrorium Shop became a business in August 2017 after Amber gifted her partner Ian with one of her Terroriums for their first holiday and he encouraged her to share it with others.

Amber and Ian combined their love of preservation and their different skill sets to create new concepts. Ian doing the dead things and amber doing the living. They hit the local craft market scene and participated in that for two years. In May 2019 Amber and Ian took their art to a brick and mortar tucked away in a little corner of the Berkeley neighborhood.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Lugging around bins full of Terroriums to craft markets is a struggle itself. What we are figuring out right now as new business owners is how to keep creating but still making sure we take time for ourselves. It’s definitely a full time job.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into The Terrorium Shop story. Tell us more about the business.
I like to say we are “Denver’s weird plant shop” but it’s so much more than that. We showcase the process of life and death; decay and regrowth through our Terroriums. A spin on the word “terrarium.” I really love that you become a part of that process too with every interaction you have with your living piece. Maintaining its care is facilitating that cycle of life. 

Our animal products come from road kill that Ian processes. In the beginning most of the road kill we collected ourselves but now we have a little network of people who collect for us and we do the processing. It’s definitely a messy job and not something I can stomach too well. I stick to the plants.

We really wanted to make the new space a magical experience. To bring a piece of the mountains to the city. It incorporates all of our favorite elements of nature and we also teach classes to help others learn about preservation.  So they too can create memories of their own experiences. 

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
We got lucky that there are more weirdos in Denver like us 😉 I never even dreamed that people would take to my hobby this way. It has been something I have been doing for years and I was always afraid to share it because I pour my soul into each piece. Putting yourself out there like that is very vulnerable. It’s saying “here I am” to the world. That rejection was something I had always feared. But the love and support from this community has been so encouraging. Thank you Denver!

Contact Info:

• Address: 3611 w.49th ave., Denver, CO 80221
• Website: theterroriumshop.com
• Phone: 7206308758
• Email: theterroriumshop@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theterroriumshop/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theterroriumshop/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-terrorium-shop-denver

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.