About Ties That Bind Handmade
At “Ties That Bind”, we provide lavishly, handcrafted adornments for women, men and children. We create bead, clay, wire and fiber arts, that are birthed with Intention, Mindfulness and, most of all, a LOVING touch!
“Ties That Bind” is a small, black-owned, female-owned business, dedicated to the upliftment and empowerment of women. Our name, Ties That Bind, was chosen to represent the ties that bind us as a people (as humanity), with significance placed on the role of the female as the first teacher of the child, making her integral in the building and strengthening of our family ties, leading to extended relationship ties and community ties that will help us to establish more productive neighborhoods, communities, and, ultimately, a more productive nation.
"As long as the ties that bind us together are stronger than those that would tear us apart, all will be well."
—Jamie Lynn Green
About the Owner
Tamiko Geneé Muhammad, known to her close friends as Miko, is a wife and mother of 3, residing on Chicago’s Southside. Miko has been an artist and crafter ALL OF HER LIFE, producing various items from the fine and applied arts of painting, drawing, graphic design and photography to handmade crafts such as specialty greeting cards, gift baskets and the like. When giving gifts, she has always felt that there is just something VERY SPECIAL about blessing someone with something beautiful that was made with her own hands.
Miko studied fine arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she received degrees in Art Education and Painting. After college, she worked in the field of graphic design and photography for more than 20 years. During this time, she continued crafting, honing her skills in the fiber arts (sewing, crochet and knitting), producing items as gifts for family and friends. She soon acquired a following and began to produce commissioned works, selling her handmade items out of her home and at various vending events. Seeing that her “hobby” was beginning to generate income, Miko decided to begin creating and selling her arts part-time.
Over the years, she has added new talents to her repertoire, expanding her business. She recently left the graphic design world and is currently running her home-based business full-time, not only producing ‘Crochet Loops’ and ‘Knit Knots’, which are playful names she has given her crocheted and knitted items representing different types of ties, but also offering ‘Waist Bead Ties’, 'Wire Wraps' and more, under the moniker “Ties That Bind!”—'Where Handcrafted Works of Art are Birthed with Intention, Mindfulness and a LOVING Touch!’