Allied Arts Holiday Festival Opens

Here’s how the table looks this year. There was room to add a tall, skinny shelf to the right — perfect for some of my assemblages.

Here’s to buying handmade and local. Cheers!

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Allied Arts Holiday Festival

Getting ready for the Allied Arts holiday show. I juried for both my Realms lotions and soaps, plus the art assemblages I’ve been doing all year. So my booth is going to be a little of both.  Here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

Time Gone By

Gramophone dog

Red

Eiffel Tower necklace

Been having fun with some mini shadow boxes — in necklace form. They are double-sided.

Sisters necklace

Lotus flower necklace

Turquoise butterfly necklace

Mucha necklace

 

Mixed Media Assemblages Debut at The Glass Slipper

Some of my mixed media pieces are now hanging out at The Glass Slipper, a magical little gift store in Ferndale.

The Glass Slipper

The shop is filled with handmade art. Every little nook is filled with treasures.

Inside The Glass Slipper

A few of my half dolls and seeing eye dogs found a home in this lovely cabinet.

New temporary home for some of the menagerie

Milk Glass Half Doll and Seeing Eye Dog

And a couple are hanging out in other locations.

Bronzed shoes shadow box

Lori is a gem; she calls everyone honey.

Proprietess Lori Leighton

Thanks for finding me, Lori.

Realms in La Connor

While at the Skagit Valley Saturday Market earlier this summer, Sharon Scott, the owner of The Scott Collection in La Connor, came upon the Realms booth and fell in love with the products. She asked if I’d ever done wholesale.

The Scott Collection in La Connor

We forged an agreement and I’m delighted to say the store is now carrying Realms lotions in eight different scents. Yay.

Dropping in at the Ferndale Public Market

We dropped in at the Ferndale Public Market on Saturday to see how we’d do. We were warmly welcomed by the staff and fellow vendors, and the weather was gorgeous.

The fountain plaza at the Ferndale Public Market

What a cool venue! The fountain plaza is right along Main Street with beautiful stone work.

The River Walk

Then it bends around and follows the Nooksack down to Pioneer Park.

The fountain at the Ferndale Public Market

Kids had a blast in the fountain all day long and we had a great day. We’ll definitely be back next Saturday.

Assemblages

In addition to making shadow boxes, I’ve also been making other assemblages. I’m drawn to old ceramic half dolls, formerly atop pincushions, brushes or powder jars. I’ve been pairing them with various containers, adding things here and there.

Milk glass lady

This is an old German half doll which I think works perfectly with this milk glass vanity jar.

Sisters

I’ve also been pairing them with tins.

Preserving youth

This was formerly the top to an old bubble gum machine. The ceramic baby powder shaker was still filled with powder.

Shaving brush dog

I’ve also been making animal assemblages.

Animal crackers

This dog has a little pig mixed in.

New creations

I’ve been having fun in my studio making shadow boxes and other assemblages.

Image shadow box

I’m finding a few themes that are recurring: self image, love, motherhood, beauty, music and things with wings.

Sad Cupid shadow box

Some of the items I’ve collected over the years. Others I find at garage sales and on eBay.

Baby's first shoes shadow box

I fell in love with these bronzed baby shoes.

Egyptian tin

And, I’ve always had a thing for containers of any sort: tins, boxes, bottles…

Fell asleep with her tutu on shadow box

I gave this one to my sister, Debbie, who has always been a talented ballerina.

Green silk embroidered shoe shadow box

Shoes are also a recurring theme.

Angel box

And anything with wings.

Skagit Valley Saturday Market no more

It is with sadness I announce the end of the Skagit Valley Saturday Market. Two thirds of the starting vendors left the market. We were left with six on Saturday — not enough to continue — so we voted to close the market.

I’m not sure why it didn’t take off. The fact is we just weren’t seeing enough traffic. Was it the economy? People without much expendable income? Was it the location? Was it we didn’t have any farmers with fresh produce joining our ranks? In my mind, the economy was the biggest factor.

The most difficult part for me is saying goodbye to many fellow vendors who have become my Saturday family — Kate of Funky Country Clothing, Bev of Blue Collar Dog Treats, Janet of UKDK WA, Laura of Islander Herbs, Anne at Bush’s Nursery, Tammi of Tammi Layne Designs, Petra and her sweet children of Liliana Beauty Care, Dan and Gail Ferris of Ferris Wheel Creations, and many more. I hope to see you all on down the line. Hugs.

Sun shines on Skagit Valley Saturday Market

Loving the sun at the June 4th Skagit Valley Saturday Market. Vendors and shoppers were in great spirits. It broke 70 degrees, the first time in a record number of days in Western Washington.

Trying on some lotion silky goodness

They came by car and motorcycle, and even by bike.

Bicyclists checking out the market

This was the first of four Senior Saturdays — happening the first Saturday of every month — where vendors at every booth are offering discounts to anyone 60 and up.

Shoppers checking out Felted Fantasies

A popular booth was Ferris Wheel Creations, where visitors tried out the handmade Adirondack chairs.

Testing out the perfect Adirondack chair

While the whirlygigs worked overtime.

Adirondack life

Skagit Valley Saturday Market Opens

Mother’s Day weekend marked the opening of the Skagit Valley Saturday Market.

Opening day at the Skagit Valley Saturday Market

Mother Nature definitely put her stamp on the day. We fought to tether our tent walls in the wind and the skies opened with wild outbursts of rain. But we lashed our poles and good thoughts together and did our best not to let the rain dampen our collective spirit.

Realms booth at the Saturday Market

We have since posted a press release on PRWeb and are getting some good indexing and pickups, including an article on page three in the Skagit Valley Herald.

Skagit Valley Herald article

Here’s to thoughts of sunbreaks for the Saturdays to come.