Monday, December 6, 2010

crafting a picnic


Just a few days 'til the Picnic Holiday Sale! This juried indie craft fair is THE place to load up on some really cool and creative gifts for you and yours, AND support independent, local artists - like yours truly ;)
Check out the vendor list here

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

rust never sleeps


I've walked by this unexpected piece of 'found art' many, many times on my daily hikes with my faithful canine, Piper, and the shear irony of it always make me smile.

Friday, November 12, 2010

the gifted hand


Getting ready to head out to the city and ready my booth for The Gifted Hand Show. This is the fifth year for this fine art and craft show - and my first! I'm very excited to be in the company of such fine artisans.
The show is held at the Ramada Inn (formerly the Holiday Inn) in Ellsworth, ME, and runs Friday, November 12th 11:00 am to 7:00 pm Saturday, November 13th 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Hope to see you there!

Friday, October 29, 2010

halloween block party!


Come on down (or up!) to Bangor, ME on Saturday, Oct 30th for the first annual Downtown Halloween Block Party! This rockin' day long celebration features live music, spooky films, and a giant Outdoor Market featuring Maine-made food, art, crafts and of course, lots of treats! 
Fun for the whole family including kid-friendly events at the Maine Discovery Museum , costume contests, a parade,  films at  The Penobscot Theater, and so much more!

Downtown shops, pubs and restaurants get in on the action with spooky sales, specials and trick-or-treating too!

And yours truly will be at the Outdoor Market map with lots of her recycled creations (some of witch - oops! - which would make great treat bags)!

See you there...

Thursday, September 23, 2010

tah-dah!

Done! (And no, I didn't loose an arm in the process - it just looks that way...)
Now it's time to pack up the truck and crack that beer. Cheers!

banner day

Oh why do I do this to myself? Mere hours before the biggest fair (see previous post) I have ever done and I am just now getting around to creating a banner for my booth...

What is that you say? Don't I think it would have been a good idea to just order one from like a banner making company or something? What?! And save myself all the stress, time, lost sleep and work of designing and building one from scratch? Obviously you have been spared the 'procrastination gene'.

Actually, I did have plans - way back when - to order a custom made banner. But then those 2 recurring thoughts popped into my head: 1. it will cost money, and 2. I can make it myself. Out of recycled materials.

And it will be a perfect reflection of what OneWomanStudio (and I) is all about: making do with what you have on hand, creatively repurposing whatever can't be recycled, and saving those pennies for the rainy day which inevitably will arrive.
...or for the six-pack of Geary's I will be ending this banner day with...

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

see you at the fair!


So in case you haven't heard... OneWomanStudio has a booth at the Common Ground Country Fair! This will be my very first time as a vendor at this incredible event and I am very excited (and nervous, and wondering how I will survive the 55,000+ fair-goers...). 
The fair is sponsored by The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), and takes place on their sprawling Common Ground Education Center campus in Unity, ME.
You can find me, and my OneWomanStudio, in the Maine Marketplace East, just a short walk from the Pine Gate. I have a south facing booth space (yeah!) on the outside edge of the Large Tent (see the map below).
The fair runs from Friday Sept. 24 through Sunday Sept. 26, and gates open at 9am. See you at the fair!
click on the map for larger image, or download a map here

Thursday, September 9, 2010

show time!

I've been a busy bee these days, sewing up a bunch of messenger bags in preparation for the Woofstock show on Saturday, Sept 11th in Damariscotta, ME! 
Below is a photo of the bags in various stages of assembly. Each one is fashioned from 1-2 recycled pet food bags, which saves a whole lotta trash from ending up in the landfill!
Chicken, horse and llama feed bags also find their way into my creations. Here is a finished messenger bag crafted from a Nutrena Layer Pellets bag - one of my favorites and a really hot seller!
If you love dogs and absolutely anything relating to them, then Woofstock is the place for you to be this Saturday. There will be a pet parade, doggy fashion show, yard sale, yummy food, and lots of vendors peddling all manner of pet-centric products! And the best part - all proceed from this event will go directly to area animal shelters! See you there!

Friday, August 20, 2010

ah, grasshoppah...

I was out wandering in the garden this morning after a brief but extremely heavy down-pouring of that mystical substance known as WATER, and just have to share some of what I observed!
Grasshoppers fascinate me, and this guy? gal? was the largest one I've ever seen! Granted, the photo has been *enlarged to show detail* - but still and all - Wow! You really must click on the photo and get the full effect!
And BTW... who knew that sunflower stocks were so fuzzy?



Wednesday, July 28, 2010

kneadful things


Only 3 more days and I'll be on my way to Skowtown (Skowhegan, Maine for those of you from 'away')! What's in Skowhegan you might ask (and rightly so...)? Well, the 2nd annual Artisan Bread Fair of course!
While the Kneading Conference wraps up on Friday, July 30, folks will be able to gather to enjoy the fruits of their (and others') labor on Saturday, July 31 at a fair devoted to all things 'bread'.

I'll be there peddling my tote bags made from recycled flour and grain bags, hoping to catch the eye of the fairs' sponsor, King Arthur Flour. I mean, I do use *a lot* of their bags in my work!

And appropriately enough... "The Artisan Bread Fair will occur this year on the Eve of Lammas Day, or as it was called in even deeper antiquity, Lughnasadh. This is the ancient, mystical feast day halfway between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox when we celebrate the season's first grain harvest and revel in the Miracle of Real Bread from Earth to Hearth. There will be bakers at work with wood-fired hearth ovens, oven builders, grain millers, artists, booksellers, live music, storytellers, seed vendors, baking and agricultural equipment vendors and much more. And to go with all the excellent artisan breads being sold, there will be local foods from area farmers and restaurants including hearth-baked pizza! Come join us for the Rites of Lammas Day!"

The fair takes place at the Skowhegan State Fairgrounds, from 9am-3pm on Saturday, July 31st. See you there!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

foxy gloves

I just finished cutting down my gone-way-to-seed foxgloves and I am feeling a bit sentimental. 
These photos were taken at the height of their beautifulness. Are they not the most spectacular flowering plant? Oh, I know... you bet I say that to all the plants...
Just look at this close-up and try to tell me your heart doesn't go pitter-patter. Kinda sexy aren't they?

Sunday, July 11, 2010

to market, to market...

A great big *thank you* to all my peeps - and brand new peeps - for coming out in the fog and drizzle yesterday to stop by my Guest Artist booth at the Blue Hill Farmers' Market and say "Howdy"! You just made my day with all of your positive feedback and down-right contagious excitement about my work! Not to mention buying up almost every bag I had for sale...

And a BIG *thank you* to  Market Manager Donna of Horse Power Farm in Penobscot, ME  for inviting me and running one of the best - and biggest - farmers' markets in Maine!

Monday, June 28, 2010

doggie bag

Here's a sneak peek at the first in a new series of purses and messenger bags I've designed to utilize my ever-expanding collection of animal feed bags. Empty horse and alpaca feed bags... dog and cat food bags... The pliable and durable plastic-type material lends its self so well to this more structured design. And the colors! Bright, saturated, pink, lavender, yellow, orange, green!
This purse will be on display at the 2nd annual Schoodic Arts for All Recycled Art Show, July 1 - August 15, 2010 at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor, ME. Come on down and check it out! All the art work on display is made from at least 90% recycled, repurposed or man-made material. So cool!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

the world within

I snapped this photo as I was out wandering my garden after a rain storm. I can't help but ponder the world  contained within this tiny droplet of water!
Click on the image to get a super close up and just look. Look into it. Really look into it. Astounding...

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

fare play

You know those wicked cool recycled grain bag totes, made famous by your favorite little dumpster diva? Well check 'em out now! As if having my recycled tote bags for sale in the super-hip, Rockport , ME cafe and market, Farmers Fare wasn't enough... they decided they needed to make them their very own!
Using their signature graffiti-like graphics and playfully juxtaposed words, these totes have been taken to the nth degree of hipness. Go there and get one before they sell out, because they will - they are that HOT!
Major kudos are owed to Farmers Fare's  masterful graphic designer Christian Helms, of Austin's The Decoder Ring Design Concern and Tim Sommer of Inner Sense Screenprinting, in Searsport, ME for helping to make this all come together.
And many thanks to all the folks at Farmers Fare - but especially Teri, the brains behind this project - for looking me up, tracking me down, and being one of my biggest fans :)

Click on the photo below to see more of these cool bags

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

puppy love



Oh, how I do love puppies! And when one of my handmade recycled creations - like my DogChow Tote Bag - was recently featured in a blog post along with an adorable pup... well, I just had to share the cuteness! Check out Murphy and his debut on Happy Day Vintage. And for some really awesome vintage finds, visit Happy Day Vintage's Etsy shop for cool stuff like this:

Friday, January 15, 2010

diamond in the rough

I'll admit it - I actually look forward to my weekly trips to the local... dump. I know there are far more politically correct words to use to describe this bustling hub of waste shuffling activity, but come on - the place is a dump. Anyway...
I was cruising the metal pile a few months ago looking for anything that might lend itself to being useful - I've found file cabinets (heavy enough to anchor the Queen Mary), desks, chairs, buckets of nails... and also stuff that was just to cool not to bring home with me but would serve no practical purpose - rusty tricycles without pedals, wood stove parts and pieces, duct work...
Well, as I was in kind of a hurry to get the heck out of there (someone had just off-loaded a heap of not-so-fresh crab shells into the adjacent dumpster) I decided a drive-by with the windows rolled up would have to suffice. But then I saw it... in all it's eye-popping aqua-ness... right there on the edge of that tangled mass of corroded conduit and battered bed frames as if it had been placed there oh so gently for me to find...
Admittedly, my first thought was "that will make an amazing door-stop" - I mean the thing is 50lbs of solid metal and the thought that it might actually run hadn't dawned on me. Yet.
So home we went, but not before a brief detour to the Sew & Save Shop in downtown Ellsworth, Maine and my friendly sewing machine repairman who gave Old White a thorough inspection, hooked us up with a reconditioned foot pedal and announced "That's a fine machine you got there!". You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I just pulled it out of the metal pile about 15 minutes ago.
Long story short, it sews better than any machine I have ever used. It feeds beautifully, makes perfect stitches in the toughest of material, has a separate bobbin winder - not to mention it's downright gorgeous!
Funny thing is, I had been thinking seriously about purchasing a new machine for months. My WalMart-special Singer (it was a gift!) had been balking at the paces I was putting it through - it was never meant to sew the kind of stuff I sew - and I was surprised it had held up this long. But lack of funds and that little voice that was saying "wait..." prevented me from making that purchase. I'm ever so glad. I don't think I could have  found a machine more perfect for me!


Friday, January 8, 2010

happier new year!

While I have no major complaints about how MY little world is at the dawn of this new decade... I'm healthy, have a (relatively) sane and loving family, am mortgage free (by my own design), and enjoy vast amounts of time to explore my creative tendencies in a beautiful and safe environment...Oh, I could go on and on with this list of blessings!
But ever present in my mind is the fact that for many, many living things all over this world, it really could not get much worse. Which is why I wish and pray that in some small (or HUGE) way, 2010 will be a happier year for all. Peace.