Shop local and give local

Email invitations went out this past Friday for Beadware's holiday preview art show and sale. This annual event is a special show for the customers on my email list. It is a chance to see and purchase Beadware designs before they are snapped up at the many holiday shows I do in November and December. If you did not receive your invite and would like one, send me an email to get onto my mailing list.

This years event will be Saturday and Sunday November 2 and 3 from 11 to 4pm at my home studio in Southworth. Besides Beadware, there will be a variety of other artist's wares to choose from. I will be featuring each artist this month on my blog so stop back to learn more about each one.

This years artists are:
Ann Haines - Beadware.  Colorful, tasteful, understated, simple designs including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, ornaments and pins.

Linda Ricci - Side Door Pottery. Beautiful, delicate and functional items. Pitchers, pots, plates, bird houses and garden decorations, tiles and ornaments.

Mary Lou McCambridge - Painting is a passion. I love all things creative! Vibrant watercolor paintings and art cards.

Sandra Saldivar - Almond Branch. Handmade journals, tote and cosmetic bags in a variety of sizes and patterns.

Mona Gollan - Scrumptious jalapeño  and blackberry jelly.

There will also be fiber spinning demo's by Mona Gollan and Jan Morgan. We will have tasty munchies and beverages.What better way to shop local and give local!

Christmas in October

It is a gorgeous fall day and I am in my studio making Christmas ornaments! 

If I am good today my reward is a day at the ocean tomorrow. Yippee!! 

These ornaments are made with antique chandelier crystals. A simple beaded figure eight with a holiday bow. They are gorgeous on a tree. Very hard to get a decent picture of these.

They sell for $10 each, 3 for $25 and 6 for $45. Add some sparkle to your holiday!

Restocking My Online Store

Have you taken a peek at my online store lately? At the top right side of this blog is the link that will take you there. I have been busy restocking the store for my online holiday shoppers. Items listed this past week include:

All have been  SOLD

 Agate with green and copper necklace.

 A frosty green and white agate with sparkles that reminds me of fresh fallen snow.

Another gorgeous agate with brass.

 Beautiful, soft Owyhee jasper.

 What a color combo! Soft blue and brown Owyhee jasper with teal and copper.

And a bracelet to match.

All these as well as 9 more new necklace designs are now listed. More items will be listed all thru this month. Don't wait if you see something that would make a perfect holiday gift. My holiday show season starts the first weekend in November and these may all disappear quickly!

Beadware Holiday Sale - Day Two

We spent the afternoon happily crafting sweet grass and cedar bark ornaments 

under the guidance of Jo and George Hart of Wilderness Basketry. 

They brought some beautiful examples for show and tell. 

 Thanks to all who stopped in this weekend. 

It is always fun to see old friends and have the chance to visit.

Beadware Holiday Show - Day One

Thanks to everyone who came out today for Beadware's Holiday Show & Sale. 

If you did not make it here is what you missed....

A selection of jams, infused olive oils and gift bags filled with pancake mix and handcrafted elderberry syrup.

Beautiful displays of fused glassware and jewelry in a myriad of shapes

and sizes and all colors of the rainbow.

A wonderful performance by Past Tunes. We learned about their various instruments and about the period music that they play. What a delightful way to spend the afternoon!

We will be open again tomorrow from 11am to 4pm.No more music, but starting at 1pm there will be a basketry demo and you can make your own cedar ornament!

Introducing Past Tunes

Back by popular demand!! On Saturday during Beadware's annual Holiday Show & Sale come and listen to the beautiful music of Past Tunes, the best dang pre-Baroque duo in Port Orchard! Grab a glass of cider and a cookie or two and nestle into a comfy chair. Laurel and Toni will then treat you to musical romps through the festive Renaissance with a nod to medieval roots of our modern Christmas carols, on authentic gut-strung Viola da Gamba and wooden Recorders with a dash of Gemshorn. They have performed at my home several times and it is always a very pleasurable experience. 

Introducing Blue Fox Glass

At my holiday show and sale this weekend you can finish off your holiday list 

with some FUNctional art glass by Kandyse of Blue Fox Glass. 

She had been doing stained glass for 15+ years, 

but when she bought a kiln in 2009 fused glass became her new addiction!  

Perfect for your holiday table!

Pendants

So many choices......

Introducing PNW Plants

Another artisan at this weekends sale will be Tana of PNW Plants. She handcrafts jams from elderberries and other berries, rhubarb, herbs, peppers that she grows in her yard. On occasion she secures organic oranges for marmalade or Yakima produce and Montana Huckleberries to make jams as well.  

This year in addition to elderberry jam she will have Montana huckleberry/elderberry Syrup bundled with pancake mix and a spatula.

Her infused olive oils are organic and infused with herbs from her yard. She will also have 5 freshly potted indoor Hoya Plants. Her items sold out quickly last year so come early if you want these!

 

Introducing Wilderness Basketry

Every year I do 2-3 shows out of my home as a special treat for those on my email list. My annual holiday show and sale is fast approaching!  On Dec 3 & 4 at my home in Southworth shoppers will find Beadware's jewelry and gifts, beautiful fused glassware by Blue Fox Glass, and herbed olive oils and homemade jams of PNW Plants as well as music by Past Tunes and a hands-on basketry demo. Each day this week I will profile one of the artistisans.

Sunday will feature a hands-on basketry demo by Jo and George Hart of Wilderness Basketry. Jo grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, near Berea. She has 2 passions in life, plants and basketry. She has studied with many Native American master basket weavers from the Pacific Northwest plus local basket artists as well as a noted Applachian white oak basket maker. She has been a member of the Seattle Vi Phillips Basketry Guild for many years and has taught in Washington and Oregon. Her work has been displayed in the Kitsap County Indian Museum, local libraries, local and state fairs, and in Washington galleries.  Recently, she was featured in a basketry article in the Westsound Home and Garden Magazine.

Her husband, George, grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He is a wildlife biologist by trade and has devoted many years to the gathering, harvesting, and preparation of natural materials. He has also studied with Native American and local artists. He uses cedar bark, cedar and spruce roots, and local grasses and sedges in his baskets. His prefered technique is coiling.

On their website you can see last years class schedule. They teach in their studio located in Seabeck.You'll also be treated to a view of their amazing gardens!

Come learn from these skilled experts how to make your own cedar ornament. Demos will start Sunday at 1pm.

very sparkly gift

This fall I received a gift of a whole box of old chandelier crystals. Thanks Brenda! Some very interesting shapes and a few were huge. Now what to do with them. 

Ornaments!! 

 

 The purple one is a special request.

I created a short beaded figure eight loop  in either silver or gold to hang them from. 

Then I added ribbon and a hanger. 

It is cold and rainy out today so I have all day to create these sparking beauties. You can see them in person this weekend at the Bremerton Food and Gift Show. Imagine how nice they'd look on your tree!