I am so excited to start my trip to Kansas for the Smoky Hill River Festival coming up this weekend. I've got lots of special stuff packed for my customers there! I see many of them every year and like to present a fresh face when I go back. The weather looks clear and HOT for this northerner...last weekend in Green Bay I was in fleece with a scarf wrapped around my neck! Gatorade is in the fridge! If you need info on the festival in Salina, the link is here

Coming to Green Bay!

Good news for our Northeast Wisconsin friends! We will be at the beautiful Green Bay Botanical Garden for their 28th annual Garden Fair June 2nd and 3rd. If you haven't been there, the Garden is a beautiful, lush place. The festival is a perfect place to pick up your potted and hanging plants for the summer, yard art, tools and lots more. We haven't been there for 2 years and are excited to be joining them again. We'll have a big booth, well-stocked with favorites as well as lots of new stuff! Check out directions and location here.

We had to cancel our show at Amelia Island, Florida due to a broken hitch on our truck...and a repair that took over a week. We were so sorry to miss the show but grateful that the hitch did not completely fail while we were on the road. Got the truck back yesterday and we are finalizing our packing and looking forward to our show this weekend in Dunwoody, Georgia. It's a long way to drive for one show, but we've heard really good things about this one. We've got lots of goodies in the trailer! Sorry, no pics today. It's been a wild couple of weeks with vehicle repairs.  

A big THANK YOU to my wonderful customers at the Cash 'n Carry show in Madison on Wednesday! It was fun, it's always nice to see familiar faces, and it looks like everyone is in the mood for summer. Good luck to everyone!

Summer Fun

Temps in the 80's (in March!) have us thinking about summer in Wisconsin. I'll be taking piles of watermelon slices to the Cash 'n Carry show in Madison on Wednesday for my shop owners to take home with them. Temps down to 31 degrees tonight, but no worries. We know warm weather will return!

Des Moines

I had a really nice weekend at my show in Des Moines.I saw many customers that I met in the booth last year and lots of new faces. There will be lots of flowers and birdhouses in the gardens of Iowa this spring. Thank you to everyone who stopped in to buy or say hi! On a personal note, I drove down a day early to avoid a snow storm and was able visit the Sticks gallery in West Des Moines. The company, based in the city, makes a line of delightful, whimsical wood stuff. Absolutely all made in Iowa. One word: awesome! Actually, two words: awesome and inspirational! Check it out if you're able.

Thank you, Madison! We had a really nice show at the Garden Expo. I'm looking forward to our second time in Des Moines, Iowa in a couple of weeks. 'Til then I'm busy makin' and packin'!

Madison

Finishing up packing my trailer this morning and then I'll drive to Madison and start setting up my booth for the Garden Expo. I'm excited! I've got new stuff to show to my great customers there, and look forward to seeing the show myself! I'm donating a beautiful "condo" birdhouse for the raffle there, so get to the show and buy a ticket or two....there's lots of fantastic stuff to win!

The shop's filling with things that will be taken to the upcoming Garden Expo in Madison and to our wholesale customers with shops around the country. Think bright, citrus-y colors, polka dots, masses of flowers and happy thoughts.

Tom's framed my latest screen painting. I rather like it! I think I'm at the point where prints are in order, though I'll need to figure out the process...I'll keep you posted.

All You Need is Love

LOVE banner done on salvaged ceiling tin. Tis the season.

Blue Skies

Outside there's a blizzard, but in the shop it's warm, colorful and happy! Here's a pic of an engraved sign that I just finished prototyping...did the art last year but ran out of time to finish my work before the show season kicked in. Everyone loves a sun!

It's time to get serious about Spring, even though we're barely into January. I'm taking advantage of a couple days of unusually warm weather for Wisconsin in winter. It was almost 50 degrees today! Warm enough to open the doors, don my mask and leather apron and play on my plasma torch. Here's a pic of some new hearts for Valentine's Day and beyond. I got the opportunity today to trace and cut a nice batch of banners.

Angels

I've finished a couple of angels for our show in De Pere this weekend. Vintage everything; barn wood, ceiling tin, copper grounding wire, corrugated roofing steel. I really do try to re-use and recycle as much as is feasible, partly because it's good for the environment, partly because I adore old stuff. More angels to come, and if I'm lucky there'll be one left over for me to hang at home.

I'll have a couple of these mirrors with me in De Pere this Saturday. They're a little smaller than most of my mirrors, measuring about 18" square. Of course the price will be a little lower than that of the more elaborate pieces, and they're still adorable.

One-of-a-Kind

I love making special, one-of-a-kind items. There is, of course, a limit to what Tom and I can accomplish in a year, but I'm going to make an effort to make and bring a good supply of these things to our last 3 shows of the year. We're enthused about these events! They're in our "back yard", so to speak; De Pere, Wisconsin, Marquette in the UP of Michigan, and Baraboo, Wisconsin. They're smaller events than we usually do, but smaller is better sometimes better! I'll continue to post items as they're finished. Hope this gets my peeps charged up!

In a complete departure from my usual posts, I really must share this photograph of a fabulous barn in Belgium. It embodies so much of what I love; history, patina, design, color and pattern. I wish...

Crescent Moon

I finished painting and glittering some moons to take to my holiday shows. Worked on some glittery stakes, too (stars, reindeer, snowflakes, mittens, the words "Joy" and "Brrr"). I'll post pics later!

Just three holiday events left for the season for us, but they will all be special. It will be our first time in De Pere, Wisconsin at the Redbird Holiday Craft Faire, our first time in Marquette, Michigan for their Christmas Craft Show, and our second showing at The Very Merry Holiday Fair in wonderful Baraboo, Wisconsin. I will be building special holiday pieces and one-of-a-kind items for each of these shows, and will post pictures as I finish things. Watch for a new batch of mirrors...Tom just made me a batch of beautiful frames from some salvaged beadboard that are going to turn out fabulous when they are done! This is a photo from last year's show in Baraboo. It's a high quality, intimate affair! I'll be posting more about the show and Baraboo later.