If the Deer are Here, it's Summer...

Summer's here, as this  young lady, so daintily nipping at the apple tree leaves, is happy to tell you...
This is the view out my back door, didn't want to scare her so took it through the rather spotty windows...
First deer I've seen this year, very unusual for  us, usually 3 or 4 nights a week they are in the back, munching away on all the nice grass and plants..this year, not so much..
The Farmer's Markets are also finally creaking to life, thank goodness...I was beginning to look for a part-time job because sales were so poor...attendance down, everybody supposedly poor, etc...
Its been really hot here, which some enjoy (not me!) but hope you all are having a great season, whatever you may be up to...

A Custom Order- One Viking Helmet...

 Saturday, December 22nd was our last day this year at my weekly craft market..and of course, for the first two hours it poured..so very little in the way of potential customers strolling through the market..cold, too, so me and everything I owned was soaked, in no time, despite the tent and some tarps for walls I threw up, in a hurry...
  The rain stopped around noon, and then at one we got a few customers..very few, because we have to stop at two...*sigh*
Still, I did okay with the hour I had, and one of the things that happened was a big burly young guy came  to my 'booth' and asked for a Viking helmet..I was really happy to do it, I'd actually been thinking about a child's version for awhile..but this guy was about 6'2", so, measurements taken, I started it that night, and today (Christmas Eve afternoon) put the finishing touches on it (I think)...
I want to tart it up a bit more, but I think he wouldn't like that..he was pretty specific about colours..what do you think of the finished product?

He wanted the back to look like chaine maille, so this was as close as I could get without making it too delicate...
He didn't want the horns too big, so...and nothing decorative, although I could have had a great time designing runes, etc. if I 'd been given carte blanche..actually the big discs in the front and the "nails" in the back are my idea, hope that is okay with him...
Kinda looks alien from the back, so, two hats in one...

Only In Canada, You Say....?

"Winter's day
In a deep and dark December...."

It's  an odd sort of feeling, that first fall of snow, especially when  Winter seemed as if it would never come..a sweater was enough
The big warm  coats were out and hung and ready, but no need...until  yesterday...
Here's the front and back yard...

I put up the brand new artificial ( :-\ ) tree..doesn't look too bad, but  do miss that  fragrant wafting of pine throughout the house.. as a renter with a newish carpet, I have no choice...*sigh*

A rather touching arrest was made here in Canada...the police found the lair of the
"Great Maple Syrup Reserve" thieves...oooohhhhh...this is front page news in the media, and actually, I am ecstatic that this is the sort of thing that makes headlines here....
Happy Holidays to everyone!

Windows..

No, not the Microsoft kind..just thinking about the way I seem to live so much of my day looking through windows, when the weather is inclement...
It seems as if it has been raining here for a month straight...this, after a record lack of rain for the Summer and early Autumn...today is beautiful, finally clear and cold.

Here are two images from my windows..what  are you seeing through yours?
Poor Richard's Almanac (yes, after all this time, still more accurate in projecting general patterns than all the modern meteorological forecasts!) says that this will be a mild winter for us, with snow not starting 'til mid-December...usually bang-on, so I'm hoping  that carries on in 2012..it's rather difficult to travel in snow to craft markets that no one goes to because it's snowing...but I shouldn't  worry needlessly...
Hope you all have a mild Winter, snow if you want it, and my thoughts are especially with those on the Eastern Seaboard who will have a very hard Winter this year...

A Saga of Epic Disaster....

Hello. dear Readers!
Last Wednesday was my first time at the Chemainus Street Market, and quite an experience was has by all..
Personally, had a literal river running through my booth, as an out-of-nowhere flash flood decided to leave us a deposit, a big one, and soaked customers went flying off back to tourist buses, every seller ran to their vehicles to grab the supposedly unnecessary canopy walls to protect their goods...and I sold absolutely nothing that day...
Despite the epic weather and lack of sales, I met some nice people and it's always interesting to start at a new location; gonna try not to let myself get too discouraged.
In the pics I've included, you can see the unique pottery of Pogie, a man with a lot of charm and blarney who is a retired art teacher..I think his things are like no one else's, and I'm a big fan of the original..
The Holdens were selling next to me at the last Saturday Duncan Market, and here they are at Chemainus, too, with their fragrant (but not overpoweringly so) milled soaps and lotions..very pretty, and very reasonable, and milled soap lasts forever..
Maggie..what can I say, in another, wealthier lifetime I would love for this woman to tailor-make my clothes for me. You should see the delight on peoples`faces when they first arrive at her booth..
I`ve saved Bill, (looking down to make sure I get the full effect of his printed apron,) standing amidst the colourful flowers and produce of Providence Farm..I`ve blogged about the Farm before. Last year, I did a Christmas Fair at their pretty chapel building, in the middle of acreage and horse paddocks..they are a wonderful organization..but trust Bill to not be looking into the camera..
Well, off to the Duncan Market tomorrow, better weather, and hopefully some sales..
Canada Post began rotating strikes at Midnight last night (Thursday) so the giveaway will have to wait...

Back in the Saddle, Again...

Mostly unpacked, mostly moved in, naturally a few blips, like a bunch of disasters in picture-hanging for the living room, but eventually I'll redo it all...*sigh*
Tis the season for craft fairs, farmer's markets and street sales, etc. now that the good weather keeps pretending it's almost here to stay...
I actually got my plant material, manure dirt and etc. organized yeasterday...still a bit cold at night, so maybe will put plastic over my tomato plant in the hopes that it survives...don't know what is goin' on this year, but i know many others are going through weird weather too...and compared to tornadoes, flooding etc. a little bit of evening cold weather is hardly worth complaining about..not that that ever stops me..
I have registered for several different sales for the season, and will (hopefully, weather dependant) be selling two different farmer's markets..my "usual" one on Saturdays in Duncan, and one on Wednesdays here in Chemainus..
I am limited in what i can sell in Chemainus, so we'll see how many tourists want to buy crocheted hats in summer...you never know...
Just went looking for some online imagers of Chemainus Market that I could share with you...there are none that I could find, so I guess I'll be taking some myself in the coming weeks..
Wish me luck, online sales aren't exactly on fire either...
http://www.chemainus.bc.ca/news/wednesday-market/

Jusrt a quick note..the post office here may be going on strike, will know by the end of the first week or so in June..gonna hold off on the giveaway since I won't be able to send anything until it is resolved...stay tuned....

Has Spring Indeed Sprung?

Yesterday while moving some stuff into my new place (just down the road apiece from my old place) it was cloudy and gray, but very cold, suddenly, and the wind really picked up, so, with an open-backed pickup truck ,decided that it was enough for today.
On the way home it started snowing and raining, that nice sleety stuff that we all dread..and I wondered, what is going on with the weather this year? Happened to glance up at the mountains, and sure enough, they all looked as if dusted with icing sugar..brrrr!!!
A fellow blogger in Omaha, Nebraska described the weather there-it was us, to a 'T'..hmmm...
And here I am, showcasing a new ArtFire Collection that celebrates one of my favourite fruits, the luscious and lovely strawberry, fabulously flavourful and healthy, too! As if it were already Summer, or something.
Well, enjoy the Collection and browsing my new strawberry jewelry- fell in love with these little charms and bought a bunch of them..more in my AF studio!
And, wherever you are, enjoy the weather at your place - at least for five minutes, until it changes completely, like here...

A Weird Day at the Market in the Square

Granted, yesterday wasn't my first day back outside, maybe my third or fourth, but the weather was so strange that it seems the average shopper thought better of it and stayed home..
It started out gray and chilly, but here on the West Coast of Canada we dress for that, this time of year, and a very grim Spring made us wary of throwing on the shorts and sandals just yet...
Later it was cloudy, windy, with the odd peek of the sun, lasting maybe five minutes, maybe less..and then it got downright epic.
The fun started- hail, and plenty of it, impossible, in an open canopy, to dodge or protect against it..what had already been a not so great day, financially, got worse by the minute, as everything was soaked..remember, I sell crocheted stuff, and it sucks up moisture in the air like a thirsty sponge, and rain and hail don't help either..great for keeping you warm and mostly dry, but...
I am currently sitting here surrounded by hats, on every available surface, that had to dry out overnight..just one of the many joys and sorrows of outdoor selling.
Because I sell alone, I can't always wander around and see what's going on, but it was slow yesterday, so took a few pictures to bring to you so you can get a sense of the people who create things to sell..a bit too early for the farmers to be here with their vast bins of produce, but i will produce more images as the season progresses..happy creating!
The first image is a side view of my little booth, no point in boring you with details of that. The next is Danusia and her wild mushroom booth - we are kinda famous here for having a wide variety of wild and edible mushrooms on this Coast- and she picks, dries and sells these in a dizzying variety.. the next is a booth of the woman who makes beautiful dyed silk scarves..and if you look to the left, you can see, besides their smiling faces (Mum and daughter) little whales and some other toys- so cute!
On to the main stage, where musicians, some good, some loud, regale us at every Market Saturday..then the woodworker behind me, whose little 'stove' would have made my heart sing as a child..love his stuff..
More later, as the season and the variety progresses.

Being Creative in Bad Weather

We were just gifted with a freak snowstorm lasting a couple of days and for dessert we were given an icy Arctic outflow that, although the skies are crystal clear now, lends a fierceness to the air you breathe...
About the only advantage to this sort of stuff is that I seem to get an awful lot done when I absolutely can't go anywhere..
Made lots of new jewelry and a couple of hats, which I'll show here, but the thing that I like the most was a little photo I took this morning during breakfast. It's a beautiful sunrise reflected in the next door neighbors' patio window.
I've often nticed this over breakfast, but most of the time I'm too sleepy to get up and get the camera..not today!
This shot was taken across my houseplants, who live on my dining room table..and it's kind of a neat effect to have the plants inside, taking a picture of a reflection outside, and all of it through glass, too.
My hanging art glass things are in there, too, and I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out..tell me what you think?

This ridiculous Weather...

Forget everything you thought you knew for certain about Canadian weather...even if you live in Canada..this time of year, you need a scorecard!
Amidst dire warnings of snow (possibly) or heavy rain (probably) one cannot plan a darn thing more than two hours in advance..and, the weather reports are almost always wrong!
Every time I think it's the right sort of weather to give up on hats and scarves and start getting my jewelry supplies in, sure enough, Murphy's Law (poor ol' Murphy, scapegoat for the universe!)kicks in, and the weather goes into a deep chill...or not..worse than someone who changes their outfit twelve times, never happy with whatever they have on (..guilty!)
Today it was supposed to snow for awhile, and then rain..although it was a bit chilly this a.m., of course neither 'event' happened, and I can only hope, now, that it at least stays cool for a bit, so I don't have to dig out my Spring stuff, yet again, only to have to pack it up and put it away...
Not a huge bummer, when considering world events, I know..but it's my bummer, and I embrace it, fully.

In the Rain Forest, No One Can Hear You Scream...

Just kidding...sorta. I am a constant subservient victim to the weather forecast- I have Environment Canada's widget on my Home Page, I watch two different newscasts (with totally different weather reports about 50% of the time, both often wrong) and every online newspaper I glance at daily (quite a few, actually) again have their own educated but wildly differing opinions about the weather..
This is usually only critical to farmers and skiers, but for those of us who attempt to sell weekly, outdoors, the ever-changing weather of the Northwest Temperate Rainforest can make me intemperate at a moment's notice..
This week, my entire apartment has been draped in hats, in a canopy top that is 10'X10', 11'X11' bug curtains that go around the sides of my tent and marginally protect from showers, but not heavy rain, and all of them needing to be dried out following the disaster that happened last Saturday, about half-way through the Market, when a perfectly acceptable cold but clear day turned into Noah's flood..
The thing about yarn is that it absorbs moisture from the air, so even if, technically, it doesn't actually get wet, or rained on, there is still a bit of the wet stuff trapped within it's folds, so each and every hat on display had to be left 'out' in my fortunately overly dry apartment until all traces of dampness were excised..
This Saturday, our last outdoor Market until March of 2011, the weather has been predicted to be, from Monday to today (Wednesday, Dec 15) by turns rainy, sunny, windy, and now showery..and I have to reserve a spot three days ahead..not really doing anything but guessing what the weather will be doing..hoping against hope that, whatever the prognostication, they will either be very wrong in the case of rain, or very right in the case of clear and possible even sunny (the forecast for Friday, of course!)
The ancient Romans gazed upon the entrails of birds, or you can cast coins and avail yourself of the I Ching, but even the Farmer's Almanac is strangely silent on long term guessing games for my locale..
A fortune teller with her crystal ball or Tarot cards would probably be just as accurate..
Fingers crossed...

*Cough* *Sniff* It's a Winter Wonderland...sorta...

Here I sit, with the most miserable cold/whatever I think I've had in five years..if you look at the pictures, you can see what has happened literally overnight..pretty, yes?
Problem is, my craft fair #2 is today, and I can neither drive in this foot-deep, uncleared stuff than I can load and unload my truck and mingle with people in a hot and airless hall while sniffling and couging my little heart out..in other words, craft fair #2, like craft fair #1, isn't much to write home (or blog) about this year...
I might have attempted it if I wasn't so sick, but no point in spreading these foul germs as well as forced holiday cheer..not that I can see a whole bunch of people risking their lives, driving on our often treacherous highway, to come here and shop...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..
Guess I'll just sit, snuggled under a big quilt, and watch the seagulls wheeling and diving through the snowy air....could be worse.....

The Wages of Guilt..more Random Rants

I admit that I'm feeling more than a bit guilty about neglecting my blogging duties; normally, I have to control myself and not go on and on here, but lately, the frustration with life's little zingers has temporarily got me down..
This weekend there is a wind and rain warning, so no Farmer's Market for me..
I do love selling outside, but the weather can play havoc with your capnopy, your stuff, and your temper..not to mention the fact that almost no one comes out for the Market in bad weather. It's doubly frustrating because my hats are seasonal, to say the least, and I only have a four month window to make any sort of sales...and the weather takes away a good half of those...and summer? Well, some jewelry, but really, can't take the heat and it gets very, very hot here, believe it or not (and doesn't snow much, usually - there, all your illusions about icy Canada shattered once and for all!)
So I'm left with a 'free' weekend, and that means I need to straighten stuff out around here, maybe take some stuff to the flea market..yes, my name is Wendi, and I'm a stuffaholic..
Every few months, I get brutal and wander around my place, picking out the stuff I know I can, and should, live without, and take it to whatever swap meet or flea market is going on..luckily we have a few, though usually I'm a customer, not a seller..
I usually try to go to sell there alone, because it keeps me from wandering around, finding things to buy...what is that about, some bizarre need to acquire stuff? True, I use most of it either for my home or to improve my selling space at the market, but...it really does get out of hand, sometimes..sound familiar?
I'd like to at least wish for fair weather and wonderful finds for my readers, since I cannot hope for either...♥

Autumn and a Return...

Yesterday marks the first day of real rain all summer - and the lack of singing birds at 4 in the morning, or the hint of chill for my morning view on the balcony, looking out at a fog-tinted sea...The screaming yet oddly welcome blue jay who always appears in early September..the cooler nights and shorter days...
Can the trees, slowly dropping their leaves with infinite seductiveness, be far behind?
It's time for me to gather up all my hats and neckwarmers, and head out to, or should I say back to, the Farmer's Market once again..
Crafting as a business venture has it's own set of weird realities, almost as if the act of creation is in direct opposition to the act of selling..or bartering, as sometimes happens...
I am rather affable with the public, enjoy being outdoors, discussing my creations, and rarely get the kind of nasty critiquing so common with paintings at an exhibit..the competitiveness is confined to a certain extent, so the aspects of trying to earn your way are not so onerous as, say, a factory job, when you are the factory..but it is difficult to keep changing 'hats' (pardon me, please) from creator to salesperson and try and maintain an emotional distance from my work.
I do have 'favourites', and others that I sell with relief, because they make me uncomfortable for whatever reason...I meant them to turn out differently, or the colours weren't quite right..my issues, of course, the hats sell as well as any others..as I always tell reluctant women who say they "look terrible" in hats- you just haven't found 'your' hat yet...
And I will never find mine, thankfully..perfection is an ideal, and not strictly a possibility, and since all my hats are one of a kind, I can never get bored, or obsessed with just one.
As summer turns inevitably to Autumn, I wish you all happy creating, and for those of you that sell your work, a good season...

Our False Spring..

Our Province, as is obvious to anyone who is paying attention to the Owelympics, is currently experiencing weather that would make Californians blush...I've been here since '72, and I'm convinced that this is the warrmest Winter ever here on the Left Coast; although too much snow was a genuine PITA last year, this is ridiculous..
The weather has resulted in what business types would call a 'downward trend' in my hat sales, both online and the weekly market. Luckily for me, my hats don't go out of style or have a best before date, so it isn't as if I have to get rid and wait til next winter and hope for successive blizzards..no, trying to make the best of it by concentrating on other things, keeping my life on at least a semi-linear trajectory in the possibly vain hope that all will be well.
The positive spin I can put on this El Nino counter-offensive is that my tulips are up and gorgeous almost a month early, and as usual I'm itching to start gardening, but cannot because as all amateur gardeners know, often to their chagrin, that the stores set things out way too early, we get all giddy and enthusiastic and end up losing it all to a late frost or some Biblical March that rains continuously for 40 days and 40 nights, and drowns our tender young plants.
I feel like my business plan resembles those tender young plants, trying with everything they have to establish themselves, so the lesson I take away from this Winter's contrary weather(I could feel drowned in debt and failure, but I know that here in LALa Land, you just have to wait 10 minutes and everything can change in ways unimaginable) is that I'm sure Chaos Theory was thought up to explain British Columbia.

Disasters Need Love Too...

Today I screwed up and didn't sign up in time for my Market in Duncan, and that is a mini-disaster, but my favourite (?) one happened one blustery Christmas season in Vancouver in the late 70's...
Like many others at the time, I was selling my crafts outside the Hudson's Bay at Granville and Georgia...they didn't like it, but they knew enough not to come down too hard on us during the holiday season (bad publicity).
I was at the tail-end of selling some 'bread dough' ornaments...tail-end because I had done this for a few years, and I was sick of having people say " Oh, I can do that myself, it's just salt and flour and water". Yeah, and clay is just , well, dirt and water, or clay, which, you could dig up yourself and make your own pottery, right?
Whatever! I was spending upwards of 2 hours apiece on them and selling them for $3, to $10 for the really elaborate door wreaths, that took about 5 hours. They were beautiful, and always sold, but I wasn't even making minimum wage..I was a student at the time (University) and between Student Loans and 3 part time jobs, I was barely making it financially, so I thought I'd try this new-to-me craft...

As I was saying, outside Hudson's Bay, in the third week of December, extremly cold, and a biting wind...I had sold out of all my small ornaments like teddy bears, Santas, etc, and had nothing left but 4 really nice (if i do say so!) angel plaques with outspread wings, painted like old Renaissance faces in a fresco...one young woman was walking by, gasped, and said "They're beautiful!" She bought one, handed me a twenty and wouldn't take any change...how nice, and a lovely gesture of appreciation..are you wondering about the disaster yet?
I had my plaques on a corkboard, leaning on a stand-up painting easel, and about a minute after I sold my first angel plaque, a big gust of wind came along and knocked over my easel, the angels catapulted to the sidewalk, and, of course, shattered into pieces.
As people walked by, unheeding, I picked up what I could and disposed of the rubble, folded up my easel and waited at the bus stop, tears in my eyes, yes, but also a smile for my 'angel' who wouldn't take any change...

Just When You Thought It Couldn't...

Short of living under a rock (which,in this heat, certainly seems preferable to what the rest of us are doing), everyone knows what the weather has been doing here-sucking the life out of us, that's what...and the humidity has been so bad I can wake up with wet hair the day after I wash it...but not in a good way-
There's been a run on fans the likes of which haven't been seen since the pre-Christmas pursuit of Tickle Me Elmo a few years ago, and I found myself uncharacteristically biting my tongue when a certain rental establishment sold me their used floor model fan for three times what it was worth...classy.... Like all shortages, this weather has prompted some greed-and so be it, I paid, I wanted it, and everyone else for miles was out of fans-but that place just sold it's reputation for $35, which seems like not much...guess that's all it was worth.
Despite the hideous humidity and heinous heat, I woke up to a welcome message on my 'puter-I had made my first Etsy sale...this is huge, been waiting since mid-June, and it had gotten to the point where I felt that all my online efforts had been a waste of time.
So really, this posting is a bit of a like letter to the sweet buyer of one pair of earrings-thanks for making my morning, and restoring my faith in myself-it doesn't take much to ruin your reputation or to talk yourself out of patience, so today has been a mixed blessing, but a lesson in the affirmative, nonetheless.