A Little Something for the Cause....just because

  Do those of you who are makers  of things out in blogland ever donate one or more of your pieces to good causes?
I have been doing so for a long time, for fundraisers for politicians that I like, for the wives of authors who needed medical help they couldn't afford, for our local Arts Council, etc.
I think it's a great idea...so this week I donated a hat and some earrings to one of our local environmental protection groups, Cowichan Land Trust.  They are having a fundraiser  to raise funds  and help protect the  estuary in Cowichan Bay (you can Google it, it's a beautiful place just down the road from where I live).
I am mentioning this because sometimes we may not have the money to support the causes we  believe in, but we can often find  either the time to volunteer a few hours or to donate something to be auctioned or  raffled off.

Here is the hat I donated...

Think about this for the future...I often feel a bit guilty that I can't afford to support all the programs and charities that I would like to  but when I can give my time and materials I enjoy it immensely, and it opens up the world to you and your work...

...Then April cried, and stepped aside...

New items for Spring and Summer..since hats aren't exactly in wild demand at this time of year, and scarves go begging for a new home, thought I'd share with you some of the pieces I'll be featuring in  my little 'shop' outdoors at my weekly Farmer's Market..jewelry is  my seasonal choice, since once people stop covering up for the harsher cold weather, they realize that-egad!-my neck, ears and arms are bare...horrors!
Thank goodness for that....

The Party's Over...

Although the news isn't great, I still had an interesting time at my three day craft fair..and have some pics to share, although their quality is less than desirable....the first is of my table..I brought way too much and it showed..have to come up with a better plan..but then I was actually planning on selling lots,and that didn't hapen due to the extremely low attendance at this fair..location, location, location is not just a boring ol' cliche..it's unfortunately too true..as we painfully learned..
The second picture is from our oldest crafter's table..he is 84 and still does this beautiful glasswork..he sat on a sofa next to his table with his partner, Lenae, and they held hands and whispered to each other, so very sweet...she and I had a great conversation about being ex-Yanks, and since she grew up on a farm in Kanasas I teased her and called her Dorothy...
The next picture is my pal Amanda's table, and she's wearing one of my cloches..she's going to become my first (and only) live model..love her "look" in my hats..
The last picture is what I thought was the absolute best item for a small child at the fair..a stuffed furry bunny rabbit with it's own Cowichan sweater..Cowichan sweaters are knit in patterns that the First Nations people of this area have been famous for for many decades..I live in the Cowichan Valley, so we are all intrinsically tied together..
I am going to do a blog on this subject soon, because the Cowichan people have wonderful visual arts to share with the world..they deserve a wider audience.
Next blog I'll feature what I bought at the fair..little enough, since I didn't have much disposable income with very little business..but that's something that craft fair attendees have to deal with occaisionally..

Online Home Away From Online Home....

Many of us who eschew the usual Facebook or Twitter nonsense, who don't feel comfortable hyping our online goods into oblivion, irritating friends and potential buyers in the process, know that the odds are insurmountable to start with...what chance do any of us have without perfect items, perfect pictures, anorexic straight-haired models who pose with all the warmth of Egyptian hieroglyphics, and rampant beige everywhere?
And yet we persist...I haven't shut down my Etsy shops (yet)..as a matter of fact, the weekly Market I was so successfully participating in, due in part to the unseasonably warm weather, has dried up financially for me...last Saturday was my last Saturday until we are outside again in mid-March..but I did at least come home to an online sale, which really helped to boost my badly sagging morale...
If you want your psyche damaged badly, go online to practically any Forum for handmade, and get yourself beaten up and bullied online, sneered at and dismissed as an idiot...or, do what I've been doing daily (well, almost) for the past couple of weeks, and check out Indie Junction.
Yes, there is a 'badge' for it on the lower right side of this blog.

Indie Junction, I'm convinced, is comprised of mostly Etsy sellers who now have their own retreat, where they can chat in a friendly sort of way about this and that, without getting their heads bitten off for asking a question.
On Indie Junction, you can show as much or as little of your work as you like...and expect to get lovely compliments in your IJ mailbox, with references specifically back to your pieces...
We 'gift' each other on birthays if we like, we 'friend' each other regularly, and are setting up our own Teams for Etsy and our in-house interests too..
I've never seen such a helpful friendly bunch before (at least, not online) and have yet to see even a quark of snark- a nice change from the usual divisive, competitive bitchiness so rife on Etsy, Artfire and other sites. We support each other , congratulate each other, and there seems to be a truly sincere interest by the founder and webmistress, Nicky Vee, to provide us with whatever we need to have a fabulously refreshing and supportive experience on the site...
The next time you get to feelin' bruised and battered by the arogance and nastiness inherent in other sites, do yourself a favour and drop on over to Indie Junction...it's like a cool glass of water on a boilin' hot day...
If you can't link with the 'badge, use this:

http://indiejunction.ning.com/