Bazaar Season

 Last weekend I was part of the Lady Bug Bazaar in Vancouver WA with my sister Angie of Dear Spring Green.  She has been super busy with the new baby and her 2 little raga muffins that it was amazing to see she filled her table to overflowing.

I have been working on several new pieces and one new series this year but what seems to take the most time is the frame making

Mark straight lined the boards and cut them to width ahead of time...oh ya, and salvaged the tree from the middle of a field, and from there it went slowly but smoothly.  Above are my piles of sized frames waiting to be pieced together.

Hollow Mortising Chisel

I thought this time I would count the hours spent but it was pretty sporadic with the time I have spending at the shop, traveling to see family and the normal household stuff.

All in a row ready for lacquer

This year I stuck to the custom stain I used last year but added some Ebony for a darker edge on some and one that calls itself cherry but was more of a dark oak. 

The finished product!

Only a few originals were available this year. The rest were all archival reproductions, which are actually a better deal because they last longer and will not fade in the sunlight like watercolor does.

 The day before the show Mark built me this fantastic wall for the back of the booth (I helped but did a lot of complaining because the stress was getting to me)
It is all 2x4 boards with only 6 screws to put it all together so I was able to do it all on my own once at the sale. The center is a cattle panel we bought at the local farm store for $22. The electrical panel had smaller squares but was $76. I couldn't rationalize spending that much.
I had a couple people ask about it, wanting to know if I was local and if he made them to order.

Here it is all set up. It could have held hundreds of pounds. When the long line of excited buyers were let in I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback from so many. A few lovely ladies from last year stopped by to see what was new and to add to their collection and I think I have a few more happy customers that will look for me next year. 

In the few spare moments we had I was able to snap a few photos of Angie's treasures. I have ordered a mermaid bag for El this Christmas and can not wait to put it in her stocking. Spring Green's Etsy shop isn't yet open but I'm sure if you sign up to follow her HERE then you will be the first to know when the shelves are stocked. 

What am I planning now you ask? Well, I came home to this......

I have no one to blame but myself.