~Shaker Woods Festival 2009~Part II~

We had our second beautiful weekend at Shaker Woods Festival in Columbiana, OH this past weekend. The crowds were never-ending, in spite of the heat.

I saw many of my 'old' customers who bought my Ragamuffin dolls for their children eons ago. As one sweet customer put it, "I'm continuing the tradition by buying them for my grandbabies". Since it's been 8 long years since I did the show circuit....this really warms my heart. I wondered if my customers were still out there. They are!!

One of the most rewarding parts of doing shows is the comraderie between artists. Although I do have some very close artist friends I see on a regular basis, I've really missed this. It's a sharing of ideas, joys, woes, etc. that you really can't get anywhere else. It's invigorating, and leaves you going home energized and ready to hit the studio and continue producing for the shows ahead. At the present time...I have 8 more....one of which is the three-weekend Yankee Peddler Festival, which is 3 weekends in September....and really counts as 3 shows-rolled-into-one. So, I have 11 more!!

My Cheeky Monkeys and Vintage Rabbits were big sellers. I sold out......so that is what I'm working on this week.




















That said.....I best stop typing and get back to work in the studio. If you're anywhere in the Ohio or PA area this coming weekend.....plan on stopping by. You won't be sorry~

~Too Many Ideas...Too Little Time~

I've been busy producing lots of Truffles and Trinkets for my upcoming shows, and came up with yet another product to add to the line: Birthday Age Necklaces. Now...if you thought I was going nuts trying to figure out how to display the custom initial pendants....this one may just put me over the edge! But they're SO cute, and when I found the perfect little numbers print, I just had to add them in to the mix of the other Truffle products. I think I'll take as many as I can, and take orders for any I run out of!

Then there's Halloween.....which is right around the corner, and a holiday that every store owner will tell you is the second biggest money-maker next to Christmas....so, I'm making lots of these, too!

My house looks like Halloween and Christmas exploded, as many of the designs seem to creep out of the studio and into the kitchen. Jim never knows what he's going to find each nite when he walks through that back door! Thank goodness he's understanding and has a great sense of humor and unending compassion for the hours I'm putting into all this! If not....I'd surely be divorced by now!
And my Mom's comment when I showed her my latest creations: "You're nuts, Carol. Really nuts! How on earth are you ever going to produce the hundreds you'll need by October?" Remember Mom helped me with dolls through all the years I did shows. And no one knows as well as Mom does that once I make up my mind about something, there's no stopping me!

Let me know what you think of them!