Renegade Craft Fair - San Francisco

The Renegade Craft Fair is turning into an annual event for me! Once again I took the trek to San Francisco with a coupla friends and we made a day of it. The torrential rains and crazy city traffic did not hinder us from our quest. Once inside the Concourse Exhibition Center we enjoyed the hundreds of indie artists and their unique handmade items including clothing, houseware, posters and prints, plush items, ceramics, jewerly, stationary and lots more. Always FREE to attend. An inspiring experience with cool music, tasty food and a very authentic, creative vibe in which to wander.

Marisa Haedike from Creative Thursday was there, oh my!

I was lucky enough to meet her and gush about my love of her inspiring blog and her delightful art. I picked up stack of her adorable Christmas cards, which reminds me...I'd better get those written and mailed TODAY!

I came away from the fair with these lovely treaures.

Those darling, fabric covered magnets from Cookie and the Dude, will be tucked into a few Christmas stockings, I will, of course, save a few for myself! I instantly thought of my Little Muffin when I saw the tote with a sweet, little, winged Chihuahua. Oh, how my daughter will love it! Unbleached, cotton dishtowels with silk screened teacups had me at "hello". Check out more hip designs at The Heated. It was a fun and festive day!

Renegade Craft Fair

I'm getting very excited to attend this fabulous fair again. Last year I had a blast! This is a FREE TO ATTEND craft, art and design spectacular with over 200 of the nations finest indie- craft talents setting up shop that weekend. Enjoy all sorts of incredible handmade goods from jewerly, clothing, ceramics, stationary, bath products, housewares, etc... If you're in the San Francisco area that weekend you really need to check it out....handmade is the best!

Fun in Gold Country!

My 17 year old daughter, Eliza, and I took a mini vacation to Gold Country this week. We stayed at a lodge in Angels Camp and spent one day in Sonora shopping and thrifting. We had dinner in Murphys, the most adorable little town you ever did see. The next day we headed into Colombia to lunch at Kate's Teahouse. What a wonderful place this is! We nibbled on delicious assorted tea sandwiches, fresh fruit, fresh pea soup, yummy lemon bars and cheesecake. We drank peach iced tea, enjoyed the bureau full of buttons and relaxed on the screened back porch before our long ride home. It was a wonderful way to end the summer before Eliza starts her senior year in high school. I'm just not ready for summer to end.

Thrifty Finds

Diamonds in the rough

McCoy pottery

All polished up

I love "thrifting", always have. It wasn't until recently that I learned of the term. I just called it "hunting for cool, old stuff". Once I entered blog-land I discovered many more thrifters out there who share their thrifty finds on their blogs... hey, I want to do that too. So, here are my lastest finds. Driving home from work on Friday I stumbled upon a Vintage Yard Sale! Had my husband been in the car with me at the time he would have promptly spouted "just keep driving, honey, look away, look away!". But I was alone, so a U-turn I did flip! I only had $15 in cash on me (a mere fortune to this mother of a teenager, I was surprised I had ANY cash). As I entered the sale the lady said "if you see something you like, make an offer"...oh boy! I could have spent a lot more than $15 dollars at that sale, but I gathered up several treasures and made an offer...fifteen dollars?...SOLD! Yippee!!

Jiggity-Jig!

The Santa Rosa Wednesday Night Market kicked off this week and Mama Roux was there, oh yeah! This was really the first time I have displayed my creations in person, giving people the up close and personal experience to get "touchy-feely". It was a blast! Aside from seeing old friends and meeting new ones I was able to talk up my little business to all who stopped by. The response was great. market goers were attracted to my brightly colored booth with tote bags and quilts a blowin' in the wind. The sun was shining and a jaunty vibe was in the air...it was all good!