Shuswap Artisan Market -- Late Night Shopping Event

My last show for the year was last weekend and I am happy that I can now be at home more for the next few months.  I love getting out to shows and meeting with the people.  The positive feedback really gives one a boost and encouragement to carry on!  So I am still unpacking and reorganizing and preparing now for some small local pop-ups at the Shuswap Artisan Market.

I will be at the Market this Friday (Nov 30) and Saturday (Dec 1st).  The store will be open until 7 on the Friday for evening shopping.  Carmen of Stitches in Tyme - Contemporary Crochet will be joining me and we will be serving up some hot chocolate and cider.

Carmen crochets beautiful hats, mittens and other wearable items plus functional pieces too like these cool baskets!

Crocheted Basket by Carmen of Stitches in Tyme - Contemporary Crochet

I always have a wide selection of my interchangeable jewelry in stock with new items added regularly.  I have a wider selection with me on the days I am in the store and for pop-ups.  Also available are my handcrafted pens and my latest Serveware Collection.

Handcrafted Pens in Fall Colors

Cheese Knife, Pate Knife, Olive Spoon & Hors d'oeuvre picks - Serveware Collection

I will be adding some of these to my online store in the near future.

Life's Hurdles & More Shows

It never fails. Just when you are gaining momentum and feel you are right on track, life throws some hurdles to jump over.  I decided to jump and do my best to keep going.  It started a couple of weeks ago when I decided I needed to clean my eyeglasses as things were suddenly blurry.  I soon discovered that wasn't the problem and my left eye was actually blurry and I was seeing floaters.  Later that evening I was seeing some sparks which was not a good sign.  After seeing my optometrist, I was rushed in for emergency eye surgery the next day.  I had a small hole and horseshoe tear in my retina and was at high risk of the retina becoming detached.  They told me it was good they caught it in time as surgery for a detached retina is not something I would want to go through as it is pretty serious.

After the laser surgery, I was informed that my eye was still in extreme danger and for the next few weeks there was to be no bending over, stooping or lifting anything more than 10 lbs.  I had some shows coming up in a few days and was a bit worried how I was going to manage.  I was considering cancelling but decided to go ahead but with extreme caution and the help of a couple of friends. 

So the Craft-a-Fair and Trunk show at Silhouette Fashion Boutique were in the same week and both  went very well -- even with all the worrying.  I feel my eye is healing but still another week to go so will proceed still with caution.  This Saturday I will be doing another Trunk show in Salmon Arm but this time at Intwined Fibre Arts.  The main focus is still my Snap Decisions Collection but this time focusing mainly on items for scarves, shawls and sweaters.

My last (Christmas) show for this year is the Okanagan Artisan Sale at the Vernon Lodge.  This show has a great reputation with high quality artists that are accepted in only by a jury so is a real thrill to be a vendor this year.

After my last show I have other things I want to focus on.  I haven't written or published any tutorials in a while and have several in the background ready to finish.  So it is a surprise but a few word hints would be:  resin, buttons and bling!