Upcoming Classes & Events
November 29 & 30 December 1, 7 & 8 ~ Holiday Open House -10 am-4pm
November 30 ~ Wreath Making – Brita Fisher
Fall leaves are still gracing us with their brilliant beauty as we are preparing for our wonderful holiday event that’s been a tradition for about 25 years. Our annual Holiday Open House is going to be more diverse than ever this year.
After the success of the Summer Market we decided to invite more vendors to sell their handcrafted wares at the Holiday Open House / Holiday Market , and I’m excited to say we have many new craftspeople this year. Of course we will have the unique wreaths, jams & jellies from local fruits, brandy soaked fruit cakes but also pottery, hand-carved bowls, spoons, and cutting boards, 4 different jewelers, hand-forged knives, wooden pens, hand-spun & died yarn, hand-knit hats, flower essences, block-printed dish towels and napkins, handwoven alpaca shawls and throws, house plants in decorative pots ( Linda made! ) and more.
A sample of photos from some of the artists are below.
Mary Fisher – Maemae Sew – Inspired by my mothers tailoring skills and love of natural fibers I started sewing again about 5 years ago – for my daughters originally. The clothing was so popular strangers and relatives requested special orders. So was born @maemaesew. The dress above I named ‘The Fritzie’ in honor of my mom (in the photo ) holding her grandchild Leah. I continue to channel my moms esthetic eye for subtle details as I take custom orders for dresses and tops.
Victor Eisenman is a wood worker / house builder / timber framer and gentle soul who assembles pens from a wide variety of woods. Victor and Kaili were married in our garden this summer and it gave me a chance to get to know this amazing couple and become familiar with their talents. I’m excited they will both be selling items here this year. Kaili will have baskets she’s making. She is also the nettle cordage and basketry teacher!
Laura Hudsonhttp://www.lauraghudson.com/rust is a local artist whose animal paintings are well known around here. Her paintings are too large for the Holiday Market, but luckily she’s started doing hand block-printed towels and napkins of some of her favorite animals which bring their charm and personalities to your home. She’ll also have greeting cards, onesies, totes and tee-shirts.
Curtis Yu from Yu Tang Gallery & Studio in Greenwood http://yutangceramics.com/will bring a selection of his finely done ceramic plates, bowls & vessels. He uses ceramics to express his identity as a Chinese American. The work incorporates influences from Chinese art, mythology, language, and culture from brush calligraphy to carved motifs.
Luanne Seymour’s https://www.etsy.com/shop/LuanneSeymourDesign up-cycled zipper bags are both useful and practical as well as beautifully made from waste material produced by the garment industry. She will have both these patchwork bags as well as a large selection of whimsical animal appliqués. Check her Etsy shop for more examples.
Renee Boyce from Freeland Art Shack http://www.freelandartshack.com will have her incredibly intricate mandala painted stones in colors ranging from muted to vivid with many patterns. She participated in our Summer Market and folks loved her work so I’m happy she’s back with more options.
Tom Fisher Woodworks – Tom has spent the last number of years making gorgeous cutting boards, boxes, hand-carved bowls and spoons out of many types of woods – most local. Always popular, his work makes a perfect gift, as it’s useful and beautifully done.
Jessenia Eisenman is a young jeweler I met this summer who does beautiful beaded earrings in many colors, shapes and sizes. It was hard to choose which photos to select as I love so many of them. Very excited she’ll be bringing her well made craft.
Jeweler Rachel Patricia Clark creates bold and minimal necklaces, which look great on. Artist Laura Hudson is the model on the left! It’s exciting to have so many younger people represented this year.
Ornithologist, Dr. Vanya Rohwer’s incredible nest photo cards will be available in packets as well as singles. Vanya works at Cornell but grew up on Whidbey and has an instinctive talent for finding bird nests.
It’s amazing to see the variety and details captured and then transformed into a graphic design by printing some in high contract black and white.
Jenny Smith of Magnolia Curve Ceramics www.etsy.com/shop/MagnoliaCurve will be here again after a successful show at the Summer Market. She’ll have a selection of bowls, mugs and cut work candle holders in a wide variety of colors and glazes.
Leah Nguyen of Planet Paint People http://planetpaintpeople.com will be here to discuss her amazing process for creating Soul Pattern Portraits and take orders for individual works. She also makes flower essences and will likely surprise us with some of her well made crafts.
Brittany Olsen-Boblitt will have a wide variety of hand-spun yarn as well as hats knit from her yarn. The color selection is wide with many blended shades that knit up beautifully and the size is consistent so you can follow patterns. A lovely product.
Textile artist Patti King has multiple talents and for the first time she’s making her All Day Anywhere Apron inspired by Japanese apron traditions. Using exquisite Japanese fabrics, including parts of vintage kimonos she has made two lengths to choose from – with plenty of pockets – to wear over jeans or leggings. Upscale your look while having easy access to your phone and wallet!
Kaili Plummer-Slate is a basket weaver, cob builder and blacksmith who’ll have some of her baskets as well as black-smithed hooks at the Market. The baskets in these photos are small cedar bark pouches made from red and yellow cedar, cherry bark and nettle fiber. She’ll have other shapes as well. We just hosted her two inspiring classes on nettle cordage and cedar bark weaving. More classes from her in the future.
Linda Apsitis has added house plants in containers she’s made to her offerings. Popular succulents in a variety of containers will fit in most window sills. Free hanging Japanese style kokedama where the roots are encased in moss is another option. Her popular bird embellished pillar candles are in the works too.
A faithful following arrive to pick up their brandy-soaked cakes made with dried fruits and nuts. Many convert to becoming fruitcake lovers once they taste this one made without the nasty candied fruits. Each one pound love is soaked in 1/4 c brandy!
Instructor ~ Brita Fisher
Saturday November 30th
10 a.m. – 12 p.m.
$69.00 – includes all supplies, hot beverages & homemade cookies
Brita is returning to teach her always popular wreath making class held on the first weekend of our annual Holiday Open House. Our afternoon class filled quickly so we added another session.
Join us Saturday morning ( afternoon session full ) in the covered hoop come rain, snow or sun!
Home-made grapevine wreath forms ( made from my grapes ) are provided as well as a wide selection of inspiring materials including greens, seed pods, cones, grass heads, eryngiums, lichen encrusted branches, brilliant moss and berries.
To keep your blood moving there is coffee or hot spiced cider as well as homemade cookies.
The fire pit will be going just outside the hoop house if you want to warm up. The potting shed, greenhouse & summer house will be in full swing with the Open House and all its treasures.
As you can see there are many options for wreaths in addition to the traditional green and red.
Brita has a couple of techniques to share with you so you never need to buy one of those clamping machines and you can reuse your lovely grape vine each year if desired.
The Holiday Open House opens at 10 am so you can check out all the fine goods from various artists and craftspeople this year – many new ones from last year. It’s bound to be a festive day!
I hope you can find a day to join us for the most diverse group of artists we’ve ever had at the Holiday Open House / Market. There are others coming who are not listed as well!
Come share hot spiced cider and enjoy the atmosphere of a relaxed, inspired, shopping experience while supporting handcrafts made with love and care.
Many thanks for your support over the years and with our ongoing adventures in classes bringing people together over a common interest.
Blessings to you all,
Mary Fisher