just a corner in our house

The batik to the left is one of mine from last year "Raven Valley". The photo holders I made with a glue gun, stick, 2 clothes pin clips, some small river rocks and a couple small containers I had around the house. The pictures were black and white versions from our photo shoot with Michelle, "Crows View Photography"(see previous posts). The lovely little carving of a mom with her two little boys was a b-day gift from my mom a couple years ago and I love it (thanx mom:0) The other earthy things to the right are a couple things I also put together, glass moss globe and birch covered vase with sticks. The little corner shelf was made by Andy with a burl and some scrap wood a few years back, just because.

crafts with kids

I've had this 3D handprint kit around for quite some time and finally used it! (Use it or Loose it is my new motto for the year, more on that later it's a blog in itself).  Love the boys hands together like this. We will look back at it when they are grown men and try to remember when their hands were this small. I only painted the edge so I couldn't mess up the prints or cover a single line in their cute little hands. The kit was just a powder gel mix that looked alot like what our preschool teacher calls "gak" when mixed with water, then a plaster powder that mixed with water as well and when you poured it over the "gak" after imprinting their hands into it, the plaster dried, the gel peeled out and walla, 3D Handprints.

more crayons...

My take on eco-art, handmade recycled crayons! I just made more for my last Holiday Bazaar of the season this Sat. at the Talkeetna Grade school downtown it's Dec. 4th from 11-5. Sponsored by the PTA this is a fun local bazaar and is held on the same day as the Wilderness Woman Contest and Bachelor Ball & Auction a 30 year tradition in this funky little village. People have come from all parts of the world in past years for this event and the Bachelor Society spreads the love with the money they raise by donating to local non-profits as well as Domestic Abuse & Violence Support in Alaska.

my plain jane dolls

Yes something new... These are my "plain jane dolls" and as you can see the hair totally made them and gave each a personality. I love the yarn hair and no face. It may stem from my days working at a Waldorf school in Oregon during college. I made some dolls with the kids then that I still have. I also made a funny little "army brat" doll out of camo fabric with cute rainbow pig tails recently for a little girl's b-day. I wasn't sure about these ones until I have them the hair, now I really like them. We will see what the reaction is at the Christmas events I'm doing this month. The 4 I have here will be for sale then and if they sell I may get more.

I'll be in Anchorage for the Arts & Crafts Emporium NOV. 20-21st @ the Dena'ina Civic & Convention Center on 7th Ave. downtown, there will be almost 200 vendors with handmade stuff for sale. I will also be at our local PTA Craft Fair on DEC. 4th in Talkeetna at the Grade School, downtown 11-5. That is also the day of our towns annual Bachelor Ball & Auction and Wilderness Woman Contest. Lots of fun to be had in Downtown Talkeetna on that day...

Rag Rugs

I just learned how to make RAG RUGS, here are my first two made of shredded sheets (as if I needed a new hobby)! Then again winter can be pretty long and although keeping busy isn't usually hard to do up here these rugs will come in handy around the house. I wanted to learn a few years ago but the internet instructions I printed were hard to follow so I gave up pretty fast. Then last month I heard the local Community Enrichment Program offering a class on it and I was in. The program runs activities and classes at the grade school, during the school year, most often taught by locals and they are free or really cheap (this class was only $5). They also show a free Friday night movie in the winter, it's in the gym on a big screen, alot of the time it's geared towards kids but not always and they announce it on the radio the week before so you know what is coming. Obviously we don't have a movie theater here and I have never driven all the way down to Wasilla to see one, it's 70 miles one way and no movie is worth it. We did see one movie in Anchorage years ago before we lived here, we were just visiting, our pre-Jaxon Alaska trip. I don't plan on mass-producing these or anything but it's a great skill to have and maybe I should get started on next years x-mas gifts now...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO YOU ALL & LUV FROM ALL OF US IN ALASKA

My Open Air Market Booth

This is my Open Air Market Booth outside the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar. We do this during the summer months Sat. - Mon. here in downtown Talkeetna. I have done it off and on for 3 years now. The spot I'm in isn't my usual space and next year I will be just left of the entrance to the hangar. A fun group of vendors are there, some locals and some not. Several people come up from Wasilla and Palmer to sell at this little local outdoor market. The tour buses and trains let people off just down the road for several hours at a time so we meet tourists from all over the world and the crafts they buy also end up all over the world, including mine! It's a great way to work for myself. I also do a few festivals each year around the state, maybe I will see you at one of them... Peace from Alaska!