Southern Highland Craft Fair

The Southern Highland Craft Fair started yesterday in downtown Asheville at the US Cellular Center on Haywood Street.  It's a wonderful fair, lots of fiber, pottery, jewelry, wood etc. all created by the members of the Southern Highland Guild.

 I set up my booth on wednesday

 and turned it into this. I have lots of scarves and smaller quilts for sale.

 My booth number is 17 on the concourse (upstairs) so if you're in the area drop by and say hi.

 It's a wonderful event happening twice a year - third weekend in July and October.

 It runs everyday - thursday through friday from 10 - 6 and Sun 10 - 5.  There's also music and demos to entertain along with an educational table and usually something for kids.

 The booths are beautifully done and something for everyone

And you just never know what you'll see...Hope you can stop by.

Pink Heads

Our holiday fair was this past weekend at the Folk Art Center in Asheville, NC. It was a sea of people, controlled chaos and LOTS of fun! The day before while setting up, we met Maud (on left) whom I recognized from a word press class I recently took, I remembered her "pink ponytail". Janice and I both decided we wanted a pink streak for the fair. The next day (and morning of the fair) we found a can of pink spray on our table....hmmmm....we have 30 minutes before the fair opens so out in the back we went.

 Maud's helper covered our head with paper for protection for hair not being "pinked" and began to spray away.

 Janice and I below with our new "do's"

 It was great fun and since the 4 of us were next to each other and Maud having a corner spot, we called ourselves - The Pink Corner.

 The fair was a great success and we were kept busy every moment....

 making the time go quickly.

One of the most fun parts is the bartering that goes on. People want a scarf and will exchange with you for a mug that they make, so not only do you sell stuff but go home with treasures from other artists. Next week is another sale with a whole new group of artists. I plan to go to that one (as a shopper) and hope to see you there.

Holiday Fair

Tomorrow, Dec 1, is the first of 2 holiday fairs put on by the Southern Highland Craft Guild.  Both fairs are one day only from 10 to 4.  They are held at the Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, NC in the auditorium.  This is a very popular fair as members of the Southern Highland Guild are encouraged to sell seconds, overstocks etc at very low prices.  There are bargains on beautiful hand crafted pieces everywhere you look. I am selling my scarves as they are a nice gift item and seem to be popular.  I've been working diligently to get together a large inventory. I started with white silk scarf blanks in mostly crepe de Chine.  I secured them tightly in pantyhose to give a mottled effect to the coloring.  

 I have no favorites; each one that comes out is a surprise and fun to see.

 I've used many silks over the years and am slowly weaning out the silk I don't like.  China silk which is a popular silk for scarves is my least favorite as the color is not as rich.  In the pair below, the one on the left is a crepe de Chine and on the right is a China.  Both were dyed in the same dye bath but you can see a difference in the way the silks take the color.

 I have many people who love this color so I'll have lots of these on hand.

 The next two are among my favorites because of the color splitting which happens with certain colors. Only one color dye was used here and the color splits into 2 colors.

 This scarf had some color splitting but also some overdyeing as I wanted it to be more lively.

 Janice Maddox and I are sharing a booth and I think it looks quite colorful. Janice has some beautiful hand crafted pillows, small items and quilts for sale. The Christmas quilt, hanging up can be used as an advent calendar as the triangles on the first border are not sewn down; they are pockets for holding small treasures.

 When I left, many booths were not completely done but this should wet your appetite.

Lots of wonderful pottery.

and more...

 Some beautiful tiles and bowls...

There is also clothing, jewelry and lots of other wonderful items.  Please stop by and say hi and SHOP, there are some great deals.  If you can't make tomorrow, there is another fair next Saturday, same place and time with different artists.  It's a great time for all.

Holes, Dyes and Pretty Scarves

I'm starting to get my inventory ready for the upcoming Southern Highland craft show in July. One of the things I sell are hand dyed silk scarves. I use 3 different kinds of silk - chiffon, China and crepe de Chine - all take on a different look when dyed. The chiffon is very airy with intense color, the crepe has a rich look as the weave itself is so beautiful and China is the most fun to dye. It wicks so beautifully allowing the color to meander and mix with other colors. I work with acid dyes and usually 3-4 colors per scarf.

Often you get some great patterns.

Acid dyes give a brilliant color to silk. I'm not a lover of red, but it's a popular color for scarves.

Today was "blue day" so I mixed up 1 cup each of many blues and purples, donned my tight fitting rubber gloves and went to work!

What I DIDN'T do was check the gloves for holes. Bummer, I didn't realize it til after the fact!

Oh my!

I had to run to the supermarket - too warm outside to wear gloves so I tried to keep my blue hands concealed as much as possible. The lady at the checkout looked at me a little strange and finally asked if I had been canning blueberries. Nope, no blueberries today, just blueberry colored scarves!