Ketchum Arts Festival

The day after we got back from Spokane, I had to get set up for the Ketchum Arts Festival up in Sun Valley. This was my first time doing an outdoor show, and I was a little bit nervous, not knowing what to expect, but after 13 years of doing the Lane County Farmers Market booth for Horton Road Organics, I figured I'd be OK. On one of the blogs I follow, the artist shared her checklist for shows, so I used her template, and added things I needed. I bought a new Swissgear 10ft. canopy tent and 2' x 4' folding tables from Amazon.com, and designed new business cards. I already had display stands from past trunk shows, and earlier in the year I bought some glass topped display cases, so people could see everything easily, and it looked professional. My set up changed from day to day, as Grace and I fine tuned it, with the last day being the best display. I only got a picture of the first day's set up.



My daughter, Grace, was such a help! She worked with me all three days of the festival, settting up in the mornings, greating and assisting customers, and packing the jewelry to bring home each night. It was so nice to spend the weekend sitting outside with her.












The first day was my best day. I sold several of my seahorses and Eni Oken style coiled bangle bracelets, and made enough that if I didn't sell anything else the whole weekend, I would have been happy. Saturday brought a lot of lookers to my booth, and I gave out dozens of my cards to customers, so they could also shop for my work through my Etsy shop. Sunday was another busy sales day, and the day I did a number of fantastic trades with other artists at the show. I traded a necklace and a pair of earrings for a beautiful oil painting of a pinto horse by Timi Savier. She also does beautiful bronze castings. You can check out her works on her website: www.belcavallo.com














I also traded another necklace and earrings for a beautiful, organic gold ring set with a faceted pink tourmaline by Bob Rodman, a jeweler from the town of Fairfield, ID, which is just a few miles west of here. My last trade was a pair of earrings for a beautiful reclaimed pine mirror with a beautiful mountain scene burned into the top of the mirror, and a heron in a pond on the bottom corner. The pond that the heron is standing in is made from a ring in the grain of the wood. I also bought a purple, pottery bowl from Regina of Personalized Pottery from Pocatello, ID. She also shows her pottery in The Loft here in Hailey. Check out her website, too! www.masakpottery.com






My friend and neighbor, Colleen Pace, of For The Birds, makes whimsical, edible birdhouses, and has done the Ketchum Arts Festival for years. This year, she won the best booth award, and with good reason! Her booth looked so beautiful! I am working with her to help her set up an Etsy shop, and will let you know when it is up and running.







I collected information from a number of other artists at the show whose work I really liked. Here are the web site addresses for those who have one:

Helen Glidden was the painted silk artist who was set up right next to me. Such beautiful work!
www.hgliddenartist.com

I have been a fan of Melissa Graves Brown's paintings since I first moved to Hailey! She has a number of her paintings shown locally at CK's Restaurant and in Galena Lodge, and she just opened a store in downtown Hailey. I hope to one day own some of her work.
www.melissagravesbrown.com

Karen McCall of Ketchum makes wonderful hand-painted floor cloths:
www.karenmccallart.com

The photography of Joe Bauwens and Marybeth Flower is stunning!
www.piazzabook.com

Kathryn McNeal is another artist who shows her work in The Loft. Her mountain scenes are quite popular!
www.kathrynmcneal.com

I bought a number of bars of the wonderful, handmade soaps from Susanne Schlador of Lavande De Bois.
www.lavandedebois.com

All in all, I had a great time, and look forward to doing the festival again next year!
Thanks for coming by! 'Til next time!
~Pippi

Spokane and Back

My yard sale on the 4th of July was a success, and the next thing on my busy July list was driving to Spokane to pick up my daughter from her visit at her sister's place. We decided to drive up to Spokane through western Idaho, then we cut over into Washington by Lewiston, and took a smaller highway north to Spokane.





We drove up over Galena Pass to Stanley, then through Lowman and McCall. The scenery was fantastic, and the weather could not have been better! A couple of summers ago, when the Castle Rock wildfire was burning outside of Ketchum, there was also a big burn near Lowman. When the burned area came into view, it was deceiving at first as to what it was, because the new undergrowth was SO green! The road snaked along the south fork of the Payette river, with mountains rising steeply from the other side of the road.





As we were driving through the town of Cascade, I spied a wire sculpture of a bighorn ram, and had my husband swing around the block so I could snap a picture. I wish I had had time to stop and take a closer look at how they constructed it. We stopped in McCall at a microbrewery for an early dinner, and we sat out on the upstairs balcony, enjoying the fresh air and the view.





The drive to Spokane took us 2 hours longer than if we'd taken the interstate, but it was so much prettier, and there was very little traffic. The worst driving part was the few miles of interstate we had to take into Spokane, because there was construction, and we crawled along for over half an hour to go 4 miles.





We arrived at my daughter's apartment around 10:30 pm, and hung out for a little while before going to sleep. The next morning, I made waffles for breakfast (I brought my waffle iron along with me.), then we turned around and headed back to Hailey. We decided to take the interstate going back, to save time, so we got to drive through part of western Montana, which I had never seen before. It is so beautiful! There were mountains all around, and the reason they call Montana the "big sky" country was very apparent.




Just outside of Missoula, we discovered the location of Jellystone Park! Yogi Bear's picture was even on the mailbox in front.






From Missoula, we took highway 93 through Salmon and Challis.






We traded driving in Salmon, and I made sure to stop near the old Model T Ford we passed on the way into town, so I could take a picture of it, too, then cut over Trail Creek pass into Sun Valley on the way home. We had just enough light to see on the skinny, windy, gravel road over Trail Creek. The edge of the road drops off very steeply, and I was glad that Carlos drove that part, and happier still when we were on the paved road again!






Today, I went up and set up my tent for the Ketchum Arts Festival. I will be finishing up pricing, etc. this afternoon, and the festival starts tomorrow morning.

Wish me luck!
~Pippi

July Will Fly!

The months seem to fly by, anyway, but this month is particularly busy, so it will seem more rapid than most. I'm starting off my "month of July extravaganza" with a yard sale this saturday - July 4th. It should be a good day for it, as the Main street traffic reroutes down our street for the parade. I have been working all week, pulling old things up out of my basement and cupboards, and sorting through the boxes that never made it past the garage when we moved across the street 3-1/2 years ago. I am SO ready to lighten my load! I already sold $100 worth of camping gear and Carlos' old leather telemark boots to a friend who gave Carlos a ride home from work the other day.





I have slowed down on making jewelry, as there is so much to do! Still, I did make a few fun things. I finished the necklace for Sagebrush Arena's 18th annual 'Cowboy Ball' silent auction. I knitted a copper chain to go with the copper horse I'd made earlier, and figured out how to make the bail the way I wanted it for the pendant. I used one continuous piece of copper wire over 50 feet long for the chain, using a 3-pin knitting technique, not unlike spool knitting. I think it will go well in their auction. I also played around with ideas for lucky 4-leaf clover jewelry. Here are my first two attempts.






While all this fun is going on, I also have to get ready for the Ketchum Arts Festival the following weekend, with a quick 2 days (tuesday & wednesday) of driving to pick my daughter up from visiting her sister in Spokane in the middle of the week. We are driving up and back through the middle (as much as one can) of Idaho, rather than taking the interstate, and I will be taking my camera, so I can share the beautiful scenery with you later. Thursday is set up day for the arts festival, and I will be there friday, saturday, and sunday all day selling my jewelry. I have been taking breaks from yard sale detail to make up a bunch of fun, 1-inch buttons to sell in my booth, too. I have been selling them at The Loft, and they are quite popular!





I will have a whole 5 days after the arts festival to rest up and get ready to drive to Portland the following weekend for my friend's wedding, where I will take pictures of the wedding crown I made in action! Hopefully, the end of the month will quiet down some, and I can get back to making jewelry and relax a bit.



And now, back to moving stuff out into the garage for the yard sale.
Wish me luck! :D
~Pippi

Solstice Ride 2009

We did our annual solstice ride yesterday. (It was a couple of days late, because it was dumping buckets of rain on the actual solstice.) Every year, there is a group ride on an 18 mile loop of trails in the mountains west of town. We meet at Wolftone Creek, and ride up the North Fork Deer Creek Trail, then loop along Mars Ridge and come back down Howard's Trail. The ride starts after work (usually around 5pm) and then we all have a cookout at the campground where we park. This year, we had a group of about 17 riders.





The beginning of the ride was interesting, as a quarter mile of road on the way to the trailhead was washed out by the creek jumping its bed at a bend near the road. It was shallow enough, and the gravel underneath stable enough that we were able to ride through the stream, and we only hit one deep spot where our feet got a little wet. I was smart to bring extra dry socks with me.








The weather was perfect, and as long as you were moving at least at a walking pace, the mosquitos weren't any problem. Our problems did start after a stop to regroup about 5 miles in. We hit the trail again, and were probably about 6-7 miles in when the drive chain on our tandem broke on a steep climb. Carlos and I waited for the next rider to come up behind us, to see if they had a spare chain link with them. Normally we have one in our packs, but we also use our hydration packs in the winter for skiing, and take out all of the bike tools. Unfortunately, the master links didn't make it back into the camelbaks this spring. The next rider up the trail was Nathan, and he did have spare links. Carlos sat and fixed the chain, while I held up the bike and tried to keep the mosquitos from eating Carlos as he worked. We got it fixed, and rode for a ways before it broke again on another steep climb (the section of chain Nathan gave us had just popped out completely) We walked up the trail pushing the bike (to avoid mosquitos), until the next rider caught up to us, but he didn't have a link, so we had to turn back. The nice thing about all that climbing was it was mostly downhill going back to the parking area, and we were able to coast back without any trouble.





Since we got back early, we got the campfire started, so when the rest of the group made its way back in, the fire was burning merrily. Normally, it is too dry for a campfire, but with the month of rain we had, there was no danger of the fire getting out of control. Everyone brought something to contribute to the cookout afterwards, but the elk and antelope kabobs were by far the highlight of the fare. We made our way back home around midnight, took showers and fell asleep almost immediately. An excellent way to spend the day/evening with friends! Carlos and I plan on going back with just a couple of friends and doing the whole ride, since we didn't get to finish it yesterday.




Thanks for stopping in!
'Til next time,
~Pippi

Summer is here! (finally!...)

This has been the strangest spring I've seen since I moved here! We live in the mountains, and spring is usually dry, but we have had all the rain that Seattle hasn't for the past 3-4 weeks. It was so dark from rainclouds that I often had to turn on the lights inside during the middle of the day! Finally, though, the rainy weather has broken, and we are back to our usual sunny skies. I am glad, as tonight is our annual summer solstice (a bit late) mountain bike ride. Every year, a group of us ride one of the mountain trails nearby, then have a cookout afterwards. I always look forward to the cookout after the ride, as there is usually some good food happening, and tonight will be no exception. Antelope kabobs are on the menu, along with side dishes, and I made up a batch of peanut butter cookies last night, which will be dessert tonight.

Our ride will take several hours, and several thousand feet of hard climbing, with exhilerating downhills. The plan is to ride up Mars Ridge, and come back down north fork Deer Creek trail. I haven't been up in that area since before the Castle Rock wildfire, which raged through the area a couple of summers ago. It will be interesting to see how the fire changed the landscape, and what wildflowers are blooming there now. With all of the rain we've been getting, the flowers should be spectacular! (I'll bring my camera, and try to snap a few pictures. Not always easy when riding.)





I made the most of the rainy weather we had, and have been making jewelry (as usual). I found a tutorial for making pretty pearl flowers on one of the blogs I follow. The blog is in Hungarian, but the pictures are very good, and I was able to follow them to figure out how to make the design. Here is the link to the tutorial: http://kricsar.blogspot.com/2009/06/tutorial-3.html
I was really pleased with how it turned out! My husband just got a new set of strings for his viola, so I have been recycling his silver-wound strings into necklace cords by adding a jumpring through the ferrule, and wrapping a lobster clasp onto the other end. It makes a nice, light-weight necklace with clean lines, which don't detract from the pendants I hang from them.





I also made yet another skull bracelet, this time pairing the turquoise skull with a wire wrapped ocean jasper with gorgeous markings on it. I only have three of these skull beads left, and don't know if I will find them again (though I always look), so they are extra special to me, and I want to do them justice by making them into something really beautiful.





I have to keep this short, as I need to get my riding clothes, etc, together to leave soon.
Happy summer to you all!
~Pippi

Raining Turquoise Skull Bracelets

It has been raining here every day for several weeks now, quite uncommon weather for our mountain valley, but it has been very conducive to working in the garden, and I have been doing a lot of that lately! I recently started a project to edge the beds in my front yard with flush-set, flat stones, to give the beds more definition, and to make mowing easier (I can just roll the mower right up to the edge of the grass, without needing to use a weed wacker.) We get clear patches in the weather where the sun comes out and things dry up somewhat, and I weed and plant, and when the rains drive me indoors, I make jewelry. Not a bad life! :D





I have been making more of my asymmetrical bracelets lately. I was originally inspired by a bracelet I saw in a Sundance catalog, and have made a number of bracelets of a similar design. For these bracelets, I make a section of tiny wire wrapped stone chains, and couple them with larger, unique beads and findings to make my bracelets. My newest favorite is my Ganesh bracelet. I traded with another Etsy seller for the silver Ganesh finding, and used an orange and purple color scheme, as it reminds me of India. I used earthy-colored tundra sapphires for the multi chains on the bracelet, wrapping them with fine silver wire, then grouped them with a big faceted nugget of amethyst, and a carnelian faceted round, capped with Thai silver bead caps.





After I finished the Ganesh bracelet, I still wanted to play with this bracelet design, and I had a few turquoise skull beads left in my stash, and decided to make another skull bracelet, using turquoise and coral. As I was working on this bracelet, a friend emailed me and asked if I could make her a skull bracelet, too. She wanted all turquoise for hers, and I modified the design a bit, to take advantage of a cool, Tibetan silver charm I'd been saving for a special project to use in the design.







I really liked how her bracelet turned out, and it seems whenever I start making pieces with turquoise, I end up making several. This time was no exception. After finishing the two skull bracelets, I made a turquoise pendant netted with fine silver wire, and strung it on a necklace made from one of my husband's used, silver-wound viola strings. I added a jump ring through the ferrule, and wrapped a sterling lobster clasp onto the other end with half-round sterling wire.





After I finish up my chores for today, I am going back to work on the jewelry for the upcoming benefit for Sagebrush Equine Training Center for the Handicapped (www.sagebrushequine.org). I volunteer there every week. They offer 130 free riding sessions a week to handicapped people and at-risk youth, and are able to do so through the generous donations of time by over 200 volunteers. Very cool! I am working on some horse-themed jewelry designs for the silent auction. I'll share what I make here, too.



Thanks for stopping in!
~Pippi

A Busy May

The weeks have flown by since my last post, and even though I haven't written here, I have been doing and making a lot! It seems the trees have leafed out overnight, and I have been spending lots of time out in the garden, pulling weeds, and getting ready to plant. The other day I had the windows open, as the weather was quite warm, and the intoxicating smell of pear blossoms filled the house while I worked on a piece of jewelry. Heavenly!



After finishing Kelly's wedding crown, I was still enamoured by those lovely keishi pearls, and made a couple more pairs of earrings with them. I have been working like mad, making jewelry for my upcoming showing at the Ketchum Arts Festival, coming up on July 10-12. This will be my first arts festival, and I admit that I am more than a bit nervous (of what, I cannot say, just nervous). I have been trying to make pieces in a variety of price ranges, and still give free reign to my creative urges.






I made a series of hoop earrings with multiple drops, and tried my hand at wire filigree work in the style of another wire artist I admire. I also finished the second of an intricate pair of tribal style hoops I started in the winter. I'm glad I took the time to finish them, as they are exquisite!



Over Memorial Day weekend, I finally talked my husband into going to see a movie in the theaters with me. He doesn't usually care for going to the theaters, as he doesn't like people talking around him while he is watching a movie, or missing parts if nature calls. We saw the new Star Trek movie, and we both loved it! When we came home, we found the original episodes on cbs.com and have been having fun watching them again (me, curled up in my chair, making jewelry at the same time).

My latest project was inspired by a piece by another artist friend. She had made a wire wrapped lotus blossom pendant, which I liked the shape of, so as we watched Star Trek reruns, I began sketching out my version. I wanted mine to incorporate wire filigree, and then I had a sudden inspiration to add a row of rainbow stones for each chakra. I had one beautiful blue tourmaline bead I'd been saving for something special, and soon gathered the other colors from my gemstone stash. The pendant grew quickly, and turned out even better than I had hoped.



Now on to my next jewelry projects, and planting my garden!
Thanks for stopping by!
~Pippi
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