Craft Fair Inspiration

Inspiration can arrive from the most surprising places sometimes, even when you're not looking for it. But sometimes you have to go after it. So I found this beautiful little artisan craft fair this past weekend, and the combination of fresh air, a little exercise, and visiting with beautiful crafty artists definitely inspired me. It was a warm weekend for September here in the Ozarks--but a little extra sunshine didn't keep these artists from sharing their creations.

I'll share a bit of what I saw. 

I met a lovely lady who raises her own alpacas and spins the wool! She bought this beautiful spinning wheel, slightly used, for $500. She spins some and sends some to a local mill to make these beautiful blended yarns of alpaca and bamboo. A knitter's dream. I think I'd like to try spinning someday.

The whole craft fair was splashed with quilting boothes, quilting guilds, and art quilts hanging everywhere. Loved it.

I had to buy some of these dishcloths--even though I make my own--they were adorable.

This artist made all their signs from used pallots--pretty cool.

Found all kinds of creative knitting kits in this booth--bought my daughter a spool knitting kit. She's a knitter, and she can't wait to try it.

Isn't this yarn gorgeous? I wanted all of it! But at $21 a skein, I couldn't quite have all of it. This lady made her 100% wool yarn from her own flock of sheep. What a dream. 

One year I grew a lot of gourds and it never once occurred to me to turn them into aloe vera planters! (I also grow aloe vera plants on my greenhouse all year long) This booth had a lot of gourd art, besides these fabulous planters, and some great information about growing gourds.  But as an aloe vera person, I was especially drawn to this planting display--couldn't take my eyes off of it!

I have always been fascinated by lacemaking--maybe it's because I can't even imagine having the patience to figure out a lace pattern and where to wind all those bobbins! When I stumble upon lacemakers I tend to ask them a lot of questions (I know, I probably annoy them) but they always tell me wonderful stories. And this time one of the ladies explained that the reason why they put those flat bead rings on their bobbins is so that they don't flip over while they're working with them. Genius, of course. I find the bobbins fascinating because I love working with beautiful tools myself. ♥

Just look at these beautifully beaded lace bobbins!

Look at that roll of lace she's made!

Next were the blacksmiths and woodworkers.

A very large lathe

handmade

These were so cool.

I really loved seeing all the fabric some of the artists worked with to make their goods--at one of the booths I finally found something I had been looking for! A catch-all to rest on my worktable--it can be used for just about anything.

Me and hubby having fun at the craft fair.

I bought one of these and it's awesome--but I should have gotten several, for me and for Christmas gifts. What was I thinking? At this point I was a bit hot, we had been walking around for a while. I should have gotten a corndog and thought it over!

So, just a note, if you are at a craft fair like this and happen up something this fantastic, go ahead and do your Christmas shopping! 

Finally I found the embroiderer's guild. What lovely ladies--I really need to go to one of their evening events. I have to giggle because I was wearing a pair of my own hand-embroidered cut-off shorts and so when they asked me if I had ever embroidered, I simply said, "why yes" and modeled my shorts! They laughed, and said, "oh yes, you do embroider."

A great thing about this festival is that it was free! The next one I want to go to is a bit pricey--but by then I think I'll need another day of fresh air and crafty art inspiration.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch, Play